James Sam Shelley, City Marshal and Deputy Sheriff

City of Pershing 

Osage County Sheriff’s Office 

On Wednesday, May 11, 1921, about 8 P.M. Deputy Shelley stopped a new Dodge touring car that had just been reported stolen from Pawhuska as it approached Pershing. Deputy Shelly was shot and killed by the two men in the car when he attempted to arrest them. After shooting the officer the men escaped in the stolen car which was soon recovered, but the two men had escaped.  A $1,500 reward was offered for the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who shot and killed Shelley.  Clyde “Red” Brandon, a member of the Kimes-Terrell gang, was later arrested and charged in connection with Shelley’s murder. Brandon soon escaped from the Osage County jail in Pawhuska but was arrested again on July 1, 1927, in Pawnee. Deputy Shelley was survived by his wife and two children.