SIX YEARS
WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS

' ¦ JAMES B. GlltETTil^;- >^.:;:;;
EX-SERGEANT CO. "A", FRONTIER BATIAUON

CmAZ.375

'¥^LIl«¥]Mn¥IEIESIIir¥" Bought with the income of the
William C. Egleston Fund
19 A?

1 *." '

^.M^^^m^

SERGEANT J. B. GILLETT, TEXAS RANGER
I N 1879

SIX YEARS WITH THE
TEXAS RANGERS

1875 TO 1881

BY
JAMES B. GILLETT
Ex-Sergeant Company "A," Frontier Battalion

von boecitmann-jones co., publishers
Austin, Texas

Copyright 1921
BY
James B. Gillett

TO MY OLD RANGER COMRADES
WHEREVER THEY MAY BE

FOREWORD
To write a true and complete history of the Texas
Rangers as a state organization would require much
time and an able historian. I am not a historian
and could not undertake such an exhaustive treatise,
which would fill several volumes the size of this,
and it is only at the earnest soUcitation of my chil
dren, frontier friends, and old comrades that I have
undertaken to write a short history of the rangers
during the years I served with them. This httle
volume, then, has only the modest aim of pictur
ing the hfe of the Texas Rangers during the years
1875-1881. I cannot, at this late date, recount in
detail all the scouts that were made while I was in
the service. I have, therefore, confined myseH
principally to the description of those in which I
was a participant. Naturally, I remember those
the best.
It has been said that truth never makes very in
teresting reading. Of the accuracy of this dictum
I leave my readers to judge, for I have told my
story just as I remember it, to the very best of my
abihty and without any effort to embroider it with
imagination. If I can interest any of my old ranger
comrades or even just one httle boy that loves to
5

read about a real frontier, I will feel amply repaid
for aU the time, trouble and expense expended in
presenting this work.
I wish sincerely to thank Miss Mary Baylor for
placing at my disposal aU the books and papers of
her distinguished father, Captain G. W. Baylor.
And I would be an ingrate, indeed, did I fail here
to record my obUgation to my wife without whose
inspiration and sympathetic encouragement this
book had never been written.
That I might show the training of the typical
Texas Ranger, I have ventured to include a short
biography of my own hfe up to the time I became
a ranger, June 1, 1875.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I. The Making of a Ranger  11
II. The Texas Rangers  29
IIL I Join the Rangers  41
IV. My First Brush With the Indians ... 55
V. The Mason County War  72
VI. Major Jones and His Escort  81
VIL The Horrell-Higgins Feud  103
VIII. Service With Reynolds, THE Intrepid . . 118
IX. Sam Bass AND His Train Robber Gang. . 155
X. A Winter of Quiet and a Transfer  183
XI. The Salt Lake War and a Long Trek 192
XII. Our First Fight With Apaches  212
XIII. Scouting in Mexico  225
XIV. Treacherous Braves, a Faithful Dog,
AND A Murder  237
XV. Victorio Becomes a Good Indian  251
XVI. Some Undesirable Recruits  264
XVII. Last Fight Between Rangers and
Apaches  278
XVIII. An International Episode  293
XIX. Last Scoutings  309
XX. Fruits of Ranger Service  322

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Facing Page
Sergeant J. B. Gillett  Frontispiece
General Jno. B. Jones  29
Captain D. W. Roberts  41
Captain Neal Coldwell  102
Lieutenant N. 0. Reynolds  118
Captain Geo. W. Baylor  192
Dallas Stoudenmire  322
James B. Gillett  332

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS
RANGERS.

CHAPTER I
THE MAKING OF A RANGER
The greatest shaping force in human hfe is hered
ity, and from my father I inherited my love of the
open frontier and its hfe of danger and excitement.
This inheritance was further strengthened by en
vironment and training, and finaUy led me to em
brace the hfe of the Texas Ranger. My father,
James S. Gillett, was himself a frontiersman, though
born in the quieter, more settled east. At a very
early age his parents emigrated from his birthplace
in Kentucky and moved to Missouri. Here, after
a short time, they died and the young orphan hved
with a brother-in-law. When still quite a youth
my father, with three other adventurous Mis-
sourians, set out on an expedition to Santa Fe,
New Mexico. "While passing through Indian Ter
ritory, now the State of Oklahoma, the little party
was captured by the Osage Indians. Fortunately
for the youngsters, their captors did them no harm,
but turned them loose after two weeks' imprison
ment in the redskin camp. 11

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
Despite this first setback my father persevered
and reached Santa Fe. Here he hved several years
and mastered the Spanish language. Not long
afterward the emigrating fever again caught him
up and he journeyed to Van Buren, Arkansas.
While hving there he studied law and was admitted
to the bar. Shortly thereafter he removed to Paris,
Texas, from which he was elected to the Texas
Legislature as representative for Lamar and ad
joining counties.
When Texas entered the Union and brought on
the Mexican War with the United States, my father
enlisted in 1846 and rose to the rank of major. In
1854 he was Adjutant-General of Texas. Between
1859 and 1860, during the governorship of Sam
Houston, my father was quartermaster of a bat-
tahon of rangers, thus making it natural that I
should also feel drawn toward this famous organi
zation. At the beginning of the Civil War my father was
beyond mihtary age, — ^he was born in 1810 — ^but as
the South became hard pressed for men he enhsted
in the spring of 1864 and served in Captain Car-
ington's company until the end of the war.
In 1850, a few years before he became Adjutant-
General, my father married Miss Bettie Harper,
then a resident of Washington County, Texas. My
12

THE MAKING OF A RANGER
mother's father, Captain Harper, was a southern
planter who emigrated from North Carohna be
tween 1846 and 1848, and, setthng in Washington
County, estabhshed a Dixie plantation with a hun
dred slaves. My mother was a highly cultivated
and refined woman. On her marriage she brought
several negro servants with her to her new home
in Austin. Of her union with my father five chil
dren were born. The first two, both boys, died in
infancy. I was the fourth child born to my parents,
and first saw the hght of day in Austin, Texas, on
November 4, 1856. An older sister, Mary, and a
younger, Eva, survived to adulthood.
At the close of the Civil War my father returned
to his family pretty weU broken in health and prob
ably also in spirit. His slaves were aU freed and
his land holdings, about two hundred acres of cedar
land, some five or six miles from Austin, and a
tract of pine land in Grimes County, Texas, were
not very productive. There was not much law
practice in Austin in the early post-war days, but
my father set to work resolutely to provide for his
family. Though I did not realize it then, I now
know that he had a hard struggle. I was only
eight and a half years old when father returned to
us from the Confederate Army, but I remember he
used to amuse himself by relating to us vivid ac-
13

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
counts of his Indian fighting and frontier adven
tures. "What heredity gave me a predilection for
was strengthened by these narratives, and I early
conceived a passionate desire to become a frontiers
man and hve a hfe of adventure.
In those early days in Texas there were no free
schools in Austin, so my father sent the three of
us, Mary, Eva, and myself, to the pay schools.
None of these was very good, and I lost nearly two
years at a German school, trying to mix German
and Enghsh. I have never been of a studious
nature — the great out of doors always caUed to
me, and I found the desk's dead wood particularly
irksome. When school closed in the early summer
of 1868, hke some of Christ's disciples, I went fish
ing and never attended school an hour thereafter.
For books I substituted the wide-open volume of
nature and began the hfe of sport and freedom that
was to prepare me later for service with the rangers.
As poor as he was my father always kept a pony,
and I learned to ride almost before I could walk.
Raised on the banks of the Colorado River, I learned
to swim and fish so long ago that I cannot now
remember when I was unable to do either. I fished
along the river with a few hand hues and used to
catch quantities of gaspergou or drums. These
were fine fish and sold readily on the streets of
14

THE MAKING OF A RANGER
Austin, so I soon saved money enough to buy a
smaU skiff or fishing boat. I now bought a trot
line with a hundred hooks and began fishing in
real earnest. About five or six miles below Austin
on the Colorado was Mathews' mhl. Just below
the dam of this mill the fishing was always good,
and here I made my fishing grounds. I had a large
dry goods box with inch auger holes bored in it.
This box, sunk in the river and secured by a rope
tied to a stob, made a capital trap, and into it I
dropped my fish as they were caught. In this way
I kept them ahve and fresh until I had enough to
take into town.
Many free negroes were farming along the banks
of the Colorado, and I would hire a pony of them
for twenty-five cents a trip when I was ready to
take my catch into town. Many times I have left
the river by starhght and reached the Old Market
House at Austin at dawn, spread out a gunny sack,
bunch my fish and be ready for the first early mar
keters. I kept up my fishing until the fish stopped
biting in tiie fall of 1868.
Confederate soldiers returning home from the
war brought with them many old Enfield muskets.
These were smooth bore and chambered one large
baU and three buckshot. These old guns, loaded
with small shot, were fine on birds and squirrels,
15

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
but they had one serious objection — they would
kick hke a mule. As the boys used to say, they
"would get meat at both ends!" A day's shooting
with one of these muskets would leave one's shoul
der and arm black and blue for a week.
When fishing failed I decided to become a hunter,
and bought one of these old guns for $3.50. It was
as long as a fence rail, and at my age I could not
begin to hold it out and shoot off hand, so I had to
use a rest. The Enfield musket had the longest
barrel I ever saw on a gun, and the hammer was as
long as a man's hand. I could cock my gun with
both hands, but if I failed to get a shot I was not
strong enough to let the hammer down without
letting it get away, so I had to carry it cocked to
keep from losing the cap. I would take it off the
tube and put it in my pocket until I had a chance
for another shot. I remember once when I cocked
my musket I could see no cap on the tube and,
thinking it had faUen off, I pulled the trigger. The
cap had stuck up in the old hammer and the gun
roared hke a cannon. I was always sure to look
for the cap after this. I did not make much head
way using this kind of weapon, but it taught me
the use and danger of firearms, — a knowledge I was
to find very useful in later years.
When fishing opened up in the spring of 1869 I
16

THE MAKING OF A RANGER
returned to my fishing fines, and in the fall of the
same year I bought a double-barreled shotgun for
$12. With it I kiUed quail, ducks and other smaU
game, aU of which I sold on the streets of Austin.
By the fall of 1870 I was fourteen years old and
could handle a gun rather well for one of my age.
Early that winter wild geese came south by the
hundreds. I used to hunt them down the Colorado
River, ten or twelve miles below Austin. The birds
would feed in the com fields in the early morning,
then flock to the sand bars in the river during the
middle of the day. There was nothing silly about
those geese, for they were smart enough to fre
quent only the big islands, three or four hundred
yards from any cover. It was impossible to reach
them with any kind of a shotgun. I used to shp
up to them as close as I could and watch them for
hours, trying to think of some plan to get within
gun shot of them. I saw as many as a thousand
geese on those bars at a single time. I have thought
regretfully of those birds many times since, and
have wished I could have shot into one of those
flocks with a modem rifle — ^I could have killed a
dozen geese at a shot.
In the spring of 1871 I had my first trip to the
frontier of Texas. My father traded some of his
Grimes County pine land for a bunch of cattie in
17

