Joseph H Godfrey

Being duly sworn on his oath deposes and says:

I live at Colbert station Chickasaw nation. I am practising law in the Indian nation and after the conviction of Steve Bussell, I was employed by his friends to hunt up the testimony in support of motion for new trial. I came to Fort Smith with an eye witness Mr Dauson to the killing.

On the 6th day of Dec. 88, I went to Harneyville and remained in that neighborhood until Sunday evening the 9th inst searching for testimony to show that William Hamilton had been either bribed by the Christians or through fear of them to run off and not appear in the Bussell case.

On Saturday the 8th inst I saw several parties who I am satisfied are in possession of information of the fact that William Hamilton was bribed by the Christians to leave the country or was driven off by their threats. I was unable to get the witnesses before any Notary Public except Dudley Lutrell and John Merriman who went as they said at the peril of their lives before a Notary Public and made their statements on last Monday the 10th inst.

I remained at Harneyville over Sunday untill four o'clock P M and on Sunday morning about seven or eight o'clock two men came riding up to the store at Harneyville they were whooping and discharging firearms and acting in a very boisterous manner and I was told it was Billy Lutrell and Sealy Moyer by parties who knew. They remained there I suppose probably three quarters of an hour and rode off as they rode up discharging their firearms and hooping in a very boisterous manner. About half and hour after that one of the party Billy Lutrell came back hooping and discharging his pistol and came up within forty yards of Jim Thompson's house where I was stopping he was apparently very drunk and reeling on his horse and I was told by a brother of Billy Lutrell's, Dudley Lutrell that the pistol, horse, saddle, and bridle all belonged to Jim Moyer. Dudley Lutrell went out to where he was and told him he didn't want him to come there shooting his pistol and he wanted him to go away that Thompson and I were in the house and he was liable to get hurt. Billy Lutrell then turned and rode up to the store at Harneyville and then rode off and then I suppose in about half and hour after that ten or twelve men rode up two of them were in a buggy they were apparently all drunk hooping and shooting and discharging their firearms. They rode around on the east side of the house and a part of them went still to the north side of the house, that is, Jim Thompson's house. They appeared to be drunk and it seemed as if they were trying to provoke a difficulty with Mr Thompson and those in the house, their purpose being very evidently to insult and defy the inmates of Mr Thompson's house. Mr Thompson and I remained in the house he at one door and I at the other and we watched the whole proceedings. They remained around the house about three quarters or an hour at a distance of about one hundred and fifty or two hundred yards from the house and they went away as they had come discharging their firearms in front of Thomas Juson's house, a blind brother of Alec Juson deceased. It seems as if every time they passed Tom Juson's house they would shoot off their firearms, Bill Lutrell I think discharged his pistol five or six times he was about one hundred yards from the house going back when he discharged his pistol. After the crowd had hooped and shot around Harneyville for some time they rode off discharging their guns and went towards Woodville which is about a half mile south east of Harneyville. After I started home about four o'clock on Sunday evening I got out probably a quarter of a mile from Harneyville going north I saw a man standing off about one hundred and fifty yards from the road to the left against Mrs Thompson's home pasture on a horse. I wasn't near enough to recognize who he was; and still half a mile or not so far was another man right on the road that I had started on, on his horse who discharged his gun about the time I got even with this first man, and being alone I then changed my course and remained all night with Mrs Alec Juson. On Monday morning I rode to Colbert station to my home and went on to Dennison and met by appointment Dudley Lutrell and John Merriman who gave their affidavits which are hereto annexed. The reason I stayed at Mrs Alec Juson's is my seeing these men on the road and not knowing them I believed my life to be in danger if I continued my journey on Sunday evening.

The following persons have been pointed out to me as persons who have knowledge as to why and how Hamilton came to leave the country with out coming to court to give his testimony in the Bussell case: Thorton Prevo commonly known as Mayberry, he is a brother in law of Bill Hamilton and J A Counts a friend and neighbor of Bill Hamilton and a lady by the name of Mrs Patent, and William Pevito. Some of these I have called upon personally and from their manner I was satisfied they were afraid to tell what they knew on account of the feeling on the part of the Christians and from the fact that they had told parties what they did know. I had information from parties whom they had told confidentialy what they knew about the case. Affiant is satisfied owing to the circumstances by which those parties are surrounded down there that they will never give their testimony in the case unless they are summoned before this court.

J. H. Godfrey

Subscribed & Sworn to before me this the 13th day of December 1888.

Samuel [Carbary?]
Notary Public

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KMA NOTES:

On 10 APR 1887, part Chickasaw Jim Christian and white man Bud Luttrell were murdered at Rooster Creek, Pickens Co., Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory. Suspects in the murder were Alex Juzan and Steve Bussell. Juzan was subsequently killed three days later while resisting arrest by Indian Policeman Dave Hardwick. Bussell was later arrested by U.S. Deputy Marshal Charles LeFlore. Because Luttrell was a white man Bussell was indicted in the U.S. court at Fort Smith, AR, to be tried by "Hanging Judge" Parker. Bussell, who always maintained his innocence of the crime, alleging that it was Juzan who did all the shooting, was convicted on 28 SEP 1888, and sentenced to be hanged on 19 APR 1899. His sentence was later commuted to "Life" on 16 APR 1889. Apparently, he later received a Presidential pardon as he was back in Indian Territory by April, 1902.

One of the most significant problems with the case was the failure of Bill Hamilton to appear and testify at the trial. At the time, Hamilton was the only known eye witness to the shootings. More records in the Bussell case are located on this web site.

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