Category:Redington

History
The Redington area was first settled by Henry and Lem Redfield in 1875. The Redfields petitioned to establish a post office named after them, but the United States Postal Service wouldn't allow for an office to be named after a living person. Instead the brothers used the name Redington, and this name was subsequently used for the community, the pass, and the road. The Redington post office was open in 1879 with Henry Redfield as the postmaster.

The isolated Redington region, and specifically the Redfield Ranch, became a haven for outlaws under the Redfield brothers’ watch. When the Kinnear & Co. stage was robbed just outside of Tombstone one evening in March of 1881, resulting in the death of two aboard, Wyatt Earp led a posse in pursuit of the perpetrators. The trail led to the Redfield Ranch, where an accomplice was arrested. The rest of the robbery gang escaped, possibly aided by Henry Redfield. Doc Holliday was suspected by some at the time of being involved in the robbery, but charges were never brought against him.

On an August night in 1883, a stagecoach bound for Globe from Florence was attacked in a flurry of gunfire, and ground to a halt near Riverside Station on the Gila River. The stagecoach guard had been killed in the gunfire, and the robbers made off with gold and silver from the strongbox. The next day, a Sherriff’s posse aided by witnesses along the way, made their way up the San Pedro River to the Redfield Ranch. The posse found Lem Redfield and Joe Tuttle at the ranch, and both proclaimed their innocence. Evidence found at the ranch seemed to implicate Redfield and Tuttle, and they were arrested. Talk of vigilante justice being wrought upon his brother brought Henry Redfield and a U.S. Marshall to the Florence jail to escort the accused to a safer location. Florence law enforcement challenged the U.S. Marshall’s authority there, and the delay unknowingly gave the local vigilante mob the opportunity to see Lem Redfield and Joe Tuttle hanged.

In the 1880s the rancher William H. Bayless moved his operation into the San Pedro Valley. Over the next several years he bought up homesteads, ranches and other land. Drought in the 1890s caused many settlers in the valley to leave and Bayless acquired their land to build the 200,000-acre Carlink Ranch. The townsite with its general store, post office and school were located within the ranch.

The Redington of The Witches' Rede is a little more built up than the historical town; with a hotel/restaurant, saloon, livery, church and several other businesses. Even with such amenities, the fictional town loses none of its lawlessness. Below, find a list of the characters and key locations of the Redington area.