David Brown (Outlaw)

David Brown (Unknown - January 12, 1855) was a gang member, scalp hunter and [...] in Northern Mexico and Southwestern United States during the mid-19th century.

The Glanton Gang

David Brown, along with his brother, were members of the Glanton Gang from at least early 1850. The Glanton Gang was a scalping party led by John Joel Glanton. The gang was hired by the government of Chihuahua in mid 1849, with the purpose of exterminating Apache tribes in Northern Mexico.

The gang was effective at taking out Apache tribes. However, it wasn't long before they went rogue and started murdering and scalping Mexican civilians, claiming the scalps to belong to Apache, thus cheating the system and claiming rewards for bounties they never completed. The government of Chihuahua learned of the gangs misdeeds and declared them as outlaws in early 1850; this forced them to flee the country.

On April 23, 1850 in Arizona, a large group of Quechans attacked the gang, resulting in the death of Glanton and most of the gang members. Whether Brown was present during the attack is unknown. The brutal attack on Glanton's gang was the trigger for the Yuma War.

Events leading up to his death.

Not long after the Glanton Massacre, Brown showed up in Los Angeles and served as a constable, in 1851 he unsuccessfully ran for marshal. On January 18th 1851, he and Charles Lavelle were exonerated of assault and battery against Charles Burrows. Not long after he was charged for assault with intent to [...] an unknown Indian, with no documented outcome.

On Friday, October 13th 1854, Brown got into a squabble with a man named Pinkney Clifford. Brown walked up to Clifford, and stabbed him in the heart; Clifford died almost instantly and Brown was taken into custody.

He was put on trial on November 30th, and scheduled for execution on January 12th, 1855. Brown was scheduled to be hung alongside 2 other men: 'Alvitre' and 'Lee'. However, on January 10th, the Supreme Court ordered a stay in proceedings for Brown and Lee, leaving only Alvitre to hang by himself.

The public did not respond well to this, so the SHERIFF decided to hold a meeting to discuss the matter. The meeting took place between 1-2PM on January 11th, AbOUT six-hundred people attended the meeting, among the numerous speeches made on the occasion was one by the mayor (Stephen Clark Foster) himself. Foster proclaimed that he was in favor of Brown and Alvitre being hanged together, and that if justice was not served, he would resign from his position as mayor to assist the public in serving out justice.

When January 12th arrived, thousands of people gathered to view the hanging. at 3PM, Alvitre was taken out of the cell and placed atop the gallows, after making a short speech in which he stated that he was punished justly and asking for forgiveness, he was dropped down with the noose around his neck, but the rope snapped, causing him to fall to the ground. He was immediately put back on the gallows, and this time successfully hung.

Death

After the hanging of Alvitre had occurred, the gallows were taken down. Mayor Foster kept his word and resigned as Mayor on the spot. Foster led a swarm of people, and they successfully abducted Brown from his jail cell. He was taken to a large gateway, over which a rope was fastened and a chair place underneath. Brown was placed atop the chair with the rope around his neck. Brown spoke to the crowd in a calm tone, claiming that he had no recollection of [...] Clifford, afterwards he insulted the crowd for what he perceived to be a poor method of preparing the rope before jumping off the chair and hanging himself to death.

Before Glanton

Barely anything is known about David Brown prior to joining the Glanton Gang. Colonel M. L. Crimmins wrote in a letter to The Southwestern Historical Quarterly: "John Glanton was a scalphunter who palmed off Mexican scalps for Apache scalps and was associated with the Brown Brothers." , this implies that David Brown and his brother were already notorious prior to joining Glanton.

Blood Meridian

A fictionalized version of David Brown by the same name appears in the 1985 Novel 'Blood Meridian' by the late Cormac McCarthy. In the book he is a member of a fictionalized version of the Glanton Gang alongside Judge Holden, he wears a necklace made out of the ears of Indians. And, just like in real life, meets his end by hanging.