Bud Frazer and the Frazer-Miller Feud
The unforgiving landscape of the Old West often bred fierce rivalries, and few were as bitter and bloody as the feud between George A. "Bud" Frazer, a Texas Ranger and sheriff, and James Miller, a notorious killer. This clash of titans, fueled by suspicion, accusations, and simmering hatred, played out against the backdrop of West Texas, leaving a trail of violence and death in its wake. The story of Bud Frazer and the Frazer-Miller Feud is a testament to the volatile nature of frontier justice and the enduring power of personal vendettas.
George A. "Bud" Frazer’s life began on April 18, 1864, in Fort Stockton, Texas. His lineage was steeped in law and order, as his father, George Milton Frazer, served as both an Arizona Ranger and a Pecos County Judge. Despite the elder Frazer’s esteemed position, the Frazer family held a reputation for a propensity for violence, a characteristic that would become all too evident in Bud’s life. At the young age of sixteen, Bud Frazer followed in his father’s footsteps, enlisting in the Texas Rangers, marking the beginning of his career in law enforcement. He later served as a deputy sheriff in Pecos County, solidifying his presence in the often-turbulent world of West Texas justice.
The Frazer family’s propensity for conflict wasn’t confined to professional duties. In the 1880s, they became embroiled in a heated feud with the Sosa family, their neighbors. This rivalry reached a boiling point on June 29, 1885, when Crispin Sosa fatally slashed the throat of Bud’s brother, Jim Frazer. Driven by grief and rage, Bud retaliated, killing Crispin Sosa. In the chaotic aftermath, another Sosa family member, Pablo, fled the scene. The Frazers, determined to exact full retribution, sent an unknown assailant after Pablo, who was found in Presidio, Texas. The avenger brutally murdered Pablo, and then hacked his body into pieces to be fed to hogs. These violent acts cast a dark shadow over the Frazer family name, illustrating the brutal realities of frontier justice.
Despite the controversy surrounding the Frazer family and their involvement in the Sosa feud, Bud Frazer’s reputation did not seem to suffer significantly. In 1890, at the age of 26, he was elected as the Sheriff of Reeves County, a testament to his perceived ability to maintain order in a lawless land. His election marked a new chapter in his life, one filled with both promise and peril, a path that would ultimately lead to his fateful encounter with James Miller.
In a decision that would prove disastrous, Sheriff Frazer hired James Miller as a deputy in 1891. During this time, it was considered impolite to pry too deeply into a person’s past, and finding qualified lawmen in the frontier towns was often a difficult task. Miller, accompanied by his family and brother-in-law, Mannie Clements, settled in Pecos, appearing to be an upstanding member of the community. However, soon after Miller’s arrival, cattle rustling and horse theft surged throughout the Pecos Valley. Miller spent a considerable amount of time pursuing the thieves, yet he never managed to capture any of them, raising suspicion in the mind of Barney Riggs, a local gunfighter and Bud Frazer’s brother-in-law. Riggs suggested that Miller himself might be involved in the thefts and urged Frazer to fire him. When Frazer confronted Miller with the accusations, the deputy dismissed them with a laugh.
Despite the lack of concrete evidence and the support Miller received from his church, Frazer remained wary. Miller’s tenure as a deputy took a dark turn when he killed a Mexican prisoner who he claimed was "trying to escape." Riggs alleged that Miller had murdered the man because he knew where the deputy had hidden a pair of stolen mules. When Frazer investigated Riggs’s claims and discovered the stolen mules, he promptly fired Miller. This marked the beginning of the deadly Frazer-Miller Feud, a conflict that would consume both men and leave a permanent stain on the history of West Texas.
The following year, in the 1892 Pecos Sheriff’s election, Jim Miller ran against Bud Frazer but was defeated. Undeterred, Miller secured the position of Pecos City Marshal. As Marshal, Jim Miller hired Mannie Clements as his deputy and surrounded himself with gunmen, including Bill Earhart and John Denson, further escalating tensions in the town.
