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Joe P. Jennings to Wesley L. Johnson

Jennings, Joe P. rode with Deputy Marshal George Thornton trying to capture the Doolin gang after the Wharton train robbery.  Both deputy marshals worked out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Territory.  In 1889, Joe Jennings was commissioned under Marshal William Jones in the Northern District of Indian Territory, stationed at Alfred Station.  Deputy Marshals Jennings and R. L. Cox served in that area earlier, working to control horse thieves.  In September of 1894, the Kingfisher Times reported that Joe Jennings, a one time deputy marshal, filed a land claim on Bear Creek Bottoms in the Sac Fox country.  Officers Jennings and Frey were in charge of desperado Clyde Maddox when he escaped near Ponca City in December of 1898.  An accomplice named Oscar Taylor allowed the prisoner to escape when he drove him to his freedom. 

The Kingfisher Times - September 20, 1894

The Alva Pioneer - December 23, 1898

Oklahoma Land Rush Of 1889

West Of Hell's Fringe 

Jeremiah, Andrew was commissioned on August 1, 1872, in the Western District at Ft. Smith, Arkansas, under Marshal Logan S. Roots. Deputy Marshal Jeremiah lived in the Cherokee Nation. 

Ft. Smith Federal Court Employee Database

Ft. Smith Oaths of Office

Ft. Smith Historical List

Jernigan, Daniel B. was commissioned in the Western District at Ft. Smith, Arkansas. 

Ft. Smith Federal Court Employee Database

Jobe, H. V. was commissioned on February 26, 1895, in the Western District at Ft. Smith, Arkansas, serving under Marshal George J. Crump. 

Ft. Smith Federal Court Employee Database

Ft. Smith Oaths of Office Ft. Smith Historical List

Johnson, Arthur D. was commissioned in the Western District at Ft. Smith, Arkansas. 

Ft. Smith Federal Court Employee Database

Ft. Smith Historical List

Johnson, A. Sid was commissioned on July 2, 1896, in the Western District at Ft. Smith, Arkansas, serving under Marshal George J. Crump.  Deputy Marshal Johnson lived in Checotah, Indian Territory. 

Ft. Smith Federal Court Employee Database

Ft. Smith Oaths of Office

Ft. Smith Historical List

Johnson, A. W. was working with Deputy Marshal Ryan on October 21, 1896, when they were summoned to arrest a thief in the Ardmore area.  Their search took them to the home of Jess Stedham who was reported to be hiding the wanted man.  Officer Johnson went to the front door while Ryan went to the rear.  As Johnson tried to gain entrance he was shot by Stedham who fired a ball through the door, passing through his body, killing him almost instantly. 

The Weekly Elevator - November 6, 1896

Oklahombres  

Killed in the line of duty.

Johnson, Frank W.  was commissioned in 1890 and on January 13, 1892, in the Western District of Arkansas, serving under Marshal Jacob Yoes.  In June of 1890, Frank captured two Seminole Indians who were charged with selling liquor in Indian Territory. 

Atoka Indian Citizen - June 28, 1890

Ft. Smith Federal Court Employee Database

Ft. Smith Oaths of Office

Ft. Smith Historical List

Johnson, George H. was commissioned in the Western District at Ft. Smith, Arkansas. He served in Oklahoma Territory in 1895, under Marshal Evett Nix.

