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Photo postcard of Walter McGonagill riding bareback on bucking bronc Nancy Hanks, Craig, CO, ca. 1910.
Photo postcard of Walter McGonagill riding bareback on bucking bronc Nancy Hanks, Craig, CO, ca. 1910.

An anonymous observer wrote the following on the back of this postcard:  “This was taken in Craig.  This is the wildest horse in the country.  Chases people and all the mean things he can think of.  Chased the fellow getting over the fence…”  (a reference to the man in the photo with 3 X marks on his back, visible just to the left of McGonagill.)   (The town of Craig, the seat of Routt County, sits in the northwest corner of Colorado.)

A small article appearing in the Routt County Courier newspaper dated March 31, 1910,   most likely referred to the bronco-riding event captured in the photo.    It reads, “The famous Nancy Hanks, bucking horse owned by Lew Long, is to be brought to Craig this week and on Saturday afternoon Walter McGonagill will give one of his famous bareback riding exhibitions on Nancy’s back.  McGonagill is hard to beat and the exhibition will be a crackajack (sic).”  In the tradition of bucking bronc riders at the time, McGonagill’s sole handhold would have been a rope tied around the horse’s body.   

I was intrigued by the bronc’s name Nancy Hanks.   I learned this was also the maiden name of Abraham Lincoln’s mother, so this bucking mare may have been named after her.  Another possibility is that the bronc was named after a well-known record-breaking equine predecessor whose specialty was speed rather than altitude and who was known to have been named after Lincoln’s mother.   Born in 1886 in Lincoln’s birthplace, Kentucky, in 1892 that particular Nancy Hanks would break the then-existing harness-racing one-mile record of 2 minutes and 8.25 seconds with a time of 2 minutes and 4 seconds.  In her five seasons of racing, her only defeat was in a heat before one of her races.  Though she would have retired by the time the Nancy Hanks in Craig broke loose under McGonagill, she would have been well-known in the horse world.

Walter L. McGonagill was a rodeo performer of some renown in the western and southwest states, performing in bareback bronc riding, horse racing and steer wrestling events.    He was also a promoter of horse races.  At some point, he and his wife may have lived in Grand Junction.  

Born in Texas in 1871, Walter was the son of George M. and Narcissa J. (Haynes) McGonagill, who were horse and cattle ranchers.   The family would eventually move to New Mexico, and it was in Carlsbad that Walter, though an experienced ranchman, became a teacher of writing in his early adult years. He taught at night at “the old rock building” near Carlsbad’s Laverna Hotel and throughout his life was known for his penmanship and flourishing writing style.   He was also known for his politeness and the generosity he showed to his friends. 

Walter would win his contest with Nancy Hanks, as he would with other horses, including Dynamite in another Craig event earlier that year, Carrie Nation in Kremmling in May and Teddy Roosevelt in Salida in November.   (Teddy gave as good as he got, though, and it’s interesting to note he was an outlaw when it came to being ridden, but a model worker when under harness.)  McGonagill would suffer defeats as well, being thrown by Pin Ears in Oak Creek just a month after his duel with Nancy Hanks and by Buckshot in 1911 during a show in Sheridan, Wyoming.

Walter McGonagill was also a steer wrestler.  In today’s version of this event, also known as bulldogging, the horse-mounted rider, working against the clock, chases the steer and when alongside it drops from the horse to the steer and grabs its horns, attempting to throw it to the ground.  If the rider succeeds in throwing the steer to the ground, the clock stops once all four of the steer’s legs are off the ground.   

Bill Pickett

The originator of bulldogging is said to be Willie “Bill” Pickett.   He was born in Texas in 1870 to farmers Thomas Jefferson Pickett and Virginia “Jane” Gilbert Moore, both of whom were born into slavery.   The second oldest of 12 children, Bill dropped out of school at age 10 to pursue his interest in ranching.   He and his brothers would subsequently form a horse-breaking business with the name Pickett Brothers Bronco Busters and Rough Riders.

