There were more lawmen killed in a fifty mile radius of Muskogee than anywhere west of the Mississippi during the frontier era.
Oklahoma State Trooper Magazine
Enforcement and protection under the laws of the land has always been a problem for nations and the Five Civilized Tribes were no exception. Each tribe developed rules independent of the others, but most selected a common method of enforcement, a mounted patrol. In 1808, Cherokee chiefs and warriors approved an act appointing “regulators” authorizing them to prevent horse stealing and robbery, protect widows or orphans and kill any accused person that resisted their authority. Because they moved quickly and traveled light, the regulators soon became known as “lighthorse men.” The term originated with Major General Henry Lee, better known as Lighthorse Harry Lee, for leading his cavalry regiment on rapid strikes against British troops in Georgia and South Carolina during the Revolutionary War. Later, he would also became the father of Robert Edward Lee, famed Confederate Civil War general.
The Cherokee Lighthorse, given absolute authority by the leadership, soon addressed and resolved many of the law enforcement problems in the Cherokee Nation. Later during the removal to Indian Territory, they were also effective in protecting fellow tribesman from predators attempting to steal their meager possessions. Recognizing their previous effectiveness in Georgia, in 1844 the Cherokee National Council passed a bill authorizing a Lighthorse company.
Just as their predecessors in Georgia, the Indian Territory Lighthorse police were authorized to determine guilt and administer appropriate punishment. The most common form of punishment for misdemeanors was for the accused to be tied to a post and lashed with a hickory switch. However, repeated arrests could lead to a death sentence. More serious crimes such as rape were dealt with severely. The first offense resulted in 50 lashes with the switch and having the left ear cropped off close to the head. The second offense, involved a mandatory 100 lashes and the loss of the second ear, and for the third offense, death. Criminals found guilty of murder frequently were condemned to death in the same manner as their victim. Dave Miller killed John Phillips by slitting his throat with a bowie knife. The officer designated as the Lighthorse executioner dispatched him the same way. Following a trial that either resulted in a whipping or death sentence for certain crimes, the condemned criminal was allowed to return home for one year. At the end of the year, neighbors would assemble at the local church and engage in visiting with the culprit, chatting and smoking. However, as soon as the Lighthorse appeared the crowd would adjourn to the church to sing hymns while the sentence was carried out. Unless executed, the accused was reinstated as a citizen of the community and the matter of the misdeed was closed, not to be mentioned again.
While investigating and solving major crimes occupied some of their time, Lighthorse police were also called upon to enforce less exciting tasks. In 1880 they were pressed into service guarding the border to prevent Texas cattle from crossing into Indian Territory. Although immune themselves, the cattle carried ticks that resulted in the dreaded Texas fever that killed Indian cattle. Even more mundane activities included their responsibility to collect fines from “any person who willfully kills the dog of another,” or collecting a $25 dollar fine from “any person found cutting down or destroying a pecan tree of another for the purpose of obtaining nuts.”
The names of the infamous and famous are included on the roles of the Lighthorse, for example several members of the Dalton Gang served with the Osage tribe before turning to a life of crime. Conversely, one outstanding Cherokee member was the legendary Sam Sixkiller who was stationed in Muskogee and commanded forty men. He was responsible for the arrest and conviction of numerous murderers, thieves and lesser criminals. However, even Sixkiller was to die a violent death. On Christmas Eve 1886, off duty and unarmed, he stopped to pick up some medicine at Pitterson’s Mercantile Store, and was mortally wounded by two wanted criminals.
The Lighthorse were disbanded in 1907 when the Nations became part of Oklahoma, but more recently many tribes have regained full police powers. While the absolute authority of yesteryear no longer remains, today the Cherokee Nation is assisted by the Cherokee Marshals Service, thus continuing the proud tradition of law enforcement initiated by the Lighthorse, an Echo From The Past.