Bill Williamson

**Marion "Bill" Williamson** (1866-1911) was an American outlaw during the Wild West era who was associated with the Van der Linde Gang from 1894 until the gang disbanded in 1899. Williamson helped in destroying the gang by betraying several members alongside Micah Bell and Javier Escuella. Williamson went on to form his own gang in Texas and in 1911 was killed by former partner, John Marston during the Mexican Revolution.

## Biography

#### Early Life and Military Service

Marion Williamson was born in 1866 to a Scots-Irish family, he was the son of an alcoholic father and assumed the nickname of "Bill" due to his embarrassment of his birth name. Williamson joined the US Army, serving in the 15th Infantry Regiment during the Indian Wars on the frontier of the American west. On 27 December 1892, he was dishonorably discharged from the military for deviancy and attempted murder, and he became a rough-drinking outlaw; at one point, he was even robbed by a cross-dresser.

### Criminal Career

#### Van der Linde Gang

In 1894, Williamson attempted to rob an outlaw named Dutch van der Linde, but Dutch simply made fun of him and instead offered him a place in his gang. For the next five years, he committed several crimes across the frontier as a gang member, and, in 1899, he and the gang were forced to flee to the Rockies in Colorado after the Blackwater massacre. Later, while at Clemens Point, Williamson, Dutch, and Arthur Morgan were deputized by Sheriff Leigh Gray, and they helped him in his fight against the Louisiana Raiders. He and Karen Jones later mastermindded the robbery of the Valentine, Nebraska bank, and he also organized his own stagecoach robbery with Morgan and Tilly Jackson. After the ill-fated New Orleans bank robbery, Bill and several other gang members attempted to escape to the South Pacific, only to be shipwrecked on Guarma, where they took part in a revolution against the US backed dictatorship. After returning to the USA, he took part in one last train robbery, and he sided with Micah Bell against Arthur Morgan and John Marston, accusing them of no longer being loyal to Dutch.

#### Williamson Gang

After the breakup of the Van der Linde gang, Williamson had created his own outlaw gang, basing in an abandoned army fort, Fort Mercer in Texas by 1910. His gang became the dominant new outlaw gang in the region, so the FBI forced John Marston out of retirement to help hunt down his former partners. Williamson's men wounded Marston when he approached Fort Mercer alone and implored Williamson to surrender, but Marston survived and was taken in by rancher Bonnie MacFarlane and his wounds healed. Williamson later burned MacFarlane's barn. Marshal Leigh Johnson from Armadillo and his deputies, helped by Marston, ambushed Williamson and his men after they massacred several people at Ridgewood Farm, and Williamson's right-hand man Norman Deek was captured and later killed by his own men. Williamson fled to Mexico a day before Marston and his allies stormed Fort Mercer and killed all of his gang members there.

## Downfall and Death

Williamson found refuge with the dictator Colonel Agustin Allende in Nuevo Paraiso, where he rejoined his old friend Javier Escuella. Mexico was locked in a brutal revolution and Marston travelled there and agreed to help the government against the revolution in exchange for Escuella and Williamson. When Marston discovered from rebel leader Abraham Reyes that Escuella and Williamson were in league with Allende, John joined the rebels and stormed Allende's villa at Escalera. Agustin Allende and Williamson attempted to escape in an armored stagecoach, but Marston and Reyes killed the bodyguards. Agustin pushed Williamson out of the carriage and attempted to trade his life for his own, but Marston shot both of them, giving victory to Reyes.