U.S. Deputy Marshals, I. T. & O. T., 1893 - 1896

Ft. Smith Federal Court Employee Database

Johnson, Grant was a Negro deputy marshal who started working in the Western District at Ft. Smith, Arkansas, in 1887, serving under Marshal Jacob Yoes.  He was commissioned again on May 29, 1893, under Marshal George J. Crump.  In July of 1896, Grant served his last commission in the Western District.  In April of 1890, Deputy Marshal Johnson arrested Joe Winn who was charged with introducing whiskey in Indian Territory.  The act of 1895, which created three districts in Indian Territory, placed Grant in the Northern District at Eufaula, Indian Territory, where he lived and worked until 1906.  In 1895, Grant arrested Amos McIntosh, who killed Deputy Marshal Lee Adkins in late 1894, at Checotah.  Grant was commissioned again into the Northern District in 1897, remaining at Eufaula.  Grant arrested a Mr. Cook at Eufaula then transported him to Ft. Smith, Arkansas.  In 1899 Grant arrested a Creek Indian, John Tiger, who had gone on a drunken rampage killing three men and shooting at a small boy.  The drunken Indian lost his nerve when he was confronted by Deputy Marshal Johnson.  Grant shot Tiger in the right arm, which forced him to surrender.  In January of 1901, Grant reported the full blood Creek Indians called “Snake Band” were on the warpath, whipping and mistreating the peaceful Indians.  The full bloods were anti-treaty, trying to force the rest of the tribe to not enter into a treaty.  In 1902, Grant was assigned to Eufaula in the Western District of Indian Territory, under Marshal Leo Bennett.  He arrested Chito Harjo an Indian leader with twenty followers who refused to file their land allotments of 160 acres each with the federal government.   This demonstration would be called the “Crazy Snake Rebellion”.  Harjo, along with his followers, was taken to Hickory Ground where they were kept until they calmed down.  In 1904, Grant Johnson was working with Deputy Marshal Bud Ledbetter when they arrested Jim Tiger and another Indian named Fish, fifteen miles southwest of Eufaula. When the arrest occurred Johnson had separated from Ledbetter and was riding alone when he spotted the two men riding leisurely along the trail.  He demanded their surrender which surprised him but soon found out that both men were unarmed.  At the time, seventy-five deputy marshals were scouring the area trying to capture the two men who were charged with killing Deputy Marshal Fink, at Weleetka.  Fink had tried to serve a warrant of arrest and they resisted arrest.  Albert Tiger said Fish killed Deputy Fink.  He said he asked him not to shoot, but Fish would not heed and the deputy was shot down.  In July of 1905, Grant tried to serve a warrant of arrest to a Negro named McIntosh two miles east of Enterprise.  McIntosh, charged with murder, chose not to be taken in by the deputy marshal.  When McIntosh was confronted, a gun battle developed leaving McIntosh dead. 

The Arapaho Bee - December 9, 1904, August 4, 1905

Atoka Indian Citizen - April 19, 1890

The Weekly Elevator - August 12, November 18, December 22, 1892; May 5, July 7, and September 2, 1893

Ft. Smith Elevator - March 18, 1892

The Woodward Bulletin - February 1, 1901, February 28, 1902

The Taloga Advocate - March 6, 1902

Indian Journal, Eufaula - December 9, 1904

Indian Pioneer History - Bill Brassfield

Indian Pioneer History - James M. Calhoun

Indian Pioneer History - Elijah Conger

Indian Pioneer History - John H. Hubble

Indian Pioneer History - W.R. Mulkey

Indian Pioneer History J.C. Presley

The Western Peace Officer 

Picture - Experiences Of A U.S. Deputy Marshal

Black History in Oklahoma

Black Red and Deadly

Ft. Smith Oaths of Office

Ft. Smith Federal Court Employee Database

Johnson, G. W.  was commissioned in the Western District of Arkansas in 1899. 

Ft. Smith Federal Court Employee Database

Ft. Smith Historical List

Johnson, J. E. was commissioned on October 10, 1894, in the Western District at Ft. Smith, Arkansas, serving under Marshal George J. Crump.  Deputy Marshal Johnson lived in Nebraska, Arkansas. 

 Ft. Smith, Federal Court Employee Database

Ft. Smith Oaths of Office

Ft. Smith Historical List

Johnson, J. F. was commissioned on June 1, 1889, in the Western District at Ft. Smith, Arkansas, serving under Marshal Jacob Yoes. 

