Albumen cabinet card, likely a period copy image, with credit on mount recto and verso to Gannaway, Fort Smith, AR.

A truly rare portrait of William "Bill" Tuttle Cook (1873-1900), leader of the infamous Cook Gang.

Born in the Cherokee Nation, near Fort Gibson, Cook lost his mother as a teenager, which left him homeless for a time. After briefly serving as a scout for the US Marshals from Fort Smith, AR, Cook began running whiskey to the Indians. As a result, he was arrested and sentenced to jail by the famed Judge Isaac Parker in 1893. Following his release in 1894, Cook organized an outlaw gang comprised of his brother Jim, Crawford "Cherokee Bill" Goldsby, Henry Munson, Curtis Dayson, Thurman Baldwin, Jess Snyder, William Farris, Jim French, George Sanders, Elmer Lucas, Lon Gordon, and Sam "Verdigris Kid" McWilliams.

The Cook Gang terrorized Oklahoma, robbing banks and stage coaches and murdering at least eight men over the span of one year. Munson was the first member of the gang to die. He was killed in the middle of a shootout, while the rest of the men fled. Despite their narrow escape, the men continued to hold up various banks and stage coaches until they were finally caught. Dayson, Baldwin, Snyder, and Farris were all sentenced to long prison terms. French, Sanders, and the "Verdigris Kid" were shot to death by lawmen when they resisted arrest. Goldsby was captured and later hanged at Fort Smith. Bill Cook was apprehended and tried for his offenses in 1895. The courts sent him to federal prison at Albany, NY to serve 45 years. He died of consumption on February 15, 1900 before completing his sentence. (Information obtained from "Legends of America" website, July 23, 2017.)

Image is light. Mount corners rounded. Penciled identification on mount verso.