Legends of the Old West - OUTLAWS Ep. 6 | Ned Christie: “Legend and Legacy”

Episode Date: March 20, 2024

In November of 1892, the final showdown arrives. The U.S. Marshals assault Ned Christie’s cabin and end Ned’s resistance. The marshals and the general public believe a murderous outlaw has been brought to justice. But as the years pass, newspapers and historians revisit the saga known as “Ned Christie’s War” and begin to separate fact from fiction. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Noiser+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From 1887 to 1892, one of the most notorious outlaws in the history of the American West stayed out of reach of the U.S. Marshal Service. He wasn't on the run and leading the marshals on a never-ending chase across the country. He was at his home the whole time, a few miles outside of the capital of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma Territory. Based on the stories of the time, he was one of the most ruthless and brutal outlaws who ever stalked the West. But now it seems like nearly all of those stories were wildly exaggerated or outright fabricated. It's taken more than a hundred years for history to re-examine the

events of those years and to begin to rehabilitate the image of Ned Christie. His story fell into the waning days of the Old West and was surrounded by other events that have now taken their places in American history. Less than a year before Ned vaulted into the spotlight after the murder of Deputy U.S. Marshal Dan Maples in May of 1887, Geronimo surrendered in southern Arizona. May of 1887, Geronimo surrendered in southern Arizona. Two years before the end of Ned Christie's story, there were the terrible events of December 1890, the murder of Sitting Bull and the Wounded Knee Massacre. One month before Ned Christie's final showdown, there was the legendarily disastrous Coffeyville Raid, conducted in southern Kansas by the Dalton Gang. That was only about 80 miles from Ned's home. One year after the end of Ned's story, there was the

infamous shootout between the Doolin-Dalton Gang and the U.S. Marshals in the tiny town of Ingalls, Oklahoma, a little more than 100 miles from Ned's home. While some of those events happened, Ned Christie was a wanted man whose reputation as a bloodthirsty outlaw was created and fueled by newspapers. He had survived a gunfight with Deputy U.S. Marshal Heck Thomas, one of the three marshals who would be known as the Three Guardsmen.

He had survived numerous encounters with posses since then, but by the fall of 1892, one month after the Coffeyville raid, he could feel his time was growing short. He had built a fortified cabin to withstand attacks by posses of lawmen, but he knew it wouldn't hold up forever. Deputy Marshal Milo Creekmore had led a posse to Ned's cabin, Creekmore's second attempt at capture that year, and the action had resulted in Ned shooting and seriously wounding a deputy. The Marshals were never going to quit hunting Ned, but after that incident, they were determined to end Ned's resistance once and for all. In early November 1892, the U.S. Marshal for Oklahoma Territory assembled

yet another posse, and this time they added a cannon and dynamite to their arsenal. Like a modern fireworks display, the finale was going to be a blazing spectacle. From Black Barrel Media, this is Legends of the Old West. I'm your host, Chris Wimmer. In this season, we're telling the stories of two outlaws, stagecoach and train robber Sam Bass, and controversial fugitive Ned Christie. This is Episode 6, Ned Christie Part 3 of 3,

Legend and Legacy. Deputy Creekmore had come very close to capturing Ned Christie in September 1892, but Ned had slipped through the grasp of the Marshal Service yet again. In early November, U.S. Marshal Jacob Yost decided to take the case into his own hands. He personally assembled a posse of about a dozen men at his home base in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Fort Smith sits right on the border between Arkansas and Oklahoma, and the Marshal's posse rode northwest toward Ned's home outside the Cherokee capital of Tahlequah. When the lawmen entered the region, they joined up with local sheriff Ben Knight,

who was Cherokee and had known Ned Christie for years. Newspaper accounts at the time, and others later, claimed Knight joined the posse because he was fed up with Ned Christie and wanted to help the government put an end to Ned's reign of terror. But like the accounts of Ned's so-called reign of terror, the stated reason for Knight's involvement was wrong. In reality, Ben Knight liked Ned Christie. Knight was a member of the Cherokee Nationalist Party, just like Ned.

