Evett Dumas Nix
| Evett Dumas Nix | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
Evitte Dumas Nix September 19, 1861 Kentucky |
| Died | February 4, 1946 (aged 84) Riverside, California |
| Resting place | Oak Grove Cemetery 37°05′13″N 88°37′12″W / 37.08690°N 88.62000°W |
| Occupation | United States Marshal, storekeeper, electric franchisor, financial broker, film actor and producer |
| Spouse(s) | Ellen Felts |
| Parent(s) |
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Evett Dumas Nix, often known as E.D. Nix, (September 19, 1861 - February 6, 1946) was a United States Marshal in the late 19th century handling the jurisdiction that included the wild Oklahoma Territory, later to be the state of Oklahoma. He was first appointed in 1893, in the closing years of the Old West, during the last years of the "Hanging Judge" Parker tenure.
Born in Kentucky, his uncle was a county sheriff, and his father a deputy sheriff. He went into business, working in sales and operating a grocery store and a hardware store. In 1885 he married childhood girlfriend Ellen Felts. Nix first came to Oklahoma during the Land Run of 1891, and was a Guthrie, Oklahoma, businessman with many influential friends, to include rancher Oscar Halsell, who for a time employed Bill Doolin and other members of the Doolin Dalton Gang, and who was involved in the 1884 Hunnewell Gunfight. When he was appointed to the position of US Marshal he was only 32 years of age, the youngest holding that position at the time.
He took over in a very volatile time. The Doolin Dalton gang was in full swing, committing bank robberies and train robberies in Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas. The outlaws had a haven in Ingalls, Oklahoma, and Marshal Nix wasted no time in moving to bring the gang down. His first course of action was to organize a posse to take the outlaws in Ingalls. With Deputy Marshal John Hixon in the lead, Nix dispatched a posse of fourteen Deputy Marshals to Ingalls. On September 1, 1893, in what would become known as the Battle of Ingalls, three of his deputy marshals, Deputy Marshal Thomas Hueston, Deputy Marshal Richard Speed, and Deputy Marshal Lafeyette Shadley were killed in the ensuing gunbattle. Outlaws "Bittercreek" Newcomb, Charley Pierce, and "Dynamite Dan" Clifton were wounded, but escaped. Outlaw "Arkansas Tom" Jones was stunned and captured after dynamite was thrown at him by Deputy Marshal Jim Masterson. And a saloon owner known only as Murray was badly wounded by the marshals when he began shooting at the lawmen in defense of the outlaws.
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