Fort Worth Daily Gazette
Fort Worth Texas
April 13, 1887 Wednesday
pg 1
The Killing in the Nation
Special to the Gazette
Pottsboro, Tex., April 12. - The full account
as far as can be learned
of the difficulty which occurred in the Nation
last Sunday evening is
about as follows:
Last summer Dick Sacra and Aleck Duzan shipped
some cattle, and amongst
the number were some cattle belonging to James
Christian and James
Rounds. A short time ago Dick Sacra was
arrested upon a charge of theft
of cattle and placed in jail in Tishomingo.
There was also a warrant
issued for the arrest of Aleck Duzan and
William Hamilton. Last
Saturday Dave Hardwicke and James Christian
came to Pottsboro and got
our constable, W. C. Porter, to arrest William
Hamilton, who was
working near here in Texas, and who was wanted
as a witness in the
case. He was arrested Saturday night and taken
across Red river and
turned over to Hardnicke and Christian, who
started with him to
Tishomingo accompanied by Jame Bounds and Bud
Luttrell. Christian,
Luttrell and Hamilton were in a buggy, and
somewhat in advance of
Bounds and Hardnicke, and were met in the road
at Rooster creek, about
six miles north of Harney, by Alec Duzan and
Steve Bussell, an nephew
of Duzan's. Christian was shot dead in the
buggy, Luttrell was shot
also, but jumped out of the buggy and fell
dead by the mules. As Bounds
and Hardnicke were approaching, the parties
who did the killing rode
off. The prisoner never attempted
to get away, but all came back to
Christian's, where the two bodies were buried
yesterday. After the
funeral Hardnicke went on to Tishomingo with
his prisoner. There has
been bad-blood existing between some of the
parties for some time.
Duzan and Bussel are part Indian. Duzan does
not deny the killing, but
says there is more of it to be done in the
Nation, and that he is not
through yet. Your reporter has conversed with
two men just from
Christian's today and learned the above facts.
All parties are
cattlemen in the Nation and well connected and
men of means and
influence, and the sad tragedy is regretted by
all who knew them.
Fort Worth Daily Gazette
Fort Worth Texas
April 12, 1887 Tuesday
pg 4
FURTHER PARTICULARS
More About the Shooting Scrape in the
Territory
Special to the Gazette
Denison, Tex., April 11 - The news of a double
shooting scrape which
took place yesterday just the other side of
Woodville, I.T., reached
the city to-day. The circumstances, as near as
can be learned, are as
follows;
The captain of the Indian police, Billy
Fields, accompanied James
Christian and Dave Hardwick, Sheriff of the
Choctaw Nation, had in
charge a prisoner charged with cattle stealing
and were taking him to
Tishomingo. Billy Fields and Jim Christian
were in a buggy, with the
prisoner between them. Hardwick was about 100
yards behind on
horseback, when he heard the shooting. He
dashed forward just in time
to see Alex Duzan and Steve Bussel galloping
off on their horses. He
gave chase, but they succeeded in making good
their escape. Hardwick
returned to the buggy and found Billy Fields
and
Jim Christian lying
dead. The prisoner was retaken by a negro
named Crowder Nix, who
happened to be near.
Fort Worth Daily Gazette
Fort Worth Texas
April 14, 1887 Thursday
pg 5
MORE BLOOD
A Posse in the Territory Makes an Effort
to Arrest the Slayers of Christian and
Luttrell
Duzan and Bussell Fight Desperately in
Resistance and Duzan is Killed
White Bussell Escapes.
MORE KILLING IN THE NATION
Special to the Gazette
Pottsboro Tex., April 13 -- John
Christian, a brother of James Christian, who was killed a
few days ago, organized a posse of twelve or
thirteen to hunt the murderers down and ran on them
Tuesday night, and as they would not surrender the ball
was opened and Alec Duzan was killed and Steve
Bussell mortally wounded. They were the two men
who killed Christian and Lutterell making four lives
lost, and the end is not yet.
A DENISON ACCOUNT
Special to the Gazette
Denison, Tex., April 13 - Dave Hardwick, H.
