Blackwell gunfight
The Blackwell gunfight occurred on the morning of December 4, 1896, when a posse of American lawmen confronted two bandits at their hideout near Blackwell, Oklahoma. During a lengthy shootout that followed, Deputy Alfred O. Lund killed an outlaw named Dick Ainsley while the other outlaw, Ben Cravens, was badly wounded and captured. Background Ben Cravens and Dick Ainsley were petty thieves and or cattle rustlers, although the latter had also developed a reputation as a gunman. Little is known about their lives before 1896, except that Ainsley also went by the name of "Buck" McGregg or "Diamond Dick," the latter because he had a diamond ring and three of his fingers shot away during a gunfight with Lincoln County policemen. On November 27, 1896, Ainsley and Cravens rode into Blackwell to purchase supplies and to case the town bank for a robbery. After completing their tasks, they then rode out of town to a small one-room shack next to a wooded ravine called Lost Creek. The location was about three and one half miles northwest of town. Because the creek was dry and the site lacked a well, Cravens went to ask the neighbor, Bert Benjamin, for some drinking water. During the conversation that followed, Cravens asked Benjamin several questions about the inside of the bank, which revealed his true intentions for being in the area. Benjamin did, however, reply casually and, on the following day, he went to tell the police about what had happened. The sheriff's deputy, J. R. Cox, was certain that Ainsley and Cravens were responsible for a recent robbery at a store in Hewins, Kansas, but, instead of organizing a posse immediately, he told Benjamin to go home and report back to him if he saw anything more of the bandits. So, on December 3, 1896, after sighting Ainsley and Cravens again, Benjamin reported back to Cox, who then raised a posse of six men, including himself. The other possemen were Alfred O. Lund, Bill Sherr, John Hunter, Jay McClain, and Richard Clarke. Lund, who became a lawman as result of the shootout, had always been interested in law enforcement, although he was beaten in past elections to determine the new city marshal and town constable of Blackwell. He was the owner of a livery stable, but the presence of Ainsley and Cravens gave him an opportunity to pursue a career in law enforcement, without having to be elected. At about midnight, the posse took up positions along a riverbank outside of town so they could ambush the outlaws when they rode in. Their plans were thwarted though when Bert Benjamin arrived and told them that Ainsley and Cravens were sleeping at the shack near his home. Because there was a risk of civilians being harmed in the event of a gunfight in the town's streets, Deputy Cox asked Benjamin to lead him and his men to the hideout. By 3:00 am, on December 4, 1896, the posse had made it to the wooded