April 30, 1877

Joseph Brooks died in Little Rock (Pulaski County). Brooks made an unsuccessful run for governor in 1872 in a race marred with fraud. Afterward, he challenged the election, and the Pulaski County Circuit Court decided in his favor. When Baxter refused to concede the election to Brooks, Brooks’s supporters removed Baxter from the governor’s office by force. Others armed themselves and came to Baxter’s support, and the following conflict was known as the Brooks-Baxter War. Eventually, the debate was settled by a congressional committee’s conclusion that Baxter’s claim was stronger.

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