|
John Carlton (1837-1887)
-
U.S. Deputy Marshal
commissioned in the Western District at
Fort Smith,
Arkansas. Carlton
was born about 1837 and resided at Searcy,
Arkansas.
He was employed by the United States Secret Service and served during
the Civil War as a soldier in the First
Texas
Confederate Infantry, before being appointed as a
U.S. Deputy Marshal.
He was killed in the line of duty on November 5, 1887 while attempting
to arrest John Hogan in Dennison,
Texas.
Hogan who was tried and convicted in a
Texas
court and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1888.
Joe Carson (1840-1880) -
Both a lawman and an outlaw, Carson was born in Tennessee in 1840 but by
1877 was in
Texas
before later moving to the Colorado Mining camps. In
1879 he was living at
Las Vegas,
New Mexico,
working as a hotel clerk before getting involved in the notorious
Dodge City Gang.
Working for crooked Judge Hoodoo Brown, he worked with the likes of
"Dirty
Dave" Rudabaugh, "Mysterious
Dave" Mather
and a number of others who controlled a number of criminal activities
under the guise of the "law." Carson and Rudabaugh were both suspected
of robbing a
Santa Fe-Las Vegas
stagecoach on August 18, 1879. In January 22, 1880, a gunfight erupted
at the Close and Patterson Saloon in Las Vegas when the "officers"
demanded that several tough characters check their guns. Instead, Tom
Henry and John Dorsey let bullets fly, hitting Carson eight times. Dave
Mather killed one of the shooters and wounded Thomas Henry. The Dodge
City Gang was later run out of
Las Vegas.
Thomas
"Tom" Carson (18??-1872) - The nephew of Kit Carson, Tom grew up
to be a police officer in Abilene,
Kansas, working under Wild Bill Hickok in 1871. On one accasion he confronted notorious gunman, John
Wesley Hardin, who was wearing weapons, which was against Abilene
regulations. Hardin explained that he feared being killed and luckily
Carson didn’t become one of Hardin’s victims. Carson then moved on to
another wild cattle town - Newton,
Kansas, where, after the Hyde Park
Gunfight on August 20, 1871, he was hired briefly as an officer.
However, by November, 1871, he was back in Abilene, working as a police
officer under Brocky Jack Norton. That very same month, Carson shot and
wounded a bartender named John Man and both Norton and Carson were
discharged on November 27, 1871. Two months later, Carson shot and
wounded Norton in January, 1872. He was arrested and put in jail, but
escaped in February, only to turn up later working as a
lawman in Dodge City,
Kansas where he was killed.
Charles C.
"Crit” Carter
-
U.S. Deputy Marshal commissioned in the Southern District Court of
Indian Territory at Paris,
Texas in 1894. In March of 1896, after Crit
gave up his commission he joined a game of craps with a colored man,
named Dick Anderson at Deane,
Indian Territory. The game ended in a
dispute between the two men, which left Anderson critically wounded
after being shot. Death came within a few hours and Carter fled to
Comanche country heading for the Wichita Mountains with a posse in
pursuit.
Jose Casaver -
U.S. Deputy Marshal
commissioned on August 17, 1892 in the Western District at
Fort Smith,
Arkansas
serving under Marshal
Jacob Yoes. In October, 1894, he and
U.S. Deputy Marshal Bruner were providing
security on a passenger train, which word had gotten to the marshal
service, was going to be robbed by the Cook Gang. The rumors they had
heard were correct as near Coretta,
Oklahoma the Cook Gang attacked.
However, they were so fast that the outlaws caught Deputy Marshals Casaver and Bruner completely off guard. As the train robbers rode next
to the train, they riddled it with bullets, breaking all of the windows.
Inside, the passengers, including the deputies, took cover by laying
low. Though several passengers were wounded by the stray gunfire,
miraculously, no one was killed. The outlaws then boarded the train and
relieved the passengers of their possessions, including Casaver and
Bruner, whose watches were stolen.
