THE PONTOTOC CONSPIRACY

This historical novel by Phillip M. Swatek is a story of mystery, murder and revenge set in the final days of Indian Territory and the first years of Oklahoma statehood. The Pontotoc Conspiracy has been released by the publisher, the Florida Historical Society Press.

ADA, OKLA. (PRWEB) October 7, 2003

The last bullet-scarred days of Indian Territory and the first years of frontier Oklahoma are the backdrop for The Pontotoc Conspiracy, a historical novel about the crime that shocked not only a brand new state, but the nation.

The Pontotoc Conspiracy recounts the unsettled conditions in the last part of Indian Territory, including Pontotoc County, heart of the Chickasaw Nation, where distant courts and thin law enforcement brought many to administer their own personal justice.

“Phil Swatek has taken a tragic event in the history of Oklahoma and turned it into a modern mystery,” says Dr. Lewis Wynne, Executive Director of the Florida Historical Society. “Those familiar with Oklahoma history will identify with the characters and the rough-and-tumble society of Indian Territory. Those who may not be familiar with early Oklahoma history will enjoy this book as a first-rate ‘whodunnit.’”

Brenda Tollett, Managing Editor, The Ada Evening News, and past president of the Pontotoc County Historical & Genealogical Society, says “The historic lynching in Ada in 1909 could be considered a kind of morality play—the struggle between good and evil—but the requisite moral isn’t entirely clear now, nearly one hundred years later. Easy to read, The Pontotoc Conspiracy still reflects careful research.”

The Pontotoc Conspiracy describes the ambush assassination of a former U.S. Deputy Marshal and how the crime was solved with the help of a legendary Chickasaw tracker, and how four Texans believed to be involved in the murder were brought back to Oklahoma.

The tale follows two young Texans who, in the late 19th century, crossed the Red River into Pontotoc County, Indian Territory. It was a sea of tall grass across the shallow Red River, and a promised land for cattle from the arid ranges of south Texas and the young men whose families had lost everything in the Civil War. There, without resources to buy land, a man could afford to lease pastureland from the Indians and start his ranching career.

As lush as the bluestem pastures were, life in a remote, frontier country was hard for new settlers. Money was usually in short supply, and any ranch—even a small one on leased acreage—soaked up money for tools, medicine, and more stock.

One of the Texans of The Pontotoc Conspiracy—Gus Bobbitt—gets a financial boost by becoming a U.S. Deputy Marshal, a very hazardous job in Indian Territory. There were very few deputy marshals to begin with in Indian Territory, and many of those were killed in gunfire.

The other principal in the story—Jesse West—moved farther north across the South Canadian River in 1900, making his way into Oklahoma Territory. There, he could homestead and would one day own the land. He found another road to fortune by taking over a wildly disreputable saloon—The Corners—a very profitable hub for bootleg sales in dry Indian Territory.

The fatal conflict between the two old friends didn’t start between lawman and bootlegger, however. Gus lost his deputy marshal’s job and missed the income, small as it was. He went north to help Jesse in his saloon—a doomed partnership.

Profitable as it was, Jesse West gave up the tumultuous whiskey business in early 1906 at the insistence of his worried wife, and went back to Texas. Gus Bobbitt stayed on at the saloon until Oklahoma statehood in late 1907. By then he could afford to buy his dreamed-of ranch. And it was near this ranch he was assassinated by ambush in February 1909.

Solid police work and a very lucky break unraveled the assassination plot quickly. Soon implicated were Jim Miller, a known West Texas gunman and assassin for hire, and the man who hired him—Gus Bobbitt’s old saloon partner, Jesse West.

Robert Wimbish, a young Pontotoc County attorney, was faced with the daunting problem of getting the Texans involved in the assassination plot back into Oklahoma jurisdiction. He managed this seemingly impossible task with the psychological insight and artful maneuvering described in The Pontotoc Conspiracy.

The crime that followed on April 19, 1909—when Ada’s citizens took the law into their own hands—shocked the new state of Oklahoma and the nation. Oklahoma’s first governor, Gov. C. N. Haskell, was outraged. He ordered a Blue Ribbon grand jury to identify the men in the mob—between thirty and forty of them—and bring them to justice. In the ninety-six years that have passed, the shroud of secrecy that baffled the lawmen at the time has remained intact.

The Pontotoc Conspiracy is published by the Florida Historical Society Press. Included in the 237-page hardcover book are sketch maps and twenty-three period photographs. The Pontotoc Conspiracy is available on Amazon.com, and books may be ordered through the publisher by phone, e-mail or regular mail. The Pontotoc Conspiracy sells for $23.95 plus shipping.

About Phillip M. Swatek

Phil began his writing career as a newspaper reporter and editor in West Texas, and went on to become the Washington Correspondent and Washington Bureau Chief for The Cincinnati Enquirer. His great fascination with the history of the Old West, and of Oklahoma in particular, is reflected in The Pontotoc Conspiracy. This is his first book.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Phillip M. Swatek

phil@pontotoc-conspiracy.com

Shelby Swatek

mktg@pontotoc-conspiracy.com

More detailed sales information is

available on the website:

http://www.pontotoc-conspiracy.com

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