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Chemical postevolution

2009-02-03T05:12:34Z

68.231.164.27: Undid revision 267822754 by Hrafn (talk)

'''Chemical postevolution''' is the structural optimization of (already evolutionary optimized) [[natural product]]s by synthetic chemical means such as de novo synthesis and semisynthesis. It is additional and often structurally orthogonal to natural [[evolution]].<ref> F. von Nussbaum, M. Brands, B. Hinzen, S. Weigand, D. Häbich, ''Angew. Chem.'' '''2006''', ''118'', 5194–5254; ''Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.'' '''2006''', ''45'', 5072–5129. Antibacterial Natural Products in Medicinal Chemistry—Exodus or Revival? PMID 16881035</ref> Whereas the term "[[Chemical Evolution]]" refers to an iterative optimization of any possible chemical structure, the term Chemical Postevolution especially refers to the biological improvement of antibiotic natural products by synthetic organic chemistry, primarily in antiinfective and anticancer research.

== Application in drug discovery ==
Natural products have provided the majority of [[lead structure]]s for marketed [[antibiotics]].<ref> C. Walsh, Antibiotics, actions, origins, resistance, 1. Aufl., ASM,
Washington, DC, 2003</ref> But, only a few “pure” natural products fulfill the complex profile required for a pharmaceutical drug. A drug has to match additional physicochemical, pharmacological, toxicological and technical requirements that have not been selectors in the evolution of antibacterial [[secondary metabolites]]. On the other hand, natural products offer excellent starting points for medicinal chemistry. To create a drug, nature’s blueprints often have to be improved by [[semisynthesis]] or [[de novo synthesis]] to repair typical deficiencies such as limited stability, low solubility, narrow [[antibacterial spectrum]], poor in vivo efficacy, etc. Chemical structure defines biological activity. Complementary to nature, a chemist can explore white spots in structural space and biological activity that have never been explored by any organism over the entire period of evolution.

== Examples ==
Various natural antibiotics have already been optimized. Classical examples are the beta-lactam antibiotics (e.g. [[penicillin G]] to [[meticillin]]), the glycopeptides ([[chloroeremomycin]] to [[oritavancin]]) or the macrolides ([[erythromycin]] A to [[telithromycin]]). Since 2006 [[platensimycin]].<ref name=Wang2006>Jun Wang ''et al'', ''Platensimycin is a selective FabF inhibitor with potent antibiotic properties'', Nature 441, 358-361 (18 May 2006) PMID 16710421</ref> has been the target for various synthetic studies aiming at a chemical postevolution of this potent FabF inhibitor. Various other classes of natural antibiotics are now in the focus of chemical postevolution.<ref> K. C. Nicolaou, Jason S. Chen, David J. Edmonds, Anthony A. Estrada, ''Angew. Chem.'' '''2009''', ''121'', 670–732; ''Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.'' '''2009''', ''48'', 660-719. Recent Advances in the Chemistry and Biology of Naturally Occurring Antibiotics
PMID 19130444</ref>

== References ==
<references/>

[[Category:Chemistry]]

The Theory of Recovery Psychology/The Recovery Model/The Recovery Movement

2008-10-03T01:53:22Z

68.231.134.206: /* The psychiatric survivor movement */ add comments

== The Recovery Movement ==
The '''recovery movement''' as it is refered to in this textbook means a multitude of social co-existing movements that occurred simultaneously. Often referred to as the C/S/X movement, meaning consumer/survivor/Ex-patient movement. The term '''consumer''' has a connotation of descriptive of a person with '''pro-psychiatric views''', where as the term '''survivor''' short psychiatric survivor, has a connotation of '''anti-psychiatric views'''. The term consumer is meant in the term it is used in economics and politics, with the essence of the term stakeholder which implies empowerment. Many generalize psychiatric survivors and consumers as being the same, however the distinction is notable for accuracy. To say that a psychiatric survivor has ''consumed'' mental health services, is not the same as saying that services were willing sought.

