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Wilbur Underhill shot and captured...
Wilbur Underhill shot and captured...
Item # 579061
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December 31, 1933
THE NEW YORK TIMES, December 31, 1933
* Wilbur Underhill Jr. shot & captured
* "Tri-State Terror" - Oklahoma bandit
This 70+ page newspaper has one column headlines on the front page that include: "BANDIT UNDERHILL IS SHOT AND SEIZED", "Killer Escapes Posse at House in Shawnee, Okla., Only to Be Cornered in Store", "RIDDLED BATTLING POLICE" and more. Lengthy text continues on page 14.
Other news, sports and advertisements of the day throughout. Rag edition in great condition.
wikipedia notes: Wilbur Underhill, Jr. (March 16, 1901 – January 6, 1934), often called "Mad Dog" or the "Tri-State Terror", was an American criminal, burglar, bank robber and Depression-era outlaw. He was one of the most wanted bandits in Oklahoma during the 1920s and 30s and co-led a gang with Harvey Bailey that included many fellow Cookson Hills outlaws including Jim Clark, Ed Davis and Robert "Big Bob" Brady.
On December 26, 1933, Wilbur and Hazel Underhill were celebrating their honeymoon with Ralph Roe and his girlfriend Eva May Nichols at a rented cottage in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Four days later, a 24-man strike force including federal agents, state troopers and local police surrounded the house. The group was led by R.H. Colvin and Frank Smith, the latter a survivor of the Kansas City Massacre. When called on to surrender, Underhill began firing resulting in the task force returning fire.
Eva Nichols was killed in the firefight and Underhill, barefoot and still in his underwear, ran from the house attempting to escape. He was hit five times before leaving the yard but ran for another 16 blocks before breaking into a furniture store and collapsed on one of the beds. Ralph Roe, also wounded, was taken into custody with Hazel Underhill. Underhill was taken McAlester where he remained, handcuffed in his bed, at the prison hospital until his death on January 6, 1934. His last words were "Tell the boys I'm coming home".
Underhill's gang, led by Ford Bradshaw, led a raid into the small town of Vian and shot up the town in revenge for Underhill's capture. This accomplished little, especially with Underhill's death a week later, and the incident was used by newspapers to turn public opinion against the gang and within months Bradshaw and the others had been killed or apprehended.
Category: The 20th Century
No Longer Available
