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.
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.
- Lawton, Harry W. Willie Boy: A Desert Manhunt. Balboa Island, Calif: Paisano Press, 1960.
- Sandos, James A., and Larry E. Burgess. The Hunt for Willie Boy: Indian-Hating and Popular Culture. Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press, 1994.
- Trafzer, Clifford E. A Chemehuevi Song: The Resilience of a Southern Paiute Tribe. Seattle : University of Washington Press,
2015.
- 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 4
Charles Reche portrait
undated
Box 1, Folder 6
Building in field
circa 1909
Box 1, Folder 9
Joe Nowlin, Wal de Crevecouer, and Segundo Chino
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 17
Sheriff F.P. Wilson and men
1913
Box 1, Folder 18
Twentynine Palms
circa 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