== The Anti-psychiatry movement ==
Many anti-psychiatry philosophies have contributed to what is now known as the recovery movement. The anti-psychiatry movement started in the 1960s as a configuration of groups and theoretical constructs hostile to most of the fundamental assumptions and practices of psychiatry. Its igniting influences were '''Michel Foucault''', '''R.D.Laing''' and '''Thomas Szasz'''.

== The deinstitutionalization movement ==
The deinstitutionalization movement was a social push toward replacing long-stay mental institutions with less isolated and smaller community-based alternatives for those diagnosed with mental disorder or developmental disability.

== The independent living movement ==
Howard Gelding or Howie The Harp was one of the original pioneers in mental health recovery. While his concepts and ideas spear-headed the concepts of peer-support and the drop-in center etc. There is still no mention of Mr. Gelding in psychology.

== The psychiatric survivor movement ==
The beginning of a formal movement is often attributed to Howie the Harp, and the formation of the '''Insane Liberation Front''' in Portland, Oregon in 1969. The psychiatric survivor movement is a loose coalition of people feeling betrayed by psychiatry have come together to promote legal and treatment alternatives as members of the psychiatric survivors movement. Psychiatric survivors greatly reject the psychiatric doctrine. Anti-psychiatry groups such as MindFreedom International and the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry have also played important roles in the psychiatric survivors movement. According to members of the psychiatric survivors movement, some people considered mentally ill, and subsequently mistreated by certain psychiatrists or by psychiatric doctrine in general, do not benefit from the services offered or forced upon them. According to the movement, many respond with outrage to a system which judges them to be mentally ill, because they consider there to be a value bias within psychiatry that over-rates the judgment of psychiatrists, pharmaceutical companies, and the legal oversight of the mental health system. According to the movement, many also view interventions made in the name of help to be coercive and inherently violent in nature. Sally Clay...

In 1978 the President's Commission on Mental Health gave consumer groups what consumer groups preceived as their first official acknowledgement from the American government. "...groups composed of individuals with mental or emotional problems are being formed all over the United States" (from the President's Commission on Mental Health, 1978, p 14-15) The 2001 President's Commission on Mental Health gave even more recognition to these groups.

== The family advocacy movement ==
Most discussions on the family advocacy movement begin with '''NAMI''' or The '''National Alliance on Mental Illness''' was founded in 1979 as the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, and is a nation-wide American advocacy group, representing families and people affected by serious Mental disorders as a non-profit grass roots organization. NAMI's mission is to provide support, education, advocacy, and research for people and their families living with mental illness through various public education and awareness activities. NAMI serves families of adults with mental illness.
Two other family advocacy organizations are the '''Federation of Families for Childern's Mental Health (FFCMH)''' and the '''National Mental Health Association''' (NMHA). While '''NMHA''' serves a wider base of family members and '''FFCMH''' provides services for child and youths with emotional, behavioral and mental health issues; these groups all share the same devotion to advocacy, family support, research and public awareness regarding mental illness. Lack of services and frustrations of family members serving as care givers were the establishing forces behind the establishment of family advocacy. Another element of forging this family advocacy movement was the historical myth, prehaps rooted in Fruedian theory, was the belief that mental illness is the fault of the parents. This myth still lives today.

== The self-help movement ==
The modern self-help and advocacy movement in the field of mental health services developed in the 1970s. It has expeirinced a spectacular growth since its modest beginings. It has grown to a level of great influence. However, there are records of former psychiatric patients in the 19th Century working to change laws and public policies. For example, beginning in 1868, Elizabeth Packard, founder of the
'''Anti-Insane Asylum Society''', published a series of books and pamphlets describing her experiences in the Illinois insane asylum to which her husband had had her committed. A few decades later, another former psychiatric patient, Clifford W. Beers, founded the National Committee on Mental Hygiene, which eventually became the National Mental Health Association. Beers sought to improve the plight of individuals receiving public psychiatric care, particularly those committed to state institutions. His book, ''A Mind that Found Itself'' (1908), described his experience with mental illness and the treatment he encountered in mental hospitals. Beers' work, including his book A Mind That Found Itself (1908) stimulated public interest in the care and treatment of people with mental illness. In the 1940s, a group of former psychiatric patients founded We Are Not Alone (WANA). Their goal was to help others make the difficult transition from hospital to community. Their efforts led to the establishment of Fountain House, a psychosocial rehabilitation service for people leaving state mental institutions. The 1950s saw the advent and widespread use of lobotomy and shock therapy. These were associated with grave concerns and much opposition on grounds of basic morality, harmful effects, or misuse. Towards the 1960s, psychiatric medications came in to widespread use and also caused controversy relating to adverse effects and misuse. There were also associated moves away from large psychiatric institutions to community-based services, which sometimes empowered service users. Coming to the fore in the 1960s, an anti-psychiatry movement vocally challenged the fundamental claims and practices of mainstream psychiatry.

