The Last Days of Bill Doolin by Dee Cordry
(Story from Volume VII #3 (Spring 1996) of the OklahombreS Journal)
Bill Doolin was arraigned in Stillwater on murder charges on May 1, 1896 based on his role in the Battle of Ingalls and the deaths of three deputy U.S. marshals. Doolin had earlier agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a fifty year
prison sentence, but when he appeared before the judge he pled "not guilty." On the way back to Guthrie, deputy U.S. marshal Bill Tilghman asked Doolin why he had gone back on his word, and Doolin replied that fifty years was a mighty long time.
ESCAPE
An escape attempt by Doolin had already been discovered by guards at the Guthrie jail. On March 10th, 1896 a
tunnel was discovered in the jail leading under the jail wall. Doolin, Bill Raidler, Bob Montgomery, and several other prisoners were suspected of digging the tunnel. A search by guards turned up several knives and revolvers hidden in the jail. Doolin was housed in one of the more secure cells known as the "front cells" until the last week of June, when he pretended to be sick and was moved to the bull pen where several prisoners were kept. Then on the night of July 5th Doolin stood ready when prisoner George Lane grabbed night jailer J. T. Tull. The only other jailer, Joe Miller, was already in the bull pen. Before Miller could respond, Doolin jumped through the open door to the bull pen and grabbed a revolver. Other inmates held Tull and grabbed his gun. Fourteen inmates escaped from the federal jail, including Bill Doolin and Dynamite Dick(also known as Dan Clifton.) The government had spent over $50,000 and had lost the lives of at least three deputy U.S. marshals in it's effort to capture Bill Doolin, and now the most desperate outlaw in the territory was at large.
Doolin and Dynamite Dick and escapee W. H. Jones fled north from Guthrie along the railroad tracks,
apparently headed for Mulhall. According to Hanes, they "pushed north and east all night and hid out in the timber the next day." They had to cross the Cimarron river somewhere, and Doolin may have used a ferry across the river which is described in "Cowboy Flat, From Cow Country to Combine" by M. C. Rouse. The location of the ferry is described as due north of present day Langston, and a little downriver from Pleasant Valley, also known as Cowboy Flats.
COWBOY FLATS
Not long after the Ingalls battle, Doolin and his gang were suspected of hiding in Pleasant Valley. Deputy U.S. Marshal Chris Madsen learned that Doolin might be at David Fitzgerald's ranch, which was located in the southwest 1/4 of Section 34 in the bend of the Cimarron River. In October 1893, Madsen led a posse there and confronted Fitzgerald but was unsuccessful in locating the gang.
Another member of the Doolin gang, Bitter Creek Newcomb, had been a resident of Pleasant Valley. Newcomb filed a claim on May 20, 1891 for the northwest 1/4 of Section 34 (adjoining the Fitzgerald ranch). He relinquished the claim in March of 1892. Other outlaws who were known to hold claims in this bend of the Cimarron River were Zip Wyatt, Little Dick West, Dick Broadwell, and Bill Powers. It is likely that Doolin was well acquainted with "outlaw flats" and would have sought refuge there the first night of his escape.
Deputy marshals Heck Thomas and Bill Crane set out immediately in pursuit of Doolin. Chief Deputy M. J. Kane sent telegrams to lawmen in the surrounding area. United States Marshal Nagle must have suspected that Doolin would hide out in Cowboy Flats: he appointed fifteen special deputies to search Cowboy Flats and the Cimarron River east to Perkins. Deputy Marshal Charles Colcord led a posse from Perry to the "Triangle Country" near the junction of the Arkansas and Cimarron Rivers. Other lawmen set out for Stillwater and Ingalls. But the massive manhunt failed to corner Bill
Doolin.
Heck Thomas included his son Albert in his posse while hunting Bill Doolin. Albert related a humorous incident that took place shortly after the Doolin escape: "Early in July, with possemen Bill Crane and myself, he made a trip from Guthrie to about 15 miles northeast of Stillwater, looking for Doolin. We camped overnight, and the next morning, Crane and I got to scuffling around the campfire. I stepped on a corncob, fell and, as it developed later, broke a small bone in my right ankle. Father loaded me in the bottom of his spring wagon, with my leg resting on a pile of bedding, and started back to Stillwater, stopped in front of a drug store and, as I remember it, bought a bottle of Mexican Mustang liniment and a bag of candy. He pretended he thought I might cry while he was rubing my leg with the liniment and told me I could have the bag of candy if I didn't. (Of course, I didn't.) The druggist decided my ankle was really broken and recommended I be driven back, as quickly as possible, to Guthrie."
"The following is what really got my goat: While lying in the wagon, a reporter from a Stillwater paper came by and, recognizing my father, stopped to shake hands. Father told him I was a young horse thief he had tried to arrest the day before and shot in the leg in order to capture me! Well, the reporter wrote an account of how Heck Thomas had come through Stillwater with a wounded horse thief and went on at length to describe how tough and hard-boiled I looked and how Heck Thomas was to be commended for getting another outlaw. This account was printed on the front page of the paper. My father procured several copies and mailed them back to family and friends in Georgia. Of course, the true story was printed later, but I didn't hear the last of this little incident for some time."
