William P. Longley
Encyclopedia
William Preston Longley also known as Wild Bill Longley, was an American Old West
outlaw
and gunfighter
noted for his ruthless nature, speed with a gun, quick temper, and unpredictable demeanour. He is considered one of the most deadly gunfighters in the Old West.
as the sixth of ten children of Campbell and Sarah Longley. His family moved when he was aged two years and was then raised on a farm
near Evergreen, Texas, present day Lincoln, Lee County, Texas where he spent a large amount of his childhood learning to shoot. He would receive an average education for the time. He was 6 feet (183 cm) tall with a thin build, jet black hair, and was just reaching adulthood when the American Civil War
ended in 1865.
By 1867, Texas
was under full military control, with Union
forces acting in all capacities including law enforcement, because of the Reconstruction Act
.
This brought on considerable resentment from the local Texas population. Around this time, Longley dropped out of school and began living a life of wild activities, drinking, and running in the company of other wild youths.
royal highway that joined San Antonio and Nacogdoches, Texas
.
In mid-1868, three former slaves
named Green Evans, Pryer Evans, and the third known only as Ned, rode through Evergreen, intending evidently to visit friends further south for Christmas
. Longley, accompanied by a couple of friends, forced the three men at gunpoint into a dry creek bed. Green Evans panicked and spurred his horse to escape. Longley shot him several times, killing him (although it is likely he was not the only one shooting).
They then began going through the dead man's pockets, as the other two men rode away to escape. Later, although given sole responsibility for the murder, Longley claimed that he was not the only one shooting; Longley's account of this murder differs from that of his later killings, where he was more inclined to brag about shooting men than to try to divert blame to others. Some versions of Green's killing claim he was a member of the Texas State Police
; the TSP only existed from 1870 to 1873.
Longley drifted around Texas for a time, gambling in saloons, during which time he met and became acquainted with gambler Phil Coe
and possibly also gunman Ben Thompson
. Then Longley and his brother-in-law, John Wilson, for reasons unknown, went on a rampage through southern Texas starting in 1869. Together they robbed settlers and in one instance killed another freed slave named Paul Brice in Bastrop County, Texas
, after which they stole his horses. They also reportedly killed a freed slave woman in Evergreen.
In March 1870, a $1,000 reward for their capture was offered by the Union military authority. Longley later claimed that Wilson was killed by outlaws in 1870 in Brazos County, Texas
, while other evidence lists him as killed in 1874, in Falls County, Texas
. Longley left Texas to avoid the authorities.
.
The gold mining party traveled into the Black Hills
of South Dakota
, but a treaty with the Sioux
prohibited mining, and the party disbanded when intercepted by a U.S. cavalry
unit. On June 22, 1870, Longley enlisted for a five year commitment in the army, joining Company B of the U.S. 2nd Cavalry Regiment
. His unit was stationed at Camp Stambaugh. Unable to adapt to the strict lifestyle, he deserted two weeks later but was captured and court-martial
ed. He was sentenced to two years hard labor, strapped to a ball and chain, and imprisoned at Camp Stambaugh. He was held for four months and then released to return to his unit. His marksmanship skills were noticed, and he was assigned on the regular hunting parties leaving the post. He deserted again in May 1872.
, Sheriff
J. J. Finney arrested Longley for murder and brought him to Austin to collect a reward. However, when the federal military reward was not forthcoming from state officials, Finney released Longley, possibly in exchange for a bribe from Longley's uncle Pres.
On March 31, 1875, Longley shot his boyhood friend Wilson Anderson dead with a shotgun. The murder was instigated by Longley's uncle Cale, who had blamed Anderson for the death of his son and urged Longley to take revenge. Longley then fled northward, accompanied by his brother Jim, who was later tried and acquitted of Anderson's murder. A new reward was posted for Longley's capture.
Under increasing pressure from law enforcement, Longley fled from place to place and used several aliases to avoid arrest. He briefly found work on a cotton farm, but he was forced to run again in November 1875, after murdering a hunting buddy named George Thomas with whom he had had a fistfight.
