I am looking for where I might find any newspaper archives covering the town of Dustin in Hughes county. A great Uncle of mine Thomas J. Little, was the City Marshall there, and murdered by a prisoner of his(Homer Self). It is referenced in Ron Owens book "OKlahoma Heroes", and a brief article in the Oklahoman archives. If there might be other sources with more information, I would like to know where I can acquire that.
The date of the Murder was August 20th 1927. The trial date was in October of 1927.

According to the Hughes County Tribune (dtd 8/25/1927 {p1c8}): "Youth (Homer Self - age 23) Shoots Deputy Sheriff (/City Marshal Thomas J. Little - age 53) Near Dustin".

It is reported that Officer Little had discovered a moonshine still and/or a cache of liquor. He brought some of illicit booze to town, and moved the remainder to a different location for safe-keeping. When he went to retrieve the confiscated shine, he took Homer Self along to help him . . . and, may have "deputized" him.

At the trial, Self stated that both of them (Self & Little) were drinking and that Little became hostile and argumentative. A scuffle ensued and Self shot the Deputy with his (Little's) own gun.

According to the Hughes County Tribune (dtd 10/13/1927 {p1c4}), "Self Gets 10 Year Sentence in Penitentiary". The entire trial only took 1 1/2 days, and the jury was out a mere 3 hours to decide.

One of these articles mentions that Homer Self had previously been convicted in Coal County for another homicide, receiving a 3 year sentence; however, to date, had never served any time for this offense.

Also, according to the Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals {23OkCr349}, Homer Self had been convicted on 4/27/1921 for manufacturing liquor in McIntosh County, receiving a 30day sentence and a fine of $200, which was affirmed on 5/12/1923.

"Why" was Officer Little associating with this twice convicted character; and, "Why" was Self's punishment for killing an Officer of the Law - - only 10 years? I would think that it should have been more severe, unless there were some "extenuating circumstances" to the incident!

Oldwest,

Thank you for looking that up and providing that information. There have been family stories that Tom, though the Marshall, was a bit a ruffian himself. He may have actually have shot a brother in law for the bounty money. If you don't mind me asking, where were you able to access these Old Oklahoma Newspapers. That would help me in my research of other family stories good and bad. Thanks again.

The Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City has a huge collection of State-wide newspapers on micro-film.

E-mail me your "snail mail" address to: oldwest100@aol.com - - and, I'll send copies of the two articles (mentioned above) to you.