While working ranches, Bill observed that cattle dogs would subdue a steer or bull by biting its upper lip and twisting the animal to the ground.   Pickett decided to try this himself, bringing down steers by grabbing their horns and applying the cattle dog’s technique while wrestling the animals down. By age 18 he was wrestling steers in rodeos, incorporating this technique, which was soon copied by others.  To see images portraying this lip-biting technique, click on https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/blog/to-take-down-a-bull-bite-its-lip-true-story-of-the-west/ or watch seconds 44 to 49 of the steer wrestling video at https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/explore/steer-wrestling/. 

A 1915 article in the Carlsbad Current newspaper indicates that Walter McGonagill utilized Pickett’s technique, for it reported, with a fair amount of hyperbole, that McGonagill would be throwing “steers…by catching them in the nose with his teeth” at an upcoming rodeo in Lovington. This bulldogging technique would later be dropped in favor of leverage and brute force. 

In 1932, Pickett was kicked in the head by a stallion while roping horses in a rodeo near Ponca City, Oklahoma, and died eleven days later at age 61.  In 1972, he became the first Black rodeo performer voted into the National Rodeo Hall of Fame.   Here’s a Hall of Fame photo link for Pickett:  https://allthatsinteresting.com/bill-pickett

Clay McGonagill

Walter’s younger brother, Clay, was also an accomplished horseman who would become a world-champion steer roper, winning approximately 500 roping contests during his career.   Known for his sense of humor, he was called the world’s wittiest cowboy by the well-known American cowboy, actor and humorist, Will Rogers. In 1921, Clay would die an untimely death at age 42 while hauling hay on the Sacaton Reservation in Arizona, accidentally making contact with a high voltage wire hanging low over the road.  He would be inducted into the National Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1975.  Here’s a Hall of Fame photo link for Clay McGonagill:  https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/collections/awards/rodeo-hall-of-fame/inductees/5083/

Double Funeral for Walter McGonagill and “Tom Ross”

In on February 11, 1929, Walter McGonagill passed away in Carlsbad at age 57, having suffered heart problems the previous three to four years.  When I  found his obituary in the Carlsbad Current-Argus newspapers, I learned that his funeral was half of a double service held for him and a man named Tom Ross.  The reasons given for the double service were the close friendship between the two and the proximity of their death dates (Ross had died eight days before McGonagill).  Their obituary described them as  “two picturesque cowboy characters in the early days of Carlsbad” who had spent years in the saddle as buddies. 

When Walter met Tom in the early 1900’s, he wouldn’t have known that “Tom Ross” was an alias, that Tom’s real name was Hillary Loftus.  Here’s a photo link to Hillary Loftus, aka Tom Ross, among other aliases:  http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasPostmarks/Trixie-TX.htm.

Hillary Loftus

Hillary “Hill” U. Loftus was born on a Mississippi cotton farm in June of 1872 and left home at age thirteen to stay with an uncle in Lamar County, Texas. Shortly thereafter he lit out west from there to live with an older brother in Wichita County.  By age 17 he was working at the W.T. Waggoner Ranch, which sat on 500,000 acres (including land leased from the federal government) and straddled the Red River, which separated Texas from Oklahoma.  Again, his stay was short, and he would move further west to live with another brother, a horse rancher.  After staying there about a year, at age 19 he would rejoin the Waggoner Ranch.  There, his growing expertise in ranching evident, he would land the job of boss over a group of cowpokes working the ranch’s Sutter’s Creek cow camp in Oklahoma Indian Territory.  His talent in handling cattle would eventually earn him an accolade as “one of the best ranchmen produced in the Southwest.” 

But Loftus was apparently “broke bad,” for he fell in with a criminal outfit led by the notorious “Red Buck” Waightman, formerly of the Bill Doolin Gang.  During Christmas week of 1895, Waightman, Loftus and two others would rob the Waggoner company store at gunpoint and proceed to do the same in other Texas towns on the Oklahoma border.  A posse that included Texas Rangers located the gang in a dugout in Oklahoma Territory, and in the resulting shoot-out killed one gang member and wounded Waightman and another gang member.  The only person who escaped was Loftus. 

