Billy Dixon

William "Billy" Dixon
William "Billy" Dixon as an Army Scout
Nickname(s) Billy Dixon
Born (1850-09-25)September 25, 1850
Ohio County, West Virginia
Died March 9, 1913(1913-03-09) (aged 62)
Cimarron County, Oklahoma
Place of burial Cimarron County, Oklahoma
Allegiance United States of America
Rank Civilian Scout
Battles/wars Second Battle of Adobe Walls
Battle of Buffalo Wallow
Red River War
Awards Awarded Medal of Honor as a civilian
Other work Hutchinson County Sheriff, Postmaster, and Justice of the Peace

William "Billy" Dixon (September 25, 1850 – March 9, 1913) was an American scout and buffalo hunter active in the Texas Panhandle. He helped found Adobe Walls, fired a legendary buffalo rifle shot at the Second Battle of Adobe Walls, and for his actions at the "Buffalo Wallow Fight" became one of eight civilians ever to receive the U.S. Medal of Honor.

Early life

Dixon was born in Ohio County in west Virginia, on September 25, 1850. Of European and Native American ancestry[1][2] he was orphaned at age 12 and lived with an uncle in Missouri for a year before setting out on his own. He worked in woodcutters' camps along the Missouri River until he started working at age 14 as an ox driver and a muleskinner for a government contractor in Leavenworth, Kansas.

He was a skilled marksman and occasionally scouted for eastern excursionists brought by the railroads. In 1869 he joined a venture in hunting and trapping on the Saline River northwest of Fort Hays in Kansas.

He scouted Texas as far south as the Salt Fork of the Red River when the buffalo hunters moved into the Texas Panhandle in 1874. He and his group hunted along the Canadian River and its tributaries.

Second Battle of Adobe Walls

Dixon led the founders of Adobe Walls to the Texas Plains, where he knew buffalo were in abundance. The group of 28 men and one woman occupied the outpost of five buildings 15 miles northeast of Stinnett.

The outpost was attacked on June 27, 1874, by a band of 700-1200 Indians, and that is when Dixon went into the history books for firing "The Shot of the Century" which effectively ended the siege. Although Dixon states in his biography that it was a "scratch shot", he is still honored to this day with competitions in England and the US that attempt to match his skill.

The stand-off continued into a third day, when a group of Indians were noticed about a mile east of Adobe Walls. It is said that Dixon took aim with a quickly borrowed .50-90 Sharps (as, according to his biography, he only had a .45-90 Sharps and felt it could not reach) buffalo rifle and fired, knocking an Indian off his horse almost a mile away on his third shot and killing him. Unnerved, the Indians then withdrew and left the settlement alone. Commemorative "Billy Dixon" model reproduction Sharps rifles that supposedly recreate the specifications of Dixon's famous gun are still available.

Battle of Buffalo Wallow

A Kiowa ledger drawing possibly depicting the Battle of Buffalo Wallow in 1874, one of several clashes between Southern Plains Indians and the U.S. Army during the Red River War.

On 12 September 1874, Sergeant Zachariah T. Woodall, Private Peter Roth, Private John Harrington, Private George W. Smith, plus civilian scouts Amos Chapman and Billy Dixon, while carrying dispatches to from McClellan Creek to Fort Supply as part of General Nelson A. Miles Sixth Cavalry, were encircled at sunrise by a "large band of Kiowa and Comanche warriors" near the Washita River.[3]:254-255 Dismounting, George Smith was mortally wounded, while caring for the horses.[3]:255 Soon, Woodall, Harrington, Dixon and Chapman were wounded.[3]:257 All had by noon, except Smith and Chapman, made their way to a nearby buffalo wallow ten feet in diamter, where they used their hands and knives to throw up the sandy dirt all around the sides.[3]:258 Sitting upright, each man "fired deliberately, taking good aim, and were picking off an Indian at almost every round."[3]:259 Dixon eventually ran for Chapman, whose left knee had been shattered, and carried him back to the wallow.[3]:260 By 3 PM, a thunderstorm brought rain and relief from their thirst, but when the wind "shifted to the north", the cold brought discomfort to all parties, especially the Indians who sat on their horses out of rifle range "with their blankets drawn tightly around them."[3]:262 Roth went for Smith's gun and ammunition, but when Smith was discovered still alive, Roth and Dixon brought Smith back to the wallow where he died during the night.[3]:263 and 267 At daylight, Dixon went for help, soon encountering troops under the command of Major Price.[3]:269 For their participation in what became known as the Battle of Buffalo Wallow or the Buffalo Wallow Fight, Woodall and the five men under his command were awarded the Medal of Honor.[4][5]

The medal is presently on display at the Panhandle–Plains Historical Museum in Canyon, Texas. His medal along with that of Amos Chapman was revoked after a records review that was conducted from 1916-1917 found that they were ineligible because they were civilian scouts.[6] In 1989 an Army Board of Correction of Records reinstated the awards.