Knight belonged to the same society within the Cherokee Nationist Party, just like Ned. Knight belonged to the same society within the Cherokee Nation that Ned's family belonged to. Knight wasn't going to betray Ned, and Knight made it clear to the posse that he was there as a translator to make sure Ned fully understood the situation. If this thing didn't end peacefully, it wouldn't be because of a simple and avoidable misunderstanding. The trees surrounding Ned's home were blazing with autumn colors. The days were still warm, but the nights were growing cold. On the night of November 2nd, frost covered the ground as the posse followed the trail to Ned's house. After Ned's original cabin had been burned to the ground by Heck Thomas' posse, Ned had moved to a new plot of land and built a fortified cabin with thick log walls that were essentially bulletproof.

Now, the posse would have the chance to test the strength of the construction. The U.S. Attorney General had strongly suggested that Marshal Yost bring Ned back alive to stand trial. But it will always be debatable as to whether or not Yost had any interest in capturing the fugitive. And Ned himself had shown no willingness to surrender. He had defied every attempt to bring him in and had repelled every posse with gunfire. After five years of defiance

and now living in a cabin that was nicknamed Ned's Fort for defense, it was pretty clear that Ned would not be taken alive if he could avoid it. And after Deputy Milo Creekmore's recent raid, Ned and his wife Nancy seemed to be preparing for the end. Ned had shot and wounded two deputies, one seriously during the standoff. That made three deputies Ned had wounded, counting the one in the Heck Thomas raid three years earlier. Now, Ned seemed to understand that the next time the marshals returned, it would be the final time. He cut his long hair short, and he and his wife buried the

bundle of hair outside and said a prayer over it. It was a Cherokee grieving ritual, except this time it was being conducted before there was something to grieve. Ned's instincts were right. This raid was going to be different from previous attempts. Marshal Yost had brought along a wagon load of ammunition to ensure that the raid wouldn't fail because of lack of bullets. Also on that wagon was a cannon. There's still endless controversy over the size and style of the cannon, but the point is, they had a cannon. If bullets couldn't penetrate Ned's house, then the cannon should.

cannon. If bullets couldn't penetrate Ned's house, then the cannon should. And if somehow the cannon didn't work, the posse also had dynamite. As a podcast network, our first priority has always been audio and the stories we're able to share with you. But we also sell merch, and organizing that was made both possible and easy with Shopify. Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell and grow at every stage of your business. From the launch your online shop stage all the way to the did we just hit a million orders stage. Whether you're selling scented soap or offering outdoor outfits, Shopify helps you sell everywhere. They have an all-in-one e-commerce platform and in-person POS system, so wherever and whatever you're selling, Shopify's got you covered.

With the internet's best converting checkout, 36% better on average compared to other leading commerce platforms, Shopify helps you turn browsers into buyers. Shopify has allowed us to share something tangible with the podcast community we've built here, selling our beanies, sweatshirts, and mugs to fans of our shows without taking up too much time from all the other work we do to bring you even more great content. And it's not just us. Shopify powers 10% of all e-commerce in the U.S. Shopify is also the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy's, and Brooklinen, and millions of other entrepreneurs of every size across 175 countries. Because businesses that grow, grow with Shopify.

Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash realm, all lowercase. Go to shopify.com slash r-e-a-l-m now to grow your business, no matter what stage you're in. Shopify.com slash realm. The posse arrived in the vicinity of Christy's house during the night of November 2nd. They surrounded the house and took up hiding spots. They planned to surprise Ned the following morning. At some point, two women went outside and looked around, either having heard something or sensed that something was amiss. After a few minutes, they were satisfied that everything was as it should be, and they went back inside.

were satisfied that everything was as it should be, and they went back inside. The house was packed with people. There was Ned, Ned's wife Nancy, Ned's stepson, Ned's son and daughter, Nancy's stepchildren, and a couple grandchildren. Also in the house was Ned's teenage cousin Arch Wolf. He was the boy who had been shot and nearly killed during the Heck Thomas raid, but now he knew how to use a rifle. Finally, there was 12-year-old Charles Hare, who had come to work on Ned's farm.