Longley committed another killing in Uvalde County in January 1876, when his attempted ambush of fellow outlaw Lou Shroyer turned into a gunfight. Shroyer shot Longley's horse from under him, but Longley shot Shroyer dead. This is the only known case in Longley's career where one of his victims returned fire.
Fleeing again, Longley went to east Texas and became a sharecropper of a preacher, William R. Lay. Stability eluded him again, however, when Longley became rivals with Lay's nephew for the affections of a young woman. Longley beat his rival up, was subsequently jailed, and escaped. Longley blamed Lay for his brief imprisonment. On June 13, 1876, Longley rode out to his landlord's farm, found him milking a cow, and murdered him with a shotgun. Lay would be the last man known to be killed by Longley.
Longley then possibly went to Grayson County, where two of his friends, Jim and Dick Sanders, were in jail. Longley broke them out, and the trio escaped, disarming deputy Matt Shelton when he tried to arrest them. Longley then fled to Louisiana.
Sheriff Milt Mast and two deputies, while he was residing in De Soto Parish, Louisiana
, under the alias
"Bill Jackson". He was returned to Texas, tried in the Lee County Court, and sentenced to hang for the murder of Wilson Anderson. His appeal was denied in March 1878.
On October 11, 1878, Longley was executed by hanging in Giddings
, Texas, only a few miles from his birthplace of Evergreen. He claimed to have killed thirty-two people, mostly of Hispanic
and African American
heritage.
Although often referred to as a "gunfighter", most of Longley's victims were unarmed, and he killed several in the course of committing a robbery.
bribed the lawmen with $4,000, prompting them to rig a trick rope. They then staged the hanging and whisked the body away. The family even came up with alleged letters said to have been written by Longley from California. The legend spread, and many believed it for quite some time.
It prompted many historian
s to investigate. Finally, after confirming the gravesite of Longley, an exhumation of the human remains was performed. They were taken to the Smithsonian Institution
in Washington D. C., where DNA
tests were performed, along with a skull reconstruction. In June 2001, it was officially reported that the remains from the gravesite were indeed those of Bill Longley. One datum in support of this conclusion was that the grave contained a Catholic medallion (The Miraculous Medal, an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary) that Longley was reported as wearing on the day he was hanged (Longley had converted to Catholicism shortly before his death, as reported by an episode of Scientific American Frontiers entitled "Dead Men's Tales").
Numerous myths and legends have grown up about Longley that cannot be verified by any contemporary source. Many of these legends trace back to tall tales that Longley himself told while imprisoned in Giddings in 1877. Some of these stories are provably false, while others could be true but lack any contemporary corroborating evidence. Longley's lies appear to have been motivated partly by his desire to rival John Wesley Hardin
's reputation as a killer.
The most clearly false story Longley told was of being captured and lynched in 1869 alongside one of Cullen Baker
's outlaw gang, surviving when a lucky shot severed the rope he had been hanged from, and then joining Baker's riders. As Baker was dead and his band dispersed at the time Longley claimed this happened, the story cannot be true.
The common stories that Longley murdered a black militiaman in Evergreen in 1866 for insulting his father Campbell, and that he shot eight blacks in Lexington in 1867 to avenge the loss of a horse racing bet, are not definitively disproven. However, there is no contemporary evidence for either event; furthermore, Longley would have been 14 and 15 years old respectively at the time of the alleged incidents. True or false, the stories are consistent with Longley's well-established racist character; in his own words he "was taught to believe it was right to kill sassy negroes."
Longley's account of killing a trail boss named Rector while en route to Wyoming in 1870 is similarly of unknown veracity.
Traditionally, Longley is said to have used a pair of Dance .44 revolvers; the Dance was a Texas-manufactured imitation of the Colt Dragoon. However, he used a shotgun to kill both Wilson Anderson and William Lay, his only murders for which his weapon is definitely known.
