Ned Christie – Ned Christie’s War
On May 3, 1887, US Deputy Marshal Daniel Maples led a posse into Indian territory in Oklahoma, trying to clamp down on the illegal whiskey trade. He was shot and killed in an ambush by someone who escaped without being identified. Ned Christie, an upstanding citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a close advisor to the Chief was falsely blamed and forced to flee into the wilds.
What followed was a five year running battle, known in the newspapers as “Ned Christie’s War.” The innocent former-blacksmith managed to build a makeshift fort atop a hill overlooking his former home after a posse burned his old cabin to the ground. The posse that finally brought him down consisted of twenty five men, heavily armed with rifles, dynamite and even a 3-pounder field gun. After a day and a half of fighting, thirty-eight cannonballs flung at the fort, and over 2,000 rounds of rifle ammunition, the deputies managed to blow open the gate with dynamite and finally bring Ned down.
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