Sam Paul and the Chickasaw Light Horse Police

Back in Indian Territory before 1898 when the Indian governments were abolished, the Chickasaws had their own police force, known as the "Light Horse Police." The Chickasaw Nation, reborn in 1983, now has a modern police force called by the same name, so the Chickasaw Light Horse Police still ride, though now in cars instead of horses.  

The Chickasaws' first police force was organized in 1829, in the Chickasaw homeland in what is now the state of Mississippi. The Chickasaw laws were few, but the punishments were swift. Theft was punished by 39 lashes and the offender had to restore the property. Whiskey was banned. There was no need for jails. An offender was honor bound to submit to his punishment. Murder was punished outside the law by revenge killing, and a member of the victim's family would mete out the punishment. If a killer fled, a member of his family would be executed in his stead, and afterward he would be shunned by the tribe, a fate considered worse than death.

The Chickasaws, by Arrell Gibson, P 153, describes the first laws of the Chickasaw 

After 1837, when the Chickasaw were forced to migrate to Indian Territory, they were for several years considered citizens of the Choctaw Nation.The two tribes shared a similar language, and they had many customs in common, but the Chickasaw were not happy living under Choctaw rule. In 1857, just before the Civil War, the Chickasaw broke away and formed their own nation under their own laws. It was around that time when the Light Horse Police Force was created.   

After the Civil War, there was a flood of settlers into Indian Territory, and because there were few federal marshals to police the vast area, many outlaws sought refuge there. The job of the Light Horse Policeman was difficult and dangerous. Their charge was to:  

…with or without warrant, arrest all outlaws, thieves, and murderers in your section, and if they resist, you will shoot them on the spot. And you will aide and assist all U.S. Marshals in the enforcement of the laws and make yourself a terror to evildoers. If afraid, turn in your resignation and I'll appoint better men in your place.  

The Outlaw Statesman, Mike Tower, P 82 

It was during this time that my great grandfather, Sam Paul, became a Light Horse Policeman. Sam Paul was perfectly suited for this job. According to all accounts, he was fearless and ruthless. My great grandmother estimated once that he had killed 15 men.  

The Chickasaw themselves were little threat to the community. Even during the late 1800's the Chickasaw Nation had no jails, and the guilty still reported to the appointed place of punishment, whether it be for lashes or for execution. It was the white men who posed a threat to law and order.  

The Light Horse Police were placed in a difficult situation. They had no jurisdiction over U.S. citizens, so they were expected to sit by passively and wait for a federal marshal to deal with white criminals. Also there was the practical problem of bringing a criminal to trial. The nearest federal court was in Fort Smith, Arkansas, which was 200 miles from the Chickasaw Nation. So if a Chickasaw policeman apprehended a criminal, he was expected to hold him in custody while a U.S. marshal was summoned. Then he had to convince witnesses to travel all the way to Fort Smith to testify.  

My great grandfather and other Chickasaw policemen decided that this was too much to ask, so they often dispensed justice to whites as they saw fit without bothering to contact a federal marshal.  

In 1882, my great grandfather was arrested and sent to Fort Smith to be tried for manslaughter. He had killed a white prisoner, well actually two, and the federal marshal James Mershon decided to make an example of him. Sam then faced an ordeal that would have broken a lesser man. First he was marched to Ft Smith with the other prisoners, who included Sam=s half brother Tecumseh, his nephew Fred Waite, and other members of the posse that had arrested Harkins, one of the men he was accused of killing. On the 200 mile trek, the prisoners were shackled to a log which they were compelled to carry between them as they walked. In Ft. Smith they were put in the filthy jail which housed as many as 6 men per cell. It was June so they also suffered from the sweltering heat.  

Within a couple of weeks the charges against Fred, Tecumseh, and most of the other members of the posse were dropped, and they were allowed to return home, but Sam wasn=t tried until December. Time passed slowly in these hideous conditions. Many men in the Ft Smith jail became ill or malnourished, and several died before they could be brought to trial. My great grandmother, Sarah, took my grandfather Billy and his brother Buck, 6 and 8 years old at the time, to visit their father in jail. She had to lift them up so that they could kiss their father through the bars.  

