Ingalls, Oklahoma Gunfight With the Doolin Gang

OKLAHOMA LEGENDS

Ingalls Gunfight With the Doolin Gang

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Though more furious and more deadly than the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, the Ingalls, Oklahoma shoot-out between the Doolin-Dalton Gang and U.S. Deputy Marshals is not nearly as well known.

One of the many hide-outs used by the Doolin-Dalton Gang in the early 1890s was the small community of Ingalls, Oklahoma. Unfortunately, this small town was a haven for numerous outlaws, as residents tolerated them for their free-spending ways and the bad men behaved themselves in order to safeguard their hideout.

In August, 1893, several members of the outlaw gang, including Bill Doolin, Bill Dalton, George "Red Buck” Weightman, George "Bitter Creek" Newcomb, Charlie Pierce, "Arkansas Tom" Jones, "Tulsa Jack" Blake, and "Dynamite Dick" Clifton, were taking refuge in the small town, most of them having been in town for weeks living at the city hotel and spending their time at the Ransom Saloon.

Bill Doolin

Evett Dumas "E.D." Nix When U.S. Marshals got word of their location, Marshal, Evett Dumas "E.D." Nix formed a posse of some 27 deputy marshals and Indian Police and headed towards Ingalls. Camping out along a creek the night before, they were seen by a young boy, who the deputies held over night. However, the boy slipped away early the next morning and ran into Ingalls, telling the outlaws, "The marshals are coming."

The boy's warning gave the outlaws time to saddle their horses at the livery stable, but rather than making a run for it, they chose to return to their poker game at the saloon.

On the morning of September 1, 1893 the posse crept into town while the outlaws were drinking and gambling in the saloon. When Newcomb stepped out of the saloon and got on to his horse, he was fired upon by one of the officers. However, "Arkansas Tom" Jones, who was sick in bed at the O.K. Hotel, returned the fire from his second story window, mortally wounding U.S. Deputy Marshal Thomas Hueston, who would die the next day. After firing just a couple of rounds, Newcomb was wounded, but was able to escape.

Within seconds a full-out gunfight erupted with the outlaws shooting their way from the saloon to a nearby livery stable. Fugitives, Red Buck, Bill Dalton, and "Tulsa Jack" Blake then mounted their horses and came out of the stable with their guns blazing. When Deputy Lafeyette Shadley shot at Bill Dalton, the lawman instead hit the outlaw’s horse, toppling Dalton to the ground. Dalton returned the fire, hitting Shadley, who would die two days later. In the meantime, Bill Doolin, shot and killed Deputy Marshal Richard Speed. Outlaw, Dan "Dynamite Dick" Clifton and Charlie Pierce were also hit and wounded, but both were still able to ride.

All the outlaws escaped except "Arkansas Tom" Jones, who was trapped in the hotel room when Deputy Marshal Jim Masterson threw dynamite into his hiding place. Though there was talk of Arkansas Tom Jones being lynched, he was later sent to federal prison in Guthrie, Oklahoma Territory.

In the shooting frenzie, an innocent bystander named Young Simmons was also killed when he tried to take cover inside Vaughn's Saloon. Another citizen, known only as Old Man Ramson was also hit in the leg but survived. Also wounded was the saloon bartender, a Mr. Murray, who obviously an ally of the outlaw gang, fired on the deputies from his front doorway. He was shot in the ribs and the arm, arrested and sent to prison. Two years after his release, Murray would pursue damages against the government for his injuries, but lost his case due to U.S. Marshal Nix’ testimony defending his deputy marshals actions.

In the end, the outlaws won the battle but lost the war, as eventually, every member of who had escaped from the Ingalls gunfight would be killed, most by U.S. Deputy Marshals.

Ingalls, Oklahoma today, August, 2008, Kathy Weiser.

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

"Arkansas Tom" Jones was sick in bed at the Ingalls O.K. Hotel, but shot from the window, wounding U.S. Deputy Marshal Thomas Hueston, who would die the next day. July, 2008, Kathy Weiser.

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

The small community of Ingalls, Oklahoma, located about halfway between Stillwater and Yale, Oklahoma, is no longer shown on state highway maps. Only a few deserted buildings, stone foundations, and a stone memorial mark the site of the famous gunfight. Settled after the land rush of 1889 into the "Unassigned Lands" between the Chickasaw Nation to the south and the Cherokee Outlet to the north, Ingalls was a thriving community of 150 people in the 1890's; however, by 1907 the post office was closed. The site is located about 9 miles east of Stillwater, Okalahoma, and 1 mile south at Ingalls Road.

See Evett Dumas "E.D." Nix account Next Page

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