Randolph White (R. W.) Madison (1886-1946) was a journalist, editor, and newspaper executive. Born in Pennsylvania, Madison began his career at the Los Angeles Record, where he covered the 1909 Willie Boy manhunt.

Willie Boy (born 1882) was a Chemehuevi man pursued by a Riverside and San Bernardino County sheriff’s posse in Southern California in September and October 1909. The Riverside County manhunt began after Willie Boy was involved in the death of Chemehuevi leader William Mike in Banning, California. He and Carlota Mike, William Mike’s daughter, fled toward the Mojave Desert. The two intended to marry, but per tribal law were too closely related to do so. Carlota was killed during the manhunt, and in October 1909, the posse claimed to have found Willie Boy’s body.

The case received extensive news coverage, including Madison’s, which was often sensationalized, invoking tropes associated with anti-Native American rhetoric and yellow journalism. Madison described Willie Boy (who he called “Billy Boy”) as a “bad Indian” and a “wild beast” and described the manhunt as “the most thrilling man hunt in the history of the great dreary desert.” Madison’s coverage was also published by the Los Angeles Herald, the Riverside Morning Mission, and the San Francisco-based Newspaper Enterprise Association.

R. W. Madison first reported the story from his desk in San Bernardino, relying on accounts from law enforcement and posse members. He traveled with the posse on their third and final excursion, leaving Banning on October 15, 1909. On this trip, Madison and the posse returned to Ruby Mountain near Landers, California, and claimed to discover Willie Boy’s deceased body.

According to oral testimonies by Chemehuevi and other Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute) elders, as well as elders of other Native American peoples of the Southwest, Willie Boy did not die at Ruby Mountain as reported. Rather, he escaped to live with the Nuwuvi community in Pahrump, Nevada, and died years later of tuberculosis.