Douglas Kennedy
played Longley in an episode of Jim Davis
's syndicated
western
television series, Stories of the Century
.
Longley was the title character in "The Texan
" a television series starring Rory Calhoun
. It aired on the CBS television network from 1958–1960 and showed Longley in the role as a hero.
Longley figures prominently in Louis L'Amour
's 1959 novel
The First Fast Draw, a highly fictionalized version of Cullen Baker's life.
Texas singer/songwriter Houston Marchman has written a song about Longley, Bill Longley which is on his second CD Leavin' Dallas (1999).
American Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
outlaw
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
and gunfighter
Gunslinger
Gunfighter, also gunslinger , is a 20th century word, used in cinema or literature, referring to men in the American Old West who had gained a reputation as being dangerous with a gun...
noted for his ruthless nature, speed with a gun, quick temper, and unpredictable demeanour. He is considered one of the most deadly gunfighters in the Old West.
Early life
Bill Longley was born on Mill Creek in Austin County, TexasAustin County, Texas
Austin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas adjacent to the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. The population was 28,417 at the 2010 census. Its county seat is Bellville. Austin County is named for Stephen F...
as the sixth of ten children of Campbell and Sarah Longley. His family moved when he was aged two years and was then raised on a farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
near Evergreen, Texas, present day Lincoln, Lee County, Texas where he spent a large amount of his childhood learning to shoot. He would receive an average education for the time. He was 6 feet (183 cm) tall with a thin build, jet black hair, and was just reaching adulthood when the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
ended in 1865.
By 1867, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
was under full military control, with Union
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
forces acting in all capacities including law enforcement, because of the Reconstruction Act
Reconstruction Act
After the end of the Civil War, as part of the on-going process of Reconstruction, the United States Congress passed four statutes known as Reconstruction Acts...
.
This brought on considerable resentment from the local Texas population. Around this time, Longley dropped out of school and began living a life of wild activities, drinking, and running in the company of other wild youths.
First murders in Texas
The Longley family farm, in 1867, was just one mile from the Camino Real, an old SpanishSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
royal highway that joined San Antonio and Nacogdoches, Texas
Nacogdoches, Texas
Nacogdoches is a city in Nacogdoches County, Texas, in the United States. The 2010 census recorded the city's population to be 32,996. It is the county seat of Nacogdoches County and is situated in East Texas. Nacogdoches is a sister city of Natchitoches, Louisiana.Nacogdoches is the home of...
.
In mid-1868, three former slaves
History of slavery in the United States
Slavery in the United States was a form of slave labor which existed as a legal institution in North America for more than a century before the founding of the United States in 1776, and continued mostly in the South until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in...
named Green Evans, Pryer Evans, and the third known only as Ned, rode through Evergreen, intending evidently to visit friends further south for Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
. Longley, accompanied by a couple of friends, forced the three men at gunpoint into a dry creek bed. Green Evans panicked and spurred his horse to escape. Longley shot him several times, killing him (although it is likely he was not the only one shooting).
They then began going through the dead man's pockets, as the other two men rode away to escape. Later, although given sole responsibility for the murder, Longley claimed that he was not the only one shooting; Longley's account of this murder differs from that of his later killings, where he was more inclined to brag about shooting men than to try to divert blame to others. Some versions of Green's killing claim he was a member of the Texas State Police
Texas State Police
The Texas State Police were formed during the administration of Texas Governor Edmund J. Davis on July 22, 1870, to combat crime statewide in Texas. It was dissolved April 22, 1873.-History:...
; the TSP only existed from 1870 to 1873.
Longley drifted around Texas for a time, gambling in saloons, during which time he met and became acquainted with gambler Phil Coe
Phil Coe
Phil Coe , born Phillip Houston Coe, was a soldier, and Old West gambler and businessman from Texas. He became the business partner of gunfighter Ben Thompson in Abilene, Kansas...
and possibly also gunman Ben Thompson
Ben Thompson
Ben Thompson was a gunman, gambler, and sometime lawman of the Old West. He was a contemporary of Wyatt Earp, Buffalo Bill Cody, Doc Holliday, John Wesley Hardin and James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickock, some of whom considered him a trusted friend, others an enemy.Ben Thompson had a colorful career,...
