Clarence L. "Gunplay" Maxwell

Perform an Internet search on “Gunplay” Maxwell, and the term that keeps popping up is Wild Bunch wannabe.

Clarence L. Maxwell was from a well-to-do family living outside Boston, Massachusetts. When he was a young man, Maxwell was involved in a saloon brawl and killed a man, causing him flee west. His first stop was in Wyoming where he served time in prison for grand larceny. After his release, Maxwell drifted into Utah.

In April 1897, Maxwell made a bid to give up the outlaw life and become a deputy sheriff. Then Carbon County Sheriff Gus Donant of Price, Utah presented Maxwell’s name on a list of candidates; he was soundly rejected. The presentation of a career criminal to join the ranks of the law only added fire to an already hot situation regarding Donant’s reign as sheriff. Donant soon found himself out of a job.

The following summer, Maxwell and another man set out to rob a bank in Springville, Utah.  During the hold-up, the bank teller triggered a silent alarm, notifying a shop owner across the street. Looking across the street and seeing nothing amiss, the shop owner called the bank to see if the alarm was a mistake. When no one picked up the phone, the shop owner grabbed his guns and rushed across the street. Meanwhile the bandits made a quick exit to a slow getaway.

Rather than use saddle horses to make their escape, the outlaws set off on a horse drawn buggy-a considerably slower alternative. Chasing after the robbers, the shop owner got into his own wagon and began a buggy vs. buggy race.

Alerted by the shouting shop owner, a makeshift posse soon gave chase as well. Riding on horseback, the posse was soon on the outlaws’ tail. Finally realizing a buggy wasn’t the paradigm of speed, Maxwell commandeered a horse, leaving his partner behind.

Even on horseback, Maxwell couldn't outrun the oncoming posse. He ditched the horse-his partner already having ditched the buggy-and tried to make an escape on foot. Maxwell surrendered to the posse, his partner resisted and was shot in the head for his efforts. Maxwell was sentenced to eighteen years in prison for his crime, later released after five for his role in quelling a prison riot.

After he was released from prison, Maxwell drifted about Utah trying to make a living as a prospector. It was during this time that he married Arda Shaw. Shaw may have been wife number two for Maxwell who is believed to have had a spouse in the Boston area as well.

In 1903, Maxwell found himself working for the Utah Fuel Company as a guard, protecting the company and its executives against striking workers. By all accounts, Maxwell made an excellent, if not creepy, guard. Utah Fuel Company attorney, Mark P. Braffet, had this to say about his former bodyguard:

“His reputation was so infernally unsavory, though, that even for his good service to his employers I cannot attempt to justify his conduct. The days of his service as a guard were filled with trouble and turbulence, and on a great many occasions he showed that he possessed an iron nerve and an indomitable will. He had no fear of the law nor of any man. He possessed many of the qualities that go to makeup an ideal officer, and for some time after these troubles he settled down wit the apparent intention of becoming a good citizen.

But Maxwell always had an idea that personal differences should be settled with sixshooters, and in no other way, and his views along this line were somewhat bigoted.”

Maxwell later turned up in Goldfield, Nevada working as a spy for mine owners to keep an eye on the union’s striking workers. In Goldfield, he was involved the death of Joseph Smith, but was not prosecuted.

Following Smith’s murder, Maxwell went back to Utah. In July 1907, while in Helper, Maxwell was involved in a shootout with another man leaving both seriously wounded. Again Maxwell escaped prosecution.

Maxwell returned to Nevada, and later ventured to California where he married Mrs. Bessie Hume in San Francisco under the assumed name of Seaman. Hume was the widow of a wealthy Alaskan businessman. While on their honeymoon in Reno, Nevada, Maxwell and another man, E.R. Burker, stole and pawned most of Hume’s jewelry. Amazingly Hume forgave the outlaw, and the couple moved to Ogden, Utah where they lived until Maxwell’s death.

On August 23, 1909 in Price, Utah, Maxwell confronted Deputy Sheriff Edward Johnstone in a local saloon. Maxwell is said to have held a grudge against Johnstone since his days in Goldfield, when Johnston identified Maxwell to a local sheriff as an ex-convict. Upon leaving the saloon, Maxwell drew his weapon on Johnstone and fired. The bullet ripped through his clothing but did not injure the man. Johnstone pulled out his own weapon and returned fire, killing Maxwell with three shots. Maxwell’s last words are said to have been, “Don’t shoot again, Johnstone, you have killed me!”  

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