George Flute, Deputy Sheriff

Cherokee County Sheriffs Office

Deputy Flute, 42, was shot and killed by an Army deserter whom the Deputy was attempting to arrest for a disturbance at a picnic early the morning of Sunday July 6, 1941, at Flute Springs, 20 miles southwest of Stillwell. The deserter, Dexter Rider, 20, was later convicted of the Deputy’s murder

Osie R Gourd, Deputy Sheriff

Cherokee County Sheriff's Office

Shortly after 5 P.M. on Thursday, May 12, 1938, Deputy Gourd and two other deputies located escaped convicts A. L. Whitham and Clovis Montgomery, in a combination café/dance hall in Camp Cook, five miles north of Tahlequah. The pair was also wanted for a recent armed robbery in Walking Stick Spring. As the deputies approached the two men, Whitham opened fire on Deputy Gourd without warning, shooting him in the stomach. Deputy Gourd shot Whitham five times with his Winchester rifle before he fell dead. When he tried to flee Whitham was shot again by one of the other deputies. Whitham also died at the scene. His wife and five children survived Deputy Gourd.