In February 1934, state and local law officials in Oklahoma received intelligence that Floyd might soon return to his old stomping grounds. Then, on Friday, February 16, they learned that Kelly had recently been spotted in Oklahoma, and the next day they launched what was described at the time as "the nation's largest manhunt. Covering about 400 square miles in the Cookson Hills, the dragnet involved over 1,000 men, including US agents, state officers, county sheriffs, and police from the main towns in the area. Headquarters to coordinate the operation were established in four towns: Muskogee, Stilwell, Tahlequah, and Sallisaw. Police officers in western Arkansas were also cooperating in the massive raid. The huge posse had orders to patrol highways, search residences, and scour the woods and ravines of the “most notorious rendezvous of criminals in the Southwest.” Their biggest target was the elusive Pretty Boy Floyd.
Later, the National Guard was called out to join the search, and even prison guards from the state penitentiary at McAlester reinforced the large search party.
A newspaper reporter described the disposition of forces on Saturday night: "Rifles, riot guns, pistols and machine guns bristled on every corner of the key towns and on every highway held in the hands of officers who were ready to shoot any known bandit or murderer who attempted to break through the cordon."
Roadblocks were set up, and every vehicle entering or leaving the Cookson Hills “war zone” was stopped. The occupants were questioned and the vehicles searched. “Suspicious persons” were arrested and taken to one of the headquarter towns for fingerprinting. They were jailed pending the results of the prints.
The reporter called the sweep through the hills by the army of law enforcement officers “the most sensational organized war on crime ever staged in Oklahoma and perhaps the largest manhunt ever staged in the nation.”
Roadblocks were set up, and every vehicle entering or leaving the Cookson Hills “war zone” was stopped. The occupants were questioned and the vehicles searched. “Suspicious persons” were arrested and taken to one of the headquarter towns for fingerprinting. They were jailed pending the results of the prints.
The reporter called the sweep through the hills by the army of law enforcement officers “the most sensational organized war on crime ever staged in Oklahoma and perhaps the largest manhunt ever staged in the nation.”
After a weekend of most futile searching by the massive posse, the reporter announced that the manhunt had mostly been a failure. Not only had Kelly escaped, if he was ever in the region at that time to begin with, but very few other "big fish" were apprehended, only a few "minnows.". There were too many hiding places, and there were too many people living in the hills who sympathized with and harbored the outlaws. “The Cookson Hills are still impenetrable,” said the reporter. “It will take more than 500 officers or 1,000 officers and militiamen or however many of us there were patroling the highways from Muskogee to Stilwell, from Sallisaw to Tahlequah, to trap the gang of criminals lurking in those jumbled timbered hills.”
The huge sweep through the Cookson Hills had been planned under the assumption that the outlaws would do one of two things: either they would try to escape via the highways and run into a police blockade or they would hole up in their homes. They did neither. Instead, they took to the woods and hid out.
Although the dragnet failed to capture Kelly, his date with destiny loomed in the near future. On October 22, 1934, Pretty Boy was gunned down by FBI agents and local lawmen in a field near East Liverpool, Ohio. His body was brought back to Oklahoma for burial in the Akins Cemetery, where a crowd estimated at over 20,000 people attended, making it the largest funeral in state history.
The huge sweep through the Cookson Hills had been planned under the assumption that the outlaws would do one of two things: either they would try to escape via the highways and run into a police blockade or they would hole up in their homes. They did neither. Instead, they took to the woods and hid out.
Although the dragnet failed to capture Kelly, his date with destiny loomed in the near future. On October 22, 1934, Pretty Boy was gunned down by FBI agents and local lawmen in a field near East Liverpool, Ohio. His body was brought back to Oklahoma for burial in the Akins Cemetery, where a crowd estimated at over 20,000 people attended, making it the largest funeral in state history.
For a much more thorough account of the manhunt for Pretty Boy Floyd, check out my new book.
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