According to author Bailey C. Hanes, Doolin and Dynamite Dick began heading for Morrison on the night of July 6th. Morrison is located east of Perry and north of Stillwater. They did not arrive there until the next night. The distance from the Cimarron River to Morrison would not usually require 24 hours to complete. Maybe the time required for Doolin to travel that distance indicates the heavy concentration of lawmen earching for him in the area surrounding Stillwater. In any event, on the night of July 7th, Doolin and Clifton robbed Grant Owen's saloon in Morrison and shot the bartender. Then they headed for the Cimarron River near Lawson.
Doolin was supposedly spotted east of Oklahoma City on July 11th, and then was reported to be back in the Morrison area three days later. And on July 27th newspapers reported that Doolin and Clifton had pulled a robbery near Okeene. Heck Thomas did not believe these reports, suspecting that Bill Doolin was hiding in the Ingalls or Lawson area. It is unknown if Thomas suspected Doolin of hiding at Clayton, a small town west of Ingalls and near Ripley. Doolin may have hidden in the back room of C. A. McKenzie's store in Clayton during this time period.
LAWSON
Escapee C. E. Lawrence was captured near Enid by deputy U.S. marshal John Smith. Lawrence was questioned by Heck Thomas, and he revealed that Doolin had stated "he did not intend to leave the territory without his wife and child." A few days later, on August 10th, Thomas read in the Enterprise-Times newspaper that Doolin's mother-in-law had arrived in Perry with the revolver stolen from jailer Joe Miller. Mrs. J. W. Ellsworth had delivered Miller's pistol to Granville Morris at the hardware store along with a message from Doolin thanking Miller for the use of the revolver.
Mrs. Ellsworth was the wife of the postmaster in Lawson and the mother of Edith, Bill Doolin's wife. Lawson was located a few miles northeast of Ingalls and was situated on the county line between Payne county and Pawnee county. This was also the border to the "Cherokee Strip" and not far from the junction of the Arkansas and Cimarron rivers - the border of the Indian Territory. Lawson and Ingalls were in remote areas and were ideal hideouts for outlaws on the run. Doolin had met Edith Ellsworth when she was working in Ingalls. They were married, and their son Jay
was born sometime in 1894. At the time of Doolin's capture by Bill Tilghman in January 1896, Edith and Jay were living with her parents in Lawson.
Heck Thomas was now convinced that Bill Doolin was hiding in this area, and that the key to capturing the outlaw would be a surveillance of the Ellsworth place in Lawson. Thomas faced the same problem that had challenged lawmen three years earlier in Ingalls with the Doolin gang. Local people, either voluntarily or through fear, assisted the outlaws in various ways. Thomas anticipated the same problem in the Lawson area and knew that he could not personally observe the Ellsworth place without Doolin being tipped off. Thomas sought the help of the Dunn brothers, who lived on their ranch just east of Ingalls on Council Creek.
DUNN BROTHERS
Deputy Frank Canton of Pawnee had already been to the ranch and made a deal with Bee Dunn to help capture Bill Doolin. The Dunn ranch had been a hideout for various members of the Doolin gang, and the Dunn's were suspected of cattle rustling. The Dunn brothers had previously made a deal with lawmen to help capture the Doolin gang in exchange for the dismissal of charges against them. In 1895, Doolin gang members Charlie Pierce and Bitter Creek Newcomb were killed at the Dunn ranch. Canton offered Bee Dunn a share of the reward offered for
Bill Doolin, and Dunn accepted.
But when Heck Thomas arrived and learned of Canton's deal, there are conflicting stories as to what took place next. Thomas may or may not have applied pressure to Dunn with the threat of old criminal charges against him. Thomas did offer Dunn and his brothers a share of the rewards and gained their cooperation. Thomas may also have commissioned Bee Dunn as a deputy U.S. marshal. Dunn's sister, Rosa, was the girlfriend of Charlie Noble, a young blacksmith in Lawson. Bee Dunn arranged for Charlie Noble and his brother Tom to assist Thomas in the capture of Doolin.
Thomas also offered the Noble brothers a share of the reward money in exchange for their help. He learned from them that Doolin had visited his wife at the Ellsworth place in Lawson on the night of August 2nd and again on the following Tuesday. Tom Noble was living in the home of John Hoke, right across the road from the Ellsworth place. He could easily observe the activities there. Noble agreed to notify Thomas immediately when Doolin returned to Lawson.
According to author Hanes, Doolin and Dynamite Dick were joined by Little Dick West at an old hideout on Mud Creek near it's junction with the Cimarron River. Mud Creek runs north to south from near Lawson to the river through present day Yale. Tom Noble saw Doolin return to Lawson one night a couple of weeks after he agreed to help Heck Thomas. But Noble did not notify anyone of Doolin's return. Noble observed Doolin arrive on several nights and leave early the next morning, traveling west from the Ellsworth place toward Eagle Creek. Noble decided to kill Doolin and collect the reward for himself. Early one morning he stationed himself near the Eagle Creek bridge and waited for Doolin. When the desperate outlaw approached, Noble lost his nerve and did not fire on him.