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
Brown County, and took me with him when he
went to receive the herd. This was the first time
I had ever been twenty-five miles from Austin. I
was dehghted with the trip, the people, and the
country. Those big, fine frontiersmen, each wear
ing a pair of sixshooters and most of them carry
ing a Winchester, fired my boyish imagination.
Their accounts of frontier hfe and their Indian tales
fascinated me. I wanted to stay right there with
them and lost aU interest in ever hving in town
again. During the same year my father drove sev
eral bunches of cattle to Austin and I helped him on
those drives. Thus I began to be a cowboy, — my
first step toward the hfe of the open, upon which
I had set my heart.
In the summer of 1872 my mother's health began
to fail and my father took her to Lampasas Springs.
The water seemed to help her so much that he de
cided to make Lampasas our home. At that time
Lampasas County was strictly a cattle country, but
there was not much cow hunting during the winter
in those days. The cattlemen and the cowboys
spent a good deal of time in town just having a
good time. During this period I became well ac
quainted with them. In the spring of 1873 my
father made a trip back to Austin on some busi
ness. The frontier had been calhng to me ever
18

THE MAKING OF A RANGER
since my first visit there, and I nov/ took advantage
of my father's absence to shp out to Coleman
County, at that time on the frontier of Texas.
Monroe Cooksey and Jack Clayton had bought a
bunch of cattle in Coleman County and I saw the
outfit when it left Lampasas. I was shghtly ac
quainted with most of the men in this outfit, so I
decided to foUow it and try to get work. It was
an Indian country every step of the way, and I was
afraid to make the trip alone. In a day or two I
met a man named Bob McCoUum. He was hauhng
a load of flour to Camp Colorado and let me travel
with him. I bade my mother and sisters good bye
and did not see them again until the next December.
We reached old Camp Colorado without mishap
in about five days. Clayton and Cooksey's outfit
was there loading up supphes for the spring work.
I stood around watching the cowboys making then-
preparations, but lacked the courage to ask them
for work. Finally, the outfit started down on Jim
Ned Creek to camp for dinner. I went with the
men and at last got up spunk enough to ask Mr.
Monroe Cooksey for a job. He looked at me for
a minute and then asked, "What kind of work can
a boy of your size do?"
I told him I was wilhng to do anything a boy of
my age could do. He made no reply and we went
19

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
on and camped for dinner. After dinner the men
made ready to go over on Hoard's Creek to camp
for the night. The boys made a rope corral and
began to catch their mounts. I just stood there
hke an orphan watching them. Presentiy Mr.
Cooksey dashed his rope on a heavy set bay horse.
The animal showed the whites of his eyes, made a
ratthng noise in his nose and struggled so violently
that it took three men on the rope to hold him.
Mr. Cooksey then turned to me and said, "Here,
boy, if you can ride this * * * (giving an un
mentionable name to the horse) you have a job
cinched." I turned, grabbed my saddle, bridle and blanket
and started to the animal. An elderly man in the
outfit headed me off.
"Young man," he said, "this is an old spoiled
horse, and unless you are a mighty good rider you
had better not get on him."
I brushed him aside.
"Pshaw, I'm hunting work, and while I'm not a
broncho buster, I will make a stab at riding him
if he kills me."
By this time one of the boys had caught the horse
by both ears and was holding him fast. They threw
my saddle on him, tightened up the cinch, and
finally, after much trouble, got the bridle on him
20

THE MAKING OF A RANGER
and hfted me into the saddle. "When I had fixed
myself as best I could they let the animal go. He
made two or three revolting leaps forward and fell
with his feet all doubled up under him.
Mr. Cooksey seemed to realize the danger I was
in, and shouted to me to jump off. Before I could
shake myself loose the old horse had scrambled to
his feet and dashed off in a run. I circled him
around to the remuda and rode him until night
without further trouble. I had won my job, but
it was a dirty trick for a lot of men to play on a
boy, and a small boy at that. HoM'ever, to their
credit, I wish to say they never put me on a bad
horse again but gave me the best of gentle ponies
to ride.
Our first work was to gather and deliver a herd
of cattie to the HorreU boys, then camped on Home
Creek. We worked down to the Colorado River,
and when we were near old Flat Top ranch the
men with the outfit left me to drive the remuda
down the road after the mess wagon while they
tried to find a beef. I had gone only a mile or two
when I saw a man approaching me from the rear.
As he came up I thought he was the finest specimen
of a frontiersman I had ever seen. He was probably
six feet tall, with dark hair and beard. He was
heavily armed, wearing two sixshooters and carry-
21

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
ing a Winchester in front of him and was riding a
splendid horse with a wonderful Cahfomia saddle.
He rode up to me and asked whose outfit it was I
was driving. I told him Cooksey and Clayton's.
He then inquired my name. "When I told him he
said, "Oh, yes; I saw your father in Lampasas a
few days ago and he told me to tell you to come
home and go to school."
I made no reply, but just kept my horses moving.
The stranger then told me his name was Sam Ghol-
ston. He said it was dangerous for one so young
to be in a bad Indian country and unarmed, that
the outfit should not have left me alone, and coun
selled me to go back to my parents. I would not
talk to him, so he finally bade me good bye and
galloped off. His advice was good, but I had not
the least idea of going home — I had embraced the
frontier hfe.
The Cooksey and Clayton outfit did not stay in
the cow business long. After fiUing their contract
with the HorreU boys they sold out to Joe Franks.
I suppose I was sold along with the outfit, at least
I continued to work for Mr. Franks. A kinder
heart than that of Joe Franks never beat in a human
breast. He was big of stature and big of soul. He
seemed to take an interest in his youthful cow-
puncher, and asked me where I was raised and how
22

THE MAKING OF A RANGER
I came to be away out on the frontier. As cold
weather came on that fall he gave me one of his
top coats. It made a pretty good overcoat for me
and came down quite to my knees. The sleeves
were so long I could double them up and hold my
bridle reins, and in one garment I had both coat
and gloves.
During the summer of 1873 John Hitsons, Sam
Gholston and Joe Franks were aU dehvering cattle
to old John Chislom, whose outfit was camped on
the south side of the Concho River, about where
the town of Paint Rock now stands. The other
outfits were scattered along down the river about
half a mile apart. There were probably seventy-
five or a hundred men in the four camps and at
least five hundred horses. One evening just after
dark the Indians ran into Gholston's outfit, cap
tured about sixty head of horses and got away with
them. The redskins and the cowboys had a reg
ular pitched battle for a few moments, probably
firing two hundred shots. This fight was in plain
view of our camp and I saw the flash of every gun
and heard the Indians and the cowboys yeUing.
One of Mr. Gholston's men received a flesh wound
in the leg and several horses were IdUed. Two
nights later the Indians ran upon Franks' outfit and
tried to take our horses. Bob "Whitehead and Pete
23

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
Peck were on guard and stood the redskins off.
We saved our horses by keeping them in a pen for
the remainder of the night. I was beginning to get
a taste of frontier hfe early in the game.
For years cattle had drifted south into Menard
and Kimble Counties, and Joe Franks was one of
the first of the Coleman County outfits to go south
into the San Saba and Llano country. He worked
the Big and Little Sahne Creeks, the Llano and San
Saba Rivers and found many of his cattle down
there. By the last of November he had about fin
ished work for the year, and, gathering three hun
dred fat cows to drive to Calvert, Texas, he left
John Banister down on the Big Sahne to winter the
horses. I passed through Lampasas with these cows, and
saw my mother and sisters for the first time in nine
months. "When we reached BeU County a cow
buyer met us and bought the cows at $10 per head.
He just got down off his horse, hfted a pair of sad
dle bags off and counted out three thousand dol
lars in twenty dollar gold pieces, and hired some
of the boys to help him drive the cattie into Cal
vert. Mr. Franks, with most of the outfit, turned
back to Lampasas. When he settled with me Mr.
Franks owed me just $200, and he handed me ten
twenty dollar gold pieces. It was the. most money
24

THE MAKING OF A RANGER
I had ever earned and almost the greatest amount
I had seen in my hfe.
I spent December and January at home, and early
in February, 1874, 1 started back to Menard County
with Mr. Franks, as he was anxious to begin work
as early in the spring as possible. "When we reached
Parsons Ranch on the Big Saline we learned that
the Indians had stolen aU his horses, — seventy-five
or eighty head, and he had left only eight or ten
old ponies. Mr. Franks sent WiU Banister and
myself back to Coleman County to pick up ten or
twelve horses he had left there the year before,
while he himself returned to Lampasas and Wh-
hamson Counties to buy horses.
This trip from Menard County to Coleman
County, a distance of about one hundred and fifty
miles, was rather a hazardous trip for two boys to
make alone. However, we were both armed with
new Winchesters and would have been able to put
up a stiff fight if cornered. Our ponies were poor
and weak, so that it would have been impossible
for us to have escaped had we met a band of In
dians. And this is what we came very near doing.
There was no road from Menard to Coleman at
that time, so we just traveled north. I had cow
hunted over most of that country the year before
and knew by landmarks pretty weU how to go. We
25

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
reached the head of Big Brady Creek one evening
while a cold north wind was blowing. We camped
for the night right down in the bed of a dry creek
to get out of the wind. We saddled up next morn
ing and had not gone more than a hundred and
fifty yards from camp before we discovered where
sixteen or seventeen Indians had just gone along, —
at least there was that number of pony tracks.
These redskins had hopped a skunk, gotten down
and kiUed it with a chunk of wood. When we
found the body it had scarcely quit bleeding. We
saw moccasin tracks as if the savages had aU gotten
off their ponies for a few moments. Banister and
I made the trip safely, and returned to Menard
County early in March. Mr. Franks soon came
with a new bunch of horses, and we went right to
work gathering and dehvering cattle.
About the first of June, Bee Clayton came to the
outfit from Lampasas County and told me my father
had been dead more than a month. Mr. Franks
settled with me and I started for home the next
day. Upon reaching Lampasas I began work with
Barrett and NichoUs' outfit. They were the big
gest cattle ov/ners in that country and ran three
large outfits, one in Llano County, one in San Saba
County, and another in Lampasas. I worked with

26

THE MAKING OF A RANGER
the last mentioned outfit that I might be ilear my
mother and sisters.
I had now become famihar with most aspects of
frontier hfe. I had cow punched and seen Indian
raids, but I had not yet met the Texas "bad man" —
the murderer and the bandit. My education was
not long neglected, for it was whUe working with
Barrett and NichoUs that I made my acquaintance
with gentry of that ilk. One day five or six of our
boys were sitting down in a circle eating on a side
of calf ribs. One of the men. Jack Perkins, sud
denly became involved in an altercation with Levi
Dunbar, and, without warning, jerked out his six-
shooter and shot him to death. In rising to my
,feet I had my right shoulder powder burned.
I stayed with Barrett and NichoUs until they quit
work about December 1, 1874. In those days cattie
were not worked much in the winter months, so
I spent the winter at home. By spring I had be
come as restiess as a bear and longed to get back
to the frontier. FinaUy I could stand the idleness
no longer and told my mother I was going back to
Menard County to work for Mr. Franks. I reached
the town of MenardviUe early in March, 1875.
There I learned that Joe Franks was then at work
on South Llano in Kimble County, about sixty miles
from Menard. Wess EUis had just bought the
27

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
Rufe Winn stock of cattle and was ready to start
on a cow hunt. He wanted me to work for him,
declaring he could pay me as much as Joe Franks
or anybody else, so I hired to him for $30 a
month, — the top wages for a cowboy at that time.
During the year I was at home a company of
Texas Rangers commanded by Captain Dan W.
Roberts had been stationed over on Little Sahne.
This company received its mail at MenardviUe, and
I became acquainted with this famous organization.
Their free, open hfe along the frontier had fired me
with longing to become one of them and join in
their adventurous hves. In the spring of 1875 the
Governor of Texas authorized Captain Roberts to
increase his command to fifty men. Almost imme
diately Captain Roberts announced in MenardviUe
and vicinity that he would enhst twenty good men
on June 1st to bring his company to fuU strength.
Here was my opportunity, and I decided I would be
one of those twenty recruits.

