The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1908-06-02
OUTLAW LIFE
WAS IRKS0ME
WHEN THEY GOT READY SLAY.
ERs GAVE THEMSELVES UP.
WyckliHe Brothers Esseted a Prom
ise OF Good Treatment Before
They Would Consent to Quit
scouting" in the Hills.


John Wyckliffe the TWO Cherokee In |
dians who have been outlaws since !
March. 1906, charged with the murder
of two deputy marshals, J. II. Vera
and Ike Gilstrap, are under arrest in
Cherokee county They were arrest
ed by James Sanders. the sheriff, and
James Thompson, county treasurer.
Their bonds have been fixed at ~ O0p
which they have given. one bond
was made In Grove and the other In
Muskogee. The Wycklffes will be
tried before Judge Pitchford in Cher
okcc county, change OF venue hay-
ing been asked from Delaware coun-
ty.
The Wyckliffe case Is one OF the
most noted in the outlaw history OF
Oklahoma. Three brothers, Charles
John and Tom Wyciffe, were wanted
for the murder Of the two deputies,
and w. II. Darrough, who was mar
shall of the northern district at the
time, spent three months active cam
paigning with 100 picked men and
with bloodhounds trying 10 capture
the Wyckliffcs. The brothers never
left their homes more than fifty miles.
but they were never caught until
they came In and voluntarily surren.
dcrcd to the officials of Cherokee
county upon guarantee of fair trial
and square deal. Marshal Oar
rough is said to have spent $4,000 In
trying to capture the Wyckliffes.
Deputy Vera was killed at Charley
| Wyckliffe's house. He had a warrant
for aggravated assault Tom Wyck-
life was in the house at the time.
| Deputy Gilstrap, with posse, was
hunting the Wyckliffes when he was
ambushed in deep ravine u the
Spayinaw hills and killed. The
Wyckliffes claim justification for the
killing of the latter because ne is al
legged TO have gone to Charley Wyck.
life's house and insuted Mrs Wyck-
life. They also claim they were jus
tilted in killing Vera because he beat
their father with slx-shooter he.
cause he would not give Information
as to the whereabouts of the boys.
Charley WyckllGc was mysterious.
ly killed last spring. II was asserted
by some that Tom WycklfTe dlr this
because Of jealousy over , woman,
but there is no evidence to support
H. Another story is that az Indian
named Downing, who was with Char
ley Wychine at the time, later saut
10 Niuita and claimed the big reward
that had been offered for Charley
Wycklre dead or alive. 1t was -
fused.
Tom and John Wyckllne believe
that Downing killed their brother
and as soon as they are out on bond
they will try to make a case agam st
him. The officers allowed the Wyck.
ljnos to go on their own recognizance,
only taking the precauton to send a
guard, a cousin of the Wycklines,
along with them. They went to Tah.
leQuah to get their formal release on
their bonds.
Two years of constant hunting has
almost made animals out of these
men. Their movements are quick and
catlIke, and a man cannot move a
muscle without their eyes being rly-
otcd upon him. Tom Wyckllffe says
that he is tired of carrying a gun, that
he wants peace. The Wycklines say
that they stayed at their homes most
of the time for year, and that they
have made a crop. The way they
hairied the officers for two years and
remained within a few miles of where
the officers were killed, and the fact
that when they had many opportuni-
. ties they refused TO leave the Chero-
kre nation makes remarkable chap
/ ter in the criminal annals OF the state.
Both men believe that they will be
/ cleared of the crimes charged. So do
their friends They will be defended
/ by the best lawyers in the Cherokee
nation, and their principal defense
/ viii be that they We're bounded by
the federal officers, who heaped indig-
| mites upon them until they were
D D. n Ia, a