When Tom Noble observed a new wagon and team at the Ellsworth place he suspected that Doolin was preparing to take his family and leave the country. Noble tried to get John Hoke to help him capture Doolin, but Hoke told Noble he wanted no part in killing Doolin. It appears from this statement that it was common knowledge that Doolin would not submit to lawmen. It also appears that, while it may not have been common knowledge, more than a few local people knew of the presence of Bill Doolin in Lawson. It does not appear that anyone notifed lawmen that Bill Doolin was in Lawson until Tom Noble finally sent word to Heck Thomas. How the message was delivered is not exactly clear. All that is known is that a messenger sped from Lawson to Bee Dunn's ranch just eat of Ingalls. Was the messenger Charlie Noble, or perhaps his girlfriend Rosa Dunn? We will never know. From the Dunn ranch, a
telephone call was made to Chandler for Heck Thomas.
Thomas received a telegram, according to Hanes, telling him that Doolin and four others were in the Lawson area, that Doolin was visiting his wife, and that they were going to leave the country. The "four others" are not named but most likely included Dynamite Dick and Little Dick West. If Tom Noble sent such a message to Heck Thomas, how in fact did Noble acquire such information? Did the "four others" also spend the night in Lawson? The answers to these questions may never be known, but it appears that the activities of Doolin and his gang were more widely known that one might think.
Thomas had been scouting for Doolin along the Cimarron River, and received information on August 22nd that Doolin and "two others" were south of the Cimarron in the Sac and Fox country. With Thomas was his son Albert. They camped on Dry Creek, northeast of Chandler, on the night of August 23rd. Deputy U.S. marshal Rufus Cannon joined them there. While they camped on Dry Creek, Doolin was visiting his wife in Lawson. Had Thomas been sent on a wild goose chase? Did Doolin somehow divert Thomas south of the river in preparation for leaving Lawson with his family by wagon? Thomas received the news about Doolin sometime late that night or early on the morning of the 24th. Heck, Albert, and Rufus made a hard ride about twenty-five miles due north. They crossed the Cimarron and arrived at the Dunn ranch at about 2:00 pm on the afternoon of the 24th.
POSSE CHOSEN
Thomas may have sensed that Lawson could become another "Battle of Ingalls." The news that Doolin was accompanied by two or four other members of the gang, plus the apparent cooperation of at least some of the local people around Lawson, must have been on Heck's mind. John Hoke, and probably others, were of the opinion that Doolin would not be taken alive. If Heck did not in fact know this, he must have suspected it. Heck and Rufus were seasoned veterans - the experience of Albert Thomas is unknown. A gunfight with Bill Doolin and possibly four more members of the gang could become another disaster just like Ingalls. But Heck had a plan.
Thomas appointed four Dunn brothers as members of his posse: Bee, Dal, George, and John Dunn. Author Hanes also has Hy Cotts, the brother of Mrs. Bee Dunn, joining the posse. The posse travelled the short distance from the Dunn ranch to the Lawson area, arriving at about sundown on August 24th, 1896. They met Tom and Charlie Noble outside of Lawson, and Thomas received the latest news on Doolin. This news must have included the information that Doolin usually left town by the road leading west toward Eagle Creek. Thomas must have inquired about the other gang members who may be present in Lawson, but it is unknown what news was given to Thomas at this time. Whatever the news was, Heck made the decision to take Doolin by ambush instead of attempting to "attack" or assault the Ellsworth place.
Heck assigned his son Albert and deputy Rufus Cannon to cover one of the roads. Albert later wrote about the incident: "We arrived in close proximity of the home at which he was staying about 8 o'clock, and after talking over the situation, my father directed Cannon and myself to take our stand down the road about a hundred yards from the spot he and the Dunns and Nobles would guard." George Dunn and Hy Cotts were assigned to cover another road leading from Lawson. Heck Thomas, the three Dunns, and the two Noble brothers were stationed on the road leading west. They were on the south side of the road, in a cane patch below a rock outcropping a little east of the Eagle Creek bridge. Thomas watched the Ellsworth place with field glasses that had been captured from outlaw Bill Cook.
DOOLIN KILLED
In a letter to Bill Tilghman dated September 3, 1896, Heck Thomas described what happened next: "We waited a long time without seeing anyone, although there was considerable stir about the store and dugout.....Finally [Doolin] came outof the stable and to our great surprise, started down the lane coming west, you know how the store is situated on the high prairie......If Bill had wanted to have made his escape he could have had open roads north, south, east, northeast, or......northwest through the pasture to those high hills that you have seen many times. Well, he came right down the lane leading his horse by the tip ends of the bridle reins, walking slow in the bright moonlight, Winchester in both hands, well out in front of him, nearly in position to shoot. He sure was on the prowl.......looking first to one side and then the other.......Then I hollowed to him and had one of the other boys on the other side of the road hollow to him.....He shot at me and the bullet passed between me and B. Dunn. I had let one of the boys have my Winchester and had an old No. 8 shotgun. It was too long in the breech and I couldn't handle it quick so he got another shot with his Winchester and as he dropped his Winchester from glancing shot, he jerked his pistol and some of the boys thought he shot once and the others twice - and about that time I got the shotgun to work and the fight was over."
Albert Thomas wrote: "About an hour after we had taken our stand, Rufus and I heard two gun shots in quick succession, then a dull boom of the 8 guage shotgun that B. Dunn and my father had with them. Then everything was quiet, and we rejoined them as quickly as possible."
