Rufus Buck led a group of five young men in the Creek Nation of Indian Territory whose offenses in July and August 1895 ended in federal convictions for rape and murder. The first death was that of John Garrett, a deputy U.S. marshal, at Okmulgee. After the group was taken into custody in August, it was brought to Fort Smith, Arkansas, and tried before the federal court there. On September 23, 1895, all five were convicted of rape. On September 24, Buck, Lewis Davis and Lucky Davis were convicted of the deputy marshal's murder. All five were sentenced to death, and all five were executed at Fort Smith on July 1, 1896.
The other two members were Sam Sampson and Maoma July. Sampson and July were convicted of rape; the murder conviction applied to the other three.
Buck gathered four others around him in the summer of 1895, all of them young men from the Creek Nation. He was the leader. Buck was 21 when he was executed.
The deputy marshal died at Okmulgee in the last days of July 1895. His death was the first of the group's offenses and the one that brought a federal murder charge against Buck, Lewis Davis and Lucky Davis.
Further offenses followed in the Creek Nation in early August, among them the rape on which all five were tried. The death of Sam Houston in early August is attributed to the group; no conviction for it was entered.
The five were taken into custody in August 1895 by deputy U.S. marshals and Creek Lighthorse police. The Creek Nation had wanted to try them itself, but they were brought to Fort Smith.
The trials were held before the Federal District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, sitting at Fort Smith, which had jurisdiction over Indian Territory at the time.
The five were tried first for rape. On September 23, 1895, all five were found guilty. On September 24, Buck, Lewis Davis and Lucky Davis were found guilty of the deputy marshal's murder. All five were sentenced to death, and the sentence was fixed in late April 1896 for July 1, 1896.
Lawyers for the five appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to intervene. They then asked President Grover Cleveland for clemency, which he refused.
On July 1, 1896, all five were executed at Fort Smith. They were the only men executed at Fort Smith for the crime of rape.
The death of Sam Houston is attributed to the group but was not the subject of a conviction. No other death is tied to the group by a conviction.
July 1895: the deputy marshal dies at Okmulgee, Creek Nation.
Early August 1895: further offenses in the Creek Nation; a second death (attributed).
August 1895: the five are taken into custody and brought to Fort Smith.
September 23, 1895: all five convicted of rape at Fort Smith.
September 24, 1895: Buck, Lewis Davis and Lucky Davis convicted of the deputy marshal's murder.
Late April 1896: death sentence fixed for July 1.
1896: appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court declined; clemency refused by the President.
July 1, 1896: all five executed at Fort Smith.