San Diego was still the Wild West in Conroy’s tenure. News reports in 1853-1854 mention escapes, shootouts, and Indian troubles.
In the San Diego Herald, 15 October 1853, there was a news article about a failed escape, in true yellow-journalism style: “An Indian Shot. – Sheriff Conroy shot an Indian, night before last, wounding him, it was supposed at the time, fatally. It has been ascertained since, we hear, that he will recover. The Indian was endeavoring to make his escape when the sheriff fired upon him. P.S. He’s Dead!”
In the same issue, the Sheriff posted a wanted notice:
Like other Sheriffs of the time, Sheriff Conroy also became enmeshed in Indian troubles. After he publicly whipped for theft a “Dieguino” (sic) Indian by the name of Tomas, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs in California (a Lieut. Beale) appointed this Tomas as “Captain” of the “Dieguino” tribe. Per the San Diego Herald (18 March 1854), the Tribe had lost all respect for Tomas and was then petitioning Col. C.J. Couts, the sub-Indian Agent for the County to remove Tomas and replace him with a man named Panto as the new Captain.