OTHER VERSIONS
There have been other stories over the years describing different ways in which Bill Doolin died or was killed. The two primary stories involve (a) Bee Dunn firing the fatal shot rather than Heck Thomas, and (b) Doolin dying of illness, and his body then being shot by officers to collect a reward. Learning the full story of an event that happened 100 years ago can be hard to do, but an examination of certain information reveals that these other stories of Doolin's death lack credibility.
Author Bailey C. Hanes describes the incident this way: "When he drew abreast of the cane field on the south side of the road, Heck Thomas suddenly shouted, 'Halt, Bill!' Quickas a striking rattler, Doolin fired at the voice in the darkness, narrowly missing Thomas and Bee Dunn. He almost never missed, they knew. At that same instant, Bee Dunn, standing close to the right of Thomas, let go with Dr. Call's shotgun. Later Bee claimed the gun went off accidentally as he fired at the same instant Thomas told Doolin to stop. The second shotgun, in the hands of Bill Dunn, along with several rifles, cracked only seconds later, including Heck's Winchester, which, by a strange coincidence, was also a caliber .40-.82. Heck fired twice. All of the shots went wild except the shotgun blasts of Bee and Bill Dunn, and one slug from Heck;s rifle which caught Doolin in the right side......"
While it may be somewhat feasible that Bee Dunn fired a shotgun, or the shotgun that killed Doolin, the most glaring problem with this version of Doolin's death is: Bill Dunn. Who is Bill Dunn? According to available information, "Bee" Dunn's full name is William T. Dunn, who would have also been called Bill on occasion. Bee had brothers named Charles (Dal), George, and John. Hanes clearly states that Heck picked up Bee, Dal, George, and John Dunn at the ranch for the posse, so where did this Bill Dunn come from? This account is clearly unreliable.
Albert Thomas wrote: "I have never known positively which one fired the shot that killed Doolin. My father did not say, and I never asked him. I did not care to know. I do know my father risked his life many times trying to make arrests without a gun fight, and in this instance Bill Doolin had the first shots, regardless of who used the shotgun."
Deputy U.S. marshal Frank Canton also maintained that Heck Thomas did not fire the fatal shot, but Canton was not happy that the information about Doolin had been given to Thomas instead of himself. Canton himself had a questionable past, and he is the subject of a new book by OklahombreS member Bob DeArment.
The other version of Doolin's death, that he actually died of illness, is apparently the result of an observation of Doolin's body in Guthrie. According to Hanes, "One man who viewed the body remarked that it looked to him as if Doolin had died and the marshal had filled his body with buckshot so that he and his posse might collect the $5,000 'dead or alive' reward." This observation was apparently made because of a "lack of bloodstains on the body when it was delivered to the morgue..."
The State Capital newspaper reported ".....When the undertaker washed the body he found twenty buckshot wounds in the chest......" And, it has also been reported that a Guthrie photographer named Dougherty took two pictures of Doolin's body, "one with his body propped on the undertaker's board and stripped to the waist, the second after it had been dressed and placed in a casket." These statements indicate that a picture of Doolin was taken at the undertaker's establishment either before or after the body was washed. If the photo was taken before being washed, blood may have been present and may have been visible. Since none is seen in the photo, then the photo was taken after the body was washed, or no blood was present when the body first arrived.
Blood was indeed present, and the straw in the bed of the wagon used to take the body to Guthrie was soaked with Doolin's blood. After the body was taken to the morgue, the wagon and team were taken to the home of Heck Thomas to be cared for. The mules got into the straw, so the wagon was immediatey cleaned and the straw burned.
The final word on whether Bill Doolin was dead or alive when the posse arrived in Lawson is given by Harry Hoke, the son of John Hoke. Harry could observe the Ellsworth place from his bedroom window and described what he saw to author Glenn Shirley: "......I can't describe the feeling we had lying there watching Bill as he started leading his horse off and carrying his Winchester, ready to fire.......Soon we heard the command: 'Halt, Bill' followed by a shot, then by a volley and very quickly two shots......I know that in writing this I am going to stir up dissention for there are persons still living who will say Bill Doolin died of TB or some other cause, and that the officers made a deal with his widow for the body. How such a tale got started is hard to figure. Dead outlaws just do not walk and lead horses down the road and fire rifles and six-shooters."
Bill Doolin was buried in Summit View cemetery, Guthrie, Oklahoma Territory. In the Last Days of Bill Doolin, plans were made by outlaws and lawmen, plans of escape and plans for capture. Alliances were made, and perhaps friendships were betrayed. Doolin made a decision not to submit to the law. The lawman on his trail made a decision to lead his posse against an unknown force of outlaws to prevent Doolin's escape. In the end, Doolin lay dead, and we have no substantial reason to doubt the words of Heck Thomas concerning the manner of Doolin's death. The 100th anniversary of the Last Days of Bill Doolin will remind us of the life and death struggle for law and order in the territory of Oklahoma.
THE END
SOURCES:
Hanes, Colonel Bailey C. Bill Doolin, Outlaw O. T. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1968.
Rouse, M. C. Cowboy Flat, From Cow Country to Combine, privately published.
