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Later when he was working as a Deputy Sheriff in
Frio County,
Texas, the
lawman
became involved in a dispute with another deputy over who could draw their guns
faster. The dispute ended with Allee shooting the other deputy eight times and
leaving him dead in the dust. Again, Allee was charged with murder, but when
witnesses testified that the other deputy had drawn his gun first, Allee was
found justified for self-defense.
The quick-tempered
lawman
was also known to be a vicious racist and at one point when a black porter
bumped into him while Allee was boarding a train, the
lawman
shot him dead. Once again he was arrested and tried, but again was acquitted,
for a third time, largely due to the race of the victim.
In September, 1888, Allee was tasked with tracking
down Brack Cornett, a
member of the
Bill Whitley Gang who had been robbing banks and trains in southwest
Texas. Though
the other members had been apprehended or killed,
Cornett had fled to
Arizona
Territory. Allee soon tracked him there and after a heated gun battle on
horseback, killed Cornett.
Years later, Allee was stabbed to death in a barroom brawl in Laredo,
Texas, in
1896.
John Oliver Allen
(1850-1928) - A cowboy and
Texas Ranger,
Allen was born in Kaufman County,
Texas on June
22, 1850. Raised on the frontier, he became a cowboy as a young man and enlisted
in Rufus Perry's Company D of the
Texas Rangers
in early 1874. Though he served less than a year in the Rangers, he was wounded
four times in
Indian
skirmishes and would later say that in one battle, every ranger other than
himself had been killed. After leaving the
Texas Rangers,
he later settled at Cookville,
Texas and
became a chaplain for the Texas Ex-Rangers' Association. He died at Edinburg,
Texas on June
7, 1928.
David L. Anderson, aka: William “Billy” Wilson, Buffalo Bill (1862-1918) – Most commonly known as Billy Wilson, Anderson moved with his family from Ohio to South
Texas when he was a teenager. When he grew up he worked as a
cowboy before moving to White Oaks, New Mexico and buying a livery stable in 1880. Within less than a year he sold his operation, but was paid in counterfeit bills. Duped, he began to pass the money anyway and he was arrested and indicted. Skipping bail, he soon fled and joined Billy the Kid’s Gang of rustlers. Along with several other gang members he was arrested by Pat Garrett and convicted in 1881 and sent to prison in
Santa Fe. However, he soon escaped and reverting to his real name, David L. Anderson, he returned to
Texas, where he began ranching, married, and started a family. In 1896, Pat Garrett helped him to obtain a presidential pardon. Afterwards, he worked as a U.S. customs inspector for a time, before becoming the Terrell County Sheriff in 1905. He was killed in the line of duty in 1918.
Pete Anderson
(1850?-1890) -
A full-blooded Pottawatomie Indian, Anderson
was deputized for a Oklahoma County, Oklahoma posse to assist officers in
apprehending a cattle rustler. On December 25, 1890, Oklahoma County
Deputy Sheriffs Frank Gault and Charles Gilbert held arrest warrants for a
Pottawatomie County man named John Bly for cattle theft and selling
whiskey. Once the two officers arrived in the neighboring county, they
deputized Pete Anderson, who lived near Choctaw City, and another man
named Frank Cook, also from the area, as possemen. As the deputies neared
Bly's ranch, about seven miles east of Choctaw City, they heard the
sounds of gunfire, dismounted and began sneak through the tall grass to
see what was going on. However, their
actions were obviously not stealthy enough, because suddenly John Bly
opened fire on the officers, his first shot hitting Pete Anderson in the
head and killing him instantly. The other officers returned fire, wounding
Bly, who surrendered, was arrested, and taken to jail in Oklahoma City.
The following day, Sheriff C.H. Deferd and Deputy Gault returned to the
area and arrested the murderer's brother, Givens Bly and brother-in-law,
Dick Burchfield as accomplices.
 William "Red" Angus (1849-1922) - Born in Zanesville, Ohio, Angus served as a military teamster in
Kansas
and briefly joined the
Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. He was with
General Custer,
when he assaulted
Black Kettle's village at the
Battle of the Washita in
Oklahoma in 1868.
Afterwards he continued to drive wagons in
Indian Territory. In 1880 he was
driving a herd of cattle from
Texas to a ranch near Sheridan,
Wyoming and upon
his arrival, decided to stay.
Some eight years
later he was running a liquor store in Buffalo,
Wyoming and one the Sheriff's
election of Johnson County in 1888. Sitting in the midst of cattle country,
Angus sided with the small ranchers in the Johnson County War. When the cattle
barons put to group of some 50 men together to intimidate the small ranchers,
Angus gathered up his own posse and laid siege to the ranch where they were
holed up. For three days, in April, 1892, a hail of bullets flew between the two
factions, until the Sixth Cavalry from Fort
McKinney were brought in to end the affair. When Angus ran for sheriff again the next year, he lost but
stayed in Buffalo where he worked at the Occidental Hotel, served as a Deputy
County Clerk and Johnson County Treasurer before his death in 1922.
Orr William
Annis (1859-19??) - Of Scottish
descent, Annis was born in Knox County, Illinois on June 12, 1859 to Andrew and
Leah Brown Annis. Reared on the family farm and educated in public school, Annis
headed west in 1878, first to the Black Hills of South Dakota, then to Nebraska,
Colorado and Wyoming, where he worked as a cowboy on several ranches. After
three years, he returned to Illinois where he worked in the meat market business
in Lafayette and married
Sarah J. Porter. The couple would have six
children. In 1884, he moved to Sumner County
Kansas, where he farmed and ranched until Oklahoma Territory opened in 1889. At
that time, he joined with the many others in the Oklahoma Land Rush, and claimed
a parcel near Perkins, Oklahoma, where he again made his living as a farmer and
rancher. In 1897, he became the sheriff of Payne County, Oklahoma, a position he
held until 1901. He later became involved in several businesses, including a
bank.
