The Rufus Buck Gang was an

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...

Native American gang whose members were

Creek Indian The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southe ...

and

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

. Their crime spree took place in the

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...

of the

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

area from July 30 1895 through August 4 of 1896. Formed by Rufus Buck, the gang consisted also of Lewis Davis, Sam Sampson, Maoma July, and Lucky Davis. The gang began building up a small stockpile of weapons while staying in

Okmulgee, Oklahoma Okmulgee is a city in, and the county seat of, Okmulgee County, Oklahoma. The name is from the Mvskoke word ''okimulgee,'' which means "boiling waters".Bamburg, Maxine"Okmulgee,"''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. Accessed June 16 ...

. After killing U.S. deputy marshal John Garrett on July 30, 1895, the gang began holding up various stores and ranches in the Fort Smith area during the next two weeks. In one incident, a salesman named Callahan – after being robbed – was offered a chance to escape if he could outrun the gang. When the elderly Callahan successfully escaped, the gang killed his assistant in frustration. At least two female victims who were raped by the gang died of their injuries.

List of crimes committed by the gang

*July 30, 1895: Killing of US Deputy Marshal John Garrett *July 31, 1895: Coming across a white man and his daughter in a wagon, the gang held the man at gunpoint and took the girl. *They killed a black boy and beat Ben Callahan until they mistakenly believed he was dead, then took Callahan's boots, money, and saddle. *Robbing of country stores of West and J. Norrberg at Orket, Oklahoma *Murder of two white women and a 14-year-old girl *August 4: Rape of a Mrs Hassen near

Sapulpa, Oklahoma Sapulpa is a city in Creek and Tulsa counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 20,544 at the 2010 United States census, compared to 19,166 at the 2000 census. The population as of 2022 is 22,205. As of 2019, the estimated popul ...

. Hassen and two of three other female victims of the gang—a Miss Ayres and an Indian girl near Sapulpa—also died; a fourth victim, Mrs Wilson, was reported to have recovered; it is reported that, after their capture, the gang was almost

lynched Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...

Capture and hanging of the gang

Continuing attacks on both local settlers and Creek indiscriminately, the gang was captured outside Muskogee by a combined force of lawmen and Indian police of the Creek Light Horse, led by Marshal S. Morton Rutherford, on August 10. While the Creek wanted to hold the gang for trial, the men were brought before "Hanging" Judge

Isaac Parker Isaac Charles Parker (October 15, 1838 – November 17, 1896), also known as “Hanging Judge” Parker, was an American politician and jurist. He served as a United States representative from Missouri and was appointed as the first United Stat ...

. He twice sentenced them to death, the first sentence not being carried out pending an ultimately unsuccessful appeal to the Supreme Court. They were hanged on July 1, 1896 at 1 pm at Fort Smith.

Depiction in culture

A slightly modified account of the gang's crimes is the basis for the novel ''Winding Stair'' by

Douglas C. Jones Douglas Clyde Jones (December 6, 1924 – August 30, 1998) was an American author of historical fiction, including alternative history fiction. As a boy, he had lived for a time in Fort Smith, Arkansas, adjacent to former Indian territory. Dougla ...

. The Buck gang, "Hanging Judge"

, half-black, half-Indian outlaw

Cherokee Bill Crawford Goldsby (February 8, 1876 – March 17, 1896) was a 19th-century American outlaw, known by the alias Cherokee Bill. Responsible for the murders of eight men (including his brother-in-law), he and his gang terrorized the Indian Territory f ...

, and the socio-political environment at the death of Indian Territory are the subjects of the 2011 historical novel ''I Dreamt I Was in Heaven - The Rampage of the Rufus Buck Gang'' by Leonce Gaiter. The story of the gang served as an inspiration for the 2021 Western film ''

The Harder They Fall The Harder They Fall may refer to: * ''The Harder They Fall'' (1956 film), an American boxing film noir directed by Mark Robson. * ''The Harder They Fall'' (2021 film), an American Western film directed by Jeymes Samuel. * "The Harder They Fall", ...

'', in which Rufus Buck was portrayed by

Idris Elba Idrissa Akuna Elba (; born 6 September 1972) is an English actor.

. The gang was also featured in the 2019 film '' Hell on the Border''.

References

{{reflist

External links

Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Buck Gang

Annual report of the Department of the Interior, Volume 2 1896 .p.158
* http://www.jcs-group.com/oldwest/outlaws/rufus.html Outlaw gangs in the United States Outlaws of the American Old West Gangs in Arkansas Gangs in Oklahoma Muscogee culture

List of crimes committed by the gang

Capture and hanging of the gang

Depiction in culture

See also

References

External links