Oklahoma Governor Threatens Military Action in War Between Governor and KKK Over Mob Floggings, Sept. 15, 1923

Military Actions Threaten Oklahoma. . . Moskogee Faces Martial Law—Tulsa County to be Taken Over by Troops

By the Associated Press

Oklahoma City, Okla., Sept. 14—New military operations threaten Oklahoma in the war between Governor J.S. Walton and the Ku Klux Klan over mob floggings. These are the outstanding developments.

Muskogee faces martial law unless W.R. Sampson resigns as exalted cyclops of the Muskogee Klan No. 3 together with his secretary, Governor Walton’s ultimatum expires at 6 o’clock tonight. Sampson announced that neither he nor his secretary would heed the ultimatum.

Tulsa county will be taken over “completely” by troops unless Sheriff Bob Sanford, Police Commissioner Harry W. Kiskaddon and three members of the county jury commission resign within the next few days.

Oklahoma City and Oklahoma county are next in line for martial law, according to Governor Walton.

Military censorship will be clamped down on every newspaper in the state that continues to “incite riot” and print matter tending to cause trouble, Governor Walton announces. A censor already has been established in the office of the Tulsa Tribune.

From the front page of the Durham Morning Herald, Sept. 15, 1923