Burketown, the old Frontier Town attraction in Greensburg, Kansas, in 2006, a year before the ’07 Tornado that destroyed it. Photo by Kathy Alexander.
Andrew “Andy” W. Balfour (or Belfour) was a Deputy Sheriff in Kiowa County, Kansas, in the 1890s.
Originally from Quincy, Illinois, Andrew Balfour was born on May 12, 1851. He grew up and married Perina Price, also from Illinois, and they had six children. At some point, the family moved to Kansas, where Andrew became a law officer.
Posse.
In July 1892, Officer Balfour was tracking the notorious outlaw Zip Wyatt, who had shot up the town of Mulhall, Oklahoma, on June 3, 1891, wounding two citizens. Afterward, he fled North to the Cherokee Outlet before heading to Kansas.
With an arrest warrant out, Zip went to Kiowa County, Kansas, where he stole riding gear in Greensburg. Officer Balfour soon learned that Wyatt would be at a Fourth of July picnic at Pryor’s Grove in southeast Edwards County, about ten miles North of Greensburg.
On July 4, Deputy Sheriff Balfour located Zip Wyatt, spoke with him for a few minutes, and then informed him of the warrant and that he would need to be taken into custody. However, Balfour was distracted by another man’s arrival. When he turned his attention to the other man, Wyatt drew a gun and shot Balfour in the abdomen, the bullet striking the officer in the spine. Falling to the ground, Balfour courageously drew his gun and returned fire, wounding his assailant in the hand. Balfour died at the scene 30 minutes later. He was just 41 years old and left a wife and six children. He was buried at Fairview Cemetery in Greensburg, Kansas.
Meanwhile, Zip Wyatt escaped. With yet another warrant on his head and a $1,000 reward for his capture, Zip fled to his native Indiana, where he hid with relatives. Several months later, however, he was apprehended, and after a lengthy extradition proceeding, Zip was returned to Guthrie, Oklahoma, to face charges for his spree in Mulhall, Oklahoma. However, he escaped in December 1892, formed a gang with Ike Black, and continued his outlaw ways, committing numerous robberies and murders. The gang was soon blamed for almost every crime committed in the territory, and a $5,000 reward was placed on Wyatt’s head for his capture.
Zip Wyatt, Captured by the Police News, 1895.
During a shootout on August 1, 1895, lawmen killed Ike Black. Zip Wyatt, although wounded, slipped away again. Three days later, a posse cornered him at Skeleton Creek, where both sides exchanged gunfire. Wyatt went down with a gut-shot and a shattered pelvis. He died in jail in Enid, Oklahoma, on September 7, at age 32. He was buried in a pauper’s grave South of Enid, Oklahoma.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated September 2026.
Also See:
Adventures of the American West
Zip Wyatt – Notorious Oklahoma Hombre
Sources:
Facebook – Officer Down
Officer Down Kansas
Find a Grave
Officer Down Memorial
Tom Rizzo
Zip Wyatt – Legends of America