Ft. Smith Federal Court Employee Database

Ft. Smith Oaths of Office

Ft. Smith Historical List

Johnson, James Anderson was commissioned in the Western District at Ft. Smith, Arkansas. 

Ft. Smith Federal Court Employee Database

Ft. Smith Historical List

Johnson, James H. was commissioned on February 21, 1895, in the Western District at Ft. Smith, Arkansas, serving under Marshal George J. Crump.  Deputy Marshal Johnson lived in Sasakiwa, Creek Nation. 

Ft. Smith Federal Court Employee Database

Ft. Smith Oaths of Office

Ft. Smith Historical List

Johnson, John T. was commissioned on December 22, 1894, in the Western District at Ft. Smith, Arkansas, serving under Marshal George J. Crump. 

Ft. Smith Federal Court Employee Database

Ft. Smith Oaths of Office

Ft. Smith Historical List

Johnson, John W. worked out of Vinita, Oklahoma, with Deputy Marshals James Mershon and L. W. Marks.  The lawmen served a warrant of arrest to a man and his son who derailed a train. Several freedmen came upon the scene, looting the goods and merchandise that was readily accessible to them.  The incident was caused when the farmer had a cow killed on the railroad right-of-way.  The farmer was dissatisfied with the settlement the train company offered to him so they derailed the train.

Indian Pioneer History - William Anthony Cummins

Picture - Black Red and Deadly

Ft. Smith Historical List

Johnson, N. P. was commissioned in the Northern District of Indian Territory in July of 1902, serving under Marshal W. H. Darroughs and assigned as office deputy at Vinita. 

Ft. Smith Elevator - July 18, 1902

Johnson, O. H. was commissioned on November 5, 1891, in the Western District at Ft. Smith, Arkansas, serving under Marshal Jacob Yoes. 

Ft. Smith Federal Court Employee Database

Ft. Smith Oaths of Office

Ft. Smith Historical List

Johnson, Pierce  In December of 1893, deputy Marshals Pierce Johnson, Lawson, and G. W. Gideon were working near Fort Washita, Chickasaw Nation trying to arrest two men who fired on the officers, killing G. W. Gideon, shooting Johnson in the hand and Lawson in the stomach.  The two men escaped after a brief gunfight. 

The Weekly Elevator - December 15, 1893

Johnson, Rodell was commissioned in the Western District of Arkansas in 1902.

Ft. Smith Historical List

Johnson, Sid was commissioned in the Western District of Arkansas in 1891, serving with Deputy Marshals John Humberd and Bud Keel. Sid served with Bob and Grat Dalton while they were deputy marshals in 1887 to 1890.  On July 15, 1892, Sid was part of a posse that tried to stop a train robbery by the Dalton gang in Adair, Cherokee Nation.  Sid received an arm wound in a running gun battle when they pursued the outlaws. On December 10, 1894, Sid was commissioned in the Western District by Marshal George J. Crump.   In 1897, Deputy Marshal Johnson was commissioned in the Northern District under Marshal Leo Bennett.  In November of 1898, Bud Ledbetter and Sid Johnson were riding in a railroad car that was held up by the Texas Jack Gang.  Texas Jack headed the gang, with gang members Nathaniel Reed, Jim and Dick Dyer.  The two deputy marshals stopped the train robbery, forcing the outlaws to retreat.  During the robbery attempt Deputy Marshal Ledbetter shot Texas Jack in the hip.  The two lawmen helplessly watched the gang as they made their escape for they did not have their horses. Sid was commissioned on May 18, 1899 and October 27, 1914 while he lived in Vinita, Cherokee Nation. 

Indian Pioneer History - John Humberd

Indian Pioneer History - Guy Wallace

Picture -Experiences Of A U.S. Deputy Marshal

Bill Doolin O. T.

