(NewsNation) — The four suspects charged in connection with the disappearance of two Kansas moms lived in the Oklahoma Panhandle, a thin strip of land with a history of lawlessness and criminality in the 1800s.
The Oklahoma Panhandle, where the suspects lived as well as where two bodies were found, had historically been known as “No Man’s Land.”
It was known to be a “lawless zone, run by self-governing collectives of squatters and ranchers who were often ruled by mob justice and vigilante justice” back in the 1800s, according to IFL Science.
This month, Tad Bert Cullum, 43; Tifany Machel Adams, 54; Cole Earl Twombly, 50; and Cora Twombly, 44, were arrested in Texas and Cimarron Counties without incident in connection with the disappearance of Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39.
Two bodies were found in Texas County, which sits on the 161-mile rural Oklahoma Panhandle stretch, but it is still unknown whether the remains are of the missing mothers.
Court papers revealed that Butler had been in a bitter custody battle involving Adams, the paternal grandmother of her children.
Adams and the other three suspects had been part of an anti-government group called “God’s Misfits” and had spoken about a previous murder attempt on Butler as well as plans to “take care of her,” according to probable cause affidavits filed in support of the criminal charges obtained by NewsNation.
The daughter of one of the suspects told investigators that the four were going on a “mission” the day Butler and Kelley went missing.
What is the Oklahoma Panhandle?
The thin stretch of Oklahoma called the Panhandle sits compacted between Colorado and Kansas on its north, Texas on its south and New Mexico on its west.
The 166-mile-long and 34-mile-wide strip of land resembles the handle of a saucepan, giving it its well-known name.
The strip of land came about after Texas joined the United States in 1845 but wanted to remain a slave state, Matthew Pearce, state historian with the Oklahoma Historical Society, told NewsNation.
Under the Missouri Compromise of 1820, slavery was forbidden above the southern boundary of the state, so Texas cut off part of its north end to avoid conflict over the law, he said.
However, under the Kansas-Nebraska Act that created Kansas in 1854, the law stated that slavery was forbidden above the 37th Parallel.
This left a 34-mile wide gap between Kansas and Texas, which is now the Panhandle.
After Kansas and New Mexico were created, the Panhandle became this territory no one wanted, he said.
For the next four decades, this strip became a landlocked island with essentially no government, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society.
It was identified on most government maps as “Public Land” or “Public Land Strip” but became popularly known as “No Man’s Land.”
Why was it called ‘No Man’s Land’?
The phrase meant that no man could own land legally within that strip since there was no government entity overseeing it, Pearce said.
But that didn’t stop people from settling there, he added.
Indigenous peoples hunted in the area, and sheepherders from Mexico, along with buffalo hunters from Texas, came in, he said.
It also became a breeding ground for illegal squatters.
This naturally brought in crime, lawlessness and vigilante justice, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society.
Thousands of settlers came to the area to squat on the land, and these settlements grew into “squatter towns,” according to the organization.
Texas cattlemen moved up north into the strip and began appropriating grass and water holdings without buying or leasing the state’s land.
Although it was federal public land, the area was given little administrative attention, so settlers took it upon themselves to create order, Pearce said. This gave way to some vigilantism, he said.
The stretch also became famous for moonshine and brothels, according to Conde Nast Traveler. The area was called a “sinner’s paradise,” according to the outlet.
A settler town called Beer City became known as the “Sodom and Gomorrah of the Plains,” Traveler reported.
“Vigilante committees enforced order, and some communities hired men to operate as town sheriffs,” according to the Oklahoma Historical Society.
After years of being the quintessential Wild West, the federal government recognized the area needed to be tamed.
Under the Oklahoma Organic Act of 1890, the Public Land Strip was assigned to the new Oklahoma Territory. In 1907, it became fully unified into the state of Oklahoma, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society.
However, the area continued to face hardship.
The Panhandle became a major part of the Dust Bowl, the drought-stricken Southern Plains region that suffered severe dust storms during a drought in the 1930s.
The area was also hit during the Great Depression and became one of the settings for John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel “The Grapes of Wrath.”
What is the Panhandle like today?
The Panhandle today consists of three counties: Cimarron, Texas and Beaver.
Combined, the three counties have a population of less than 29,000, which amounts to less than 1% of the state’s total population. Cimarron county
The rate of people living in poverty is higher than the national average, and most of the population does not have an education past high school.
“These are very much small communities,” Pearce said. “Folks know each other, and so it’s still very much a very rural part of the state.”
When it comes to the rest of the state, the Panhandle is viewed as an “afterthought” by Oklahomans outside of the strip, he said.
“It’s an isolated area. It’s sparsely populated, and it’s largely unknown even to most Oklahomans.”