LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
I GIVE YOU THE ONE AND ONLY
~Tom"Bear River"Smith~
THOMAS J. SMITH,
Marshall of Abilene,
June 4.1870,
Died, a Martyr to Duty,
Nov. 2, 1870
In 1870, Tom "Bear River" Smith was hired as the police chief at Abilene for the monthly wage of $150. In reality, he would be the entire police force. Before coming over from Kit Carson, Colo., to establish his final residence in Kansas. He served as a successful marshal up in Wyoming and had followed employment laying the new Union Pacific railroad track across broad Nebraska prairies. Smith had picked up his unique nickname after battling a vigilante group during a skirmish in Wyoming. Tom Smith immediately enforced a city ordinance prohibiting anyone from carrying guns in Abilene. His first and second challenges to the law came from the insolent "Big Hank" Hawkins and from the terrible and burly "Wyoming Frank." Neither the superior size of his antagonists nor their pistols intimidated Smith. Individually, Tom Smith quickly overpowered, disarmed, and then banished Hank and Frank from the town without having to use any weapon other than his bare hands. Because a good horse cost a substantial sum to replace, the flourishing pastime of horse-stealing was generally considered a very severe offense throughout the Great Plains. When "Buckskin Bill" and his pal named Foster were hanging out in the yet-untamed Abilene back in the summer of 1870, the sneaky pair decided to swipe a number of local horses. "Bear River" Smith sought the aid of the officers and people of St. Joseph, Atchison, and Marysville in his investigation of the crime. The persistent detective found that the trail of the snatched stallions led from Dickinson county northward all the way up to what was then called the "Blackwater State." The Nebraska horse thieves had driven the plundered herd back to their home turf, where Pawnee City buyers happily took a portion of the stolen steeds off "Buckskin Bill's" hands. In 1870, "Bear River" rode his beautiful saddle horse, the dappled-grey Silverheels, into Pawnee City, determined to recover the looted livestock. But certain residents there were unwilling to surrender the filched animals and brazenly threatened the Kansas lawman, attempting to run him out of the village. They advised him that he "had better get out," or he "soon would have nothing to go out on." But the ploy of intimidation failed to thwart the Abilene police chief. Smith succeeded in recapturing most of the purloined ponies. Foster was found to be already residing under lock and key at Nebraska City for a separate offense, and "Buckskin Bill" was thrown into his hometown jail at Brownville. The reclaimed horses were trotted back home to Kansas. "Bear River" Smith returned to quell the remaining lawlessness in Abilene, disgustedly leaving Pawnee City to contemplate their inconsistent attitude concerning stolen goods.
Shortly afterward, on Wednesday, Nov. 2, Thomas James "Bear River" Smith was cruelly executed by two farmers, Andrew McConnell and Moses Miles, in the countryside 12 miles outside Abilene. While trying to arrest McConnell, who was the larger of the pair and had recently murdered a neighbor, the brave constable suffered a severe gunshot wound. During the ensuing scuffle, Tom Smith was viciously slashed by an axe handled by Miles as the lawman futilely struggled alone against the ill-natured duo. Earlier, Smith had recruited a local Abilene man to assist in the arrest; but for undetermined reasons, the temporary deputy named McDonald provided no help and fled from the scene while the senior officer was being overpowered. After Tom Smith's demise, the nighttime atmosphere of Abilene's south side reverted to its former raucous disorder even through the next year, when James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok assumed the office once held by Smith.