Not only Indians, but outlaws, were prompting settlement in southern Kansas in 1879. Border towns found their proximity to Indian Territory both advantageous and troubling. Trade from the territory was lucrative, and cattlemen provided a vibrant economy with their vast herds of cattle on the territory’s lush carpet of grass.

The isolated canyons and prairies attracted outlaws who could strike ranchers, settlers and even whole towns before disappearing into the vast sea of grass that was Indian Territory.

Not only Kansas lawmen, but Indian police, authorized by the reservation tribes, were on the lookout.

Capt. John Secrest, conductor of the mail route through Indian Territory and founder of the town of Chetopa, had been missing for several weeks after he and several men had traveled into the territory. Capt. Secrest’s body was found nearly eaten up by wolves by a detail of soldiers who had been sent in search of the missing party.

The Sept. 3, 1879, Arkansas City Traveler commented on the murder. “A large bullet wound was discovered in his head … While out there, the soldiers were told that there was a gang of some 50 desperadoes in the hills in the neighborhood, and they sent the soldiers word that if they wanted to see them, to come on.

“If this band of cutthroats and robbers is as large as represented, and we have good reason to believe it is for the territory is full of escaped horse thieves and murderers, the border towns of Kansas along the southern line are in great danger from frequent raids from them, and some protection to these towns ought to be afforded by the United States authorities.

“One town, Caneyville, has been successfully pillaged by them already, and if nothing is done to capture or prevent them, they will try their hand on other and larger towns. Will the state or the government afford this protection, or shall these outlaws have things their own way and rob and murder at their pleasure?

“The soldiers cannot find any trace of the other men who accompanied Capt. Secrist. The supposition is they have also been murdered.”

Of course cattle were also filling up the territory. Traveling editor C. M. Scott described just a portion of the cattle interests that were taking up the open range south of the Kansas border.

In his correspondence to the Arkansas City Traveler Aug. 27, 1879, Scott described a very lush region overflowing with cattle. Improved handling conditions allowed the ranchers to reduce the cowboy work force to two or three men per operation. Scott noted that one operation “… has but three herders with the 1,600 head of cattle, and they seem to get along very well … The wages of herders is $25 per month and board. Most cattlemen have abandoned night herding, claiming the stock does better and it is not necessary except in cases of storms.”

In late September, the sheriff of the Cooweescoowee District of the Cherokee Nation was notified by cattleman Bill Howell that several head of cattle had been stolen and were being driven toward Coffeyville. Sheriff Jesse Cochran and his posse of Cherokee deputies overtook the rustler’s camp near Cody’s Bluff on Bird Creek, a tributary of the Verdigris River south of Coffeyville. A wild gunfight ensued. The outlaws were captured after a fierce gun battle, in which their leader, Jim Barker, was severely wounded.

Barker was at the head of the notorious gang that may have been responsible for the killing of drovers Troy Stockstill and James Henderson on July 2, 1879. They had killed Capt. John Secrest in August, and were credited with killing a Sgt. Gatchell, who was part of a detail of troops sent in pursuit of the gang operating in the Chickasaw Nation. Jim Barker had terrorized the region since 1877 and was responsible for a bold raid on Caneyville in early 1879 when he and three of his men rode into town in broad daylight, completely sacked the town and killed a citizen, H. C. Kirkpatrick.

Barker had been shot six times in the Bird Creek gunfight. Surgeons at Coffeyville amputated two limbs in an effort to save his life. He died the next day. The Oct. 9, 1879, Winfield Courier reported that outlaw and desperado Jim Barker died of wounds received in the Sept. 25 shootout. Perhaps death was hastened with a little help from amputation, one of the hazards of living a desperate life on The Way West.

“The Cowboy” Jim Gray can be reached at 220 21st Rd., Geneseo, KS 67444, (785) 531-2058 or kansascowboy@kans.com.