28

';fc

'C^:. ^:..

•^>^\

'.^

^i'..,<

'v'^'-'i-^-vr^y^-i^

CHATER II
THE TEXAS RANGERS
The Texas Rangers, as an organization, dates
from the spring of 1836. "When the Alamo had
faUen before the onslaught of the Mexican troops
and the frightful massacre had occurred. General
Sam Houston organized among the Texan settiers
in the territory a troop of 1600 mounted riflemen.
This company, formed for the defense of the Texan
borders, was the original Texas Ranger unit, and
it is interesting to note that the organization from
its very inception to the present moment has never
swerved from that purpose — the protection of
Texan borders, whether such protection be against
the Indian, the bandit or marauding Mexicans from
beyond the Rio Grande. This little troop of rangers
won everlasting laurels in its stand against Santa
Anna at the battle of San Jacinto.
"When the Repubhc of Texas was organized in
December, 1837, the new state found herself with
an enormous frontier to protect. To the south was
the hostile Mexico while to the west and northwest
roved the Indian and the bandit. To furnish pro
tection against such enemies and to form the nu
cleus of a national standing army the ranger troop
29

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
was retained. During the seven years that Texas
had to maintain her own independence before she
was admitted into the American Union, her rangers
repeUed hordes of Mexicans, fought the murderous
Apaches, Comanches, and Kiowas, and adminis
tered justice on a wholesale plan to a great num
ber of outlaws and ruffians that had flocked pell
meU into the new Repubhc from the less attractive
parts of the United States.
So vital was the service rendered by the rangers
in protecting the hves and property of the settiers
along the frontiers of the state that Texas retained
twelve hundred rangers as mounted pohce for pa
trol of the Mexican border and as a safeguard
against the savage redskins of the southwest. "When
the Civil War broke out between the North and
the South, Texas was drawn into the conflict on the
side of the Confederacy. General Con Terry, an
old ranger, organized the famous body of men
known as Terry's Texas Rangers. This command
was composed almost exclusively of ex-rangers and
frontiersmen. From Bull Run to Appomattox this
ranger troop rendered gallant service, and lost
seventy-five per cent of its original muster roll.
General Sherman, in his memoirs, speaks admir
ingly of the bravery of the rangers at the battle of
Shiloh. 30

THE TEXAS RANGERS
Return to peace and the days of reconstruction
did not do av/ay with the necessity for the service
that could only be rendered by the ranger. Ban
ditry, Indian uprisings and massacres, cattle thiev
ery, aU flourished, for the bad man confidently ex
pected the post-war turmoU would protect him from
punishment for his misdeeds. He was to be un
deceived, for the rangers effectively taught him that
they were in the state for the purpose of protecting
hves and property, and right royally did they per
form that duty. From 1868 to 1873 the ranger
companies were graduaUy reduced from one thou
sand to about three hundred men.
The Federal Government adopted a most unfor
tunate pohcy toward the Indians after the war. The
tribes were removed to reservations and rationed
as pubhc charges. Unscrupulous dealers, in their
desire for gain, iUegally sold firearms to the In
dians, and whenever a redskin massacred a fron
tiersman he was sure to capture good weapons, so
that they soon became weU armed and very expert
in handhng their new weapons. As no attempt
was made to confine them to the reservation limits,
the redskins, under their native chiefs, were always
sneaking off and raiding West Texas. These ma
rauders stole thousands of horses and cattle, and
did not hesitate to murder and scalp the defenseless
31

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
people along the frontier. Numbers of women and
children were carried off as captives, a very small
proportion of which were subsequently ransomed.
Repeated complaints to Washington brought no re
dress. Indeed, some of the government officials
calmly declared that the Indians were doing no
harm — ^it was white men disguised as redskins that
caused the trouble!
In 1874 conditions along the frontier had become
so acute that the need for an organized mounted
pohce for the protection of the settlers against the
continued Indian raids became apparent. As in
the past the state looked again to her rangers. Early
in 1874, during the administration of Governor
Richard Coke, the first Democratic governor since
secession, the Legislature appropriated $300,000 for
frontier defense, thus authorizing the formation of
the Texas Rangers as now constituted. The gov
ernor immediately issued a call for four hundred
and fifty volunteers. These were formed into six
companies of seventy-five men each. Each of these
units was officered by a captain and a first and sec
ond heutenant. The companies were designated
A, B, C, D, E, and F, and received the official name
of the Frontier Battahon of Texas Rangers. Major
John B. Jones of Corsicana, Texas, was commis
sioned major of the command. At this time the
32

THE TEXAS RANGERS
captains received a salary of $100 per month, heu-
tenants $75, sergeants $50, and corporals and pri
vates $40. Subsequentiy, as the Legislature contin-
uaUy shced into the ranger appropriation, the pay
of the private was reduced to only $30 a month, a
mere pittance for the hazardous service demanded
of them.
Early in 1874 the force took the field, and each
company was assigned a definite territory along
the frontier. Company "A," being the northern
most company, was camped on the main fork of
the Brazos River; Company "F," the southernmost,
was stationed on the Nueces River. The remaining
four companies were posted along the line between
the two commands mentioned about one hundred
and twenty-five mUes apart, so that the battahon
of four hundred and fifty men was required to
cover a frontier of between five and hix hundred
miles. Major Jones was a very able commander, and
quickly won the confidence of his men and of the
people along the border he was sent to protect.
The frontiersmen cooperated with him in every
way possible, sending runners to the various ranger
camps whenever an Indian traU was found or a
bunch of horses stolen. During the very first six
months of its existence nearly every company in
33

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
the battahon had had an Indian fight and some of
them two or three. This command finaUy cleared
the Texas frontier of the redskins and then turned
its attention to the other pests of the state, — thieves,
bandits, and fugitives from justice. In this work
the ranger rendered service second to none, and be
came in an incredibly short time the most famous
and the most efficient body of mounted police in
the world.
Between 1865 and 1883 the Texas Rangers fol
lowed one hundred and twenty-eight Indian raid
ing parties, and fought the redskins in eighty-four
pitched batties. During this same period they re
covered six thousand stolen horses and cattle and
rescued three citizens carried off by Indians. In
this period twelve rangers were kiUed. Despite this
record of service, the Legislature at Austin could
not always be made to see the advantages, — ^nay,
the necessity, — for a ranger force, and it was con
tinually tinkering with the appropriations for the
support of the force. "When the appropriation was
smaU the command was reduced to keep within the
expenditure doled out by the parsimonious solons,
and recruited to fuU strength whenever the law
makers could be prevailed upon to increase the an
nual ranger budget.
By 1885 conditions had changed. Texas was no
34

THE TEXAS RANGERS
longer endangered by Indians, for the rangers had
done much to convert the red devils into good In
dians, — that is, into dead ones. Although the In
dians had utterly disappeared from the state, the
activities of the rangers did not cease. The white
"bad man" who had stirred up the first Indian
troubles now began to plunder and murder his own
race and indulge in every form of lawlessness.
From hunting the murderous redskins the rangers
became now stalkers of the man-kiUers and those
who despoiled their neighbors of their property.
The local legal authorities could not or would not
handle this task themselves, so the rangers were
made peace officers and given the right of arrest
without warrant in any part of the state. They
then became moimted constables to queU disorder,
prevent crime and bring criminals to justice and
assist the duly constituted authorities in every way
possible. This new work was less romantic than
the old Indian warfare, but it was every bit as
dangerous and as necessary in the buUding up of
the fast developing state. As in every other task
assigned him the ranger did his duty fearlessly and
weU. Between 1889 and 1890 the rangers made
five hundred and seventy-nine arrests, among them
seventy-six murderers. With the coming of the
railroads the rangers began to use them, as they
35

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
permitted speed and the covering of greater dis
tances than were possible on horseback. Moreover,
commands could be dispatched from one part of
the state to another as occasion demanded. This
greater mobihty led to larger usefulness and in
creasing number of arrests by the ranger forces.
The outbreak of the Spanish-American War
found the ranger ready and anxious for service in
the defense of the Union. Large numbers of them
were enhsted in the world famous Rough Riders.
"I have heard from the hps of rehable rangers,"
declared General MUes, in speaking of the ranger
service in Cuba, "tales of daring that are incom
parable. It is indeed too bad that the world knows
so httle about those marvelous men. There have
been hosts of men among the Texas Rangers who
were just as nervy as Davy Crockett, Travis, or
Bowie at the Alamo."
Thanks to her rangers, Texas is now one of the
most law-abiding, most orderly states in the Union.
And, today, more than forty-six years since the or
ganization of the battahon, the state stiU maintains
a tiny force of rangers numbering sixty-three of
ficers and men. In 1920-21, the battahon was com
posed of a headquarters company and Companies
A, C, D, E, and F. As in the beginning of its
history, the force is stationed along the frontier.
36

THE TEXAS RANGERS
The headquarters company, imder command of
Captain J. P. Brooks, was stationed at Austin and
used for emergency calls. Company "A," stationed
at Presidio, and commanded by Captain Jerry Gray,
patrols the border between El Paso, Presidio, and
Jeff Davis Counties and the back country south
ward. Company "E," Captain J. L. Anders, patrols
the hne of Presidio and Brewster Counties to the
line of TerreU and Val Verde Counties and east
ward. Company "F," under Captain W. W. Davis,
was stationed at Del Rio and covered the hne from
TerreU and Val Verde Counties down the river to
the hne between Maverick, Dimmit and Webb
Counties and the back country. Under the com
mand of Captain WiUiam Ryan, Company "C" was
located at Laredo and patroUed the hne of Maverick,
Dimmit and Webb Counties to the line of Zapata
and Starr Counties and the back country, whUe
Company "D," stationed at BrownsviUe, under Cap
tain W. L. Wright, patrols from the hne of Zapata
and Starr Counties down the Rio Grande to its
mouth and the adjacent back country.
Sketchy as has been this history, it wUl show a
ranger record of continuous duty throughout the
forty-six years of its existence in guarding the hves,
the liberty and the property of Texas citizens. And
the ranger has been content to perform his duty
37

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS.
unheralded and almost unsung. Performance of
duty, it matters not where it may lead him, into
whatever desperate situation or howsoever danger
ous the thing demanded, has always been the slogan
of the organization. For courage, patriotic devo
tion, instant obedience and efficiency, the record of
the Texas Ranger has been equaUed by no body of
constabulary ever mustered.
Though formed into mihtary units and officered
as a soldier, the ranger is not a mihtary man, for
scant attention is paid to mihtary law and prece
dent. The state furnished food for the men, forage
for their horses, ammunition and medical attend
ance. The ranger himself must furnish his horse,
his accoutrements and his arms. There is, then,
no uniformity in the matter of dress, for each
ranger is free to dress as he pleases and in the garb
experience has taught him most convenient for utU-
ity and comfort. A ranger, as any other frontiers
man or cowboy, usually wears good heavy woolen
clothes of any color that strikes his fancy. Some
are partial to corduroy suits, while others prefer
buckskin. A felt hat of any make and color com
pletes his uniform. "While riding, a ranger always
wore spurs and very high-heeled boots to prevent
his foot from shpping through the stirrup, for both
the ranger and the cowboy ride with the stirrup in
38

