Burnet County, TX - Newspapers: Wils Norred

April 22, 1999



Submitted by: gdwatkins@mail.utexas.edu (Gerald D. Watkins)

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 Wils NORRED - Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Article 

 

The Burnet Bulletin - date unknown but Mr. Norred died in 1946.



Another Burnet County Boy Makes Good



Wild Bill Norred Greets Old Friends On Visit To Lubbuck

(Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)



Wild Bill Norred, deputy United States marshall from Cheyenne, Wyo., greeted old time 

friends here again on a visit.



Norred, who assisted Al Jackson and Bill Timmons in the conquest and early civilization 

of eastern Montana and western Dakota in the early nineties, stopped over at night on 

his way to Abilene with a government prisoner.



Experiences Are Recounted



He held a reception in his hotel room and, in a reminiscent mood, recounted desperate 

encounters with thieves and robbers when riding the ranges of Wyoming in the period 

when a man's life was worth only a well-aimed bullet.



Among the feats was included his trip alone into the Hole-in-the-Wall country of western 

Wyoming and bringing out the most notorious thief, train robber and cold-blooded killer 

that ever infested the northwest.



Norred for many years has been the champion pistol shot of the northwest and it was he 

that shot the gun from Chief Sitting Bull's hand and saved the life of Col. Ben Savage 

of the regular army at the battle of Wounded Knee in the winter of 1890-91 during the 

Sioux uprising.



Norred is a relative of the Arnett boys of Lubbock county.



Asked if he planned to return to his native Texas, he said no; not so long as he was 

able to ride and shoot--"civilization doesn't need me when I can do that."



Mr. Norred recently visited his brother Sam Norred and other Burnet County relatives. 

He was reared on Hairston Creek, four miles southeast of the town of Burnet, and lived 

in this section until he was grown. Many of the old-timers will remember him although 

it has been a long time since he went West to grow up with the country.