A Good Deal for Little Wes

An accused killer, freed to become a lawman.

Little Wes Hudson (photo) made an unusual deal. Languishing in an Oklahoma jail in 1905—charged with murder—he offered to infiltrate the Bert Casey Gang and either arrest or kill the leader. The catch: all charges had to be dropped and he had to be appointed a deputy marshal. Both conditions were met, and Hudson found and killed Casey. But the relatively new lawman couldn’t stay on the good side of life. He died in a shootout with a deputy U.S. marshal in 1906.