By the 1970s, the women's movement, gay rights movement, and disabilities rights movement had emerged. It was in this context that former mental patients began to organize groups with the common goals of fighting for patients' rights and against forced treatment, stigma and discrimination, and often to promote peer-run services as an alternative to the traditional mental health system. Unlike professional mental health services, which were usually based on the medical model, peer-run services were based on the principle that individuals who have shared similar experiences can help themselves and each other through self-help and mutual support. Many of the individuals who organized these early groups identified themselves as psychiatric survivors. Their groups had names such as Insane Liberation Front and the Network Against Psychiatric Assault. They saw the mental health system as destructive and disempowering. By the 1980s, individuals who considered themselves consumers of mental health services had begun to organize self-help/advocacy groups and peer-run services. While sharing some of the goals of the earlier movement, consumer groups did not seek to abolish the traditional mental health system, which they believed was necessary. Instead, they wanted to reform it. Consumer groups encouraged their members to learn as much as possible about the mental health system so that they could gain access to the best services and treatments available. Recipients of mental health services demanded control over their own treatment and began to have an influence on the public mental health system. They often promoted a recovery model. Whether they considered themselves consumers or survivors, activists demanded a voice and a choice. The movement today In the United States, the number of mental health mutual support groups (MSG), self-help organizations (SHO) (run by and for mental health consumers and/or family members) and consumer-operated services (COS) was recently estimated to be 7467. The movement may express a preference for the "survivor" label over the "consumer" label, with more than 60 percent of ex-patient groups reported to support anti-psychiatry beliefs and considering themselves to be "psychiatric survivors." Attempts are being made to apply consumer concepts to rural as well as urban areas. There is some variation between the perspective on the consumer/survivor movement coming from psychiatry, anti-psychiatry or consumers/survivors themselves

== The consumer movement ==
The Consumer/Survivor/Ex-Patient Movement, also known as the User/Survivor Movement, refers to a diverse association of individuals (and organizations representing them) who are currently "consumers" (clients) of mental health services, or who consider themselves "survivors" of mental health services, or who simply identify as "ex-patients". The term "survivor" may be seen as an individual whom exists on the marginal bottom of Maslow's Heirarchy of needs. The movement is associated with campaigning for improved mental health services, and particularly for greater empowerment and choice. Common themes are "talking back to the power of psychiatry", rights protection and advocacy, and self-determination. While activists in this movement may share a collective identity, they can be seen as enacting their concerns along a continuum from conservative to radical, according to their position in relation to psychiatric treatment and their relative levels of resistance and patienthood. In '''identity politics''' this term consumer has a socio-political and economic implication behind it, this implies the individual has choice.

== Professional Associations ==
Many professional organizations have influenced the recovery movement. USPRA for one heralds itself as the "''the leaders of the recovery movement''" which implies the existence of a "''recovery movement.''"

== United States Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association ==

The largest professional organization in the area of practice of psychiatric rehabilitation (or psychosocial rehabilitation) in the United States is the United States Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association (USPRA), formerly known as the International Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services (IAPSRS). Founded in 1974 by the Directors of the original thirteen psychosocial rehabilitation centers in the United States.USPRA works together with agencies, practitioners, families and persons living with psychiatric disabilities, leaders in psychiatric rehabilitation education and research from major universities across the United States and the world, as well as state and federal government entities dedicated to improving outcomes in the cost-effective, evidenced-based recovery model involved in treating persons with psychiatric disabilities.

