Bill Doolin
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
bandit and founder of the Wild Bunch
Wild Bunch
The Wild Bunch, also known as the Doolin–Dalton Gang or the Oklahombres, was a gang of outlaws based in the Indian Territory that terrorized Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma Territory during the 1890s—robbing banks and stores, holding up trains, and killing lawmen. They were...
, an outlaw gang that specialized in robbing banks
Bank robbery
Bank robbery is the crime of stealing from a bank during opening hours. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, robbery is "the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of...
, trains
Train robbery
Train robbery is a type of robbery, in which the goal is to steal money or other valuables being carried aboard trains.-History:Train robberies were more common in the past than today, and often occurred in the American Old West. Trains carrying payroll shipments were a major target...
and stagecoaches in Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, and Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
during the 1890s.
Early life
Doolin was born in Johnson County, Arkansas, in 1858. A son of Michael and Artemina Beller Doolin, he left home in 1881 and became a cowboy in Indian Territory. He was hired by cattleman Oscar D. Halsell, a TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
native, and began working for Halsell as a cowboy
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
in Oklahoma. During this time, he worked with other noted cowboy/outlaw names of the day, including George "Bitter Creek" Newcomb
George Newcomb (Outlaw)
George "Bittercreek" Newcomb was an American outlaw of the American Old West. He was a member, first, of the Dalton Gang but after being called "too Wild" by Bob Dalton, he and Bill Doolin started the Wild Bunch gang.-Early life & career:...
, Charley Pierce
Charley Pierce
Charley Pierce was an American outlaw in the American Old West who rode with both the Dalton Gang and the Doolin Dalton Gang during the 1890s. He and "Bittercreek" Newcomb were killed by friends, the Dunn brothers, for bounty money....
, Bill Power, Dick Broadwell, Bill "Tulsa Jack" Blake, Dan "Dynamite Dick" Clifton
Dan Clifton
Dan Clifton , known as Dynamite Dan, was a western outlaw and member of the Doolin Gang.Clifton was a minor criminal wanted in the Oklahoma Indian Territory for robbery, safecracking, and cattle rustling before joining the Doolin Gang in 1892...
, and Emmett Dalton
Emmett Dalton
Emmett Dalton was an American outlaw, train robber and member of the Dalton Gang in the American Old West. Part of the ill-fated Dalton raid on two banks in Coffeyville, Kansas, he survived despite receiving 23 gunshot wounds...
.
Doolin's first encounter with the law came on July 4, 1891, in Coffeyville, Kansas
Coffeyville, Kansas
Coffeyville is a city situated along the Verdigris River in the southeastern part of Montgomery County, located in Southeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,295...
. Doolin and some friends were drunk in public, and when lawmen attempted to confiscate their alcohol, a shootout ensued. Two of the lawmen were wounded, and Doolin escaped capture, fleeing Coffeyville.
Dalton Gang
Less than two months later, Doolin became a member of the Dalton GangDalton Gang
The Dalton Gang, also known as The Dalton Brothers, was a family of both lawmen and outlaws in the American Old West during 1890-1892. They specialized in bank and train robberies. They were related to the Younger brothers, who rode with Jesse James, though they acted later and independently of...
. On October 5, 1892, the Dalton Gang made its fateful attempt to rob two banks simultaneously, in Coffeyville, Kansas. The robbery attempt was an utter failure, with a shootout ensuing between Coffeyville citizens and lawmen, and the outlaws, leaving four of the five gang members dead, with the exception of Emmett Dalton. Historians have since indicated that there was a sixth gang member in an alley holding the horses, who escaped. Who this sixth man was remains unknown to this day, and Emmett Dalton never disclosed his identity, but speculation continues that it was Bill Doolin. http://www.doncollier.com/historic12.htm
Wild Bunch gang
In 1892, Doolin formed his own gang, the Wild BunchWild Bunch
The Wild Bunch, also known as the Doolin–Dalton Gang or the Oklahombres, was a gang of outlaws based in the Indian Territory that terrorized Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma Territory during the 1890s—robbing banks and stores, holding up trains, and killing lawmen. They were...
. On November 1, 1892, the gang robbed a bank in Spearville, Kansas
Spearville, Kansas
Spearville is a city in Ford County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 773.-19th century:The land for the townsite of Speareville was deeded by the Santa Fe to the Arkansas Valley Town Company in March, 1873, and was surveyed and platted. The town was named for...
. After the robbery, the gang fled with gang member Oliver Yantis to Oklahoma territory, where they hid out at the house of Yantis' sister. Less than one month later, the gang was tracked to that location, and in a shootout Yantis was killed while the rest of the gang escaped.
Following that robbery, the gang began a spree of successful bank and train robberies. In March 1893, Doolin married Edith Ellsworth in Ingalls, Oklahoma
Ingalls, Oklahoma
Ingalls is a small community in Payne County, Oklahoma, about 10 miles east of Stillwater. The town was settled out of the "Unassigned Lands" in 1889, and had a post office from January 22, 1890, until October 31, 1907. It was named for Senator John J. Ingalls of Kansas.Ingalls was the site of a...