Shirley, Glenn. Heck Thomas, Frontier Marshal. Chilton Company, Philadelphia, 1962.
Shirley, Glenn. West of Hell's Fringe. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1978.
prison sentence, but when he appeared before the judge he pled "not guilty." On the way back to Guthrie, deputy U.S. marshal Bill Tilghman asked Doolin why he had gone back on his word, and Doolin replied that fifty years was a mighty long time.
ESCAPE
An escape attempt by Doolin had already been discovered by guards at the Guthrie jail. On March 10th, 1896 a
tunnel was discovered in the jail leading under the jail wall. Doolin, Bill Raidler, Bob Montgomery, and several other prisoners were suspected of digging the tunnel. A search by guards turned up several knives and revolvers hidden in the jail. Doolin was housed in one of the more secure cells known as the "front cells" until the last week of June, when he pretended to be sick and was moved to the bull pen where several prisoners were kept. Then on the night of July 5th Doolin stood ready when prisoner George Lane grabbed night jailer J. T. Tull. The only other jailer, Joe Miller, was already in the bull pen. Before Miller could respond, Doolin jumped through the open door to the bull pen and grabbed a revolver. Other inmates held Tull and grabbed his gun. Fourteen inmates escaped from the federal jail, including Bill Doolin and Dynamite Dick(also known as Dan Clifton.) The government had spent over $50,000 and had lost the lives of at least three deputy U.S. marshals in it's effort to capture Bill Doolin, and now the most desperate outlaw in the territory was at large.
Doolin and Dynamite Dick and escapee W. H. Jones fled north from Guthrie along the railroad tracks,
apparently headed for Mulhall. According to Hanes, they "pushed north and east all night and hid out in the timber the next day." They had to cross the Cimarron river somewhere, and Doolin may have used a ferry across the river which is described in "Cowboy Flat, From Cow Country to Combine" by M. C. Rouse. The location of the ferry is described as due north of present day Langston, and a little downriver from Pleasant Valley, also known as Cowboy Flats.
COWBOY FLATS
Not long after the Ingalls battle, Doolin and his gang were suspected of hiding in Pleasant Valley. Deputy U.S. Marshal Chris Madsen learned that Doolin might be at David Fitzgerald's ranch, which was located in the southwest 1/4 of Section 34 in the bend of the Cimarron River. In October 1893, Madsen led a posse there and confronted Fitzgerald but was unsuccessful in locating the gang.
Another member of the Doolin gang, Bitter Creek Newcomb, had been a resident of Pleasant Valley. Newcomb filed a claim on May 20, 1891 for the northwest 1/4 of Section 34 (adjoining the Fitzgerald ranch). He relinquished the claim in March of 1892. Other outlaws who were known to hold claims in this bend of the Cimarron River were Zip Wyatt, Little Dick West, Dick Broadwell, and Bill Powers. It is likely that Doolin was well acquainted with "outlaw flats" and would have sought refuge there the first night of his escape.
Deputy marshals Heck Thomas and Bill Crane set out immediately in pursuit of Doolin. Chief Deputy M. J. Kane sent telegrams to lawmen in the surrounding area. United States Marshal Nagle must have suspected that Doolin would hide out in Cowboy Flats: he appointed fifteen special deputies to search Cowboy Flats and the Cimarron River east to Perkins. Deputy Marshal Charles Colcord led a posse from Perry to the "Triangle Country" near the junction of the Arkansas and Cimarron Rivers. Other lawmen set out for Stillwater and Ingalls. But the massive manhunt failed to corner Bill
Doolin.
Heck Thomas included his son Albert in his posse while hunting Bill Doolin. Albert related a humorous incident that took place shortly after the Doolin escape: "Early in July, with possemen Bill Crane and myself, he made a trip from Guthrie to about 15 miles northeast of Stillwater, looking for Doolin. We camped overnight, and the next morning, Crane and I got to scuffling around the campfire. I stepped on a corncob, fell and, as it developed later, broke a small bone in my right ankle. Father loaded me in the bottom of his spring wagon, with my leg resting on a pile of bedding, and started back to Stillwater, stopped in front of a drug store and, as I remember it, bought a bottle of Mexican Mustang liniment and a bag of candy. He pretended he thought I might cry while he was rubing my leg with the liniment and told me I could have the bag of candy if I didn't. (Of course, I didn't.) The druggist decided my ankle was really broken and recommended I be driven back, as quickly as possible, to Guthrie."
"The following is what really got my goat: While lying in the wagon, a reporter from a Stillwater paper came by and, recognizing my father, stopped to shake hands. Father told him I was a young horse thief he had tried to arrest the day before and shot in the leg in order to capture me! Well, the reporter wrote an account of how Heck Thomas had come through Stillwater with a wounded horse thief and went on at length to describe how tough and hard-boiled I looked and how Heck Thomas was to be commended for getting another outlaw. This account was printed on the front page of the paper. My father procured several copies and mailed them back to family and friends in Georgia. Of course, the true story was printed later, but I didn't hear the last of this little incident for some time."
