𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐲 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬
𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐰, 𝐂𝐨𝐰𝐛𝐨𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬

In the early decades of the twentieth century—when Oklahoma’s oil boomtowns rose overnight and law struggled to keep pace—a hard-luck cowboy named Henry Wells stepped from obscurity into infamy. He was neither the most violent nor the most successful of the era’s bank robbers, but he endured longer than most, leaving behind a life that traced the uneasy line between frontier crime and fading legend.

Born in Missouri around 1880, Wells ran into trouble early and, like countless young men of his generation, drifted west to outrun his past. By about 1910 he had settled in Osage County, Oklahoma, where he found honest work cowboying for Charles Johnson on a spread between Bartlesville and Pawhuska. Wells married, built a small home in Lost Creek Canyon near Okesa, and for a time seemed intent on respectability.

But Osage County was changing. Oil money flowed through rural towns, banks sat poorly guarded, and the distance between temptation and opportunity narrowed by the day.

𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗝𝗼𝗯𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗚𝗮𝗻𝗴

By late 1914, rural Oklahoma was swept by a rash of daylight bank robberies. Small brick buildings, stuffed with oil cash and protected by little more than a lock and local goodwill, became irresistible targets. Wells soon fell in with a loose circle of outlaws—many tied, directly or indirectly, to the orbit of Henry Starr, the most notorious bank robber of the period.

Wells’ first confirmed robbery came on January 29, 1915, at the Avant State Bank in southern Osage County. Disguised as workmen, Wells, Charles Johnson, and Bill Bunnell entered the bank in mid-afternoon, drew their guns, locked the employees in the vault, and escaped into the Osage Hills with roughly $1,700. When a posse gave chase, Johnson’s horse broke its leg. Thinking quickly, Johnson abandoned the animal, smeared himself in oil at a nearby rig, and calmly redirected the pursuers in the wrong direction.

The Avant robbery succeeded cleanly—and it marked Wells’ full entry into the fraternity of professional bank men.

𝗞𝗮𝘄 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝗘𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗲

In April 1915, Wells rode with Bill Putnam and C.C. “Big Boy” Currie—both veterans of Starr’s operations—to rob the Farmers National Bank in Kaw City, just across the Kay County line. The job followed a familiar pattern: guns drawn, vault locked, and a fast escape toward the hills.

This time, however, the town fought back. Armed citizens pursued the bandits in automobiles. During a brief exchange of gunfire, Wells’ horse was shot from under him. He vaulted onto Currie’s saddle and escaped riding double into the timber.
Months later Wells was arrested and charged with the robbery, but manufactured alibi testimony carried the day. He walked free.

Later that year, Wells rode with outlaws Silas Meigs and Al Spencer when deputies caught their trail in the Osage timber. A sharp gunfight followed, another horse went down beneath Wells, and once again he escaped on foot. The site of that running battle would later become part of Woolaroc. Years afterward, Wells donated his saddle, the horse’s skull, and its shoes from that fight to the Woolaroc collection—silent relics of a violent afternoon.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗻𝗮 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗼𝘂𝘁

Wells’ last major bank job came on May 25, 1916, in the tiny Osage County town of Wynona. His partner was Frank Kitterman, a recent escapee from the Arkansas State Prison. The plan was routine: tie the horses behind the bank, strike fast, and vanish into the hills. But Wynona resisted. Merchant L. L. Whitely spotted the robbers and opened fire, killing both horses before they could mount. Trapped, Wells and Kitterman ran for cover, exchanging shots with an angry crowd. Wells fired his prized automatic Luger as bullets clipped his hat and shattered the rowel from one of his handmade spurs.

“We’d just made off with a sack of money,” Wells later joked, “and now I was out a good Stetson and a pair of spurs I was proud of.”

Surrounded and outnumbered, the pair surrendered when Sheriff H. M. Freas and County Attorney Tillman arrived. Only $94.25 of the stolen money was recovered. On December 5, 1916, Wells and Kitterman were sentenced to ten years in the Oklahoma State Prison at McAlester.

𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻, 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗰𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗹

McAlester was crowded with men like Wells—cowboys turned criminals whose ambitions had outrun their luck. After serving part of his sentence, Wells was paroled and returned to Osage County. In 1922, he was again arrested in Pawhuska for alleged involvement in the Dewey bank robbery. Once more, Wells produced a convincing alibi and was acquitted in Washington County. It would be his last serious brush with the law.