. Then Longley and his brother-in-law, John Wilson, for reasons unknown, went on a rampage through southern Texas starting in 1869. Together they robbed settlers and in one instance killed another freed slave named Paul Brice in Bastrop County, Texas
Bastrop County, Texas
Bastrop County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2006, the population was 71,700. Its county seat is Bastrop. Bastrop County is named for Felipe Enrique Neri, Baron de Bastrop , an early Dutch settler who assisted Stephen F...
, after which they stole his horses. They also reportedly killed a freed slave woman in Evergreen.
In March 1870, a $1,000 reward for their capture was offered by the Union military authority. Longley later claimed that Wilson was killed by outlaws in 1870 in Brazos County, Texas
Brazos County, Texas
Brazos County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas in the Central Texas region. In 2010, its population was 194,851. The county seat is Bryan and it is part of the Bryan-College Station metropolitan area. Brazos is named for the Brazos River, along with Brazoria...
, while other evidence lists him as killed in 1874, in Falls County, Texas
Falls County, Texas
Falls County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 18,576. In 2003, the population of the county was estimated to be 17,926. It is named for the waterfalls on the Brazos River, which can be found at the Falls On The Brazos Park, a campsite located only a few...
. Longley left Texas to avoid the authorities.
U.S. Cavalry career
Longley moved north, possibly working on a cattle drive. By May 1870, he had joined a gold hunting party in Cheyenne, WyomingCheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Laramie County. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Laramie County. The population is 59,466 at the 2010 census. Cheyenne is the...
.
The gold mining party traveled into the Black Hills
Black Hills
The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, USA. Set off from the main body of the Rocky Mountains, the region is something of a geological anomaly—accurately described as an "island of...
of South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, but a treaty with the Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
prohibited mining, and the party disbanded when intercepted by a U.S. cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
unit. On June 22, 1870, Longley enlisted for a five year commitment in the army, joining Company B of the U.S. 2nd Cavalry Regiment
U.S. 2nd Cavalry Regiment
The 2nd Cavalry Regiment , also known as the Second Dragoons, is an active mechanized infantry and cavalry regiment of the United States Army. The Second Dragoons is a component of V Corps and United States Army Europe, with its garrison at the Rose Barracks in Vilseck, Germany...
. His unit was stationed at Camp Stambaugh. Unable to adapt to the strict lifestyle, he deserted two weeks later but was captured and court-martial
Court-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...
ed. He was sentenced to two years hard labor, strapped to a ball and chain, and imprisoned at Camp Stambaugh. He was held for four months and then released to return to his unit. His marksmanship skills were noticed, and he was assigned on the regular hunting parties leaving the post. He deserted again in May 1872.
Return to Texas and further murders
Longley's travels for the rest of 1872 remain mysterious, but by February 1873 he had returned to Texas, where he was accused of murdering another freedman in Bastrop County. He then returned to live with his father's family, which had moved to Bell County. In the summer of that year, Mason County, TexasMason County, Texas
Mason County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2010, its population was 4, 012. Its county seat is Mason...
, Sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
J. J. Finney arrested Longley for murder and brought him to Austin to collect a reward. However, when the federal military reward was not forthcoming from state officials, Finney released Longley, possibly in exchange for a bribe from Longley's uncle Pres.
On March 31, 1875, Longley shot his boyhood friend Wilson Anderson dead with a shotgun. The murder was instigated by Longley's uncle Cale, who had blamed Anderson for the death of his son and urged Longley to take revenge. Longley then fled northward, accompanied by his brother Jim, who was later tried and acquitted of Anderson's murder. A new reward was posted for Longley's capture.
Under increasing pressure from law enforcement, Longley fled from place to place and used several aliases to avoid arrest. He briefly found work on a cotton farm, but he was forced to run again in November 1875, after murdering a hunting buddy named George Thomas with whom he had had a fistfight.
