Porum Range War

Last updated
Porum County War
Part of the Range Wars
Date1906 - 1916
Location
Caused byStock and grazing dispute
Resulted inInconclusive
Parties
TLH Connected Brand
Anti-Horse Thief Association
Davis Clan
Starr Clan
Lead figures

Judge Thomas Luther Hester

Jack Davis
Joe Davis
Samuel “Pony” Starr

Number
Unknown
Unknown
Casualties and losses
30 killed

The Porum Range War was a range war that happened in the town of Porum in Muskogee County, Oklahoma between large ranch owner Judge Thomas Luther Hester and the Davis and Starr families. [1] [2] The feud began due to alleged rustling activities committed by the latter on Hester's TLH Connected Brand, which led to ambushes, gunfights, and the burning of property, leaving 30 people dead. [2] The range war has since been a largely forgotten, but infamous event in Oklahoma, said to rival even the more iconic Lincoln County War. [3] [4]

Contents

Background

The feud had its origins in the 1880s when John Porum Davis migrated to Oklahoma, bringing with him four of his sons who were mixed-blood Cherokees: Cicero, Sam, Jack and Bob. [2] A pioneer, John built a small community in a range area called the Porum Gap. The community was merged with the Midland Valley Railroad in 1903, giving birth to a town that was named after John, known as Porum. [5]

However, the settlement of the Davis family was in direct conflict with the area that Judge Hester used for his livestock. The farms of the Davis family and the open range intermixed, and there became a dispute between cattle that belonged to them and to Judge Hester. As the Davis family continued to grow and prosper, Judge Hester began to believe that the family was stealing from his own herd, using a brand that was similar to his. [3] At the same time, the Starr family, who was also of Native American blood, came into the area and sided with the Davis. Outlaw Belle Starr was a member of this family. [6]

To protect his property, Judge Hester began charging Davis repeatedly in court for rustling activities. Also, he and his allies formed the Anti-Horse Thief Association, a vigilante group, to combat the "Davis Gang". [2] [7]

War

The first victim of the war was Cicero Davis, who was shot and killed outside his own home in 1906 by an alleged former colleague named Mack Alford. [1] A few days later Alford was shot and killed. The next person killed was Harvey Lindsey, who was drowned in North Folk by several armed men. Another man, named Spivey, was also killed, allegedly by the Davis. Soon, other smaller ranching families joined the war on the side of the Association. Besides the murders, barns were also burned, including those belonging to enemies of the Davis such as the Pierce, Martins, and Price clans. In addition, Sheriff Jim Work was killed on the orders of Bob Davis. [1] [2]

Battle of Porum

In May 1911, a group of thirty masked vigilantes, rode to the home of the Starr family, determined to kill Jack Davis and Pony Starr, after Jack had sent a sheriff to investigate Hester's ranch in the account of twenty cattle stolen. [1] Upon seeing the group, Pony Starr and Joe Davis (Jack's son), ran back inside the house and grabbed their rifles. A fierce shootout commenced between the two parties, which lasted for 10 minutes, and ended in the retreat of the vigilante group, and the deaths of between 3 and 8 men and the wounding of many more. [1] [2] One of those killed was Judge Hester's son, Cliff. [4]

Assassination attempt on Jack Davis

One afternoon, while outside his ranch house, Jack was shot upon by multiple men. [1] The ambush left Jack with a crippled arm. A week later, Jack discovered two of his assailants outside of the Commercial National Bank. [5] This time, now prepared, Jack fired at the two with a Winchester rifle, killing one and wounding the other. The wounded man, McCullugh, survived. [1]

Aftermath

Many of the feuding families began leaving Porum throughout the years, eventually leading to the war's undramatic close. [1] Joe Davis ran away from an investigation concerning the Battle of Porum, becoming a criminal in Arizona who robbed trains and banks before authorities finally nabbed him in 1916 and sent him to a penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnson County War</span> 1888-1893 range conflict in Johnson County, Wyoming

The Johnson County War, also known as the War on Powder River and the Wyoming Range War, was a range conflict that took place in Johnson County, Wyoming from 1889 to 1893. The conflict began when cattle companies started ruthlessly persecuting alleged rustlers in the area, many of whom were settlers who competed with them for livestock, land and water rights. As violence swelled between the large established ranchers and the smaller settlers in the state, it culminated in the Powder River Country when the former hired gunmen to invade the county. The gunmen's initial incursion in the territory alerted the small farmers and ranchers, as well as the state lawmen, and they formed a posse of 200 men that led to a grueling stand-off. The siege ended when the United States Cavalry on the orders of President Benjamin Harrison relieved the two forces, although further fighting persisted in the following months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muskogee County, Oklahoma</span> County in Oklahoma, United States

Muskogee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 66,339. The county seat is Muskogee. The county and city were named for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. The official spelling of the name was changed to Muskogee by the post office in 1900.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porum, Oklahoma</span> Town in Oklahoma, United States

Porum is a town in Muskogee County, Oklahoma, United States. It was named for John Porum Davis, a rancher, Civil War veteran, and Cherokee Nation councilman from the Canadian District in Indian Territory. The community was first known as Porum Gap, which united with another village named Starvilla in 1905. The product of this union became the present town of Porum. The population was 727 at the 2010 census, an increase of 0.3 percent from the figure of 725 recorded in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belle Starr</span> American outlaw (1848–1889)

Myra Maybelle Shirley Reed Starr, better known as Belle Starr, was an American outlaw who gained national notoriety after her violent death.