𝗪𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗰, 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗽𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽

In the 1930s, Wells formed an improbable friendship with oilman Frank Phillips, founder of Woolaroc and a man fascinated by the fading frontier. Phillips hosted the annual Cow Thieves and Outlaws Reunion, where former lawmen and criminals mingled in uneasy fellowship.

Wells, with his handlebar mustache and easy grin, became a regular guest. Despite his past, he was welcomed as a living artifact of the old Osage Hills. Phillips later credited Wells with warning him of a kidnapping plot by Pretty Boy Floyd.

“It was the only time I ever ratted on any of the boys,” Wells admitted. “But I told Pretty Boy I’d rather somebody kidnapped my daddy than Frank Phillips.”

𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝘆𝘀

Wells claimed to have robbed thirty-two banks and to have stood trial fourteen times, yet he was convicted only once. In old age he lived quietly on an old-age pension, supplementing his income with small wagers at the pool table and stories told for the price of attention.

Hospitalized late in life, he entertained nurses with tales of the Osage Hills, recalling how he once tossed gold coins into the air at Lost Creek and shot their centers nine times out of ten.

Henry Wells died in Bartlesville on October 31, 1963, at the age of eighty-two—far removed from the gunfire and galloping horses that had defined his youth. He never became a national outlaw icon, but in Osage County his story endured: a man shaped by opportunity, chance, and contradiction, whose life marked the long twilight of Oklahoma’s outlaw age. … See MoreSee Less

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗙: 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡 𝟭,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗘

The Office of Sheriff is one of the oldest continuing institutions of public service in the world.

Its origins reach back more than 1,000 years to Anglo-Saxon England. The country was divided into areas known as “shires,” and each shire had a “reeve” responsible for preserving the peace and enforcing the law. Over time, “shire-reeve” became the word we know today: Sheriff.

When the office came to America, an important change occurred. Instead of being appointed by a king, Sheriffs would largely be elected by—and directly accountable to—the people.

Today, there are 3,081 sheriffs across the United States. Most are elected by the citizens of their counties or parishes, making the Sheriff one of the most direct connections between the people and their government.

𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗟𝗗 𝗪𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗛𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗬𝗪𝗢𝗢𝗗

The word “Sheriff” often suggests an Old West lawman wearing a star-shaped badge and facing an outlaw on a dusty street.

Some of that image comes from real history. Pat Garrett served as Sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico, and became famous for pursuing Billy the Kid. Bat Masterson was elected Sheriff of Ford County, Kansas, in 1877 by only three votes.

Oklahoma had its own legendary lawmen. Bill Tilghman served as a deputy U.S. marshal before being elected Sheriff of Lincoln County in 1900. He pursued some of the territory’s most dangerous outlaws and later worked to preserve the history of Oklahoma’s frontier lawmen.

Hollywood made that image even larger. John Wayne portrayed strong and determined Western lawmen, including Sheriff John T. Chance in Rio Bravo. Those characters represented courage, independence, and an unwillingness to retreat when others were in danger.

But the real Office of Sheriff has always involved more than gunfights and horseback pursuits.

Sheriffs were responsible for keeping prisoners, serving court papers, investigating crimes, organizing posses, and maintaining the peace across enormous territories. They depended upon deputies, local citizens, and neighboring lawmen to accomplish that mission.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗙 𝗜𝗡 𝗢𝗞𝗟𝗔𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗔

Oklahoma’s Constitution established an elected Sheriff in every county when Oklahoma became a state in 1907.

The Sheriff serves as the county’s chief law-enforcement officer. The office is responsible for preserving the peace, protecting life and property, investigating crimes, apprehending wanted individuals, serving court orders, operating the county jail, transporting prisoners, and providing courthouse security. Modern Sheriff’s offices also protect schools, respond to emergencies, and work with municipal, tribal, state and federal agencies.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗦𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗬 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

Osage County was created at statehood in 1907, and John Lyman Bird became our first Sheriff.

Those early Sheriffs served a rugged and widely scattered county with few roads, limited manpower and little reliable communication. They traveled by horseback and early automobiles, delivered handwritten warrants and relied heavily upon the trust and cooperation of local citizens.

Like other frontier lawmen, Osage County’s early sheriffs faced cattle thieves, bootleggers, bank robbers, murders and other violent criminals. They also performed the quieter duties that rarely made newspaper headlines—guarding prisoners, serving court papers, finding missing people and assisting families during difficult times.

