Hay Meadow massacre

Hay Meadow massacre
The site of the massacre
Date	July 25, 1888
Location	Wild Horse Lake, Oklahoma, USA
Deaths	4

The Hay Meadow massacre occurred on July 25, 1888, and was the most violent event of the Stevens County War in Kansas.

In July 1888, Sam Robinson, the marshal of Hugoton, and a group of men supporting Hugoton for the county seat planned an outing in No Man's Land just south of the county. Ed Short, the marshal of Woodsdale and Woodsdale supporter, learned of the outing and gathered some men of the opposing faction. They caught up with Robinson, but he escaped. Short, feeling they needed more help, sent for reinforcements. Sheriff John M. Cross, also a Woodsdale booster, and four others headed out to search for the Hugoton party. Not finding them, they camped for the night on a hay meadow at Wild Horse Lake, just across the border in the present-day Oklahoma.

Meanwhile, Robinson's friends had organized a group of Hugoton supporters with the intentions of rescuing him. They met Robinson and returned to the strip. Locating the Woodsdale camp at the hay meadow, they surrounded the Sheriff's party and killed four of them and injured the fifth. The Hugoton party, believing they had killed all of the Woodsdale group, returned, saying that they had killed the party in a shootout. However, the surviving member and a group of haymakers that witnessed the event stated that the Woodsdale party had been captured, disarmed, and then executed.

The state militia was called out and the Hugoton men arrested, but it was soon determined that no court had jurisdiction in No Man's Land. Eventually the case was tried before the United States Court for the Eastern District of Texas, at Paris (United States v. C. E. Cook. Orin Cook, Capt. C.E. Frease, Johnnie Jackson, Ed Boudin, John Colbert, et al.). Samuel Newitt Wood was the lead prosecutor. Seven men were convicted of murder and sentenced to death. On appeal, however, the Supreme Court held that the Paris court had no jurisdiction and no sentence was carried out.

Sources

Butler, Ken. Kansas Blood Spilled Into Oklahoma. Blue Skyways (retrieved August 19, 2006)
Mason, Henry F. "County Seat Controversies in Southwestern Kansas" The Kansas Historical Quarterly 2:1 (February 1933) 45-65. (retrieved from The Kansas Collection August 19, 2006)
Williams, Robert L. "Judge Jesse James Dunn 1867-1926", Chronicles of Oklahoma 18:1 (March 1940) 3-11 (retrieved August 19, 2006)

Gunfights and feuds in the Old West

Gunfights	Gunfight at Hide Park Goingsnake Massacre Battle of Bates Point Gunfight at Blazer's Mill Battle of Lincoln (1878) Variety Hall Shootout Mussel Slough Tragedy Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight Guadalupe Canyon Massacre Battle of the Plaza Gunfight at the O.K. Corral Trinidad Gunfight Vaudeville Theater Ambush Hunnewell Gunfight Frisco Shootout Battle of Cimarron Battle of Stone Corral Battle of Tres Jacales Battle of Ingalls Gunfight at Morenci Blackwell Gunfight Shootout on Juneau Wharf Hot Springs Gunfight Shootout at Wilson Ranch Gunfight in Moab Battleground Gunfight Chinese Massacre Cove Big Fight at the Jenkins Saloon Thibodaux massacre Gunfight at Spokogee Canyon Diablo Shootout Shootout in Benson Naco Gunfight Battle of Eufaula Shootout in Sonoratown Gleeson Gunfight Power's Cabin Shootout Skeleton Canyon shootout

Duels and Showdowns	Sandbar Fight Hickok–Tutt Shootout Duels of Jim Levy Duels of Tom Carberry Short–Courtright Shootout Bull–Peel Duel Mart Duggan Duel Long Branch Saloon Gunfight South Pass Shootout Walker-Graham Duel Anderson-McCluskie Duel Burton Mossman Duel Silks-Fulton Duel Murder of Charles S. Gunn Western Code Duello

Feuds	Railroad Wars County seat war Tutt–Everett War Regulator–Moderator War Lincoln County War Lee–Peacock feud Sutton–Taylor feud Horrell–Higgins feud Brooks–Baxter War Colorado Railroad War Earp Vendetta Ride Dodge City War Las Cuevas War Flynn–Doran feud Gray County War Jaybird–Woodpecker War Enid–Pond Creek Railroad War Brooks–McFarland Feud Reese–Townsend feud McIntosh County Seat War Deschutes Railroad War Boyce–Sneed Feud Placer County Railroad War Bellevue War Colorado Labor Wars Idaho labor strike

Range wars	Johnson County War Mason County War Pleasant Valley War Castaic Range War Colorado Range War Colfax County War San Elizario Salt War Bandit War Fence Cutting Wars Sheep Wars Sheepshooters' War Stuart's Stranglers Hashknife Outfit Deep Creek Murders Spring Creek Raid

Robberies	Jonathan R. Davis Gunfight Northfield Bank Robbery Skeleton Canyon massacres Battle of Coffeyville Canyon Diablo Train Robbery Wham Paymaster Robbery Black Bart Robberies Fairbank Train Robbery Gage Train Robbery Big Springs Robbery Overland Flyer Train Robbery Baxter's Curve Train Robbery Jarbidge Stage Robbery

See also	Gunfighter Cowboy Lexington murders Bisbee massacre Hay Meadow massacre Rock Springs massacre Morewood massacre

Further information: List of Old West gunfights, List of Old West gunfighters, and List of Old West lawmen

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Hay Meadow massacre

See also

Sources