According to author Bailey C. Hanes, Doolin and Dynamite Dick began heading for Morrison on the night of July 6th. Morrison is located east of Perry and north of Stillwater. They did not arrive there until the next night. The distance from the Cimarron River to Morrison would not usually require 24 hours to complete. Maybe the time required for Doolin to travel that distance indicates the heavy concentration of lawmen earching for him in the area surrounding Stillwater. In any event, on the night of July 7th, Doolin and Clifton robbed Grant Owen's saloon in Morrison and shot the bartender. Then they headed for the Cimarron River near Lawson.
Doolin was supposedly spotted east of Oklahoma City on July 11th, and then was reported to be back in the Morrison area three days later. And on July 27th newspapers reported that Doolin and Clifton had pulled a robbery near Okeene. Heck Thomas did not believe these reports, suspecting that Bill Doolin was hiding in the Ingalls or Lawson area. It is unknown if Thomas suspected Doolin of hiding at Clayton, a small town west of Ingalls and near Ripley. Doolin may have hidden in the back room of C. A. McKenzie's store in Clayton during this time period.
LAWSON
Escapee C. E. Lawrence was captured near Enid by deputy U.S. marshal John Smith. Lawrence was questioned by Heck Thomas, and he revealed that Doolin had stated "he did not intend to leave the territory without his wife and child." A few days later, on August 10th, Thomas read in the Enterprise-Times newspaper that Doolin's mother-in-law had arrived in Perry with the revolver stolen from jailer Joe Miller. Mrs. J. W. Ellsworth had delivered Miller's pistol to Granville Morris at the hardware store along with a message from Doolin thanking Miller for the use of the revolver.
Mrs. Ellsworth was the wife of the postmaster in Lawson and the mother of Edith, Bill Doolin's wife. Lawson was located a few miles northeast of Ingalls and was situated on the county line between Payne county and Pawnee county. This was also the border to the "Cherokee Strip" and not far from the junction of the Arkansas and Cimarron rivers - the border of the Indian Territory. Lawson and Ingalls were in remote areas and were ideal hideouts for outlaws on the run. Doolin had met Edith Ellsworth when she was working in Ingalls. They were married, and their son Jay
was born sometime in 1894. At the time of Doolin's capture by Bill Tilghman in January 1896, Edith and Jay were living with her parents in Lawson.
Heck Thomas was now convinced that Bill Doolin was hiding in this area, and that the key to capturing the outlaw would be a surveillance of the Ellsworth place in Lawson. Thomas faced the same problem that had challenged lawmen three years earlier in Ingalls with the Doolin gang. Local people, either voluntarily or through fear, assisted the outlaws in various ways. Thomas anticipated the same problem in the Lawson area and knew that he could not personally observe the Ellsworth place without Doolin being tipped off. Thomas sought the help of the Dunn brothers, who lived on their ranch just east of Ingalls on Council Creek.
DUNN BROTHERS
Deputy Frank Canton of Pawnee had already been to the ranch and made a deal with Bee Dunn to help capture Bill Doolin. The Dunn ranch had been a hideout for various members of the Doolin gang, and the Dunn's were suspected of cattle rustling. The Dunn brothers had previously made a deal with lawmen to help capture the Doolin gang in exchange for the dismissal of charges against them. In 1895, Doolin gang members Charlie Pierce and Bitter Creek Newcomb were killed at the Dunn ranch. Canton offered Bee Dunn a share of the reward offered for
Bill Doolin, and Dunn accepted.
But when Heck Thomas arrived and learned of Canton's deal, there are conflicting stories as to what took place next. Thomas may or may not have applied pressure to Dunn with the threat of old criminal charges against him. Thomas did offer Dunn and his brothers a share of the rewards and gained their cooperation. Thomas may also have commissioned Bee Dunn as a deputy U.S. marshal. Dunn's sister, Rosa, was the girlfriend of Charlie Noble, a young blacksmith in Lawson. Bee Dunn arranged for Charlie Noble and his brother Tom to assist Thomas in the capture of Doolin.
Thomas also offered the Noble brothers a share of the reward money in exchange for their help. He learned from them that Doolin had visited his wife at the Ellsworth place in Lawson on the night of August 2nd and again on the following Tuesday. Tom Noble was living in the home of John Hoke, right across the road from the Ellsworth place. He could easily observe the activities there. Noble agreed to notify Thomas immediately when Doolin returned to Lawson.
According to author Hanes, Doolin and Dynamite Dick were joined by Little Dick West at an old hideout on Mud Creek near it's junction with the Cimarron River. Mud Creek runs north to south from near Lawson to the river through present day Yale. Tom Noble saw Doolin return to Lawson one night a couple of weeks after he agreed to help Heck Thomas. But Noble did not notify anyone of Doolin's return. Noble observed Doolin arrive on several nights and leave early the next morning, traveling west from the Ellsworth place toward Eagle Creek. Noble decided to kill Doolin and collect the reward for himself. Early one morning he stationed himself near the Eagle Creek bridge and waited for Doolin. When the desperate outlaw approached, Noble lost his nerve and did not fire on him.