Longley committed another killing in Uvalde County in January 1876, when his attempted ambush of fellow outlaw Lou Shroyer turned into a gunfight. Shroyer shot Longley's horse from under him, but Longley shot Shroyer dead. This is the only known case in Longley's career where one of his victims returned fire.
Fleeing again, Longley went to east Texas and became a sharecropper of a preacher, William R. Lay. Stability eluded him again, however, when Longley became rivals with Lay's nephew for the affections of a young woman. Longley beat his rival up, was subsequently jailed, and escaped. Longley blamed Lay for his brief imprisonment. On June 13, 1876, Longley rode out to his landlord's farm, found him milking a cow, and murdered him with a shotgun. Lay would be the last man known to be killed by Longley.
Longley then possibly went to Grayson County, where two of his friends, Jim and Dick Sanders, were in jail. Longley broke them out, and the trio escaped, disarming deputy Matt Shelton when he tried to arrest them. Longley then fled to Louisiana.
Capture and execution
On June 6, 1877, Longley was surrounded and arrested without incident by Nacogdoches CountyNacogdoches County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 59,203 people, 22,006 households, and 14,039 families residing in the county. The population density was 62 people per square mile . There were 25,051 housing units at an average density of 26 per square mile...
Sheriff Milt Mast and two deputies, while he was residing in De Soto Parish, Louisiana
De Soto Parish, Louisiana
-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 26,656 people, 9,691 households, and 6,967 families residing in the parish. The population density was 29 people per square mile . There were 11,204 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile...
, under the alias
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
"Bill Jackson". He was returned to Texas, tried in the Lee County Court, and sentenced to hang for the murder of Wilson Anderson. His appeal was denied in March 1878.
On October 11, 1878, Longley was executed by hanging in Giddings
Giddings, Texas
Giddings is the county seat of Lee County, Texas, United States situated on the intersection of U.S. Highways 77 and 290, east of Austin. Its population was 5,105 at the 2000 census. The city's motto is "Giddings Texas: Experience Hometown Hospitality"....
, Texas, only a few miles from his birthplace of Evergreen. He claimed to have killed thirty-two people, mostly of Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
and African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
heritage.
Although often referred to as a "gunfighter", most of Longley's victims were unarmed, and he killed several in the course of committing a robbery.
Legend
Years after the execution, Longley's father, Campbell, came forward in a press release stating that his son had not been executed. He claimed that a wealthy relative in CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
bribed the lawmen with $4,000, prompting them to rig a trick rope. They then staged the hanging and whisked the body away. The family even came up with alleged letters said to have been written by Longley from California. The legend spread, and many believed it for quite some time.
It prompted many historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
s to investigate. Finally, after confirming the gravesite of Longley, an exhumation of the human remains was performed. They were taken to the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
in Washington D. C., where DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
tests were performed, along with a skull reconstruction. In June 2001, it was officially reported that the remains from the gravesite were indeed those of Bill Longley. One datum in support of this conclusion was that the grave contained a Catholic medallion (The Miraculous Medal, an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary) that Longley was reported as wearing on the day he was hanged (Longley had converted to Catholicism shortly before his death, as reported by an episode of Scientific American Frontiers entitled "Dead Men's Tales").
Numerous myths and legends have grown up about Longley that cannot be verified by any contemporary source. Many of these legends trace back to tall tales that Longley himself told while imprisoned in Giddings in 1877. Some of these stories are provably false, while others could be true but lack any contemporary corroborating evidence. Longley's lies appear to have been motivated partly by his desire to rival John Wesley Hardin
John Wesley Hardin
John Wesley Hardin was an American outlaw, gunfighter, and controversial folk hero of the Old West. He was born in Bonham, Texas. Hardin found himself in trouble with the law at an early age, and spent the majority of his life being pursued by both local lawmen and federal troops of the...
's reputation as a killer.
