Prescott
O'Neill arrived in Prescott in the spring of 1882. There he rapidly progressed in his journalistic career. Starting as a court reporter, he soon founded his own newspaper, Hoof and Horn, a paper for the livestock industry.
He became captain of the Prescott Grays in 1886, the local unit of the Arizona Militia. On February 5, 1886, Dennis Dilda, a convicted murderer, was hanged. O'Neill and the Prescott Grays stood honor guard for the event. When the trap dropped, O'Neill fainted, which caused him severe embarrassment. He later wrote a story called "The Horse of the Hash-Knife Brand." In it, a member of a posse admits to nearly fainting at the hanging of a horse thief.
In April 27, 1886, he married Pauline Schindler. They had a son, but he died shortly after being born premature.
In 1888, while serving as Yavapai County, Arizona judge, he was elected county sheriff, running on the Republican ticket.
On March 20, 1889, four masked men robbed the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad passenger train in Diablo Canyon. A four-man posse, made up of O'Neill, Jim Black, Carl Holton, and Ed St. Clair, was soon formed and they took off after robbers. On March 21, O'Neill and his posse caught up with the robbers. After exchanging rifle shots, the posse captured the four men. During the fight, no men were injured, but O'Neill's horse was killed.
The four men were William Sterin, John Halford, Daniel Harvick, and J. J. Smith. All four were sent to the Yuma Territorial Prison, but were pardoned eight years later. In 1898, William Sterin enlisted in the Rough Riders under the name Henry Nash, posing as a school teacher from Strawberry, Arizona. He served as a Sergeant under O'Neill, although the latter was unaware of his past.
After his term was up, O'Neill was elected unanimously Mayor of Prescott.
In 1894 and 1896 he ran for Delegate to the United States House of Representatives from Arizona Territory, running on the Populist Party ticket.
One of his best friends was Tom Horn.
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