Harvey

I took part in the Tucson Volume Festival this by weekend and in many respects it was a sugariness experience. I spent time with sometime friends and talked about writing, old western movies, and Seinfeld episodes. I met readers who were great fans of the western genre and were happy to share their thoughts about their favorite western authors from Dorothy Johnson to Johnny Boggs. I also met a few historic authors behaving badly. I was initially excited to make their acquaintance and constitute myself wanting to be within earshot of their tales near the books they've written and the literary giants they oft come in contact. As the evening progressed and ane insulting remark after another was made about the struggling western authors they've had the displeasure to be around or read I constitute myself less enamored of the big shots and more and more ashamed that I held them in high regard at all.

Why is it that I'yard then quick with adulation for the bland, nonetheless so begrudging with respect for the truly consequential? I should have been satisfied to spend an evening with those writers who had a true love of the Old West rather than a couple who had a truthful dear for themselves and westerns were just a footnote. Very poorly done, Chris, very poorly washed.

You know, all I tin figure that so many of the states feel so anonymous, and then powerless, and and then insignificant that we howl and yelp at the mere hint of notoriety, like dogs watching the moon rise in the nighttime sky. Hey, forget the guy who is setting at a booth all 24-hour interval peddling his western books to passersby and his wife who is working the register, when is that guy that's been in numerous documentaries and has been working on the same western novel for half dozen years going to go here?"

Will the doctor with the cure for cancer please sit the down, here comes the multi-award winning author who has penned still some other book near Wyatt Earp.

Wait…in the penumbra between absolute obscurity and worldwide renown at that place exists a shadow region filled with a seething horde of pan flashers, dime store magicians and Vacation Inn cover bands hoping for a big slice of adulation quiche. And while most of usa are content to rubberneck the carnage on the side of the route, likewise many people are desperately striving to actually be the abandoned vehicle, and I'k not certain we should feel compelled to recognize them. I know I'thousand going to work on that.

In that location's a not bad line from the pic Harvey that played over and once again in my head this weekend. Elwood P. Dowd, Jimmy Stewart's character in the film, explains his philosophy of life in the following way: "In this world, you must be oh so smart or oh then pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant." Not only am I going to surround myself with writers who behave in such a fashion I'g going to demand that behavior in myself.

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1878 – Frank Bakery and Billy Morton were in the custody of a Regulator Posse led by Dick Brewer for their participation in the murder of John Tunstall.  In an attempt to escape at Steel Springs, New Mexico, posseman William McCloskey was killed past Morton, merely Morton and Baker were both quickly shot by the remaining posse members.

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Sam Sixkiller: Cherokee Frontier Constable

CherokeeCamp

The sweeping prairie lay quietly nether the heat of a flippant sunday equally a alone wagon topped a grassy knoll that afforded an arresting view from every direction. Redbird Sixkiller drove the team of 2 horses pulling the vehicle toward the boondocks of Tahlequah, Oklahoma Territory, in the near distance. His 4-year-old son, Sam, sat beside him captivated by the sights and listening attentively to the stories he told him about his ancestors and the origin of the Sixkiller family proper noun. Redbird shared with Sam a tale virtually 1 of their fearless relatives. The ancestor was engaged in battle against the Creek Indians and had killed vi braves and then himself earlier allowing another ring of hostile Creek Indians that surrounded him to attack. The Cherokee Indian warriors who witnessed the daring act referred to the warrior every bit Sixkiller.1

Conversation between begetter and son died down as they rode into Tahlequah. Thousands of Cherokee Indians from the eastern and western portions of the land had descended upon the location to attend a convention that promised to unite the two factions. Since being removed from the Native homes, divided and sent to alive at opposite ends of the territory, the Cherokee people were contesting amidst themselves.2 The central theme of the convention was "one body politic nether the way and championship of the Cherokee Nation."3 Redbird and Sam attended the aggressive coming together in September 1846 along with more than than ii thousand other Indians.iv Redbird wanted his son to see the efforts existence made to resolve the fierce conflict that had erupted between the groups. The factions did not agree on the concessions that should be made to the United states of america government over the land. The Cherokees in the eastward were opposed to leaving their homeland no affair what the government promised in exchange. Those in the westward were in favor of the removal of the Cherokee to Oklahoma Territory, the funds and improved provisions that accompanied the move.5 Redbird was in favor of the Cherokee people meeting equally 1. He felt the prosperity and welfare of the Indian Nation and his family depended upon an undivided front.

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Sam Sixkiller: Cherokee Frontier Lawman

1877 – John Larn resigned as Sheriff of Shackleford County, Texas because he and John Selman were found to be stock thieves.

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Sam Sixkiller: Cherokee Frontier Lawman

Gunfight

Although his exploits on the job were every bit courageous as Wild Bill Hickok or Wyatt Earp, the name of Sam Sixkiller is scarcely recognized today. The criminal class that invaded the Indian Nation in the region now known as Oklahoma from 1870 to 1886 had to argue with an Indian constabulary forcefulness known every bit the Lighthorsemen, of which Sam Sixkiller was a member. His ability to fearlessly handle equus caballus thieves, bootleggers, murderers, and rapists that perpetrated such illegal acts on Indian land earned him the respect of his people and fellow officers.

As High Sheriff in Tahlequah, the capitol of the Cherokee Nation, Sixkiller apprehended white lawbreakers selling rot-gut whiskey to Indians and squared off confronting hostile mixed-bloods like "Badman Dick Glass." Glass had a reputation that rivaled Jesse James; some said he was fifty-fifty more ruthless. The sheriff wasn't intimidated by the outlaw and did what was needed to bring him in. Sam Sixkiller non but arrested outlaws and placed them in jail, but likewise served as the warden of the very facility that housed the lawbreakers.

