Post by blackcrowheart on Mar 26, 2007 20:30:59 GMT -5
Outlaw Cherokee Bill was wild to the end
By GENE CURTIS World Staff Writer
1/12/2007
www.tulsaworld.com/NewsStory.asp?ID=070112_Ne_A7_Outla69539_0
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Crawford Goldsby, better known as Cherokee Bill, was the most feared and
best known outlaw in Indian Territory until he was captured and executed
in 1896.
Beryl
Crawford Goldsby was big, strong and a "bloodthirsty mad dog who killed
for the love of killing."
Before he was hanged at the age of 20, he was asked if he had any final
words. "I came here to die; not to make a speech," he told the
executioner at Fort Smith as a black hood was placed over his head.
A few minutes later, Goldsby dropped through the gallows' trapdoor as
2,500 spectators watched. Goldsby's short but spectacular criminal
career was over as he became one of the 83 prisoners hanged by order of
U.S. District Judge Isaac Parker, who called him "the wicked man of
crime."
You may never have heard of Crawford Goldsby.
But you may have heard of Cherokee Bill, the name given Goldsby after a
shootout near Fort Gibson in which a sheriff's deputy was killed. Even
his mother used that name for her son during the remainder of his short
life.
Goldsby, reported by some to have killed a man when he was 12, became
the most feared and best known outlaw in Indian Territory.
Cherokee Bill's criminal career began when he was 18 after he and a
brother became involved in a brawl at a dance. A couple of days later,
he waited for the man he believed
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the brawl and shot him as he arrived for work.
Goldsby fled, incorrectly believing his victim had died. He later teamed
up with Jim and Bill Cook, who were wanted for horse theft. The Cooks
soon formed a gang that included Goldsby and several others.
Although they were wanted for various crimes, the Cooks and Goldsby
wanted their shares -- $265.70 each -- of the $8.5 million the federal
government paid the Cherokee Tribe for the 6-million-acre Cherokee
Strip. Because they were apprehensive about going to Tahlequah to
collect the money, they persuaded the operator of a lodge to pick up
their money.
After she delivered the money to the three bad men, they were met by
Sheriff Ellis Rattling Gourd and seven deputies, and a gun battle left
Deputy Sequoyah Houston dead and Jim Cook wounded. Cook later recovered.
The sheriff and a posse returned to the house the next day and asked an
employee if Goldsby had been involved in the shootout.
"No, it was Cherokee Bill," she said, and Goldsby had a new name.
Some sources say Goldsby gave himself that name; Bill meaning "wild
hand" in the Cherokee country. Others claim the gang leader gave him the
name.
The gang roamed around Indian Territory for the next two years, robbing
banks, stores and trains. Goldsby, believed to have killed seven to 13
men, including his brother-in-law, became the most feared and wanted
criminal in Indian Territory.
Goldsby was not an expert marksman but was a quick shooter. "I shoot so
fast I get 'em rattled," he once confided. "They can't hit me and then I
take my time and get them."
Cherokee Bill's career neared an end when he was 19 and had the same
interests as most other young men: women. He had a special interest in a
woman named Maggie Glass, a relative of Isaac Rogers who served as a
deputy at times.
At the request of the sheriff, Rogers invited Cherokee Bill to his home
near Nowata for a rendezvous with Maggie. The next morning, Rogers and
another man captured Cherokee Bill and took him to Nowata and a deputy
U.S. marshal, who loaded him into a wagon and headed toward Fort Smith.
At every community they passed through, they were met with an impromptu
celebration in honor of his capture. At Wagoner, the group posed for a
picture.
Cherokee Bill was convicted and sentenced to hang. He attempted to
escape with a pistol that had been smuggled into his cell, killing a
deputy during a gun battle in which he fired about 40 rounds.
He was indicted again for murder, and a jury deliberated for only 13
minutes before finding him guilty. Judge Parker sentenced him again to
hang and Goldsby was executed on March 17, 1896.
Visiting with his mother and others in his cell, Goldsby asked Deputy
Marshal Ed Reed, a son of bandit queen Belle Starr, to "see that nobody
runs over my mother."
The execution was postponed until 2 p.m. to allow his sister to arrive
and visit briefly with him, and then Goldsby told jailers, "I am ready
to go now most any time."
