I will address Jeffords' physical appearance in more detail in the section "Cochise in the Movies", but I do want to make mention that he did not always wear the beard he has become known for.  It was obviously a major feature during his time with Cochise's people, hence the affectionate appellation "Sandy Whiskers" . . . and we have proof of its existence at that time in another source -- the journal of Joseph Alton Sladen:
 

     In addition, we have the famous portrait of Jeffords, arranged by his friend Alice Rollins Crane in the year 1897.  It is in fact the only formal photograph of this most elusive fellow that we know of.  In it, the beard is healthy and full, though not particularly long.  It seems logical to assume that he preferred a shorter style late in his life.

     A comment made at Jeffords' funeral in 1914 by Arizona Governor L.C. Hughes supports the idea that he did not wear a beard with regularity:
 

     For a man who had lived mainly as a recluse in his elder years, Tom Jeffords went to his grave with a fair amount of memorialization.  During his frontier days he had amassed both friends and enemies, but it seems that as an aging celebrity he had become rather well liked.  His death at the age of 83 is assumed to have been due to "old age" or possibly pneumonia, and he passed away quiety at his ranch near Tucson in the company of "one man" (according to an obituary published in a Tucson newspaper.)  While it is not known who this man was for certain, it could well have been Victor Morajeska, one of Jeffords' executors and at some time or other Alice Rollins Crane's second husband (I am uncertain whether she was married to him at this time, or if the marriage occurred later when Crane moved to Alaska.)

     While we are on the subject of the funeral, it is interesting to note that the writer of the obituary, which can be seen on the next page, mentions as fact the notion that Cochise and Jeffords were "blood brothers".   One can assume that at the time it was held to be truth by the citizens of Arizona in spite of the complete lack of substantiating evidence available to us now.