Charles Edward “Bird” Obenchain rode with King Fisher (photo) and his gang in south Texas in the early 1870s. He apparently was a bit bloodthirsty. Supposedly, Obenchain (operating under an alias) tracked an enemy from Kansas to south Texas, intending to kill the man. He ultimately caught up with the man. Obenchain allowed the doomed man to have a last meal—in fact, Bird had something to eat as well. When they finished, Bird shot the man down in cold blood and left.

True West March/April 2025
In This Issue:
Western Books & Movies
More In This Issue
- Truth Be Known
- What Has Taught Me: Deb Goodrich
- Earp, Cowboy Songs & Prairie Hygiene
- Trails of the Old West
- The Frontier Characters of South Dakota
- The Bowie Knife
- The Kindled Flame 1835
- King of the Scatterguns
- Selling the Mythic West and the Real West
- A Gut Punch Turns into a Miracle Reprieve
- The Beginnings of the Bird Cage
- Frontier Colossus