He Hung 'em High: Rufus Buck and his associates all died at the end of a rope on July 1, 1896

In the summer of 1895, a group of five young men from Indian Territory launched a violent and chaotic two-week crime spree that would shock the region and leave a lasting mark on American legal history.

Known as the Rufus Buck Gang, the group was led by 18-year-old Rufus Buck, a Yuchi (Euchee) Indian with a reputation for defiance and a desire to make a name that would eclipse all other outlaws in the territory.

The gang included Sam Sampson and Maoma July, both Creek Indians, and Lewis and Lucky Davis, Creek freedmen.

Their rampage began on July 28, 1895, with the murder of U.S. Deputy Marshal John Garrett near Okmulgee. Over the next thirteen days, they committed a string of brutal crimes: armed robberies, multiple assaults, and at least four confirmed rapes, including that of Rosetta Hansen, whose case would ultimately seal their fate.

The gang’s violence was indiscriminate. They attacked both white settlers and fellow Creek citizens, burned homes, and terrorized families. In one instance, they forced a husband to watch at gunpoint as his wife was assaulted. In another, they made a man dance while they fired at his feet, then forced him to fight another captive for their amusement.

Their spree ended on August 10, 1895, when a combined force of U.S. marshals and Creek Lighthorsemen captured them near Muskogee after a prolonged standoff.

Though they were charged with multiple crimes, it was the rape of Rosetta Hansen that brought them before the federal court in Fort Smith, Arkansas, under the jurisdiction of Judge Isaac C. Parker, the infamous “Hanging Judge”.

After a failed appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and a denied clemency request to President Grover Cleveland, the five men were executed together on July 1, 1896, at 1:00 p.m. on the gallows at Fort Smith.

It was the last mass execution for rape in U.S. history and the only such execution carried out by Parker’s court.