City Marshal Robert H. Clift

Robert H. Clift

City Marshal Clift, who also served as a United States Marshal, was shot and killed while escorting a prisoner back to Chetopa. As the suspect attempted to flee to Missouri he was stopped by Marshal Clift. The man said he would return to Chetopa but instead pulled a revolver and shot Marshal Clift. The suspect was captured and as he was being brought back for trial a mob of angry citizens took him off of a train and lynched him from a bridge.

City Marshal Clift was survived by his wife and four children. He was a Union Civil War Veteran.