Hackney, John Christian and
two other gentlemen came in to-night from the
Chickasaw Nation, and an
interview was had with Mr. Hackney, Deputy
United States Marshal, who
stated that he did not go to the Nation as an
official, but at
the earnest request of Mrs. Jim Christian, the
wife of the murdered
man. He was summoned by Officer Hardwick into
the posse, and they went
to the home of Alex Duzan and sent him word
that if he would surrender
they would protect him from the mob, but he
would not do it; so
yesterday evening they went in pursuit,
stopping near Harney until
night, when they were surprised by Duzan and
Bussell coming up behind
on horses. When ordered to halt they began
firing, when the posse
returned it, with Duzan and Bussell advancing
until over 100 shots were
fired, when they started to run, but got only
a short distance when
Duzan fell from his horse, but Bussell made
good his escape. Whose
bullet killed Duzan is not known, and
John Christian did say he
would kill him, but wanted him caught and
tried. The whole Nation is
aroused over the death of Christian, and
Bussell will undoubtedly
be run down within a few days. A posse is in
hot pursuit.
The Galveston Daily News
Galveston, Texas
April 14, 1887 Thursday
pg 2
THE TERRITORY TERROR
FULL DETAILS OF THE BLOODY AFFAIR
How the Officers Were Waylaid and Killed -
The Whole Community Aroused - Three Killed,
Sherman, Tex., April 13, - From Officer Fink
of the northwestern part
of the county The News reporter, to-day,
gleaned the following facts in
regard to the killing of J. Christian and B.
Luttrell in the Indian
Territory, about twenty-five miles north of
Sherman, on last Sunday
afternoon between 5 and 6 o'clock and as he
(Fink) received them from
Billy Hamilton who was under arrest in the
hands of Christian, at the
time, has thrown the entire Chickasaw Nation
and the northwestern part
of Grayson county into a state of
excitement. Hamilton had been
arrested across the river from Preston in
Texas, and was being taken to
Tishomingo. He and Officer Jim Christian
were in a light vehicle
in front, while James Bond and Dave Hardwycke,
two other officers,
followed some distance behind on horseback.
When about two miles from
there, Christian and Hamilton overtook and
took into the vehicle Ben
Luttrell, a farmer who lives some distance
from the river. Nothing
unusual occurred, although it was expected,
until the vehicle drove
into Rooster creek bottom, and a sudden
rustling was heard behind a
jagged pile of stone on the left of the old
ford, and just as Christian
turned to pick up his Winchester, which was
leaning behind him, two
forms appeared from behind the stone and
opened fire upon the occupants
of the vehicle. Jim Christian received a
Winchester ball crushing
through his brain and tearing the skull almost
into fragments. With the
blood and brains of his companion in his face,
Hamilton was unable to
move, but Luttrell jumped out and removed the
horses. The relentless
foe, however, did not cease firing, but kept
up their fusilade until at
last Luttrell, too, fell mortally wounded from
another shot in the left
side, which after tearing the muscle out of
the left arm, had gone
clear through the body, lodging against the
shoulder blade.
Officers Bond and Hardwycke at the first shot,
put spurs to their
horses and galloped to the scene at full
speed, but just arrived in
time to see tow men disappear in the forest,
which is dense up and down
the creek bottom. They halted to see if they
could be of any assistance
to the men who lay weltering in their gore in
the middle of the road,
but it was no use Luttrell giving his last
expiring gasp as they
dismounted. Hamilton, the prisoner, made an
endeavor to escape and is
still in custody. The two men were buried
yesterday afternoon in the
quite churchyard near Christian's home.
Later intelligence just received in this city
is to the effect that
Alick Duzan and Jim Bussell, the two men said
by Hamilton to be the men
who shot Christian, near the river, were
overtaken by officers, at a
late hour last night at a point about forty
miles north of Sherman, and
ordered to surrender, which they refused to
do. A desperate fight
ensued in which Aleck Duzan was literally
riddled with bullets and
buckshot and Bussell is known to be wounded,
and it is thought
mortally, although in the terrible excitement
he managed to escape in
the dark.
Officers from Grayson countyand the Indian
Territory are in hot
pursuit, and half of the trouble expected has
not yet taken place.
A number of the parties to the sad and tragic
affair were formerly from
Sherman and are highly related to this city. A
number of them
left this afternoon for the scene of the
tragedy, and burial material
has been forwarded to Preston for the dead
body of Duzan.
The affair is the current street talk and as
both sides have friends,
the excitement here continues to grow with
each additional piece of
news.