J. D. Castleman -
U.S. Deputy Marshal
commissioned in the Southern District Court of
Indian Territory at
Paris,
Texas
assigned to the Ardmore area in 1890. He and other posse members
trailed the Bill Hudgins gang who had been robbing stores across
Indian Territory in 1890 and 1891. When Castleman caught up with the outlaws
near Ardmore,
Oklahoma,
a gunfight erupted and Hudgins was wounded. Only one of the fugitives
was able to escape and Hudgins was sent to prison in Detroit, Michigan.
Randolph W. Cathey
(1877?-1907) - An Assistant City Marshal in Pauls Valley,
Oklahoma.
After Cathey had arrested the nephew of Jim Stephenson, a
local saloon operator, and beat him into submission when the
man resisted arrest, Jim Stephenson openly threatened the
officer’s life on several occasions. Stephenson’s threats were
not idle, as on November 3, 1907, he ambushed Cathey as he was
leaving a café shooting him in the chest and abdomen. Though
severely wounded, Cathey was able to return the fire before he
died, wounding Stephenson three times in the legs. Stephenson
was immediately arrested and taken to jail in Ardmore,
Oklahoma.
Officers kept a close eye on the prisoner, as well as the town
folk, fearing citizens would try to lynch the killer. The next morning, outraged citizens of Pauls
Valley held a mass meeting and passed a resolution all liquor dealers
and saloon operators had three hours to remove their goods and leave
town. The town folk further threatened that any items remaining beyond
the three hour deadline would be dragged into the street and burned. The
whiskey peddlers left and Cathey received on of the largest funeral
services ever held in Pauls Valley, after which his body was shipped to
his parents in Youngsport,
Texas for
burial. Stephenson was later tried for
Marshal Cathey's murder,
but on April 17, 1909, he was acquitted by a jury.
John Chambers -
U.S. Deputy Marshal
commissioned in by the federal court at Paris,
Texas
to work in Southern District of
Indian Territory. In June of 1895, John
rode with the posse that tried to capture the Christian Gang in the
Creek Nation. Though the posse could not find the Christian Gang, they
catch up with a robber named Will Stevenson, who was killed and arrested
the outlaw’s, partner, Dick Sanger.
Lon Chambers
- After serving as a cattle detective in the
Texas Panhandle with Pat
Garrett, Chambers followed Garrett to New Mexico, where he served as a
deputy in Lincoln. Pursuing Billy the Kid and his gang with Garrett,
Chambers was with the posse when they killed Tom O'Folliard. A few days
later the posse caught up with the outlaws again, killing Charlie Bowdre
and forcing the rest of them to surrender. However, by the time Garrett
killed Billy the Kid, chambers isn't mentioned. A couple of years later,
chambers allegedly robbed a train in Kansas. He was arrested and tried
for the robbery but was later acquitted. He then disappeared into
history.
Ed Chapman -
U.S. Deputy Marshal
commissioned in
Fort Smith,
Arkansas. In October, 1892, he left Fort
Smith, determined to capture the Dalton Gang in
Indian Territory. Traveling
alone, he did come face to face with Emmett and Bob Dalton, a dangerous
situation for any man. Rather than attempting to arrest the pair alone, he
probably did not declare himself as an officer, or he would likely have been
killed on the spot. Instead, when Emmett made Ed an offer to purchase his horse,
because his own had gone lame, the marshal complied.
Hank Childers -
U.S. Deputy Marshal
commissioned in
Indian Territory, Childers served with
fellow
U.S. Deputy Marshals
Heck Thomas, Burrell Cox and Jim Wallace
when they went to serve a warrant of arrest on June 27, 1888 to the
Purdy Gang. the lawmen located the fugitives, who were wanted for a
series of train robberies, at an illegal still on Snake Creek. However,
when the
U.S. Deputy Marshals
tried to arrest them, the the fugitives tried to shoot their way their predicament.In the end, Aaron Purdy, was severely wounded and all of
the outlaws arrested. However, Heck Thomas also took two bullets in his
side and one in his right wrist.
