Ed O’Kelley is best known for killing Jesse James’ assassin Robert Ford in 1892. After O’Kelley did 10 years in the Colorado pen for the murder, he still couldn’t stay out of trouble.
In January 1904, O’Kelley attacked Oklahoma City Police Officer Joe Burnett. The two fought for control over their guns and resorted to fists and bites in a fight to the death. When a railroad worker

True West May/June 2025
In This Issue:
Features
- Historic Hotels of the American West
- A Journey Through Wyoming’s Outlaw History
- A Journey Through Washington’s Wild Frontier
- Blazing The Oregon Trail
- Journey Through Time
- Did Brigham Young Order a Massacre?
- Mountain Meadows Scapegoat John D. Lee VS. A Firing Squad
- Mormons in the Movies
- An Indigenous Consultant Ensures Accuracy
- The Battle Axe And A Raw Deal
- Showdown: Bridger VS. Brigham
- The Mountain Man and the Mormon Moses
- The Ghosts of Mountain Meadows
- The War Before the War
- Mountain Meadows