Rufus Buck
*The birth of Rufus Buck is affirmed on this date in 1876. He was a Black Indigenous Indian outlaw who terrorized Arkansas and Oklahoma in the summer of 1895.
Born to a Black mother and Creek father in about 1875, Rufus was in trouble from a young age, and by the time he was 18, he had already served time for minor offenses in the Fort Smith, Arkansas jail. In the summer of 1895, Rufus formed a ragtag gang of five teenage boys who were Black, Indigenous, or of mixed race.
Deciding to make a name for himself and wanting to trigger an Indian uprising that would banish the white-Americans from Indian Territory, Rufus formed the Buck Gang. The outlaws killed U.S. Deputy Marshal John Garrett on July 30 when he tried to stop them from a store robbery in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. They then went on to rob various stores, ranches, and several settlers in the next two weeks, killing two more men and raping two women.
All five members were hanged at Fort Smith, Arkansas, on August 1, 1896.