THE TEXAS RANGERS
the middle of the foot. This is safer and less fatigu
ing on a long ride. For arms, the ranger after
1877 carried a Winchester rifle or carbine, a Colt's
.45 revolver, and a Bowie knife. Two cartridge
belts, one for Winchester and one for revolver am
munition, completed his equipment, and so armed
he was ready to mount and ride.
"We hve in the saddle and the sky is our roof,"
say the old rangers, and this is hteraUy true. The
rangers are perfect centaurs and almost hve in the
saddle. They take horse where they wiU and may
arrest or search in any part of the state. There is
very htfle of what a West Point graduate would
caU drUl. A ranger is expected simply to be a good
rider and a qpiick and accurate shot. Every one of
them are skiUed horsemen and crack shots. No
crack cavalryman in any army can mount a horse
more quickly or more expertly than a ranger, and
he can keep a constant stream of fire pouring from
his carbine when his horse is going at top speed and
hit the mark nine times out of ten! Should a
ranger drop anything on the ground that he wants
he does not even check the speed of his horse, but,
bending from the saddle as if he were made of India
rubber, he picks up the object in fuU gaUop.
"WhUe not on active duty the rangers amuse them
selves in various ways. Some play cards, others
39

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
hunt, while the studious spend their time over books
and good hterature. Horse racing is popular, and
the fastest horse in the company is soon spotted,
for the rangers match their mounts one against the
other. At night around their camp fires the men
are constantiy telhng stories of their own or some
comrade's adventures that put to shame all the in
ventions of the imaginative fiction writers. But
when on duty aU this is changed. No pace is too
quick, no task too difficult or too hazardous for
him. Night and day wiU the ranger trail his prey,
through rain and shine, until the criminal is located
and put behind the bars where he wiU not again
molest or disturb peaceful citizens. For bravery
and endurance and steadfast adherence to duty at
aU times the ranger is in a class aU to himself.
Such was the old ranger, and such is the ranger of
today. Is it surprising, then, that I was early at
tracted to the force and wished to join them in their
open, joyous and adventurous hfe?

40

CHAPTER in
I JOIN THE RANGERS
The fame of the Texas Rangers had, of course,
become common knowledge among aU Texans.
Their deeds of adventure and their open, attractive
hfe along the frontier, had always appealed to me,
and I had long cherished the desire to enhst in the
battahon. But the enhstment, as announced by
Captain Roberts, would not be made untU June 1,
1875, and I reached MenardviUe early in March. I
had intended going on to join Mr. Franks' outfit,
but, as explained in a previous chapter, I hired out
to Mr. EUis untU I could enhst in Captain Roberts'
company. About the middle of May, 1875, Joe Franks had
worked back over into Menard County. I wished
to see my old friends in his outfit, and so went over
to meet them. "While there I mentioned that I was
going to join the rangers. A cowboy named Nor
man Rodgers, who was working for Mr. Franks,
said he would also hke to join, so we decided we
would go over to Captain Roberts together and see
if we couldn't get him to recruit us into his com
pany. Rodgers and I rode over to the ranger camp be-
41

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
yond MenardviUe. Neither of us had ever been in
such a camp before nor did we know anyone in
the company. Of the first ranger we met we in-
(juired where we could find the captain. His tent
was pointed out to us and we went toward it.
"Jim," said Norman as we approached the tent,
"you will have to do the talking."
Captain Roberts met us as we came up and in
vited us to be seated. I told him at once that we
had come to enhst as rangers. He asked us our
names, \<^here we were working, and finaUy inquired
if we had anyone that would recommend us. We
had not thought of references, but told him that
probably Mr. Franks or Mr. EUis would stand for
us, as they were weU known and prominent cattie-
men for whom we had worked.
Captain Roberts looked straight at me and said,
"Did you say your name was Gillett?"
"Yes, Jim Gillett," I rephed.
He then asked me where I was born, and I told
him at Austin, Texas.
"Are you a son of James S. Gillett who was Ad
jutant-General under Governor Sam Houston?"
I told him I was.
"I have often heard my father. Buck Roberts,
speak of your father," he said in a friendly tone.
Captain Roberts then asked us what kind of
42

I JOIN THE RANGERS
horses we had, telling us that a ranger was required
to have a good amount, for each man was aUowed
to have only one horse, which had to be a good one,
that could be ridden every day for a month if neces
sary. I told the captain I had two good pony
mares. He burst out laughing, and said a mare
was not aUowed in the service. He then told us
to go and see what kind of a mount we could get,
come back and let him inspect the animals. The
captain never once said he would enhst us, but, as
the interview was now over and he had not refused
us, we went back to camp feehng very hopeful we
would soon be rangers.
I secured a big black pony and Norman a gray
one, not so large as mine but a much prettier horse.
We returned to the ranger camp a few days later
mounted on these ponies. The captain looked them
over, said they were rather smaU but that he would
accept them, and told us to be at his camp by May
31st to be sworn into the service. We left camp
that evening aU puffed up at the prospect of being
Texas Rangers.
The last day of May arrived. Norman Rodgers
and myself with many other recruits we had never
seen before were at the ranger camp. On June 1,
1875, at 10 o'clock, we were formed in hne,
mounted, and the oath of allegiance to the State of
43

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
Texas was read to us by Captain Roberts. When
we had aU signed this oath we were pronounced
Texas Rangers. This was probably the happiest
day of my hfe, for I had reahzed one of my great
est ambitions and was now a member of the most
famous and efficient body of mounted pohce in
the world.
Immediately upon being sworn in the men were
divided into messes, ten men to the mess, and issued
ten days' rations by the orderly sergeant. These
rations consisted of flour, bacon, coffee, sugar,
beans, rice, pepper, salt and soda. No potatoes,
syrup or lard was furnished, and each man had to
supply his own cooking utensUs. To shorten our
bread we used bacon grease. Beef was sometimes
supphed the men, but wild game was so plentiful
that but httle other meat was required. Further
more, each recruit was furnished a Sharps carbine.
.50 cahber, and one .45 Colt's pistol. These arms
were charged to each ranger, their cost to be de
ducted from our first pay. Our salary of $40 per
month was paid in quarterly instaUments. The
state also supphed provender for the horses.
Though a ranger was forced to supply his own
mount, the state undertook to pay for the animal
if it were kiUed or lost in an Indian fight. To
estabhsh the impartial value of our animals, Cap-
44

I JOIN THE RANGERS
tain Roberts marched us into MenardviUe and asked
three citizens of the town to place a value on each
man's mount. This was done, and I was highly
gratified when old Coley, my mount, was appraised
at $125. This formahty over, the company was
moved from Litfle Sahne to Camp Los Moris, five
mUes southwest of MenardviUe, Texas. We were
now ready to begin scouting for Indians.
As is usual under the same circumstances the
new recruits came in for their share of pranks and
mishaps. One raw rooky in my mess, fired with
love of economy, undertook to cook ten days' ra
tions for the whole mess at one time. He put a
quantity of rice on the fire. Soon it began to boil
and swell, and that surprised ranger found his rice
increasing in unheard of proportions. He fiUed
every cooking vessel in the mess with half-cooked
rice, and stiU the kettie conttnued to overflow. In
desperation he finaUy began to pour it on the
ground. Even then he had enough rice cooked to
supply the entire company.
Another recruit, anxious to test his new weapons,
obtained Captain Roberts' permission to go hunt
ing. He had not gone far from camp before he
began firing at some squirrels. One of his buUets
struck the hmb of a tree and whizzed close to camp.
This gave an old ranger an idea. He hastened after
45

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
the hunter and gravely arrested him, declaring that
the glancing bullet had struck a man in camp and
that Captain Roberts had ordered the careless
hunter's arrest. The veteran brought in a pale and
badly scared recruit.
One of the favorite diversions of the old rangers
was to make a newcomer beheve that the state fur
nished the rangers with socks and start him off to
the captain's tent to demand his share of free
hosiery. The captain took these pranks in good
part and assured the crestfaUen apphcant that the
rangers were only playing a joke on him, whUe
his tormentors enjoyed his discomfiture from a safe
distance. "When they had run out of jokes the rangers set
tled down to the regular routine of camp. Each
morning the orderly sergeant had roU call, at which
time he always detailed six or eight men with a
non-commissioned officer to take charge of the
rangers' horses and the pack mules until reheved
the following morning by a new guard. The guard
was mounted and armed and drove the loose stock
out to graze. The horses were never taken far
from camp for fear of being attacked by Indians,
and also to keep them near at hand in case they
were needed quickly.
The rangers not on guard spent their time as they
46

I JOIN THE RANGERS
T^dshed when not on duty, but no man could leave
the camp without the captain's permission. The
boys played such games as appealed to them, horse
shoe pitching and cards being the favorite diver
sions. As long as it did not interfere with a man's
duty as a ranger. Captain Roberts permitted pony
racing, and some exciting contests took place be
tween rival horse owners. And hunting and fish
ing were always available, for woods and streams
were stocked with game and fish.
I soon had cause to congratulate myself on my
enlistment in Company "D," for I found Captain
D. W. Roberts the best of company commanders.
At the time I joined his command he was just
thirty-five years of age, very slender and perhaps
a httie over six feet taU. His beard and hair were
dark aubum. He was always neatiy dressed and
was kind and affable in manner, — ^looking more hke
the dean of an Eastern coUege than the great cap
tain he was.
Captain Roberts was a fine horseman and a good
shot with both pistol and rifle. He was also a fine
viohnist and often played for the boys. He had
been raised on the frontier and had such a great
reputation as an Indian fighter that the Fourteenth
Legislature of Texas presented biin with a fine Win
chester rifle for his gallantry in fighting the red-
47

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
skins. The captain had made a close study of the
habits and actions of the Indians and had become
such an authority that their hfe was an open book
to him. This, of course, gave him a great advan
tage in following and fighting them, and under his
able leadership Company "D" became famous.
There was not a man in the company that did not
consider it a comphment to be detailed on a scout
with Captain Roberts.
In the latter part of the summer or early faU of
1875, Captain Roberts visited Colorado County,
Texas, and returned with a bride, a Miss Lou Con
way. Mrs. Roberts was a very refined and elegant
lady, and soon adapted herself to the customs of
the camp. She was with her husband on the San
Saba River during the winter of 1875-76 and soon
became as popular with the company as Captain
Roberts himself.
Most people consider the hfe of the Texas Ranger
hard and dangerous, but I never found it so. In
the first place, the ranger was always with a body
of well armed men, more than a match for any
enemy that might be met. Then, there was an
element of danger about it that appealed to any
red-blooded American. All of western Texas was
a real frontier then, and for one who loved nature
and God's own creation, it was a paradise on earth.
48

I JOIN THE RANGERS
The hiUs and vaUeys were teeming with deer and
turkey, thousands of buffalo and antelope were on
the plains, and the streams aU over Texas were fuU
of fish. Bee caves and bee trees abounded. In the
spring time one could travel for hundreds of mUes
on a bed of flowers. Oh, how I wish I had the
power to describe the wonderful country as I saw
it then. How happy I am now in my old age that
I am a native Texan and saw the grand frontier
before it was marred by the hand of man.
The Lipans, Kickapoos, Comanches, and Kiowa
Indians used to time their raids so as to reach the
Texas settlements during the hght of the moon so
they would have moonhght nights in which to steal
horses and make their getaway before they could
be discovered. By morning, when their thefts be
came known, they would have a long lead ahead
and be weU out on their way into the plains and
mountains. The captains of the ranger companies
knew of this Indian habit, and accordingly kept
scouts constantiy in the field during the period of the
raids. The redskins coming in from the plains
where water was scarce generaUy took the near cut'
to the headwaters of the Colorado, Concho, San
Saba, Llanos, Guadalupe, and Nueces Rivers. By
maintaining scouts at or near the heads of these
streams the rangers frequentiy caught parties of
49

