William Preston Longley
(October 6, 1851 - October 11,
1878)
William Preston Longley
also known as Bill Longley was an old west outlaw and gunfighter
noted for his ruthless nature, speed with a gun, quick temper, and erratic
manner.
Contents
Born William Preston Longley in Austin
County, Texas, Bill Longley was the sixth of ten children of Campbell and
Sarah Longley. He was raised on a farm near Evergreen, Texas, receiving an
average education for the time.
He was 6 feet tall, with a thin build,
jet black hair, and was just reaching adulthood when the Civil War ended
in 1865. By 1867, Texas was under full military control; with Union forces
acting in all capacities, to include law enforcement, due to 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. In mid-1868, three former slaves
named Green Evans, Pryer Evans, and the third known only as Ned, rode
through Evergreen Texas, 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, although it
is likely he was not the only one shooting, killing him.
They then began going through the dead
mans pockets, as the other two men rode away to escape. Later, although
given credit for the killing, Longley would claim that he was not the only
one shooting, which was actually unusual for him, as he would eventually
become known for his boasting.
Longley and his brother-in-law, John
Wilson, 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 of 1870, a reward for their
capture was offered by the Union military authority, with a price of
$1,000. Longley would later claim 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,
working on a cattle drive. By May of 1870 he had joined a gold hunting
party in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
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 US cavalry unit.
Longley found himself penniless, and in need of an income. On June 22nd,
1870, he 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-martialed. 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 of 1872.
He was again arrested, two weeks later,
as a part of outlaw Frank Eastwood's gang. Longley was extradited to
Austin, Texas on a charge for an earlier murder by Mason County, Texas
Sheriff J. J. Finney. However, when the reward was not forthcoming from
the Union military forces, Finney released him.
Following this, Longley staged the escape
of two friends, brothers Jim and Dick Sanders, while they were in the
custody of a Grayson County, Texas deputy sheriff. Later on, when a Milam
County, Texas deputy sheriff attempted to arrest them, they disarmed him,
but did not kill him. During this time, at least two other men were
believed to have been killed by Longley, both fellow outlaws, over money
disputes. By this time, Longley was not only wanted by the authorities,
but well known. His reputation as being ruthless spread widely throughout
Texas.
On June 6th, 1877, Longley was surrounded
and arrested without incident by Nacogdoches County, Texas Sheriff Milt
Mast and two deputies, while he was residing in De Soto Parish, Louisiana
under the alias of "Bill Jackson". He was taken back to Texas,
where following a trial he was sentenced to hang on several charges,
ranging from horse theft to murder.
On October 11, 1878, aged 27, Longley was
executed by hanging in Giddings, Texas, near to Galveston, Texas. He was
credited with the killings of at least 32 people, mostly of Hispanic and
African American heritage.
Although often referred to as a gunfighter,
most of Longley's confrontations and killings came during his commission
of a robbery. He was, no doubt, occasionally involved in gunfights with
other outlaws and the like, but details of any incidents of that nature
are rare.
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 California
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 historians to
investigate. Finally, after confirming the gravesite of Longley, an
exhumation of the human remains was performed. They were taken to the
Smithsonian Institute 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.
- 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
- Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_P._Longley"
- Cunningham, Eugene. Triggernometry: A
Gallery of Gunfighters, Caxton Printing, 1971
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