The most clearly false story Longley told was of being captured and lynched in 1869 alongside one of Cullen Baker
Cullen Baker
Cullen Montgomery Baker , was a Tennessee-born Texas and Arkansas desperado whose gang is alleged to have killed hundreds of people including former slaves during the early days of the American Old West, in the years following the Civil War, although these numbers are likely inaccurate, and the...
's outlaw gang, surviving when a lucky shot severed the rope he had been hanged from, and then joining Baker's riders. As Baker was dead and his band dispersed at the time Longley claimed this happened, the story cannot be true.
The common stories that Longley murdered a black militiaman in Evergreen in 1866 for insulting his father Campbell, and that he shot eight blacks in Lexington in 1867 to avenge the loss of a horse racing bet, are not definitively disproven. However, there is no contemporary evidence for either event; furthermore, Longley would have been 14 and 15 years old respectively at the time of the alleged incidents. True or false, the stories are consistent with Longley's well-established racist character; in his own words he "was taught to believe it was right to kill sassy negroes."
Longley's account of killing a trail boss named Rector while en route to Wyoming in 1870 is similarly of unknown veracity.
Traditionally, Longley is said to have used a pair of Dance .44 revolvers; the Dance was a Texas-manufactured imitation of the Colt Dragoon. However, he used a shotgun to kill both Wilson Anderson and William Lay, his only murders for which his weapon is definitely known.
In popular culture
In 1954, the actorActor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
Douglas Kennedy
Douglas Kennedy (actor)
Douglas Richards Kennedy was an American supporting actor who appeared in over 190 films between 1935 and 1973. He was born in New York City.-Career:...
played Longley in an episode of Jim Davis
Jim Davis (actor)
Jim Davis was an American actor, best known for his role as Jock Ewing in the CBS prime-time soap Dallas, a role which he held up until his death in April 1981.-Biography:...
's syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
television series, Stories of the Century
Stories of the Century
Stories of the Century is a Western television series that ran in syndication through Republic Pictures between January 23, 1954, and March 11, 1955.-Synopsis:...
.
Longley was the title character in "The Texan
The Texan (TV series)
The Texan is a Western television series starring popular B movie star Rory Calhoun. It aired on the CBS television network from 1958-1960.-Production notes:...
" a television series starring Rory Calhoun
Rory Calhoun
Rory Calhoun was an American television and film actor, screenwriter and producer, best known for his roles in Westerns.-Early life:...
. It aired on the CBS television network from 1958–1960 and showed Longley in the role as a hero.
Longley figures prominently in Louis L'Amour
Louis L'Amour
Louis Dearborn L'Amour was an American author. His books consisted primarily of Western fiction novels , however he also wrote historical fiction , science fiction , nonfiction , as well as poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into movies...
's 1959 novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
The First Fast Draw, a highly fictionalized version of Cullen Baker's life.
Texas singer/songwriter Houston Marchman has written a song about Longley, Bill Longley which is on his second CD Leavin' Dallas (1999).
Further reading
- Bartholomew, Ed Ellsworth. Wild Bill Longley: A Texas Hard-Case, Frontier Press of Texas, Houston, 1953
- Fuller, Henry Clay. The Adventures of Bill Longley, Galveston Daily News, Nacogdoches (Texas), September 16, 1877
- Sifakis, Carl. Encyclopedia of American Crime, Facts On File Inc., New York, 1982
- Miller, Rick. Bloody Bill Longley, Henington Publishing Company, 1996.
External links
- Lone Star Legends: Wild Bill Longley - A Dangerous Man in Dangerous Times
- Wild Bill Longley
- Lone Star Diary - The Story of a Texas killer...This "Wild Bill" was no hero by Murray Montgomery
- Bill Longley Does Not Get Along Well With Others - A Visit to the Giddings City Cemetery by John Troesser
- Bill Longley at FindAGrave.com
- 1878 interview with Longley The Louisiana Democrat March 27, 1878
- 1878 account of Longley career The Anderson Intelligencer October 31, 1878