This Day…

1875-the ever fractious Panch Griego killed three cavalrymen in a dispute over cards in Lambert’s Saloon in Cimarron, New Mexico.
1893-after robbing a train near Cimarron, New Mexico on the 24th the Bill Doolin Gang was ambushed by a posse while crossing the river back into Oklahoma. U.S. Marshal Chris Madsen hit Doolin in the foot but the outlaws escaped.

1885-Led by Geronimo, Nana, and Mangas, more than 100 Apache Indians flee their reservation at San Carlos in Arizona territory and head for Mexico. A wave of panic siezed the area, as newspaper editorials and citizens call for dispatch of thousands of federal troops.

1895-The outlaw, Little Bill Raidler, killed a townsman, Joe Seaborn during a bank robbery by the Doolin Gang in Southwest City, Missouri. The same shot hit Joe’s brother, Oscar.

1887-The Swan Land and Cattle Company of Wyoming, only four years old, declares bankruptcy following the devastating winter of 1886-1887. The demise of the huge livestock corporation is symbolic of the depression that will grip the cattle industry on the Great Plains during the next ten years. Over this period the number of cattle in Wyoming alone will decline from nine million head in 1886 to only three million by 1895.

1878-McSween’s regulators shot up a cow camp and stole some horses killing one man and wounding two others.
1883-Marshall Henry Brown had to shoot a fractious Pawnee named Spotted Horse for causing a disturbance in Morris’ grocery store in Caldwell, Kansas. Spotted Horse lived two hours after being shot four times, once in the head.

1785-Congress passed the Land Ordinance of 1785, which provides that the northwestern territories be surveyed and divided into six-mile-square townships, each divided into 36 lots of 640 acres. This is a great improvements over earlier, more haphazard systems, which allowed for endless border disputes.

1895-The territory of Utah submits a new constitution to the US Congress in its sixth attempt to gain statehood. This one differs in that it oulaws polygamy and prohibits control of the state government by any church. It also includes suffreage for women.

1881-the horse thief, Bob Edwards, was hot in the head and killed while resisting arrest by Lincoln County Deputy Tip McKinney near Rattlesnake Springs, New Mexico.

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.