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
Indians going in or coming out from the settlements,
and destroyed them or recaptured the stolen stock.
The first hght moon in June Captain Roberts or
dered a detail of fifteen men in command of Ser
geant James B. Hawkins to make a ten days' scout
toward the head waters of the North Llano River.
He was to select a secluded spot near old abandoned
Fort Territ and make camp there. Each morning
a scout of one or two men would be sent out ten
or fifteen miles south and another party a hke dis
tance toward the north to hunt for Indian trails.
The main body of rangers, keeping carefuUy con
cealed, was in readiness to take up an Indian traU
at a moment's notice should one be found by the
scouts. One morning Sergeant Hawkins ordered me to
travel south from camp to the head draws of the
South Llano and watch for pony tracks.
"Suppose the Indians get me?" I asked laughingly
as I mounted my pony.
"It's your business to keep a sharp lookout and
not let them catch you," he rephed.
However, though I watched very carefully I could
find no pony tracks or Indian trails.
We had with us on this scout Mike Lynch, a pure
Irishman. Though he was old and gray-headed, he
was a good ranger, and had much native wit. One
50

I JOIN THE RANGERS
morning it was Uncle Mike's turn to go on scout
duty, but in a few hours he was seen coming into
camp with his horse. Possum, on the jump. He
reported a fresh Indian traU about ten nules north
of our camp. "When asked how many pony tracks
he had counted. Lynch at once declared he had
counted seventeen and thought there were more.
As the Indians usuaUy came in on foot or with as
few ponies as they could get by on untU they could
steal others. Sergeant Hawkins suspected the tracks
Lynch had seen were those of mustangs. The ex
cited scout declared vehementiy that the tracks were
not those of wUd horses but of Indians. The ser
geant was just as positive that no Indian party was
responsible for the traU, and the two had quite a
heated argument over the tracks.
"But how do you know it is an Indian traU?"
demanded Hawkins.
"Because I know I know," cried out Lynch in a
loud voice.
That setfled it. Horses were saddled and mules
packed as quickly as possible, and the rangers
marched over to the suspicious trail. "When Ser
geant Hawkins examined the traU he soon discov
ered that the sign had been made by mustangs but
could not convince the hard-headed Irishman untU
he f oUowed the traQ two or three mUes and showed
51

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
him the mustang herd quietly grazing under some
shade trees. Uncle Mike did not mention Indian
trail any more on that scout.
Though we did not find any trails or Indians the
scouting party killed two black bear, several deer
and about fifteen wild turkey.
Early in September, 1875, Captain Roberts again
ordered Sergeant Hawkins to take fifteen men and
make a ten days' scout on the Brady Mountains.
To my great joy I was detailed on this expedition.
"When near the head of Scalp Creek, Menard County,
on our return trip, the sergeant told the boys to
keep a sharp lookout for a deer, as we would reach
the San Saba by noon and would camp on that
stream for the night. We had not traveled far be
fore Ed Seiker kiUed a nice httle spiked buck. We
strapped him on one of the pack mules, and when
we arrived at the river we came upon a flock of half-
grown wild turkeys. BiU Clements leaped from his
horse and killed six of them.
We then camped, hobbled and sidehned our
horses and put a strong guard with them. "While
some of the boys were gathering wood for our fire
they found an old elm stump ten to twelve feet
high with bees going in at the top. One of the
rangers rode over to Rufe Winn's ranch and bor
rowed an ax and a bucket. "When he returned we
52

I JOIN THE RANGERS
cut the tree and got more honey than sixteen men
could eat, besides fiUing the bucket with nice sealed
honey, which we gave to Mrs. Winn in return for
the use of her ax. Then, after dinner, out came
fishing tackle and, using venison for bait, we caught
more catfish than the entire crowd could eat.
Hunting conditions in those days were ideal. I
have known a single scout to kiU three or four bears
on a single trip. The companies to the north of us
were never out of buffalo meat in season. Then, in
the faU, one could gather enough pecans, as fine as
ever grew, in half a day to last the company a
month. I have seen hundreds of bushels of the
nuts go to waste because there was no one to gather
them — ^besides they sold on the market for fifty
cents per bushel. No wonder that a boy that loved
the woods and nature was charmed and fascinated
with the hfe of the Texas Ranger. It was a picnic
for me from start to finish, and the six years I was
with the battahon were the happiest and most in
teresting of my hfe.
But hunting and fishing and vacation scouts were
not the sole duties of a ranger. Pleasure was abun
dant, but there were times when aU these were laid
aside. For the game guns and the fishing rod we
exchanged our carbines and our sixshooters and
engaged in hazardous expeditions after marauding
53

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
redskins. I was soon to see this latter aspect of
ranger hfe, for in the latter part of August, 1875,
I became a real ranger and entered upon the real
work of our battahon — that of protecting the fron
tier against the roving Indians and engaging them
in regular pitched battles.

54

CHAPTER IV
MY FIRST BRUSH WITH INDIANS
The latter part of August, 1875, Private L. P.
Seiker was sent on detached service to Fort Mason,
about fifty miles due east of our camp. "WhUe
there a runner came in from Honey Creek with the
report that a band of fifteen Indians had raided the
John Gamble ranch and stolen some horses within
twenty-five steps of the ranch house. The redskins
appeared on their raid late in the evening and the
runner reached Mason just at dark.
Lam Seiker had just eaten his supper and was
sitting in the lobby of the Frontier Hotel when the
message came. He hurried to the hvery stable,
saddled his horse. Old Pete, and started on an aU-
night ride for the company. The nights in August
are short, but Seiker rode into our camp about 8
o'clock the foUowing morning and reported the
presence of the Indians.
The company horses were out under herd for the
day, but Captain Roberts sent out hurry orders for
them. Sergeant Plunk Murray was ordered to de
tail fifteen men, issue them ten days' rations and
one hundred rounds of ammunition each. Second
Sergeant Jim Hawkins, Privates Paul Durham, Nick
55

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
Donnelly, Tom GiUespie, Mike Lynch, Andy Wil
son, Henry Maltimore, Jim Trout, Wilham Kim-
brough, Silas B. Crump, Ed Seiker, Jim Day, John
Cupps and myself, under command of Captain
Roberts, were selected as the personnel of the scout.
As can be imagined I was dehghted with my good
fortune in getting on the party and looked forward
with intense satisfaction to my first brush with
Indians. The mules were soon packed and by the time the
horses reached camp the scout was ready. Ser
geant Hawkins, as soon as the men had saddled
their horses, walked over to the captain, saluted and
told him the scout was ready. Before leaving camp
Captain Roberts caUed to Sergeant Murray and told
him that he beheved the Indians had about as many
horses as they could weU get away with, and that
they would probably cross the San Saba River near
the mouth of Scalp Creek and follow the high divide
between the two streams on their westward march
back into the plains. If the redskins did not travel
that way the captain thought they would go out
up the Big Sahne, follow the divide between the
North Llano and San Saba Rivers westward and
escape, but he was confident the band would travel
up the divide north of MenardviUe. He determined
to scout that way himself, and instructed Murray
56

MY FIRST BRUSH WITH INDIANS
to send two rangers south over to the head waters
of Bear Creek to keep a sharp lookout for the traU.
These two scouts were to repeat their operations
the next day, and if they discovered the Indian traU
Murray was to make up a second scout and foUow
the redskins vigorously.
His plan outhned. Captain Roberts gave the order
to mount, and we rode toward MenardviUe, making
inquiry about the Indians. AU was quiet at this
httle frontier viUage, so we crossed the San Saba
River just below the town, and after passing the
ruins of the Spanish Fort, Captain Roberts halted
his men and prepared to send out traUers. Two of
the best traUers in the command were ordered to
proceed about four hundred yards ahead of the
party and keep a close watch for pony tracks whUe
they traveled due north at a good saddle horse gait.
The main body of men, under the captain himself,
would foUov/ directiy behind the outposts.
Our party had traveled about eight or nine mUes
when Captain Roberts' keen eyes discovered a lone
pony standing with his head down straight ahead
of us. He sighted the animal before the traUers
did, and remarked to us that there the traU was.
The outposts halted when they saw the pony and
waited for us to come up. Sure enough, here was
the Indian traU probably twenty yards wide. Cap-
57

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
tain Roberts dismounted and walked over the sign,
scrutinizing every pony track, bunch of grass and
faUen leaf. He then examined the old pony. The
animal was cut with a lance, with his back sore
and his feet all worn out. It was then between 12
and 1 o'clock, and the captain thought the Indians
had passed that way about sunrise, for the blood
and sweat on the horse was now dry. The trail
showed the raiders were driving rather fast and
were probably thirty-five or forty miles ahead of us.
The captain decided it would be a long chase and
that we would just have to walk them down if we
caught them at aU.
There was no water on this divide so we took
the trail without stopping for dinner. Captain
Roberts had a fine saddle horse. Old Rock, and we
followed the trail at a steady gait of five or six nules
an hour. At sundown we reached the old govern
ment road that runs from Fort McKavett to Fort
Concho. We were then about twelve or fifteen
miles south of Kickapoo Springs, so we turned up
the road, reaching the springs late at night. The
horses had not had a drop of water since leaving
the San Saba that morning, and, facing a hot August
sun all day, the men were pretty weU tired out when
they reached camp, had supper and gotten to bed.
We estimated we had ridden about sixty miles since
58

MY FIRST BRUSH WITH INDIANS
leaving camp. During the day Captain Roberts'
horse cast a shoe, so Tom GiUespie shod him by
firehght, as it was the captain's intention to resume
the trail at dayhght.
The foUowing morning Captain Roberts took a
southwest course from Kickapoo Springs and par-
aUeled the Indian traU we had left the evening be
fore. It was late in the day before we picked the
traU up again, and many of the boys were afraid
we had lost it altogether, but the captain laughed
at their fears and never doubted that we should find
it again. The Indians, as their traU showed, were
now travehng over a tolerably rough country, which
made our progress slow. About noon we found
some rain water, and, as it was fearfuUy hot, we
camped for dinner and to give the horses a short
rest. When the boys went out to catch their mounts
we found that we had camped right in a bed of
rattiesnakes. Two of our horses had been bitten.
Jim Day's Checo had a head on him as big as a
barrel, whUe the captain's horse. Old Rock, had
been bitten on his front leg just above the ankle,
and it had swoUen up to his body. Neither of the
animals was able to walk. Jim Day could not be
left alone in that Indian country, so Captain Roberts
detailed Private Cupps to stay with Day untU the
59

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
horses died or were able to travel, — ^in either case
they were then to return to camp. The animals
soon recovered and Day and Cupps beat us back
to camp.
The pack loads were now doubled on one mule
so Captain Roberts could ride the other. Reduced
to thirteen men, we foUowed the Indians until night.
It was a hard day on both men and beasts, so we
camped where we found a httle water in a draw
that drained into the South Concho River. Consid
ering the way we had come the captain thought we
had covered sixty miles during the day's ride. We
had two rather old men on the scout, Mike Lynch
and Andy Wilson, and they were nearly aU in. I
awoke Andy at 2 a. m. to go on guard. The poor
fellow was so stiff he could hardly stand, and I
tried to get him to go back to bed, telhng him I
would stand his guard, but he was game, and in a
few minutes hobbled out to the horses and re
lieved me.
Early in the morning we were up and travehng.
The mule Captain Roberts was riding did not step
out as fast as Old Rock had done, and the boys
had an easier time keeping up. We camped at
noon on just enough rain water to do us and took
up the traU again after dinner. The traUers
stopped suddenly, and as we rode up Captain
60