With his name now on the Texas Rangers’ most wanted list, Loftus would soon re-emerge as “Tom Ross.”  It is likely that “Ross” spent the years 1895 to 1902 in the cattle trade, wandering from place to place to evade capture.  In 1902, he was drawn to northwest Texas, which bordered  New Mexico Territory.  He was motivated to do so for several reasons:  His childhood sweetheart, Lillian “Trixie” Hardin, now 22, had moved with her family to this area from Wichita Falls; he owned four sections of land in neighboring Gaines County; and, perhaps most importantly, the area was still an isolated, sparsely populated frontier territory.  In such a place, it would be ill-mannered or even dangerous to show too much interest in a person’s past. 

On January 24, 1904, Loftus and Trixie would marry, and this event would mark the beginning of what appeared to be a more stable, law-abiding chapter in Loftus’ life.     Loftus would establish a modest cattle ranch twenty-five miles northwest of the Gaines County town of Seminole, and in 1907 Trixie would give birth to their only child, Bessie, said by a neighbor to be the apple of her father’s eye.  In 1908 Loftus was even contracted to operate a fourth-class post office for Trixie, Texas, a settlement named for his wife.

It was during this period in the early 1900s that Loftus and Walter McGonagill likely met and developed their friendship. As noted earlier, McGonagill had started his adult work life in Carlsbad, New Mexico.  Given Carlsbad’s proximity to the region in northwest Texas where Loftus landed and the involvement of both men with cattle, it’s not surprising that their paths crossed.   If their joint obituary is accurate, they developed a close friendship.

By 1923, Loftus had steadily prospered in his cattle ranching business, was a member of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, and now ranched on ten to twelve sections of land (6400 to 7860 acres).  He had also established a reputation as a solid citizen – he owned property in the town of Seminole, made important civic contributions to the town, and was considered a generous man. But, while he had far more friends than enemies, he was also known for his hair-trigger temper.  Given the latter trait, his reputation as one of the quickest and most practiced shots with a six-shooter in west Texas, and the fact that he was always armed, people knew not to push him too far.

It was toward the end of 1922, when a wave of cattle thefts hit West Texas, that the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association began examining Loftus’ cattle operation on suspicion of theft.     The Association, comprising about 4,000 members at the time, was founded in 1877 to help efficiently round up members’ stray cattle and halt what at that time was called an “epidemic of rustling.”   As of 1922, the Association employed an elite corps of 50 inspectors hired for their knowledge of brands and prowess with handguns.  The two inspectors assigned to examine the “Ross” ranch were W. David Allison and Horace L. “Hod” Roberson.  Both highly experienced in law enforcement and former Texas Rangers, Allison was reportedly “one of the best peace officers the Southwest has ever produced,” and Roberson could boast of impressive law enforcement credentials as well.  Of the two, Roberson was the more deadly with a handgun. 

The inspectors would have a challenging task in front of them.  Ranchers, who might have to rely on fellow ranchers in time of need, were hesitant to speak out against one of their own when pressed by a law enforcement official.  Even in the year 1922, law enforcement officials could still be viewed as “outsiders” who were not to be trusted.  More specifically, regarding Loftus, he had made it known to his neighbors that no Association member would come onto his land and live to tell about it, and his neighbors, familiar with Loftus’ temper, had little reason to doubt him.     

Allison and Roberson’s investigation led them to suspect that Loftus and an accomplice by the name of Milt Good were behind the theft of as many as 500 head of cattle.  Roberson bore the brunt of the fieldwork in the case, and reports came back that he had uttered intemperate, threatening remarks towards Loftus based on his personal dislike of the man.  Roberson reportedly told some of Loftus’ fellow cattlemen that he knew Loftus was running a gang of cattle thieves and that he (Roberson) would see Loftus in jail or dead.  He also reportedly told Roy “Alkali” Adams, one of Loftus’ own ranch hands, that if he didn’t bring in sufficient evidence against Loftus he would get him just the same.   If true, these are surprising statements coming from a seasoned lawman, statements which could only harm his stature as an objective law enforcement official in a court of law.  What Roberson may not have taken into account when making these utterances was Loftus’ frontier-era mindset for personally administering justice against those who make personal threats. 

