6
saddlebag dispatches
M
ANY OF THE MOST cherished images of the Old West are of the lone lawman pursuing and ultimately apprehending criminals. The image has been exploited effectively by novelists and filmmakers. In fact, such is the influence of fictional accounts of lawmen in the West that the truth, though no less interesting than the fiction, is not well known. The romanticized image of the federal marshal, riding out in search of a desperate, evil criminal does not begin to show the complexity of the times or the disparate influences that the men who became deputies brought to the job. The history of U.S. Marshals and their deputies has its roots in the Judiciary Act of 1789. One of the first pieces of legislation passed by the first Congress, the Judiciary Act, created the federal court system and the office of U.S. Marshal. Appointed by the president, a marshal served each of the newly created federal district and circuit courts. These men were broadly empowered to carry out all lawful orders issued by judges, Congress or the president. With the U.S. Marshal acting as the administrative head,
it was the deputy marshals that carried out most of the work The marshals’ principal function was to enforce orders and decisions of the federal courts. They served subpoenas, summonses, writs and warrants, and other processes issued by the judges and magistrates. They made arrests and handled all of the prisoners confined by the courts until final application of sentence. They also distributed money, paying the fees and expenses of the jurors and witnesses, and contracting for the feeding of prisoners. The marshals were also responsible for renting spaces for the courts and jails, and they hired bailiffs, criers and janitors. As American settlement moved west, the U.S. Marshals went with it to uphold the law in remote, sparsely populated territories. The Federal Court for the Western District of Arkansas was created in 1851 and, until 1896, held jurisdiction over 13 Arkansas counties and all or parts of the Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma). This vast area was home to the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks and Seminoles, removed from their
