Edward B. “Coon” Ratterree, made famous in Larry McMurtry’s novel “Zeke and Ned”, was a Deputy U.S. Marshal in Indian Territory from 1889 to 1896.
Ratterree lived one mile south of Poteau Switch for several years. Presently, this would be around the Carl Albert State College area. Ratterree served in the Western District at Fort Smith, Arkansas. For several months out of the year, he spent most of his time on horseback or in court at Fort Smith.
Typical of his life, Ratterree would spend several months tracking down known criminals in order to bring them to justice. One such incident, in May of 1890, Ratterree arrested W. L. Daniels at Prairie Grove, Texas, who was wanted on an assault to kill charge. The outlaw had a reward of $150 on his head.
Outlaws, Marshals and Lawmen
Train robbers, bank robbers, and other gun-toting outlaw gangs are all a part of the heritage of LeFlore County. Throughout the years, the stories of these outlaws have made for great novels and movies. However, the grim reality is that law and order in the early days of Oklahoma was a deadly business, and shootouts between outlaws and lawmen were common.
Newspapers of the age are filled with numerous stories of shootouts, murders, and robberies, such as these stories:
A local newspaper reported, “J. M. Harris and Elisha Harris were charged with the murder of William Webb at Poteau Switch on January 15, 1888. Both J. M. Harris and Elisha Harris were acquitted on April 17, 1889”.
On Thursday, January 17, 1889, a local newspaper reported of a triple killing a few miles north of Poteau Switch. The fight was between two brothers and three other men.
Another report mentions the murder of two officers on July 17, 1898 by Jasper Simpson. The victims were Deputy U. S. Marshals L. S. Hill and J. B. Grady.
Crimes such as this had a devastating effect on people’s lives. While outlaws such as Belle Starr and the James Gang have been sensationalized, the simple fact is that they were notorious criminals who simply had a way of avoiding the law – for a while.
In Sugarloaf County of the Choctaw Nation, later LeFlore County, laws that were broke ranged from petty thievery, horse and cattle thieves, robbery, rape, and murder. By 1902, horse and cattle thievery had become so rampant that an anti-horse thief organization was formed in Poteau Switch. Many ranchers willingly paid the 10 cents per month dues in order to receive some protection from the thieves.
While the Choctaw Nation had the Light horsemen to keep peace among the Native Americans, virtually no law enforcement existed for whites in Indian Territory.
Judge Isaac Parker, better known as the "Hanging Judge," took on the outlaws who hid out in the Indian Territory, hiring almost 200 deputy marshals to track down the lawbreakers who robbed and killed in both Oklahoma and the surrounding states. Indian Territory was a favorite hiding place for outlaws wanted elsewhere because there was no law to extradite them for their crimes in another state or territory. Parker’s court was the only court available for the 74,000 square miles of Indian Territory. Judge Isaac Parker served from May 10, 1875 to September 1, 1896.
Many of the U.S. Marshals that Parker hired became well-known names throughout Poteau. Known U.S. Marshals that lived and patrolled in the county included Jimmie Hale, Bill (known as Will) H. Tucker, Melvin Tucker, Jack and Tony McClure, Henry Donathan, Joe Morgan of Sallisaw, Goodlow Gay, Ed Underwood, Emmert of Talihina, Eulas Pollan of Durant, and Edward B. “Coon” Ratteree of Cavanal. These Marshals were paid $100 per month.
U. S. Deputy Marshals that worked in Poteau and the surrounding areas included S. W. Tate, Allen M. McMurtrey, T. P. Hackett, John Wallace McMurtrey (served 1889-1896), R. E. Patrick (Served 1904-?), Wilson McKinney, John A. Hunt (Served 1907-1912), and Frank S. Gennung. Many of these men lived in Poteau.
The only detailed information available on the U.S. Deputy Marshals that lived in Poteau is that which was found on John McMurtrey, Wilson McKinney, and Frank S. Gennung.
John Wallace McMurtrey was commissioned on August 5, 1889, in the Western District at Ft. Smith, Arkansas, living in Poteau, Choctaw Nation. John later served as jailer in the Central District of Indian Territory at the Atoka jail. A forty by fifty foot brick two-story building served as a jail for the Choctaw Indian police and deputy marshals. The ground floor had three apartments. One apartment was for the jailer and guards, the second was for the white prisoners and the third was for the colored prisoners. The upper story had four apartments for women; one for white women, one for colored women and restrooms for each. The jail operated until 1913.
Wilson McKinney was appointed field deputy marshal in April of 1904, at Hughes. McKinney was appointed by Marshal George K. Pritchard of the Central District. In March of 1905, Deputy Marshal McKinney of Poteau went to arrest George McGuire, a whiskey peddler. The bootlegger pulled a gun, shooting Wilson. The wound was believed to be fatal. Bloodhounds were used to trail the guilty man. McGuire’s defense was he did not know McKinney was an officer.
Frank S. Gennung served in the Central District in 1895 and 1896. He went to Washington before the Attorney General and congress to issue a statement of the conditions in Indian Territory. Genning’s statement concluded that a ruling made by the Attorney General deprived the deputy marshals of fees in all federal cases in Indian Territory which left the door open for all kinds of crime and outlawry. Crimes not covered by fees would not be controlled by the deputy marshals and would be a travesty to the territory. Genning was one of the deputy marshals that transported nineteen prisoners from the Antlers court to stand trial in Poteau, then an additional ten prisoners were taken to the Ft. Smith jail to serve their sentences. Marshal Hackett was selected as Marshal over the Central District on March 19, 1901, when he selected Frank Genning as his Chief Deputy Marshal. The Attorney General’s office conducted an investigation and asked that Marshal Benjamin Hackett of the Central District be removed from office because he allowed several of his deputy marshals to perform misconduct while on duty. The deputies were charged with allowing prisoners to escape, being drunk while on duty and permitting liquor to enter Indian Territory. Deputy Marshal Gennung was cleared of any wrongdoing in the investigation that was concluded in February of 1894.
The Antlers Democrat dated March 8, 1901 tells a little more about the transfer of prisoners: “Jeff Jones helped the court officials transport nineteen prisoners from the Antlers court to the Poteau court for trial. They transported another ten prisoners to Ft. Smith, Arkansas, to serve their sentences. Jones served under Marshal J. P. Grady of the Central District Indian Territory.”
After statehood, law enforcement officers of Poteau included Sheriffs Carl Wagnon, John Hunt, Doc Kerbow, Marshal Blaylock, Jack Craig, and Hosea Pilgreen.
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