W.H. "Bill" Carr was a Deputy U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Arkansas and District of Kansas. He was probably the first Federal officer permanently assigned. He lived in the city from 1887-1890 than moved to Lexington where he operated a saloon and then on to the Pottawatomie Reserve where he opened a general store near Sacred Heart.

 

John A. McAllister was a Deputy U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Arkansas. Assigned May 1888, he was shot and killed February 1889 by Charles Stein in Purcell.

 

John Swain took over McAllister's position in February 1889. Swain held dual commissions from Ft. Smith, Arkansas and the Eastern District of Texas, Paris, Texas. Swain lost his commission a few days before he was shot and killed by Charley Vincent on January 9, 1895.

 

Fredrick Tecumseh Waite was a U.S. Indian Police Constable and a U.S. Deputy Marshal in 1889-90. Though he lived in Pauls Valley, he was specifically ordered to divide his time and duties between Pauls Valley and Purcell. In his youth, Waite had been involved in the Lincoln County War and was a friend of Billy the Kid.

 

Charles P. Smith was active in Purcell by March 1888. A 1935 article says he had previously served as a Texas Ranger and Deputy Sheriff of Mason County, Texas. The article also states he arrived as an U.S. Indian Police Constable and Deputy U.S. Marshal and served for ten years. It is not known which of the Marshal's offices Smith was commissioned from, but it's likely his first appointment was from the Indian Affairs office at Muskogee and the Marshal's office at Ft. Smith. Later appointments probably came from Paris and the Indian Territory Courts.

 

Matt Cook was a Deputy U.S. Marshal who began his Federal service as a guard for Bill Carr's prisoner camp just outside Purcell. The camp was established in March 1888. He seems to have begun operating as a Deputy in 1890 and served through 1898 under a commission from the Paris court.

 

Joe McNally was a Deputy U.S. Marshal who began working in Purcell in May 1889 after the Eastern District of Texas received jurisdiction of felonies in the Chickasaw Nation. Joe established a new prisoner's camp six miles southeast of Purcell. He was active in the area up to about 1894.

 

W.S. Lowe, Deputy U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Texas, was active during the same period as Joe McNally.

 

W.W. Ansley was the chief Deputy Marshal for the Indian Territory Civil Court at Muskogee. He assumed his duties in March 1889, and through not resident to Purcell, was active in the Purcell area by April 1889.

 

Hugh T. Childers was the assigned Deputy U.S. Marshal for Purcell from the Indian Territory Court 1889-90.

 

Walter Emerson "Jake" Hocker was appointed Deputy U.S. Marshal by the Eastern District of Texas in January 1894 and assigned to assist Matt Cook as resident deputy for Purcell, I.T. Jake was the younger half brother of Commissioner Billy (James W.) Hocker and an early resident of Purcell. In August 1895 Jake was severely wounded in a gun fight with the outlaw Christian brothers. Hocker was no longer active after 1896. Jake later moved to Elk City where he became prominent in railroads and banking.

 

Charles Floyd Worley, a Pauls Valley merchant, was appointed in 1895 as a United States Indian Police Constable and assigned to the first permanent Commissioner's Court at Purcell for the Southern District of Indian Territory. Worley also participated in the Christian fight and later became a Deputy Marshal at Pauls Valley. After statehood he was elected the first Sheriff of Garvin County and then was appointed to be the second superintendent of the Oklahoma Bureau of Identification, which later became the OSBI.

 

Lorenzo D. Dickerson was a Deputy U.S. Marshal with the Eastern District of Texas from 1889-1893. His older brother was the Marshal. Then in 1893-1896 Ran was a U.S. Commissioner at Stonewall, I.T. He married a Chickasaw girl, began a large ranch and served as a member of the Chickasaw Legislature before statehood. Ran Dickerson was also elected Mayor of Purcell in 1905.

 

William "Chris" Boyer was a U.S. Jailer at Purcell, S. District for 4 years. He was formerly a Deputy U.S. Marshal for 4 years under Capt. John S. Hammer of Ardmore. He was a resident of Indian Territory for 33 years.

 

This list is by no means inclusive. There were many Deputy Marshals of the Southern District of Indian Territory in the late 1890's and early 1900's not included here.

There is more info on the Hocker brothers in the Museum files. You can also see photos of John Swain, Matt Cook, Law officers at Paris, TX, Fred Waite and John Will Burks and Robert Nestor of Ada.