Career
Born in Casa Grande, Arizona, Stiles worked as a prospector and ranch hand in the Superstition Mountains. He later became a lawman working under Jeff Milton and John Slaughter, having a reputation as an expert tracker. Under the guise of deputy sheriffs, they were able to interfere with investigations by local authorities.
In 1899, they were apprehended attempting to rob the Southern Pacific Railroad.
Alvord soon broke him out of jail however, tying up the jailer and freeing Stiles from his cell with the keys, and the two disappeared from the area. Stiles, however, is alleged to have not been present during that robbery attempt.
In 1902, Alvord and Stiles assisted the Arizona Ranger Burton C. Mossman with the capture of the Mexican bandit Augustine Chacon. After that, Stiles surrendered to Mossman and briefly served in the Arizona Rangers.
The roster of Arizona Rangers shows that Stiles was thirty-two when he enlisted.
He did, however, turn back to banditry soon after. Back in Mexico, Alvord and Stiles attempted to fake their own deaths by sending two coffins with their supposed bodies to Tombstone. The ruse was quickly uncovered though and in late 1903 a group of Arizona Rangers entered Mexico to find the two bandits.
While successfully capturing Alvord, Stiles was able to escape the country making his way to the Orient, spending considerable time in China and the Philippines.
Stiles eventually returned, and became a deputy sheriff in Humboldt County, Nevada under the name William Larkin. On December 5, 1908, he was killed when trying to deliver a court summons.
The suspect had opened fire on Stiles as he approached the suspects barn, hitting him three times. The suspect was arrested, but for unknown reasons was acquitted during the trial.
The following appeared in the December 7, 1908, edition of the Humboldt Star:
In 1955, the parts of Stiles and Alvord were portrayed by Paul Sorensen and Chris Drake, respectively, on an episode of the syndicated television series, Stories of the Century, starring and narrated by Jim Davis.
