![]() ![]() Jim was arrested and sentenced to seven years in the prison at Tahlequah, but managed to escape. The trio found a doctor for Jim at Fort Gibson, but with lawmen on their heels, they had to leave him behind. The following day, when a woman was asked if Goldsby was one of the outlaws she replied, “No, it was Cherokee Bill.” From then on, he had an alias. Goldsby and Brother Bill helped Jim to escape with them into the darkness. One lawman was killed and Jim Cook was seriously wounded, shot seven times. Upon their approach, the outlaws were ready with their Winchesters, and a battle commenced. On Monday evening, July 18, Sheriff Ellis Rattling Gourd and a posse of seven men rode to the Half-way House in search of the wanted men. When she returned without incident, the boys decided that it would be safe to stay put for a couple of days. ![]() Crittenden was recruited to ride the 14 miles to Tahlequah and collect the $265.70 each outlaw was owed. On Saturday, July 16, the last day that the money could be claimed, Mrs. Between Fort Gibson and Tahlequah was a place where travelers could grab a bite known as the “Half-way House.” It was owned by Effie Crittenden, who had employed the Cooks' brother-in-law as a cook. The trio was lured back to the Cherokee Nation in July 1894, to collect their share of an allotment being paid to tribal members. There he met up with a couple of young brothers 21-year-old Bill Cook, and his 17-year-old brother, Jim, were also “on the scout.” Like Goldsby, they were a quarter-Cherokee on their mother's side but, other than that, were White with light complexions. Goldsby, now officially an outlaw, fled the Cherokee Nation for the nearby Creek and Seminole Nations. Lewis survived his wounds and pressed charges against his attacker. Two days later, while Lewis was working in his barn, Goldsby walked up with a sixshooter and shot him twice. The elder ruffian took the young man to school with a sound beating. In the spring of 1894, 18-year-old Goldsby was attending a dance at Fort Gibson, where he got into a fight with 35-year-old man named Jake Lewis. It seemed that responsibility had settled him down and, at least until the following year, he managed to stay out of trouble. Harman wrote, “The boy, having no guidance, fell in with first one and then another, learning new evils at every stage, among them being the taste for intoxicants.having become a lusty burly fellow, who had never been curbed, he came to the conclusion that none could curb him.”īy 17, Goldsby had found employment on a nearby ranch, where he was described as well liked. In his book, “Hell On The Border,” author S.W. He resented his stepfather and in rebellion continued his path towards delinquency. The following year, Goldsby's mother remarried. As the account continued, he was not charged with the crime due to his age. Soon after Goldsby returned to the Cherokee Nation, the 12-year-old was alleged to have committed his first murder, when he gunned down his brother-in-law, George Brown, after an argument over hogs. After that, he was shuffled off to the Catholic Indian School at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, for the following two years. At seven, he was sent to a school at Cherokee, Kan., where he remained for three years. Other than his parents separation, he had a normal childhood for the time. Young Goldsby's parents were not together long, and his mother moved with him to Fort Gibson in the Cherokee Nation. After the Civil War, the Freedmen became members of the tribe. She was a Cherokee “Freedman,” or former slave owned by a tribal member. His only Cherokee blood came from his mother, Ellen Beck Goldsby, who was half-Black, a quarter-White, and a quarter-Cherokee. His father, George Goldsby, was a mix of Mexican, White and Sioux. He was born Crawford Goldsby at Fort Concho, Texas, on Feb. His official reign of terror lasted only about seven months however, he managed to condense much crime and death into that short time. The deadliest outlaw the in the history of Indian Territory was a teenager who became known as Cherokee Bill.
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