Robert "Kid" Barker/Layton was charged with murder-but he never went to trial. Barker escaped from the Benton County jail in Prosser several months later. He was never heard of again.
Although Sheriff Alex McNeill had been wounded, he recovered. The story, concerning him being wounded, was circulated that the sheriff was injured due to the "prominent bay window" of a stomach he sported. It seems that, according to the tale, the sheriff attempted, during the shootout, to hide behind a slim cottonwood tree. The tree in question was, however, too slim, leaving the sheriff's stomach a perfect target.
Like most Wild Western stories, this tale also created its own speculations and variations. One article written on this incident slanted that Kid Barker's family were well off and that after Barker's escape from the jail in Prosser, Washington the sheriff there retired "with funds sufficient to live on for the remainder of his life." It might make a good plot for a western novel, however, Sheriff McNeill served his term until 1910 and was re-elected for another two years.
Recommended Reading:
Butch Cassidy: The Outlaw that Got Away-Or, Did He?
Keepin' the Peace-Hickok Style.
Sources:
Dullenty, Jim. "Shootout at Poplar Grove: Gun Battle in Kennewick, Washington Rivaled OK Corral Showdown." Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, Washington, September 3, 1978.
Kion, Mary Trotter. Kennewick, Washington: Images of America. Arcadia Publishing, Chicago, IL, 2002.
Parker, Martha Berry. Kin-I-Wak, Kenewick, Tehe, Kennewick. Ye Galleon Press, Fairfield, Washington, 1986.
