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Submitted: 5/18/20 • Approved: 5/19/20 • Last Updated: 5/19/20 • R181-G0
Deputy Sheriff
Murdered by George "Big Nose"Parrott
August 19, 1878
OFFICER DOWN MEMORIAL:
Deputy Sheriff Robert Widdowfield and Special Agent Henry Vincents, of the Union Pacific Railroad Police Department, were shot and killed from ambush while pursuing a suspected train robber in Carbon, Wyoming. The officers were ambushed and shot as they approached the suspect's campsite.
The suspect was later arrested and sentenced to death for the murders. Before being executed he was lynched by an angry mob.
Deputy Sheriff Widdowfield had been deputized that day to join a posse to search for the suspect. He is buried in Saint Josephs Cemetery, Rawlins, Carbon County, Wyoming.
Contributed on 5/18/20 by tomtodd
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Record #: 181