<big>USPRA's Purpose</big> The founders of the original IAPSRS envisioned an international association that would promote and provide optimistic strengths-based and community-based services for persons with severe and persistent mental illnesses. They deeply believed that an association was needed to share successful Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services or Psychiatric Rehabilitation methods, and advocate for the public funding of rehabilitation. The United States Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association, Inc. is a nonprofit organization of psychosocial rehabilitation agencies, practitioners, and interested organizations and individuals dedicated to promoting, supporting and strengthening community-oriented rehabilitation services and resources for persons with psychiatric disabilities.The primary purposes of the association are to promote and support the development of community-oriented psychosocial rehabilitation programs for persons with psychiatric disabilities; to promote the concept and role of community-oriented psychosocial rehabilitation as a primary programmatic modality in provision of mental health services; to support and facilitate the formation and operation of inter-member cooperative research studies and evaluations of the needs, methods, and effectiveness of community-oriented psychosocial rehabilitation; To serve as a vehicle for professional communication, increased understanding, and research utilization through the development of newsletters, journals, conferences, and-or other similar mechanisms for technology transfer; to exercise leadership and otherwise encourage the development of improved concepts, methods, and practices associated with serving the needs of persons with psychiatric disabilities and the training of personnel involved in such activities; to encourage and facilitate improved coordination and continuity of services provided to persons with psychiatric disabilities, especially with regard to linkages between mental hospitals, mental health centers, and community-based psychosocial rehabilitation facilities; and to exercise leadership in informing the public and policy makers of the problems and needs of persons with psychiatric disabilities, and to encourage and conduct public education programs and/or other functions on behalf of that group. It is the vision of the United States Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association (USPRA) to be the preeminent source of training, advocacy and new technologies to help advance the role, scope, and quality of services designed to facilitate the community readjustment of people with psychiatric disabilities.

<big>Certificate of Psychiatric Rehabilitation</big> USPRAs’ purpose for the Certification of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Practitioner (CPRP)is to foster the growth of a qualified, ethical, and culturally diverse psychiatric rehabilitation workforce through a test-based certification program and enforcement of a practitioner code of ethics. The CPRP credential is recognized in twelve states in the US by regulations defining and-or qualifying mental health practitioners such as; Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and active in lobbying for legislation in other states.

== National Association of Peer Speacialists ==
Legal and political history that has structured the recovery movement

== National Mental Health Policies ==

United States and Canada
Some US states, such as Wisconsin and Ohio, report redesigning their mental health systems to stress values like hope, healing, empowerment, social connectedness, human rights, and recovery-oriented services. The US Department of Health and Human Sciences reports developing national and state initiatives to empower consumers and support recovery, with specific committees planning to launch nationwide pro-recovery, anti-stigma education campaigns; develop and synthesize recovery policies; train consumers in carrying out evaluations of mental health systems; and help further the development of peer-run services. Mental Health service directors and planners are providing guidance to help state services implement recovery approaches.

At least some parts of the Canadian Mental Health Association, such as the Ontario region, have adopted recovery as a guiding principle for reforming and developing the mental health system.

New Zealand and Australia
Since 1998, all mental health services in New Zealand have been required by government policy to use a recovery approach and mental health professionals are expected to demonstrate competence in the recovery model. Australia's National Mental Health Plan 2003-2008 states that services should adopt a recovery orientation although there is variation between Australian states and territories in the level of knowledge, commitment and implementation.

UK & Ireland
The National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE) has endorsed a recovery model as the guiding principle of mental health service provision and public education. A new role of Support Time and Recovery Worker has been implemented by the National Health Service. The Scottish Executive has included promoting and supporting recovery as one of its four key mental health aims and funded a Scottish Recovery Network to facilitate this. A 2006 review of nursing in Scotland recommended a recovery approach as the model for mental health nursing care and intervention. The Mental Health Commission of Ireland reports that its guiding documents place the service user at the core and emphasize an individual’s personal journey towards recovery.

