36 - Dead eye Sam

     Samantha had a lot of thinking to do on the way to Little Rock the next day. Not only was she worried about Jeff being right in the middle of the political situation that was about to boil over in Little Rock, but suddenly, she needed to go back to short black hair again, maybe even change the name of her restaurant. She just generally needed to go underground to keep Slim from finding her, right here in Little Rock. Everything she had worked so hard for was slipping away. She had worked so hard to get her own restaurant. Her skill with the big gun, and her unique red hair, had helped her do that. Those very things that had helped her so much, now threatened to destroy her, now that Slim and the other Dudley’s may well be right here. What she wanted most right now was to get back to Jeff, so he could hold her tightly in his strong arms, and she could have a good, long, cry.

     The Stage Coach Station for Little Rock was right there on the lower floor of Anthony House, so she was delivered right to her door. She immediately noticed things were different. Things didn’t seem normal on the street. Something had gone wrong. She could sense trouble, and she could find no sign of Jeff. She stowed her bags in her apartment, and walked over to Dead-eye Sam’s, only a few blocks away. There, she was filled in about the strange things going on in Little Rock.

    

                                                      *

Authors Note: Information here about the Brooks-Baxter war in Little Rock, near the end of the Reconstruction, is true, except for a couple of fictional characters I added. This was the largest conflict during that period, and as a result, the credibility of the Republican Party in Arkansas was destroyed. The Republicans are only now recovering from that war. They never totally dominated Arkansas politics again until our most recent election.

    

     Powell Clayton came to Arkansas with the Union army, and decided to stay. He was, by definition, a carpetbagger. He was also, by definition, a Republican. He won the Governorship. When he became Governor, Arkansas was welcomed back into the Union with a fifteen-gun salute. This was very fitting, since this state in turmoil heard much sporadic gunfire for several  more years.

     Clayton then decided to try to increase his fortunes by becoming a Senator.

     Clayton arranged for his friend, OA Hadley, to finish out his term as Governor. Clayton remained in control of the Negro Militia, and planned to control Arkansas politics. Arkansas, more than any other state, made good use of the Negro Militia.

     The state Republican Party split wide open during Hadley’s term, and he was too inept to heal the split. This was not completely Hadley’s fault, but was part of a Union-wide split in the Republican Party.

     When the primaries rolled around, the powers-that-be chose Elisha Baxter as the favored Republican candidate. He was a Southerner, but he had endeared himself to the Republicans by being indicted for treason by the Confederacy. And, he seemed to be untainted by problems with the Powell administration. So he was, by definition, a Scalawag. But he was an honest, good man, though not a powerful speaker.

     Joseph Brooks came to Arkansas from the North as Chaplin of a Black regiment of US soldiers.  He was a black-bearded, heavy-set, sullen looking man. He showed reckless fury against his opponents. He had a singular ability to make campaign denunciations. He was the liberal candidate of the splinter group in the Republican primary.

     The Democrats fielded no candidate. There was no need to; the North would never have allowed a Democrat to govern in the South during the Reconstruction. So, they sat back and watched the show, giving the Republicans ample rope to hang themselves, which they proceeded to do in splendid fashion.

     Brooks began an all-out war against the Clayton group, declaring he would fill the County jail full of Clayton followers until arms and legs were hanging out the doors and windows.

     The Militia, controlled by Clayton, kept many people from voting who most likely would have voted for Brooks, and many other irregularities were reported. The ballot boxes from four counties were thrown out.

      So, Brooks’ supporters set up their own polling places. The official total was 41,681 to 38,415 in favor of Baxter. But by the Brook’s count, Brooks won by some 1500 votes. Two winners from two sets of ballot boxes.

     Baxter took control of the State House. Brooks attempted to get an injunction, but failed. He appealed to the Legislature, but was turned down. He then filed suit in the Pulaski County Court, which would be a long, drawn out thing. Most people assumed this would go nowhere.

     They were wrong. This was the largest miscalculation ever in Arkansas politics. While the suit was moving slowly through the legal system, there was little to do but wait, except argue back and forth, which they did, again in splendid fashion, as politicians tend to do; they did it very well.