Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves

5. "No Sunday West of St. Louis, No God West of Fort Smith"

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 [First Page] [56], (1) Lines: 0 ——— 4.0pt P ——— Normal PgEnds: [56], (1) 5. “No Sunday West of St. Louis, No God West of Fort Smith” I n the Indian Territory, whiskey profits were high and attracted tough and dangerous men. Whiskey bought on the Arkansas or Texas border for two dollars could be resold to the Indians for as much as twenty dollars. Many people were willing to take the chance of arrest for the high profits of a crime analogous to the illegal drug trafficking of today. Four-fifths of the criminal cases in the Fort Smith court were liquor related. The principal offenders in “introducing and selling” liquor in Indian Territory were white men and women. In January 1883 Bass Reeves arrested an Indian for selling whiskey in the Seminole Nation and sent this note to U.S. Marshal Thomas Boles: Sasakwa Seminole Nation Ind. Ter. Jan. 30, 1883 Hon. Thomas Boles U.S. Marshal West Dist. Ark. Dear Sir I have captured a Seminole for selling whiskey Saturday night January 27th. He had 2½ gallons. His name is Sammy Low. Please issue a writ and forward to me at McAllister. The witnesses are Parmaskah & Jim Kinder. I have also captured Cantille the Man that escaped from Mershon. Please hold the writ—I am getting 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 [57], (2) Lines: 31 to 67 ——— * 21.0pt PgV ——— Normal Page * PgEnds: PageBreak [57], (2) along very well and Will be in about the 13th Feb. I remain Very Respectfully [signed] Bass Reeves Deputy U.S. Marshal Low went to trial on March 17, 1883, on charges of “introducing spirituous liquor in the Indian Country,” a misdemeanor. Judge Parker gave Low a sentence of thirty days in jail and a fine of twenty dollars .1 On March 19, 1883, Reeves arrested an Indian named Cutsee Homachte , ten miles west of the mouth of Little River in the Creek Nation for the same crime. Homachte went before Judge Parker on April 25 and was given sixty days in jail and fined twenty dollars.2 A day later, March 20, Wilson Willow was arrested by Reeves for horse theft and selling whiskey. The arrest was made on the Canadian River, five miles west of the mouth of Little River. Reeves sent a note to U.S. Marshal Boles: Mill Creek, I.T. March 27, 1883 Hon. Thos. Boles U.S. Marshal Fort Smith Ark Send me a writ for Wilson Willow for introducing and Selling one gallon of whiskey also for stealing two horses one from John Taylor and the other from Willie Garrett, one horse was valued at $75.00 and the other $50.00. Witnesses in the larceny case are Willie Garrett and John Taylor and a man named “Aaron” Witness in the whiskey case are “Simon” and one “Lowey.” The horses were stolen about the 12th or 13th of March 1883. The whiskey was introduced on 1st of January 1883 Respectfully [signed] Bass Reeves. Deputy. Reeves sent an addendum to the above note: “No Sunday West of St. Louis, No God West of Fort Smith” 57 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 [58], (3) Lines: 67 ——— 7.0pt P ——— Normal PgEnds: [58], (3) Hon Thos Boles The Creek Lighthorse arrested Wilson Willow and turned him over to me. Please send the writ to McAllister, C.N. I am getting along very well Will go from here up on Caddo Creek west of the Washita River. Respectfully [signed] Bass Reeves Deputy The town of McAllister that Reeves is referring to is now spelled McAlester. Willow was taken to Fort Smith by Reeves, placed in the jail, and given a five-hundred-dollar bail. The bail wasn’t paid. There is no information on the outcome of the case.3 Reeves sent another note to Boles in...