David Rudabaugh (July 14, 1854February 18, 1886) was a cowboy, outlaw and gunfighter in the American Old West. Modern writers often refer to him as "Dirty Dave"
Early life
Rudabaugh was born in Fulton County, Illinois. His father was killed in the Civil War when Dave was a boy. The family moved to
Ohio and later
Kansas.
Outlaw
The outlaw career of Dave Rudabaugh began in earnest in
Arkansas in the early 1870s. He was part of a band of outlaws who robbed and participated in
cattle rustling along with
Milton Yarberry and Mysterious Dave Mather.
[ Robert K. DeArment, Deadly Dozen: twelve forgotten gunfighters of the Old West, page 53 ] The three were suspected in the death of a rancher and fled the state. By some accounts all three went to Decatur, Texas, but other accounts have Rudabaugh heading to the
Black Hills of
South Dakota, where he became a
stagecoach robber.
The Trio
Sometime around 1876, Rudabaugh joined Mike Roarke and Dan Dement to form the outlaw band known as the "Trio". There is a disputed story from around this time that Rudabaugh taught
Doc Holliday to use a pistol while Doc taught him the finer points of
playing cards.
In October 1876, Rudabaugh robbed a Santa Fe Railroad construction camp and fled south. Wyatt Earp was issued a temporary commission as Deputy U.S. Marshal and he left Dodge City, following Rudabaugh over towards Fort Griffin, Texas. Rudabaugh arrived at the frontier town on the Clear Fork of the Brazos River ahead of Earp by just a few days. When Earp arrived, he walked into the Shanssey Saloon, the largest saloon in town, which was owned by John Shanssey, whom Earp had known since he was 21. Shanssey told Earp that Rudabaugh had passed through town earlier in the week, but he didn't know where he was headed. Shanssey suggested Earp ask gambler Doc Holliday, who had played cards with Rudabaugh. It was the first conversation in a long friendship between Earp and Holliday. Holliday said he thought Rudabaugh was headed back towards Kansas, and Earp telegraphed the new information to Bat Masterson, which led to Rudabaugh's later capture.
Capture and release
Rudabaugh's gang attempted their first train robbery, on January 22, 1878, near Kinsley, Kansas. The robbery was a complete failure, and they came away empty-handed. The next day, a posse led by
Bat Masterson, including John Joshua Webb, captured Rudabaugh and fellow gang member Ed West. The remaining members of the gang were captured shortly thereafter. Rudabaugh took a deal for immunity offered by the prosecuting attorney, and testified against his former gang members.
Shortly following his release, Rudabaugh accepted Masterson's offer to join a group of gunfighters to fight for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in the Railroad Wars.
Dodge City Gang
During this time he became a very close associate of John Joshua Webb, whom he had met during his earlier arrest. After the railroad wars, he and Webb traveled to the town of Las Vegas, New Mexico, where they became important members of the Dodge City Gang. This gang was a band of ruffians and
who were dominating the political and economic life of the growing community. The leader was Hyman G. Neill (aka
Hoodoo Brown). Webb was arrested for murder in the spring of 1880. Dave Rudabaugh and another gang member attempted to break him out of jail on April 5, 1880. The attempt failed, and Rudabaugh shot and killed deputy sherriff Antonio Lino Valdez in the process.
[ ODMP memorial Antonio Lino Valdez]
The Rustlers and capture
He fled to Fort Sumner, New Mexico, where he eventually joined a gang, one of whose members was Billy the Kid.
At Stinking Springs (near present-day Taiban, New Mexico), On December 23, 1880 a posse led by Pat Garrett captured Rudabaugh, Billy the Kid, Billy Wilson, and other members of the gang. They were taken to Las Vegas, but the danger of a lynch mob prompted the officers to move them to Santa Fe. In February 1881, while in court, Rudabaugh pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in prison for several counts of mail robbery. He was then found guilty for the murder of Las Vegas deputy Lino Valdez and was sentenced to death by hanging.
Imprisonment and escape
Rudabaugh was reunited with Webb in jail. After a botched escape attempt in which a fellow prisoner named Thomas Duffy died, he and Webb broke out.
[ John Joshua Webb - Lawman Turned Outlaw] Rudabaugh fled to
Arizona where he joined the
Ike Clanton faction in their feud against the
Wyatt Earp. He may have participated in the murder of
Morgan Earp and the attempted murder of
Virgil Earp and may also have been present at the gunfight at Iron Springs in which
William Brocius was killed.
Death
As the Clanton gang broke up, Rudabaugh headed down to Mexico where he worked as both a
cowboy and a rustler. On February 18, 1886, Rudabaugh was involved in a gunfight with locals in Parral, Chihuahua. The fight began over a card game. He drew his pistol and killed two men and wounded another. He left the saloon unharmed, but unable to find his horse, he re-entered a few moments later and was shot several times and died. Rudabaugh's body was then decapitated with a
machete and his head placed on a pole. Legend says he belonged to the
Soapy Smith Denver gang and was killed near Cripple Creek, Colorado in a miners' riot.
Other information
Dave Rudabaugh was said to be the only outlaw who crossed paths with
Dave Mather,
Bat Masterson,
Pat Garrett,
Wyatt Earp, Billy the Kid and
Doc Holliday.
See also
In popular culture
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Rudabaugh is a character in the 1951 film The Texas Rangers. The fictional tale has him and real-life outlaws Sam Bass, John Wesley Hardin, Butch Cassidy and Harry Longabaugh forming a gang, then squaring off against two convicts recruited by John B. Jones to bring them to justice.
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Rudabaugh is a character in the 1959 film The Gunfight at Dodge City. In this mostly fictional tale, Rudabaugh is portrayed as the assassin of Bat Masterson's brother Ed Masterson, and additionally is killed in a gunfight after assaulting Lily, the saloon owner of the Lady Gay. Both of these events are fictional.
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Wyatt Earp first meets Doc Holliday while Wyatt is hunting Dave Rudabaugh, in the tv series "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp", in 1957 (Season 2/Episode 33) "Wyatt Meets Doc Holliday".
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Wyatt Earp first meets Doc Holliday while Wyatt is hunting Rudabaugh, in the movie Wyatt Earp.
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Dave Rudabaugh was played by Christian Slater in the 1990 film Young Guns II. In the film the character is known as "Arkansas Dave" though the historical Rudabaugh never used this name. He is portrayed as arrogant and preoccupied with his own notoriety and rank, often arguing with Billy over the leadership of the gang. The movie states that Rudabaugh was beheaded as a warning to other outlaws crossing the Mexican border.
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A song called the "Ballad of Arkansas Dave Rudabaugh", is on Pat Green's 1997 album George's Bar. The events in the song bear no similarity to the actual events of Rudabaugh's life.
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He appears, as "Dan" Rudabaugh, in Tex Willer episodes 601 and 602 along with Mysterious Dave Mather, Hoodoo Brown and John Joshua Webb.
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A song called "Arkansas Dave", on George Strait's 2009 album Twang. The song is part fiction, but depicts Dave's documented death. The song was written by George's son Bubba Strait.
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Dave Rudabaugh appears as a character in the weird western novel (by Edward M. Erdelac, 2010, ). He robs the titular character of his signature Volcanic pistol during a train holdup.
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Dave Rudabaugh is the name of a character in the video game Gun.
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Dave Rudabaugh is portrayed by Chad Dashnaw in the film The Kid directed by Vincent D'Onofrio.
External links
