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Henry Andrew (Heck) Thomas was one of the Old West’s most effective lawmen, rounding dozens of notorious desperados. His resume was most impressive, crossing paths with some of the West’s most notorious outlaws including members of the notorious Doolin, Dalton, and Sam Bass gangs. He was one of Oklahoma’s famed “Three Guardsmen,” that included Bill Tilghman and Chris Madden. Prolific Oklahoma author, Glenn Shirley, told me a few yeas ago, Thomas was “by far the best lawman of the three.”
Heck was born in Athens, Georgia on January 3
rd, 1850. His parents wanted him to grow up to be a Methodist minister, however, the youngster had other ideas. When the Civil War broke out, his father and two of his paternal uncles quickly joined and all three gained distinction with the Confederate Army. His father became a colonel commanding the 35th Georgia Infantry, his Uncle Henry also became a colonel and commanded the 16th Georgia Infantry. Another uncle
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Seated, left to right: Red Cloud, Little Wound (ca 1835-1899), Yellow Bear (ca 1844-1913), Iron Crow, He Dog (ca 1840-1936)
Standing, left to right: Probably F.C. Boucher (or another interpreter), Little Big Man, Big Road, Young Man Afraid of His Horses (1836-1893), Three Bears, William Garnett (also known as Billy Hunter, interpreter)
Photo Credit: Mathew Brady, Courtesy Library of Congress
In September 1877, Red Cloud and Spotted Tail led a delegation of 10 Oglala, 10 Brulé and three Arapaho leaders to Washington, D.C. They traveled from Nebraska to meet with President Rutherford B. Hayes in opposition to the consolidation of their Red Cloud and Spotted Tail agencies on the Missouri River. President Hayes heard their case, and in a compromise, required the tribes to move to the Missouri River site for the winter, but in the spring of 1878 they could choose permanent reservations. The delegation sat for three images for Mathew Brady in his Washington, D.C
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A gunfight at the OK Hotel spurs a controversy.
Rose of Cimarron was first introduced to readers in 1915 in a little red paper-covered book titled
Oklahoma Outlaws.
The book was prepared by a newspaperman using information supplied by Bill Tilghman, a respected lawman in Oklahoma Territory in the 1890s. It was sold at showings of the photodrama,
Passing of the Oklahoma Outlaws, which was scripted primarily by Tilghman. In the book and movie portrayal of the Ingalls battle between 13 lawmen and six members of Bill Doolin’s gang, Rose of Cimarron makes a dramatic exit from the hotel, carrying a rifle through a hail of bullets to her wounded lover, outlaw Bitter Creek Newcomb.