Billy Dixon

Infobox Military Person
name= William "Billy" Dixon
born= birth date|1850|9|25
died= death date and age|1913|3|9|1850|9|25
placeofbirth= Ohio County, West Virginia, U.S.
placeofdeath= Cimarron County, Texline


caption= William "Billy" Dixon as an Army Scout
nickname= Billy Dixon
allegiance= United States of America
serviceyears=
rank=Civilian Scout
commands=
battles=Second Battle of Adobe Walls Battle of Buffalo Wallow Red River War
awards=Awarded Medal of Honor as a civilian
laterwork= Hutchinson County Sherrif, Postmaster, and Justice of the Peace

William "Billy" Dixon (September 25, 1850 – March 9, 1913 ) scouted the Texas Panhandle for the Army, hunted buffalo for the train companies, defended the Adobe Walls settlement against Indian attack with his legendary buffalo hunting rifle, and was one of six civilians in the history of the U.S. to be awarded the Medal of Honor.

Early life

Dixon was born in Ohio County, West Virginia on September 25, 1850 and was orphaned at age 12. He lived in Missouri until 1864. He worked in woodcutters' camps along the Missouri River until he started working as an oxen driver and a mule skinner for the government.

He was a skilled marksman and occasionally scouted for Eastern excursionists brought by the railroads. In 1869, he joined a venture in hunting and trapping on the Saline River northwest of Fort Hays in Kansas.

He scouted Texas as far south as the Salt Fork of the Red River when the buffalo hunters moved into the Texas Panhandle in 1874. He and his group hunted along the Canadian River and its tributaries.

econd Battle of Adobe Walls

Dixon led the founders of Adobe Walls to the Texas Plains, where he knew buffalo were in abundance. The group of 28 men and one woman occupied the outpost of five buildings 15 miles northeast of Stinnett.

The outpost was attacked that year by a band of 700 Indians, and that is when Dixon went into the history books for firing "The Shot of the Century"."

The stand-off continued into a third day, when a group of Indians were noticed about a mile east of Adobe Walls. It is said that Dixon took aim with his Big 50 Sharps rifle and fired, knocking an Indian off his horse almost a mile away. The Indians then left the settlement alone.

Army Scout

Billy Dixon quit buffalo hunting and, the following August, became an army scout, despite the fact that his favorite role was as a sniper. In September, just three months after Adobe Walls, an army dispatch detail consisting of Billy Dixon, another scout Amos Chapman, and four troopers from the 6th Cavalry were surrounded and besieged by a large combined band of Kiowas and Comanches, in the Battle of Buffalo Wallow. They holed up in a buffalo wallow and, with accurate rifle fire, held off the Indians for an entire day. An extremely cold rainstorm that night discouraged the Indians, and they broke off the fight; every man in the detail was wounded and one trooper killed. For this action Billy Dixon, along with the other survivors of 'The Buffalo Wallow Fight', were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor (for Gallantry in Battle).

Later years and death

In 1883, Dixon returned to civilian life, filed Homestead Act claim papers at and built a home on the Adobe Walls site. He was postmaster there for 20 years and also was the first sheriff of the newly-formed Hutchinson County. He served as state land commissioner and a justice of the peace.

In 1894, he married Olive King Dixon of Virginia, who for nearly three years was the only woman in Hutchinson County. They had seven children. In 1902, the family moved to Plemons for schooling for their children. In 1906, they moved to Oklahoma.

Dixon died from pneumonia at his Cimarron County homestead in 1913 and was buried in Texline. In 1929, his body was reinterred at Adobe Walls near where he stood when he first saw the Indians riding up the valley.

Dixon Creek in southern Hutchinson County was named for him, as is the Billy Dixon Masonic Lodge in Fritch. A plaque commemorating his Medal of Honor was formally dedicated in 1992.A shooting competition to remember his incredible long distance shot is held in Lancashire, England, each year. It is shot at a distance of 1000 yards using black powder cartridge rifles of that era, and is strongly contested from shooters all over the United Kingdom.

ee also

*

References

* [http://www.amarillo.com/stories/051900/his_dixon.html Billy Dixon]
* [http://www.mobeetie.com/pages/rrwar.htm Red River War]
*"Life of Billy Dixon" - Author: Olive K. Dixon

External links

* [http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-29402:1 "Life and Adventures of "Billy" Dixon, of Adobe Walls, Texas Panhandle"] hosted by the [http://texashistory.unt.edu/ Portal to Texas History]