R.W. Madison collection on Willie Boy

Finding aid prepared by Carlota Ramirez, Student Processing Assistant
Special Collections & University Archives
The UCR Library
P.O. Box 5900
University of California
Riverside, California 92517-5900
Phone: 951-827-3233
Fax: 951-827-4673
Email: specialcollections@ucr.edu
URL: http://library.ucr.edu/libraries/special-collections-university-archives
© 2017
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.


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


Box 1, Folder 1

Photographs of objects circa 1909

Box 1, Folder 2

Banning circa 1909

Box 1, Folder 3

Ben de Crevecouer 1909

Box 1, Folder 4

Charles Reche portrait undated

Box 1, Folder 5

Gathering circa 1909

Box 1, Folder 6

Building in field circa 1909

Box 1, Folder 7

George Hewins 1909

Box 1, Folder 8

Joe Nowlin 1909

Box 1, Folder 9

Joe Nowlin, Wal de Crevecouer, and Segundo Chino 1909

Box 1, Folder 10

Newspaper office undated

Box 1, Folder 11

Posse in desert 1909

Box 1, Folder 12

Posse at Twentynine Palms 1909

Box 1, Folder 13

Posse at Whitewater River 1909

Box 1, Folder 14

Posse with body 1909

Scope and Contents

This image was claimed by the posse to depict Willie Boy's body.
Box 1, Folder 15

R.W. Madison 1909

Box 1, Folder 16

Segundo Chino 1909

Box 1, Folder 17

Sheriff F.P. Wilson and men 1913

Box 1, Folder 18

Twentynine Palms circa 1909

Box 1, Folder 19

Wal de Crevecouer 1909

Box 1, Folder 20

Willie Boy portraits undated

Box 1, Folder 21

Unknown individuals circa 1909

Box 1, Folder 22

Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) booklet undated

Box 1, Folder 23

R.W. Madison account of finding Willie Boy's body 1909