. Shortly thereafter, Doolin and his gang robbed a train near Cimarron, Kansas
Cimarron, Kansas
Cimarron is a city in and the county seat of Gray County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 2,184.-Geography:Cimarron is located at...
, during which a shootout with lawmen resulted in Doolin being shot in the foot. http://www.doncollier.com/historic12.htm
On September 1, 1893, fourteen deputy U.S. Marshals entered Ingalls, Oklahoma, to apprehend the gang, in what would be known as the Battle of Ingalls
Battle of Ingalls
The Battle of Ingalls was a gunfight on September 1, 1893 between United States Marshals and the Doolin-Dalton Gang, during the closing years of the Old West era, in Ingalls, Oklahoma. The Doolin-Dalton Gang had been involved in a number of train robberies and bank robberies, beginning around 1891...
. During the shootout that followed, three marshals were killed, two bystanders were killed and one wounded, three of the gang members were wounded, and gang member "Arkansas Tom Jones"
Roy Daugherty
Roy Daugherty, also known as Arkansas Tom Jones, was an outlaw of the Old West, and a member of the Wild Bunch gang, led by Bill Doolin....
was wounded and captured. Doolin shot and killed Deputy Marshal Richard Speed during that shootout. http://www.doncollier.com/historic12.htm
The Wild Bunch was the most powerful outlaw group in the west for a time. However, because of the relentless pursuit of the Three Guardsmen
Three Guardsmen
The Three Guardsmen is the name popularized in Old West literature describing three lawmen who became legendary in their pursuit of many outlaws of the late 19th century. Deputy U.S. Marshals Bill Tilghman , Chris Madsen , and Heck Thomas were The Three Guardsmen, working under U.S...
(lawmen Bill Tilghman
Bill Tilghman
William Matthew "Bill" Tilghman was a lawman in the American Old West.-Early life :Bill Tilghman was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, on July 4, 1854. He became a buffalo hunter at age 15 and claimed he killed over 1000 bison over his five years of activity...
, Chris Madsen
Chris Madsen
Chris Madsen was a lawman of the Old West who is best known as being one of The Three Guardsmen, the name given to Madsen and two other Deputy US Marshals who were responsible for the apprehension and/or killing of several outlaws of that era...
, and Heck Thomas
Heck Thomas
Henry Andrew "Heck" Thomas was a lawman on theAmerican frontier, most notably in Oklahoma.-Biography:Thomas was born in 1850 in Athens, Georgia, the youngest of five children of Lovick Pierce Thomas, I and Martha Fulwood Bedell.At the beginning of the American Civil War, at age 12, he accompanied...
) many of the gang had been either captured or killed by the end of 1894. In late 1894, gang member Bill Dalton was killed by U.S. Marshals. Rewards were offered for their capture or death, which often turned friends into foes to collect the reward. On May 1, 1895, gang members Charlie Pierce and George "Bittercreek" Newcomb were shot and killed by the bounty hunter
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
s known as "The Dunn Brothers". The bounty hunter team that killed them were the older brothers of Newcomb's teenage girlfriend, Rose Dunn
Rose Dunn
Rose Dunn , also known as Rose of the Cimarron, was best known for her good looks and for her romantic involvement with outlaw George "Bittercreek" Newcomb when she was a teenager during the closing years of the Old West....
. It was alleged that she had betrayed Newcomb, but it is more likely that her brothers simply trailed her to the hideout.
Doolin fled to New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
where he hid with outlaw Richard "Little Dick" West during the summer of 1895. In late 1895, Doolin and his wife hid out near Burden, Kansas
Burden, Kansas
Burden is a city in Cowley County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 535.-Geography:Burden is located at...
for a time, then they went to Eureka Springs
Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Eureka Springs is a city in Carroll County, Arkansas, United States. Along with Berryville, it is one of the two county seats for the county. It is located in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the town is 2,350...
, so that Doolin could utilize the bathhouses to remedy his rheumatism
Rheumatism
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorder is a non-specific term for medical problems affecting the joints and connective tissue. The study of, and therapeutic interventions in, such disorders is called rheumatology.-Terminology:...
brought on from his earlier gunshot wound in his foot. In early 1896, Doolin was captured in a bathhouse by Bill Tilghman
Bill Tilghman
William Matthew "Bill" Tilghman was a lawman in the American Old West.-Early life :Bill Tilghman was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, on July 4, 1854. He became a buffalo hunter at age 15 and claimed he killed over 1000 bison over his five years of activity...
.
Doolin later escaped on July 5, traveling to take refuge with his wife in Lawson, Oklahoma Territory
Quay, Oklahoma
Quay is an unincorporated community in Pawnee and Payne counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 47 at the 2000 census, at which time it was still a town; the community disincorporated on August 23, 2000.-Geography:...
. There, on August 24, Doolin was killed with a shotgun blast by Deputy U.S. Marshal Heck Thomas. http://www.doncollier.com/historic12.htm
By the end of 1898, all of the remaining former Wild Bunch gang were dead, killed in various shootouts with lawmen. Heck Thomas had tracked most of them; the remainder were tracked down and eliminated by lawmen Chris Madsen and Bill Tilghman, and other posses. http://www.doncollier.com/historic12.htm