Big Nose George Becomes a Pair of Shoes
The story of George Parrot, more commonly known as Big Nose George, is a macabre tale that intertwines the Wild West’s harsh realities with the unsettling curiosities of early medical science. Parrot, who also went by George Francis Warden and George Manuse, earned his place in history not only as an outlaw but as a gruesome artifact – the only man in American history to be transformed into a pair of shoes after his death. His large nose was the inspiration of his nickname, Big Nose George.
The unforgiving landscapes of the late 19th-century American West provided fertile ground for outlaws and bandits. Big Nose George was one such character, a member of a ruthless gang that preyed on the burgeoning commerce and vulnerable travelers of the Wyoming Territory. This gang, led by a figure known as Sim Jan, operated primarily in the Powder River country, targeting pay wagons transporting miners’ wages and stagecoaches laden with cash and valuables. The gang’s modus operandi involved robbing stagecoaches and relieving passengers of their money and jewelry. The group consisted of Frank McKinney, Joe Manuse, Jack Campbell, John Wells, Tom Reed, Frank Tole, and a man known as Dutch "Charley" Burress.
In August 1878, the gang hatched a bold and ambitious plan: to derail a Union Pacific train near Medicine Bow. Their scheme involved tampering with the tracks, hoping to cause the train to crash and allow them to loot its contents. As seven members of the outlaw gang lay in wait, hidden amongst the dense brush, a section crew unexpectedly arrived to inspect the tracks. The unsuspecting crew discovered the sabotaged rail, foiling the gang’s plans. Frank McKinney reportedly advocated for eliminating the threat by shooting the crew, but Big Nose George and Frank Tole reportedly refused, stating they didn’t come to kill section men. As the crew worked to repair the damage, a railroad foreman raced ahead to halt the oncoming train, alerting authorities to the attempted sabotage. The gang, forced to watch their plans unravel, could only retreat silently as the track was repaired.
News of the attempted train robbery and track tampering quickly spread, prompting the formation of a posse to apprehend the perpetrators. The lawmen tracked the gang to Rattlesnake Canyon, located at Elk Mountain, where a deadly confrontation ensued. The outlaws ambushed the lawmen, resulting in their deaths. In the aftermath of the shootout, the gang scattered, each member fleeing in a different direction to evade capture. Upon discovering the bodies of the fallen lawmen, the Union Pacific Railroad significantly increased its efforts to track down the murderers. Local county authorities offered a hefty reward of $10,000 for the capture of the gang members, amplifying the pressure on the fleeing outlaws.
The pursuit of the outlaws intensified in the following months. Frank Tole met his end the next month while attempting to rob the Black Hills Stage Line. Dutch Charlie was apprehended in 1879. However, as the westbound train transported him to Rawlins for trial, it was intercepted by an angry mob in Carbon. Dutch Charlie was forcibly removed from the train and summarily hanged from a nearby telegraph pole, a stark example of frontier justice. Later, Big Nose George was apprehended in Miles City, Montana. While intoxicated, he boasted of the attempted train robbery and the murders in Wyoming. A telegraph message was quickly dispatched to Rawlins, and in July 1880, Sheriff Rankin of Carbon County traveled to Montana to bring George back to Wyoming. The journey was interrupted in Carbon by the same mob that had lynched Dutch Charlie. Big Nose was dragged off the train and prepared for lynching. He begged for his life and promised to confess everything he knew about the murders if they spared him. The vigilantes cut him down and allowed him to continue to Rawlins for trial.
While imprisoned, Parrot claimed that Frank McKinney alleged that he was Frank James, leading to speculation that Frank McKinney and Sim Jan were none other than Frank and Jesse James. McKinney, Jan, and the rest of the gang disappeared and were not apprehended.
George’s trial concluded on December 15, 1880, with a guilty verdict. He was sentenced to hang on April 2, 1881. However, Parrot had no intention of accepting his fate without a fight. On March 22 of the following year, he attempted to escape. He attacked Jailer Robert Rankin, fracturing his skull and cutting his scalp. Mrs. Rankin appeared with a pistol, forcing Big Nose George back to his cell.
News of the attempted escape ignited the town. A masked mob stormed the jail with the intent of lynching him. They dragged Parrot to a telegraph pole on Front Street. A crowd of about 200 people gathered. The vigilantes severely botched the first two hanging attempts. Big Nose George died at the end of a rope on the third try.
The body was left hanging for several hours. Undertakers removed it. Because he had no family to claim the body, Doctors Thomas Maghee and John Osborne took possession of it. They wanted to study the outlaw’s brain to determine if there was a reason for his criminal behavior. Lillian Heath, a 15-year-old assistant to Dr. Maghee, was also present.
The doctors crudely sawed off the skull cap and examined it, finding no marked differences between Parrot’s brain and a “normal” one. Dr. Maghee and Heath acted within the medical ethics of the time, but Dr. Osborne’s activities soon became very bizarre.
Osborn molded a death mask of George’s face using plaster of paris. The mask was without ears because they were torn off during the hanging. Osborn removed the skin from the dead man’s thighs and chest. He sent the skin to a tannery in Denver with strange instructions. The tannery was to use the skin, including the dead man’s nipples, to make him a pair of shoes and a medicine bag. When Dr. Osborn received the shoes, he was disappointed that they didn’t include the nipples. He proudly began to wear them anyway.
The rest of George’s dismembered body was kept in a whiskey barrel filled with a salt solution for about a year. Osborn continued his dissection and experiments. The whiskey barrel and the outlaw’s remains were buried in the yard behind Dr. Maghee’s office.
Despite the doctor’s odd behavior, he became prominent in local politics. In 1892, he was elected as the first Democratic Governor of Wyoming. He wore the shoes at his inaugural ball in 1893. Later, Osborn would become the Assistant Secretary of State under President Wilson.
The skull cap was given to Miss Heath, who became the first female doctor in the State of Wyoming. Over the years, the skull cap was said to have serviced as an ashtray and a doorstop in her office.
The incident was all but forgotten until May 11, 1950, when construction workers excavating for a new building on Cedar Street unearthed a whiskey barrel filled with bones. The location was behind the building that had served as Dr. Maghee’s office years before. Inside the barrel were numerous human bones, including a skull with the top sawed off.
A crowd gathered to look at the remains. Someone remembered that Dr. Lillian Heath had kept the skull cap. She was still alive and contacted. Her husband brought the skull cap to the scene, and it fit perfectly with the skull found in the barrel. Locals were convinced these were the remains of Big Nose George. Subsequent DNA testing verified the results.
Today, the Carbon County Museum in Rawlins, Wyoming, displays Big George’s death mask, his skull, and the shoes made of the outlaw’s skin. Also on display is a watch given by the County Commissioners to Rosa Rankin for having stopped Big Nose George from escaping from jail in 1881. The museum is one of the biggest attractions in the city.
The shackles used on Big Nose during his hanging and the skull cap are on display at the Union Pacific Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. The bizarre legacy of Big Nose George continues to fascinate and disturb, a testament to the grim realities of the Wild West and the unsettling practices of early medical science.