A Texas Historical Marker documents the battle site.[7]

Later years and death

Billy Dixon's grave marker at Adobe Walls.

In 1883 Dixon returned to civilian life and built a home near the Adobe Walls site. He was postmaster there for 20 years and also the first sheriff of newly formed Hutchinson County, Texas. He served as state land commissioner and a justice of the peace.

In 1894 he married Olive King Dixon of Virginia, who for nearly three years was the only woman in Hutchinson County. They had seven children. In 1902 the family moved to Plemons for schooling for their children.[8] In 1906 they moved to Oklahoma.

Dixon died from pneumonia at his Cimarron County homestead in 1913 and was buried in Texline. On his deathbed he told Olive his complete life story, which she penned and later published. In 1929 his body was reinterred at Adobe Walls near where he stood when he first saw the Indians riding up the valley.[9]

Dixon Creek in southern Hutchinson County was named for him, as is the Billy Dixon Masonic Lodge in Fritch. A plaque commemorating his Medal of Honor was formally dedicated in 1992. The Historical Breechloading Smallarms Association of Lancashire, England, holds a shooting competition to commemorate his incredible long-distance shot. Known as the Vintage Rifle Open Long Range Championships, it is shot at a distance of 1,000 yards using black-powder cartridge rifles of that era, and is strongly contested from shooters all over the United Kingdom.[10]

See also

Sources

  • "Billy Dixon". Retrieved September 24, 2010.
  • "Red River War". Retrieved September 24, 2010.
  • Life of Billy Dixon - Author: Olive K. Dixon
  • Gilbert, Miles; Remiger, Leo; Cunningham, Sharon. Encyclopedia of Buffalo Hunters and Skinners. Vol. 1: A-D; (2003) Pioneer Press, TN; ISBN 1-877704-37-7.
  • Remiger, Leo; Gilbert, Miles; Cunningham, Sharon. Encyclopedia of Buffalo Hunters and Skinners. Vol. 2: E-K; (2006) Pioneer Press, TN; ISBN 1-877704-89-X.
  • "The Handbook of Texas History: Buffalo Wallow Fight". Retrieved September 24, 2010.
  • "Texas Historical Commission: Hemphill County: Marker 565". Archived from the original on February 25, 2013. Retrieved September 24, 2010.
  • John L. McCarty. Adobe Walls Bride: The Story of Billy and Olive Dixon San Antonio, TX: Naylor, 1955.

References

  1. ↑ Gilbert, (Vol. 1) p. 172 photograph (1876)
  2. ↑ Remiger, (Vol. 2) p. 100, 156
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Dixon, O., Life and Adventures of "Billy" Dixon, 1914, Guthrie: Co-operative Publishing Company
  4. ↑ Anderson, H. Allen. "Buffalo Wallow Fight", Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved May 27, 2011.
  5. ↑ Lively, Garland R. (2009). "General Phillip Sheridan's Southern Plains Campaign of 1874–1875", MilitaryHistoryOnline.com. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
  6. ↑ "PPHM Owned Battlesites". PPHM. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  7. ↑ "Buffalo Wallow Battleground". HMdb.org. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  8. ↑ The Handbook of Texas Online: Plemons, TX
  9. ↑ Waymarking.com: William "Billy" Dixon - Medal Of Honor Resting Places
  10. ↑ Eazyweb Internet Services. "HBSA Front page logo". Hbsa-uk.isonlinehere.com. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  • Works by Billy Dixon at Project Gutenberg
  • Works by or about Billy Dixon at Internet Archive
  • "Life and Adventures of "Billy" Dixon, of Adobe Walls, Texas Panhandle". Portal to Texas History. Retrieved September 24, 2010. External link in |publisher= (help) . Full-text also available at Internet Archive
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