Willard
Erastus Christianson, aka: Matt Warner, Ras Lewis (1864-1938) - Both an
outlaw and a
lawman,
Christianson was born in Ephraim,
Utah
in 1864 to a Swedish father and a German mother who had come to
Utah
as converts to the Mormon Church. Though his start was good, he got into a fight
when he was 14 years-old, and fearing he had beaten the other boy to death, he
ran away. He soon joined up with a band of
rustlers to begin his life as an
outlaw. It was
at this time that he began going by the name of Matt Warner. Somewhere
along the line, he got married to a girl named Rose Morgan and the two ran a cattle ranch in Big Bend,
Washington
before returning with his wife and a daughter to
Utah.
He then hooked up with his brother-in-law,
outlaw Tom McCarty.
In no time, Warner was robbing banks and trains with the likes of
Elza Lay and
Butch Cassidy. He then got into a shoot out, that earned him five years in the
Utah
Sate Prison. Though he received an early release for good behavior, his wife
died during his incarceration.
After his release, he remarried and settled in
Carbon
County,
Utah. Warner ran for public office under his real name, Willard Erastus
Christianson, and lost. He then had his name officially changed to Matt Warner, the
name most people knew him by, and was elected justice of the peace and then
served as a deputy sheriff. Later he worked as a night guard and detective in Price,
Utah. He
died a natural death on December 21, 1938
at the age of seventy-four.
Aurelious "Arthur” Manisco Chitwood (18??-1940) -
U.S. Deputy Marshal
commissioned out of the Western District court of
Fort Smith,
Arkansas in 1875,
he was assigned to the Antlers area in the Choctaw Nation. A long-time career
officer, he served as Marshal Hackett’s office deputy in 1901. Prior to becoming
a deputy marshal, chitwood served in the Civil War, first on the confederate
side until he decided he was fighting for the wrong cause which caused him to
change his allegiance to the Union. He died near Atoka,
Oklahoma
on December 30, 1940.
J. H. Clary -
U.S. Deputy Marshal
commissioned in
Oklahoma
Territory serving under
Marshal Evett Dumas Nix. After the Doolin Gang robbed the Rock
Island train at Dover,
Oklahoma
on April 3, 1895, the dared
the deputy marshals to come after them. Madsen soon selected a
posse which included Clary, and trailed the outlaws to Black
Jack Grove. When the posse demanded the surrender of the
fugitives, an all-out gun battle ensued, with more than 200
rounds fired before Doolin gave the order to move out. During
the fight, Tulsa Jack Blake was killed by
U.S. Deputy Marshal l
William Banks and Bill Raidler was shot in the hand, leaving
several fingers barely hanging on, which he cut off with his
pocket knife. While two of the posse members took Tulsa
Jack’s body to Hennessey to collect the $1000 reward, the
others continued to trail the outlaws but eventually lost
them.
Thomas I. Cloud
(18??-1885) - A captain of the Seminole Lighthorse Police, Cloud led
a posse to arrest two fugitives by the names of Paro Bruner and Rector
Rogers on March 29, 1885. The officers located Bruner on the south side
of the Canadian River some 30 miles southeast of present day Shawnee,
Oklahoma. Bruner was arrested peacefully and directed them to Rogers
cabin nearby. However, when the officers identified themselves to Rogers
at his door, the fugitive slammed the door in their faces, armed himself
and shot through the cracks in the wall hitting Captain Cloud in the
thigh and another officer, named Sam Cudgo in the abdomen. The rest of
the posse returned the fire and Rogers was killed trying to escape.
Officer Cudgo died within an hour. Captain Cloud was taken to the home
of the Semole Chief at Sasakwa but died two days later.
Emanuel
"Mannen” Clements, Jr. (1869-1908) - A lawman and
cattleman, Clements was born in Gonzales County,
Texas. He was raised in
Ballinger,
Texas
and called "Little Mannen” to distinguish him from his
cattleman father, who was called "Big Mannen.” His sister, Sallie, grew
up to marry the notorious "Killer Jim” Miller. In 1894, mannen was
working as a deputy under Sheriff Dave Allison in Pecos City,
Texas
and
at another time was said to have worked under Jim Miller as a police
officer. On December 29, 1908, a killer by the name of Joe Brown, who
was a former constable of El Paso County, shot Mannen in the back of the
head in the Coney Island Saloon in El Paso. Rumor at the time
suggested that Clements had been killed because he attempted
to blackmail Albert Fall, threatening to provide proof of
Fall’s complicity in a plot to murder Pat Garrett. No one was
ever charged in Clements Murder.