== Criticism of the recovery movement ==
Anti-medical and Anti-psychiatry groups hold the belief that NAMI, which is funded by Eli Lily, Janseen and other pharmacuetical companies, is a puppet of propaganda for the drug industry. It is believed by those who oppose medication and psychiatry that the ''recovery buzz'' is just this propaganda. However consumers of the mental health movement who are in recovery or have experinced great strides in recovery will tend to disagree with these possibly well intentioned attacks against the pharmacuetical industry. A great deal of ''those in recovery'' or within the ''consumer movement'' are anti-medication and anti-psychiatry to some slight degree; in that they believe medication and psychiatry is only part of their recovery, or just one of the tools that can be used to recover from a psychiatric condition. The recovery model is although not meant to be at war with the medical model. Many mental health workers are now looking at utilizing the least restrictive environments in the care of disabled persons; medication has a seriously recognisable and notable history of being used as a restraint, therefore seen as a restrictive measure.

The Theory of Recovery Psychology/Preface

2008-10-03T01:44:49Z

68.231.134.206: /* Preface */ clarify sentace on S

== Preface ==
''person-first language''
*Often the behavior sciences; such as psychology, barely address the concept of recovery from psychological disorders. While such do acknowledge that people do have psychological disorders, such courses of study do not address how a person with a disorder grows, changes, copes, adapts, learns or rises above the label of a disorder. After the establishment of the '''person-first language''' policy by the American Psychological Association was imposed to change the language bias of labeling a person as a disorder or an illness first and person second. Now with person first language, we would say that a person is a person first and second that a person who has a disability has a disability second to being a person; Behavior Sciences courses tuaght at colleges and universities still exist in their realm of disability first labels. Abnormal Science or Deviant Science, whether it be psychology or other wise implies the study of deviance and abnormality. In regards to pathology and nosology, anything in order to be discussed must obviously named and defined so that it may be discussed. No subject can be discussed without points of reference, without symbolic interaction communication of ideas may not be conveyed in seeking solutions for problems.
*So far psychology has aimed to discuss treatment of abnormal behavior in the context of remission instead of recovery. To say a persons disorder is in remission is not the same as saying the person is living a satisfactory life that would have been lived with out a disorder, or that the person has regained the ability to live life. In the field of psychiatry the term mental disorder, psychiatric condition or mental illness is used, in rehabilitation the term disability is used, and in psychology the term psychological disorder is used to describe the diagnoses which these prespective sciences study. Since recovery psychology addresses all of these, it is important to note from which prespective the various writers and speakers are coming from to understand thier influence on recovery psychology. "Recovery" is a concept that is faced with great skepticism with in the academic and scientific community; however it is not simply going to go away if ignored.
*The movement toward parity in the medical establishment may leave many in a state of confusion regarding the proper speak in their attempts to develop their efficacy. The debate over terminology may impede progress, although there may an obsessive compulsive or anal retentive need for perfection in some professionals' efforts to advance the technology. Mental disorders are psychiatric conditions, are we allowed to call theses conditions illnesses? Can we say a person has a psychiatric diagnosis? And what about the people served by the mental health system; what title or category should they be organized under.
*Using vocabulary that can help restore dignity, a person can say that they have a physical illness of the brain which involves a chemical imbalance or that neurotransmitters are not functioning as they should. The term "chemically imbalanced person" has an adjective which is modifying the noun, and limits the noun as it describes the whole being. As we would not use to describe a person with cancer as a "cancer person or cancerous individual", the more correct would be "a person with cancer."
*The author would prefer to use the term '''person in recovery''' or persons in recovery overall other terms, however sometimes another term may be more suitable depending on the context. A person receiving services from the mental health system is often referred to as a "consumer." This has certain benefits and certain shortcomings. First, it has a connotation of empowerment, as in the "customer" or primary stakeholder would have the authority that dictates proper business practices; however any person with a knowledge of biology would question the term "consumer." The term "consumer" is associated with the term "decomposer" which is similar to bacteria, fungus, insects and scavengers. What a grotesque term the word "consumer" sounds like? Another compliant about the word "consumer" is that it is a political designation; it assumes a person went out and purchased their plight and so their care may then be legislated at the will of the powers that be.
*In the past the terms: "recipient," "survivor", "patient", "ex-patient", "member" and "SMI" have been used. In legal terms the acronym SMI is used for '''seriously mentally ill''', which used to be SPMI for severely and persistently mentally ill or even CMI for chronically mentally ill. '''Seriously Mentally ill''' is a designation for persons with persistently dibilitating psychotic conditions such schizophrenia or persistently dibilitating mood disorders. As one trainer at rehabilitation staff training stated SMI can be looked upon as meaning "''significantly more interesting''" suggested as a more positive way of viewing persons with psychiatric disabilities. A step further would be to say that a person is not disabled but differently abled.