In January of 1883 Sam Paul was brought before the notorious Judge Isaac Parker, known as "the hanging judge" because he had sent 88 men to the gallows. Sam=s trial resulted in a hung jury, so he remained in jail. His second trial wasn't held until April of 1883, so he languished in the Fort Smith jail for a total of ten months! When his case came to trial, Sam was convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to ten years at hard labor in the federal penitentiary at Detroit, Michigan

 

The story doesn't end there, however. After Sam Paul's conviction, the Chickasaw legislature sent a petition, signed by the legislators and other prominent citizens of the Chickasaw Nation, to the President of the United States, Chester Arthur, requesting a pardon, and in March, 1884, the pardon was granted. 

It read:  

Whereas the Chickasaw Council, and a large number of officers and citizens of Indian Territory have petitioned for the defendant's pardon, representing that he committed the offense while endeavoring, as an officer of the United States and of the Territory, to enforce the law, and was excusable. 

And whereas, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs are of the opinion that the conviction in this case tends to impair the efficiency of the Indian Police, and that a pardon would be in the interest of law and order, and earnestly recommend it; … 

Now, therefore, be it known, that I, Chester A. Arthur, President of the United States of America, in consideration of the premises, divers and other good and sufficient reasons me thereunto moving, do hereby grant to the said Sam Paul a full and unconditional pardon.  

National Archives 

Sam Paul's pardon set an historic precedent giving the Chickasaw Light Horse Police the authority to maintain law and order in their territory.  

As for Sam Paul, he went on to be elected senator representing Pickens County in the Chickasaw legislature; he practiced law in the Chickasaw courts, and he owned two newspapers, the Chickasaw Enterprise and the Chickasaw Chieftain. Sam testified in Washington, D.C. before the Joint Committee on Indian Affairs of the U.S. Congress, and he later ran for governor of the Chickasaw Nation. Sam Paul was one of the most progressive and farsighted men in the Chickasaw Nation.

 

The Hangin' Judge

Isaac C. Parker

 After the Civil War the area which is now the panhandle of Oklahoma became known as "No Man's Land." By an accident of treaties No Man's Land was not in the jurisdiction of any state or territory, so it became a refuge for outlaws, gamblers, cattle rustlers, and other frontier riffraff. There was a sign on the border of No Man's Land which said: "Fort Smith, Five Hundred Miles." 

In 1882 an outlaw gang galloped into the relative safety of No Man's Land barely escaping a group of federal marshals that were hot on their trail. As they passed the Fort Smith sign, they shot it full of holes to show their contempt for law and order. Later though, one of the outlaws returned to the sign and carved at the bottom the words, "To Hell," indicating his fear of the punishment that Fort Smith represented.

This fear instilled by Fort Smith originated with Isaac C. Parker, appointed as federal judge over the Federal District Court of Western Arkansas in 1875. (See blog of July 17, 2011, Sam Paul, Part Two.) Before Judge Parker's tenure, the court had been ineffective in enforcing the law over its vast jurisdiction, and Indian Territory had become a refuge for criminals. Parker appointed federal marshals to bring in offenders. In the past it had been hard to convince witnesses to travel the long distance to Fort Smith to testify, but Judge Parker's subpoenas were backed by the same marshals who instilled fear in the outlaws, so witnesses began to cooperate.  

Judge Parker's marshals were a formidable group. These men, among them Heck Thomas,  James Mershon, Heck Bruner, and Jacob Yoes became as famous as the outlaws they brought in. Their determination and courage inspired much of the folk lore that has been handed down to us about the old west.   

Even though underpaid and often outnumbered by the outlaws they pursued, the marshals were as determined as Judge Parker to bring law and order to the frontier. One of the most difficult outlaws to bring in was Ned Christie. Wanted for horse stealing, robbery, whiskey peddling, and murder, Marshals Heck Bruner and Barney Connelley trailed him for months without success. Finally when Deputy Marshal L.P. Isabel cornered him, Christie although injured, shot Isabel, who was then disabled for life. Finally a group of 16 marshals assaulted Christie and his gang, holed up in a fort in a narrow canyon. Christie, who was a crack shot, held off the marshals for weeks against even a cannon which was brought up from Coffeeville, Kansas. Finally, at the risk of his life, Deputy Marshal Copeland placed a dynamite charge under the fort, blowing it apart and dislodging Christie, who was then shot as he attempted to escape.  