As usual, this is where the facts get muddied by rumor, exaggeration, and fabrication. According to Marshall Yost, in a report he wrote to the Attorney General afterward, he yelled in English for Ned Christie to surrender. Sheriff Knight then repeated the command in Cherokee. Ned answered the same way he always did, with his rifle. Ned fired a few rounds at the posse, and the posse fired a few in return. Ned then directed the women to take the children out of the house through the root cellar. Teenage Arch Wolf and 12-year-old Charlie Hare stayed behind with Ned.

With the women and children out of the house, the posse let loose with a barrage of gunfire, and that was when Marshal Yost learned firsthand about the walls of Ned's cabin. Other members of the posse had been there before and they already knew, but this was the Marshal's first experience. Regardless, the two sides exchanged gunfire for quite a while before the Marshal decided guns were useless. It was time to see what the cannon could do. Yost described the cannon in his report as having a barrel that was four feet long, but they didn't have a proper gun carriage for it. Apparently, they had just lumped it into the back of the wagon. So, the posse had to build a wooden rig to support it. As described in the account, it was more like the 19th century equivalent of a bazooka.

After the men moved the cannon into position, they packed it with gunpowder. They loaded a projectile and wrapped cloth around the tip of a stick. They dipped the stick in kerosene and used it to light the fuse. The cannon boomed with a satisfying explosion that sounded promising, but the posse was not pleased with the result. The projectile hit the side of the house and bounced right off, causing no damage at all. The posse fired more cannonballs, but the balls did nothing but shake the house a little bit. The walls of the cabin had been built with two sets of logs that had sand packed between them. The structure could absorb a ton of punishment, as the posse was learning with frustration.

One of the men of the posse later reported that many of the projectiles ricocheted back and put the lawman in the line of fire. Finally, the lawman tried packing the cannon with considerably more gunpowder and lit it up again. As expected, it did cause a much larger explosion, but the explosion blew up the cannon and the rig it was sitting on. So that was the end of the cannon experiment. Plan A, the gunfire, hadn't worked. Plan B, the cannon, hadn't worked. And now it was on to Plan C. In the back of the ammo wagon were six sticks of dynamite. Using the dynamite wouldn't be easy. With the distance between the posse and the cabin, there was no way to light the dynamite and throw it.

The lawmen would have to find a way to attach it to the cabin. And while they figured out a plan to do that, they kept up sporadic gunfire with Ned and the two boys in the house. According to some members of the posse, during that lull, Marshal Yost tried to bargain with Ned. Sheriff Ben Knight translated, even though Ned could speak English. Yost told Ned that if Ned surrendered, he and his family would be treated well. Ned didn't go for it, and the nighttime hours were growing short. It was the early morning hours of November 3rd, and everyone wanted the siege to end. There are tons of conflicting reports about what happened

next, but arguably the most plausible story is that two members of the posse found a wagon near the house. They used fence posts and other materials on the property to convert the wagon into a small rolling fortress. With the wagon as a blocker, they started their approach to the cabin. The two men hid behind the wagon as they slowly rolled it up to Ned's house. They planted the six sticks of dynamite in a single bundle and then quickly retreated. Ned spotted them and opened fire, but he couldn't stop their work. spotted them and opened fire, but he couldn't stop their work. At 4 a.m. sharp, Marshal Yost ordered the two deputies, Will Smith and Charlie Copeland, to fire at the bundle of dynamite. They hit it, and a massive explosion shook the ground and sent wreckage flying into the air.

The explosion opened a hole in the wall, and the logs around it caught fire. The next few seconds are another extremely controversial part of the story that have been twisted over time until the full truth will never be known. But according to Marshall Yost, the next few moments unfolded like the classic end of the Butch and Sundance story, 16 years before Butch and Sundance may or may not have died in South America. After the blast, Ned Christie supposedly ran outside firing two pistols and was determined to go down in a blaze of glory. Marshall Yost said Ned was hit three times, once in the shoulder, once in the side, and a kill shot to the head. Though, of course, a newspaper reported

that Ned had essentially been destroyed by 117 gunshots. With Ned Christie dead, the posse returned its attention to the burning house. Teenage Arch Wolf and 12-year-old Charles Hare were still inside. Sheriff Ben Knight shouted in Cherokee and pleaded with Charles to come out. Knight promised Charles that he would not be harmed, but the boy refused. Finally, as the cabin began to collapse, Charles ran out, suffering serious burns on his arms and head. According to the stories in the immediate aftermath, Arch Wolf stayed inside and, quote,

burned to a crisp. In reality, he had already escaped through the root cellar during the battle and was completely unharmed. But around sunrise on November 3rd, 1892, it was all over. After five years of trying, the marshals had finally killed Ned Christie. The men of the posse were triumphant, and the general public could rest easy. One writer, with a gift for hyperbole, wrote, The most dangerous outlaw in the history of civilization is dead.

