- Hank Vaughan
Henry Clay Vaughn aka Hank Vaughn (April 27, 1849 - 1893) was born to Alexander and Elizabeth Vaughan in the
Willamette Valley ofOregon Territory . Vaughn became an infamousoutlaw andgunfighter of theAmerican West . [ [http://www.legendsofamerica.com/WE-HankVaughan.html Hank Vaughan - Horse Thief and Cattle Rustler of the Pacific Northwest ] ]At the age of 18, after having rustled
Cayuse horses from the Umatilla with Dan Burns, Vaughan and Burns were tracked by Umatilla County Sheriff Frank Maddock and Deputy O. J. Hart to their camp at Burnt Creek. Deputy Hart and the horse thief Burns were killed in the gunfight, Sheriff Maddock was wounded with a gunshot wound to the head. Vaughan was injured and escaped but was soon captured and taken to jail inAuburn, Oregon , where he was protected from a gatheredlynch mob by a citizen named John Hailey. Hank Vaughan was sentenced to eight years in theOregon State Penitentiary . ["Outlaws of the Pacific Northwest" by Bill Gulick; Caxton Press, Caldwell Idaho, 2000; p.148-149.]After release from prison, Vaughan lived a colorful life in the area of
Pendleton, Oregon , engaging in frequent gunplay and supporting a lifestyle that included significant medical expenses and damages totaverns without having any noticeable means of income. He acquired a lifetime pass on theNorthern Pacific Railroad when a gang robbing the train interrupted his nap on a trip home to Pendleton fromSpokane, Washington . [Gulick, p. 155.]Hank Vaughan married into the Umatilla tribe and settled down, relative to his own youth, on his wife's ranch on the reservation. In 1891, the New York Times reported an incident at an auction for lands formerly part of the Umatilla Reservation. Hank Vaughan had hired an attorney to bid on his behalf, and when the parcel of land he wanted went up for bid a gunfight broke out behind the building, an exchange of gunfire between Vaughan and one of his men. Vaughan's agent bought the property at what was described as a "ridiculously low price." No one was injured in the gunfire, which was reported to be the discharge of numerous blank cartridges. ["'Hank' Vaughn's Scheme" The New York Times, May 11, 1891, p. 2.]
He kept a private safe, which held 6,000 dimes, a collection of seal finger rings, a large
gold nugget and a collection of revolvers. [ [http://museum.bmi.net/Pioneer%20Trails/Vaughan,%20Hank.htm Hank Vaughan, Desperado ] ]Hank Vaughan died when his horse, running through the streets of Pendleton, slipped on the first concrete sidewalk in
Eastern Oregon . He fractured his skull on a telephone pole. He died during the summer of 1893. [Gilick, p. 158.]Further reading
*"An Illustrated History of Umatilla and Morrow Counties", by Col. Wm Parson, and W.S. Shilach; W.H. Lever; 1902. p. 257-259.
*"And There Were Men" by Russell Blankenship; Alfred A Knopf, New York, NY; 1942.References
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