The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1908-04-06
BUD" HAS REPUTATION
AS PEACE OFFICER
No Oae Able TO Tell Num-
ber of NOtcheS on His
Gun Handle

Tr
n ee1

Special to Daily Leader.
Muskogee. Okla, April G.--J F. Led
better, better known all over the
Southwest as "Bud" LedOetter, who
has Just been elected Chief OF police in
Muskogee, Is a man whose presence
will quelI riot quicker than a whole
squad of police. aud whose name is a
terror to every outlaw that has lnfest-
ed this country for twenty years. He
was elected on his record, and Is the
only democratic candidate on the tick
let who pulled through He made this
record while deputy marshal under
Marsnal Leo p Bennett, during the
fe,leral regime in Indian Territory In
the city election his old chief headed
the republican ticket and Ledbetter
was a candidate on the opposition
ticket
The result of his election was one
of the greatest tributes ever paid to
man in the ney country On the
day Of election there were twenty-five
saloons running in Muskogee and near.
ly as many gambling houses. Every
one of these closed and to man the
saloon and gambling element perfectly
organized and with a barrel OF money,
went to the polls and fought I.edbetter
all day long. lt was announced the
next morning that Ledbetter had been
elected by a close margin. The sas
looms and gambling houses immediate
~ closed their doors and have not lNen
opened since They knew that II meant
a fight with Ledbetter and they knew
what The result would be- and they quit
before a fight was necessary.
He Is "a yenrs old and has been an
officer almost since he was old enough
to vote. For eight years he was a
deputy sheriff In Western Arkansas.
Then he came ia Indian Territory and
was for ten years q deputy under Mar
shal Bennett Two years he was chlei
of police in Vinita. During the last
three years under Bennett he coniis-
Gated aud destroyed oye- $4,000 worth
OF liquor illegally shipped into the ter
ritory
Ledbetter has many notches on his
gun but lust how many no one is
able TO tell When he IS asked he re-
plies that he does not know. and that
he does not like to talk about such
things The only way TO get the de-
tails Of a killing in which he took part
Is to get. him started talking about
the fight and let him run on. Wnen
he gets up TO the point where he mad
to kill HIS man he stops. A serious
sadness comes into his eyes and moth
ing can induce him to so farther Men
who have long been in the same serN-
ice say that he has laid at least
dozen men low, and he never received
scratch IN all these desperate fights
He added two more men TO his list IN
Muskogee about a year ago when he
walked right up to house in which
rioters were fortified and killed two
men on the porch after they had open
ed fire on him This probably makes
fourteen men he has killed, and he
never started a fight until il was alb
solutely necessary and he never shot
man IN his life until It became a
question Of self defense
his fearleasness makes even out
laws respect him and he seems 70
have a sort Of second sight for Grim
inals. He Is "a man of powerful
physique. ogcr six feet tall aud weighs
goo pounds He walks with a limp.
the result of a broken leg which he got
while chasing criminal In Ninita.
With a six.shooter he can hit target
the size of a mans head az 1910 yards
every shot, and there Is not better
shot with a Winchester IN Oklahoma.
lie never made but one speech during
fhis campaign and that was this Gen
ltiemen, If you elect me viii enforce
1.-THE law" The men who wanted the
law enforced knew he would do Il, and
those who ala not want H. did not
lcOnsider II safe 60 experiment