The Wild -- and Weird -- West

THE OVERLOOK

By Tom Clavin

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          My most recent book, published in November, is The Last Outlaws: The Desperate Final Days of the Dalton Gang. As the title indicates, it is set in the American West. I enjoy these stories because of the characters and action and the impact of events on U.S. history, but what has become a regular practice when writing is to take detours to include the eccentric and even the bizarre. A lot of weird stuff took place in the Wild West.

          Here are two examples. The first is from a book that is to be published next November, Bandit Heaven, and the second is from The Last Outlaws.

          The deaths of two lawmen turned up the heat on the “Big Nose” Parrott gang. In 1880, he and a sidekick, obviously overconfident and eschewing the safety of the expanding Hole-in-the-Wall compound, were back relaxing in Milestown. Two local deputies, Lem Wilson and Fred Schmalsle, were alerted that Parrott and “Dutch Charlie” Burris were drunk in a saloon and boasting about killing two Wyoming lawmen. The two deputies entered the saloon with guns drawn and arrested them.

 Both outlaws would hang for their crimes but Parrott’s demise was more entertaining to those who enjoy the macabre. He was tried and found guilty and was housed in the jail in Rawlins, Wyoming, awaiting his execution, which was scheduled for April 2, 1881. Unwilling to make it easy on the hangman, Parrott, using a pocket knife and a piece of sandstone, was able to wedge and file the rivets of the heavy shackles on his ankles. He removed his shackles and hid in the washroom. When the jailor, Robert Rankin, entered, Parrott used the shackles to bash Rankin over the head. Though the jailor’s skull was fractured he managed to fight back, at the same time calling out to his wife, Rosa, for help. Producing a pistol, she persuaded Parrott to return to his cell.

News of this gambit circulated through town and citizens decided enough was enough. Groups of people began making their way to the jail. A few wearing masks burst into the building and accosted poor Robert Rankin, who was lying on a cot and being bandaged by the plucky Rosa. She was no longer packing a pistol and so was unable to prevent the masked men from taking Rankin’s keys. Parrott was dragged from his cell and into the street and presented to the mob, who now numbered some 200 angry men and women.

George “Big Nose” Parrott suffered the same fate as his sidekick “Dutch Charlie” had months earlier – hung from the crossbeam of a telegraph pole. However, his contribution to western lore was not over. This is where the macabre part comes in.

Two physicians, Thomas Maghee and John Osborne, carted Parrott’s body off with the intention of studying his brain to see if there was any indication of why he was a criminal. After the top of the outlaw’s skull was sawn off, it was gifted to Lillian Heath, who though only 16 years old, was Dr. Maghee’s assistant. A death mask of Parrott’s face was created and skin from his thighs and chest was removed. The skin, including the dead man's nipples, was sent to a tannery in Denver where it was made into a medical bag and a pair of shoes. Apparently unscarred by the experience, Lillian Heath went on to become Wyoming’s first female physician and reportedly used the skull cap as an ash tray.

Parrott's dismembered body was stored in a whiskey barrel filled with a salt solution for about a year, while the experiments continued, then he was buried in the yard behind Dr. Maghee's office. The shoes must have been an attractive and durable enough pair because Dr. Osborne wore them to his inaugural ball when he was sworn in as Wyoming’s first Democratic governor, in 1893. 

The executed outlaw’s bones proved to be durable too. On May 11, 1950, while working on the Rawlins National Bank, construction workers unearthed the whiskey barrel. Still inside were the skull with the top sawed off and other remains. Lillian Heath, then in her mid-80s, was contacted and she sent her skull cap to the scene. It was found to fit the skull in the barrel perfectly. DNA testing later confirmed the remains were those of George Parrott.

Today, Governor Osborne’s shoes are on display at the Carbon County Museum in Rawlins as well as the bottom part of the outlaw's skull and his earless death mask. Alas, the medicine bag has never been found.

Fast-forward to August 1896: After the outlaw Bill Doolin was killed by U.S. Deputy Marshal Heck Thomas, there was some confusion about paying for his funeral. In a bizarre bit of fundraising, Edith Doolin, with some help from her brothers, wrote a poem about her husband and printed it with one of the photographs of his perforated body on postcards that were sold for 25 cents each. The proceeds went toward burial expenses. Perhaps embarrassed by the ploy, Oklahoma authorities stepped in and picked up the tab for burial of Bill Doolin’s body in the Boot Hill section of the city’s Summit View Cemetery. A rusty buggy axle was driven into the ground to mark the grave.

Buried next to Doolin in 1977 was Elmer McCurdy, an outlaw who was killed in a shootout with police after robbing a Katy train in October 1911. Where was the outlaw’s body for 66 years?

In mummified form it was first put on display at an Oklahoma funeral home and then became a fixture in traveling carnivals for decades. After changing ownership several times, sometime in the 1960s the late robber’s remains wound up at The Pike amusement park in Long Beach, California. Eventually, they were discovered by a film crew of the TV show “The Six Million Dollar Man,” and were positively identified in December 1976. Five months later, Elmer McCurdy was finally laid to rest, probably for good, becoming Doolin’s neighbor in Summit View.

Shameless self-promotion: For more true tales of the Wild West, weird or not, mark February 13 on your calendars, because that is when the trade paperback edition of last year’s bestseller Follow Me to Hell will be published.

Tom Clavin is the bestselling author/co-author of 25 books, including The Last Outlaws, and (with Bob Drury) Throne of Grace, which will be published by St. Martin’s Press in May. Please go to your local bookstore or to Bookshop.org, Amazon.com, BN.com, or tomclavin.com to purchase a copy.