the gang began holding up various stores and ranches in the Fort Smith area. The apparently random violence terrified not only the local white settlers but also the neighboring Indians and African-American freedmen. The Buck Gang went on a vicious two-week spree of robbery, rape, and murder. All of them had been apprehended on minor offenses and served time in the Fort Smith jail prior to their crime spree that summer. Sam Sampson and Maoma July were both Creek Indians. Named after their leader, Rufus Buck, the gang had a total of five members. The gang rose to prominence in July of 1895. The Buck Gang was an outlaw multi-racial gang of members who were part African American and part Creek-Indian. The only known photograph of the Rufus Buck gang, taken in the summer of 1895 in Indian Territory.
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