Our Arklahoma Heritage: Bungled attempts at being an outlaw translated into a silent movie career
- Dennis McCaslin
- Jun 7, 2025
- 2 min read
Alphonso J. “Al” Jennings was a man of contradictions--lawyer turned outlaw, train robber turned Hollywood star, and self-styled gunslinger whose legend often outpaced reality. His life, spanning nearly a century, reflected the transformation of Oklahoma from a lawless frontier to a cultural hub of Western mythology.
Born on November 25, 1863, in Tazewell County, Virginia, Jennings was raised in a family of legal minds. His father, Judge J. D. Jennings, served as a circuit court judge in Oklahoma Territory. Jennings had several brothers, including Ed, John, and Frank Jennings. His brother Ed was killed in a shootout in 1895, an event that deeply affected Jennings and contributed to his turn toward crime.
Initially following in his father’s footsteps, Jennings became a prosecuting attorney in El Reno. However, a violent feud with rival attorney Temple Houston in 1895 led to Ed’s death and John’s wounding, pushing Jennings toward a life of crime.
In 1897, Jennings formed the Jennings Gang, alongside his brother Frank and other outlaws. Their exploits, though daring, were often comically unsuccessful. The gang’s attempted train robberies near Edmond and Chickasha yielded little more than whiskey and bananas.
Their most lucrative heist, the Berwyn train robbery, allegedly netted $30,000, though historians suspect Jennings exaggerated the figure.
Jennings and his gang often hid from law enforcement in Snake Creek, a remote area within Creek Nation, which provided cover for outlaws evading capture. Before fully embracing his outlaw lifestyle, Jennings wandered after leaving Woodward and eventually found work as a ranch hand in Creek Nation, near present-day Bixby.
It was there that he joined an outlaw band and began his criminal activities. His final days as an outlaw ended when he was wounded and captured near Carr Creek, close to Onapa in McIntosh County. in late 1897.
Captured in 1897 and sentenced to life in prison, Jennings’ legal-savvy brother John managed to reduce his sentence to five years. He was freed in 1902 and received a full pardon from President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904.
Rather than retreat into obscurity, Jennings reinvented himself as a silent film star and technical advisor. His 1908 film The Bank Robbery featured real lawmen reenacting a heist, while his 1914 film Beating Back dramatized his life story.
Over the years, Jennings appeared in over 100 films, shaping the Western genre and cementing his place in pop culture.
Jennings also dabbled in politics, running unsuccessfully for Oklahoma County attorney in 1912 and governor in 1914. Later, he turned to evangelism, warning against the pitfalls of crime.
Jennings married Maude Deaton in 1906, whom he met while serving time in prison. The couple lived in Tarzana, California, in their later years.
Jennings passed away on December 26, 1961, at the age of 98 in Tarzanaa. He was buried at Oakwood Memorial Park in Chatsworth, California
Jennings’ self-mythologizing often blurred fact and fiction. His claims of being the fastest gun in the West were widely disputed, and his exaggerated tales of outlaw exploits made him more of a storyteller than a true desperado.
Despite his dubious criminal success, Jennings’ transformation from outlaw to entertainer encapsulates the enduring appeal of the Wild West. His life, a blend of fact and fiction, continues to fascinate historians and Western enthusiasts alike.