When Tom Noble observed a new wagon and team at the Ellsworth place he suspected that Doolin was preparing to take his family and leave the country. Noble tried to get John Hoke to help him capture Doolin, but Hoke told Noble he wanted no part in killing Doolin. It appears from this statement that it was common knowledge that Doolin would not submit to lawmen. It also appears that, while it may not have been common knowledge, more than a few local people knew of the presence of Bill Doolin in Lawson. It does not appear that anyone notifed lawmen that Bill Doolin was in Lawson until Tom Noble finally sent word to Heck Thomas. How the message was delivered is not exactly clear. All that is known is that a messenger sped from Lawson to Bee Dunn's ranch just eat of Ingalls. Was the messenger Charlie Noble, or perhaps his girlfriend Rosa Dunn? We will never know. From the Dunn ranch, a
telephone call was made to Chandler for Heck Thomas.
Thomas received a telegram, according to Hanes, telling him that Doolin and four others were in the Lawson area, that Doolin was visiting his wife, and that they were going to leave the country. The "four others" are not named but most likely included Dynamite Dick and Little Dick West. If Tom Noble sent such a message to Heck Thomas, how in fact did Noble acquire such information? Did the "four others" also spend the night in Lawson? The answers to these questions may never be known, but it appears that the activities of Doolin and his gang were more widely known that one might think.
Thomas had been scouting for Doolin along the Cimarron River, and received information on August 22nd that Doolin and "two others" were south of the Cimarron in the Sac and Fox country. With Thomas was his son Albert. They camped on Dry Creek, northeast of Chandler, on the night of August 23rd. Deputy U.S. marshal Rufus Cannon joined them there. While they camped on Dry Creek, Doolin was visiting his wife in Lawson. Had Thomas been sent on a wild goose chase? Did Doolin somehow divert Thomas south of the river in preparation for leaving Lawson with his family by wagon? Thomas received the news about Doolin sometime late that night or early on the morning of the 24th. Heck, Albert, and Rufus made a hard ride about twenty-five miles due north. They crossed the Cimarron and arrived at the Dunn ranch at about 2:00 pm on the afternoon of the 24th.
POSSE CHOSEN
Thomas may have sensed that Lawson could become another "Battle of Ingalls." The news that Doolin was accompanied by two or four other members of the gang, plus the apparent cooperation of at least some of the local people around Lawson, must have been on Heck's mind. John Hoke, and probably others, were of the opinion that Doolin would not be taken alive. If Heck did not in fact know this, he must have suspected it. Heck and Rufus were seasoned veterans - the experience of Albert Thomas is unknown. A gunfight with Bill Doolin and possibly four more members of the gang could become another disaster just like Ingalls. But Heck had a plan.
Thomas appointed four Dunn brothers as members of his posse: Bee, Dal, George, and John Dunn. Author Hanes also has Hy Cotts, the brother of Mrs. Bee Dunn, joining the posse. The posse travelled the short distance from the Dunn ranch to the Lawson area, arriving at about sundown on August 24th, 1896. They met Tom and Charlie Noble outside of Lawson, and Thomas received the latest news on Doolin. This news must have included the information that Doolin usually left town by the road leading west toward Eagle Creek. Thomas must have inquired about the other gang members who may be present in Lawson, but it is unknown what news was given to Thomas at this time. Whatever the news was, Heck made the decision to take Doolin by ambush instead of attempting to "attack" or assault the Ellsworth place.
Heck assigned his son Albert and deputy Rufus Cannon to cover one of the roads. Albert later wrote about the incident: "We arrived in close proximity of the home at which he was staying about 8 o'clock, and after talking over the situation, my father directed Cannon and myself to take our stand down the road about a hundred yards from the spot he and the Dunns and Nobles would guard." George Dunn and Hy Cotts were assigned to cover another road leading from Lawson. Heck Thomas, the three Dunns, and the two Noble brothers were stationed on the road leading west. They were on the south side of the road, in a cane patch below a rock outcropping a little east of the Eagle Creek bridge. Thomas watched the Ellsworth place with field glasses that had been captured from outlaw Bill Cook.
DOOLIN KILLED
In a letter to Bill Tilghman dated September 3, 1896, Heck Thomas described what happened next: "We waited a long time without seeing anyone, although there was considerable stir about the store and dugout.....Finally [Doolin] came outof the stable and to our great surprise, started down the lane coming west, you know how the store is situated on the high prairie......If Bill had wanted to have made his escape he could have had open roads north, south, east, northeast, or......northwest through the pasture to those high hills that you have seen many times. Well, he came right down the lane leading his horse by the tip ends of the bridle reins, walking slow in the bright moonlight, Winchester in both hands, well out in front of him, nearly in position to shoot. He sure was on the prowl.......looking first to one side and then the other.......Then I hollowed to him and had one of the other boys on the other side of the road hollow to him.....He shot at me and the bullet passed between me and B. Dunn. I had let one of the boys have my Winchester and had an old No. 8 shotgun. It was too long in the breech and I couldn't handle it quick so he got another shot with his Winchester and as he dropped his Winchester from glancing shot, he jerked his pistol and some of the boys thought he shot once and the others twice - and about that time I got the shotgun to work and the fight was over."
Albert Thomas wrote: "About an hour after we had taken our stand, Rufus and I heard two gun shots in quick succession, then a dull boom of the 8 guage shotgun that B. Dunn and my father had with them. Then everything was quiet, and we rejoined them as quickly as possible."
