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Story Version #1

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1839
Article: Book:
Biographical & Historical memoirs
of Northwest Arkansas by Goodspeed.
Page 188 (The year 1839)

"...On one Sunday morning L. D. Pollock,
Thomas Wagnon and one Curry, his brother-
in-law J. Wagnon [John?], all fairly respectable
citizens of the county, came to Fayetteville,
and became engaged in a game of cards. This
was reported to some of the citizens, and Willis
Wallace, his brother, Riley and two or three
others, resolved to put a stop to the game.
they went to where the men were playing
and threatened them with arrest. This very
naturally enraged them and a quarrel issued.
Wallace and his party were getting the better
of the card players, and Wagnon started to
run away. he ran across the public square,
and passed out on the other side of town.
All the party followed, and Willis Wallace
attempted to take Curry's horse from the
rack on the square to pursue Wagnon. At
this Curry pulled a pistol from his saddle
bags, but Wallace was too quick for him,
and without waiting for further demon-
strations drew his own resolver and shot
Curry dead.

     As he fired, Pollock, who was close by
threw a stone, striking Wallace upon his
head and knocking him down, whereupon
Riley Wallace, in a similar manner, struck
down Pollock. He remained unconscious
for several seconds. Meantime Willis Wallace
regained his feet, and going up to Pollock
plunged a bowie knife through his body,
pinning him to the ground. It was at first
thought that he was killed, but Dr. P. J.
Pollard, who had witnessed the fight from
his window, had him at once removed to
the hotel, dressed his wounds, and by his
skill in a few weeks restored him to health.
Two or three years later Pollack and Riley
Wallace met at a saloon in Fayetteville. Both
instantly recognized that it was 'kill or be
killed'. Wallace drew first, but his pistol
missed fired. Pollack was either too nervous
or too drunk to take advantage of this accid-
ent, and before he could fire Wallace drew a
bowie knife and plunged it into his heart,
killing him instantly. He then fled the country,
and was never captured. "

Article "NW Arkansas Times -
November 25, 1977" - Pollock

Willis Wallace later stood trial again on manslaughter and was again acquitted. As a result of the two killings (he killed a Cherokee man before the shootout with Tom Wagnon), he was disliked and feared by other residents and old accounts say he eventually moved on to Texas. His brother Riley stayed on. Two years later, he and L.D. Pollack, the man stabbed almost to death by Willis, met face to face in a local saloon and fought it out. Riley drew his pistol but the single shot muzzle loader missed fire. Pollack also drew a pistol, but before he could fire, Riley Wallace killed him with a knife. Leaving the saloon, Riley left the country and was never captured and held accountable for his dead.

September  25, 1839

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View online at:
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Read this before or after the above 4 versions of the Stories

1) John W. Currie was in fact married to Sarah Wagnon. I have since found out that Sarah was a couple of months pregnant
    with John's son, who would be born that December, John W. Currie, Jr.

2) L.D. Pollack was seriously injured in the stabbing, but did not die that day. A doctor [Dr. P. J. Pollard] witnessed the events
     and came to his aid. Within a couple of weeks, Pollack had recovered. He would meet up with one of the brothers a year
     later and would die from being stabbed to death. Guess he didn't learn his lesson the first time.

3) Tom Wagnon, Jr. was the one involved. He was not killed as we find him in 1850 married to a woman named Sarah with two
    children -- Marshall (born in 1847) and Elizabeth (1849). That's where I lose him. By 1860, Sarah is remarried to a man named
    Alexander Williams. Don't know if Tom had died between 1850 and 1860. I do find a Civil War soldier named Tom Wagnon in
    the Arkansas Infantry's 1st Regiment.

4) The trio of brothers - Bill, Alf and Ripley Shelley - were in fact a duo of brothers - Willis and Riley Wallace. Willis had indeed
     recently been acquitted of killing a man.

5) Albert Willis, the attorney whose incredible story of witnessing the crimes, having his wife and child murdered and then seeking
    revenge against the brothers? Not so much. The attorney is A.W. Arrington. He is mentioned as leading a group to arrest the
    brothers after they were released on bond.

    The account of the brothers in the well-fortified grocery is partially true. They did in fact have two cannons and tons of weapons
    which the state had entrusted to them. Arrington and his group did not try to go up against such an arsenal. This is where the story
    in the newspaper goes off the rails.

6) J Wagnon [John], listed in the Goodspeed version of our story, was also present at this event, "...his brother in law J Wagnon..."

Arrington did not one by one seek vengeance on the brothers and their gang. Willis Wallace stood trial for Currie's murder and was acquitted. Because he was so disliked by everyone in Fayetteville, it's said he moved on to Texas, where I find him in Bexar County in the 1850 census. It appears he died there October 31, 1853. His brother Riley of course as I mentioned earlier remained in Fayetteville and in 1840, he and Pollack had it out face to face in a saloon. Riley drew his gun, but it misfired. Pollack is said to have been intoxicated and was slow to action, allowing Riley to stab him to death. Riley is said to have left the country and was never captured or held accountable.

So, it appears we have a good story, well enough to be told with the facts and then we have a newspaper editor that decided to embellish it for his readers. Meanwhile, he changed the names of the outlaws, but kept the names of the victims.
 

Note from Kevin King:

Two Months prior to the Shootout...
"I think I know where the newspaper editor got his story about the outlaw getting a beating for insulting a girlfriend.
That particular incident happened two months prior to the shootout and is the murder in which Willis Wallace was
acquitted on manslaughter charges. Nelson Orr, a half-breed Cherokee, was the one seeking to avenge a Cherokee
woman who had been insulted. He attacked the man and Riley Wallace tried to intervene. Orr began attacking Riley
Wallace and that's when his brother Willis used a bowie knife to stab Orr in the side. Orr died days later."