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Old West Lawmen - C

 

 

Index          << Previous  A  B  C  D  E   F  G   H-I  J-K   L  M-N  O-Q  R  S  T  U-Z  Next >>

 

Bill Caine (18??-1893) - U.S. Deputy Marshal commissioned in the Southern District of Indian Territory at Paris, Texas under Marshal Sheb Williams. He was shot and killed in April, 1893 while attempting to arrest Bud English, a prominent stockman near Woodville, Chickasaw Nation. Caine was with a posse tracking a gang of horse thieves that included Bud English, when the outlaws resisted arrest and a gunfight ensued. Years later, one of the posse members recognized Bud English on the streets of Ardmore, Oklahoma and identified him as the man who had killed Caine. Bud English was arrested in Ardmore, nine years after Caine’s murder.

 

James F. CairnsJames Cairns (1851-1934) - Born in Scotland in 1851, Cairns immigrated to the United States somewhere along the line and was living in Indiana in 1871. From there, he moved to Kansas and in 1875 began to work as a peace officer in Wichita, Kansas. In the same year that Cairns was hired, so was a young Wyatt Earp. Both policemen made $60.00 per month. In 1879, he became Wichita's town marshal, a position he held for the next eleven years. Cairnes was also the brother-in-law of the famous Bat Masterson, having married Bat’s sister, Nellie.

 

California Ranger BadgeCalifornia State Rangers - California's first state-wide law enforcement agency, the Rangers were formed in 1853 when the legislature authorized a body of some 20 men to kill or capture the Mexican bandit Joaquin Murrieta and his gang called the Five Joaquins. Led by former Texas Ranger Captain Harry Love, the men tracked down the gang and allegedly killed Murrieta and his right hand man Manuel Garcia, known as "Three Fingered Jack." Later, the Rangers were disbanded; however, Captain Love and another ranger stayed on at the State Capitol and helped to form the California State police. Over the years, the organization was reorganized several times and was eventually merged with the California Highway Patrol in 1995.

 

Harry H. Callahan - U.S. Deputy Marshal commissioned in the Fourth District of the Texas Eastern District in 1893. Harry lived near Hominy, Oklahoma and worked the Osage country with Deputy Marshals Lee Taylor and Charles Douglas. In April, 1894, Callahan was involved in a gunfight with several other deputies when they tried to orrest six outlaws southeast of Pawhuska, Oklahoma. During the fray, Callahan killed outlaw tom Crook and the possee captured the others. In August of 1896, Harry and his posse were involved in a running gunfight with the Doolin Gang. During the shooting fray, one of the outlaws was shot but was carried off when they made their escape.

 

George Washington Campbell (1850-1881) - Born on December 23, 1850, in Greenup County, Kentucky, Campbell's father died six months before he was born and his mother died when the boy was just nine. He and his three brothers and a sister were then raised by relatives. By 1875, Campbell had moved to Montague County, Texas, where he worked as a cattle ranch cook. However, the following year, he was living at Henrietta, Texas where he became a deputy under Sheriff John T. Craig. Working as a lawman, he soon earned a reputation for bravery and honesty. On May 15, 1880, he accepted a job as a detective for a cattle raisers' association in New Mexico. Traveling throughout the state, he was in El Paso, Texas by the end of the year and was offered a position of El Paso City Marshal. However, as the salary was either too low or went unpaid, he resigned in January, 1881. Unfortunately for Campbell, he inadvertently got involved in a gunfight, often referred to as the Four Dead in Five Seconds gunfight and was shot by El Paso City Marshal Dallas Stoudenmire on April 14, 1881. Campbell died the following day.

Malcolm "Old Grizzly” Campbell (1839-1932) - Frontier lawman Malcolm Cambell was born near London, Ontario, Canada on June 4, 1839. When he was 25, the family moved to DeWitt, Iowa and the following year to Beatrice, Nebraska. There, Campbell entered the freighting business, moving supplies to Forts Kearney and McPherson. After a skirmish with Indians, he moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he again worked as a freighter, as well as driving cattle.

In 1882, he was became a deputy sheriff under Nathaniel Boswell and three terms under Lew Miller in Albany County, Wyoming. During this time, his most notable capture was when he arrested fugitive Colorado cannibal, Alfred Packer in the spring of 1883. In 1888, Campbell was elected sheriff of the Converse County, Wyoming, which bordered Johnson County to the north. Though this was the very time of the infamous "Johnson County War,” Campbell did not get involved.

 

On one occasion when a gunfight at a saloon resulted in the arrest of one of the shooters, a small party of men demanded the release of the prisoner so they could "finish him off." However when Campbell gave them a defiant look and said: "Over my dead body," the men rode away. After serving as sheriff he also served for a time as town marshal in Douglas, Wyoming and was active in politics. The oldest peace officer in Wyoming, he lived a long life and died at the age of 93 on Juy 21, 1932 and buried at the Highland Cemetery in Casper, Wyoming. During his lifetime, he was not only called "Old Grizzly," but also the "fire eating marshal.

 

Frank M. Canton, aka: Joe Horner (1849-1927) - Canton was actually born as Joe Horner near Richmond, Virginia. As a child to he moved to Texas with his family and while in his teens became a cowboy, herding cattle from North Texas to the Kansas railheads in the 1860's. In 1871 he dropped from sight and made his living as a bank robber and rustler. He was jailed for robbing a bank in Comanche, Texas but escaped and returned to cattle herding. After driving a herd to Ogallala, Nebraska, he changed his name to Frank Canton and vowed to uphold law and order. 

 

He was soon hired as the top enforcer of the Wyoming Stock Grower's Association, a group of powerful cattlemen in Johnson County, Wyoming. He was later elected sheriff of the county. It was here that he made his reputation in the notorious Johnson County War of Wyoming in the 1890's and was involved in the unlawful hanging of James Averell and Cattle Kate.

 

Afterwards he fled south, becoming a U.S. Deputy Marshal in Indian Territory under Judge Isaac Parker and made a name for himself as a strong and honest lawman. Canton accepted another appointment as a U.S. Deputy Marshal in Alaska in 1897. Some time later, he returned to Oklahoma and once more became a lawman. In 1907, he became adjutant general of the Oklahoma National Guard, a post he held until his death in 1927.

 

Frank Canton

Frank Canton, outlaw turned U.S. Marshal

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 and downloads HERE!

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 ChristiansonWillard 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.

 

 

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