

This black and white photograph shows a group of robbers from Medicine Lodge, Kansas. The men in shackles are identified from left to right as: John Wesley, Henry Newton Brown, Billy Smith, and Ben Wheeler the would be robbers of the Medicine Valley Bank in Medicine Lodge, Kansas. Brown, a former member of Billy the Kid's Gang, and Wheeler a former outlaw and friend of Brown's, found themselves on the other side of the law with their appointments as marshals of Caldwell, Kansas. But on April 30, 1884, Brown, Wheeler, Smith, and Wesley attempted to rob the Medicine Valley Bank. The robbery was unsuccessful and the robbers were eventually apprehended and brought back to Medicine Lodge, Kansas. Their time in jail was brief when pandemonium erupted over their capture, creating a diversion for escape. In a hail of bullets, Henry Brown was shot dead while an injured Wheeler was captured and hanged beside Wesley and Smith.
Date: 1884
Item Number: 212821
Call Number: FK2.B1 M.77 *2
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 212821
Business and Industry - Occupations/Professions - Criminals
Business and Industry - Occupations/Professions - Law enforcement officers
Collections - Photograph
Date - 1880s
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Photograph
Places - Cities and towns - Caldwell
Places - Cities and towns - Medicine Lodge
Places - Counties - Barber
Places - Counties - Sumner
Thematic Time Period - Cattle Drives, 1867-1885
Type of Material - Photographs
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/212821