On another case Martin Joseph, a horse thief from Texas, murdered Bud Stephens, and then raped and murdered his sixteen year old bride. Then he threw their bodies into a deep crevasse which led down into a cave. Months later, Marshal James Mershon apprehended Joseph and obtained a confession, but the district attorney wanted proof of the murder, so Marshal Yoes sent out his men to retrieve the bones. Deputy Marshal John Spencer volunteered to be lowered into the cave, but when he reached the bones he found himself surrounded by a den of rattlesnakes. "For God's sake, pull me up quick!" he screamed. After regaining his composure, Spencer asked to be lowered back down again, this time carrying a lantern, a revolver and a sack.  

On reaching the bottom, Spencer was confronted by a huge rattlesnake. With nerves of steel, he stood his ground, and shot the snake even as it coiled itself around his arm and neck. He then filled the sack with the bones of the victims and called out to be pulled back up. When the other marshals saw the snake wrapped around Spencer's neck, they almost let him fall back into the pit, but fortunately they kept their heads and the evidence was returned to Fort Smith. Martin Joseph was convicted and hanged.  

Due to Judge Parker's efforts, the old jail, the basement of the courthouse, was soon filled to overflowing. Minimal attention was paid to the prisoners' comfort, and conditions inside were deplorable. One man passing by it, being buffeted by the fowl odors and the demoniacal cries issuing from within, was quoted as saying, "If this is not Hell, I don't know where Hell is." A juror once insisted on inspecting the jail. Inside, he picked up a piece of bread and meat, both infested with vermin. He took them into the courtroom and placed them on Judge Parker's desk, threatening to send them to Washington.

Soon after that, a larger jail was built, but soon it too was housing six men per cell, double its planned capacity. It was not uncommon for prisoners to die awaiting trial. 

The trip to Fort Smith was also an ordeal for those accused of crimes in Indian Territory.

Typically, a group of deputies were sent out with several arrest warrants. Prisoners were rounded up and shackled to a chain which was in turn bolted to a log. They were then forced to march to Fort Smith, a journey of almost 200 miles, dragging the log. A chuck wagon was provided to feed the prisoners, but only those unable to walk were allowed to ride in the wagon.  

Judge Parker was more interested in meting out justice than in impartiality. During trials he usually made up his own mind as to the guilt or innocence of the defendant, and then made his opinion clear in his instructions to the jury. In one instance the main case against the defendant was that he hid the evidence of the crime. Judge Parker said in his instructions to the jury:  

            The questions for you to pass upon is whether or not … there were acts upon the part of this defendant … that looked toward concealing this act of the killing of Wilson; what these acts were; if they were cruel, if they were unnatural, if they were barbarous … that men who are conscious of innocence do not usually characterize their conduct after a killing by that sort of acts … the concealment of this body, the concealment of this horse, the killing of the horse, and the concealing of everything that pertained to that man … that they might be discovered afterwards as evidences of the killing.

            And bear in mind that the other witness in this case cannot appear before you. He cannot speak to you, except as he speaks by his body as it was found, having been denied even the right of decent burial … these circumstances … stand as bloody, naked facts before you, speaking for Joseph Wilson and justice.    

During Judge Parker's 21 year term, from 1875 until his death in 1896, 344 persons were tried for murder, and 88 were hanged.  

Judge Parker's fame spread throughout the country. News of the outlaws tried in his court was carried in all the newspapers, and their hangings were attended by hundreds. Even his hangman, George Maledon, became a celebrity. In 1894 Maledon retired and toured the country displaying gallows relics, including nooses, and photos of the famous outlaws he had hanged. In 1898, a popular book about Judge Parker's court, Hell on the Border, declared Maledon "The Prince of Hangmen." 

While strict, Judge Parker was actually sympathetic to the Indian governments. He upheld the Indians= land rights against Texas cattlemen, and he upheld the rights of the Cherokees to eject >Boomers= settling illegally in their territory. Many Indian leaders supported Parker because he treated whites and Indians equally. 