Loftus’ mindset would violently reveal itself on the evening of April 1, 1923, one day prior to a grand jury hearing into Loftus and Good’s alleged rustling of cattle belonging to a rancher named Wilhoit.  Many of the major players in the next day’s grand jury session had gathered that night for dinner at the two-story Gaines Hotel in Seminole. Those at the table included Inspectors Allison and Roberson; Loftus’ counsel, W. H. Lockhart; N.R. Morgan, a local attorney; District Attorney Gordon McGuire; and Gaines County Sheriff F. L. Britton.  Following dinner, a good part of the group moseyed into the smoke-filled lobby to sit and talk.  Allison and Roberson would take seats facing each other at a table they shared with attorney Morgan. 

Gordon McGuire later recalled the sound of footsteps outside the front door alerting him to visitors.  The next thing he remembered was seeing “eighteen inches of shotgun put through the door followed by Milt Good,” and close behind him was Loftus brandishing two 45-caliber pistols.   The place thundered with their gunshots, and their targets, Allison and Roberson, never knew what hit them.  The only other person in the line of fire was attorney N. R, Morgan, who miraculously escaped death when a bullet passed between his right arm and his body. 

Evidence of Loftus ’dominance over Good following their initial attack was his command to Good “Milt, do your duty!,” whereupon Good strode over to Roberson’s lifeless form and pumped “several surplus and unnecessary shots” into him.   

When Roberson’s wife, Martha, who was reading upstairs in the Roberson’s hotel room, heard the gunfire, she immediately ran down to the lobby.  After ascertaining that her husband was dead, she grabbed his backup pistol and chased after the murderers.  She was able to land two shots, one hitting Loftus’ belt buckle and causing a painful but non-lethal superficial stomach wound, and the other passing through Good’s wrist and lodging in his right side.  Like Ross’ wound, it was painful but not fatal.   

Loftus and Good later turned themselves in to the sheriff, which, given Loftus’ criminal past, is surprising.  One author surmises that Loftus had convinced himself that his actions at the hotel were justified under the self-defense code of the Old West, that he’d at least make bail and could then decide whether or not to flee.   But times had changed.  Loftus and Good would both be indicted on first-degree murder charges. 

Loftus and Good would be tried separately, each facing two jury trials, one for the Allison killing and one for the Roberson killing,   They were found guilty in both killings, with Loftus receiving a combined sentence of fifty-five years and Good a combined sentence of fifty-one years.  They both appealed their sentences to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which ruled that the original verdicts would stand.

Loftus and Good would do their time at the Texas state penitentiary in Huntsville.  It appears that Good may have had some political “pull,” for he got a coveted spot working as an attendant in the prison hospital, a position that carried a semi-trustee status.  (Loftus was assigned to work in the mechanical department.)    Eventually, Loftus came up with the idea to escape from prison, and Good, Loftus’ follower, agreed to join him.  They would join with two other convicts – Clarence “Red” Whalen and George Arlington – in making their breakout.  Their plan would center around Good’s placement in the prison hospital. 

On November 29, 1925, Loftus, Whalen and Arlington managed to get themselves admitted to the prison hospital.  Loftus purportedly did so by inflaming his mouth with red pepper to increase his temperature.  Following their plan, Good asked a guard by the name of Van Meter if he could pass behind him to get kindling for the stove.  Van Meter said it was okay to do that, whereupon Good knocked him out from behind with a piece of wood.  With Loftus guarding the main door to the cell block, Arlington then ran to the dining room for some bolt cutters which must have been secreted there, and Whalen cut out a section of wiring to disable the alarm and telephone.  Good then herded Van Meter and a second guard named Gilpin into nearby cells.  The four prisoners then raced the one-hundred yards to the east gate, cut the chains with the bolt cutters and jumped into a waiting car driven by a lone woman, who some say was a girlfriend of Arlington’s.  Their escape was successful.

