Gates of Hell

By Robert F. (Bob) Turpin

Gates of Hell contains three thrilling stories. 1) “The Ten Dollar Outlaw” – John Childers, a cold-blooded murderer was the first man to die on the Fort Smith gallows later referred to as the Gates of Hell. 2) “The Mysterious Naked Lady” – In the dead of night, Sheriff Jeff Lane seeks shelter from a severe storm in an abandoned line shack. He is not prepared for what he encounters – a stark naked woman with a bloody butcher knife. 3) “The Strange Death of George Lewis” – George Lewis, a Black man, murders his girlfriend out of jealousy, then goes on a killing rampage. He avoids the Gates of Hell, the only way he can – meeting his maker first.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 23, 2014
• ISBN: 9781312130951

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Gates of Hell

Gates of Hell

Copyright

© 2013 by Bob Turpin

All Rights Reserved

ISBN: 978-1-312-13095-1

No part of this book may be copied or reproduced

in any form without permission in writing

from the publisher, except by a reviewer

who may quote brief passages

for review purposes.

Dedication

To the folks who like to read

about the Old West.

The Ten Dollar Outlaw

John Childers was the first legally sentenced murderer to hang from the new Fort Smith gallows. Known as a cruel, violent man, the Cherokee half-breed had a white father and a pretty Cherokee mother named Katy Vann. He was born near Cowskin Creek, Cherokee Nation, in Indian Territory, May 13, 1848.

At a young age Childers was almost six feet tall and the young Indian girls thought him to be quite handsome. Even with his lust for the ladies it was easy for him to push them aside for a fine looking horse without a second thought.

Childers grew up in the Creek Indian and Cherokee Nations. He ran with renegades and outlaws, no matter their race. The rebel’s main purpose in life was to rob, steal, and murder helpless farmers and ranchers.

Old man Rayburn Wedding, a peddler, traveled the Indian nations trading flour, salt-pork, and coffee to the Indians. In return he received skins, pelts, and other farm products. When Wedding wasn’t using his supply wagon he was riding a fine black stallion. His prized animal was always tied to the tailgate of his wagon, always saddled and ready to ride.

One day on the trail, on October 1, 1870, Childers stopped Wedding to buy some tobacco, matches, and dried meat. The trader was on Caney Creek near the Kansas-Oklahoma border. As soon as the Indian half-breed saw the fine animal he decided it would belong to him. He offered