In 1938, residents of the community of Ingalls in Payne County erected a stone monument in memory of three marshals killed by the Dalton-Doolin gang in 1893. The monument’s original bronze plaque was stolen and was replaced by this one in the early 1990s.

The outlaws won the battle but lost the war in the infamous battle of Ingalls, a fight that was more intense than the better-known shootout at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Ariz.

Three deputy marshals, two innocent bystanders and a horse were killed, and several outlaws were injured, none fatally. One was captured.

State road maps no longer show the community of Ingalls, which at the time of the gunbattle was larger than Stillwater, the city that became the seat of Payne County. Ingalls was about halfway between Stillwater and Yale.

The battle erupted Sept. 1, 1893, just 15 days before the land run into the Cherokee Outlet, after three wagon loads of deputy marshals arrived in the town intent on capturing members of the Doolin-Dalton gang and other wanted badmen.

The marshals had learned that the bandits considered Ingalls a safe haven. The badmen behaved themselves and got along well with the residents, who tolerated them because they spent their loot freely. It was good information, and the deputies planned their raid.

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Most of the outlaws had been in town for weeks, living at the O.K. Hotel and playing poker and drinking nightly at the Ransom and Murray saloon. The group included Bill Dalton, Arkansas Tom Jones, George (Dynamite Dick) Newcomb, Tulsa Jack, Bob (Bitter Creek) Yokum and Dan (Slaughter Kids) Clifton.

The gang's leader, Bill Doolin, was there, too, but he preferred to sleep under the stars in the hills of the Cimarron River and return to Ingalls during the daytime.

The posse of 27 marshals, deputies and Indian police camped out along a creek at the edge of the town the night before they planned to strike, but they were seen by a young boy whom they discovered listening intently to their planning.

The lawmen held the boy prisoner that night, but he slipped away early the next morning and ran into town to tell Doolin: "The marshals are coming."

That gave the outlaws time to go to the livery stable to saddle their horses, but, with that chore done, they returned to their poker game at the saloon until the three wagons -- looking like a common pioneer train -- drove into town about 10:30 a.m.

The officers dropped out of the wagons, took cover and within minutes the battle was on. After hundreds of bullets were exchanged, the bandits ran for the livery stable to flee the town.

Doolin's horse was shot as he tried to ride out of town. Arkansas Tom, who had waged his part of the battle from his hotel room, was the only bandit remaining. He surrendered at 2 p.m.

Meanwhile, the officers had taken their wounded and dead to Stillwater as the bandits took refuge at a nearby farm. Three officers had been killed -- Dick Speed, who had fired the first shot, Tom Houston and Lafe Shadley.

A 14-year-old boy and another innocent bystander also were fatally wounded.

It appeared that the bandits had won. Five men had died but not one was a bandit.

Territorial Judge Frank Dale was infuriated and ordered his marshals to "bring them in dead. Quit trying to bring them in as prisoners."

The marshals obeyed. Doolin was captured in 1896 in Eureka Springs, Ark., as he took mineral baths for his arthritis and was returned to Guthrie to stand trial.

While he awaited his trial, someone slipped a gun to him and he escaped. He was headed for New Mexico with his wife and baby, riding on his horse ahead of her as she drove the wagon, when he was met by a group of officers headed by Marshal Heck Thomas.

Ignoring their order to surrender, Doolin tried to draw his pistol. Two loads of buckshot in his chest ended his career.

All of the outlaws except Arkansas Tom had been killed by lawmen by 1897. He served 14 years in prison and upon his release became a peace officer -- until he reverted to his former habit and was killed in Joplin, Mo., while resisting arrest for robbing a bank in nearby Asbury.

The outlaws had lost the war.

Like this column? Read all the columns in the Only in Oklahoma series from the Tulsa World Archive.

Only in Oklahoma is a series from the Tulsa World Archive that was written by former Tulsa World Managing Editor Gene Curtis during the Oklahoma Centennial in 2007. The columns told interesting stories from the history of the country’s 46th state. The Tulsa World Archive is home to more than 2.3 million stories, 1.5 million photographs and 55,000 videos. Tulsa World subscribers have full access to all the content in the archive. Not a subscriber? We have a digital subscription special offer of $1 for three months for a limited time at tulsaworld.com/subscribe.

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