Not much is known about Thomas’s life, but he had a habit of heading into town, imbibing to excess in the spirits, and becoming belligerent with companions as well as with townsfolk. It includes a colorful account of the incident.
Miller in 1963 called Why the West Was Wild: A Contemporary Look at the Antics of Some Highly Publicized Kansas Cowtown Personalities. Subsequently, I did some digging and found a book written by Joseph W. Lane’s good friend Tom Odom had written an article about Marshal Ben Wood for the Spring 2005 edition of The Rampant Colt. I first learned of Oscar Thomas, Marshal John Phillips, and Assistant Marshal Bedford “Ben” Wood through Shooting Times writer Lane Pearce. As historical accounts portray, the shootout that snuffed out Thomas’s life plays like a scene from a Western movie. This story also inspired the 2019 album The Cowboy Iliad: A Legend Told in the Spoken Word written by Walter Hill and produced by Bobby Woods.Not all old west outlaws who met their end in a gunfight were bloodthirsty, hardened killers.
This story inspired the western short film, No Sunday West Of Newton, written by Gwendolyn Cameron, Hunter Gehman, and Spencer Cameron. He left Kansas cause he was bored by training and settling in Texas to recover from his gunshots. Either way, he disappeared.Ī warrant was issued for Anderson for killing McCluskie. However, due to his ill physical state, it is more likely he died not long afterward under an assumed name. Legend has it he left the area and began a new life elsewhere. With both guns empty and all his opponents down, Riley walked away and was never seen again. Anderson, Wilkerson, and another bystander were wounded but survived. Garrett, Kearns, and a bystander named Patrick Lee were also mortally wounded. Jim Martin, the would-be peacemaker, was shot in the neck and later died of his wound. The room was filled with smoke from all the prior gunfire, and visibility was bad. Some accounts say Riley locked the saloon doors before shooting, but this seems unlikely. Riley had never been involved in a gunfight before, but only Anderson still had a loaded pistol to return fire. Riley was dying from tuberculosis, and had been taken in by McCluskie shortly after arriving in Newton. At that point a young man, believed to have been around 18 years of age at the time, named James Riley, opened fire on them. Kearns, Garrett, and Wilkerson also began firing, perhaps to keep the crowd back, and may have shot McCluskie in the leg. Anderson then stood over him and shot him several times in the back. McCluskie attempted to shoot Anderson, but his pistol misfired. Jim Martin jumped up and attempted to stop a fight from occurring.Īnderson shot McCluskie in the neck, knocking him to the floor. Hugh Anderson, the son of a wealthy Bell County, Texas cattle rancher, also entered, and approached McCluskie, calling him a coward and threatening his life. Billy Garrett had been in at least two prior gunfights, killing two men. They were Billy Garrett, Henry Kearnes, and Jim Wilkerson, all friends to Bailey. As McCluskie settled into gambling, three cowboys entered the saloon. He was accompanied by a friend, Jim Martin. On August 19, 1871, McCluskie entered Newton and went to gamble at "Tuttles Dance Hall", located in an area of town called Hide Park. Upon hearing of his death, they vowed revenge against McCluskie. McCluskie had claimed he feared for his life, having known that in three previous gunfights, Bailey had killed two men.īailey, a native of Texas, had several cowboy friends who were in town. McCluskie fled town to avoid arrest, but was only away for a few days before returning, after receiving information that the shooting would most likely be deemed self defense, despite the fact that Bailey never produced a weapon. Bailey died the next day, on August 12, 1871. He fired two shots at Bailey, hitting him with the second shot in the chest. The argument developed into a fist fight, with Bailey being knocked outside the saloon and into the street. The two men began arguing on August 11, 1871, over local politics on election day in the "Red Front Saloon", located in downtown Newton. The incident began with an argument between two local lawmen, Billy Bailey and Mike McCluskie.
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