[3] Over the years, historians and contemporary newspapers erroneously spelled O'Kelley's surname as "Kelly" or "O'Kelly", sometimes mistakenly using the letter "O" as his middle initial.

[4] Robert Ford befriended outlaw Jesse James in 1882, when he and his brother Charley joined his gang.

[6] On June 8, 1892, while Ford was preparing to open his saloon, O’Kelley walked into the tent with a shotgun.

According to one account, O’Kelley married a relative of the Younger Brothers Gang and became friends with Jesse James, who became a cousin by marriage.

Another version contends that con man Soapy Smith assured O’Kelley he’d be famous if he killed Ford.

[8] One theory involves the accusation that O’Kelley had stolen Ford’s diamond ring, and the dispute had escalated.

Shortly after his arrival in town, he was recognized by Otto Ewing of the Southern Club, a local gambling house.

In December 1903, police officer Joseph Grant "Joe" Burnett (1867–1917) arrested O'Kelley as a "suspicious character".

[citation needed] That evening, Officer Burnett, who had arrested O'Kelley the previous month, was walking his beat on the south side of First Street, in front of the McCord & Collins building.

witnessed the fight from the rear of the building on West Main Street and telephoned police headquarters.

[citation needed] Finally, A.G. Paul, a railroad baggage man, came running from the depot.

The front of the monument reads: The back of the memorial contains engraved scenes from 1890s Creede, Colorado, where O'Kelley fatally shot Ford.