Cherokee Bill's Murder Trial (Site Bulletin)

Fort Smith Site Bulletin

This article is part of a series of printed site bulletins at Fort Smith National Historic Site.

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Crawford Goldsby, alias Cherokee Bill.

Fort Smith National Historic Site

A Strong Defense

Cherokee Bill's trial for the murder of Ernest Melton began on February 26, 1895. His defense attorney was the renowned J. Warren Reed, known as "that lawyer who always wins his cases." Reed's strategy was to establish an alibi for Bill by having several witnesses place him at various places between Fort Gibson and Tulsa the day before and the day of the murder. That would mean that Cherokee Bill had been 75 miles from the crime scene, making it impossible for him to participate in the robbery and murder.

A Stronger Offense

The federal prosecutors in the case, however, put witnesses of the crime on the stand, all of which positively identified Cherokee Bill as the perpetrator of the crime. In addition, Ben Vann testified that at a dance shortly after the murder, Bill had confessed to the killing, saying "I didn't intend to kill Melton. I only shot to scare him."

On February 27, 1895, the jury rendered the verdict in the case: "Guilty as charged in the … indictment."

According to a local newspaper, Cherokee Bill simply smiled, but his mother, who had attended the trial and testified on his behalf, broke into wails of grief. He reportedly turned to her and said "What's the matter with you? I'm not dead yet." In the federal jail that afternoon, Cherokee Bill was "engaged in a game of poker with Bill Cook and several kindred spirits, as if nothing had happened."

Sentenced to Hang

On Saturday morning, April 13, Cherokee Bill was brought before Judge Parker to be sentenced for the murder of Ernest Melton. Defense attorney Reed was present to argue for a new trial and when the request was denied, he vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court. Parker then proceeded with the sentencing, saying, "From the evidence in the case, there can be no doubt of your guilt. That evidence shows a killing of the most brutal and wicked character... Melton was the innocent, unoffending victim of the savage brutality which prompted the robbery and murder." The judge then told the convicted murderer that he was to be executed by hanging on June 25.

A Fort Smith newspaper reported that Cherokee Bill "took the sentence very calmly… [and] disclosed no emotion whatever. The only show he made that he regarded the matter more seriously than when he was convicted, was the absence of his smile."

Appeal and Plan for Escape

On April 29, Reed appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, listing 14 "manifest errors to the prejudice and great damage" to himself and his client. That appeal nullified the execution date of June 25, as the case was still in the hands of the Supreme Court. It was in the middle of the summer of 1895 that Cherokee Bill planned his escape from the jail at Fort Smith.

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