ANOTHER ACCOUNT
Pottsborough, Tex, April 13, - W. C. Porter,
constable of this
precinct, arrested one Wm Hamilton near here
Saturday night who was
wanted as a witness against parties in jail at
Tishomingo, and another
party who has not been arrested yet, and was
turned over to Dave
Hardicke and James Christian in the Nation
Sunday morning, and as they
were conducting the prisoner to Tishomingo,
the advance of the party,
consisting of Christian, Luttrell and
Hamilton, were met in the road by
two men. James Christian was killed in the
buggy, Bud Luttrell was shot
at the same time, but jumped and fell dead by
the mules. As James Bond
and Hardwick rode up the men who did the
killing rode off. The prisoner
did not attempted to get away They all
returned to Christian's home,
where the bodies were buried after which
Hardwick proceeded to
Tishomingo with his prisoner. The charge
against the parties arrested
is theft of cattle.
The News reporter learned the above facts from
the Nation to-day.
Reports are very conflicting and the full
details are hard
to be
learned.
THE VERY LATEST
Denison, Tex., April 13, - Dave Hardwick, H.
Hackrey, John Christian
and two other gentlemen came in to night from
the Chickasaw Nation and
an interview was had with Mr. Hackrey, dupty
United States marshal, who
stated that he did not go to the Nationas an
official, but at the
ernest request of Mrs. Jim Christian, the wife
of the murdered man. He
was summoned by Police Officer Hardwick into
the posse. They went to
the home of Alex Duzan and sent him word if he
would surrender that
they would protect him from the mob, but he
would not do it, so
yesterday evening they were in pursuit
and stopped near Harney
until night, when they were surprised by Duzan
and Bussell coming up
behind on horses. When ordered to halt they
began firing, when the
posse returned it, with Duzan and Bussell
advancing, until over 100
shots were fired, when they started to run,
had got only a short
distance, whe Duzan fell from his horse, but
Bussell made good his
escape. Whose bullet kille Duzan is not known
and John Christian did
not say he would kill him, but wnated him
caught and tried. The whole
town is aroused over the death of Christian
and Bussell willl
undoubtedly be run down within a few days.
Indian Journal
Muskogee, Oklahoma
April 15, 1887 Thursday
pg 5
Steve Bussell, the supposed murderer of Jim
Christian has been safely
delivered at Fort Smith by Officer Charlie
Laflore who will get the
reward of five hundred dollars offered by
Christian's wife.
Fort Worth Daily Gazette
April 21, 1887 Thursday
pg 7
SHERMAN
Another Killing in the Territory - Held for
Obstructing a Railway Track.
Special to the Gazette
Sherman, Tex., Apirl 20 - Buck Young, a
leading merchant of Preston
Bend, arrived in the city to-day bringing the
new of the killing of
Dave Hardwicke, Sheriff of Pickens county,
Chickasaw nation, which
occurred yesterday evening near what is known
as the E ranch, situated
fifteen miles from Red river, in the Indian
Territory. The particulars
of the killing of Sheriff Hardwicke had not
been learned, though he is
supposed to have been killed by friends of
Bussell and Duzan, who were
killed by the officers a few days since while
trying to arrest them.
J. B. Sollitt and W. P. Bailey, special
detectives, arrived from
Denison to-day in charge of John Maloney and
Theodore Metcalf who are
charged with placing obstructions across the
Missouri Pacific Railroad
track west of Denison on the 24th of last
February. The detectives have
been trying to discover the perpetrators for
some time, and succeeded
in identifying them and arresting them about 9
o'clock last night. The
young men were arraigned before Judge Hinkle
for preliminary trail, but
waived examination, stating that they had
committed the deed without
malicious intent, having placed the
obstruction
on the track for the
purpose of derailing the handcar containing
the section hands for
mischievous fun, but which was prevented by
the section boss seeing the
obstruction in time to stop the car. The young
men were committed to
jail to await the action of the grand jury now
in session.
Fort Worth Daily Gazette
Fort Worth Texas
June 27, 1887 Monday
pg 6
AN INTERESTING CASE
The Murder of James Christian and
Bud Luttrell in the Indian Territory
Called Vividly to Mind.
Steve Bussel, After a Long Examination,
Admitted to Bail in the Sum of Ten Thousand
Dollars.
