The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1909-04-02
UPRISING Of INDIANS
IN OKLAHOMA THREATENS sERl
Gus TROUBLE.
OFFICERS KILLED IN BATTLE
Snake Tribe Retreat as Militia Ad-
vances 10 ESterminate Them
at Any Cost.

Oklahoma City, Okla. Special: In
a pitched battle at Hickory Grounds
between posse Of five officers and
twenty Creek Indians Of the Snake
clan Officers Edward Baum, of Che
cotah. and Herman Odom. OF Checo-
tab. and Frank Swift, OF Muskogee,
were killed. Frank Jones and VIII
liam Carr, other members OF the posse,
escaped without injury and fed to the
settlements.
The officers. having heard that the
Indians and colored men were peace
able after a recent battle approached
the cabin OF Harjo, near Hickory
Ground. without fear of trouble. AS
they We're in the act OF entering the
chiefs yard twenty guns were leveled
upon them from as many in the house
and around the corners. Odom and
Daum fell dead and Swift was serious
~ injured. Jones ran few yards and
hid himself in a clump OF trees until
the Indians disappeared. Then he re-
turned to the bodies of his compan-
ions. Finding them dead. he hurried
TO Pierce.
Within thirty minutes after the re-
port OF the battle reached Checotah.
100 men were armed Every available
gun and practically all the ammuni-
tion in town was taken. In an hour
fifty men were marching toward Hick-
DRY Ground When the news reached
Muskogee officers Immediately issued
a call for men, and in a short time a
posse of fifty was ready TO march
A dispatch from Checotah says the
Snake Indians have been purchasing
rifles and ammunition for a month and
that they are supplied with powder
and lead enough 10 last them two
days.
Harjo. who has so often within the
last two years expressed his displeas-
ure at the restraints of law and who
has often called his men into council
on that account, is believed to have
determined 10 make firm stand in
behalf OF his ideas of liberty.
His band have been outlaws for
years. II required the services OF
United States officers and the help OF
the state militia TO quell his band last
fall during a session Of the council at
Hickory Ground.
Chief Crazy Snake and 100 follow.
ers retreated before five companies OF
Oklahoma militia, thus deferring an
expected battle.
Hastily setting fire 10 his tepees and
tents. the Indian leader. with his
mixed company OF redskins and ne
groes. fed from his blazing camp as
the troops advanced.
The militia officers believe Crazy
Snake wants to reach the Tiger Noun
tains with his followers before engag
ing in a general fight.
That the old chief is striving TO stir
the Creeks 10 an uprising and strike
for what he conceives to be liberty
was evident from the smoke Of three
signal fires on adjacent hills. Old
time frontiersmen. who insist they
know what such things mean. declare
this is a sign which always ushers in
Indian trouble.
The first real Indian scare Of years
transformed the town into frontier
settlement OF 80 years ago Every
thing except the log blOckhouse Of the
former days was there to make the
picture OF terror complete. The In
dams were there. so were frightened
women and children, and troops has
tening with all speed to avert what
threatened to be the last big. deter
mined stand the Indians should make
I'm the country. The militia finally ar.
rived in Henryetta and all danger for
that particular town was over.