Judge Parker said once about the Indians: 

Perhaps things would have been different had the government given them the protection it promised in 1828. >Not only will we give you farms and homes in fee simple,= it said, >but we will protect you in your rights. We will give you every protection against lawlessness; we will see that every refugee, every bandit, every murderer that comes into your country is put out.= Not one of these pledges has ever been kept, except for the work that has been done by the United States courts having jurisdiction over this country.  

The Creek Chief, Pleasant Porter, laid a wreath of wild flowers on Judge Parker's grave.  

Sam Paul, Part Two

As I described in my post of July 10, 2011, my great grandfather, Sam Paul, divorced his wife Lucy, and then killed her brother, Gibson McKinsey in 1872, when McKinsey threatened Sam for mistreating his sister. Sam was not charged with murder by the Chickasaw court, so he was now free, but he was now faced with the responsibility of caring his young son Joe. Sam's mother Ela Teecha had just passed away, and his sister Sippia was away in school at Fort Sill, so Joe was probably taken in by his aunt and uncle, Mary and Tecumseh McClure. In  spite of the fact that Mary and Lucy were sisters, Sam seems to have maintained cordial relations with the McClures, at least for the time being.

As Sam's father Smith Paul got older, Sam took on more responsibility for the family farm - it was more of a ranch now. Sam married again in 1874,  this time to a white woman, Sarah Lambert, and so he was able to move his little son Joe back home with him. About 10 months later, Sam and Sarah had their first child together, another son whom they named Smith Whealton or "Buck" Paul, after Sam's father Smith Paul.

Over the next two years Sam's sister Sippia married William Hull, a blacksmith she had met at Fort Sill; Sam and Sarah had another child, William Hyram Paul, my grandfather; Sam's brother in law Tom Waite died; Sam's half sister Kathrine moved east to Ohio to see that her younger children got a good education, and Sam's father, Smith Paul, at the age of 65, got married again to a young school teacher named Sara Lillie.

Another event occurred in 1875 that would have serious consequences for Sam Paul. Isaac C. Parker was appointed judge over the Federal District Court of Western Arkansas in Fort Smith, Arkansas. This court had been given jurisdiction over cases involving federal law in Indian Territory in 1871, but it had been somewhat ineffective. Parker was determined to bring law and order to the frontier, and his efforts would later earn him the nickname of "the hanging judge." He and Sam Paul would meet several times. 

In 1875 Indians were subjected to racial profiling in regards to the sale and consumption of liquor. The problem of alcoholism among Indians had been well known for generations, and the sale of alcohol to Indians was prohibited by both tribal and federal law. There were some though, including Sam Paul, who believed that Indians should have the same rights to alcohol as white men, so Sam had no qualms about going into the business of bootlegging. Sam's partner in this enterprise was a widow named Nancy Bryley, the proprietor of a saloon near Pauls Valley. Knowing Sam's subsequent history, it's possible that he and Nancy had more than just a business relationship.

At any rate the two were arrested, charged with selling liquor to Indians, and fined by Judge Parker. The saloon business was good though and Sam may have continued to operate a saloon after his conviction, at least that was the rumor, according to a cowboy named Robert Flanagan, who worked for Sam Paul in about 1880: 

I have helped bury lots of men in the old Pauls Valley Cemetery, who died "with their boots on," and no one knew them or knew where they came from. About a mile northwest of where Pauls Valley is now, there was a log house that was a saloon and gambling place. I believe Smith (Sam) Paul owned this place. Anyway that was the general impression. About a mile or two west of this saloon was a creek next to the River known as "Dead Man's Hollow." This was where most of those men whom I helped bury were killed. It was dangerous to go into the saloon and gambling den, get drunk and flash your money around. If you did, it was just the same as suicide. Mexicans, Indians, and cowboys made the saloon their regular "hang-out."           