Correspondence of the Gazette
Fort Smith, Ark., June 23, - An interesting
case has been pending
during the past three days before the Federal
court here,
in which the
testimony is of a very conflicting nature. On
April 10 last, James
Christian and Bud Luttrell were killed near
Harney, Chickasaw nation,
as they were driving along the road in a
buggy, having in custody a
prisoner named William Hamilton. The prisoner
was the only eye-witness
to the killing and stated that Alex Duzan and
Steve Bussel were
concealed behind the bank on Rooster creek,
and as Christian drove down
into the creek, Duzan shot and killed him,
while Luttrell was shot
twice and killed by Steve Bussel. Indian
Policeman Dave Hardwick and a
man by the name of Jim Bounds were a short
distance behind the parties,
and in about fifteen minutes after the killing
arrived on the scene.
Hardwick at once summoned a posse and started
in pursuit of Duzan and
Bussel, and three days later, while the
officer and his posse were
watching the "E" ranch (where Duzan's sister
resided) Duzan and Bussel
came riding up, and when they discovered their
pursuers attempted to
escape by flight. They were fired on an Duzan
was killed, but Bussel
escaped with a slight wound in the head. All
parties concerned being
prominent citizens, the affair created such a
great sensation
throughout the section where it occurred.
Hardwick claimed that he
halted Duzan and Bussel twice, and that each
time they shot at him,
when he ordered his men to fire on them.
Bussel claims that the officer
and his posse were in ambush and fired on
himself and Duzan before they
knew of their presence in the locality; that
they turned their horses
and ran, and did not even pull their
Winchesters from the scabbards.
The widow of Christian offered $500 reward for
the arrest of Bussel,
and on about the 1st of June he was captured
by Captain Charlie Laflore
of the United States Indian Police and taken
before Commissioner Taft
at Muskogee, who bound him over for the
alleged murder of Luttrell,
and sent him to jail at this place. At this
examination William
Hamilton, the only eye-witness to the killing,
was not present. In the
meantime, the friends of Bussel were not
idle, and on Sunday last Mrs.
Lucy Thompson, aunt of the prisoner, arrived
here, as did also Captain
Laflore, who had in custody the witness
Hamilton. On Tuesday last,
through her attorney, Mrs. Thompson made
application to the court for
the release of Bussel on bond, on the ground
that he had no hand in the
killing of Christian and Luttrell, but was
merely a witness to the
tragedy, which she was ready to prove. The
investigation of the case
came up in open court, when William Hamilton
was sworn and testified
that he was arrested in Grayson county, Tex.,
by Hardwick and Christian
on the 9th; that before crossing Red
River into the nation the party
bought three quarters of whisky, and all were
drunk when the killing
occurred; that he was in the buggy with
Christian and Luttrell, who had
joined them in the Territory, and as they were
driving along they met
Duzan and Bussel. Duzan said "hello" as the
party met, when Christian
replied, "Go to h___, you d__d cow thief." A
few angry words passed,
Duzan and Bussel dismounted from their horses,
when Christian, who had
his Winchester between his legs, raised it and
attempted to shot Duzan,
thus, the latter was too quick for him and
fired first, shooting him in
the head, killing him. Christian's gun dropped
across his lap, when
Luttrell grabbed it and started to get out of
the buggy, whe Duzan shot
him in the shoulder causing him to drop
the weapon. Luttrell then ran
round in front of the team, when Duzan shot
him again, breaking his
neck. Witness testified that only three shots
were fired, all by Duzan.
When questioned as to why he had stated that
Duzan and Bussel were in
ambush and killed the men without warning, he
said that when Bounds and
Hardwick came up after the killing and asked
him how it occurred, he
started to tell them the truth, when they
threw their guns down on him
and told him if he did not tell a different
story from that they would
kill him, and from that on, through fear of
his life, he told a story
to suit them.
A brother of Christian, who was killed, also
testified that Hamilton
had stated to him privately, the day following
the killing, that the
shooting was done from behind the creek bank
and that he and Hamilton
examined the ground and saw where the men had
Kneeled down behind the
bank, and also tracked them up the bed of the
creek to where their
horses were concealed. Hamilton accounts for
these tracks by saying
that when Duzan dismounted he let his horse
go, and during the
shooting Bussel's broke loose from him.
Christian testifies, however,
that there were no horse tracks around where
the killing took place.
It is a case of great importance, and will yet
lead to more bloodshed,
as both sides have money and friends to back
them, and will not
hesitate to kill if occasion should present
itself. It will be
thoroughly investigated by the court here.
LATER - The prisoner was admitted to bail in
the sum of $10,000. Mrs.
Thompson readily furnished the bond, all left
for home yesterday.