The Dash of Rose, Part II

Continuing last week's story about Rose of Cimarron.
(additional commentary follows)

Rose was under 15 during the battle.
Those little princesses of ours...

The shootout, as described over Prof. Alex Taylor's two columns, came to be known as the Battle of Ingalls. Unfortunately for Rose, her older Dunn brothers had become strict opportunists, known for bounty hunting, cattle rustling, and outright robbery. The reward offered for Bitter Creek and Charlie Pierce was actually $5,000 each, for a grand total of $10,000. That would make for a $300,000 sum in today's currency. Boyfriend or not, that's enough grub to get someone shot. If you read the Dunn brothers link, you'll discover "the rest of the story" as Paul Harvey would  have said it. As for heartbroken Rose, she disappeared into the same black hole of unremarkable domestic life as the rest of us. Okay, well most of us. 

This Alex Taylor column originally appeared April 19, 1988 in the Gainesville Times of Gainesville, Georgia, Page 3A "North Georgia" section.

Map Curiosity: Interesting that Rose's final destination of Salkum, WA is geographically similar to her childhood home of Yale / Ingalls, Oklahoma. Both feature gently rolling, nearly flat terrain, and are located near northern bends of large rivers.  

Want a little more on Rose? I found THIS ENTRY interesting.

Photos generally associated with Rose Dunn, but not verified. Original sources unknown.

The Dash of Rose, Part I

This is actually *not* Rose, but a
model prisoner portraying her.

The things we do for spite.
This week, Alex Taylor begins the wild west tale of female tenacity.
You know what they say about a woman scorned.

Of course, the nicknames back then were indeed the stuff of legend. Dynamite Dick, Dick Speed (not so fast as it turns out), Bitter Creek... these stories pretty much wrote themselves. But we are talking about the folks running in the circles of the Doolin-Dalton Gang AKA the Wild Bunch. You might have heard of them, or watched a film or two.

For those into geotourism, you'll find Yale, Oklahoma HERE, in the bend of the Cimarron River where Professor Taylor spots it. Also interesting are its ties with the legendary sportsman, Jim Thorpe.

Originally published in the Gainesville Times, April 12, 1988.