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7. Brave Billy Deane Dies
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53 CHAPTER 7 Brave Billy Deane Dies T he killing of Johnson County Deputy Sherif f William “Billy” Deane was called murder by many people, but at least one called it selfdefense . “Bill Deane w as a hired assassin, ” wrote May (or Mae) Gardner, “shooting at the Curry gang at every chance… He was as coldblooded a murderer asTom Horn. It was kill Deane or be killed. ”1 At this point in time “the Cur ry gang” was in reference to Geor ge Currie, since Kid Curry and supposedly Lonie were known as the “Roberts brothers” in Wyoming. Deane, a young Texan, was hired by Sheriff Al Sproal (or Sproul) speci fically to help curb the r ustling activity in the county. He was considered fearless, but his plan to capture the gang from Hole- in-the-Wall by himself was pure foolishness. He rode south from Buffalo in early April and spent the night ofApril 12, 1897, at the Brock home in P owder River country. Deane started out the next morning headed for the KC Ranch, but first arrived at the Alfred and Sarah Grigg homestead and post office on Middle Fork, where the outlaws often stopped for their mail.2 Thelma Gatchell Condit writes of the post offi ce: “In it there had been a big fireplace with the usual sizable stack of fire length wood. One log of fair proportions near one side of the hear th was never burned but reserved as a sitting place, its top side w orn smooth by the many and varied rumps it had supported through the years. It was slightly scarred here and there too, from the spurs of restless riders w ho had not remo ved their gear. Whether messages of a private nature were secreted some place in the firewood, or in this sitting lo g itself cannot now be proved, but it is known that men of every color and description came there and sat on that log, (always that log) and were seen reading messages that did not come by legitimate stage mail.”3 54 Chapter 7 Deane was in the post offi ce with the Griggs and , according to one account, a mail-carrier named Rosebury, when five men rode up. Four of the men were George Currie, “Dusty Jim,” and the two Roberts brothers, the latter being an alias for Kid Cur ry and supposedly his brother Lonie. It had been rumored that several days earlier, Deane had traded shots with possibly these same four men at Mur phy Pass.4 Historians assume that Lonie joined the Kid inWyoming not long after the killing of their brother , John, in February 1896. But there is evidence that he may not have gone to Wyoming, and almost certainly was not present at the Deane killing. This evidence will be discussed in some detail later in the chapter. What happened ne xt was later described b y the Griggs’ daughter, Millicent “Millie” Grigg James, who was an impressionable six-year-old at the time of the incident. She stated that her mother had looked out the window and spied two men approaching the house, “one w e definitely think was Kid Curry.” Thinking there would be trouble between Deane and the two men, Mrs. Grigg sent her children to hide in the cellar but The modern long-roofed house is the site of the old Grigg post offi ce where the Hole-in-the-Wall gang confronted Deputy Sherif f Billy Deane. (Author’s Collection ) [34.237.245.80] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 03:49 GMT) Brave Billy Deane Dies 55 they could still see what was going on. Aware of Deane’s presence in the house, the men rushed in at the same time through two separate doors of the post office. When one of them pointed his gun at Deane, Mrs. Grigg grabbed it and the bullet was deflected into the roof. Then Alfred Grigg appeared with a gun to back Deane, and the “Rober ts brothers” (who they were thought to be at the time) decided it was a good time to leave.5 In contrast to Millie’s eyewitness account, is Bro wn Waller’s assertion that it w as Deane who had initiated hostilities. Waller states that when Deane saw the first of the two men enter the post offi ce, he drew his gun “and asked whether he was looking for a fight. The man...