E. F. "Frank”
Cochran -
U.S. Deputy Marshal
commissioned in the Western District at
Fort Smith,
Arkansas.
He arrested Blue Duck and William Christie on charges of
murder in the Flint District of the Cherokee Nation. Christie
turned evidence against Blue Duck and was cleared of the
charge, while Blue Duck was sentenced to be hanged on July 23,
1886. However, Blue Duck’s girlfriend, Belle Starr, used her
influence to change his death sentence to life imprisonment.
In 1897 Frank was working out of the Oklahoma City District
when he rode with a posse headed by Marshal Stowe to capture
the Al Jennings Gang.
Bill Colbert
(1835-1933) -
Of African Choctaw ancestry,
U.S. Deputy Marshal
commissioned in the Western District of Arkansas, working from
the Fort Smith court. He was
assigned to the Choctaw Nation in the area of Atoka, where he
had knowledge of the land, language and customs. He was quick
to use his gun and in two separate incidents he killed
suspects who resisted arrest.
On September 24, 1891 Bill Colbert attempted to arrest a
murderer named Bill Alexander, but when he resisted arrest
Colbert was forced to kill him self defense. On March 11,
1894, he was again forced to kill an outlaw named Jackson
Fletcher, who also resisted arrest. Colbert was riding with
U.S. Deputy Marshal Bass Reeves when they trying to capture
the Christian Gang, wanted for killing an Oklahoma City police
chief. Though they were unable to find the Christians, they
did come upon two other outlaws by the names of Will Stevenson
and Dick Sanger. When the fugitives began to fire upon the
officers, a gun battle ensued Will Stevenson was killed and
Dick Sanger was taken prisoner. Bill Colbert was credited
with killing twenty one men while performing his duties as
deputy marshal. Bill Colbert was arrested and jailed for
robbery at the McAlester,
Oklahoma jail on December 11, 1908;
however, nothing must have come of it, because he was known to
have lived his the rest of his life in the Atoka,
Oklahoma
area. He died at the age of 98 in 1933.
James R. Cole
(1856-1925) - Cole was born on march 31, 1856 in Warsaw, Missouri. He grew up to
become a
U.S. Deputy Marshal in
Indian Territory who was known to have often
dispensed his brand of frontier justice from the point of his gun. Commissioned on
July 31, 1886 in the Western District at Ft. Smith, Arkansas, he initially
served under Marshal Jacob Yoes. On November 27, 1887, Cole was riding with and
Deputy Marshal Frank Dalton (the brother of the notorious Dalton Gang members)
when they went to arrest a horse thief named Dave Smith. They found Smith with
two men named William Towerly and Lee Dixon, and Dixon's wife. When Smith
resisted arrest, the guns started blazing and Frank Dalton was killed. Though
Cole was hit in his side, he returned the fire and killed both Dave Smith and
Dixon's wife. Dixon was also critically wounded and died from his wound while
awaiting trial in the
Fort Smith,
Arkansas
jail. Towerly managed to escape, but
was later killed in another shootout. Several years later on September 11, 1880,
Cole would be in another gunfight with a man named Rhody was was drunk and
shooting of his pistol on a ferry boat. When the boat landed, Cole was waiting
for him and the drunken gunman began to shoot at the officer, who fired back,
dropping the man dead. Cole died on October 14, 1925 and was buried at the Oak
Cemetery in
Fort Smith,
Arkansas.
Ben Collins (18??-1906) - Collins
served as an Indian policeman in the Choctaw Nation of
Indian Territory, and in
1898 he received an appointment as deputy
U.S. Deputy Marshal
in the Southern
District of
Indian Territory under Marshal John S. Hammer. Collins made a
number of sensational arrests, including an incident in which he was forced to
shoot Port Pruitt, an influential resident of Emet,
Oklahoma. Collins was
charged with assault with intent to kill, but was cleared by the court and the
case was dismissed. Partially paralyzed, Pruitt and his brother Clint, a
prominent citizen from Orr, swore revenge against Collins. In 1905 a gunman
acquaintance of Collins told the officer that he had been hired to kill him. The
gunman, who had already received $200 for the killing, and was to receive $300
more when it was complete, then skipped town. However, Collins’ enemies were
determined and the next year he would not be so lucky. On the evening of August
1, 1906, Collins was ambushed while traveling to his home. Allegedly killed by
Jim "Killer” Miller, and other assassins, he was buried at Colbert,
Oklahoma.
