| Date of Birth: 1858 Date of Death:August 25, 1896 William M. "Bill" Doolin, aka: Will Barry (1858-1896) - The son of an Arkansas farmer, Doolin was born in Johnson County, Arkansas in 1858. A son of Michael and Artemina Beller Doolin, he left home in 1881 and became a cowboy in Indian Territory. He worked on ranches in the Unassigned Lands and the Cherokee Outlet and was considered honest and quiet. At the age of 23 he landed a job as a cowboy at the H-X Bar Ranch in Indian Territory in 1881. Also working at the ranch were the Dalton Brothers, who Doolin soon hooked up with, participating in several train and bank robberies. However, he was not present at the Coffeyville, Kansas raid, which spared his life, at least for a little while. Founding the Oklahombres in 1893, which specialized in robbing banks, stagecoaches and trains in Arkansas, Kansas, the gang became the terror of the Wild West. Doolin's "Oklahombres" Bill Dalton, Charley Pierce Red Buck, George Weightman, Little Bill Raidler, Bob Grounds, Tulsa Jack Blake, Little Dick West, Dan "Dynamite Dick" Clifton, Roy Daugherty, alias "Arkansas Tom" Jones, George "Bitter Creek" Newcomb, Alf Sohn, and Ol Yantis. For whatever reasons, Doolin held something of a "Robin Hood” image and was well liked by many people, who helped them in evading the law. The robberies and killings continued until until Doolin was captured in a Eureka Springs bathhouse by U.S. Deputy Marshal Bill Tilghman in January, 1896. Later, however, Doolin escaped federal custody and eluded apprehension for several months until a posse led by Heck Thomas tracked him down near Lawson, Oklahoma Territory on August 25, 1896. When Thomas demanded he surrender, he pulled his six-gun and fired twice before a blast from a shot gun fired by Bill Dunn and rifle bullets fired by Thomas cut him to pieces. |