June 2018 36 FAMED BANK ROBBER HENRY STARR Henry Starr was 20 when he started out robbing banks on horseback in 1893. He ended his career using an automobile to rob his last bank in 1921. In fact, he was the first bank robber on record to use an automobile in carrying out his crime. He once fled the law into Arizona Territory after a sensational bank robbery at Tyro, Kansas, but soon was captured here and returned to Kansas authorities. Henry was born near Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, on December 2, 1873. Henry was ¼ Cherokee but became known as “The Cherokee Badman.” Tom Starr died at an early age and Mary then married a man named C.N. Walker. Henry hated his new stepfather and the hard feeling between them soon caused Henry to leave home. Still in his teens, Henry worked on ranches near Nowata, Indian Territory. He was driving a wagon into town one day and two deputy marshals caught him with whiskey. It was against the law to “introduce whiskey into Indian Territory.” Henry was only 16 and claimed that he did not know there was whiskey in the borrowed wagon, but he pleaded guilty to the charge rather than fight it. His next problem with the law came when he was arrested near Fort Smith, Arkansas. He denied the charge but was thrown in jail and held for bail. His cousin put up his bail. His cousin put up his bail and he was released. Henry had no plans to go back and jumped bail. He was a wanted man on the run. Joined Band of Robbers Having set the path of his future, Henry had little choice but to join up with Ed Newcome and Jesse Jackson who were robbing stores and railroad depots wherever they could find an opportunity. Deputy U.S. Marshals Henry Dickey and Floyd Wilson were hot on Henry’s trail in the area of Nowata when a shootout resulted as they closed in on him and he killed Wilson. This was the only person he killed during his long criminal career, but it put a murder charge against him at an early age. Henry Starr was the son of Tom Starr and Mary (Scott) Starr. His uncle was Sam Starr, who married the famed “outlaw queen” Belle Starr in 1880. Sam was part Cherokee and part Irish. The home of Sam and Belle in Indian Territory of Oklahoma was famous as an outlaw retreat. Henry literally grew up knowing some of the most notorious outlaws of the Old West. He learned well as a lad. During his 32 year career as a criminal, Henry claimed to have robbed more banks than both the James-Younger Gang and the Doolin-Dalton gang combined. He was everywhere. He was captured once in Arizona Territory, and once in Colorado. He robbed banks in Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas. Since Henry’s gang was now being hunted by lawmen everywhere, the gang decided to move up from stores and train depots and start robbing banks. On March 28, 1893, they rode up to the bank in Caney, Kansas and held it up. Then they hit the bank in Bentonville, Arkansas. They then bolted the area. Henry and sidekick “Kid” Wilson headed for California. They didn’t make it. They were arrested in Colorado Springs, Colorado and returned to Fort Smith to stand trial. Henry was tried for the killing of Deputy Marshal Floyd Wilson in the court of Judge Isaac Parker. Henry argued he killed Wilson in self-defense and did not know Wilson was a U.S. Marshal with a warrant in his pocket for Henry’s arrest. The young bank robber was found guilty and sentenced to hang. His attorney appealed it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The High Court overturned Parker’s decision and ordered a new trial. The second trial ended the same as the first. Guilty. The sentence, hanging. His attorney appealed once again and won Henry yet another new trial. This time Henry pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He was sentenced to 25 years in the penitentiary. Still Held Some Aces While awaiting trial at Fort Smith, Henry had encountered a bit of luck. A fellow prisoner, Cherokee Bill, tried to break out of jail with a gun smuggled to him by a trustee. A gun battle erupted between Bill and the prison guards. One guard was killed in the melee. The gunfight ended in a standoff between Bill and the guards. Henry was a friend of Cherokee Bill. He told the guards he would disarm Bill if they, in turn, would promise not to kill Bill. The guards agreed. Henry went into Bill’s cell and walked out later with Bill’s gun. That incident came in handy for Henry in 1903. Henry, his family and the Cherokee Tribal Council appealed for a pardon for Henry that year to President Roosevelt. Roosevelt so admired Henry for his courage in the incident with Cherokee Bill that the President reduced Henry’s sentence almost to time served and he was released in 1905. Henry went from the penitentiary to Tulsa, Indian Territory and a job By Bill Roberts