Matt Cook, best known as the riding companion of John Swain, is a person of interest to me. I've been trying to determine when he became a deputy, and for which court, and for how long he served. One reference says he was commissioned at Paris, Texas on 4/12/1888 without citing a reference. That may be correct as thus far I know he was a guard for Bill Carr's bull pen jail at Purcell on April 14, 1888. And, that he made an arrest in 1889. From 1890 forward through 1895 there are numerous mentions of him in Chickasaw Nation papers which means he survived the changing of the Marshal in 1894. Anyway, if anyone had done any work on Cook or know of a source with some meaningful information, I'd appreciate a post.

Cook, Matt was commissioned in the Southern District Court in Indian Territory at Paris, Texas. On April 12, 1889,

Matt Cook was a deputy U.S. marshal for the Southern District of Indian Territory. He was serving as a deputy U.S. marshal in Oklahoma Territory in 1894-1895.
**REFERENCES**
-“Guthrie Representative”, August 16, 1894
-“Guthrie Representative”, October 4, 1894
-“Purcell Register”, January 11, 1895
-“Purcell Register”, March 29, 1895
-“Purcell Register”, August 30, 1895
-Fort Smith National Historic Site Federal Employee Database, 1872-1896
-Indian Pioneer Papers, Lem F. Blevins Interview, May 20, 1937, #4118