[[A Textbook on Recovery Psychology/Preface|Preface Part1]]
[[A Textbook on Recovery Psychology/Preface pt2|Preface Part2]]
[[A Textbook on Recovery Psychology/Preface pt3|Preface Part3]]
[[A Textbook on Recovery Psychology/Preface pt4|Preface Part4]]

Archive:William Brocius

2007-04-01T21:59:20Z

68.231.221.138: /* Description */

'''William "Curly Bill" Brocius''' or '''Brocious''' (c. 1845-[[March 24]], [[1882]]) was an [[American Old West]] [[outlaw]], [[gunslinger|gunman]] and member of the "Cow-boys" outlaw gang of the [[Tombstone, Arizona|Tombstone]] area in the [[Arizona Territory]] during the early to mid-1880s.

== Name confusion ==

Brocius is sometimes confused with "Curly Bill" Graham, who was a different outlaw of the same general place and period. Curly Bill Graham was killed in a gunfight by Deputy Sheriff James D. Houck [[October 17]], [[1887]], buried in [[Young, Arizona]], and is almost certainly not the Curly Bill of Charleston and Tombstone.

In newspapers of the time Brocius is usually known simply as "Curly Bill", but later he was also referred to by the spelling of "Curley Bill". The spelling of "Brocious" has also been used (including in modern movies), but "Brocius" is the name the outlaw used for his maildrop in the Arizona Territory, according to one published letter of the time. Brocius is probably an alias. His birth name (including middle initial) and date of birth are unknown.

Stories that Brocius once had a wife and children and paid another man to fight in the American Civil War for him, all arise from unverifiable claims in a letter that somebody (later untraceable) once sent to historian Ben Traywick. They are based on the very poorest of evidence, and are often disregarded.

==Description==
No known photograph of Brocius exists, but from description he was known to have been a big man, well-built, with curly black hair, and of freckled complexion.

Brocius is described by contemporary Billy Breakenridge in his book ''[[Helldorado]]'' as being the most deadly pistol shot of the Cow-boys, able to hit running jackrabbits, shoot out candle flames without breaking the candles or lantern holders, and able to shoot quarters from between the fingers of "volunteers." When drunk, Brocius was also known for a mean sense of humor, and for such "[[practical joke]]s" as using gunfire to make a preacher "dance" during a sermon, or making Mexicans at a community dance take off their clothes and dance naked. (Both incidents were reported by Wells, Fargo agent Fred Dodge in this memoirs, and both incidents are alluded to in the newspapers of the time).

== Arrival in Tombstone, confrontations with Wyatt Earp ==

Brocius probably came to the Arizona Territory from [[Texas]] around 1878 after arriving at the [[San Carlos Reservation]] with a herd of cattle, but his earlier history is a matter of question. [[Wyatt Earp]], from conversations with Brocius while transporting him to Tucson for trial (for shooting town [[Marshal]] [[Fred White]]) in 1880, thought Brocius was an escaped outlaw from [[El Paso, Texas]]. There, he is the man who possibly had his right ear shot through by Texas Ranger Thomas Mode. <ref>(El Paso Daily Times, 18 July 1883)</ref>