Miller would later meet justice after ambushing
U.S. Deputy Marshal
Gus Bobbitt
in an assassination similar to Collins. In 1909, Miller and three other men
were dragged from a jail in Ada,
Oklahoma and hanged.
Ben Connally - A
U.S. Deputy Marshal
in
Indian Territory, Connally rode with fellow Deputy
Marshals White, Petty and Rutherford in Cherokee country to
serve a warrant of arrest to John Barber, who was wanted dead
or alive for the killing of three sheriffs in
Texas. Locating
the fugitive near the Spring Creek, some 25 miles north of
Tahlequah, Barber began firing his rifle when the officers
demanded his surrender. Deputy Marshal Connally returned fire
as Barber fled the scene on horseback dropping the outlaw from
his horse and killing him. The officers divided the $4000
reward. Later, Connally was one of 16 deputy marshals that
ambushed Ned Christie’s fortress, killing the wanted man in
November, 1892.
Barney Bernard Connelley
(18??-1891) -
U.S. Deputy Marshal
commissioned in the Western
District at
Fort Smith,
Arkansas. He rode with fellow Deputy Marshal
Gideon White to arrest Kep Queen and John Barber in 1888, for charges of
train robbery and murder. However, the outlaws resisted arrest and were
able to escape from the marshals. Both fugitives were later killed in
two separate shootouts. On
August 19, 1891,
Connelley had an arrest warrant for former U.S. Deputy Marshal,
Shepherd
Busby, of the Cherokee Nation for
adultery. Busby,
along with his son, resisted the arrest warrant and fired on Connelly,
killing him. Busby was
hanged for his crime on
April 27, 1892 at Fort Smith, Arkansas. Busby’s son was charged with manslaughter and sentenced to
serve ten years in the penitentiary at Detroit, Michigan.
Charles E. Copeland -
U.S. Deputy Marshal
commissioned on February 3, 1892 in the Western District at
Fort Smith,
Arkansas. Copeland was one of the sixteen members of the posse that attacked Ned
Christie’s fortress and killing the fugitive in November, 1892.
Copeland also later killed Wauhoo Hampton, a Cherokee Indian outlaw,
charged with murder and other crimes. Hampton, who had eluded the law
for some time, had taken to hiding in the hills of Adair County, where
Copeland tracked him down. When the Indian resisted arrest, he was shot.
Al
R. Cottle -
U.S. Deputy Marshal
commissioned in the Western District at
Fort Smith,
Arkansas.
In early 1903, he was sent with Deputy Marshals Bud Ledbetter and E. H.
Hubbard to control a racial riot in Boynton,
Oklahoma. When the riot was under control, one white man and twenty-one blacks
were arrested. In February, 1906, Cottle was appointed office deputy by
Marshal Leo Bennett of the Western District of
Indian Territory.
In 1929, he became the Chief Deputy Marshal under Grant Victor, for the
District of Tulsa,
Oklahoma.
Timothy Isaiah "Longhair Jim" Courtright (1848-1887) - Born in Sangamon County,
Illinois, little is known of Courtright’s early life. He served with the Union army during the Civil War then drifted around until he finally settled in Fort Worth,
Texas. While there, he served at various times as a jailer, deputy sheriff, hired killer, private detective, and racketeer. He was the first elected marshal of Fort Worth in 1876 -- tasked with keeping the peace in what had become known as Hell's Half Acre, the town’s wild red-light district.