MY FIRST BRUSH WITH INDIANS
Roberts asked what was the matter. They said it
seemed as though the Indians at this point had
rounded up the horses and held them for some cause
or other.
The captain dismounted and swept the country
with his field glasses. He circled around where the
horses had been standing and found where a lone
Indian had walked straight away from the animals.
He foUowed the tracks to an old hve oak tree that
had been blown down. Then the reason for the
stop became apparent: the Indians had sighted a
herd of mustangs grazing just beyond this tree and
the redskin had shpped up on them and kiUed a
big brown mare. Captain Roberts picked up the
cartridge sheU the old brave had used and found it
to be from a .50 caliber buffalo gun. We also found
the mustang, from which the Indians had cut both
sides of ribs and one hind quarter.
Captain Roberts was much elated.
"Boys," he said T\dth a smile, "we now have
ninety-five chances out of a hundred to catch those
Indians. They will not carry this raw meat long
before stopping to cook some. We have foUowed
them now over one hundred and fifty mUes, and
they have never stopped to buUd a fire. They are
tired and hungry and probably know where there
is water not far away." 61

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
He spoke with such confidence that I marveled
at his knowledge of the Indian habits.
We were now on the extreme western draw of
the South Concho River, far above the point at which
the water breaks out into a running stream.
FinaUy the trail led out on that level and vast
tract of country between the head of South Concho
and the Pecos on the west. These Indians turned
a httle north from the general direction they had
been travehng, and all of a sudden we came to some
rock water holes.
Here the redskins had built three fires, cooked
both sides of the mustang ribs and had picked them
clean. From this high table land they could look
back over their trail for fifteen miles. The captain
thought they had been there early in the morning,
as the fires were out and the ashes cold. We did
not lose any time at this camp, but hurried on, fol
lowing the trail until late in the evening, when the
trailers again halted. When we came up we found
that the trail that had been going west for nearly
two hundred miles had suddenly turned straight
north. Captain Roberts seemed to be puzzled for a time,
and said he did not understand this move. About
one mile north there was a smaU motte of mesquite
timber. This he examined through his glasses,
62

MY FIRST BRUSH WITH INDLVNS
seeming to me to examine each tree separately.
The traU led straight into these trees, and we fol
lowed it. In the mesquite timber we found the
Indians had hacked some bushes partly down, bent
them over, cut up the horse meat they had been
carrying with them into tiny strips, strung it on
the bushes and, buUding a fire beneath them, had
barbecued their flesh. The redskins had made the
prettiest scafelo for meat cooking I ever saw. We
found plenty of fire here, and the captain was sure
we would have an Indian fight on the morrow.
From the trees the trail swung west again. The
redskins were travehng slowly now, as they evi-
dentiy thought they were out of danger. Just be
fore sundown the scout halted, and we were or
dered not to let any smoke go up lest the band we
were traihng should spot it and take alarm. As
soon as we had cooked our supper Captain Roberts
had the fires carefuUy extinguished. It had been
a good season on the table lands and there were
many ponds fiUed with water, some of them one
hundred yards wide. We camped right on the edge
of one of these big holes and where the Indians had
waded into it the water was still muddy. The boys
were cautioned not to strike a match that night as
we were certain the Indians were not far ahead of

63

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
us. We covered between forty and fifty miles
that day.
Camp was called at daybreak. We dared not
build a fire, so we could have no breakfast. We
saddled our horses and again took the trail. Old
Jennie, the pack mule, was packed for the last time
on earth, for she was kiUed in the fight that shortly
followed. As soon as it was hght enough to see a
pony track two of the boys traced it on foot and
led their horses, the remainder of our party coining
along slowly on horseback. By sunrise we were
all riding and foUowing the trail rapidly, eager to
sight the marauding thieves. We had traveled some
five or six miles when Paul Durham caUed Captain
Roberts' attention to a dark object ahead that looked
as if it were moving. The captain brought his field
glasses to bear on the object specified and exclaimed
it was the Indians.
He ordered the boys to dismount at once, tighten
their cinches, leave their coats and shckers and
make ready to fight. As we carried out this order
a distressing stUlness came over the men. Captain
Roberts and Sergeant Hawkins were the only ones
of our party that had ever been in an Indian fight,
and I suppose the hearts of aU of us green, un
seasoned warriors beat a httle more rapidly than
usual at the prospect of soon smelhng powder.
64

MY FIRST BRUSH WITH INDIANS
Captain Roberts caUed out to us in positive tones
not to leave him untU he told us to go, and not to
draw a gun or pistol until ordered, declaring that
he wanted no mistake on the eve of battle. He
ordered the pack mule caught and led until we went
into the fight, when she was to be turned loose.
The Indians were out on an open prairie dotted
here and there with smaU skirts of mesquite timber.
The captain thought our only chance was to ride
double file straight at them in the hope they would
not look back and discover us. We moved forvs^ard
briskly, and as luck would have it, we got within
four or five hundred yards of the redskins before
they sighted us.
At once there was a terrible commotion. The
Indians rounded up their stock and caught fresh
mounts almost in the twinkhng of an eye. Then,
led by their old chief, they took positions on a httie
elevated ground some two hundred yards beyond
the loose horses. The redskins stationed themselves
about fifteen or twenty feet apart, their battie hne
when formed being about one hundred yards wide.
As each warrior took his station he dismounted,
stood behind his horse and prepared to fire when
given the signal.
The captain with a smUe turned to us and said.

65

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
"Boys, they are going to fight us. See how beau
tifully the old chief forms his hne of battie."
From a httle boy I had longed to be a ranger and
fight the Indians. At last, at last, I was up against
the real thing and with not so much as an umbrella
behind which to hide. I was nervous. I was aw
fully nervous.
We were now within one hundred steps of the
redskins. Then came the order to dismount, shoot
low and kiU as many horses as possible. The cap
tain said as we came up that every time we got an
Indian on foot in that country we were sure to kiU
him. With the first shot everybody, Indian and
ranger, began firing and yelhng.
In a minute we had killed two horses and one
Indian was seen to be badly wounded. In another
minute the redskins had mounted their horses and
were fleeing in every direction. Captain Roberts
now ordered us to mount and foUow them. The
roar of the guns greatiy excited my pony and he
turned round and round. I lost a httle time in
mounting, but when I did get setUed in the saddle
I saw an Indian running on foot. He carried a
Winchester in his hand and waved to another In
dian who was riding. The latter turn(id and took
the one on foot up behind him. As they started
away for a race I thought to myself that no grass
66

MY FIRST BRUSH WITH INDIANS
pony on earth could carry two men and get away
from me and Old Coley. The Indians had a good
animal, but I gradually closed on them. The red
skin riding behind would point his gun back and
fire at me, holding it in one hand. I retahated by
firing at him every time I could get a cartridge in
my old Sharps carbine. I looked back and saw Ed
Seiker coining to my aid as fast as old Dixie would
run. He waved encouragement to me.
FinaUy the old brave ceased shooting, and as I
drew a httie closer he held out his gun at arm's
length and let it drop, probably thinking I would
stop to get it. I just gave it a passing glance as I
galloped by. He then held out what looked to be
a fine rawhide rope and dropped that, but I never
took the bait'. I just kept closing in on him. He
now strung his bow and began using his arrows
pretty freely. FinaUy he saw I was going to catch
him, and turned quickly into a httle grove of mes
quite timber. I was considered a fairly good brush
rider, and as we went in among the trees I drew
right up within twenty steps of the brave, jumped
from my mount and made a sort of random shot
at the horse, Indian and aU. The big .50 cahber
buUet struck the Indian pony just where its head
couples on its neck, passed through the head and

67

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
came out over the left eye. It kiUed the horse at
once and it fell forward twenty feet.
The old warrier hit the ground running, but I
jumped my horse and ran after him. As I passed
the dead horse I saw the front rider strugghng to
get from under it. To my surprise I saw he was
a white boy between fifteen and sixteen years old
with long bright red hair.
By this time Ed Seiker had arrived and was dis
mounting. The fugitive warrior now peeped from
behind a tree and I got a fine shot at his face but
overshot him six inches, cutting off a hmb just
over his head. He broke to run again, and as he
came into view Ed placed a bullet between his
shoulders. He was dead in a minute. As Ed and
I walked up to the dead Indian we found he had
also been shot in one ankle and his bow had been
partly shot in two. In his quiver he had left only
three arrows.
Seiker and I hurried back to the dead horse to
help the white boy, but he had extricated himself
and disappeared. We then returned to the dead
warrior and Seiker scalped him. We took the In
dian's bow shield and a fine pair of moccasins. I
also found a fine lance near where the horse fell,
and I presume it was carried by the white boy. We
found the redskin had no Winchester cartridges,
68

MY FIRST BRUSH WITH INDIANS
and this was why he dropped the gun — ^he could
not carry it and use his bow. We went back over
the trail but were unable to find the gun the brave
had dropped as a bait.
By noon that day the boys had aU returned to
where the fight had begun and the Indian horses
had been left. Jim Hawkins and Paul Durham cap
tured a Mexican boy about fifteen years old. He
looked just hke an Indian, had long plaited hair
down his back, was bare headed, wore moccasins
and a breech-clout. Had he been in front of me I
would surely have kiUed him for a redskin. Cap
tain Roberts spoke Spanish fluently, and from this
boy he learned that the Indians were Lipans that
hved in Old Mexico. He was taken back to our
camp and finaUy his uncle came and took him
home. He had been captured while herding oxen
near old Fort Clark, Texas, and an elder brother,
who was with him at the time, had been kiUed.
The boys were then sent back by Captain Roberts
to find the white lad that had been with the Indian
Seiker had kiUed. Though we searched carefully
we could find no trace of the mysterious youngster.
Some years later I learned that this boy's name was
Fischer and that his parents went into Old Mexico
and ransomed him. He was from Llano County,
and after his return he wrote, or had written, a
69

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
smaU pamphlet that contained an account of his hfe
with the Indians. He told of being with old Chief
Magoosh in this fight. He declared he hid in the
grass within sight of the rangers while they were
hunting him, but was afraid to show himself for
fear of being killed.
"When the rangers had all gathered after the fight
our pack mule, Jennie, was missing. We supposed
in the run that she had followed the Indians off.
Six months later Ed Seiker was detailed to pUot a
body of United States soldiers over that same coun
try to pick out a road to the Pecos River. He vis
ited our old battiefield and found Jennie's carcass.
She had a buUet hole in the center of her forehead.
The Indians in shooting back at their attackers
probably hit her with a chance shot. The pack
saddle was still strapped to her body, but wolves
had eaten all the supphes. Five hundred rounds of
ammunition were stUl with her, showing that no
one had seen her since the day of her death.
Lacking Jennie's supphes, we did not have a
blooming thing to eat but the barbecued horse meat
we had captured from the Indians. This had no
salt on it, and I just could not swaUow it. In the
fight we kiUed three horses and one Indian and cap
tured the Mexican lad. At least two redskins were
badly wounded, and as victors we captured fifty-
70

MY FIRST BRUSH WITH INDIANS
eight head of horses and mules, several Indian sad
dles and bridles and many native trinkets. Not a
man or a horse of our party was hurt, the pack
mule being our only fatahty. AU voted Captain
Roberts the best man in the world.
We turned our faces homeward, hungry and tired
but highly elated over our success. The second day
after the fight we reached Wash Delong's ranch on
the head waters of the South Concho River. Mr.
Delong, a fine frontiersman, kiUed a beef for us
and furnished us with flour and coffee without cost.
Three days later we were back at our camp at Los
Moris. The stolen stock was returned to their own
ers, and thus ended my first campaign against the
Indians.

