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Wrecked Lives and Lost Souls: Joe Lynch Davis and the Last of the Oklahoma Outlaws by Jerry Thompson

2020; Southern Historical Association; Volume: 86; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/soh.2020.0265

2325-6893

Brian Cervantez,

Archaeology and Natural History

Reviewed by: Wrecked Lives and Lost Souls: Joe Lynch Davis and the Last of the Oklahoma Outlaws by Jerry Thompson Brian Cervantez Wrecked Lives and Lost Souls: Joe Lynch Davis and the Last of the Oklahoma Outlaws. By Jerry Thompson. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2019. Pp. xii, 328. Paper, $24.95, ISBN 978-0-8061-6436-6.) Writing a balanced, thoughtful biography of any individual is challenging, and even more so if one is writing about a direct ancestor who was notorious for engaging in criminal activity. Jerry Thompson, Regents Professor of History at Texas A&M International University, rises to the challenge with the biography of his grandfather Joe Lynch Davis in Wrecked Lives and Lost Souls: Joe Lynch Davis and the Last of the Oklahoma Outlaws. Heavily based on court records, newspaper accounts, and personal letters, this work provides readers with more than just an in-depth look at the life of a singular person. It also offers a broader study of Progressive-era Oklahoma society, especially of those who lived in the borderlands where white and Native American identities mingled. Joe Lynch Davis, whose father, John Davis (better known as Jack), was one-eighth Cherokee and member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee, was one such individual who lived at that intersection of Cherokee and white society. As Thompson so carefully documents, the Davises were relatively recent arrivals in Indian Territory, having moved there in the 1880s from ancestral Cherokee lands in north Georgia. Though hailing from a relatively well-off family who owned substantial amounts of ranch land east of Tulsa, Joe Lynch Davis opted for a life of crime, engaging primarily in armed bank and train robberies in eastern Oklahoma from 1914 until his capture in 1917. Thompson argues persuasively that Davis's crimes (which originally were masterminded by his father) were not motivated by socioeconomic factors but were instead "more about protecting wealth and power" (p. 147). After all, the Davises maintained a position of wealth and privilege in the region and were apparently determined to protect their standing from perceived threats from railroads, banks, and small farmers. Though it is ostensibly the story of Joe Lynch Davis, what makes this book particularly enriching is Thompson's ability to explore and explain the world his subject inhabited. Wrecked Lives and Lost Souls is equal parts gripping crime thriller and social history, expertly blended to provide readers with insight into how Davis and his colleagues navigated a multilayered world like [End Page 929] turn-of-the-twentieth-century eastern Oklahoma. Thompson demonstrates how criminal activity in the region was often entangled with violent feuds between competing ranchers. As a matter of fact, Davis's criminal activities began with the Porum Range War, a feud that claimed the lives of at least nineteen individuals and stemmed from the Davis clan's insistence on free-range ranching that led others to accuse them of cattle rustling. Thompson also carefully notes how Davis's exploits unfolded against the backdrop of an Oklahoma transitioning to statehood and modernity. Of particular interest is the observation that Davis's self-identification as a documented member of the Cherokee Nation was often fluid, as he does not always appear in official records or newspaper accounts as part Cherokee. Based on Thompson's research, this fluidity appears to comport with the Davis family's inconsistency or confusion when recounting how much Cherokee blood was in their line. Thompson observes that Davis was incredibly proud of his Cherokee heritage while in Oklahoma yet promptly dropped that identifier once he had been arrested and imprisoned in federal penitentiaries like McNeil Island and Leavenworth. Thompson leaves it to the reader to surmise why this might have been the case. Wrecked Lives and Lost Souls is essential reading for scholars and laypersons interested in a deep study of Progressive-era crime in a western setting, white and Native American relations, or early Oklahoma statehood. Oklahoma historiography is greatly enriched by this penetrating look at the life and crimes of Joe Lynch Davis. Brian Cervantez Tarrant County College Copyright © 2020 Southern Historical Association