A Shot in the Dark, Emanual Patterson, Garvin County, Oklahoma, by Mike Tower

	Garvin County County Seat - Pauls Valley
Home \|Archives \| Cemeteries \| History \| Lookups \| Obits \| Queries \| Resources \| Schools \|Surnames \| Links

"Links to web sites that are not part of the US Gen Web Project are provided for your convenience and do not imply any endorsement of the web sites or their contents by The US Gen Web Project."

A Shot in the Dark
Return to Laws & Lawless Index
Return to Shootings

This material is donated by people who want to communicate with and help others. Every effort is made to give credit and protect all copyrights. Presentation here does not extend any permissions to the public. This material can not be included in any compilation, publication, collection, or other reproduction for profit without permission.

Article By Mike Tower

Emanuel Patterson, a black man, lived near Cherokee Town in the Chickasaw Nation. Patterson

was sort of a rough character with a mean reputation. On August 11, 1880, Deputy United States

Marshal Willard M. Ayers, armed a writ charging Patterson with Larceny, went to Patterson’s house

to serve the papers. It was late at night when the Deputy arrived at Patterson’s cabin, and instead of

announcing his presence, as was customary, Deputy Ayers began pounding on the door and

demanding admittance. Patterson readily admitted that he shot, and killed, Deputy Ayers, explaining

the deputy had demanded entry into his home in a rough and abrupt manner, without stating his identify

or purpose. Patterson told the court he thought the unbidden visitor was an enemy.

Hanging Judge Issac Parker, of the Fort Smith Court, did not buy Patterson’s story and told him

on October 20, 1887 that he would hang him in the Spring of 1888. Instead, Patterson’s sentence was

commuted to life imprisonment for heroism.

The story behind that is that it seems another prisoner, one ‘Bogles’, who was scheduled to be

executed for a particularly brutal murder, got hold of a guard’s pistol about 10 minutes before the

actual execution. Bogles dashed into his cell with the weapon, and his cell mate, Emanuel Patterson,

wrestled the weapon away and tossed it to a guard. The guards knew full well, from experience, that a

prisoner with a loaded firearm usually meant several someone’s would wind up dead. Patterson’s

action probably saved the lives of several inmates and guards.

(Source: Hell on the Border by S. W,

Harman, University of Nebraska Press, 1992; original publication in 1898. Law West of Fort Smith,

by Glen Shirley, University of Nebraska Press, 1968.)

Garvin Co Garvin Co. Oklahoma
Your County Coordinator is Jeff Smith

US Gen Web
Oklahoma's FGS Project

Oklahoma Family Group Sheets
All States Family Group Sheet Project

This page is maintained for the OK Gen Web /US Gen Web

A SINCERE THANK YOU TO ALL CONTRIBUTORS !!!!!!
Hosted & Copyrighted 1996-2012 by:

U.S. GEN WEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free Information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Files may be printed or copied for Personal use only. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor.