William M. “Bill” Doolin, aka: Will Barry (1858-1896) – More than 100 years ago in a quiet little town in the Oklahoma Territory, members of the infamous Oklahombres gang squared off against a posse of deputies in one of the deadliest confrontations in the history of the U.S. marshals. By the end of the gunfight, nine men lay dead or wounded, and the people of Ingalls had a vivid picture of Western lawlessness and the harsh means needed to restore justice.
William “Bill” M. Doolin was born in 1858 in Johnson County, Arkansas to Michael Doolin and Artemina Beller Doolin. At the age of 23, he drifted west, working at odd jobs until he landed a job as a cowboy at the H-X Bar Ranch on the Cimarron River in Indian Territory in 1881. The ranch was owned by a Texan named Oscar D. Halsell, who took a liking to Doolin, teaching him to write and do simple arithmetic, and eventually, making him an informal foreman on the ranch.
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