The tragic story of Officer Phippenney

(PUEBLO, Colo.) — On this day in 1879, Pueblo Police Officer Alvin Phippenney was shot and killed in the line of duty, and his story is like something out of an old Western.

On the morning of June 30, 1879, Officer Phippenney entered John Schwer’s Arkansas Hall Saloon on Santa Fe Avenue just after noon. The rancher, John Baxter, and another man, James Moore, were armed and drinking. They were causing a riot, so Officer Phippenney was asked to quiet them down.

Courtesy: Pueblo Police Department

The rancher, Baxter, refused to surrender his gun to Officer Phippenney and a physical altercation ensued between the two. Shots rang out in the saloon and an officer was hit. The shot in the back proved fatal, but not before he gave the names of the killers.

The jury heard testimony from more than a dozen witnesses and determined that Officer Phippenney was killed by a gunshot that came from either Moore or Baxter. Incredibly, both suspects escaped. Baxter escaped the sheriff who was guarding him, and Moore’s escape was aided by a rancher on the day of the shooting. Neither was ever found or brought to justice.

Officer Alvin Phippenney was only 32 years old, a widower with five children. He was to remarry the evening of his death. Historian Keith Dameron records that the funeral was held on Tuesday, July 1, at 4:00 p.m., with the Pueblo police chief stating that it was “one of the largest ever seen in the city… about 30 vehicles were in the procession, all well filled.”

The Pueblo Police Department posted Phippenney’s story on its X account on Sunday, June 30, to honor his memory and sacrifice 145 years later.

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