Most of the violence attributed to Ned Christie never happened, or it was wrongly attributed to him, or it was exaggerated and wrongly attributed. But ironically, after his death, there was a serious outbreak of violence in Oklahoma Territory. The U.S. Attorney General had strongly suggested to Marshal Yost that he do his best to capture Ned Christie alive. A trial was preferable to a killing, but that wasn't the only reason. The federal government in Washington was uneasy about what was happening in Oklahoma Territory, and not just with the Ned Christie saga. There was serious unrest and violence in the Choctaw Nation, which bordered the Cherokee Nation. The situation had turned ugly after the Choctaw Nation's 1892 elections.

Like the Cherokee, the Choctaw had a Nationalist Party and a Progressive Party. In the elections, the Nationalist Party had been voted out of power in favor of the Progressive Party, and the results sparked violent reprisals. On September 10th, an estimated 50 Nationalists went on a killing spree and murdered several leaders of the Progressive Party. The U.S. government was worried that the unrest might spread to the Cherokee Nation and was threatening to declare martial law if the violence escalated. And, in powder keg conditions like those, a perfect way

to spark a violent uprising would be to kill a man who was viewed as a hero by many. Mercifully, the unrest did not spread to the Cherokee Nation, and the killing of Ned Christie did not spark an uprising. But if the killing didn't incite a riot, the aftermath could have. When the literal and figurative dust settled after the attack on Ned Christie's house, the men of the posse tore a door off of what remained of the house and tied Ned's body to it, face up.

They allowed Ned's family to see his body, and then they loaded the door and the body into the back of the wagon that contained the remainder of the extra ammunition. They rode back to Fort Smith, displaying their trophy along the way. When they arrived, they leaned the door with Ned's body strapped to it against the wall at the entrance of the federal courthouse for everyone to see. Members of the posse posed for photographs with the body, and at some point, someone slipped a rifle into Ned's hands. People came from all over the area to see the body of the man they believed was a legendary outlaw. the area to see the body of the man they believed was a legendary outlaw. The display continued until Judge Parker finally allowed Ned's father to take his son home. One of the biggest topics of conversation for those who saw Ned Christie was how short he was.

He was probably 5 feet 7 or 5 feet 8 inches tall. But for the past five years, virtually every physical description that was written about Ned Christie described him as a hulking man of 6 foot 4 or taller. His portrayal as a huge, mythical Cherokee monster made him all the more scary to readers, which drove their fascination and prompted them to buy more papers. When photographs clearly showed Ned's real height, one paper tried to explain the discrepancy by saying Ned's legs had been broken to fit him into a coffin.

It just never stopped. When all that was done, U.S. Marshal Yost issued his report to the Attorney General. He began by apologizing and saying he and his men had tried to capture Ned alive, but it proved impossible. In another letter a few days later, Yost asked the AG if the $1,000 reward for Christie's capture, dead or alive, could be split between the men of the posse. The marshal lobbied hard by saying Ned Christie and his gang were a crime syndicate who were bringing in wagon loads of whiskey, committing armed robberies, and had plans to expand their criminal empire.

