In the small, dusty town of Ingalls, Oklahoma Territory, a chapter of Old West history was violently written on September 1, 1893, ending in the death of 26-year-old Special Deputy U.S. Marshal Richard 'Dick' Speed. On that fateful day, Speed was part of a determined posse of thirteen U.S. Marshals who had descended upon the town with the express purpose of capturing the notorious Doolin-Dalton Gang.
The outlaws, wanted for a string of train robberies and other violent crimes, had been known to frequent Ingalls, using it as a safe haven. The marshals, arriving in two covered wagons to conceal their numbers, planned to surprise the gang members who were reportedly in the Ransom Saloon.
The carefully laid plan quickly devolved into a deadly gunfight. As the marshals moved in, the outlaws were alerted to their presence, and the quiet streets of Ingalls erupted in a hail of gunfire. During the chaotic exchange, Deputy Marshal Speed took aim at one of the gang members, George 'Bitter Creek' Newcomb, wounding him. However, another outlaw, Roy Daugherty, known as 'Arkansas Tom,' had taken up a strategic position in a second-floor room of the O.K. Hotel. From his vantage point, Daugherty fired his Winchester rifle, striking Speed in the shoulder. As Speed sought cover, a second shot from Daugherty's rifle found its mark, killing him instantly. The fierce battle also claimed the lives of two other lawmen, Deputy Marshal Thomas Hueston and Deputy Marshal Lafayette Shadley.
In the aftermath of the bloody shootout, the surviving members of the Doolin-Dalton Gang managed to escape Ingalls. However, the man responsible for the deaths of the three marshals, 'Arkansas Tom' Daugherty, was eventually surrounded in the hotel and surrendered to the authorities. He was subsequently tried and convicted for the murder of the lawmen and sentenced to prison. After serving a portion of his time, Daugherty was released, but his freedom was short-lived. His life of crime ultimately caught up with him, and he was killed in a separate shootout with police. Richard Speed was laid to rest in the Perkins Cemetery in Perkins, Oklahoma, leaving behind a wife and three children. His sacrifice is honored at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.
