Jesse W. Hendrickson, Deputy Sheriff,
“L” County (Grant County)
One of Sheriff R.H. Hagar's brand new deputies in "L" County (later Grant County), Oklahoma Territory in 1893 was thirty-five-year-old Jesse Hendrickson, the brother of a local minister. Hendrickson had been on the job only a few days when Hagar assigned him to accompany Undersheriff Johnnie Jones in serving warrants for cattle theft on Frank Boydson and a man named Neil. Hendrickson and Jones rode out of Pond Creek, the county seat, at mid-morning on Saturday, November 11, 1893. When they arrived at the Boydson cabin, several miles west, they called for the two suspects to "come out." When there was no answer, the officers pulled Winchesters from their saddle scabbards and started to dismount; an action that was met by a hail of gunfire from the cabin. The first shot killed Jones' horse and another bullet struck Hendrickson in the leg. Jones returned fire from behind the carcass of his horse, while Hendrickson took cover by crawling into a nearby depression. Both officers were pinned down, and Hendrickson's horse had run off to a field near the house when the shooting started. The wounded Hendrickson called out to Jones, telling him he could "hold them off," if Jones went for help. As the Undersheriff cautiously crawled his way toward Hendrickson's horse, Boydson and Neil ran from the cabin, crouched behind a wagon and began firing, forcing Jones to retreat to cover again. Hendrickson, meanwhile, made his way around behind the suspects' shanty. When Boydson and Neil realized they had been outflanked, one of them ran back inside and began firing at Hendrickson through cracks in the walls, killing the deputy with a shot to the chest. The pair then retrieved their horses and rode away to the west. In the meantime, Jones had secured Hendrickson's stray mount and headed for help in Pond Creek. A posse that included cavalry troopers stationed at the county seat, trailed Boydson and Neil northwest through the town of Manchester and across the state line to Cameron, Kansas, but by then the pair had disappeared into the rough Gypsum Hill country of Barber County. There is no evidence to indicate that Boydson or Neil were ever captured or tried for their crimes. Deputy Hendrickson was laid to rest a mile south of the county seat, in the corner of a quarter section designated as school property. He was the first person buried in what later became Pond Creek Cemetery and the first Grant County lawman to be killed in the line of duty.
George Smith, Territorial Deputy Sheriff
Grant County
On the evening of Saturday, May 25, 1901, William Campbell, a local drunk, got in an argument with three other black men in front of the J.G. Knox Saloon. Campbell was also known as “Nigger Bill.” Campbell started to draw his gun but John Fisher, a gambler, drew his first and hit Campbell over the head. Fisher dropped his gun while continuing to pistol-whip Campbell. Deputy Smith, who happened by at that moment, bent over to pick up Fisher’s weapon. Before he could stand back up, Campbell shot Deputy Smith over the left eye. Campbell was overpowered and dragged to jail by a local banker who witnessed the shooting. Bill Campbell was dragged from the jail about midnight by an unruly mob of about 400 people who took him back to the scene of the crime and lynched him from a telephone pole. Two hours later, Deputy Smith died from his wounds. The 25-year-old officer, unmarried, had been a deputy for about three years.