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The Brooks–McFarland Feud was a family feud that took place between 1896 and 1902, in what is now the state of Oklahoma. It began after the death of Thomas Brooks on August 24, 1896. The Brooks family blamed the McFarlands and from there followed a series of confrontations that culminated in a historic shootout at Spokogee on September 22, 1902. During the shootout, Willis Brooks and two others were killed while a fourth man was seriously wounded. The feud ended about three weeks later, on October 10, 1902, when Jim McFarland was ambushed and killed near his home. According to the author Edward Herring: "The deaths of Willis Brooks and Jim McFarland signaled the end of an era when disputes were settled with gun smoke and hot lead. With them also died the old feud." ==Background== ;Brooks Faction Willis Brooks II was born on April 3, 1854 to Willis and Louisa Jane "Jenny" Brooks, who lived in the hill country of Lawrence County, Alabama. Willis Jr. had four brothers; John, the eldest, Gaines, or Gainum, Mack, and Henry, the youngest. During the American Civil War, the Brooks family joined the Confederacy, although many of their neighbors remained loyal to the Union. For this they were called "Tories" by the rebels. Willis Brooks, Sr. attempted to enlist in the Confederate Army, but he was rejected due to his age. He did, however, become a saddle maker that was attached to a rebel cavalry in 1863. When Willis returned home he learned that a "Tory" had been annoying his wife, Louisa Jane "Jenny", a half-breed Cherokee, who was nearly twenty years younger than her husband. Sometime within the next few days, Willis found the man and killed him, but his friends soon retaliated. Willis was shot dead in front of his house and then, a few days after his funeral, John was killed while working in a field. Mrs. Brooks witnessed the first event and she claimed that seven or eight men were responsible, according to differing accounts. She then had her sons avenge their father. According to Ken Butler, author of ''Oklahoma Renegades: Their Deeds and Misdeeds:'' "By late 1883, the Brooks clan disposed of the last of the seven slayers of their father, but they continued to harass some of their neighbors (Hubbard family )."〔 In April 1884, Sheriff Alex Heflin decided he had had enough of the Brooks family and he deputized some local men and attempted to make arrests. A gunfight occurred on April 14. Gaines and a citizen named Phillips of the Sherriff's party〔(Memphis daily Appeal April 17, 1884 page 2 )〕 were killed while Henry and two more deputies were wounded. Henry was hit in one of his legs and after it was amputated he became known as "Peg Leg" Brooks. The Brooks family then went West. For the next six years they lived in Cooke County, Texas, but, in 1890, Willis II, who was now the leader of the family, moved north to the Chickasaw Nation, in the Indian Territory. He didn't stay for long though; in 1894 he moved his family again. This time to a new settlement known as Dogtown, twenty-five miles west of Eufaula, in the Creek Nation. In Dogtown, Willis II and his family prospered as farmers and ranchers. Willis married at some point and he had six sons and at least two daughters; Thomas, Clifton, John, Earl, Marion, Willis III, Francis and Lela. When she was old enough, Francis married Columbus Windfield "Sam" Baker, who was also from Alabama and supported the Brooks family in their dispute with the McFarlands. Together Sam and Francis had several children, one of whom was named Bill.〔〔〔 ;McFarland Faction The McFarland family was smaller than the Brooks, but had an equally questionable history prior to the beginning of the feud in 1896. Jim McFarland was the leader. After developing a reputation as a murderous cattle rustler in Kentucky, Jim moved west to the Indian Territory, where he married a Creek woman named Sarah Watson. Sometime later, Jim was joined by his two brothers, Sam and Joe, Sarah's brother, "Sandy" Watson, and another Native American named Bill Franklin, and they all settled together at a place four miles north of the Brooks home, near Old Watsonville. The McFarland family was also supported by and old man named George Riddle and his son, Alonzo "Lon" Riddle, who owned a ranch to the northwest of the Brooks-McFarland homes. According to Edward Herring, the Riddles joined the McFarlands because Willis Brooks attempted to have the former "driven out of the area," sometime before 1896.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Brooks–McFarland Feud」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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