Ford Bradshaw was an American criminal bank robber and Depression-era outlaw. He was a rival of fellow Sooner, Oklahoma

Grady County, Oklahoma

Grady County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2006, the population was 50,490. Its county seat is Chickasha.Grady County is part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

 bandit Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd

Pretty Boy Floyd

Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd was an American bank robber. He operated in the West South Central States, and his criminal exploits gained heavy press coverage in the 1930s. Like most other prominent outlaws of that era, he was killed by law enforcement officers...

, and although never as nationally well-known as Floyd, Bradshaw's small town bank raids far exceeded those of Floyd during his criminal career.

Biography

Terrorizing 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...

 during the late-1920 and early-1930s, Bradshaw's most successful robbery occurred on November 2, 1933, when he successfully stole $13,000 from a bank in Okmulgee

Okmulgee, Oklahoma

Okmulgee is a city in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, United States. The population at the 2010 census was 12,321 a loss of 5.4 percent since the 2000 census figure of 13,022. It has been the capital of the Muscogee Nation since the United States Civil War. Okmulgee means "boiling waters" in the Creek...

, Oklahoma with Wilbur Underhill and others. Five days later, Bradshaw robbed a bank of $11,238 with Newton Clayton and Jim Benge in Henryetta, Oklahoma

Henryetta, Oklahoma

Henryetta is a city in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 6,096 at the 2000 census.Henryetta is notable as the high school hometown of NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman...

 on November 7, 1933; the heist would be mistakenly attributed to Floyd, George Birdwell

George Birdwell

George William Birdwell was an American bank robber and Depression-era outlaw. He was one of Pretty Boy Floyd's closest known associates and also teamed with a number of fellow Oklahoma-based bandits, most notably, William "Billy the Killer" Miller and Aussie Elliott.-Early life and criminal...

 and Aussie Elliott

Aussie Elliott

Aussie Elliott was a Depression-era outlaw and associate of bank robbers George Birdwell and Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd. Born in Oklahoma, Elliott was convicted of bank robbery in 1932 and sentenced to the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Oklahoma eventually escaping on August 14, 1932...

 the next year.

A close friend of Underhill, Bradshaw drove into Vian

Vian, Oklahoma

Vian is a town in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,362 at the 2000 census. It has three highways running through it: SH 82, or Thornton Street; U.S. 64, or Schley Street; and I-40. It is...

 on December 31, 1933, with several other men and began a shooting spree damaging a local restaurant, hardware store and the town jail. This was in retaliation for Underhill's shooting death the previous day when federal agents surrounded the Shawnee

Shawnee, Oklahoma

Shawnee is a city in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 29,857 at the 2010 census. The city is part of the Oklahoma City-Shawnee Combined Statistical Area; it is also the county seat of Pottawatomie County and the principal city of the Shawnee Micropolitan Statistical...

 cottage

Cottage

__toc__In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. However there are cottage-style dwellings in cities, and in places such as Canada the term exists with no connotations of size at all...

 the outlaw had rented for his honeymoon

Honeymoon

-History:One early reference to a honeymoon is in Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him...

 and opened fire. The attack on Vian however, caused a public outcry which finally gained the attention of state authorities. After several months on the run, Bradshaw was cornered at Ardmore

Ardmore, Oklahoma

Ardmore is a business, cultural and tourism city in and the county seat of Carter County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 24,283, while a 2007 estimate has the Ardmore micropolitan statistical area totaling 56,694 residents...

 and killed by sheriff's deputy William Harper

William Harper

William Harper may refer to:* William Harper , composer and photographer* William Harper , US Senator from South Carolina* William Allen Harper, JFK assassination witness...

while resisting arrest.