About 1946, Ed Echols was constable for Precinct 2. In 1907 he had traveled with the Miller Brothers Wild West Show. At the Calgary Stampede of 1912, he roped his third steer of the day in 23.45 seconds for a world record. He also did a stint with a Wild West show touring Europe. Through such rootin' tootin' exhibitions, Ed got to know two of this country's most famous celluloid cowhands: Tom Mix and Will Rogers.

During an election he got some help from Will Rogers. Seems that Rogers agreed to steal some time away from movie-making in Hollywood to do a little campaigning for his old pal. After directing his pilot on where to land, Rogers praised the absent Echols in front of a crowd that had obligingly gathered and then he got back in his plane and headed for the Coast.

Once the election was over, the loser - ever gracious in defeat - wrote to Rogers: "It was swell of you to do that for me, Will. But the hell of it was, they throwed out all them votes you corralled for me. You landed in Cochise County instead of Pima." Two years later, Ed Echols was elected sheriff, an office he would hold through four more elections. His first official duty as sheriff: lassoing an escaped lion once kept by the University of Arizona.