I'm the cemetery foreman for the RoseHill Cemetery in Spearfish, South Dakota and I'm just seeking info on a supposed infamous lawman from the Spearfish or Deadwood area named (according to our records)  John "Jack" O'Hara. Any additional info about this man would sure be nice to have as part of the cemetery's records.

    My records indicate that John "Jack" O'Hara (31 years old) lived between ?/?/1853 and 2/14/1884 when his life was taken by horse thieves. There are  two other younger girls buried in his plot as well; Hattie O'Hara (6 yrs. old) lived between 5/22/1874 and 2/16/1880 and Maude O'Hara (3 yrs. old) who lived between 11/16/1877 and 2/18/1880. Another thing that is interesting is all of their dates of death. Could John have died in 1880 or the girls in 1884 and they were all murdered besides their mother whom we have no records of, or is it just a bizarre coincidence? The only conclusion i can come to is that one of their records is wrong and they were all murdered (except for the mother) or the girls died of disease and John was later murdered? Any info. that would be helpfull would sure be appreciated

    Thanks!


   Clark Hoyt  — RoseHill Cemetery Foreman — Spearfish, SD.

    P.S. They probably lived in the Deadwood, Spearfish, Lead, or Sturgis area(s) of South Dakota. I found a New York Times article via Google.com on John "Jack" O'Hara, it reads as follows:

DESPERATE FIGHT WITH COWBOYS

DEADWOOD, Dakota, Feb. 15.-Information was received here a few days ago that an attempt would be made by cowboys to rescue Jesse Pruden, arrested for horse stealing at Miles City, Montana, and en route for Deadwood. A party left Spearfish to assist the officer having Pruden in charge. On arriving at Stoneville, 75 miles north of Deadwood, yesterday, the posse was attacked by cowboys, and a man named O'Hara was killed and Fred Willard was wounded. One cowboy named Cunningham was killed. Another, whose name is unknown, was wounded and captured. The cowboys then fled. A party is now being organized at Spearhead to pursue the outlaws.