In May 1893, while Sheriff Frazer was away on business, Miller’s criminal element essentially took control of Pecos. Miller and his henchmen hatched a plan to assassinate Bud Frazer upon his return, staging a shootout at the railroad station. A third man would then shoot Frazer, making it appear as if he had been killed by a stray bullet. However, Con Gibson overheard the plan in a local saloon and alerted Frazer. Frazer contacted the Texas Rangers, and upon his arrival, he was accompanied by Captain John R. Hughes and his men. Miller, Clements, and Martin Hardin were arrested and indicted on September 7, 1893, for conspiring to kill Frazer. The case was moved to El Paso for trial, but the prosecution’s primary witness, Con Gibson, fled to Eddy (now Carlsbad), New Mexico, where he was shot and killed by Miller’s henchman, John Denson. Without their key witness, the state was forced to release the three prisoners.
Although Miller evaded the law once again, he lost his position as marshal and purchased a hotel in Pecos. He seemingly embraced the life of an honest citizen, and the town briefly settled down. However, rumors spread that Frazer was unable to handle Miller and was unfit to be sheriff, fueling resentment in Frazer.
On April 18, 1894, Bud Frazer confronted Miller on the street, shouting, "Jim, you’re a cattle rustler and murderer! Here’s one for Con Gibson." Frazer opened fire, hitting Miller in the right arm near the shoulder. Miller returned fire, grazing a local storekeeper named Joe Kraus. Frazer emptied his pistol into Miller’s chest, and he collapsed. Frazer walked away, believing Miller to be dead, only to later learn that he had survived.
Miller’s friends carried him into his hotel and discovered a metal breast-plate beneath his coat, explaining how he had survived the barrage of bullets. Despite his injuries, Miller recovered, and the conflict between the two men remained unresolved. In November 1894, Frazer lost the sheriff’s election and moved to Carlsbad, New Mexico, where he opened a livery stable.
Frazer returned to Pecos the following month to settle his affairs. On December 26, 1894, he encountered Jim Miller in front of Zimmer’s blacksmith shop. Having heard Miller’s threats against him, Frazer drew his gun and fired two shots into Miller’s right arm and left leg. Miller returned fire left-handed, but without success, while Frazer fired two more shots into Miller’s chest. Amazed that Miller was still alive and standing, Frazer fled, later discovering Miller’s protective breast-plate.
In March 1895, John Wesley Hardin, who had become an attorney while in prison, arrived in Pecos and filed charges of attempted murder against Bud Frazer. Frazer’s trial was scheduled to be heard in El Paso, but Hardin was killed before it came to trial, and Frazer was acquitted in May 1896. Miller, furious at the outcome, would eventually seek his final revenge. The continued animosity fueled the Bud Frazer and the Frazer-Miller Feud.
Bud Frazer was not Miller’s only target. Barney Riggs, Frazer’s brother-in-law, was also on Miller’s hit list. In early 1896, two of Miller’s henchmen, John Denson and Bill Earhart, were overheard in Fort Stockton, Texas, threatening Riggs. U.S. Deputy Marshal Dee Harkey wired a warning to Riggs, who avoided them upon their arrival in Pecos. On the morning of March 3rd, while Riggs was filling in as a bartender at R.S. Johnson’s Saloon, Denson and Earhart burst into the room. Earhart grazed Riggs with a shot, who immediately fired back, killing Earhart. Riggs then grappled with Denson before the would-be assassin fled. Riggs pursued Denson and shot him in the back of the head, killing him instantly. Miller’s plan to eliminate Riggs had failed. Riggs surrendered himself and was later acquitted of murder.
Despite knowing that Miller was out to get him, Bud Frazer visited family in Toyah, Texas, in September 1896. On the morning of the 14th, while Frazer was playing cards with friends in a saloon, Miller pushed open the door and fired both barrels, killing Frazer.
Jim Miller was acquitted of the murder of Bud Frazer, his defense being that "he had done no worse than Frazer." The legacy of the Bud Frazer and the Frazer-Miller Feud extends beyond the deaths of its central figures. The feud is a stark reminder of the violence that permeated the Old West and the enduring consequences of personal vendettas.
Ultimately, almost every character involved in this feud met a violent end. John Denson and Bill Earhart were killed by Barney Riggs in Pecos, Texas, in 1896. Riggs was later killed by his stepson-in-law in 1902 in Fort Stockton, Texas. On December 29, 1908, Emmanuel "Mannie" Clements, Jr. was shot and killed in an El Paso saloon. Jim "Killer" Miller was hanged by vigilantes in Ada, Oklahoma, on April 6, 1909, bringing a final, brutal end to the Bud Frazer and the Frazer-Miller Feud.