Evett Dumas Nix
Encyclopedia
Evett Dumas Nix, often known as E.D. Nix, (September 19, 1861 - February 6, 1946) was a US Marshal in the late 19th century handling the jurisdiction that included the wild Oklahoma Territory
, later to be the state of Oklahoma
. He was first appointed in 1893, in the closing years of the Old West, during the last years of the "Hanging Judge" Parker
tenure.
, his uncle was a county sheriff
, and his father a deputy sheriff. He went into business, working in sales and operating a grocery store
and a hardware store
. In 1885 he married childhood girlfriend Ellen Felts. Nix first came to Oklahoma during the Land Run of 1891
, and was a Guthrie, Oklahoma
businessman with many influential friends, to include rancher Oscar Halsell, who for a time employed Bill Doolin
and other members of the Doolin Dalton Gang, and who was involved in the 1884 Hunnewell, Kansas Gunfight
. When he was appointed to the position of U.S. Marshal he was only 32 years of age, the youngest holding that position at the time.
gang was in full swing, committing bank robberies
and train robberies
in Oklahoma, Texas
, and Arkansas
. The outlaw
s had a haven in Ingalls, Oklahoma
, and Marshal Nix wasted no time in moving to bring the gang down. His first course of action was to organize a posse
to take the outlaws in Ingalls. With Deputy Marshal John Hixon in the lead, Nix dispatched a posse of fourteen Deputy Marshals to Ingalls. On September 1, 1893, in what would become known as the Battle of Ingalls
, three of his deputy marshals, Deputy Marshal Thomas Hueston, Deputy Marshal Richard Speed, and Deputy Marshal Lafeyette Shadley were killed in the ensuing gunbattle. Outlaws "Bittercreek" Newcomb, Charley Pierce
, and "Dynamite Dan" Clifton
were wounded, but escaped. Outlaw "Arkansas Tom" Jones
was stunned and captured after dynamite
was thrown at him by Deputy Marshal Jim Masterson
. And a saloon owner known only as Murray was badly wounded by the marshals when he began shooting at the lawmen in defense of the outlaws.
Nix then organized a special elite group of one hundred marshals to topple the gang, including Heck Thomas
, Bill Tilghman
, and Chris Madsen
, who became known as the Three Guardsmen
. Marshal Nix was staunchly defensive of his deputy marshals, and the actions they were forced to take in order to bring the gang to justice. With Nix in support of them, the marshals began to whittle away at the gang, and by 1898 the entire Doolin Dalton gang had been wiped out with the exception of "Arkansas Tom" Jones, who was in prison. After his release he returned to breaking the law and was killed by lawmen.
Two years after the Battle of Ingalls, saloon owner Murray was seeking damages for having been shot by the marshals. Marshal Nix stood in defense of his deputies, and addressed the Attorney General
Judson Harmon
directly on the matter, stating in part;
"Murray and other citizens catered to their trade, carried them news of the movements of deputy marshals, furnished them with ammunition, cared for their horses, permitted them to eat at their tables and sleep in their beds", and continiued "This man Murray came to the front door of the saloon either just before the outlaws left the building or just after, it is not known which. However, when he first appeared in the doorway, he had the door open just a short distance and had his winchester to his shoulder in the act of firing", he then added that "Three of the deputies seeing him in the position he was in, fired on him simultaneously. Two of the shots struck him and one broke his arm in two places." The letter is now housed in the U.S. National Archives
.
U.S. Marshal Nix was dismissed from his position after an audit
in 1896, after critics accused him of misusing funds. Many now believe that he was merely the victim of the fee system used at the time for payment of Deputy Marshals, and he actually did not mismanage any funds. He returned to life as a businessman in Guthrie following his dismissal, in which he saw success. In 1929 Nix co-author
ed a book titled "Oklahombres" with Gordon Hines, detailing much of the work that went into bringing the gang down, in addition to the hunting down of many other outlaws, to include the Jennings Gang
. He also documents his youth in Kentucky, and reflects on the changes that had taken place from the 1890s to the 1920s in the way of the outlaws and the lawmen.
Oklahoma Territory
The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as the State of Oklahoma.-Organization:Oklahoma Territory's...
, later to be the state of 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...
. He was first appointed in 1893, in the closing years of the Old West, during the last years of the "Hanging Judge" Parker
Isaac Parker
Isaac Charles Parker served as a U.S. District Judge presiding over the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas for 21 years and also one-time politician. He served in that capacity during the most dangerous time for law enforcement during the western expansion...
tenure.
Early life
Born in KentuckyKentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, his uncle was a county sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
, and his father a deputy sheriff. He went into business, working in sales and operating a grocery store
Grocery store
A grocery store is a store that retails food. A grocer, the owner of a grocery store, stocks different kinds of foods from assorted places and cultures, and sells these "groceries" to customers. Large grocery stores that stock products other than food, such as clothing or household items, are...
and a hardware store
Hardware store
Hardware stores, sometimes known as DIY stores, sell household hardware including: fasteners, hand tools, power tools, keys, locks, hinges, chains, plumbing supplies, electrical supplies, cleaning products, housewares, tools, utensils, paint, and lawn and garden products directly to consumers for...
. In 1885 he married childhood girlfriend Ellen Felts. Nix first came to Oklahoma during the Land Run of 1891
Land Run of 1891
The Land Run of 1891 was a set of horse races to settle land acquired by the federal government through the opening of several small Indian reservations in Oklahoma Territory. The race involved approximately 20,000 homesteaders, who gathered to stake their claims on 6097 plots of former...
