Rose Dunn was born near Ingalls, Oklahoma. Her family was poor, but she received a formal education at a convent in Wichita, Kansas. Dunn's two older brothers became minor outlaws by the time she was 12. She learned to ride, rope and shoot from her brothers. Through them, she met and became involved romantically with George Newcombcirca 1893, when she was either 14 or 15 years of age.
George "Bittercreek" Newcomb
Dunn met and became involved romantically with George "Bittercreek" Newcomb around 1893. The gang that Newcomb ran with worshipped her due to her good looks and her calm and kind demeanor, and were fiercely defensive of her, spawning her loyalty to them. She was completely infatuated with Newcomb and began supporting Newcomb's outlaw life by venturing into town for supplies, as he was a wanted man and could not. Newcomb by that time was riding with the Wild Bunch gang led by famous outlaw Bill Doolin. Her brothers, however, had left the outlaw life and had become well-known bounty hunters, calling themselves the Dunn Brothers. On September 1, 1893, the gang was cornered in Ingalls by a posse of US marshals, in what became known as the Battle of Ingalls, resulting in an intense shootout. A western legend has it that Newcomb was badly wounded, and while he lay in the street, Rose Dunn is alleged to have run from the "Pierce Hotel" to him with two belts of ammunition and a Winchester rifle. She fired the rifle at the marshals while Newcomb reloaded his revolvers, and Newcomb was able to escape. However, that account has never been verified, and was never mentioned by the US Marshal official report, which indicated that Newcomb at best fired two shots then fled. Three deputy marshals were killed during the shootout. Newcomb and Charley Pierce were wounded, but escaped. Gang member"Arkansas Tom" Jones was slightly wounded and captured by Deputy MarshalJim Masterson. Together with Newcomb and other members of the gang, Rose Dunn hid out for at least two months nursing the remaining gang members back to health. By 1895, Newcomb had a $5,000 bounty placed on him, dead or alive. Newcomb and Charley Pierce hid out near Norman, Oklahoma, both of them having been wounded in a gun battle with US marshals. On May 2, 1895, the Dunn Brothers shot and killed both Newcomb and Pierce as they dismounted in front of the Dunn house to visit Rose. The brothers collected the bounty, believed to have been $5,000 each.
Later life
After the killing of "Bittercreek" Newcomb, Rose Dunn was often accused of having set him up, revealing to her brothers where the outlaws were hiding. She denied this, and her brothers later defended her, stating that she had no knowledge of their intentions, nor did she reveal the hideout to them. She was never prosecuted for her involvement with the gang. Her short outlaw life launched her to the level of western legend. In 1898 she married local politician Charles Albert Noble, and sometime after 1900, they left Oklahoma and all outlaw associations behind them. Charles Noble died in 1930 and she married Richard Fleming in 1946. She died at the age of 77 in Salkum, Washington.
The name "Rose of Cimarron" first came to popular attention with the publication of Bill Tilghman's booklet Oklahoma Outlaws The film Rose of Cimarron is very loosely inspired by Rose Dunn. Despite the lead characters being called Rose of Cimarron and George Newcomb, the plot bears no resemblance to Dunn's actual life beyond an ambivalent relationship with the law and outlaws. The 1976 single "Rose of Cimarron" by Poco was inspired by an Oklahoma tourist leaflet read by band member Rusty Young in 1973.
