Exploring Oklahoma History

Marlow Brothers Hideout

The Marlow family's experiences are worthy legends of the old west. When they settled here during the peak of the cattle drives, this location was ideal for recovering cattle lost among the tickets and dense cross timber woods that covered the area to the east. Some say the Marlow brothers merely rounded up stray longhorns, others that the deliberately rustled from the edges of the large herds and hid the cattle in the woods to the east. Whatever the truth, the brothers were falsely accused of stealing horses by a US Marshal and were hunted down Their story has been told in literature, ballads, and film, including the film, The Sons of Katie Elder. Local tradition has it that to avoid capture the brothers used a cave on Wild Horse Creek as a hideout. Indeed, Marlow's youth have ling considered it a rite of passage to looked for the cave. Then, in June 2004, The tire of a city worker's heavy mower dropped into an opening in the ground northwest of here. Upon investigation, the opening proved to be what subsequent research suggest is the Marlow 's hideout. You can view the legendary Marlow Outlaw Cave just a short distance to the north on the west back of the creek before you.

Located in Stephens County, Oklahoma.