This Day…

1885-During an attempted arrest bootlegger Ned Christie killed U.S. Marshal Dan Maples near the Tahlequah, OK. Later in the same month Ned shot, at different times, two other deputies who tried to arrest him for killing Maples. Ned built himself a strong fortress and survived many bloody encounters with lawmen over the next eight years.

1895-After the Doolin Gang broke up Charlie Pierce and Bitter Creek George Newcombe stopped by the Dunn Ranch near Cimarron, New Mexico to collect a debt of $900 owed Newcombe by his brother-in-law, Bill Dunn. Instead Dunn shotgunned them both for the reward money. There was $5000 out on Newcombe alone. Newcombe was married to Dunn’s sister, Rosa. She was dubbed “Rose of Cimarron” by the Doolin Gang.

1878 – McSween Regulators Frank McNab, Ab Sanders, and Frank Coe were abushed by a Seven Rivers posse outside Lincoln, New Mexico. McNab was killed, Sanders was left to die, and Coe was taken into custody.

1895-The outlaws Black Jack Will Christian and his brother Bob killed Deputy Sheriff Will Turner during an arrest attempt. They were soon arrested by other lawmen but shot their way out of jaul in Oklahoma City on June 30.

General William T Sherman had devised a plan to drive all of the Plains Indians either north of the Platte or south of the Arkansas River, leaving a broad belt of territory for the transcontinental railroad and the Kansas Pacific Railroad. General Winfield Scott Hancock leads a large cavalry and infantry force across western Kansas. At Pawnee Fork, his troops capture and burn a Cheyenne village of 250 lodges. The Indians, fearing another massacre like the one at Sand Creek in 1864, flee before advancing troops. In retaliation the Indians halt almost all travel across western Kansas. Surveying parties for the Kansas Pacific Railroad come under attack, and progress on that line is halted for over a month.

1874-Jesse James married Zee Mimms and the two started a family down in Tennessee. Jesse became a devout Christian, but he was still a thief and a ruthless killer and had no intention of ever supporting his family in an honest fashion.

1881-Drunken Bill Johnson attempted to assassinate city marshal Dallas Stoudenmire with a shotgun in El Paso, Texas. Johnson’s blast missed completely because he was stewed as an owl. Stoudenmire and his brother-in-law, Doc Cummings, returned fire hitting Johnson eight times. He died on the spot. Johnson was former marshall Campbell’s deputy. He was sore about the rough treatment he got when stoudenmire fired him and took away his keys to the jail.

1887-After a harrowing pursuit lasting eleven months, John Hughes, Sheriff Frank Swafford, and a deputy cornered a gang of horse thieves in northwest Texas. Four of the outlaws were killed and two were taken into custody before Hughes finally recovered his stolen horses. Hughes went on to a long and distinguished career with the Texas Rangers.

1894-The bitter rivalry between Bud Frazer and his former deputy, Killin’ Jim Miller, boiled over in Pecos, Texas. Miller got off a shot that wounded a spectator and Frazer emptied his six shooter into Killin’ Jim’s chest and walked away from the fight, but Miller survived that shooting by wearing a heavy steep plate under his coat.

1878 – The Sam Bass Gang got itself shot up by citizens in an attempted train robbers in Mesquite, Texas. The wounded train robbers were driven out of town empty handed. In a streak of bad karma the gang pulled four armed robberies that spring and gained little for their efforts besides angry pursuits.