Expenses Claim For Posse Member, John Badger, While Chasing Bill Doolin And "Dynamite Dick" Clifton In Pawnee, Oklahoma Territory, August 23, 1896, And Signed By Frank Canton

Publication: 1896,

13 1/2 x 8 1/2" sheet, printed on one side. A partly-printed document, completed in manuscript. Expenses for John Badger's four day service beginning August 11, 1896, and traveling to Osage County, Oklahoma Territory. Document is Signed by Frank Canton, Deputy U. S. Marshal three separate times. By cursory review, it appears that the entire document was filled out and then signed by Frank Canton. Document is also signed by John Badger (member of the posse) and U.S. Marshal P.S. Nagle (Patrick Sarsfield Nagle) in lieu of U.S. Marshal Evett D. Nix. Frank M. Canton was born "Joe Horner" in Virginia. After his father and his brother were killed fighting in the Civil War, the remainder of the family moved to Texas where Frank grew up as a cowboy & rode in cattle drives before turning to a life of crime rustling cattle and robbing banks. In 1874 he was in a gunfight with several Buffalo Soldiers (Black soldiers) in a Texas saloon, killing one, wounding another and shooting his way out of town to make his escape. In 1877 he was jailed for robbing a bank, but later escaped, deciding to turn his life around. He quietly left Texas for good on a cattle drive to Nebraska, leaving behind his "Joe Horner" image. From Nebraska he traveled to Wyoming Territory and arrived as "Frank Canton," taking a job with the Wyoming Stock growers Association. He settled near the town of Buffalo, was elected Sheriff there in 1882 and later married. In 1886 he accepted another job with the Stock Growers Association as a 'Range Detective" & also served as a deputy U. S. Marshall there. During the famous Johnson County War there between the cattle barons and settlers, Canton sided with his employers and was involved in several gun battles, the worst being the hired gunman Canton led to the KC Ranch where two men were arrested and two were killed in the shootout. Canton left Wyoming and a year later was in Indian Territory as a Deputy U. S. Marshall under "Hanging Judge" Isaac Parker where he gained a reputation as being fearless gunfighter, working alongside such notable lawmen as Heck Thomas, Bill Tilghman and Chris Madsen. November 6, 1896, on the streets of Pawnee, outlaw Bill Dunn challenged Canton and both men drew their guns. Canton shot Dunn in the forehead before Dunn could pull his own trigger. Eyewitnesses say the dying outlaw's trigger finger twitched instinctively for several moments before he died. After breaking up several outlaw gangs, Canton accepted an appointment in 1897 as deputy Marshall in Alaska Territory during the gold rush period but returned to Oklahoma Territory two years later. He served as Deputy Sheriff in Oklahoma till 1907. On August 24, Doolin was killed by a shotgun blast in a confrontation with Deputy U.S. Marshal Heck Thomas. Bill Doolin (here misspelled Dolan, as occasionally is the case. According to CoPilot, "Bill Doolin, the notorious American outlaw and founder of the Wild Bunch, is sometimes associated with the name Bill Dolan") was a founder of the Wild Bunch, sometimes known as the Doolin-Dalton Gang. In late 1894, gang member Bill Dalton was killed by U.S. marshals. Doolin fled to New Mexico Territory but returned to Eureka Springs in northwestern Arkansas. There, in early 1896, Doolin was captured in a bathhouse by deputy marshal Bill Tilghman and taken to the jail in Guthrie, O.T. Doolin escaped from jail on July 5, and took refuge with his wife in Lawson in the Oklahoma Territory. On August 25, 1896, Bill Doolin was killed by a posse under Deputy U.S. Marshal Henry "Heck" Thomas and was buried in Summit View Cemetery in Guthrie. Charles Daniel "Dynamite Dick" Clifton joined the Doolin Gang in 1892. Upon joining the gang, Clifton took part in the remainder of the Doolin Gang's bank robberies, including the 1893 gunfight with law enforcement at Ingalls, Oklahoma. In early 1896 he was captured with Doolin but escaped with Doolin and others. On December 4, 1896, he was shot and killed by Deputy Marshal Alford Lund as he tried to escape from a farm outside Newkirk, Oklahoma Territory. On the night of July 5, 1896, before his trial, Bill Doolin, and 12 other inmates including Dynamite Dick, escaped from the Guthrie Federal Prison. Within an hour of the massive jail escape, Marshal Heck Thomas formed a posse and rode after the escapees but to no avail. This expense form is related to that particular escape, with John Badger being a part of the posse in pursuit of Bill Doolin and Dynamite Dick. Material related to Canton, Doolin and Dynamite Dick is very scarce. Very good.

Inventory Number: 52420