Marshall Co., OK; Newspaper Article: Five Died in Shooting at Buck Smith's Place - 1885 --------------------------------- Contributed by Okbits Submitted by: Nova A. Lemons Email: lemstar@juno.com --------------------------------- USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. Files may be printed or copied for personal use only. ---------------------------------------------------- Source: Marshall County: Lebanon, Chickasaw Nation ---------------------------------------------------- January 21, 1885 Day Unknown Five Died in Shooting at Buck Smith's Place Buck SMITH of Lebanon, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory held a dance party at his residence on the night of 20 January 1885. He invited many friends and per his testimony, he mentioned that about 25 to 30 came uninivited. Three men, Henry CRAIG, Burrell ODENWOOD (Oatenwood/Ottenwood) and Tom MACKEY (MacKay/Macey), attended the party and brought women friends. Craig and Odenwood were invited. From the examinations of the witnesses, there was an argument in one of the rooms and Henry Craig fired the first shot. The first one went up in the ceiling and more shots rang out...about 4 to 5 at a time. Smoke filled the room and the witnesses were not able to determine who fatally shot George A. GORDON, Buck Smith's guest from Cedar Mills, Grayson Co., TX. Some witnesses recollected seeing Odenwood with a gun in his hand. Henry Craig was shot badly and still alive. He had stumbled out to the porch. Odenwood said he was going to go get a wagon and come back to get Craig in the morning. The men brought Craig back inside. According to Buck Smith's testimony, Craig told him "Buck it is awful. I would not have had it happened for nothing. not for a thousand dollars." Craig handed over his pistols per Buck's request. Wallin/Walter GRAVELY, Jno. STEWARD, Frank ETTER and Charlie HAYS were wounded. Tom MACKAY was killed. Odenwood came back in the morning and took Craig home where Craig lived another few hours. Odenwood said that Craig told him that he was the one who shot Gordon. One or two witnesses said it was Odenwood who fired that shot. A warrant was issued for Odenwood's arrest and he was arrested a few months later then taken to Sherman, TX for a trial in September 1885. From the testimonies, it is obvious that no one knew for sure who fatally wounded Gordon. Odenwood was found guilty and went to jail in Dallas, TX where he was for about 6 months. The witnesses listed were: William A. HUFF (from Cedar Mills area, Grayson Co., TX) George W. GILLET(from Lebanon area, IT) Buck SMITH Henry G. HUFF Allie CHANCE (female) Frank WELCH Robert "Bob" CHANCE W. J. CHANCE Wm. "Bill" SMITH N. J. CHANCE Other names mentioned of those at the party were Buck's son W. R. SMITH, Tom RICHARDSON, STERRITT, PEMBERTON, SPANGLER, Margaret LANE, OVERSTREET, MCDONALD and Tom SMITH. Buck SMITH mentioned that there were about 32 shots in total, from the holes in walls and bodies. Submitter's Note: The sources I used to find this information was from the federal court record at the National Archives in Fort Worth, TX. Crimes in Indian Territory committed by non-Indians were considered federal cases. It is a good idea to check their files for your names as well as those of known friends and neighbors. (Crimes also include stealing, liquoir, fightings, etc.) Also check for alias names. Burrell Odenwood is an alias name and his case is filed under that name, not his real name (William A. LEMONS). Luckily his daughter told me about his alias which helped me find him. Story Recounted in 1952 in The Madill Record, 11 September 1952 (not paginated), Special Edition. This article mentioned that Buck SMITH's place was on Briar Creek, not far from the present site of Powell, in 1883. [Note: The year is wrong. It happened on 20 Jan. 1885. Facts do get distorted and exaggerated over the years.] The writer goes on to mention that complete details of the shooting are not available and that the story has never been written accurately. There were no newspaper accounts of the tragedy when it occurred, simply because there wasn't a newspaper in the county at that time. The people at the party include: J. E. (Jesse) GRINSTEAD [who later founded the first newspaper,The Oakland News (predessor of The Madill Record) in Oakland (Marshall Co., OK) in 1895. He moved to TX and wrote western stories.] Jim BOUNDS, father of the late Frank BOUNDS Will LOVETT Miss Mattie CARTER, who later married Governor OVERTON Mr. MACKEY, Buck SMITH and his daughters, Miss Alice SMITH and Miss Ellen SMITH, Hugh WIGGS, George HOLFORD Leck MUNDY. The last three persons, according to the article, probably did not attend the party, but knew all about the party. Three men were killed outright and many were wounded. Two of the wounded died. One of the latter was Mr. Mackey (Tom MACKAY), who was shot in the arm. His arm had to be amputated, and he died shortly thereafter.