The Williamson gang is a group of outlaws led by Bill Williamson, featured in Red Dead Redemption. They serve as the main antagonistic faction of the game's New Austin chapter.
History[]
Background[]
After the disbandment of the Van der Linde gang, whereof he was a member, Bill Williamson, who held ambitions to start his own gang, went on to establish it at some point between 1907 and 1911. The gang eventually rose to prominence in New Austin, gaining a reputation as the most dangerous gang left in the West. Williamson and his gang took over Fort Mercer in Río Bravo, the former domain of the Del Lobo Gang.
Events of Red Dead Redemption[]
In 1911, John Marston confronts Bill Williamson and his gang in an attempt to apprehend and hand over the former to Edgar Ross and Archer Fordham, which results in him being shot and wounded. He is saved when a young woman named Bonnie MacFarlane and a ranch hand named Amos come across him and take him to a doctor.
Bill and his gang later raid Ridgewood Farm, killing the men and raping the women who live there, leaving only a few survivors. Marston, Marshal Johnson and the deputies rescue the remaining survivors at Ridgewood Farm, and then chase Williamson to Mercer Station. A gunfight ensues, and although Williamson flees, the posse successfully apprehends Bill's second-in-command, Norman Deek.
After Deek's capture, a member of the Williamson Gang arrives at the sheriff's office in Armadillo, explaining that Bonnie MacFarlane has been captured and will be raped and murdered if they don't bring Norman Deek to Tumbleweed for exchange. Marston accompanies Marshal Johnson and his deputies, who are all ambushed as soon as they enter the town. Deek is swiftly gunned down by the Williamson gang during the shootout, while Marston saves Bonnie from being hanged by the gang. At the end, the Williamson gang's presence is eliminated from Tumbleweed, but Bill is not found among the dead.
Marston later recruits seven people to help him assault Fort Mercer and the Williamson gang. They use a Trojan horse strategy, where West Dickens presents his elixir to the outlaws, only for John to be hiding inside the wagon with a Gatling Gun, which leads to the gang’s annihilation. Although the Williamson gang was eliminated, including the reinforcements that attempted to retake the fort, Williamson himself managed to escape to Mexico on the previous day with the help of Javier Escuella.
The assault on Fort Mercer spelled the end for the Williamson gang, having lost all of its members, its hideout and with its leader having gone into exile.
Marston later travels to Mexico in pursuit of Bill and Javier. Marston either kills or captures Javier, then kills Bill with the help of Abraham Reyes and his rebels after being betrayed by the Mexican Army.
After the Williamson gang had gone from Fort Mercer, the Mexican Banditos would eventually take over, using it to store a stash of stolen money; Marston can clear them out with the aid of Leon Galindo in his travels.
Relationships[]
Allies[]
- Seth Briars (formerly)
- Javier Escuella
Enemies[]
- John Marston
- Seth Briars
- Irish
- w:c:hero:Leigh Johnson
- Jonah
- Eli
- Nigel West Dicksons
- Bureau of Investigation
- McFarlane family
- Bonnie MacFarane
Trivia[]
- Although the Williamson gang is portrayed as a major criminal organization in the state of New Austin while also being the driving force behind the first chapter of Red Dead Redemption, the gang itself does not actually exist outside of the missions they are featured in. Unlike most other hostile factions in the game, the Williamson gang lack a dedicated outfit for the player to wear, they do not have any bounty targets that can be hunted down, they do not control a gang hideout that can be cleared outside of a mission, and there does not exist of any unique NPCs representing the gang that can be encountered by the player outside of the missions they appear in.
- The Williamson gang's main base of operations is Fort Mercer, however even before the gang is wiped out in "The Assault on Fort Mercer", the Banditos occupy the Fort as they would when it becomes available as a gang hideout, despite the Williamson gang still being active at this point.
- Outside of the mission "Spare the Rod, Spoil the Bandit" which only includes the Bollard Twins gang models, the Williamson gang is primarily made up of unaffiliated criminals. Many of the outlaws encountered alongside Williamson are also bounties. During "The Assault on Fort Mercer", Harry Dobbing and Irvin Pennick make another appearance.
- Unlike most gangs, the Williamson gang doesn't offer the player an outfit, most likely because Bill’s gang doesn’t have a set uniform.
- It shares this trait with Dutch's Gang.
- In a random camp event in Red Dead Redemption 2, Bill Williamson mentions his desire to be the leader of his own gang one day, foreshadowing the creation of the Williamson gang.