These conversations with Earp were reported in the ''[[Tombstone Epitaph]]'' at the time. According to Earp, Curly Bill had asked him about lawyers during the journey, and Earp had recommended a man named Zabriski. Curly Bill had said he could not use Zabriski because Zabriski had years earlier been his state prosecutor for a crime he had been convicted of in El Paso, Texas—a robbery in which a man had been killed. Later historical work based in this fact has linked "Brocius" with a man known as William "Curly Bill" Bresnaham, who was convicted in a Texas robbery attempt in 1878 with another known "Cow-boy" of the Tombstone area, named Robert Martin. These men were convicted and sentenced to 5 years in prison, but both escaped, presumably to the southwest Arizona Territory. Since both Robert Martin and Curly Bill became known as leaders of the rustlers in Arizona Territory, they are likely the same Robert Martin and Curly Bill of the Texas crime.

According to author Robert Utley, Robert Martin was a member of the [[Jesse Evans]] gang of outlaws in [[New Mexico]] during the mid to late 1870s. [[Billy the Kid]] briefly joined this group before going to work for [[John Tunstall]]. Evans' gang, a loosely-knit consortium of desperadoes known as "The Boys", would end up fighting against the "Regulators" during the [[Lincoln County War]]. Because of the time frame, location, and his friendship with Martin, Curly Bill Brocius may have been a member of the Evans gang as well. When Brocius was shot in Galeyville in 1881, he derided his attacker, Jim Wallace, as a "Lincoln County sonofabitch".

Undersheriff Wyatt Earp (with a deputy) was transporting Brocius to [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]] for trial after the [[October 27]], [[1880]], shooting of Tombstone town Marshal [[Fred White]], following an incident where Brocius' gun discharged accidentally, while he was drunk and surrendering it to White. He was arrested immediately after the incident by Wyatt Earp, who "buffaloed" him (hit him over the head with a pistol barrel) in the process. Wyatt Earp, acting in his capacity as deputy sheriff (undersheriff for the Tombstone area) of [[Pima County, Arizona]], then took Brocius to Tucson the next day for trial, possibly averting a lynching. Brocius waived his right to a preliminary hearing, which is evidence he wanted to get out of town.

White died two days after being shot, by which time Brocius was in jail in Tucson. Although formally charged with the murder of White, and spending most of November and December 1880 in jail awaiting trial, Brocius was acquitted with a verdict of accidental death. Before dying, White testified that he thought the pistol had gone off by accident, and that he did not believe the shooting was intentional. Wyatt Earp also testified in favor of Brocius—an irony, given their later deadly feud.

==== Clanton gang ====

Brocius was known as a rustler, but for a time, he also worked as a tax collection agent for Cochise County Sheriff [[Johnny Behan]], making other rustlers pay taxes on their stolen cattle (the money went into the sheriff's coffers and added to his salary).

On [[May 26]], [[1881]], Brocius was shot by a compadre after an argument in Galeyville. The bullet passed though his neck and out the opposite cheek, and he survived.

In July 1881, Brocius and [[Johnny Ringo]] were said to have gone to [[Hauchita]], [[New Mexico]], to kill William and Isaac Haslett in revenge for the deaths of Clanton members Bill Leonard and Harry Head, who had attempted to rob the Haslett brothers' general store weeks earlier. Later in July, Brocius was said to have led an ambush attacking a Mexican trail herd in the [[San Luis Pass]] killing six [[vaqueros]] and torturing the remaining eight men.
There is no way of historically verifying these stories however, and Brocius was not charged with the crimes. These events, like the Haslett killings, also occurred quite near the time of Brocius' very serious wound, so his involvement in them is somewhat questionable. Diarist George Parsons saw Brocius on [[October 6]] at the ranch of the McLaury brothers in the Sulphur Spring Valley, while Parsons was riding as part of an Indian scouting party, and noted that even by then, Curly Bill was well enough to ride but had not yet completely recovered from his wound of 5 months before.

