The Outlaw Red Buck

Williams Mark

Description

This scholarly work highlights the life and adventures of George Weightman, also known as “Red Buck,” a well-known outlaw active from 1890 to 1896.
If you are interested in treasure hunts and want to learn about a fascinating outlaw, this book can open the door to your next hunt while satisfying your craving to learn about the past.
Mark Williams, an experienced treasure hunter, examines the life of George Weightman, aka “Red Buck,” who was a well-known outlaw in Oklahoma territory from 1890 to 1896. He focuses on Red Buck hiding an estimated $8,000, answering questions such as:
• Just who was Red Buck?
• How much money did he gain from outlaw activities?
• Is there any proof that he was ever in Childress County, Texas?
The author concludes that Red Buck was unquestionably a real person who operated outside the law for personal gain. He committed crimes not only in the Oklahoma Indian Territory but also in the Oklahoma Territory and the state of Texas.
The gang Red Buck rode with—the Doolin Gang—was also known as the Wild Bunch. He participated in most of the gang’s robberies.
Join the author as he explores the life of a fascinating outlaw and seeks to determine if there is a buried treasure waiting to be found in Childress County, Texas.

Sujets

• Biography
• Autobiography

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse
• Date de parution: 01 février 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781728377711
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

THE OUTLAW RED BUCK
 
Did He Really Bury Money in Childress County, T exas?
 
 
 
 
 
Mark Williams
 
© 2023 Mark Williams. All rights rese rved.
 
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any me ans without the written permission of the au thor.
 
AuthorHo use™
1663 Liberty D rive
Bloomington, IN 4 7403
www.authorhouse .com
Phone: [phone]
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are sol ely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher her eby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Cover Design by Chris He nson
 
 
Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Ver sion). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corpora tion.
 
ISBN: 979-8-8230-0019-2 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-7283-7771- 1 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 202390 1736
 
 
Published by AuthorHouse 01/31/ 2023
 
 
 

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1     Outlaws and Hidden Treasures
Chapter 2     The Changing Frontier Line
Chapter 3     Enter Red Buck: Oklahoma Outlaw
Chapter 4     Was Red Buck Part of the Dalton Gang?
Chapter 5     Red Buck with the Doolin Gang, 1892–1895
Chapter 6     The Final Days of Red Buck, 1895–1896
Chapter 7     The Hunt for Buried Treasure
Bibliography

PREFACE
I do not know where my passion for things historical came from. Perhaps it started when I, at a very young age, looked at the pictures and bylines in the National Geographic magazine my father subscribed to. As I grew older, my focus was no longer the pictures but the stories. While I was growing up in Erick, Oklahoma, we never traveled far from our home except to see family in Sayre, Mangum, and Hollis, Oklahoma, and Dotson, Texas. Often on these trips, my father would tell of the local histories of the areas when we came across the ruins of old homesteads. Sometimes, we would detour and go to places like the old Francis salt well located on Elm Creek. He told me the well, which produced pure salt water, had been on the old Francis ranch when the area was part of Greer County, Texas. One of the earliest towns in Western Oklahoma was named after the ranch; it later became Vinson.
As I grew older, my passion included the old Western Cattle Trail that crossed Washita County, the story of the old Spanish mining town of Criscollo located on Turkey Creek in the same county, and anything to do with Oklahoma outlaws.
It was the story of a visit from strangers to my grandfather’s farm in Childress County, Texas, that sparked my interest in the Oklahoma outlaw Red Buck, which is told in this account.
I dedicate this booklet to my father, Arlie Raymond Williams (1918–1991), for without his stories and instructions, my life would have been without a rudder.
Mark Williams March 1, 2022