From Tahlequah, Sixkiller moved on to Muskogee, in present-day Oklahoma where he was promoted to Captain of the Lighthorsemen and helped to bring peace to the volatile expanse. When the railroads sliced through the mural, Helm Sixkiller was named a special agent to the rail lines, thwarting attempted robberies and staying off whiskey peddlers hoping to transport their goods across the region. Isaac Parker, the famous 12th Judicial Circuit Gauge that held courtroom at Fort Smith, Arkansas from 1868 to 1898, was so impressed with Captain Sixkiller's tenacity and dedication to law and order he recommended the officer be given a committee as a United states of america Deputy Align. These additional responsibilities further exposed the lawman to some of society'south well-nigh dangerous characters.

A legal altercation between Sixkiller and a pair of fierce repeat offenders named Richard Vann and Alf Cunningham sparked a vendetta that led to the lawman's decease. Off duty and unarmed, Sixkiller was ambushed and killed by the criminals on Christmas Eve in 1886.

The death of Captain Sixkiller exposed a serious void in the federal police as it pertained to those who murdered Native American U.S. Deputy Marshals. There was nothing on the books that made it a federal offense to kill an Indian officer. Although legislation to right this heinous oversight eventually passed, information technology came as well late to bear upon the cowards that robbed Sixkiller of his life.

Sam Sixkiller died a martyr to the cause of law and order. His story is not merely about his life and untimely demise, merely also about the everyday life of a frontier constable and the duties he performed, from the mundane to the perilous.

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Sam Sixkiller: Cherokee Borderland Lawman

1896 – Barney Riggs was a convicted murderer who was sentenced to life in Yuma Territorial Prison house but won parole for saving the warden'southward life during a breakout attempt in October 1887.

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Sam Sixkiller: Cherokee Frontier Lawman

SamPhotoSixkiller

Constable Sam Sixkiller led his horse through a belt of sparse timber along the Illinois River in Southeast Oklahoma. He was a stocky, nighttime-skinned, heavy-shouldered man with a neatly trimmed, droopy mustache, and small night eyes that were flatly calculating.ane They shifted purposely from the streams of sunlight off a growth of blackberry bushes to the rocky path dancing before him. Apart from the sound of his roan's hooves slowly moving through the sweetness-gum shrubs and brusque grass, there was a mingling of a trio of agitated voices wafting through the warm air.two

Sam urged his ride into a immigration where three half-blooded Cherokee-Seminole Indians sat playing die.3 In between rolls of the die the men drank from an amber-colored bottle they eagerly shared with each other. Scattered beside the men were four empty bottles of liquor. The drunken Indians barely noticed Sam slowly inching his equus caballus into their crude military camp.

The men were undisturbed by Sam'south presence and continued with their game. They argued over whose turn information technology was, nearly coming to blows over which actor went next. Sam watched them toss the dice on a thick coating. At get-go glance, the blanket appeared to be draped over a log. The closer he got to the activeness the more than it became clear the make-shift table was actually the torso of a quaternary Indian. A stream of dried blood had trickled out from nether the covering and pooled around a stand of butterfly weeds.

Sam scrutinized the scene more carefully and spotted a massive knife inside reach of the Indian closest to him. Sam casually pushed his jacket over the half dozen-shooter strapped on his side, revealing not merely the weapon, but the slightly tarnished badge that showed he was a member of the Cherokee Nation law. One by one the men turned and looked at the lawman. For a breathless instant Sam watched the knife, expecting ane of the Indians to snap it upward. Without saying a discussion the three got to their feet, wavering a scrap equally they did so. Sam pulled his gun out of his holster and leveled it at the men as he lifted his 5 feet eight inch frame off his horse. He motioned for the men to dorsum away from the body, and they reluctantly complied. Disgusted, Sam walked over to one of the bottles and kicked it hard. It spun into a nearby stone and bankrupt. What niggling booze was left inside information technology spilled out and quickly soaked into the dry land.

Sam made his way to the motionless man on the ground and, using the toe of his kick, rolled him out from under the blanket. The man was dead. In that location was a deep cut across his throat, and his limbs were stiff.

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Sam Sixkiller: Cherokee Frontier Lawman

1898 – A posse led by Valentine Hoy cornered escaped convicts Harry Tracy, Dave Lant, and Swede Johnson in Browns Park, Colorado.  As he approached them Hoy was shot through the center by Tracy.

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Sam Sixkiller: Cherokee Frontier Lawman

SamSixkiller

Sam Sixkiller was ane of the most accomplished lawmen in 1880s Oklahoma Territory. And in many means, he was a typical constabulary enforcement official, minding the peace and gun slinging in the however-wild Westward. What gear up Sam Sixkiller apart was his Cherokee heritage. Sixkiller'south sworn duty was to uphold the law, but he likewise took it upon himself to protect the traditional mode of life of the Cherokee. Sixkiller'due south temper, deportment, and convictions earned him more than than a few enemies, and in 1886 he was assassinated in an ambush.

This biography takes a sweeping, cinematic look at the short, tragic life of Sam Sixkiller and his days policing the streets of the Wild West.  Sam Sixkiller:  Cherokee Frontier Constable was honored by the Oklahoma Historical Society as the Most Outstanding Book on Oklahoma History in 2012.

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Sam Sixkiller and his career as a fearless peace officer read

Sam Sixkiller: Cherokee Frontier Lawman

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1890 – Beatriz Michelena, American silent film era extra and operatic soprano, producer (d. 1942)