Bill Arnold (18??-1898) - Deputized as a posseman
by U.S. Deputy Marshal Hess Bussey, Bussey and Arnold arrested a man named Bill
Johnson, when he and some friends were causing a disturbance in Claremore,
Indian Territory on March 17, 1898. The two officers took Johnson to the office
of of George Walkley's livery stable and unfortunately, didn't search him for
weapons. While Arnold was attempting to handcuff the prisoner, Johnson drew a
pistol and shot Arnold in the face then turned to shoot Bussey. The marshal;
however, struggled with Johnson trying to get the gun and pulling his own weapon
shot Johnson in the chest. When the prisoner continued to fight, Bussey shot him
again in the forehead, killing him instantly. Deputy Arnold's body was returned
to his former home in Columbus, Kansas.
John Barclay Armstrong (1850-1913) - Born in McMinnville, Tennessee in January, 1850, Armstrong spent some time in Missouri and Arkansas before he headed to Texas in 1871. Settling in Austin, he became a member of the Travis Rifles before joining Captain Leander McNelly's company of Texas Rangers on May 20, 1875. He soon became McNelly's second in command and when he was promoted to sergeant, he earned the nickname "McNelly's Bulldog." In 1876, Armstrong was promoted to Lieutenant. During his years with the Texas Rangers, he was involved in several notable cases, including the capture of
John
Wesley Hardin and the pursuit and killing of noted bank robber Sam Bass. In 1881, he resigned his position as a Texas Ranger and soon thereafter was appointed as a U.S. Deputy Marshal. In 1882 he established the 50,000-acre Armstrong Ranch in Willacy County. The old ranger, known in retirement as "Major" Armstrong, died on May 1, 1913.
Ira Aten
(1862–1953) - The son of a Methodist minister, Ira's family settled on a
farm near Round Rock,
Texas
after the
Civil War.
When he was just a teenager, his father tended to the mortally wounded
Sam Bass in 1878.
Aten joined the Texas
Rangers in 1883, and became captain of Company D. Known for his shooting
skills, Ira was first assigned to border duty and after a gunfight with cattle
rustlers, he was promoted to corporal. He was then sent to
West Central
Texas,
where he was instrumental in breaking up and number of cattle rustling outfits.
After arresting Jim Epps and Rube Boyce, he was promoted to the level of
sergeant. In 1887, after a long manhunt, he
tracked and shot down
outlaw Judd
Roberts, an associate of
Butch Cassidy's
Hole-in-the-Wall gang. In 1889
Aten was appointed sheriff of Fort Bend County,
Texas
during the violent feud known as the
Jaybird-Woodpecker War.
In 1893, he was elected sheriff of Castro County,
Texas,
where he once again cracked down on a number of Panhandle rustlers. After
serving as sheriff for two years, he went to work as a superintendent of the six
hundred thousand acre XIT ranch, a position he held until 1904. After leaving
the XIT Ranch, he took his wife and five children to
California,
where he lived until his death in 1953 at the age of nearly ninety.
Lee M. Atkins
(18??-1894) - A newly appointed
U.S. Deputy Marshal, Atkins
hadn't even seen service when he was killed. A Creek
Indian,
Atkins was attending a horse racing event in Checotah, IIndian Territory
on November 10, 1894. Accompanying him was another
U.S. Deputy Marshal, Dick
Downing, who was in town to serve an unrelated writ. Earlier in the day Atkins
had been warned that a man named Amos McIntosh, another Creek
Indian
and former prosecuting attorney in Muskogee, was looking to kill him. After the
warning, Downing accompanied Atkins for the rest of the day and when Atkins and
McIntosh came face to face, both agreed to give up their weapons to prevent any
trouble. However, McIntosh later got his gun back. That evening the two met
again at the horse races and began to argue. When Atkins cursed McIntosh,
telling the other man that he was unarmed and calling McIntosh a coward,
McIntosh pulled his gun and shot Atkins twice, once in the left side and once in
the hip. Though reports stated that both men had been drinking, Marshal Downing
said Atkins was sober. Why Downing didn't immediately arrest McIntosh is
unknown. The killer fled town on the next train to Eufaula, but was trailed and
arrested on January 14, 1895 by
U.S. Deputy Marshal, Grant
Johnson. As to the outcome of his arrest, it is unknown.
Willard Ayers (18??-1880) - A native of Fort
Smith, Arkansas, both Willard and his brother, Christopher Columbus Ayers, grew
up to become U.S. Deputy Marshals in the early 1870s before Judge Isaac Parker
took office. In 1873, Ayers was wounded by a prisoner when he, along with U.S.
Deputy Marshals,
Perry DuVal and
James Wilkerson, were escorting prisoners to from
Indian Territory to Fort Smith, Arkansas.
DuVal
was killed but Ayers recovered from his wound and returned to work. Several
years later, on August 11, 1880, Ayers attempted to arrest Emanuel Patterson, an
African American wanted for larceny. When Ayers went to Patterson's home near
Cherokeetown in the Chickasaw Nation to arrest the man, Patterson asked if he
could get some clothes and Ayers agreed. However, when Patterson returned, he
had a gun and shot Ayers in the head. The fugitive then escaped. However, in
1886, Patterson was arrested and taken to Fort Smith on another violation. He
would later admit to killing Ayers, but claimed he didn't known he was an
officer, but thought he was an enemy trying to kill him. Patterson was convicted
of murder in October, 1887 and sentenced to be hanged the following April.
However, his sentence was later commuted to life in prison, where he died.
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