, and was a Guthrie, Oklahoma
Guthrie, Oklahoma
Guthrie is a city in and the county seat of Logan County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City Metroplex. The population was 9,925 at the 2000 census.Guthrie was the territorial and later the first state capital for Oklahoma...
businessman with many influential friends, to include rancher Oscar Halsell, who for a time employed Bill Doolin
Bill Doolin
William "Bill" Doolin was an American bandit and founder of the Wild Bunch, an outlaw gang that specialized in robbing banks, trains and stagecoaches in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas during the 1890s.- Early life :...
and other members of the Doolin Dalton Gang, and who was involved in the 1884 Hunnewell, Kansas Gunfight
Hunnewell, Kansas Gunfight
The Hunnewell Gunfight is a gunfight of the Old West which involved no known gunmen, hence it is mostly forgotten today. However, at the time, it was widely circulated....
. When he was appointed to the position of U.S. Marshal he was only 32 years of age, the youngest holding that position at the time.
Life as U.S. Marshal
He took over in a very volatile time. The Doolin DaltonWild 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...
gang was in full swing, committing bank robberies
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...
and train robberies
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...
in Oklahoma, Texas
Texas
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...
, and 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...
. The outlaw
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
s had a haven 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...
, and Marshal Nix wasted no time in moving to bring the gang down. His first course of action was to organize a posse
Posse comitatus (common law)
Posse comitatus or sheriff's posse is the common-law or statute law authority of a county sheriff or other law officer to conscript any able-bodied males to assist him in keeping the peace or to pursue and arrest a felon, similar to the concept of the "hue and cry"...
to take the outlaws in Ingalls. With Deputy Marshal John Hixon in the lead, Nix dispatched a posse of fourteen Deputy Marshals to Ingalls. On September 1, 1893, in what would become 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...
, three of his deputy marshals, Deputy Marshal Thomas Hueston, Deputy Marshal Richard Speed, and Deputy Marshal Lafeyette Shadley were killed in the ensuing gunbattle. Outlaws "Bittercreek" Newcomb, 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....
, and "Dynamite Dan" 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...
were wounded, but escaped. Outlaw "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 stunned and captured after dynamite
Dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive material based on nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth , or another absorbent substance such as powdered shells, clay, sawdust, or wood pulp. Dynamites using organic materials such as sawdust are less stable and such use has been generally discontinued...
was thrown at him by Deputy Marshal Jim Masterson
James Masterson
James Masterson, also known as Jim Masterson, was a lawman of the American West and the brother of gunfighters and lawmen Bat Masterson and Ed Masterson.-Lawman career:...
. And a saloon owner known only as Murray was badly wounded by the marshals when he began shooting at the lawmen in defense of the outlaws.
Nix then organized a special elite group of one hundred marshals to topple the gang, including 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...
, 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...
, and 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...
, who became known as 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...
. Marshal Nix was staunchly defensive of his deputy marshals, and the actions they were forced to take in order to bring the gang to justice. With Nix in support of them, the marshals began to whittle away at the gang, and by 1898 the entire Doolin Dalton gang had been wiped out with the exception of "Arkansas Tom" Jones, who was in prison. After his release he returned to breaking the law and was killed by lawmen.
Two years after the Battle of Ingalls, saloon owner Murray was seeking damages for having been shot by the marshals. Marshal Nix stood in defense of his deputies, and addressed the Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
Judson Harmon
Judson Harmon
Judson Harmon was a Democratic politician from Ohio. He served as United States Attorney General under President Grover Cleveland and later served as the 45th Governor of Ohio....
directly on the matter, stating in part;
"Murray and other citizens catered to their trade, carried them news of the movements of deputy marshals, furnished them with ammunition, cared for their horses, permitted them to eat at their tables and sleep in their beds", and continiued "This man Murray came to the front door of the saloon either just before the outlaws left the building or just after, it is not known which. However, when he first appeared in the doorway, he had the door open just a short distance and had his winchester to his shoulder in the act of firing", he then added that "Three of the deputies seeing him in the position he was in, fired on him simultaneously. Two of the shots struck him and one broke his arm in two places." The letter is now housed in the U.S. National Archives
National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...
.
U.S. Marshal Nix was dismissed from his position after an audit
Audit
The general definition of an audit is an evaluation of a person, organization, system, process, enterprise, project or product. The term most commonly refers to audits in accounting, but similar concepts also exist in project management, quality management, and energy conservation.- Accounting...
in 1896, after critics accused him of misusing funds. Many now believe that he was merely the victim of the fee system used at the time for payment of Deputy Marshals, and he actually did not mismanage any funds. He returned to life as a businessman in Guthrie following his dismissal, in which he saw success. In 1929 Nix co-author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
ed a book titled "Oklahombres" with Gordon Hines, detailing much of the work that went into bringing the gang down, in addition to the hunting down of many other outlaws, to include the Jennings Gang
Jennings Gang
The Jennings Gang was a gang of outlaws in the closing days of the Old West, notable in that one member was a former Wild Bunch gang member, Richard "Little Dick" West, and the leader of the gang, Al Jennings, ran for Oklahoma Governor in 1914....
. He also documents his youth in Kentucky, and reflects on the changes that had taken place from the 1890s to the 1920s in the way of the outlaws and the lawmen.