Career
He had been a cowboy in Kansas through the 1880s, before drifting into Oklahoma Territory, where in 1892 he met outlaw Bill Doolin, and joined Doolin"s Wild Bunch gang, sometimes called the Oklahombres, or the Doolin-Dalton Gang. ”. On the night of April 3rd 1895 this gang decided to rob a southbound Rock Island train. The 5 of them stormed the train and ordered it to be opened, when messenger J.W. Jones refused they fired 20 rounds into the car.
Jones didn’t give up his hold unit a random bullets got him in the wrist and legal
By orders of the conductor, who was worried they would kill the passengers, he let the bandits in the train. He took part in numerous bank robberies and train robberies, and was a key figure during the gangs shootout with United States Marshals in Ingalls, Oklahoma in September 1893, during which three Deputy Marshals were killed.
On April 4, 1895, Blake was tracked to a hideout in Major County, Oklahoma, by a posse led by Deputy Marshal Will Banks. During a fierce gun-battle that lasted over 45 minutes, Blake at first held the Marshals official
However, as he broke cover to flee, he was shot and killed by Deputy Marshal Banks.
His death marked the beginning of the downfall of the Wild Bunch Gang.
