The Rampage of Rufus Buck Gang

The Indian Territory was known for being lawless for some time, and the Hanging Judge, Isaac Parker, was facing the abusive teenage Rufus Buck Gang just a few moments before their execution. He told the teenagers “The wickedness of your crimes leaves no ground for any leeway of sympathy to all of you!” What could have been the reason for this to tell them?

Hanging Judge, Isaac Parker

It all started with the cold prison walls of Forth Smith in Arkansas. Most of the members of the Rufus Buck Gang who were formed inside the jail were teens who had minor offenses, such because of peddling whiskey when it was illegal in the Indian Territory at that time. One of them was a full-blooded Indian named Rufus Buck. Rufus Buck served 90 days in prison and after that, he decided to make a name for himself, along with Sam, Moama, Lewis, and Lucky. Therefore, the Rufus Buck Gang came to be. 

Rufus Buck

They were ingenuous and hot-blooded at the same time. They had a desire to be greater than the other famous Outlaws older than them even if they were not a deadly gunslinger like Ringo or a famous robber like Jesse James. With that, they began collecting guns before they finally spread terror to Oklahoma. Fired up with bitterness against the white people, Rufus Buck led his gang into cold-blooded mayhem.  

The gang began their steam by robbing a local store. A deputy responded to the owner but the teens shot him dead. It made them feel rewarded, so the next day, they came across a father and daughter riding in a wagon. They held him at gunpoint while violating his daughter. The gang did this for 13 days straight to cite their rebellion to the townspeople. They ransacked stores, and ranches and killed anyone on their way. One day, they robbed an elderly salesman and promised to let him live if he could outrun them. Eventually, the elderly escaped. So, in frustration, the gang killed his young assistant instead.

Townsmen

The Rufus Buck Gang left a bloody trail in places they went anyone who do not cooperate gets killed. One poor stockman was not spared when the gang took his clothes and boots, then opened fire on him while the man fled naked. Despite every horrid and brutal depravity they had committed, what made them horrifying was raping a married woman in front of her husband and child. With all their robberies, raping, and killings nothing awaits the gang but punishment

With the teamwork of deputy marshalls and the Creek Lighthorse police, they finally tracked Rufus Buck Gang which led to a gun shootout that lasted the whole day. Finally, the young outlaws surrendered and were arrested to face their deserved punishments.

 Creek Lighthorse police

When the news of their capture was heard, Rufus and his gang members had been almost hanged on the spot. But, the lawmen under Judge Parker insisted and accompanied the gang into Fort Smith to be trialed and sentenced by the Hanging Judge himself. So, while Isaac Parker was facing the vicious teenage Rufus Buck Gang, he finally brought justice to the innocent victims as he sentenced them to be hanged to death in the gallows. 

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