Henry Brown

In late June 1882, the city council of Caldwell, then the wildest cowtown in Kansas, appointed a former companion of Billy the Kid as its assistant marshal. Six months later the citizens of Caldwell proudly presented a Winchester rifle to their new marshal, Henry Newton Brown, on New Year's Day. Just one year later, Brown used it to rob the Medicine Lodge bank.

Caldwell's tough cowtown reputation had worsened in the months before Brown's arrival as the city recorded four murders (all of them lawmen) and eight lynchings. In the face of such lawlessness, Brown was a welcome addition to the town's police force. The Caldwell Post, advocating "a little bit of fine shooting" to keep order in the town, bragged he was "one of the quickest men on the trigger in the Southwest."

Unbeknownst to the citizenry, Brown's experience at gunplay was mostly on the wrong side of the law. Just four years earlier he had ridden with the notorious Billy the Kid, stolen horses, and fled from New Mexico to avoid murder charges. By 1880, though, Brown had a change of heart and took on the job of deputy sheriff in Oldham County, Texas.

By the time he drifted into Caldwell two years later, Brown was serious about law enforcement. Quiet and business-like, he was so popular that the city promoted him from deputy to marshal after just six months. On New Year's Day 1883, a few days after the appointment became official, Caldwell presented Brown with a fine Winchester rifle. Gold and silver inlay and ornate engraving decorated the gun, which also had an inscription plate reading, "Presented to City Marshall H.N. Brown for valuable services rendered in behalf of the Citizens of Caldwell Kas., A.N. Colson, Mayor, Dec. 1882."

Brown continued to serve the city well during the following year. No one complained when he shot and killed two miscreants in the line of duty; in fact, the Caldwell Commercial lauded him as "cool, courageous and gentlemanly, and free from...vices." In early spring of 1884 he married a local woman, purchased a house and furnishings, and seemed to settle down.

Brown did such an outstanding job in keeping the peace that he was soon appointed city marshal and on New Year's Day 1883 an appreciative citizenry presented him with a fine Winchester rifle, model 1872. A "handsome silver plate" nailed to the stock permanently recognized Marshal Brown's "valuable services."

Brown continued his good work, married a local girl, bought a house and set up housekeeping. The only obstacle to continued contentment apparently was the fact that Brown was living beyond his means. Debts weighing heavily on his mind, the marshal decided to fall back on his old skills as a lawbreaker. With his assistant marshal and two cowboys, he devised a plan to rob the bank in Medicine Lodge.

In the spring of 1884 he requested permission for him and his assistant, Ben Wheeler, to go south into Indian Territory in pursuit of a murderer for whom there was a reward of $1,200. Knowing Brown needed the money the mayor gladly gave him permission.

A few days later Brown, Wheeler, and two cowboys rode into Medicine Lodge. Rain poured down on the morning of April 30, 1884, as the four men hitched their horses behind the coal shed of the Medicine Valley Bank. The bank had just opened when three of the men burst in and demanded cash.

The bank president reached for his revolver and was shot by Brown. The clerk was shot twice by another gang member but was able to stagger to the vault and trigger the combination lock. Both men died soon after. Meanwhile, an alarm was raised on the street outside the bank. Foiled in their robbery attempt, the gang quickly mounted their horses and fled town with an angry posse in pursuit. They surrendered about two hours later after being trapped in a box canyon outside town.

A mob chanted "Hang them!" as the party was secured in the Medicine Lodge jail. The Caldwell Journal later reported that a hush then descended on the town, and "the impression prevailed that before many hours the bodies of four murderers would swing in the soft night air." Perhaps sensing he would not live through the night, Brown drafted a letter to his wife of six weeks. As darkness fell, he wrote of his love for her, claimed he did not shoot anyone, and directed her to dispose of his property. "I will send you all of my things, and you can sell them," he wrote, "but keep the Winchester."

The prisoners were placed in jail but a mob formed, . All the prisoners made a dash for freedom in a hail of bullets. Henry Brown fell dead, the others were quickly captured and hanged from an elm tree east of town. The mob broke into the jail later that night, overpowered the sheriff and his deputies, and opened the cell door. As the prisoners attempted a dash for freedom, Brown was quickly shot dead, his body riddled with buckshot and balls from other men's Winchesters. The other members of the gang were caught and hanged from an elm tree in the moonlight.

Brown's widow continued to live in Caldwell after his death but ignored his instructions about the Winchester, giving the gun to acquaintances. The rifle moved to Texas with its new owners, and two generations later was sold to a gun collector. In 1977 the gun was donated to the Kansas Historical Society.