A teenage cowboy known for his relentless jailbreaks once escaped custody in the Arizona desert while completely naked, stealing a horse at a dead gallop right through two towns. This bizarre episode became one of the most talked-about escape stories in the history of the Old West. The man behind the legend was born Rufus Nephew in Washington, D. C.
in 1876, named after President Rutherford B. Hayes until paperwork mixups gave him the name Rufus instead. By 1894, he had made his way west, working as a cowboy for the infamous Hashknife Cattle Company in northern Arizona. The Hashknife was a massive operation—some 60,000 head of cattle spread across two million acres—and its hired hands had a rowdy, thieving reputation.
In 1886 alone, the nearby town of Holbrook saw 26 shooting deaths linked to cowboys blowing off steam. It was into this world that young Rufus arrived as a teenager, carrying little more than a sack of chewing tobacco. That tobacco turned out to be the source of his famous nickname. Rufus later explained that he stocked up on 12 pounds of Climax brand chew before a month-long roundup, and by the end of 25 days, he had chewed every last leaf, earning him the name Climax Jim from his fellow cowboys.
The name stuck for life. Jim soon graduated from cowboy work to cattle rustling, though he proved far better at escaping jail than at getting away with crime. His first known arrest came in 1894, when he stole a dozen steers from a slaughterhouse in Winslow at just 17. Locked up in an old adobe jail, he simply tunneled through the wall with a pocket knife and fled.
Months later, he celebrated July Fourth by stealing a horse in Gila County. Sheriff John Thompson, nicknamed Rimrock, caught him and chained him to a post while making camp, but Jim slipped free anyway. Recaptured shortly after, he escaped again by digging through the walls—this time with aspoon instead of a knife. The authorities eventually had enough, and sent him to the territorial prison over in Yuma, known as the hellhole of the West.
There, he served a full 12 months without escaping. But the moment he was released, he went straight back to rustling. By June of 1898, he was back in custody, this time arrested by none other than his old boss, Hashknife foreman Burt Mossman. By New Year’s Day 1899, he was under indictment in Graham County for altering brands, and by late February, he and three other inmates had escaped jail once again.
When recaptured days later, even with special shackles riveted shut by a blacksmith, Jim still slipped out of his chains and climbed over the jail’s walls—only to be caught again within minutes, before friends finally posted his bond. He was free, briefly, until he stole cattle from the Chiricahua Cattle Company, driving them all the way east to New Mexico to start his own ranch, claiming he was just looking for the rightful owner. The range boss tracked him down, notified the sheriff, and Climax Jim was back in custody—
That sets up the infamous naked escape. Deputies in Springerville, Arizona, decided their prisoner needed a bath, so they stripped him down, handed him a bar of soap, and pointed him toward the horse trough.
As Jim was about to climb in, he spotted a pony tied to a hitching post. Without hesitating, he hopped on the horse’s bareback, still completely naked, and tore off at a dead gallop through the middle of Springerville and then through the neighboring town of Eagar, before vanishing into the mountains wearing nothing at all. Jim later told journalist George Smalley a slightly different version, claiming he had first struck one of the deputies in the face with his pants as he was undressing, then bolted out of the jail and onto the horse. Years later, lawman Joe Pierce, at whose camp Jim showed up a few days afterward, confirmed the account by saying, “That’s the way it happened.
” Either way, the naked escape became legend. Despite his frequent arrests, Jim was remarkably skilled at avoiding conviction. In 1907, he was busted for forging a check after stealing cattle and selling them to a butcher, then altering the payment to what he felt was a fairer rate. At trial, when the forged check was presented as evidence, Jim waited until everyone was distracted, grabbed the check, and stuffed it into his mouth along with his usual wad of chew.
He sat chewing away calmly, and later, as he was leaving the courthouse, he spit the evidence out right into the judge’s own spittoon. He also twice beat cattle rustling charges by producing witnesses who swore the crimes had happened in the wrong county, winning acquittals both times. Over a stretch of about six years, grand juries in two counties handed down five felony indictments against him, and he wiggled his way out of every single one
Eventually, Jim settled down, helped by the love of a good woman. In 1910, he married Gertrude, a teacher 12 years his junior.
The couple had four children—one boy and three girls—and around 1911, they moved west to California, settling near San Diego, where Jim found honest work as a well digger. It was that job that cost him his life. On September 28, 1921, at just 44 years old, Climax Jim fell off scaffolding while digging a well and died. He is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in San Diego
Jim was not a violent man.
He never killed anyone, and from what can be told, he never even fired his pistol during a robbery. He was simply a rascal with a mouthful of tobacco and a gift for making lawmen look foolish. There are worse things to be remembered for
Historical records also hint at some murkier corners of his life. A marriage certificate from 1907 shows he had wed a woman named Virginia Gonzales three years before marrying Gertrude, though what became of that union is unknown.
There is also some evidence suggesting Jim may have participated in at least one train robbery in New Mexico, though the truth of that remains unclear. With a guy like Climax Jim, all that survives are official records—census reports, prison records, and voter registrations—along with storieshat may or may not be exaggerated. Whether he was just a lovable rogue or something more, the legend of Climax Jim endures
