Description
No corner of the Wild West was wilder than Indian Territory. Enforcement of the law, whether those of Native American tribes who’d just been forcibly removed from their homelands to live there, or of the colonizers who’d put them there, was more than a tough job. It often was a deadly one.
In
Protecting Our People: Chickasaw Law Enforcement in Indian Territory, Michelle Cooke provides a detailed look at Indian Territory law enforcement in the Chickasaw Nation through carefully compiled biographies, service records, and vintage photos. The result is a sweeping and detailed account of the Chickasaw lawmen who served as lighthorse officers, sheriffs, constables, US Indian Police, and US marshals. Cooke also chronicles the reestablishment of the Chickasaw Nation’s Lighthorse Police as a cutting-edge law enforcement department.