The tools have changed considerably since Sheriff Bird first wore the badge.
Horses gave way to patrol vehicles. Handwritten messages were replaced by radios, computers and modern dispatch systems. Paper files were joined by body-worn cameras, digital evidence, DNA testing and advanced investigative technology.

Today, the Osage County Sheriff’s Office serves more than 2,300 square miles—the largest county in Oklahoma by area. Our responsibilities include patrol, criminal investigations, detention, courthouse security, school resource officers, emergency response, inmate transportation, civil process and community programs.

We serve within the boundaries of the Osage Nation Reservation and work alongside municipal, tribal, state and federal partners to protect everyone who calls Osage County home.

From Sheriff John Lyman Bird in 1907, through longtime Sheriff George Wayman—who helped organize the Oklahoma Sheriffs’ Association—to the men and women serving today, every generation has carried forward the same responsibility. The modern Sheriff may drive a patrol vehicle instead of riding a horse and review digital evidence instead of following tracks across the prairie, but the duty behind the badge remains much the same.

Hollywood gave us the image of John Wayne standing alone in the street.
History teaches us that the real strength of a sheriff comes from standing with the people.

The Sheriff is still chosen by the people.

The Sheriff still answers to the people.

And the mission remains to serve and protect the people—with integrity, fairness, courage and respect.

It is an honor to continue this centuries-old tradition and to serve as your Osage County Sheriff.

— Sheriff Bart Perrier … See MoreSee Less

𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐘𝐄𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 | 𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐓 𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐓

This month, the Osage County Sheriff’s Office is proud to recognize Investigator Brett Barnett, one of our longest continuously serving employees and a lawman whose career with OCSO now spans more than two decades.

Long before wearing a badge, Brett grew up around ranching and agriculture in northwestern Osage County and southern Kansas. He graduated from Dexter High School in Dexter, Kansas, in 1978, and those rural roots would later serve him well investigating crimes throughout Osage County.

Brett began his law enforcement career with the Osage County Sheriff’s Office as a Reserve Deputy in 2002. He later worked as a part-time deputy before beginning his full-time career with OCSO in February 2004 as a Patrol Deputy.

Since then, Brett has served under five Osage County Sheriffs—Sheriff Russell Cottle, Sheriff Wes Penland, Sheriff Ty Koch, Sheriff Eddie Virden, and Sheriff Bart Perrier—and has accumulated more than 1,500 hours of CLEET training.

Brett entered law enforcement during an especially challenging period in Oklahoma's battle with methamphetamine. Meth labs were a frequent occurrence, and Osage County deputies routinely encountered clandestine labs, dangerous chemicals, drug trafficking, and the property crimes that often accompanied the drug trade.

Brett quickly developed a knack for drug investigations.

In 2005, after serving on patrol, Brett was assigned to the District 10 Drug Task Force, putting him on the front lines of narcotics enforcement during the height of Oklahoma's meth-lab era.

He eventually returned to the Patrol Division, where he served as a shift deputy and continued advancing through the ranks. Brett was promoted to Corporal in 2007 and later to Sergeant, a position he held for many years while helping supervise and mentor other deputies.

In 2022, Brett transitioned full time into the Criminal Investigations Division, where his experience and instincts have proven especially valuable in an area of law enforcement he has always enjoyed—property crime investigations.

As Brett puts it, he loves working property cases, although years ago, “it used to be the hunt for a fat sack of dope.”

That same drive to find the evidence, identify the suspect, and put the pieces of a case together remains with him today.

“Brett is one of the most active employees we have. He brings more than two decades of experience to the job, but he still has the drive to get out there, work cases, find stolen property, and catch the people responsible. The Sheriff’s Office is lucky to have him.” — Sheriff Bart Perrier

From the meth-lab days of the early 2000s to today's complex property, drug, and criminal investigations, Brett has spent more than two decades serving the citizens of Osage County.

His knowledge of the county, investigative instincts, work ethic, and years of experience make him an invaluable part of the Osage County Sheriff’s Office.

Please join us in recognizing Investigator Brett Barnett and thanking him for more than 20 years of dedicated service to the Osage County Sheriff’s Office and the citizens of Osage County.

#EmployeeHighlight #OCSO #OsageCounty #CriminalInvestigations #LawEnforcement #BehindTheBadge … See MoreSee Less