April 19, 1909

After Van Buren (Crawford County) native Jim Miller—who earned the reputation of a professional assassin and manipulated the court system to avoid prison—killed former Oklahoma deputy U.S. marshal A. A. “Gus” Bobbitt near Ada, Oklahoma, a mob overpowered the jailers at the Ada jail where Miller and three of his associates were held; took Miller, Joe Allen, Jesse West, and Berry Burrell to a nearby stable; and lynched them. A photographer was called in, and his photograph of the four men hanging has become an icon in the lore of the Old West.