Briefly Courtright left
Texas and served as marshal of the flouishing silver mining town of Lake Valley, in
New Mexico in
1882. However, in 1883 he was back and was appointed as a deputy
U.S. Deputy Marshal , but became a fugitive himself after his posse killed two ranchers. Later, he grew tired of running and turned himself in, though he was acquitted of any wrong doing. By 1887, Courtright was running the T.I.C. Commercial agency in Fort Worth,
Texas, which provided "protection" to gambling dens and saloons in return for a portion of their profits. In the meantime, Luke Short, a former friend of Courtright's, had set up the White Elephant Saloon and Jim was trying to get Short to utilize his services. But the Dodge City
gunfighter told Courtright to "go to hell," he could do any gunslinging that was necessary to take care of his business. Some time later, the two quarreled, resulting in one of the most famous gunfights in western history.
With Bat Masterson at Short's side, Courtright and Luke Short dueled in the street in one of the few face-to-face gunfights in the American West. Shot down by Short, Courtright was killed on February 8, 1887.
Burrell F. Cox
-
U.S. Deputy Marshal commissioned on August 23, 1890 in the Western District
at
Fort Smith,
Arkansas serving under Marshal Jacob Yoes. He rode with Heck
Thomas, Hank Childers and Jim Wallace on June 27, 1888 when they were pursuing
the Aaron Purdy Gang who were wanted for train robbery. When they came upon
the gang at the Snake River, a shootout erupted and Heck Thomas was shot twice.
Cox and the other two deputies returned the fire, killing Aaron Purdy and
arresting the rest of the outlaw gang. Later, Cox rode with Ben Tilghman and
Heck Thomas near Ingalls,
Oklahoma trying to capture Bill Doolin and Bill
Dalton.
Robert "Bob”
M. Cox (18??-1890) -
U.S. Deputy Marshal
commissioned in the Western District of Arkansas. On April 12,
1890, Cox rode with Deputy Marshals, Floyd Wilson and Charley Canon to
Claremore, Oklahoma to arrest a fugitive from the Little Rock, Arkansas
prison, named Halm. However, by the time the three deputies arrived in
Claremore, Deputy Marshal Wilson was so sick that he took to bed and
tried to convince the other two to wait until he felt better and could
accompany him. However, Cox and Canon set out on their own, finding Halm
at barn dance. Deciding to "blend into" the festivities, they first
arrested a man named Ed Louthers, who was selling illegal whiskey.
Before they could make their way to arresting Halm, the deputies were
interrupted by Alex and Jesse Chchran who wanted to free Louthers. When
Deputy Cox went for his gun, Alex Cochran shot him in the shoulder and
neck. Depiuty Canon returned the fire, and after a dozen shots had
flown, Cox had received another shot in the thigh. During the melee,
Louthers and the Cochrans escaped. Though cox's wound were initially
reported as not serious, he died on April 14, 1890.
Everett Milo Creekmore
(1870-1931) -
U.S. Deputy Marshal commissioned in the Western District
of Arkansas in May, 1889. He was a son of
U.S. Deputy Marshal R. B. Creekmore. In November of 1891, Milo was with
U.S. Deputy Marshal Bass
Reeves near Okmulgee when they tried to arrest Ben Billey, a whiskey
peddler and Tom Barnett, a horse thief. However, when a gunfight
erupted, Billey took two slugs in the legs and they were arrested
anyway. On October 11, 1892, Creekmore, and fellow marshals, William
Bouden, David Rusk, and Charlie Copeland cornered Ned Christie in the
Cherokee Nation. When another gunfight ensued, three of the lawmen were
wounded and Christie managed to escape. After this even, Creekmore left
his position and soon went to the other side of the law, joining up with
the Henry Starr Gang and robbed two stores. He was soon arrested and
taken to Fort Smith. However, after making bail, and while he was
awaiting trial, he shot and killed the father of his girlfriend, Cora
Runyan, who objected to the courtship. Creekmore gave himself up at Fort
Smith and was tried on the robbery and murder charges. Though acquitted
on the murder charge, he was found guilty on the robbery charges and
sentenced to five years in the Kings County Penitentiary at Brooklyn,
New York. After his rlease, he moved to Cherokee County, Texas where he
worked as a locomotive engineer and married in 1902. He died on May 10,
1931 and was buried in Hope Cemetery in Wells, Texas.