The four escapees would head north, not south to Mexico, as many people thought.   Starting out through New Mexico and Arizona, they headed up through northern California.  Near Tacoma, Washington, Loftus and Good split off from the other two, homesick for their families.  They made their way back to Texas.  This would have been in April of 1926, some four or five months after their escape.   It’s interesting to note that, during that period of time, Gay Price, a barber in Brownsville who had dated Loftus’ daughter, Bessie, saw Ross, dressed as a woman, go past his shop in a car.  After a few days in Texas, Loftus and Good headed east to Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, where they spent a few weeks in the company of Good’s relatives.  Loftus and Good then went their separate ways, reportedly parting on good terms. 

Good would subsequently head to Tampico, Mexico, but contracted typhoid fever on the way and was laid up in bed for several weeks.  After his recovery he would head back north to Oklahoma, not knowing that the jig for him was almost up.  While hunting wolves near Antler, Oklahoma, on June 26, 1926, he was captured by lawmen, reportedly having been turned in by his brother. 

In the meantime, Loftus had headed north to Montana, landing in May of 1926 with a new handle but in a familiar area.  The new handle was Charles Gannon, and his landing was at the Frye Cattle Company near Great Falls.  It was near Great Falls that Loftus had worked cattle when he was first on the lam in the early 1900s. 

His expertise obvious, Loftus would soon become a foreman at the Frye ranch.   However, in November of 1928, for reasons unknown, Loftus would lose that job to a man named Ralph Hayward, although Loftus would remain employed. 

On February 3, 1929, tempers flared between the two.  It happened in the bunkhouse of a Frye company cow camp just across the Canadian border some forty miles north of Great Falls, where Hayward was making a regular inspection for the owners.   Loftus and several cowhands had just returned from the range in 30 degrees below zero weather when Hayward, sitting unarmed on his bunk, reprimanded Loftus over some detail of the management of the ranch.  Loftus responded by cursing at the foreman, whereupon Hayward told Loftus he couldn’t talk to him that way.  At that point, Loftus emptied six rounds from his 45-caliber pistol into Hayward, killing him instantly.  Loftus then ordered the other cowhands out of the bunkhouse and told them not to leave the ranch.  He burned his belongings and wrote a terse note belittling Hayward for his lack of experience in the cattle business and ending the note by writing “Good bye to the world.”  He meticulously covered his bunk with his tarp, laid his sheepskin coat over his pillow and laid down.  As witnessed by a cowhand peeking through the window, Loftus then sat up, put the pistol to his right temple and pulled the trigger. 

Looking at it from Loftus’ point of view, not only had Hayden usurped his job as foreman, but  had also violated the code of the range by gruffly issuing orders instead of delivering them with tact. 

A Note on Friendship

As indicated earlier, it was not only on account of the temporal proximity of their deaths but because of their friendship that the double funeral was held for Walter McGonagill, by all accounts a law-abiding man, and Hillary Loftus, a violent killer known to McGonagill and the local community as Tom Ross.   I guess we’ll never know what made that friendship work. 

Burials

The remains of Walter McGonagill, Hillary Loftus, Loftus’ wife, Trixie, and their daughter, Bessie, are all interred at the Lovington Cemetery in Lovington, New Mexico.  It appears the Ross alias stuck, for Loftus and his wife are buried under the name Ross, and Bessie, who married Herman Culp, also interred at Lovington, is buried under the name Bess Ross Culp.

REFERENCES:

  • “Broke bad,” A NEWCOMER’S TEXAS SLANG DICTIONARY, Texas Heritage for Living at

https://texasheritageforliving.com/texas-living/a-newcomers-texas-slang-dictionary/

  • “Meet Bill Pickett, The Fearless Black Cowboy Who Invented The Sport Of Cattle Wrestling,” by Kaleena Fraga, checked by Leah Silverman, February 1, 2022, All That’s Interesting (ati) at https://allthatsinteresting.com/bill-pickett
  • “Tom Ross, Outlaw and Stockman,” by James Irving Fenton, master’s thesis, Graduate School, University of Texas at El Paso, December, 1979. 

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