The Goingsnake Massacre was a shootout that occurred during a trial in the Cherokee court system on April 15, 1872, in the Goingsnake District of the Cherokee Nation. Ezekial "Zeke" Proctor was being tried for killing Polly Beck and wounding Jim Kesterson in a shooting incident. The trial was highly charged due to the strong family ties of the accused and victims and because of a jurisdictional dispute between the Cherokee and United States courts. A federal posse consisting of ten United States Marshals was sent to attend the trial and to arrest Proctor on federal charges if he was acquitted. However, shooting broke out in the crowded courtroom during the proceedings, killing eight of the Marshals and three Cherokee citizens. The incident has also been called the Goingsnake Tragedy, the C