MURDERS at OAKMAN (2013)

Recently, while driving down the road heading north of Homer, Oklahoma, just before I reached the intersecting roads where the Oakman sign reads: Population 28, I couldn't help but think about the murderous events that happened there so long ago. Who would have thought the little community of Oakman held such a violent past? I wondered how many people currently living in Oakman know or have even heard about the tragic stories of lives long forgotten.In 1924 cotton was still big news around Pontotoc County. Everyone was trying to get their cotton in while the prices were still decent. The market fluctuated from day to day with the lowest going at $22.00 for a round bale of cotton and the highest at $22.50. Everyone wanted to be the first to get theirs in for the higher price. Pontotoc County averaged about 15,000 bales a year, give or take a few.Picking cotton was a back-breaking job. The large bags that hung over the neck and across the shoulder could be very heavy depending upon the size of the sack. If the cotton bolls were open they could be picked fairly easily. However, if the bolls were slighdy closed then the cotton had to be pulled, and that resulted in pricked, bleeding fingers. After the worker's bag became full, it would be dragged over to the wagon to be weighed and dumped, then the process started over again.October 14 of that year began with overcast skies and a slight chill in the air as workers began to arrive to pick cotton in the small community of Oakman, Oklahoma. George Lee was just arriving at his son Monroe's house to pick cotton for Mr. Walter Clayton, whose land adjoined just west of where Monroe's house stood. Lem Walker and his son Oscar were also arriving to pick cotton for Clayton, as were Jack and Annie Dyar Peter. Jack and Annie were both full-blood Chickasaw and spoke very little to no English. Jack's step-daughter Cassie and her husband were to be arriving shortly to join the group. They all began to pick cotton, and as the morning wore on, the day warmed up and the skies cleared.A few minutes before noon, a call was given to the workers to break for lunch. George Lee headed to his son's house, where his daughter-in-law was sure to have a good lunch ready. Annie Peter, her daughter Cassie, and Cassie's husband, decided to head to their house about a quarter of a mile up the road to eat and bring lunch back for Jack, who decided to continue picking cotton.At the age of 51, Jack Peter (or Peters) had seen many changes to the area around Oakman since statehood. There were more white people now, and he didn't always get along with his neighboring Chickasaws.Jack had a neighbor about a half mile up the road from his house by the name of Silas Nelson. Jack didn't like Silas, who was also a full-blood Chickasaw. Silas was mean and wasn't very nice to his own wife and family, or others for that matter. They had not been able to get along for years, and just three weeks earlier, Jack had decided he had had enough of Silas and was just going to shoot him. After popping a few shots off with his .22-caliber Colt automatic, he only succeeded in slighdy wounding Silas and making him madder than an ol'copperhead.Jack was arrested for attempted murder and had to post a thousand dollars bail to get out. He was still awaiting trial to see what the law would do with him. He had to get as much of his cotton picked as he could, because he and his family would need the money if he went to jail.A little after noon, as Jack was bending over to pick cotton near the fence just west of Monroe Lee's house, he heard his name called. He looked up to see Silas Nelson walking down the road carrying a Winchester .44-caliber rifle in his hand. Jack expected trouble and reached his hand into his pocket to get the .22-caliber gun that he always carried. A shot rang out, and he realized Silas was shooting at him. He hollered back at Silas in his native tongue and returned fire. …