The quest for the wild Wyoming Dunbar family continues. From Historic Wyoming newspapers, I gleaned two important clues: Charley Dunbar’s brother’s name, Benjamin Dunbar, and a time frame. This clue suggests that Benjamin might appear in the 1880 Nebraska Federal census instead of Wyoming. The newspaper had reported that he was sent to Nebraska prison. A quick search revealed him in Nebraska Territorial Prison as B. Dunbar age 21, born Iowa, parents born Illinois. So now I had two more clues: an approximate birth year of 1859 in Iowa and that parents were born in Illinois. So, with this knowledge, I could work backward and search the 1870 census for Ben and hopefully still living at home with brother, Charles Dunbar. I am hoping all this detail of sleuthing doesn’t bore you to tears. I wanted to show you the process in my research. With a few hours of sorting, I came up with a strong maybe in Knox County, Ill. The suspect household had a widow: Amelia born Illinois; sons William, Henry, Charles, Jefferson, Benjamin, Jefferson, Grant, and George, all born in Iowa. This proved later to be the right family. The father had served in the Civil War with Company B of the 22nd Iowa infantry. Benjamin Jefferson Dunbar Sr. died just two years after the war. His widow was collecting a pension as shown in the incomplete 1890 Census as living in Douglas, Wyoming. I don’t know what brought a single mom of seven boys from Iowa to the Wyoming territory, but I do know that four of the boys lived on the wild side and two of those were killed in saloons. Ben Dunbar, Charles’ brother who was convicted in Laramie as a horse-thief seems to realized that staying in Wyoming was not such a good idea after he served his one year in the Territorial Prison. He seems to have disappeared. I did track a Benjamin Dunbar who was born in Iowa 1859 to Pueblo, Colorado with a wife and three children, occupation: Barber. This Ben died in 1886. It could have been our Benjamin Jefferson Dunbar. Even if I could find his obituary, I doubt it would have listed his life accomplishments as a horse thief and attempted jail breaker along with Barber as a profession.
Nine years after Charles Dunbar met his end in Meeker, shot in or near his saloon, on April 12, 1893, Charley’s other brothers William “Mike” Dunbar and Jefferson “Jeff” Dunbar were in a different saloon, Carter & Brenham Saloon in Casper, Wyoming. Jeff and a black sheepherder named Lewis Adams got into an argument. Adams soon concluded that one should not bring a billiard cue stick to a gunfight. Jeff claimed self-defense after firing four warning shots before killing Adams. Jeff holstered his gun and he and Mike calmly walked out the back door. Sheriff Rice and his deputy arrested Jeff and took him to Douglas for trial. He spent several months in jail without bail before being found not guilty and released. Mike and Jeff relocated to Dixon, Wyoming where Mike took over a local saloon. Mike seems to have settled down with a wife and daughter. Jeff was reported to have visited Craig late in 1893. Jeff had been known to associate with suspected cattle rustlers. He became a card-carrying Outlaw when a warrant was issued for his arrest in Vernal, Utah. Jeff Dunbar and George Huse were wanted for robbing William Nichols of $200 near Fort Duchesne, Utah. Sheriff George Searle and a posse began searching for the culprits. Huse was captured but Jeff managed to elude everyone. On July 24, 1898, Jeff walked into Jim Davis’s saloon in Dixon. An argument ensued and Jeff drew his gun and shot Davis, wounding him. Davis returned fire, killing Jeff, and removing a man from the list of Wyoming bad guys. Newspapers felt safe enough to accuse the dead man of being the leader of the Robbers Roost Gang, a loose band of 400 or so outlaws which included Butch Cassidy, Isom Dart, and Bert Charters. William “Mike” Dunbar was not directly connected any outlaws, but he certainly met many of them. Mike decided to quit Dixon and take his family to Baggs, Wyoming which was known as a recreational vacation spot and spa for Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch. Two years later in 1900, Mike was implicated in arranging the disposal of “black stuff” (stolen money and goods) in advance of a train robbery at Tipton, Wyoming. Things were getting too hot for Mike in Wyoming. The Pinkertons were investigating him as an accessory when Mike separated from his family and disappeared. We lose track of Mike until the 1910 Census living quietly in Salt Lake City with his wife and three children. William “Mike” Dunbar died in Woods Cross, Utah in 1925. He was shot in the heart with a 12 gauge shotgun, an apparent suicide at the age of 72. Mother, Amelia Collins Dunbar died the next year in 1926 in Washington, Nebraska. She outlived all her wayward sons, three of whom died of lead poisoning in the Wild West.
By ED PECK | Special to the HT
