Baxter Springs And Larceny Charges.
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Shot Of The Courthouse That Grat Spent Time In Jail At And Also Had Served As A Marshal.
In the photo that you see on the side here is a shot of the windows of the upstairs of the old courthouse between the years of 1888 and 1917 the jail cells on this floor would have been used to hold prisoners. This was considered the second jail and the first one being in the basement of the courthouse. Grat was held here during the couple of weeks that he was arrested for larceny in the Baxter Springs incident. By the way other famous prisoners that was held in these cells from this time period would have been Henry Starr amd Cherokee Bill as well. Baxter Spring incident would be something that would put Grat, for the first time, behind the bars that he was so accustom putting prisoners behind himself. It must have been very embarrassing for him to have to face the same people that he was so use to working with as marshals and jailers as an inmate! I would think that many of the people he was use to working with so closely was buzzing with questions to what had happened. One thing is for certain Grat’s jail time here in Parker’s court would be his only time. I don’t know what exactly was told to him when he was released but one thing was for sure he didn’t get himself in trouble, arrested and put in jail again here ever again! The Baxter Springs incident started as follows: Evidently there were a number of horses that had ended up missing out of a Bob Rogers pasture, the documentation that I have dates this incident in July of 1890. From what has been told, in many books, the Dalton boys, Bob, Grat and Emmett, where supposedly going around taking these horses from different families in the area and Bob Rogers happen to be one of them. The boys were taking the horses from here and there to make a nice group to sell and make money off of. Evidently they were setting off with these horses to Columbus, Kansas which is eleven miles northwest of Baxter Springs. Bob Rogers was described as a fiery and tempestuous Cherokee who put his foot down when it came to seeing some of his horses stolen from him. He gathered some neighbors that were Indian as well and were tired of this victimizing that had been going on and decided to the catch the culprits and retrieve the ponies. The Daltons got reportedly $700.00 for the group of horses from a Columbus stock buyer by the name of Scott. This Scott wrote them a check after they had provided him with some references of well-known Indian citizens. The Daltons cashed the check and endorsed it with their real names, which was a big mistake, and then went out to gather yet another group of horses. Scott then drove the stock to one of the boarding pastures at Baxter Springs. It was said that the Daltons then, after they had the second group of horses rounded up, came down the main street of Baxter Springs. It was stated that Bob was in the lead, Emmett was minding the middle of the group and Grat was bring up the back. As they rounded the corner with this string of horses a party of mounted men, Bob Rogers and his group, approached them. After seeing these men come toward them Bob yelled a command to desert the horses and make a run for it. Emmett was said to have lashed his horse in one directions and Grat headed off in the opposite direction heading toward their camp which was a couple of miles from town. Bob Rogers is said to have paused long enough to reinforce his posse with some local citizens so that he would have some type of standing on Kansas soil. Under the command of a Baxter Springs officer the now combined group of men took up chase after them. For about five or six miles Bob and Emmett managed to keep distance between them and their pursuers. Then Emmett’s horse played out and Bob’s horse was slowing down as well from the long pursuit. They were said that they could hear the riders closing in on them and knew that they had to do something quick! It just so happened that a farmer with a wagon was coming down their direction. It was here that they headed straight to the vehicle and pulled their guns on the man demanding his best-looking horses. The horrified farmer gave them the horses and they were off. It was such a quick exchange that Emmett’s coat was left on the worn out horse’s saddle as they were in such a rush to make a quick get away. Bob and Emmett rode off to safety and must have felt that Grat had made off to safety as well. Just minutes later the posse with Bob Rogers came to the halted wagon with the jilted farmer and recognized the coat was Emmett’s. Just about that time of the discovery of the coat Grat came down this same road leading two of the ponies from the camp. Grat being separated from Bob and Emmett didn’t see the magnitude of the situation ahead of him and came down the road just in time to get arrested. The Kansas officer’s that was with the group was a good thing for Grat and his situation because without them he may have been hung by the Indians. As it was stated this must have been on the Indian Territory side of the boarder when it happened because he was taken to the U.S. jail in Fort Smith. The same place that he had been a marshal was now the place he would spend a couple of weeks for larceny as a prisoner. Gratton made the statement in the Fort Smith Elevator dated September 19, 1890 that he thought that he was arrested because of malice in this situation. As stated above he only stayed a couple of weeks in jail and then was released. In the “Fort Smith Elevator” dated May 8th, 1891 it was written that he was released because there was no evidence implicating him in the horse stealing business. This would be the last time that Fort Smith would see him as a prisoner or as a marshal.
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Upstairs Windows At Courthouse. These Windows May Have Been The Very Ones That Grat Looked Out Of While He Stayed Here For Larceny Charges.
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