Crawford Goldsby (1876-1896) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree

Crawford "Cherokee Bill" Goldsby aka Beck

Born 8 Feb 1876 in Fort Concho, Tom Green, Texas, United States

Son of George Goldsby and Ellen (Beck) Lynch

Brother of Georgia Ellen (Goldsby) Foreman, Clarence Goldsby and Luther Goldsby

Died 17 Mar 1896 at age 20 in Fort Smith, Sebastian, Arkansas, United States

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Profile last modified 4 Oct 2022 | Created 10 Nov 2017

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Biography

Crawford was Cherokee.

Crawford Goldsby is Notable.

Cherokee Bill was the alias of Crawford Goldsby, a 19th century teenage outlaw. During his two-year reign of terror in Indian Territory he was responsible for the murders of eight men, including his brother-in-law. His first crime at 18 was the shooting of Jake Lewis in the Cherokee Nation town of Fort Gibson. As he began to evade the law, he met up with the Cook brothers, Jim and Bill, and the gang headed into the Creek and Seminole Nations where they robbed and killed. The end of his spree occurred when his capture was made by U.S. Marshalls and Indian Territory Lighthorsemen. His crimes were tried in the court of “Hanging Judge” Isaac C. Parker, who sentenced him to be executed. After a review by the United States Supreme Court, he was hanged March 17, 1896, at Fort Smith, Arkansas, having just turned 20 a few weeks prior.

Early Life

Crawford & Mother ca1894

Crawford Goldsby was born February 8, 1876, in Tom Green County, Texas, to George and Ellen Goldsby. His father was a mix-race former slave who achieved the rank of First Sergeant in the Tenth U.S. Cavalry, known to history as the Buffalo Soldiers. His mother was also of mixed-race, including Cherokee, who was a laundress for the Tenth. Their marriage likely occurred in 1874/75 when Ellen was 15 years old, and George was 32, both were located at Fort Concho, near San Angelo, Texas. After his father deserted the family, his mother moved from post to post with the cavalry. Mean while, the Goldsby children stayed in Fort Gibson living with various relatives and members of the Cherokee freeperson community, including a woman named Amanda “Mandy” Foster, who sent Crawford to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. After several years Ellen retuned to Fort Gibson with her new husband Williams Lynch. Crawford joined them at home for a time but did not get along with his stepfather.

Outlaw Life

Crawford was now 18 and had been living away from his mother for some time. One evening at a dance in Fort Gibson, he had a confrontation with Jake Lewis over a dispute that Lewis had with one of Goldsby’s brothers. A few days later, Goldsby took a six-shooter and shot Lewis. Thinking Lewis was dead, Goldsby went on the run, leaving Fort Gibson and heading for the Creek and Seminole Nations.

Soon he met up with outlaws Jim and Bill Cook, who were mixed-blood Cherokees, Jim being wanted on larceny charges. Determining to visit Tahlequah, the men did not want to be seen by the authorities, so they stopped at a hotel and restaurant run by an acquaintance, Effie Crittenden. They coaxed her go to Tahlequah on their behalf. On her way back, she was followed by Sheriff Ellis Rattling Gourd, who hoped to capture Goldsby and the Cooks. On June 17, 1894, Sheriff Rattling Gourd and his posse got into a gunfight with Goldsby and the Cook brothers. One of Gourd’s men, Deputy Sequoyah Houston, was killed, and Jim Cook was injured. The authorities fled, but later, when Effie Crittenden was asked if Goldsby had been involved, she stated that it was not Goldsby, but it was Cherokee Bill. After her statement, Crawford Goldsby got the nickname "Cherokee Bill" and became known as one of the most dangerous men of the Indian Territory.

After this, the Cooks and Goldsby formed the Cook Gang and began to terrorize the Territory. The gang quickly began robbing banks, stagecoaches, and stores, and were willing to shoot anyone who got in their way. Between August and October 1894, Goldsby and the Cooks went on a crime spree, robbing and mercilessly killing those who stood in their way.

Capture and Trial

Cherokee Bill with Captors

According to newspaper accounts, Crawford was apprehended by Isaac “Ike” Rogers, a Black U.S. deputy marshal who befriended him before the arrest. Crawford was taken to Fort Smith, Arkansas, to await trial. His mother moved to Fort Smith to be near her son and obtained a lawyer to defend him in the trial. Reportedly she would walk by the prison daily and talked to Crawford through the window of his cell before going to the river to fish. Eventually, Crawford was tried and hanged, as ordered by Judge Isaac C. Parker, on March 17, 1896, in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Ellen attended the trials and hanging.

Popular Culture

Bubble Gum Trading Card ca 1960

“Stories of the Century” (1955) Television Series S2E6, Brief Synopsis: After Cherokee Bill murders a marshall(sic) aboard a train, railroad detectives Matt Clark and Margaret Jones are called in. They capture him after tracking him to Mrs. Lynch's cabin, his mother. But another escape leads to a showdown between a ruthless gang and the law. Pat Hogan as Cherokee Bill.

“The Harder They Fall” (2021) Film, Brief Synopsis: When an outlaw discovers his enemy is being released from prison, he reunites his gang to seek revenge. Lakeith Stanfield as Cherokee Bill.

Sources

"Arkansas, Sebastian County Births and Deaths, 1877-1963," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZHB-626 : 3 November 2021), Ellen Goldsly in entry for Crawford Goldsly, 17 Mar 1896; citing P 53, Fort Smith Public Library, Fort Smith; FHL microfilm 1,034,198.

Harman, S. W. “A Fiendish Outlaw's LIfe Record. - Crimes and Execution of Cherokee Bill.” Hell on the Border: He Hanged Eighty-Eight Men, Eastern National, Fort Washington, Pa, 2001, pp. 385–446.

Crawford Goldsby (1876 - 1896)

Biography

Sources