OTHER VERSIONS
There have been other stories over the years describing different ways in which Bill Doolin died or was killed. The two primary stories involve (a) Bee Dunn firing the fatal shot rather than Heck Thomas, and (b) Doolin dying of illness, and his body then being shot by officers to collect a reward. Learning the full story of an event that happened 100 years ago can be hard to do, but an examination of certain information reveals that these other stories of Doolin's death lack credibility.
Author Bailey C. Hanes describes the incident this way: "When he drew abreast of the cane field on the south side of the road, Heck Thomas suddenly shouted, 'Halt, Bill!' Quickas a striking rattler, Doolin fired at the voice in the darkness, narrowly missing Thomas and Bee Dunn. He almost never missed, they knew. At that same instant, Bee Dunn, standing close to the right of Thomas, let go with Dr. Call's shotgun. Later Bee claimed the gun went off accidentally as he fired at the same instant Thomas told Doolin to stop. The second shotgun, in the hands of Bill Dunn, along with several rifles, cracked only seconds later, including Heck's Winchester, which, by a strange coincidence, was also a caliber .40-.82. Heck fired twice. All of the shots went wild except the shotgun blasts of Bee and Bill Dunn, and one slug from Heck;s rifle which caught Doolin in the right side......"
While it may be somewhat feasible that Bee Dunn fired a shotgun, or the shotgun that killed Doolin, the most glaring problem with this version of Doolin's death is: Bill Dunn. Who is Bill Dunn? According to available information, "Bee" Dunn's full name is William T. Dunn, who would have also been called Bill on occasion. Bee had brothers named Charles (Dal), George, and John. Hanes clearly states that Heck picked up Bee, Dal, George, and John Dunn at the ranch for the posse, so where did this Bill Dunn come from? This account is clearly unreliable.
Albert Thomas wrote: "I have never known positively which one fired the shot that killed Doolin. My father did not say, and I never asked him. I did not care to know. I do know my father risked his life many times trying to make arrests without a gun fight, and in this instance Bill Doolin had the first shots, regardless of who used the shotgun."
Deputy U.S. marshal Frank Canton also maintained that Heck Thomas did not fire the fatal shot, but Canton was not happy that the information about Doolin had been given to Thomas instead of himself. Canton himself had a questionable past, and he is the subject of a new book by OklahombreS member Bob DeArment.
The other version of Doolin's death, that he actually died of illness, is apparently the result of an observation of Doolin's body in Guthrie. According to Hanes, "One man who viewed the body remarked that it looked to him as if Doolin had died and the marshal had filled his body with buckshot so that he and his posse might collect the $5,000 'dead or alive' reward." This observation was apparently made because of a "lack of bloodstains on the body when it was delivered to the morgue..."
The State Capital newspaper reported ".....When the undertaker washed the body he found twenty buckshot wounds in the chest......" And, it has also been reported that a Guthrie photographer named Dougherty took two pictures of Doolin's body, "one with his body propped on the undertaker's board and stripped to the waist, the second after it had been dressed and placed in a casket." These statements indicate that a picture of Doolin was taken at the undertaker's establishment either before or after the body was washed. If the photo was taken before being washed, blood may have been present and may have been visible. Since none is seen in the photo, then the photo was taken after the body was washed, or no blood was present when the body first arrived.
Blood was indeed present, and the straw in the bed of the wagon used to take the body to Guthrie was soaked with Doolin's blood. After the body was taken to the morgue, the wagon and team were taken to the home of Heck Thomas to be cared for. The mules got into the straw, so the wagon was immediatey cleaned and the straw burned.
The final word on whether Bill Doolin was dead or alive when the posse arrived in Lawson is given by Harry Hoke, the son of John Hoke. Harry could observe the Ellsworth place from his bedroom window and described what he saw to author Glenn Shirley: "......I can't describe the feeling we had lying there watching Bill as he started leading his horse off and carrying his Winchester, ready to fire.......Soon we heard the command: 'Halt, Bill' followed by a shot, then by a volley and very quickly two shots......I know that in writing this I am going to stir up dissention for there are persons still living who will say Bill Doolin died of TB or some other cause, and that the officers made a deal with his widow for the body. How such a tale got started is hard to figure. Dead outlaws just do not walk and lead horses down the road and fire rifles and six-shooters."
Bill Doolin was buried in Summit View cemetery, Guthrie, Oklahoma Territory. In the Last Days of Bill Doolin, plans were made by outlaws and lawmen, plans of escape and plans for capture. Alliances were made, and perhaps friendships were betrayed. Doolin made a decision not to submit to the law. The lawman on his trail made a decision to lead his posse against an unknown force of outlaws to prevent Doolin's escape. In the end, Doolin lay dead, and we have no substantial reason to doubt the words of Heck Thomas concerning the manner of Doolin's death. The 100th anniversary of the Last Days of Bill Doolin will remind us of the life and death struggle for law and order in the territory of Oklahoma.
THE END
SOURCES:
Hanes, Colonel Bailey C. Bill Doolin, Outlaw O. T. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1968.
Rouse, M. C. Cowboy Flat, From Cow Country to Combine, privately published.
Shirley, Glenn. Heck Thomas, Frontier Marshal. Chilton Company, Philadelphia, 1962.
Shirley, Glenn. West of Hell's Fringe. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1978.