The Greer brothers – Nat, Dick, and Harris – were a rough bunch of Texas cowboys. Their father, Thomas Lacy Greer, converted to Mormonism after returning from the Mexican War. Thomas, his wife, and their eight children moved their cattle operation to the Arizona Territory.
The Greer brothers and their cattle were causing problems with the Mexican sheepherders in the area.  The Greer brothers threw a lit match on a powder keg of already tense relations between Mormons and non-Mormons until the situation erupted in gunfire in the town of St. Johns, Arizona.

Nathan Tenney, father of Mormon Colonist Ammon Tenney, was killed as he was trying to make peace during the heated exchange.   James Vaughn, a Greer cowboy, was also shot and killed during the fight.          

It is interesting that everyone has heard of the shootout at the O.K. Corral, but very few people have heard of the Apache county sheep and cattle wars.

In 1936 Errol G. Brown, a grandson of Harris Greer, interviewed his 80-year old uncle Nat Greer, about the incident.  Nat’s story is found here.

A detailed account of the incident is found in an Arizona Highways magazine article from 1995.  After clicking on the link, click on the pdf file and scroll to page 32.