August 25, 1896 Bill Doolin is killed by a posse at Lawson, Oklahoma.
Doolin's grave in Guthrie.
110 years ago today, Okie outlaw Bill Doolin's skin was ventilated by multiple gunshot wounds and he headed for the last round-up. Born in Arkansas in 1858, William "Bill" Doolin was never as hardened a criminal as some of his companions. He went west in 1881, finding work in Oklahoma at the big ranch of Oscar D. Halsell on the Cimarron River. Halsell took a liking to the young Arkansan, taught him to write and do simple arithmetic, and eventually made him top hand on the ranch.
By all accounts, Doolin made a pretty good cowboy. Doolin worked for several other ranchers in the next decade and he was widely considered trustworthy and capable and darn it...people liked him.
Bill Doolin photographed while still a cowhand before becoming "King of the Oklahoma Outlaws."
It was during this time of working as a cowboy that he would meet most of the members of his future Wild Bunch. Working on the ranches in Oklahoma, Bill Doolin would meet George "Bitter Creek" Newcomb, Charlie Pierce, Bill Power, Dick Broadwell, Bill "Tulsa Jack" Blake, and Emmett Dalton.
Tulsa Jack Blake just before his long dirt nap
Doolin's first brush with the law came in the summer of 1891, while working on the Bar X Bar Ranch. Several of the cowboys decided to celebrate the 4th of July holiday by riding over to Coffeyville, KS and throwing a party. There was a keg of beer there and the laws showed up. Kansas was a dry state. When they tried to confiscate the beer there was a shoot-out, and two officers were wounded. From that day on Bill Doolin was on the dodge.
By September of 1891, Bill Doolin was riding with the Dalton Brothers. He participated in the train robberies at Leliaetta, I. T., Red Rock, O.T., and Adair, I. .. Several reasons have been given as to why Bill Doolin did not join the Dalton Gang on their fatal raid on two banks in Coffeyville, KS on Oct. 5, 1892.
It has even been rumored that he was the mysterious 6th rider that day. But whether he was the 6th man, or Bob Dalton was jealous of his growing popularity in the gang, or that Bob considered him too much of a "wildcat" and too uncontrollable...one thing is for sure. Doolin was a lucky man that day. With the death of Bob Dalton in Coffeyville during that raid, Bill Doolin inherited a few of the surving Dalton gang members, who too joined his "Wild Bunch."
Ol Yantis headed for the last round-up
By the spring of 1893 the gang was riding high. Their reputation was growing and their deeds were becoming bolder. On March 14, 1893 Bill Doolin and Edith Ellsworth of Ingalls, O.T. were married in Kingfisher O.T. Whether Edith knew Bill was an outlaw at the time is not known, but throughout his career as an outlaw she stuck by him, all the time keeping the marriage a secret and meeting him in secret
For a "wedding present" the Wild Bunch robbed the train near Cimarron, KS on June 11, 1893. While being pursued by a posse, Bill Doolin was shot and wounded in the left foot. He would recover from his wound, but it would leave him with a limp and plague him the rest of his life, and would be a contributing factor in his capture years later.
"Bitter Creek" Newcomb and Charley Pierce share a table for two.
For almost three more years, Doolin and the Wild Bunch raised hell and participated in a variety of bank and train robberies all over the Oklahoma and Indian territories, Southern Kansas and even ranged into Northern texass. A careful and methodical man, Doolin planned his robberies well. Though he was shot a few more times, the wounds were never serious.
Success inevitably brought increased pressure from law enforcement and Doolin's Wild Bunch began to be more effectively pursued when and wherever they showed themselves. One by one his boys were either gunned down or captured. . In 1895, Doolin and his "Wild Bunch" gang scattered and Bill Doolin went into hiding in New Mexico.
Red Buck Waightman deader than Julius Caesar
Doolin made several offers to surrender in exchange for a light sentence, but his offers were rejected. Doolin hated NM and lit out for home after a few months. In January 1896, the famous lawman Bill Tilghman single-handedly captured Doolin while he was on a family vacation with Edith at Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The outlaw, who was at the springs to relax and take in the medicinal waters, was caught by surprise, and Tilghman arrested him peacefully.
This portait of Bill Tilghman, sponsored by our boy governor Brad Henry, hangs in the Oklahoma Senate Lounge. Tilghman came to Oklahoma during the land run of April 1889 and established his first home at Guthrie. In 1891, he was appointed a deputy United States Marshal and served continuously for 19 years, being re-appointed by every United States Marshal in Oklahoma until 1910. In 1893, he was known as one of the "Three Guardsmen" who brought law to the town of Perry, and tracked down members of the Doolin gang, including the arrest of outlaw Bill Doolin at a bath house in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The "Last of the Great Lawmen", Bat Masterson called Tilghman, the "best of us all".
Doolin was jailed at the territorial capital of Guthrie, O.T. In true Doolin style, while awaiting trial, Doolin and a few of his boys "busted out" on July 5, 1896.
"Little Dick" West...his nickname could never bother him again.
Doolin managed to elude the pursuing posse from the 5th of July until this day in 1896 -- for nearly two months. The posse, led by Marshal Heck Thomas finally caught up with him at Lawson, O.T. on August 25th. It had been tipped off by a couple blacksmith brothers named Noble who made their living in the tiny crossroads town.
Marshal Heck Thomas...the man who killed Bill.
Badly outnumbered that morning, with wife Edith in a nearby house, Doolin drew his gun. A rain of shotgun and rifle fire instantly killed him. He was 38 years old. Doolin is buried in Guthrie, Oklahoma.
Killed Bill
Graves of Doolin and a few of the Wild Bunch can be seeen in Guthrie's Summitview Cemetery.
BTW, If you have the Eagles album Desperado, the song "Doolin-Dalton" briefly describes his life and his meeting Bill Dalton. The lyrics are ...'till Bill Doolin met Bill Dalton....."
The Members of the Wild Bunch
Bill Doolin -- Boss
George "Bitter Creek" Newcomb
Charlie Pierce
Oliver "Ol" Yantis
William "Bill" Dalton
Bill "Tulsa Jack" Blake
Charles "Dynamite Dick" Clifton
George "Red Buck" Waightman
Roy Daugherty (aka "Arkansas Tom Jones")
William F. "Little Bill" Raidler
Richard "Little Dick" West
All died violently or received life in prison.
Hollywood's tribute
Originally Posted by OU4LIFE
