Jump to Content

Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
R.W. Madison collection on Willie Boy
MS 366  
View entire collection guide What's This?
Search this collection
Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Access
  • Publication Rights
  • Preferred Citation
  • Acquisition Information
  • Processing History
  • Biographical Note
  • Collection Scope and Contents
  • Collection Arrangement
  • Related Secondary Sources
  • Related Archival Collections
  • Indexing Terms

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: R.W. Madison collection on Willie Boy
    Date (inclusive): 1909-1913, undated
    Collection Number: MS 366
    Creator: Madison, R. W.
    Extent: 0.42 linear feet (1 box )
    Repository: Rivera Library. Special Collections Department.
    Riverside, CA 92517-5900
    Abstract: This collection primarily consists of photographs related to the 1909 Willie Boy manhunt, taken and collected by journalist Randolph White (R. W.) Madison (1886-1946). Madison covered the manhunt for the Los Angeles Record and other California newspapers. Willie Boy (born 1882) was a Chemehuevi man pursued by a sheriff's posse in Southern California in September and October 1909. The manhunt began after Willie Boy was involved in the death of Chemehuevi leader William Mike in Banning, California. The case received extensive, often sensational, news coverage.
    Languages: The collection is in English

    Access

    This collection is open for research.

    Publication Rights

    Copyright Unknown: Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction, and/or commercial use, of some materials may be restricted by gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing agreement(s), and/or trademark rights. Distribution or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. To the extent other restrictions apply, permission for distribution or reproduction from the applicable rights holder is also required. Responsibility for obtaining permissions, and for any use rests exclusively with the user.

    Preferred Citation

    [identification of item], [date if possible]. R.W. Madison collection on Willie Boy (MS 366). Special Collections & University Archives, University of California, Riverside.

    Acquisition Information

    Gift of Dr. Ryland Randolph Madison, 1960.

    Processing History

    This collection was processed by Carlota Ramirez, Student Processing Assistant, 2017.
    Processing of the R.W. Madison collection on Willie Boy was completed by undergraduate students from the University of California, Riverside as part of the Special Collections & University Archives Backlog Processing Project started in 2015. This project was funded by the UCR Library and administered by Jessica Geiser, Collections Management Librarian.
    This finding aid was revised in 2022 as part of the project "Enhancing descriptive metadata to foster diversity, equity and inclusion," by UCR Library's Descriptive Metadata Working Group. The abstract, collection scope and contents, and collection biographical note fields were updated to reflect current historical scholarship on the topic. These notes were revised in consultation with Dr. Clifford Trafzer, Distinguished Professor of History and Rupert Costo Chair in American Indian Affairs at UCR. Folder titles were also revised where the accuracy of previous titles could not be verified.

    Biographical Note

    Randolph White (R. W.) Madison (1886-1946) was a journalist, editor, and newspaper executive. Born in Pennsylvania, Madison began his career at the Los Angeles Record, where he covered the 1909 Willie Boy manhunt.
    Willie Boy (born 1882) was a Chemehuevi man pursued by a Riverside and San Bernardino County sheriff's posse in Southern California in September and October 1909. The Riverside County manhunt began after Willie Boy was involved in the death of Chemehuevi leader William Mike in Banning, California. He and Carlota Mike, William Mike's daughter, fled toward the Mojave Desert. The two intended to marry, but per tribal law were too closely related to do so. Carlota was killed during the manhunt, and in October 1909, the posse claimed to have found Willie Boy's body.
    The case received extensive news coverage, including Madison's, which was often sensationalized, invoking tropes associated with anti-Native American rhetoric and yellow journalism. Madison described Willie Boy (who he called "Billy Boy") as a "bad Indian" and a "wild beast" and described the manhunt as "the most thrilling man hunt in the history of the great dreary desert." Madison's coverage was also published by the Los Angeles Herald, the Riverside Morning Mission, and the San Francisco-based Newspaper Enterprise Association.
    R. W. Madison first reported the story from his desk in San Bernardino, relying on accounts from law enforcement and posse members. He traveled with the posse on their third and final excursion, leaving Banning on October 15, 1909. On this trip, Madison and the posse returned to Ruby Mountain near Landers, California, and claimed to discover Willie Boy's deceased body.
    According to oral testimonies by Chemehuevi and other Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute) elders, as well as elders of other Native American peoples of the Southwest, Willie Boy did not die at Ruby Mountain as reported. Rather, he escaped to live with the Nuwuvi community in Pahrump, Nevada, and died years later of tuberculosis.

    Collection Scope and Contents

    The collection primarily consists of photographic prints and negatives related to the 1909 Willie Boy manhunt. This includes photographs taken by R. W. Madison as a journalist covering the story for the Los Angeles Record, and related photographs collected by Madison. Images depict the Oasis of Mara at Twenty-Nine Palms, portraits of posse members and of Willie Boy, and the posse posed with the alleged body of Willie Boy. Also included are Madison's written account of finding Willie Boy's body, a photograph of a newsroom, and a pamphlet for the Newspaper Enterprise Association.

    Collection Arrangement

    This collection is arranged topically.

    Related Secondary Sources

    A number of books have been written about Willie Boy and the Manhunt.
    1. Lawton, Harry W. Willie Boy: A Desert Manhunt. Balboa Island, Calif: Paisano Press, 1960.
    2. Sandos, James A., and Larry E. Burgess. The Hunt for Willie Boy: Indian-Hating and Popular Culture. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1994.
    3. Trafzer, Clifford E. A Chemehuevi Song: The Resilience of a Southern Paiute Tribe. Seattle : University of Washington Press, 2015.
    4. Trafzer, Clifford E. Willie Boy & the Last Western Manhunt. Camano Island, Wash: Coyote Hill Press, 2020.

    Related Archival Collections

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

    Subjects

    Willie Boy
    Riverside County (Calif.). Sheriff's Department
    San Bernardino County (Calif.). Sheriff's Department
    Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute) people
    Journalism
    Indigenous peoples and mass media
    Chemehuevi

    Genres and Forms of Materials

    Photographs