Binkley   Frank Binkley the frontiersman had an eye gouged out in a fight Could have been an Indian did that to him or something took a bite   Had some diggings at a canyon junction with the San Jacinto river somewhere south of Railroad Canyon dam, he was a taker not a giver   Frank and his wife were living in San Bernardino around 1863  Busy buying and selling parcels of  land, they say more then three   Around this time Frank became a freighter getting goods through from San Pedro heading to Arizona towns by way of San Berdoo   He's the guy that hired Wyatt Earp about 1865 to drive a team Ten animal teams going out to Prescott, no air conditioned dream   Binkley recalled Earp was "one of the best on the Arizona trace" Funny how we have learned of Wyatt and not Binkleys face   They would line out in trains of fifteen teams to Arizona Just four skills were needed by the drivers who were gonna   Handle half broke horses and mules to get there on schedule Strength and stamina to withstand hardship was another rule   Shoot straight as an arrow with rifle and pistol on demand number four was "courage" for what blows up with the sand   Don't know what happened to old Binkley or his "diggings" maybe he just fell asleep one night untying his boot lacings   But I'll bet his life ended as he dreamed up one more plan to make use of the desert to help his fellow man

©Steve Dirksen