Tuesday Trivia: July 11, 2023

2 minutes
Answer this Oklahoma trivia question to receive awesome prizes!

Test your Oklahoma knowledge and win prizes by answering our weekly Tuesday Trivia question. Every week, we’ll choose a winner from the correct respondents to receive a prize—from an Okie sticker to a subscription to Oklahoma Today and more.

It was ninety years ago this month that an Oklahoma oilman, a Tennessee outlaw, and a Texas farm came together in one wild story that ended with a new nickname for some federal lawmen.

In 1933, George Kelly Barnes—better known as the firearm aficionado and outlaw George "Machine Gun" Kelly—and an accomplice kidnapped wealthy Oklahoma City oilman Charles Urschel and his guest Walter Jarrett during a game of bridge at Urschel's home. Jarrett was released soon after, while Urschel was spirited away to a farm in Paradise, Texas where he was held for more than a week. When a ransom of $200,000 (about $4.5 million today) was paid, Urschel was released.

It wasn't for a few months that FBI agents, following leads provided by Urschel, tracked Kelly to Memphis, Tennessee. Caught without his namesake gun, Kelly yelled "Don't shoot!" along with a nickname for the government agents that stuck around for decades after the arrest, though many believe the tale to be apocryphal.

What nickname did George "Machine Gun" Kelly give to the FBI agents who arrested him?

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Written By
Greg Elwell

Greg Elwell served as research editor and web editor of Oklahoma Today from 2018-2023. He also has worked for newspapers, medical research organizations, and government institutions.

Greg Elwell
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