By GENE CURTIS World Staff Writer
1/12/2007
www.tulsaworld.com/NewsStory.asp?ID=070112_Ne_A7_Outla69539_0
<http://www.tulsaworld.com/NewsStory.asp?ID=070112_Ne_A7_Outla69539_0>
<http://www.tulsaworld.com/NewsStory.asp?ID=070112_Ne_A7_Outla69539_0#>
Crawford Goldsby, better known as Cherokee Bill, was the most feared and
best known outlaw in Indian Territory until he was captured and executed
in 1896.
Beryl
Crawford Goldsby was big, strong and a "bloodthirsty mad dog who killed
for the love of killing."
Before he was hanged at the age of 20, he was asked if he had any final
words. "I came here to die; not to make a speech," he told the
executioner at Fort Smith as a black hood was placed over his head.
A few minutes later, Goldsby dropped through the gallows' trapdoor as
2,500 spectators watched. Goldsby's short but spectacular criminal
career was over as he became one of the 83 prisoners hanged by order of
U.S. District Judge Isaac Parker, who called him "the wicked man of
crime."
You may never have heard of Crawford Goldsby.
But you may have heard of Cherokee Bill, the name given Goldsby after a
shootout near Fort Gibson in which a sheriff's deputy was killed. Even
his mother used that name for her son during the remainder of his short
life.
Goldsby, reported by some to have killed a man when he was 12, became
the most feared and best known outlaw in Indian Territory.
Cherokee Bill's criminal career began when he was 18 after he and a
brother became involved in a brawl at a dance. A couple of days later,
he waited for the man he believed
<http://adserver.tulsaworld.com/?RC=25000181&AI=762&RANDOM=1869015596454\
0> <http://adserver.tulsaworld.com/?SHT=NewsStory_336x280> started
the brawl and shot him as he arrived for work.
Goldsby fled, incorrectly believing his victim had died. He later teamed
up with Jim and Bill Cook, who were wanted for horse theft. The Cooks
soon formed a gang that included Goldsby and several others.
Although they were wanted for various crimes, the Cooks and Goldsby
wanted their shares -- $265.70 each -- of the $8.5 million the federal
government paid the Cherokee Tribe for the 6-million-acre Cherokee
Strip. Because they were apprehensive about going to Tahlequah to
collect the money, they persuaded the operator of a lodge to pick up
their money.
After she delivered the money to the three bad men, they were met by
Sheriff Ellis Rattling Gourd and seven deputies, and a gun battle left
Deputy Sequoyah Houston dead and Jim Cook wounded. Cook later recovered.
The sheriff and a posse returned to the house the next day and asked an
employee if Goldsby had been involved in the shootout.
"No, it was Cherokee Bill," she said, and Goldsby had a new name.
Some sources say Goldsby gave himself that name; Bill meaning "wild
hand" in the Cherokee country. Others claim the gang leader gave him the
name.
The gang roamed around Indian Territory for the next two years, robbing
banks, stores and trains. Goldsby, believed to have killed seven to 13
men, including his brother-in-law, became the most feared and wanted
criminal in Indian Territory.
Goldsby was not an expert marksman but was a quick shooter. "I shoot so
fast I get 'em rattled," he once confided. "They can't hit me and then I
take my time and get them."
Cherokee Bill's career neared an end when he was 19 and had the same
interests as most other young men: women. He had a special interest in a
woman named Maggie Glass, a relative of Isaac Rogers who served as a
deputy at times.
At the request of the sheriff, Rogers invited Cherokee Bill to his home
near Nowata for a rendezvous with Maggie. The next morning, Rogers and
another man captured Cherokee Bill and took him to Nowata and a deputy
U.S. marshal, who loaded him into a wagon and headed toward Fort Smith.
At every community they passed through, they were met with an impromptu
celebration in honor of his capture. At Wagoner, the group posed for a
picture.
Cherokee Bill was convicted and sentenced to hang. He attempted to
escape with a pistol that had been smuggled into his cell, killing a
deputy during a gun battle in which he fired about 40 rounds.
He was indicted again for murder, and a jury deliberated for only 13
minutes before finding him guilty. Judge Parker sentenced him again to
hang and Goldsby was executed on March 17, 1896.
Visiting with his mother and others in his cell, Goldsby asked Deputy
Marshal Ed Reed, a son of bandit queen Belle Starr, to "see that nobody
runs over my mother."
The execution was postponed until 2 p.m. to allow his sister to arrive
and visit briefly with him, and then Goldsby told jailers, "I am ready
to go now most any time."