Tee-o-lit-es (Execution of)

On June 29, 1883, a Native American man (some sources say Creek or Seminole) named Tee-o-lit-es (sometimes referred to as Tualista, Teolitse, and other names as well) was executed in Fort Smith (Sebastian County) for the 1881 murder of Emanuel Cochran. Little is known about either Tee-o-lit-es or Cochran, except that the Arkansas Gazette reported that Tee-o-lit-es was twenty-five years old. In some accounts, Tee-o-lit-es was vilified. An article in the Gazette headlined “Human Fiends” referred to him as “a trifling, lazy vagabond” and commented on his “wicked face.” In his book Hell on the Border, S. W. Harman refers to him as “a fair sample of the uneducated Indian, uncouth and only half civilized.”

According to accounts, in the summer of 1881 Cochran (sometimes spelled Cochrane) was traveling on foot through the Choctaw Nation on his way home to Texas after medical treatment in Eureka Springs (Carroll County). On the way, he stopped for bread and water and paid for the bread in sight of Tee-o-lit-es, who needed money to attend a nearby green corn dance. Seeing Cochran’s money, Tee-o-lit-es borrowed a pony and followed Cochran to a secluded place. There, he shot him in the back of the head and robbed him of $7.40. There were no witnesses to the crime itself, but people nearby saw Tee-o-lit-es following Cochran and then heard a single shot. Cochran’s body was found the following day. The identity of his murderer was unknown until Cochran’s brothers issued a $200 reward. Marshal Addison Beck began to investigate and eventually got another Creek, John Sinner, to coax the story of the murder from Tee-o-lit-es. Beck went into Indian Territory to arrest him but found that he had been sentenced by a native court to whipping after he was convicted of horse theft. The whipping took place in August 1882, and immediately afterward Beck arrested Tee-o-lit-es and took him to jail in Fort Smith.

Tee-o-lit-es, who did not speak English, was tried in March 1883. Jerry Akins, quoting the Fort Smith Elevator, reported, “He was ably defended, but the evidence was so overwhelming that a defense was scarcely necessary.” According to the Gazette, “The evidence was purely circumstantial,” and he would not have been convicted “without any statement of his own, which he made while under the influence of whiskey at different times.” He was convicted of murder on March 24. On May 5, Tee-o-lit-es was sentenced to hang on June 29. He needed an interpreter to understand his sentence and offered nothing in his own defense.

Tee-o-lit-es was hanged with two other men, both African American. A large crowd had attempted to get tickets, but only thirty to forty were issued. A reporter for the Gazette, working with an interpreter, interviewed Tee-o-lit-es before the execution. Tee-o-lit-es reported that he had slept soundly the night before and was not afraid to die. According to the reporter, “He protested his innocence, but his wicked face gave him the lie.” Jerry Akins wrote in his book Hangin’ Times in Fort Smith that “Teolitse had confessed to his crime shortly before the final hour, adding that Cochrane was not the only man he had killed, and showed the interviewers four buttons sewn on his hat, each representing a killing.”

As the three men approached the gallows, each was accompanied by a minister. There are different accounts of Tee-o-lit-es’s demeanor. The Gazette reported that all he said on the gallows was that “he was too ill to speak.” The Los Angeles Times and several other newspapers reported that instead of last words, Tee-o-lit-es put “his hand on this breast” signifying that “his heart was broken.” The trap was sprung at 11:48 a.m., and Tee-o-lit-es’s neck was broken. His heart ceased beating three and a half minutes later.

For additional information:
Akins, Jerry. Hangin’ Times in Fort Smith: A History of Executions in Judge Parker’s Court. Little Rock: Butler Center Books, 2012.

Harman, S. W. Hell on the Border: He Hanged Eighty-Eight Men. Fort Smith, AR: Phoenix Publishing Company, 1898.

“Human Fiends. Arkansas Gazette, June 30, 1883, pp. 1, 5.

“Triple Execution.” Los Angeles Herald, June 30, 1883, p. 2.

Nancy Snell Griffith
Davidson, North Carolina