John M. Larn was a western American lawman and later outlaw who, with gunfighter John Selman, operated a cattle rustling ring in Shackelford County, Texas, for over a year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank M. Canton</span>

Frank M. Canton was an American Old West fugitive who had a career as a deputy U.S. marshal under an assumed name. Although an ex-sheriff stock detective in Wyoming, Canton and his associates were accused of operating more by assassination than the law. Extrajudicial measures such as the lynching of Ellen Watson inflamed public opinion against the long-established big ranchers Canton worked for, and to re-establish control over grazing they funded an all-out assault on those small operators considered to be rustlers. Canton directed Frank Wolcott's imported gunmen in their planned vigilante campaign, known as the Johnson County War, which was quickly ended by a local posse. Finding himself a marked man in Wyoming, Canton considered it opportune to leave the state. He spent most of the rest of his working life in law enforcement for the court of hanging judge Isaac Parker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perry Owens</span> American lawman and gunfighter of the Old West

Commodore Perry Owens was an American lawman and gunfighter of the Old West. One of his many exploits was the Owens-Blevins Shootout in Arizona Territory during the Pleasant Valley War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Selman</span> El Paso Texas lawman and Old West outlaw (1839–1896)

John Henry Selman was sometimes identified as an outlaw and sometimes a working lawman of the Old West. He is best known as the man who shot John Wesley Hardin in the Acme Saloon in El Paso, Texas, on August 19, 1895.

The Jesse Evans Gang, also known as The Boys, was a gang of rustlers and robbers led by outlaw and gunman Jesse Evans, which lasted from 1876 until 1880. The gang was formed after Evans broke with the John Kinney Gang. After breaking away, he brought along with him Billy Morton, Frank Baker, Tom Hill, Dolly Graham, George Davis, Jim McDaniels, Buffalo Bill Spawn, Bob Martin, Manuel "Indian" Segovia and Nicholas Provencio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jesse Evans</span> 19th-century American criminal

Jesse Evans was an American outlaw and gunman of the Old West, and the leader of the Jesse Evans Gang. He received some attention due to his disappearance in 1882, after which he was never seen or heard from again.

Charles "Pony Diehl" Ray was an Old West outlaw in the New Mexico Territory and Arizona Territory. He was accused by Wyatt Earp of having taken part in an attempt to kill his brother, Virgil Earp. Diehl was not tried due to a lack of evidence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathaniel Reed (outlaw)</span> 19th and 20th-century American gunman

Nathaniel "Texas Jack" Reed was a 19th-century American outlaw responsible for many stagecoach, bank, and train robberies throughout the American Southwest during the 1880s and '90s. He acted on his own and also led a bandit gang, operating particularly in the Rocky Mountains and Indian Territory.

The Horrell brothers, sometimes referred to as the lawless Horrell boys, were five brothers from the Horrell family of Lampasas County, Texas, who were outlaws of the Old West, and who committed numerous murders over a five-year period before four of the brothers were killed in different incidents. The brothers are probably best known for the Horrell-Higgins feud, although it resulted in relatively few deaths compared to other feuds. However, starting in 1873, the brothers went on an ethnically motivated killing spree during which they killed a Hispanic lawman and a white lawman in New Mexico, killed 11 other Hispanic men, and wounded one Hispanic woman. The brothers had previously killed five lawmen in Texas.

John Pinckney Calhoun Higgins, better known as "Pink" Higgins, was a gunman and cowboy of the Old West. He is known to have killed 14 men in his lifetime.

Lon Oden was a Texas Ranger of the Old West, and is a legend inside the Texas Rangers organization.

Thomas Starr (1813–1890) was a Cherokee in the American West, who was declared an outlaw by his tribe in an internal conflict over treaties with the United States government. He was also involved in running whiskey into Indian Territory and rustling stock. Starr was the grandfather of Henry Starr and father in-law to Belle Starr, through her marriage to Sam Starr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family feuds in the United States</span> Prominent feuds in the US

Feuds in the United States deals with the phenomena of historic blood feuding in the United States. These feuds have been numerous and some became quite vicious. Often, a conflict which may have started out as a rivalry between two individuals or families became further escalated into a clan-wide feud or a range war, involving dozens—or even hundreds—of participants. Below are listed some of the most notable blood feuds in United States history, most of which occurred in the Old West.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sutton–Taylor feud</span> Blood feud that cost at least 35 lives

The Sutton–Taylor feud began as a county law enforcement issue between relatives of a Texas state law agent, Creed Taylor, and a local law enforcement officer, William Sutton, in DeWitt County, Texas. The feud cost at least 35 lives and eventually included the outlaw John Wesley Hardin as one of its participants. It began in March 1868, not reaching its conclusion until the Texas Rangers put a stop to the fighting in December 1876.

John Jackson Helm, was a lawman, cowboy, gunfighter, and inventor in the American Old West. He fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War, but worked as a lawman for the Union during Reconstruction. He was an active participant in the Sutton–Taylor feud in and about Dewitt County, Texas; and was killed in an ambush related to the feud and perpetrated by Jim Taylor and John Wesley Hardin.

<i>Belle Starrs Daughter</i> 1948 film by Lesley Selander

Belle Starr's Daughter is a 1948 American Western film directed by Lesley Selander and starring George Montgomery, Rod Cameron and Ruth Roman.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Coffeyville Dailly Journal". Newspaper.com. May 15, 1912
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Thompson, Jerry. "WRECKED LIVES AND LOST SOULS". HistoryNet . October 9, 2020
  3. 1 2 Porum Range War
  4. 1 2 Conley, Robert J. (2007). A Cherokee Encyclopedia. University of New Mexico Press. pp. 225. ISBN 978-0826339515
  5. 1 2 Mullins, Jonita. "Three Forks History: Range war holdover of lawless frontier". Muskogee Phoenix . January 16, 2021
  6. Meier, Allison (3 April 2013). "Belle Starr the Bandit Queen: How a Southern Girl Became a Legendary Western Outlaw". Atlas Obscura . Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  7. The Bloody Porum Range War