Friday Nov. 5, starting at 10:30 a.m., at the Saguaro Theatre. Tickets ($10) available at the door. Free for members. Saguaro Theatre, 176 East Wickenburg Way, Wickenburg, AZ 85390.

Wickenburg Massacre: Who Dunit? hosted by Dr. Eduardo Pagán with special guests, Heidi Osselaer and Marshall Shore.

Funded in part by Arizona Humanities.

On Friday November 5, 1871 at 10:30 a.m. at the landmark Saguaro Theatre, the DCWM presents, “Wickenburg Massacre: Who Dunit?”, supported by a grant from Arizona Humanities. Join us for an in-depth exploration of the nature of historical evidence and the interpretations made after this bloody event in Wickenburg’s history. Six people tragically lost their lives in the attack on the Wickenburg stagecoach in 1871, and a seventh victim, who survived the attack, appears to have died within weeks afterwards as a result of her injuries. There was only one surviving witness. Despite his testimonies, and an official investigation by the United States military, there remain enough questions about the evidence found and the nature of the initial investigation for four theories to survive to this day about who was behind the attack: 1) a Yavapai raiding party (known at the time as Apache Mojave), 2) Mexican bandidos, 3) white stagecoach robbers, or 4) that it was an inside job involving the last remaining survivor.

With the help of Dr. Eduardo Pagán, the adjunct curator of history at Desert Caballeros Western Museum, and a panel of public scholars, this event will present the available evidence found at the scene of the crime by projecting maps, pictures, and text on the theater screen. Each scholar then will present one of the above interpretations in analyzing that evidence. When that portion of the event is completed, a vote will be taken among the audience, and there will be a discussion with the audience and the panel members about the nature of the evidence and which theory is the most compelling, and why. Not only will we explore forensic, historical, and geographical evidence, some of our exploration of interpretation will also involve textual analysis in carefully examining eyewitness accounts and military investigation. Tickets available the morning of the lecture. Call 928-684-2272 for more information.

One of the victims, Frederick Wadsworth Loring, was a promising young writer from Boston. A Harvard graduate, Loring was 22 when he was killed, but he’d already had a novel and a book of poetry published. He was working as a correspondent for Appletons’ Journal at the time of the massacre.