Picture - The Western Peace Officer

Encyclopedia Of A Western Gun-Fighter 

West Of Hell’s Fringe

Ft. Smith Federal Court Employee Database

Ft. Smith Oaths of Office

Ft. Smith Historical List 

Johnson, Thomas B. was first commissioned on September 27, 1889, in the Western District at Ft. Smith, Arkansas, serving under Marshal Jacob Yoes.  He worked with Deputy Marshal Todd Hunter in the Piney community where they tried to eliminate bootleggers who were involved in peddling whiskey to the Indians.  Johnson came to Indian Territory from Fayetteville, Arkansas.  On November 2, 1892, Johnson was one of the deputy marshals that killed Ned Christie.  His part in the battle at Ned’s Fort was to serve as a guide.  See:  “Capture Of Ned Christie” for more information.  On June 9, 1893, He was commissioned by Marshal George Crump in the Western District at Arkansas.  In 1895, Tom was assigned to the Northern Court of Indian Territory at Muskogee, living in Vinita.  Indian Pioneer History interviewer John H. Bright remembered Deputy Marshal Tom Johnson living at Siloam Springs; he had auburn hair, was tall and slender, wore a big mustache and was high strung.  He was killed by Ben Cravens on April 7, 1901 and when he was told that he would die he said; “Well I’ve met other troubles, I guess I can meet this. ”

Ft. Smith Elevator - February 12, 1886; May 16, 1890; June 17, 1892

Cleo Chieftain - April 14, 1901

Indian Pioneer History - Jesse Adair

Indian Pioneer History - James Sherman Brown

Indian Pioneer History - Edward Hines

Indian Pioneer History - Joe Hogner

Indian Pioneer History - Andrew J. Langley

Indian Pioneer History - C. B. Rhodes

Indian Pioneer History - Tom Johnson

Experiences Of A U.S. Deputy Marshal

Iron Men Black Red And Deadly

Picture - 1880 -1890 -  Heck Thomas

Outlaws and Peace Officers Of Indian Territory

Picture - Hell on the Border-Harman

Picture - Muskogee Genealogical Society

File #10, Indian Library, Oklahoma Historical Library

Ft. Smith Federal Court Employee Database

Ft. Smith Oaths of Office

 Ft. Smith Historical List

Johnson, William Eugene “Pussyfoot” was called to put the town of Caney, Kansas, back in order.  Located near the border of Indian Territory, the town gained a reputation of being one of the wildest, wide open towns in the area.  The Killian family was the chief proprietors, operating a saloon, gambling and sporting houses.  The lawlessness of the small town resulted in numerous killings.  The Killian bunch worked with the city marshal to have people arrested, then placed in jail under false pretext.   The city marshal sold liquor from Killian’s saloon to the prisoners in jail.  Deputy Marshal Johnson was summoned to preserve the peace in Caney which took only a short time.  Johnson gave the gang a choice, surrender to him or be shot.  The gang members that heeded his warning were arrested and transported to federal prison, those who resisted arrest were shot.  Pussyfoot will long be remembered for his fight against liquor in Oklahoma, Minnesota and New Mexico.  The effect of the white man's firewater upon the Indian was devastating as it drove them into poverty, separation of their family, abuse and a craziness which caused them to kill anything that opposed them.  In 1910, he was called to New Mexico to clean up the conditions among the Pueblo Indians which suffered from the crooked politicians. 

Kingfisher Daily Times - August 4, 1917

The Daily Oklahoman - June 17, 1917 

Indian Pioneer History - Jack Dillon

Johnson, W. H. was commissioned in the Western District at Ft. Smith, Arkansas. 

Ft. Smith Federal Court Employee Database

Ft. Smith Historical List

Johnson, Wesley L. was commissioned on June 17, 1890 in the Western District at Ft. Smith, Arkansas, serving under Marshal Jacob Yoes.  He served as deputy marshal out of the Southern District Court of Indian Territory at Paris, Texas, working in the Chickasaw Nation. 

Indian Pioneer History - George Lloyd Poston

Ft. Smith Federal Court Employee Database

Ft. Smith Oaths of Office

Ft. Smith Historical List