71

CHAPTER V
THE MASON COUNTY WAR
Soon after our return from our first brush with
Indians we were introduced to yet another phase
of ranger activity — the quieting of feuds, for not
only were the rangers employed in protecting the
frontiers against the Indians, but they were also
frequently called upon to preserve law and order
within the towns and cities of the state. In those
early days men's passions were high and easUy
aroused. In a country where all men went armed,
recourse to fire arms was frequent, and these feuds
sometimes led to active warfare between the ad
herents of each party to the great discomfort of
the citizens among whom such a miniature war was
staged. Mason and the adjoining county, Gillespie, had
been settled by Germans in the early history of the
state. These settiers were quiet, peaceful and made
most exceUent citizens, loyal to their adopted coun
try and government when undisturbed. Most of
these Germans engaged in stock raising and were
sorely tried by the rustlers and Indians that com
mitted many depredations upon their cattie.
In the latter part of September, 1875, Tim Wil-
72

THE MASON COUNTY WAR
hamson, a prominent cattleman hving in Mason
County, was arrested on a charge of cattle theft
by John Worley, a deputy sheriff of that county.
Previous to that time there had been a number of
complaints about loss of cattle, and the Germans
charged that many of their cattie had been stolen
and the brands burned. Much indignation had been
aroused among the stockmen of the county and
threats of violence against the thieves were com
mon. As soon as the news of WUhamson's arrest on
charge of cattie thieving became known a large mob
formed and set out in pursuit of the deputy sheriff
and his prisoner. On his way to Mason, Worley
was overtaken by this posse. "When he saw the
pursuing men WUhamson divined their purpose and
begged the sheriff to let him run in an effort to save
his hfe. Worley refused and, it is said, drew his
pistol and deliberately shot WUhamson's horse
through the loin, causing it to faU. Unarmed and
unmounted WUhamson was kiUed without a chance
to protect himself and without any pretense of a
trial. After the murder Worley and the mob dis
appeared. Whether or not WUhamson was guUty of the
charge against him, he had friends who bitterly
resented the deputy sheriff's refusal to aUow the
73

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
murdered man a chance for his hfe and his death
caused a great deal of excitement and bitter com
ment in the county. A man named Scott Cooley,
an ex-ranger of Captain Perry's Company "D," was
a particular friend of WUhamson and his family.
Cooley had quit the ranger service at the time of
his friend's murder and was cultivating a farm near
MenardviUe. He had worked for the dead man and
had made two trips up the trail with him. While
working with the murdered cattleman Cooley had
contracted a bad case of typhoid fever and had
been nursed back to health by Mrs. WUhamson's
own hands.
When the news of Tim WUhamson's murder
reached Scott Cooley he was much incensed, and
vowed vengeance against the murderers of his
friend. He left his farm at once and, saddhng his
pony, rode into the town of Mason heavUy armed.
He had worked out a careful plan of his own and
proceeded to put it into execution immediately on
his arrival, Stabhng his horse in a hvery stable,
he registered at the hotel. As he was entirely un
known in Mason, Cooley remained in town several
days without creating any suspicion. He proved
himself a good detective, and soon discovered that
the sheriff and his deputy were the leaders in the
mob that had killed his friend. Biding his time and
74

THE MASON COUNTY WAR
pursuing his investigations he soon learned the
names of every man in the posse that murdered
WUhamson. His information complete, Cooley decided upon
action. He mounted his pony and rode out to the
home of John Worley, the deputy sheriff that had
refused WUhamson a chance to flee for his hfe.
Cooley found Worley engaged in cleaning out a
weU. The avenger dismounted, asked for a drink
of water and entered into conversation with the
unsuspecting man. FinaUy, as Worley was draw
ing his assistant out of the weU, Cooley asked him
if his name was John Worley. The deputy sheriff
rephed that it was. Cooley then declared his mis
sion and shot the sheriff to death.
At the first crack of Cooley's pistol Worley let
the windlass go, and the man he was drawing up
out of the weU feU back about twenty-five feet into
it. Cooley deliberately stooped down, cut off both
of Worley's ears, put them in his pocket, and gal
loped off. Victim number one was chalked up to
WUhamson's credit. Making a quick ride across
Mason County to the western edge of Llano County,
Cooley waylaid and killed Pete Brader, the second
on his hst of mob members.
These two murders struck terror into the hearts
of nearly every citizen of Mason County. No one
75

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
could teU who would be the next victim of the un
erring aim of Scott Cooley's rifle. The whole
county rose up in arms to protect themselves. Ter
rified lest he be the next victim of the avenger,
Cooley, the sheriff of Mason County promptly left
Mason and never returned. Tim WiUiamson had
other friends anxious to avenge him, and the kiU-
ing of Brader was their raUying signal. John and
Mose Beard, George Gladden, and John Ringgold
immediately joined Cooley in his work of ven
geance. The gang rode into the town of Mason,
and in a fight with a posse of citizens, kiUed an
other man.
Fearing the outbreak of a real feud war in Mason,
the Governor of Texas ordered Major Jones to the
rehef of the frightened citizens. The order reached
Major Jones while he was on his way down the hne
near the head of the Guadalupe River. He at once
turned his company back, and with a detachment
of ten men from Company "D" he marched to
Mason. Company "A," Major Jones' escort, was
then commanded by Captain Ira Long, and the
thirty men in that company and the ten boys of
Company "D" gave the major forty men for his
rehef expedition.
Before the rangers could reach Mason, the sher
iff's party had a fight with Cooley's gang down on
76

THE MASON COUNTY WAR
the Llano River and kiUed Mose Beard. On his
arrival in Mason, Major Jones sent scouts in every
direction to hunt Cooley. He kept this up for
nearly two weeks but without result. He finaUy
learned that nearly the whole of his command,
especiaUy the Company "D" boys that had ranged
with Cooley, was in sympathy with the outiaw and
was making no serious attempt to locate or imperil
him. It was even charged that some of the Com
pany "D" rangers met Cooley at night on the out
skirts of Mason and told him they did not care if
he kiUed every d— d Dutchman in Mason County
that formed part of the mob that had murdered
WiUiamson. Major Jones saw he would have to take drastic
steps at once. He drew up his whole force of forty
men and made them an eloquent speech. He said
he had a special pride in the Frontier Battahon and
was making it his hfe's study and that he person-
aUy had a kindly feehng for every man in the
service. He then reminded the men in the most
feehng manner of the oath they had taken to pro
tect the State of Texas against aU her enemies what
soever, — an oath every true man was bound to
honor. He declared he knew many of the com
mand had a friendly feehng for Scott Cooley, espe
ciaUy those boys who had shared the hfe of a ranger
77

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
with him, and that he, himself, felt keenly the posi
tion in which they were placed. "WhUe Tim WU
hamson had met a horrible death at the hands of a
relentless mob, that did not justify Cooley in kilhng
people in a private war of vengeance in defiance of
the law and the rangers.
As the chmax of his speech the major said, "Men,
I now have a proposition to make to you. If every
man here who is in sympathy with Scott Cooley and
his gang and who does not wish to pursue him to
the bitter end wiU step out of ranks I wiU issue
him an honorable discharge and let him quit the
service clean."
The major paused and about fifteen men stepped
to the front.
"Gentlemen," continued Major Jones, "those who
do not avail themselves of this opportunity I shall
expect to use aU dihgence and strength in helping
me to break up or capture these violators of the
law." After the discharge of the Cooley sympathizers,
the rangers went to work with a new vigor, and
finaUy captured George Gladden and John Ringgold.
Gladden was sent to the state penitentiary for
twenty-five years, while Ringgold received a hfe sen
tence. Probably Scott Cooley was informed of
Major Jones' appeal to the rangers, for he became
78

THE MASON COUNTY WAR
less active around Mason after this. John Beard,
it was reported, skipped Texas and went to Arizona.
Soon after Cooley kiUed John Worley, Norman
Rodgers got permission from Captain Roberts to
ride over to Joe Franks' cow outfit to exchange his
horse for a better one. When Rodgers rode into
the cowboy camp he noticed a man resting under a
tree near the fire. The stranger caUed one of the
cowboys and asked him who Norman was. As
Rodgers left camp this man followed him and asked
if he were one of Roberts' rangers and if he knew
"Major" Reynolds. Rodgers rephed that he knew
Reynolds very weU.
The man then declared he was Scott Cooley and,
reaching into his pocket, he puUed out John Wor
ley's ears.
"You take these ears to 'Major' Reynolds with
my comphments, but don't you tell anybody you
saw me."
Rodgers duly dehvered the ears and Reynolds
cautioned him to say nothing about them. Forty
years afterward, at an old settlers reunion in Sweet
water, Norman Rodgers mentioned this incident in
a speech — he had kept his promise to Cooley and
Reynolds aU those years.
Having lost his friends and his sympathizers in
the rangers, Cooley returned to Blanco County,
79

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
where he had formerly hved. Here he was stricken
with brain fever, and though tenderly nursed,
sliielded by his friends, he died without ever being
brought to trial for his kiUings. This ended the
Mason County War, but before the feud died some
ten or twelve men were killed and a race war nar
rowly averted.

80

CHAPTER VI
MAJOR JONES AND HIS ESCORT
Despite their usefulness in protecting the frontiers
and in maintaining law and order, the Texas
Rangers have always had to fight more or less
strenuously to obtain the necessary appropriation
for their annual maintenance from the State Legis
lature. Whenever the appropriation is smaU there
is but one remedy, — reduce the personnel of each
company to the lowest hmits possible. In the faU
of 1875 the Adjutant-General notified the captains
aU along the hne to reduce their companies to
twenty men each for the winter at the end of the
current quarter. As the day for reduction arrived
there were some anxious moments among the men
of Company "D" as no one knew just who was to
be retained in the service.
On December 1st Captain Roberts formed the
command in hne and explained it was his sad duty
to reduce the company to twenty men, and an
nounced that the orderly sergeant would read the
names of those to be retained in the company. The
sergeant then stepped forward and began to read.
First Sergeant Plunk Murray, Second Sergeant
James Hawkins, First Corporal Lam Seiker, Sec-
81

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
ond Corporal Tom Griffin, and Privates Charles
NeviU, Tom GiUespie, Nick Donley, Jim Trout,
Henry Maltimore, Kit Maltimore, Jack Martin,
W. T. Clements, Ed Seiker, Andy WUson, J. W.
BeU, Norman Rodgers, Dock Long, Tom Mead,
Frank Hill, and Jim GiUett were the lucky ones to
be retained in the command. The remainder of
the company was thereupon discharged. My rehef
may be imagined when my name was read out, for
I had learned to love the ranger life and was loth
to quit it.
After reduction we went into winter camp in a
bend of the San Saba River about three miles east
of MenardviUe. In the river bottom was plenty of
good timber, so each mess of five men biult a log
cabin, sixteen to eighteen feet square, for their
occupancy. These cabins, each with a chimney and
a fireplace, formed the western side of our horse
corral and made most comfortable winter abodes.
During the winter the boys played many tricks
upon each other, for there were no Indian raids
during the time we were in this winter camp. One
of the favorite stunts was to extract the buUet from
a cartridge, take out the powder and wrap it in a
rag, and then, while the inmates of a given cabin
would be quietiy smoking or reading or talking
around their fire, chmb upon the roof and drop the
82