Yost almost certainly knew none of it was true, but it was the best way to convince the Attorney General that they were better off with Ned Christie dead. And for that, the AG and the general public could thank the posse. The Marshal lobbied hard, but it's unknown if he was successful. And that was the version of history that was accepted as fact for 25 years, and still is by many people. But the story started to change in the World War era. Eventually, the hysteria surrounding the murder of Deputy Dan Maples and Ned Christie's death began to fade away. But the debate about Ned's potential innocence continued. There were those who would always believe that he did ambush and kill Deputy Maples. But there was a growing chorus who believed Ned was framed

through a variety of scenarios, or at the very least, pursued more insistently because he was a potential political troublemaker. In 1917, 25 years after Ned Christie was killed, an Oklahoma newspaper called the Tulsa World dug into the case and published a story about Ned's possible innocence. Without citing any sources, the paper claimed an eyewitness named Dick Humphrey, a former slave, saw the person who killed Deputy Maples. Humphrey was working as a blacksmith in Tahlequah at the time, and he said Bub Traynor was the killer. Humphrey's excuse for not coming forward was fear of recrimination. He knew Bub Traynor to be a tough customer, so he thought it best to keep quiet or end up dead. But Bub Traynor was shot and killed in 1896, four years after Ned. So Humphrey's claim started to lose some weight.

A year later, in 1918, the Daily Oklahoman, one of the papers that had mercilessly attacked Ned Christie in the past, came out with a bold headline that read, Cherokee Indian, killed for murder he didn't commit, exonerated after 30 years. The newspaper also cited Humphrey as an eyewitness. For those who believed in Christie's innocence, Humphrey became a key part of the argument. But there was another troubling aspect to Humphrey's story. He was 69 years old when Deputy Maples was killed. If he was interviewed in 1917 for the first time, he would have been 94. At that age, it was easy to question his memory. But regardless of the truth of Humphrey's claim, it caused people to take another look at Ned Christie's story.

Though clear, undeniable proof will never be available, it could be a case of, the simplest explanation is usually the right one. Ned Christie was a trusted and admired member of the Cherokee tribe. He sat on the National Council and served as an advisor to the Chief. There was every possibility that Ned may have become Chief himself one day. Nobody ever described Ned as a violent man or a vindictive man. He was described by most as a man who was devoted to his people and his culture, and he led a peaceful and honorable life. Ned was also a devoted husband, father, and son who loved his family. The best and simplest argument for Ned's innocence is that he had no motive to commit the crime. It simply defied common sense that he would shoot and kill a Deputy U.S. Marshal from ambush.

He had nothing to gain by committing the crime and everything to lose. It was true that Ned enjoyed drinking whiskey, but he was not the fall-down drunk that he was accused of being by some people. He enjoyed drinking whiskey, but there was no speculation that he was involved in making whiskey. So, if he was a respected statesman and a devoted family man, had no criminal record, no history of violence, and no involvement in the illegal whiskey business, what possible motive could he have had for ambushing a pair of deputy marshals? business, what possible motive could he have had for ambushing a pair of deputy marshals? On the flip side of the case, the other three men who were indicted for the murder of Deputy Maples had every motive. Charlie Bobtail, John Paris, and Bub Traynor were involved in the illegal

whiskey business. They were all convicted criminals, and they all knew Ned Christie. It would have been pretty easy to put the blame on Ned, especially when he didn't show up in court after the crime. Lastly, for what it's worth, Charlie Bobtail changed his story. He later claimed John Parris killed Deputy Maples. And after Parris finished serving a year in Arkansas State Prison for selling illegal whiskey, he fled the area. To this day, the interest in Ned Christie's story remains high enough for new books to

be written that continue the effort to separate fact from fiction. And while the full truth will never be known, it seems more and more clear that the label fugitive is more accurate for Ned Christie than outlaw. Technically, he was a fugitive, but he certainly doesn't seem to fit the classic description of an outlaw of the Old West. Next time on Legends of the Old West, it's the beginning of the story of Oren Porter Rockwell, a controversial bodyguard and lawman during the earliest years of the Mormon movement. It's also the story of the rise of the religion, the odyssey to the West, and the infamous Mountain Meadows Massacre. That's next time on Legends of the Old West.

Thank you. Sign up now through the link in the show notes or on our website, blackbarrelmedia.com. Memberships are just $5 per month. This series was researched and written by Michael Byrne. Original music by Rob Valliere. I'm your host and producer, Chris Wimmer. If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening. Check out our website, blackbarrelmedia.com for more details and join us on social media. We're at Old West Podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And all our episodes are available on YouTube. Just search for Legends of the Old

West Podcast. Thanks for listening.