Robert Hubbard

Stevens County Sheriff's Office — Hugoton, KS

Felonious

End of Watch July 25, 1888

Tour of Duty

The Vigil Panel 9 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 4

Incident

Location: Oklahoma Weapon: Rifle; Winchester Offender: Conviction overturned

Special Deputy Bob Hubbard, Special Deputy Cyrus Eaton, Special Deputy Roland Wilcox and Sheriff John Cross were shot and killed in what became known as the "Hay Meadow Massacre", the result of a fight between two towns, Hugoton and Woodsdale, to become the county seat of Stevens County.

The citizens of both towns were holding a meeting in nearby Voorhees when the Hugoton marshal hit the Woodsdale sheriff with the butt of his revolver. A warrant was issued for the marshal. Sheriff Cross and four men he deputized, Cyrus Eaton, Bob Hubbard, Roland Wilcox, and Herbert Tooney went after the marshal but failed to find him. While on their way back to Woodsdale they were ambushed by the marshal and up to 10 men with him. All five officers were lined up and then shot execution style with a Winchester rifle. Deputy Tooney survived the shooting and played dead as the subjects went through his pockets and took his belongings.

Two weeks later the Kansas Militia established martial law in the area. All six suspects were arrested and charged with four counts of murder. In July of 1890 all six were convicted of murder and sentenced to hang. On January 26, 1891, the U. S. Supreme Court voided their convictions because the killings took place in "No Mans Land", the present day Oklahoma Panhandle, where no court had jurisdiction. They were never tried again.

Thank you for your service and please know that your sacrifice will never, ever be forgotten. Rest in peace always.

Detective Cpl/3 Steven Rizzo Delaware State Police (Retired) July 25th, 2020

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-KS-54E90F6A
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: April 2, 2026
Last updated: July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

138 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Special Deputy Hubbard served with the Stevens County Sheriff's Office.
Thank you for your service to the Hugoton community. Gone but never to be forgotten.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Stevens County Sheriff's Office

Location Hugoton, KS

Platform Identity scso.stevens.ks.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch July 25, 1888

Tour of Duty

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Weapon Rifle; Winchester

Offender Conviction overturned

Special Deputy Robert Hubbard is one of 17,623 officers killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 54.2% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In KS, 237 of 335 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 70.7% of this state's fallen. That is 16.5 percentage points above the national rate of 54.2%.

At Stevens County Sheriff's Office, 4 of 5 officers on record were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 80% of this agency's fallen.

Stevens County Sheriff's Office

of 5 officers

80% Felonious

KS — Statewide

237

of 335 officers

70.7% Felonious

Nationwide

17,623

of 32,508 officers

54.2% Felonious