INTRODUCTION
I got my first metal detector in the early ’70s. It was a Jetco Mustang. I would have to dig for everything, as the detector did not discriminate between ferrous and nonferrous metals—that is, metals containing iron and metals lacking iron. The thrill was not trying to get rich but going onto an abandoned homestead and finding pieces of its history.
As my skills and the thrill of the hunt expanded over the years, I met up with a fellow detectorist in Weatherford, Oklahoma, by the name of Bobby Cornelsen. We became good friends and would spend hours hunting together. When our interest expanded into treasure hunting, we would research a tale of lost treasure and take a day or two, sometimes a week, pursuing it. Overall, we were not very successful, but we had a lot of fun.
The problem with lost-treasure tales is most are unreliable. They are but told and retold so often that the details and locations get transferred to different locals, different lost-treasure stories, or different time periods.
One tale we researched involved money from a bank robbery in Anthony, Kansas. That money was supposed to have been buried just over the Oklahoma line from the bank. The source claimed the robbery had happened around the time of the Land Rush of 1889 into the unassigned land in Oklahoma, Indian Territory. This source stated his great-grandparents had witnessed the event unfold about a half mile from their newly staked claim. The story had passed down to his great-grandparents, to his grandparents, and then to his parents.
According to the story, three to eight outlaws robbed the bank in Anthony, Kansas, with a posse in hot pursuit. The robbers pulled up on the grassy prairie, scurrying around in the tall grass, and then got back on their horses and took off. The great-grandparents did not realize a robbery had taken place, and only found out after the men were captured—the ones who were not shot, that is. However, no money was recovered, so the great-grandparents reported what they had observed to the authorities, and a search was made. With the wind blowing, they found no sign of where the money was buried, and it was never recovered. The owners of the location—the great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents—made many recovery attempts over the years with no success.
A story like this had to be true. Bobby and I were offered the chance to go hunt this place under the supervision of one of the family members. Bobby and I recruited a fellow detectorist, loaded up the detectors and two box, 1 and went off. Permission had been obtained to hunt the farmland, and the family member was sure he could pinpoint the location to within a four-city-block area. After a full day of hunting, our only finds were rusty tin and a cylinder head from an old Chevrolet.
I decided to do some research on my own to get a better picture and more clarifying stories of what happened the day the bank was robbed. I should have researched it from the start. There was no bank in Anthony, Kansas, in 1889. One was founded in the early 1900s. That bank was robbed in 1936, but the bank robbers were caught and all the money recovered.
The truth of the matter is most lost-treasure stories cannot be confirmed when properly researched. This brings me to the first reason I wanted to write this book. History showed that Red Buck was a real figure, but to corroborate accounts that he buried money in Childress County, Texas, I needed to check whether he was ever connected with the county. To do this, I did extensive research on Red Buck over a period of several years. The historical account on Red Buck that I reveal is based on facts that I have documented from various sources.
The second reason is the story I reveal came directly from my grandfather and later my father. The historical facts are real. While I never doubted the account of my grandfather, and later my father, of what happened almost one hundred years ago, I had to consider the story that came to them was secondhand information. I did search for the hidden money but never found it.
As you read this, you will learn some facts about Red Buck that trace his outlaw days. And if you are interested in treasure hunts, this will be one that can open the door to your next hunt.
But there is one treasure that is not hard to find; it is a new life found in the salvation Jesus offers (John 3:16–17).

CHAPTER 1
Outlaws and Hidden Treasures
T his book concerns a story about the outlaw Red Buck’s hiding an estimated $8,000 in Childress County, Texas, which he took during his outlaw activities in Oklahoma. The questions one must ask are (1) Just who was Red Buck? (2) Did he take enough money in his robberies that he needed to stash some of it away? and (3) Is there any proof that he was ever in Childress County, Texas?
Brief synopses of these three questions’ answers, which will be dealt with in the remainder of this book, follow.
Red Buck was unquestionably a real person who operated outside the law for personal gain. His name appeared in connection to real robberies that he committed. And these crimes occurred not only in the Oklahoma Indian Territory but also in the Oklahoma Territory and the state of Texas.
The gang he rode with, the Doolin Gang, were also known as the Wild Bunch. They committed robberies in the states of Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas. And Red Buck was involved in most of the robberies the Doolin Gang carried out.
Some of the robberies that Red Buck carried out outside the gang were small dollar amounts. They were sometimes less than $300. On the other hand, it has been reported that the Doolin Gang’s estimated take was more than $150,000.
Each outlaw in the gang would receive a cut of the monies and valuables taken in accordance with their agreement upon joining the gang. At the time that Red Buck left the gang, there were five outlaws left. While it would be impossible to guess how much of his cut each one saved, even a small stash would be worth a considerable amount today.
If the amount the Doolin Gang reportedly took is accurate, it would amount to over $4 million today. Even a measly sum of $100 in cash would be equivalent to $3,000. Then there is factoring in the value of gold and silver. A stash of $300, split between $100 in gold and $200 in silver, would fetch close to $13,000 today. And if one broke down the collector’s value of each coin, it would be considerably more.