I never drank much nor gambled either but I have been there several times and witnessed shooting and killing scrapes. Once a cowboy from the Williams ranch twenty miles west of Pauls Valley got into an argument with three Mexicans over a card game. He was about my age, wore a large white hat, high-heeled boots, and two pistols. It seemed that these three men were trying to cheat him out of his winnings in the game. He jumped up, kicked the table over and began shooting with both guns. When the smoke cleared away, there were three dead Mexicans on the floor. I don't know what they did with the dead men but I couldn't help admiring the way that young chap handled his guns.  

Ironically, in the same year that Sam Paul was arrested for bootlegging, he also became involved in law enforcement. This is the way it happened. B. F. Overton, Governor of the Chickasaw Nation, received a request to apprehend a certain John Ferral, who was wanted for murder in Texas, and Galloway Frazier, head of the Chickasaw Lighthorse Police, notified Harrison McLane, sheriff of Pickens County, to be on the lookout for the fugitive. Incidentally, this was the same Harrison McLane who had helped Sam kill Gibson McKinsey.

McLane got a tip that Ferral had been seen at widow Bryley's saloon, and when he went there to arrest him, he found his old friend Sam Paul. Since McLane didn't have a horse to carry the prisoner back to Tishomingo, he deputized Sam and left his prisoner at Sam's house for safe keeping along with another deputy, Jacob Kelder.  

Things went well until after supper when Sam took the prisoner upstairs and prepared to shackle him to the bed. Ferral broke free, jumped out of the window, and started running across the lawn. Sam and Kelder ran Ferral down and killed him, even though he begged for mercy.   

Since the prisoner was white, the case was referred to Judge Parker's court in Fort Smith. Sam Paul was convicted after it was proven that the fatal shots had come from his gun, and he would have gone to prison, but the Chickasaw Court also heard the case and decided in Sam's favor. They ruled that Sam had killed Ferral in his capacity as a deputy sheriff, and they requested and obtained a federal pardon for Sam Paul.  

So after his third scrape with the law, Sam Paul again walked free, and instead of being declared public enemy number one, he was elected constable. He also joined the Chickasaw Light Horse Police.

The Trackers, Part 2

                               


                                 Isaac C Parker, "The Hanging Judge"

          When I started my last post what I really had in mind was this story, but I had read about what phenomenal trackers the Chickasaws were, so I began with that.

           Several years ago, I ordered a transcript of the murder trial of my great grandfather, Sam Paul, from the National Archives. When I received the transcript I took it with me on a visit with my mother so we could read it together. What fascinated us most about the transcript was the testimony of a cowboy who described how he tracked down a horse thief. 

          Before I let you read this remarkable account I'm going to have to give you some background about the situation in Indian Territory in the late 1800's. The Indian Nations were sovereign states. They had their own laws, their own governments and their own police force. At the same time however, their territory was part of the United States and they had no jurisdiction over U.S. citizens. As a result, Indian Territory became a haven for outlaws.

          It was during this time that Indian Territory came to be known as the "Wild Wild West." It was the time of Jesse James, and Belle Starr, of the Dalton Gang and Cherokee Bill. The federal court responsible for Indian Territory was in Ft. Smith Arkansas, presided over by  Judge Isaac C. Parker, nicknamed "the hanging judge" because during his tenure he sentenced 88 men to hang. Several more men died in Judge Parker's crowded, rat infested jail before they could be hanged, and one was shot while attempting to escape. Judge Parker's marshals, such as James Mershon and Heck Thomas, became famous in their own right. Many of the well known western dramas such as True Grit and Hang 'Em High have been inspired by Judge Parker, his deputies, and the outlaws they went up against. 

          What is not so well known is the story of the Indian police. The Light Horse Police, as they were called, were a tough bunch. Their instructions were to: Awith or without warrant, arrest all outlaws, thieves, and murderers in your section. And if they resist, you will shoot them on the spot. And, you will aide and assist US Marshals in the enforcement of the laws and make yourself a terror to evil doers. If afraid, turn in your resignation and I=ll appoint better men in your place.@ My great grandfather, Sam Paul, was a sergeant in the Chickasaw Light Horse Police force.

