Three direct questions: Were black Deputy U.S. Marshals (such as Bass Reeves) ever denied credit for arrests that they made? Were white marshals substituted for black marshals in the press, and maybe even in the official record? And finally, if the above two questions are yes, does anyone have any evidence of how often this occurred, and can you direct me to specific evidence? Maybe that’s four questions. - John

J. D. you probably need to direct your question to the Oklahoma Kid, especially if you want specific cases of such prejudice. I can tell you newspaper accounts, including the invalueable Ft. Smith court column in the Elevator, seemed to randomly pick deputies to report on as many times the court file reflects the arrest was made by someone else present. One instance, the shooting of Webb, was reported as the handiwork of James Mershon while in reality it was a gunfight of Bass Reeves. I also know the arrest of old man Christian, the father of outlaws Black Jack and Bob Christian, was reported by some as being made by black deputy Rufus Cannon and by other newspapers as being picked up by an Oklahoma Territory sheriff. I forget the name. When I get time I'll try to find the specific articles supporting the above two incidents. See Art Burton's two books, Black Red and Deadly and Black Gun, Silver Star.

J.D., Your question at this point in time is hard to ascertain. There is no apparent evidence I have seen that says this happened in the Indian or Oklahoma Territories. Could it have happened, yes. Judge Parker during his reign, ran a pretty tight ship. If it occurred it most likely happened in other courts after Parker.

There were instances where certain newspapers would ignore black deputies or try not to credit them for accomplishments. Toward the end of Parker's reign, the Fort Smith Elevator got openly hostile toward the black deputies. One interesting aspect of this was when Doolin was shot by the Heck Thomas posse. A newspaper stated that Doolin had been killed by posse member Rufus Cannon and later retracted the story in the same article. Cannon had been known to use a shotgun and shot the arm off a white train robber named Jesse Jackson.

In the Indian Territory, as it moved toward statehood in 1907, things got pretty harry for some of the black deputies. Especially those who worked out of the Ardmore federal court.

It would be hard to say what happened in the official record today. We do know it was not a cakewalk for a black deputy U.S. marshal in the Indian or Oklahoma Territories. Maybe someone will do the research on this aspect of law enforcement history on the Oklahoma frontier.

Oklahoma Kid and Tower - Thanks for your thoughts on this subject. I am reading Black Red and Deadly for the first time (really enjoying it by the way), and Black Gun Silver Star for the second time, plus a plethora of other books concerning the Territories.

I don't trust the press today to report a story truthfully. Concerning my question though, I guess that I was really just looking for some verification that many of the newspaper articles of old might have been flavored with what was perceived to be politically correct at that time in history, which (come to think of it) is probably a “no brainer.” I would think that there would have been a growing resentment of black officers receiving “too much” credit for deeds that they deserved full credit for, especially as statehood approached. And I think I might have been asking if there were instances where the press just outright lied about a black deputy’s involvement “inserting” a white officer name instead. But, in many cases, who would know?

I was not aware of the Reeves / Webb shooting being attributed to James Mershon, however it probably is in one of Art’s books somewhere – I have just forgotten it. I’ll re-read the section in Black Gun Silver Star tonight. Learning about Oklahoma history is like drinking out of a fire hose for me. I’ve just been at it a short while. It's just all very interesting to me. I realize I might have asked a question that is really a broad one. I’ll try to be more specific the next time. Thanks again - John