Crawford Goldsby

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Crawford Goldsby
Born	February 8, 1876(1876-02-08) San Angelo, Texas, United States
Died	March 17, 1896 (aged 20) Fort Smith, Arkansas
Cause of death	Hanged
Nationality	Cherokee and African-American
Other names	Cherokee Bill
Occupation	Outlaw
Home town	Fort Gibson, Oklahoma
Known for	Leader of an outlaw gang active in the Indian Territory during the mid-1890s.
Parents	George and Ellen Goldsby

Crawford Goldsby (February 8, 1876-March 17, 1896) was a 19th century American outlaw, known by the alias Cherokee Bill. Responsible for the murders of seven men (including his brother-in-law), he and his gang terrorized the Indian Territory for over two years.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Life as an Outlaw 3 Jail Break 4 Death 5 References 6 Further reading

[edit] Early life

Crawford Goldsby was born on February 8, 1876 at Fort Concho in San Angelo, Texas. His mother Ellen (nee Beck) was a Cherokee Freedman with some African and white lineage, and his father George (or perhaps St. George) was a slave freed for his part in the civil war ^[1]. Crawford had one sister, Georgia, and two brothers, Luther and Clarence ^[2].

When Crawford was seven-years-old, his father was killed by the Ku Klux Klan, and his mother took the children to Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. Eventually, Ellen Goldsby sent Crawford to Kansas where he attended the Indian school for three years. For the next two years, he went to Carlisle, Pennsylvania where he was a student at an industrial school for Indians ^[1].

When he was twelve-years-old, Crawford went back to Fort Gibson only to find that his mother had married a man named William Lynch. Unfortunately, Crawford and his stepfather did not get along, and Crawford began to rebel by running with a bad crowd and drinking liquor ^[3].

By the time he was fifteen, Crawford had moved in with his sister and her husband, Mose Brown, near Nowata, Oklahoma. However, Mose and his brother-in-law did not get along well, and Crawford did not stay for very long. He went back to Fort Gibson, moved in with a man named Bud Buffington, and began working odd jobs ^[3].

[edit] Life as an Outlaw

Crawford’s life as an outlaw began when he was eighteen. At a dance in Fort Gibson, he and Jake Lewis had a confrontation over a dispute that Lewis had with one of Crawford’s brothers. A couple days later, Crawford took a six-shooter and shot Lewis. Thinking Lewis was dead, Crawford went on the run, leaving Fort Gibson and heading for the Creek and Seminole Nations where he met up with outlaws Jim and Bill Cook, who were mixed blood Cherokees ^[3].

During the summer of 1894, the United States government purchased rights to a strip of Cherokee land and agreed to pay out $265.70 to each person who had a legal claim. Since Goldsby and the Cook brothers were part Cherokee, they headed out to Tahlequah, Oklahoma to get their money ^[3].

At this time, Crawford was wanted for shooting Jake Lewis, and Jim Cook was wanted on larceny charges. The men did not want to be seen by the authorities so they stopped at a hotel and restaurant that was run by Effie Crittenden, and they made her go to Tahlequah to get their money. On her way back, she was followed by Sheriff Ellis Rattling Gourd who hoped to capture Goldsby and the Cooks ^[3].

On July 18, 1894, Sheriff Rattling Gourd and his posse got into a gunfight with Crawford and the Cook brothers. One of Gourd’s men, Sequoyah Houston was killed, and Jim Cook was injured. The authorities fled, but later on, when Effie Crittenden was questioned, she was asked if Crawford Bill had been involved. She stated, "No, it was not Crawford Goldsby, but it was Cherokee Bill." After her statement, Crawford Goldsby got the nickname "Cherokee Bill" ^[3] and became known as one of the most dangerous men of the Indian Territory ^[1].

After this, the Cooks and Goldsby formed the Cook Gang and began to terrorize Oklahoma. These ruthless men quickly began robbing banks, stagecoaches and stores, and were willing to shoot anyone who got in their way. On July 18, 1894, they held up the Frisco train in Red Fork, Oklahoma. Thirteen days later, they robbed the Lincoln County Bank in Chandler, Oklahoma and made off with $500, killing one person in the process ^[1].

Between August and October, Crawford and the Cooks went on a crime spree, robbing and mercilessly killing those who stood in their way. In September of that year, Goldsby shot and killed his brother-in-law, Mose Brown, over an argument about some hogs. On November 8, 1894, when the men robbed the Shufeldt & Son General Store, Cherokee Bill shot and killed Ernest Melton, who happened to enter the store during the robbery ^[1].

[edit] Jail Break

Because of this incident, the authorities stepped up their pursuit for Goldsby and the Cook Gang. With the pressure on, the gang split up. Most of the men were captured or killed, but Crawford managed to escape. When the authorities offered a $1300 reward for the capture of Cherokee Bill, some of his acquaintances came forward and agreed to help ^[1].

On January 30, 1895, Crawford was captured and taken to Fort Smith, Arkansas to wait for his trial. On April 13, 1895, he was sentenced to death after being tried and convicted for the murder of Ernest Melton. However, his lawyer managed to postpone the execution date.

In the meantime Crawford had made a friend, Sherman Vann, who was a trusty at the jail. Sherman managed to sneak a six-gun into Crawford's cell. On July 27, 1895, Crawford attempted a jail break with it. He jumped the night guards as they came to lock him into his cell. A guard, Lawrence Keating, was shot in the stomach. As Keating staggered back down the corridor Crawford shot him again in the back. Other guards arrived and prevented Crawford from escaping, but were not able to enter the jail either. Then another prisoner, Henry Starr, convinced the guards to let him go in and get Crawford out. Moments later he came back with Crawford, who was unarmed.

[edit] Death

Crawford Goldsby was soon tried for the killing of Keating. He was again found gulty, and sentenced to death on December 2, 1895. At his trial, "Hanging Judge" Isaac Parker said following sentencing:

“

The crime you have committed is but another evidence, if any were needed, of your wicked, lawless, bloody and murderous disposition. It is another evidence of your total disregard of human life; another evidence that you revel in the destruction of human life. The many murders you have committed, and their reckless and wanton character, show you to be a human monster, from whom innocent people can expect no safety! You have had a fair trial, notwithstanding the howls and shrieks to the contrary. There is no doubt of your guilt of a most wicked, foul and unprovoked murder, shocking to every good man and woman in the land. Your case is one where justice should not walk with laden feet! It should be swift! It should be certain! As far as this court is concerned, it shall be, for public justice demands it!

”

Again his lawyer filed appeals, but they were turned down by the U.S. Supreme Court. He was sentenced to die on March 17, 1896. On that day as twenty-year-old Crawford Goldsby saw the gallows he said "This is as good a day to die as any". As he stood with the noose around his neck, he was asked if he had any last words. He replied, "No! I came here to die, not make a speech." After his death, his mother and sister, Georgia, took his body to be buried in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma ^[1].

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Kilpatrick, Jack F. and Anna G. Kilpatrick. Friends of Thunder: Folktales of the Oklahoma Cherokees. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8061-2722-8