In the first years after statehood, terms of office for county officials in Oklahoma were limited to two years. In Garvin County,during the first four elections, a rivalry developed between Charles F. Worley and B. R. "Bush" Rayburn. Worley won the first election, and then the office see-sawed between the men. Worley did not get the upper hand in this contest until Rayburn, in 1917, landed an appointment as Deputy U. S. Marshal. Worley lost interest in the Sheriff's position in 1927 when he gained appointment as Superintendent of the State Bureau of Criminal Investigations, presently the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigations.
One of the more embarassing moments in the rivalry between Worley and Rayburn came in September, 1912, when Worley was Sheriff Elect, having gained ascendancy in the primary by less than 100 votes. Worley was not schecdule to take office until January, 1913, so Rayburn was Sheriff when a carnival came to town, and still Sheriff when the carnival left, carrying with it several stolen horses including a prized stallion belonging to none other than Sheriff-Elect Charles Worley. Now, you know something like this has to be annoying to both parties. Think about it: here are two men who have spent most of the previous year talking bad about each other; and now one has to rely on the other to impartially do his duty, while the other is going to have to get the blankety blank horse back, regardless of his personal distaste for the victim.
Well Worley, together with a small posse of othervictims, tried to track the stolen animals, but returned empty handed after an all day trip south beyond the Arbuckle Mountains. By the time Worley and posse got back to town, Rayburn had sent telegrams to Sheriffs in South Oklahoma and North Texas giving them the particulars on the stolen animals. Rayburn then spent 10 days in the field in another fruitless tracking expedition, which may have eased Worley's embarassment somewhat, but didn't solve the mystery. A couple of weeks later, Rayburn received a telegram from Sheriff Clipper Hamilton of Bryan County, identifying one of the stolen animals and the individual who had the horse. Rayburn left for Durant by train and arrived the following day, where he found the horses were not actually in Bryan County, but were supposedly at a location in neighboring Atoka County. Rayburn met Clipper and a deputy at Caney, a small town near the border. It was getting onto dark when the Sheriffs finally hooked up, but Clipper and Bush decided it might be better to approach the hideout in the night, so they started out driving a buggy with a "green broke" team. Well the boys got about a mile out into the boonies when a rabbit broke across the road spooking the half wild ponies, who launched into a runaway, upsetting the buggy and dumping poor Bush out into the road, spraining his back. So, there the posse was, in the dark, in the middle of nowhere, no transportation, and one of their members down in the back. Things did not look auspicious.
About an hour later, Bush found he could crip along at half speed and the posse set out in search of civilazation. About two miles down the road; they discovered the team securely tied by the reins wound around a tree and the wreckage of the wagon tangled amid the roadside brush. Discussion was held as the immediate and probable fate of the rebellious horses, whith each posse member viving for the priveledge of carrying forth a summary execution. However, common sense prevailed and an agreement was reached allowing the horses to live until other transport could be found. An hour later, a new wagon was borrowed from a farm house and, with harness repaired, the humorless posse and edgy horses marched on into the night.
About day break, some 10 miles from Caney, the posse found the stolen horses in a corral near a farm house belonging to John McDugal. Sending the deputy to guard the back door, Clipper and Bush slipped into a front bed room where the found the alleged horse theif, W. S. Oscar Poe, in peaceful slumber. That Poe was sleeping was a good thing because he had a reputation for one who could use firearms and the first thing the Sheriffs discovered on dragging Poe out of bed was an automatic pistol under his pillow and a Winchester machine gun propped against the wall.
Mr. McDugal, upset by being awaken by the noise of his guest being dragged out of bed by his heels, became more upset when he learned the horses he had purchased from Poe were stolen. Bush and Clipper did not take time to litagate McDugal's claim, they just bundle Poe and the horses up and took them back to Durant. A day or two later, Rayburn turned the stolen animals over to their rightful owners and gave Poe over to the citizens of Pauls Valley who were so happy to see Poe that they gave him five years accommodations at the State Penitentiary.
Warrants had been previous issued for local boys Will Martin and O.C. Armstrong, who had obligingly pointed out to the rustler, Poe, the residences of the finest mounts in town; admitting they had done this for compensation adequate to buy a bottle of whiskey. At trial, Armstrong was found not guilty, and Martin's case dissmissed, thereby proving that juries believe mitigating factors such as compensation for labor performed should not be held against a man.