John A. McAllister is first noticed as a law enforcement officer in December, 1887 when he was part of a posse sent to arrest William Towerly, the teen aged horse thief who shot and killed Deputy US Marshal Frank Dalton on the 27th of November.
His law enforcement career was short lived. In the first week of February, 1889, McAllister and John Swain were at Purcell in a house where there were several women. Swain jokingly bet McAllister he could not shoot the knob off a bureau. McAllister, thinking he had no more live ammunition in his firearm; drew his pistol, and pulled the trigger. But, instead of the expected snap, the pistol fired, startling the inhabitants of the house. Embarrassed, both deputies apologized and left.
Charles Stein, whose relationship to the house is unknown, rushed in shortly afterward and on finding what the racket had been about, grabbed a Winchester and hurried out. Spotting the departing men, Stein began firing, one shot striking McAllister and passing through a lung. As Swain was unarmed and McAllister had no more ammo, they ran from Stein, stopping at 150 yards where McAllister collapsed.
Meanwhile Stein mounted a horse and left. As soon as possible, Swain organized a posse and pursued Stein about 70 miles before coming up on him on open prairie. Stein chose to fight rather than surrender and was shot to death. McAllister lingered for nearly three weeks before he, too, died.
There are several unanswered questions regarding McAllister. The first is the proper spelling of his name, with some reports using two “L’s” and others using one. There is no known biographical information. His age, home, and life before his sojourn in the Indian Territory are a complete blank. And, lastly, it’s not known where McAllister is buried.
Another question that comes to mind is whether the man Stein was related to Ed Stein, brotherin law to Jim and Pink Lee who killed deputy Guy and the Roff brothers. Anyway, this is an invitation to anyone who might know the answer to these questions to share your knowledge.