          The Light Horse Police had to deal with dozens of white criminals living on their land, with only a handful of federal marshals to whom they could turn for support. These criminals were dangerous, and they had friends. It was hard to transport them to Ft Smith for trial, and it was hard to find witnesses. Few were willing to travel the 200 miles from the Chickasaw Nation to Ft. Smith to testify against a man whose friends were likely to take revenge on them or on their family afterwards. As a result an Indian policeman sometimes made himself judge, jury, and executioner.That's how Sam Paul came to be charged with murder. He shot a horse thief.

          There's a lot more to that story, but what I want to do now is get to the testimony of the cowboy, Frank Welch, who tracked down the horse thief that Sam Paul killed. I've changed some of the punctuation to make the narrative more readable, and added a few comments in parentheses.

United States vs. Sam Paul, etc. For the murder of Smith (first name unknown).

Court of the Western District of Arkansas, Judge Isaac C Parker presiding.

Testimony of Frank Welch:

          It was on Saturday night the horse was stolen. I think it was in April. I missed the horse at 9 o'clock. On that night I had tied this horse so that I could have him to go to the prairie in the morning. I had him tied in the lot behind a little corn crib.

          There were 18 or 20 head of horses in the lot. There was only one bar up between the pasture & the lot. Part of the rope was there, and part was gone. It looked as if the rope had been partly cut & partly broke. It looked as if there was two more men's tracks & three horse tracks on the outside of the fence.

          The men's tracks looked as if they had stopped. The horse tracks stopped there at the lot fence; the horse had been taken through the bars into the pasture and then the pasture fence let down where the horse was taken out. 

          The three other horse tracks came down along the fence and met this horse and all went off together. I noticed the tracks. They looked like the same tracks that had stopped at the lot fence. The stolen horse was shod in front. The track going out was that of a horse shod in front. They came close to the house. The men's tracks came into the lot; cannot tell which way they went. I called the horse I lost a dapple grey. The tracks of one of these three horses outside of the fence was a large rough shod steel toed shoe. The tracks of these horses from the gap went west right close to the house where old man Ross lived. My horses track went along with the others. ("old man" Ross' son was one of the horse thieves)  

          John Covey (Welch's boss) and Watt Holford went with me and tracked them near to Rosses house. The four tracks kept together. Ross started the next morning from there. He had gone when we tracked these horses close to his house. I trailed them for several days.

          Covey had me to go on. He could not leave. I was in his employ. Two tracks went up to the house. One of them the steel toed horse & another, and the track I took for my horse and another track went north across the Washita (River). I saw some tracks up near Cherokee Town. The track was a bare footed track, I think with that of my horse…..I followed them and overtook them right there near the valley. I was alone when I saw them. I did not molest them at all. I was afraid to….. When I saw two men, I went off the road. I examined the tracks after they passed me. I think Smith's (the horse thief who was killed) horse was barefooted.

          It was my business to watch and track these men. Dr Lewis told me about meeting these men. He said he lived near Springville on Canadian (River). He said they were going towards where he lived. It is but a few miles from Cherokee Town to the Valley Store. I had been watching the train (wagon train) expecting them to meet it. I never saw the men with the train. They went to the train about ten miles below Cherokee Town. (The horse thieves were part of a wagon train led by "old man" Ross which was travelling through the territory.)

          The next morning I went around the train and saw these two parties leave the train and come up the road following me. They came for about a mile and left the road. I got into the road above the train. I went on up into the valley. Got information from Strain at Cherokee Town that two men answering the description of the men I had received information of before had gone down the direction I had seen the two men meet the train. I started to Sam Paul's house to get him to help me as he was an officer and I met him going to the valley store. I told him what I wanted and he promised to help me.

          The testimony is a little hard to follow because it is redundant and it doesn't include the lawyer's questions, but you can figure it out if you read it slowly.

          The cowboy, Frank Welch, really makes his tracking sound easy, but I think his story is remarkable. Even though the horse thieves have a head start, he manages to track them for several days before he actually sees them. He determines the number of men, the number of horses, and he can identify each of the horses by their tracks. He doesn't lose them even though they split up, cross the river, and pass by towns. Finally when he gets close enough to identify the thieves by sight and sees them join a wagon train he finds the local Indian policeman, my great grandfather, and asks him for help. Pretty amazing, don't you think?