Marshal Heck Thomas
The wild frontier of Oklahoma and Indian Territory needed lawmen that were both courageous and determined. Heck Thomas was a lawman that fit in that mold. Born Henry Andrew Thomas in Athens, Georgia, Heck’s parents wanted him to be a Methodist minister when he grew up. This did not sit well with Heck, as he had plans for something more exciting. When Heck’s father and uncles joined the Confederacy during the Civil War, Heck didn’t want to be left at home. He served in the War as a message carrier at the ripe old age of twelve years old!
After the war, Heck’s father became the city marshal of Atlanta. Heck Thomas became an Atlanta policeman at the age of 17. Heck moved West in 1875 and was hired to be a railroad guard for the Texas Express Company. As a guard, Heck saved the money from the Sam Bass Gang, by hiding the cash in an unlit stove. The gang was left with decoy money in the captured safe. Heck moved north to work for the Fort Worth Detective Association, where he killed Jim and Pink Lee of the notorious Lee Gang. That caught the attention of the federal government and they appointed Heck Thomas a U.S. Deputy Marshal out of Fort Smith, Arkansas.
As a U.S. Deputy Marshal, Heck served Judge Isaac Parker, who was known as the “hanging judge”. Heck was assigned to hunt outlaws in the Indian Territory. On his first assignment, Heck captured eight murderers, a bootlegger, a horse thief, and several other “hard eggs”, as really bad men were called. After the Land Run of 1889, Heck settled in Guthrie and worked with Bill Tilghman and Chris Madsen, where they became known as “The Three Guardsmen”. One group that they especially wanted to catch was the Doolin-Dalton Gang. Most of the Dalton’s were killed while robbing two banks in Coffeyville, Kansas, but Bill Doolin was still at large. After chasing Bill Doolin for four years, Heck Thomas caught up with him and killed him in the shootout that followed. As a deputy, Heck arrested more than 300 wanted men in Indian Territory and was wounded more than six times in the line of duty. In 1902, Heck became the Chief of Police for Lawton, where he served for seven years when he retired. Heck Thomas died in 1912.
First City Officers of Perry that included Thomas