In the cold of a January afternoon in 1906 Enid, Oklahoma, City Marshal Thomas Radford sought warmth inside the Tony Faust Saloon. At 45 years old, the male lawman had cultivated a reputation for his stringent enforcement of the city's laws during his nine months in office, a dedication that had earned him a number of enemies. One of those enemies, a former jailer named John Cannon, harbored a deep-seated animosity toward the marshal, an ill will that was about to reach its fatal conclusion.
The dispute between the two men had escalated after Radford shut down a rooming house owned by Cannon and his wife, which was widely considered to be a house of ill repute. Radford had also thwarted Cannon's attempt to open a similar establishment. On that Wednesday, January 10th, Cannon, consumed by anger, followed Marshal Radford into the saloon. Without a word, he approached Radford, pressed a. 38 caliber revolver to his chest, and fired. The shot sent Radford stumbling for the door, but Cannon was relentless, firing twice more, striking the marshal in the back and then the head as he fell to the sidewalk outside.
Though grievously wounded, Thomas Radford was still alive and was quickly taken to a doctor's office. Several physicians examined his injuries but concluded that nothing could be done to save him. He succumbed to his wounds approximately thirty minutes after the shooting without regaining consciousness. In the immediate aftermath of the brazen attack, John Cannon was arrested and initially held in the local county jail. Fearing a violent public backlash, authorities soon transferred him to the Grant County Jail in Pond Creek.
John Cannon was later tried and convicted for the murder of City Marshal Thomas Radford. He was sentenced to a term of 25 years in prison for his crime. Radford, a husband and father to seven children, was laid to rest in the Enid Cemetery, leaving a lasting legacy as a devoted lawman who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.