Dick
Crittenden -
U.S. Deputy Marshal commissioned in the Western
District of Fort Smith, Arkansas. On July 18, 1894, he was with his
brother, Deputy Marshal Zeke Crittenden, and Deputy Sequoyah Houston and
posse when they tried to capture the Cook Gang. Tracking Bill and Jim
Cook, along with Cherokee Bill to the Fourteen Mile Creek in the
Cherokee Nation, a running gun battle erupted. When the smoke cleared,
Sequoyah Houston was killed and with the exception of the two Crittendens, the posse fled. Continuing with a hail of bullets, Jim Cook
was wounded several times before the outlaws made their escape. The
fugitives then made their way to Fort Gibson, Oklahoma where a doctor
attended to Jim’s wounds. When the Crittendens caught up with them
again, Bill Cook and Cherokee Bill fled again, but left Jim Cook behind.
The brothers lived in Wagoner,
Indian Territory and on October 24, 1895,
after having too much to drink, became involved in an argument with
another Wagoner resident. When guns were pulled, the other man was
wounded. Soon Deputy Marshal Ed Reed, who was the son of Belle Starr,
asked the Crittendens to surrender their weapons. However when the
Crittenden resisted and once again, the guns were pulled, Ed Reed shot
and killed both brothers.
William R. Cruger (1840-1882) - Born on May 30, 1840 in Albany, Georgia, he moved to Shackelford County, Texas when he was 34. Assisting in the county's organization, he named the city of Albany, which became the county seat, for his birthplace. In April, 1876, John M. Larn was elected as the sheriff of Shackleford County and Cruger became his deputy. Law and order was much needed in the area. as nearby Fort Griffin, some 15 miles north of Albany, had become a hotbed for outlaws, thieves, and other desperate characters. Early in 1877, when the lawmen attempted to restore order in a Fort Griffin saloon, a
gunfight broke out and in the end, three men were killed, and Cruger and the Shackleford County attorney were wounded. Afterwards, Sheriff Larn resigned and Cruger was appointed as his successor on April 20, 1877. Ironically, after Larn quit, he turned to cattle rustling and Cruger was given the warrant from he Albany court to arrest his former boss. After arresting Larn on June 22, 1878 and placing him in jail, he had
the local blacksmith shackle Larn to the floor of the jail house to prevent a breakout by Larn's supporters. However, the next night, vigilantes stormed the jail intending to hang Larn.
When they found they couldn't lynch the shackled man, they shot him in his
cell. Cruger continued to serve as sheriff until he resigned on July 20, 1880. Before long he moved his family to Tennessee where he served as marshal in Princeton. While there, he was killed by a drunken prisoner whom he had failed to search on May 29, 1882. He was buried in Albany, Georgia.
Sam Cudgo (18??-1885)
- A member of the Seminole Lighthorse Police, Cudgo rode with a posse led by
Captain Thomas I. Cloud to arrest two fugitives by the names of Paro Bruner and
Rector Rogers on March 29, 1885. The officers located Bruner on the south side
of the Canadian River some 30 miles southeast of present day Shawnee, Oklahoma.
Bruner was arrested peacefully and directed them to Rogers cabin nearby.
However, when the officers identified themselves to Rogers at his door, the
fugitive slammed the door in their faces, armed himself and shot through the
cracks in the wall hitting Captain Cloud in the thigh and and Sam Cudgo in the
abdomen. The rest of the posse returned the fire and Rogers was killed trying
to escape. Officer Cudgo died within an hour. Captain Cloud was taken to the
home of the Semole Chief at Sasakwa but died two days later.
John A. Culp -
U.S. Deputy Marshal in
Indian Territory. In 1885, Culp along with Deputy
Marshal Rush Meadows, overtook outlaw Dick Glass at the foot of the Arbuckle
Mountains where gunplay erupted. After critically wounding the outlaw, and
thinking him dead, they approached his body. But Glass was still alive and
fired at Meadows, killing him instantly and wounding Culp. Three years later,
in January, 1888, John Culp was riding with a friend in the Chickasaw Nation
when he was killed by a man named Wooford. Culp’s friend returned the fire and
killed the shooter.
Continued Next
Page
|