Following the death of [[Old Man Clanton]] in the [[Guadalupe Canyon Massacre]] on [[August 13]],[[1881]], Brocius became a primary leader in the very loose-knit Cow-boy gang. Parson's refers to Brocius as "Arizona's most famous outlaw" in early October 1881. However, despite many reports since, the Cow-boy gang was not closely organized. They had a loose gang-based association but broke off into several small groups, and outlaw acts committed by them were rarely well planned or coordinated. The gang was a collection of independent outlaws that used their association with the Cow-boys as a base of operations.

== Gunfight at the OK Corral and after ==

Following the [[Gunfight at the O.K. Corral]] in October 1881, Brocius may have participated in an attempt to kill Virgil Earp and the assassination of [[Morgan Earp]]. Brocius was not charged since there were no eye witnesses to either crime.

After the killing of [[Frank Stilwell]] by the Earp party in Tucson on [[March 20]], [[1882]], during the [[Earp vendetta ride]], Brocius was deputized, given a warrant issued for Wyatt Earp by Sheriff Johnny Behan, and sent to bring back Earp, who was in the [[Whetstone Mountains]] outside town.

Earp, who was also looking for Brocius in revenge for the death of his brother Morgan, encountered Curly Bill on [[March 24]], [[1882]], at [[Iron Springs]] (present day [[Mescal Springs, Arizona|Mescal Springs]]). Brocius was camping outside his tent near the springs and was surprised while in the act of cooking over a campfire. In the gunfight that followed, Wyatt killed Brocius with a double shotgun blast to the chest from a range of about 50 feet (15 m). Brocius narrowly missed his own shot, hitting only Wyatt's long winter coat.

After Brocius' death, his friends were said by John Flood to have buried the body on the nearby Frank Patterson ranch on the [[Babocomari River]]. This land, close to the original McLaury ranch site before the McLaurys moved to the Sulphur Springs Valley in late 1880, originally is believed to have previously belonged to Frank Stilwell and is located on the river about five miles (8 km) west of Fairbank. If Brocius' body is there, in a still-wild section of country, the gravesite has been lost. Some claimed that Curly Bill escaped, changed his name, and went to Texas. However, he was never seen again in Tombstone after [[March 24]], [[1882]], despite a $2,000 reward later put up by the ''Tombstone Epitaph'' for an authentic interview and sighting of him alive.

Tombstone historian Ben Traywick has argued that this was too much money for a man like Brocius to turn down, especially since he was not wanted by the law in Arizona for any crime and had no reason to disappear when he did (and certainly no reason to go back to Texas, w''here he actually ''was'' probably a wanted man). In any case, the money offered by the Tombstone Epitaph'' was never claimed.

== Portrayals in film ==
*Brocius is played by [[Jon Voight]] in ''[[Hour of the Gun]]'' (1967).
*Brocius is played by [[Powers Boothe]] in the 1993 movie ''[[Tombstone (movie)|Tombstone]]'' (1993) starring [[Kurt Russell]] as Wyatt Earp. This movie draws heavily on the Breakenridge book ''[[Helldorado]]''.
*Brocius is played by Lewis Smith in the 1994 movie ''[[Wyatt Earp (film)|Wyatt Earp]]'' ([[1994]]) starring [[Kevin Costner]] as Wyatt Earp.

== Resources ==
*Sifakis, Carl. ''Encyclopedia of American Crime''. New York: Facts on File Inc., 1982.

== External links ==
* [http://www.westernoutlaw.com/stories/files/Showdown.pdf Quotes from historical documents]
* [http://members.tripod.com/~Tombstonehistory/cbindex.html Historical detective work by Steve Gatto]
* [http://www.tombstone1880.com/archives/curly.htm Contemporary newspaper account of Curly Bill's near-fatal shooting in May 1881]

[[Category:American outlaws|Brocius, William]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing|Brocius, William]]
[[Category:1882 deaths|Brocius, William]]
[[Category:People shot dead by police|Brocius, William]]
[[Category:American folklore|Brocius, William]]
[[Category:American folklore|West, Wild|Brocius, William]]
[[Category:History of the American West|Brocius, William]]
[[Category:Gunmen of the American Old West|Brocius, William]]
[[Category:Cochise County, Arizona||Brocius, William]]