History often hides in plain sight. We have often written of the Jennings clan’s time in Southeast Colorado. Much of that is in my book “Old Boston: As Wild As They Come,” We recently stumbled upon a remarkable photograph of a routine day in Woodward, Oklahoma, dated 1901, showing broomcorn being delivered. But behind the commerce lies a dramatic piece of frontier history.Look closely at the background: the two-story brick building is the old Jack Garvey Saloon, also known as the “Cabinet.” This unassuming structure was the site of a deadly shootout on October 8, 1895. Inside, a courtroom dispute escalated, leading to a fatal confrontation between the Jennings brothers—Ed and John—and the famous lawyer Temple Houston, son of Sam Houston.The result was tragic: Ed Jennings was killed instantly, and his brother John was severely wounded. The trial that followed ended in Temple Houston’s acquittal, an event that directly motivated Ed’s brothers Al & Frank Jennings to begin their brief, notorious careers as outlaws. This photograph captures the visual intersection of the American West—the hardworking broomcorn economy of the plains standing directly beside the violent, unsettled frontier justice that helped create the myth of the American outlaw.

Here is a little more of the story of the Jennings shooting in Woodward after their time in Boston Colorado from the Coldwater Enterprise (Coldwater, Kansas) · Saturday, July 1, 1893.

ED. JENNINGS KILLED AND JOHN JENNINGS WOUNDED.

The Western Star (Coldwater, Kansas) · 12 Oct 1895, Sat · Page 1 

About 10 o’clock Tuesday evening last, Woodward, Oklahoma was aroused by a fusillade of shots in one of the principal saloons, known as the “Cabinet” and owned by Jack Garvey. Hastening to the scene, spectators found Lawyer Ed. Jennings weltering in his blood, his brain oozing from a bullet hole in the left rear side of his head, his hand still clinging to a smoking revolver. Lawyer John Jennings was fleeing up the street with one arm limp and dangling by his side, from which the blood poured in streams. Lawyer Temple Houston and ex-Sheriff Jack Love were on their way to the sheriff’s office to surrender their persons to his custody. The trouble arose over a dispute between the Jennings and Temple Houston in a suit the day before in Justice William’s court, when the “lie” was passed. Late in the evening Houston, accompanied by his intimate friend ex-Sheriff Love, entered the Cabinet saloon and soon after Ed and John Jennings came in. But a few words passed between them when the shooting began on both sides, Houston and Love emptying their guns and the Jen- Jennings boys doing the same. Ed. Jennings fell at the first fire, but managed to shoot once as he staggered forward to his death. After exhausting his ammunition John Jennings ran out and reached his home after fainting once from the loss of blood. He is now resting easy with every chance for recovering. John and Ed Jennings are sons of J.D. F. Jennings, now Probate Judge of Woodward county Oklahoma. Both the boys were unmarried, though Ed. was a widower and leaves a boy of 9 years. The Jennings family are well known to the early settlers of this county, they having resided here from 1884 to 1887. J. D. F. Jennings was the first probate judge elected in the county, but was defeated for a second term. John and Ed. Jennings were always considered “fighting stock’ and have figured in fights in different parts of the country, but they were badly worsted in this affray.

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