From Trickster to Badman: The Black Folk Hero in Slavery and Freedom

Five: "You Done Me Wrong": The Badman as Outlaw Hero

F I V E "You Done Me Wrong": The Badman as Outlaw Hero In 1893, Morris Slater slung his gun across his shoulder at the end of a long week as a turpentine worker in rural Alabama and headed into town to unwind in the local jooks.' When he arrived in town, he was accosted by a white policeman who demanded that he hand over his gun. Standin' on corner didn't mean no harm, Policeman grab me by my arm, Wuz lookin' fer Railroad Bill." When Slater refused to relinquish his firearm, a struggle ensued in which the policeman was killed. Railroad Bill was mighty sport Shot all the buttons off high Sheriff coat Den holler, "Right on desparado Bi11."3 Slater jumped on a passing train and escaped. For the next three years he thwarted all efforts to capture him and secured his survival by robbing freight trains of canned goods and other merchandise. Slater became well known for breaking into crates on trains, removing their contents and throwing them out along the tracks only to return later to pick them up. He then sold his bounty to poor African Americans who lived along the railroad tracks. His train robbing exploits earned him the name of "Railroad Bill." I went down on Number One, Railroad Bill had jus' begun, It's lookin' for Railroad Bill. 172/ The Badman as Outlaw Hero I come up on Number Two, Railroad Bill had jus' got through It's lookin' for Railroad Bill. I caught Number Three and went back down the road, Railroad Bill was marchin' to and fro. It's that bad Railroad Bill." According to legend, Railroad Bill's success in eluding his would-be captors was due to the fact that he was a conjure man who could transform himself into almost any shape at will. Some African Americans told stories of how Bill on different occasions eluded policemen and railroad detectives by turning himself into various animals including a black sheep, a fox, and a bloodhound. Regardless of what African Americans saw as the source of Bill's success in eluding the law, agents of the law considered him a desperate criminal whose apprehension was inevitable. In fact, in the counties that surrounded Escambia, Alabama, candidates for sheriffs made and were elected on the promise that they would capture him. One in particular, E. S. McMillan, became one of Bill's victims when he engaged the outlaw in a desperate gun battle in 1895. Railroad Bill, he went down Souf, Shot all de teef, out 0' de constable's mouf, Wa'ri't he bad, wa'ri't he bad, wa'ri't he bad." According to legend, Bill was a deadly shot and killed as many as a dozen men during his career. And the longer he remained at large, the bolder and more daring he became. In one story, Bill even robbed a train carrying a posse sent to capture him. Talk about yo' five an' ten dollar bill, Ain't no Bill like old desparado Bill, Says, right on desparado Bill." In1896, Railroad Bill was killed. According to legend, he was lured to Tidmore's store by a note he received from an erstwhile friend, where he was ambushed by law enforcement officers. Railroad Bill eatin' crackers and cheese, Long came a sheriff, chipper as you please, Wuz lookin' fer Railroad Bill. The Badman as Outlaw Hero / 173 Railroad Billlyin' on de grocer floor, Got shot two times an' two time moreNo more lookin' fer Railroad Bill.? After his death, law enforcement officers carried his body from town to town in rural southern Alabama for public viewing and to demonstrate the power of the "law" to others who might try to follow his example. Nevertheless, many of the black folk in rural southeast Alabama refused to accept the fact of his death. They chose instead to believe that Railroad Bill still roamed the forests in one of the numerous animal forms that he, as a conjure man, could assume. Railroad Bill was just one of many badman heroes to capture the black folk imagination during the 1890s and whose exploits became the subject of songs, legends, and folktales. Stackolee, John Hardy, Harry Duncan, Devil Winston, and other lesser 'known figures all emerged during the last decade of the nineteenth century and served as important catalysts for black folk heroic creation." Although the...