In the summer of 1915, the life of Sheriff Sam D. Mauldin of Mississippi County, Arkansas, came to a violent end during a raid on an illicit establishment. On the fateful day of Saturday, July 31st, Sheriff Mauldin, a male lawman, led a posse of officers to a "blind tiger," an illegal liquor joint, operating on Island 37 in the Mississippi River. The island's jurisdiction was a point of contention, with both Arkansas and Tennessee claiming authority over the land.
This dispute would prove to have deadly consequences.
Upon their arrival, the occupants of the blind tiger challenged the sheriff's authority, sparking a tense confrontation that quickly escalated into a fierce gun battle. In the exchange of fire, both Sheriff Mauldin and one of the individuals from the island were struck down and killed. The shootout continued until the occupants of the establishment exhausted their ammunition and were forced to surrender to the remaining officers. In the immediate aftermath, more than twenty men and women were taken into custody in connection with the sheriff's murder.
The aftermath of the deadly raid was fraught with further violence and a complex legal process. The individual identified as having fired the fatal shot at Sheriff Mauldin was apprehended and taken to jail, but he later succumbed to the injuries he sustained during the shootout. In a separate act of vigilante justice, a mob of over fifty citizens broke into the jail and lynched the owner of the blind tiger. The fates of the others arrested varied; one individual died in jail from pneumonia, while another was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 21 years in prison. Ultimately, the charges against the remaining suspects were dismissed. In a final twist to the tragic event, a Supreme Court ruling later determined that Island 37 was, in fact, part of Tennessee, the neighboring state across the river.
