| Date of birth: Jamuary 1, 1860 Date of death: April 8, 1898 Richard "Little Dick" West (1860 - 1898) was an outlaw of the Old West, and a member of Bill Doolin's Wild Bunch gang. West was born in Texas, supposedly in 1860. He was working as a cowboy on the Halsell Ranch in Oklahoma Territory when he first met Doolin, in 1892. Doolin along with West and Charlie Pearce formed an outlaw gang known as “The Wild Bunch. “The Wild Bunch became known as one of the most violent gangs in the Old West. He was with the gang during a bank robbery in Southwest City, Missouri, which resulted in a gunfight in which West was wounded. He remained with the gang through 1896, when Doolin was killed by Deputy US Marshal Heck Thomas. Thomas, and Deputy Marshals Bill Tilghman and Chris Madsen systematically eliminated the gang over the course of the 1890's, leading to their nickname, the Three Guardsmen. After the gang split apart, they were still being pursued by the lawmen. West helped to form the Jennings Gang, which made a number of bungled train robberies. After failing miserably, the gang split apart, and the other four members were captured and sentenced to jail in 1897, but West eluded capture. Deputy Marshal Madsen eventually tracked West to Guthrie, Oklahoma. The relentless pursuit of Marshall’s Heck Thomas and Bill Tilgman finally paid off when they confronted “Little Dick” on the streets of Guthrie, Oklahoma. Richard “Little Dick” West was killed in the ensuing shootout and is buried along with Bill Doolin and Charlie Pierce in the Boot Hill Section of the Summit View Cemetery in Guthrie, Oklahoma. NOTE: There is a conflict in the actual date of death, most internet accounts indicates that West was shot and killed on April 8, 1898, while his gravestone indicated the date of death is April 13, 1898. |