Frederick Tecumseh Waite

The Chickasaw Outlaw

Fred Waite was an unlikely candidate for the hoot owl trail. The mixed raced son of a farmer and Chickasaw mother attended school at the Illinois Industrial University before pursing his eduation further at St. Louis where he graduated from the Mound City Commercial College in 1874.

Ah, but adventure was calling. In 1875 Waite - then around 22 years of age - decided to head west and try his hand at being a cowboy. Originally bound for Colorado, Fred instead found himself in New Mexico, working for the legendary rancher John Chisum. By late 1877, however, Waite had secured a job with a Lincoln County newcomer by the name of John Tunstall and, well, I don’t have to tell you how that turned out.

Following his boss’s murder in February of 1878, Waite would join Billy the Kid, Charlie Bowdre, Jose Chavez y Chavez, Doc Scurlock, and others as a Regulator, hell bent on avenging Tunstall’s death.

As such, Fred would be an active participant in the Lincoln County War. He was there in Lincoln when Sheriff Brady was cut down and was present at Blazer’s Mill when the boys took on the tough-as-nails Buckshot Roberts.

Thankfully the young outlaw saw the writing on the wall (and probably his name printed on an indictment accusing him of murder) and got gone while the getting was still good.

Waite moved back to the Chickasaw Nation and lived out the rest of his days in peace. Raising a family and working as a rancher, federal lawman, and even an elected representative of the Chickasaw Nation. Matter of fact, by the time of Fred’s death in September of 1895, he was the Attorney General for the entire Chickasaw Nation.

If only he could have convinced his pal Billy to join him…

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