MAJOR JONES AND HIS ESCORT
rag down the chimney. "When the powder exploded
in the fire the surprised rangers would faU back
ward off their benches, — to the huge glee of the
prank player. At other times a couple of rangers
would post themselves outside a neighbor's cabin
and begin to yeU, "Fire! Fire!!" at the top of their
lungs. If the cabin owners did not stand in the
doorway to protect it aU the rangers in camp would
rush up and throw bedding, cooking utensUs, sad
dles and bridles, guns and pistols outside as quickly
as they could. In a jiffy the cabin would be cleaned
out and the victims of the joke would have to lug
aU their belongings back in again.
But not aU our time was spent in practical joking.
There were many rangers of a studious mind, and
during the long winter evenings they pored over
their books. Several of our boys, by their study
here and at other leisure hours, qualified themselves
for doctors, lawyers, and professional calhngs. And
there were several writers in camp that contributed
more or less regularly to the magazines and news
papers. One of the rangers, Nick Donley, was a baker by
trade, and he soon built a Dutch oven and made
bread for the rangers. We pooled our flour and
had fresh, warm bread every morning. This was
so good and we ate so much of it that our aUow-
83

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
ance of flour would not last for the period issued,
and Captain Roberts was compelled to order the
bake oven torn down. Thereafter the boys baked
their own bread and the flour lasted.
Some of the rangers had captured young bear
cubs, and we had them in camp with us as pets.
They grew rapidly and were soon big feUows and
immensely popular with the boys. Sometimes a
bear would break loose from its chain, and then
aU of us would turn out to hunt the escaped pet.
Most often we would soon find him seated in a tree
which he had chmbed as soon as he had broken
his shackles. And I cannot here forbear mention
ing the useful httle pack mules that served the
rangers so long and so well. When the battahon
was formed in 1874 a number of httle bronco mules
were secured for packing. They soon learned what
was expected of them and followed the rangers hke
dogs. Carrying a weight of one hundred and fifty
to two hundred pounds, they would foUow a scout
of rangers on the dead run right into the midst of
the hottest fight with Indians or desperadoes. They
seemed to take as much interest in such an engage
ment as the rangers themselves.
These httle pack animals had as much curiosity
as a child or a pet coon. In travehng along a road
they sometimes met a bunch of horses or several
84

MAJOR JONES AND HIS ESCORT.
campers along the highway. Immediately they
would run over for a brief visit with the strangers
and when the rangers had gone on a thousand yards
or more would scamper up to us as fast as they
could run. Later, when the rangers drew in from
the frontier and scouted in a more thickly settied
country the mules with their packs would march
right up to strange horses and frighten them out
of their wits. Once, in Austin, one of our mules
cahnly trotted up to a mule that was puUing a street
car. As the pack burro would not give right of
way the street car mule shied to one side and puUed
its conveyance completely off the track to the sur
prise of its driver. The tiny animals puUed off
several stunts like this and caused so much com
plaint that Adjutant-General Jones issued an order
for aU rangers to catch and lead their pack mules
when passing through a town.
As soon as we were located in the new camp. Pri
vates NeviU, BeU and Seiker obtained permission
from Captain Roberts to visit Austin to buy a case
of ten Winchesters. Up to this time the company
was armed with a .50 cahber Sharps carbine. These
guns would heat easUy and thus were very inaccu
rate shooters. The state furnished this weapon to
its rangers at a cost of $17.50, and at that time fur
nished no other class of gun. The new center fire
85

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
1873 model Winchester had just appeared on the
market and sold at $50 for the rifle and $40 for the
carbine. A ranger who wanted a Winchester had
to pay for it out of his own pocket and supply his
own ammunition as well, for the State of Texas
only furnished cartridges for the Sharps gun. How
ever, ten men in Company "D," myself included,
were wilhng to pay the price to have a superior
arm. I got carbine number 13,401, and for the
next six years of my ranger career I never used
any other weapon. I have kiUed almost every kind
of game that is found in Texas, from the biggest
old bull buffalo to a fox squirrel with this httle
.44 Winchester. Today I stiU preserve it as a prized
memento of the past.
The boys were aU anxious to try their new guns,
and as Christmas approached we decided to have a
real Yule-tide dinner. Ed Seiker and myseK visited
a big turkey roost on the head of Elm Creek and
kiUed seven big wild turkeys, and on our return
Seiker bagged a fine buck deer, J. W. BeU hunted
on the San Saba and brought in six or eight wild
geese and about a dozen maUard ducks. Donley,
the baker, cooked up the pies, while Mrs. Roberts,
wife of the captain, furnished the fruit-cake. Some
of the boys made egg-nog, and altogether we had
the finest Christmas dinner that ever graced the
86

MAJOR JONES AND HIS ESCORT
boards of a ranger camp. The httle frontier vil
lage of MenardviUe was not far avv-ay, and most
of the rangers visited it during Christmas week
for the dancing. Jack Martin once remarked to
Mrs. Roberts that there was very httle society about
a ranger camp. She told the joke on him and there
after as long as he hved he was known as "Society
Jack." During the winter we laid out a race course and
had much sport with our horses. But there was
work as weU as play that winter. Though Captain
Roberts kept scouts in tiie field during the entire
winter they never discovered any Indian trails. The
rangers had not yet turned their attention to out
laws, so we were not burdened with chained pris
oners as we were in after years. This vrinter camp
on the San Saba was the most pleasant time in my
service with the rangers.
The first week in April, 1876, we moved out of
our vsdnter quarters to a camp some six or seven
miles above MenardviUe and located in a pecan
grove on the banks of the San Saba. We were aU
glad to get into our tents again after four months
spent in log cabins. I remember our first night at
the new camp. The boys set out some hooks and
caught four or five big yeUow catfish weighing

87

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
twenty-five or thirty pounds each — enough fish to
last the twenty men several days.
As the spring opened. Captain Roberts began
sending out scouts to cut signs for Indians. I re
member I was detailed on a scout that was com
manded by a non-commissioned officer. We were
ordered to scout as far north as the union of the
Concho and Colorado Rivers. After crossing the
Brady Mountains we struck a trail of Indians going
out. The redskins had probably been raiding in
San Saba or McCulloch Counties. Their traU led
west as straight to San Angelo as a bird could fly.
Though the Indians were not numerous and had
only a few horses, the trail was easily foUowed, As
weU as we could judge the redskins had passed on
a few days before we discovered their sign. We
found where'^ they had stolen some horses, for we
picked up several pairs of hobbles that had been
cut in two and left where they got the horses. At
that time there were several big cattie ranches in
the Fort Concho country, and in going to and from
water the cattle entirely obhterated the trail. We
worked hard two days trying to find it and then
gave up the hunt. We needed the genius of Cap
tain Roberts to help us out that time.
On June 1, 1876, the company was increased to
forty men. Some of the boys that had quit at
88

MAJOR JONES AND HIS ESCORT
Mason the faU before now re-entered the service.
Especially do I remember that "Mage" Reynolds
enhsted with Company "D" once more.
During the summer of 1876, Major Jones planned
a big scout out on the Pecos to strike the Lipans
and Kickapoos a blow before they began raiding
the white settlements. This scout started from
Company "D" in July. The major drafted about
twenty men from my company, his whole escort
Company "A" of thirty men and marched into Kerr
County. Here he drafted part of Captain ColdweU's
Company "F," making his force total about seventy
men with three wagons and about twenty pack
mules. The column traveled down the Nueces, then by
Fort Clark up the Devil's River to Beaver Lake.
Here Captain Ira Long with twenty men and the
wagon train was sent up the San Antonio and El
Paso road to old Fort Lancaster on the Pecos,
where he was to await the arrival of Major Jones
with the main force.
From Beaver Lake, the major with fifty men and
the twenty pack mules turned southwest and trav
eled down Johnston's Run to the Shafer Crossing
on the Pecos. From this crossing we scouted up
the Pecos to the mouth of Independence Creek. The
country through this section was very rough but
89

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
very beautiful. We saw several old abandoned In
dian camps, especially at the mouth of the creek.
Here we found the pits and the scaffolds upon which
the redskins had dried their meat, also evidence
that many deer hide had been dressed and made
into buckskin. Bows and arrows had also been
manufactured in these camps. From this section
the Indians had been gone probably a month or
more. After ten days of scouting we joined Captain Long
at Fort Lancaster and marched up Live Oak Creek
to its head. Here we prepared to cross that big
stretch of table land between the Pecos and the
head waters of the South Concho. We filled what
barrels we had with water, topped out from the
creek — and made about ten miles into the plains
by night and made a dry camp. We got an early
start next day and traveled until night without find
ing water. The stock suffered greatty from thirst
and the men had only a little water in their can
teens. All the land ponds had been dry two weeks
or more, and I saw twelve head of buffalo that had
bogged and died in one of them. Here we found
an old abandoned Indian camp, where the redskins
had dressed many antelope hides. At one old bent
mesquite tree the antelope hair was a foot deep,
with thirty or forty skulls scattered about.
90

MAJOR JONES AND HIS ESCORT
By the second morning both men and horses were
suffering a great deal from thirst, and Major Jones
gave orders to begin march at 4 a. m. We got away
on time and reached water on the South Concho
at 2 p. m., the third day out from Live Oak Creek.
As soon as we got near the water we found a num
ber of stragghng buffalo, and killed two, thus se
curing a supply of fresh meat. We camped two
days at this water and then marched back to Com
pany "D" by easy stages. Here Major Jones turned
back up the hne with his escort after being out on
this scout about a month.
On his return toward the Rio Grande, Major Jones
reached Company "D" the last week in August and
camped with us untU September 1st, the end of the
fiscal year for the rangers. On this date many
men would quit service to retire to private hfe,
whUe some would join other companies and new
recruits be sworn into the service. This reorgani
zation usuaUy required, two or three days.
Nearly every ranger in the battahon was anxious
to be at some time a member of Major Jones'
escort company. The escort company was not as
signed a stationary post nor did it endeavor to cover
a given strip of territory. Its most important duty
was to escort the major on his periodic journeys of
inspection to the other companies along the hne.
91

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
The escort always wintered in the south and made
about four yearly tours of the frontier from com
pany to company, taking part in such scouts as the
major might select and being assigned to such
extraordinary duty as might arise. In 1874, when
the Frontier Battahon was first formed. Major Jones
recruited his escort from a detail of five men from
each of the other companies. However, in practice,
this led to some confusion and envy in the com
mands, so Major Jones found it expedient to have
a regular escort company, so he selected Company
"A" for that purpose. This remained his escort
until he was promoted to Adjutant-General.
In September, 1876, there were several vacancies
in Major Jones' escort, and several old Company
"D" boys, among them "Mage" Reynolds, Charles
NeviU, Jack Martin, Bill Clements, and Tom Gil
lespie, wished to enhst in Company "A." They
wanted me to go with them, but I hesitated to leave
Captain Roberts. My friends then explained that
we could see a lot more country on the escort than
we could in a stationary company; that we would
probably be stationed down on the Rio Grande that
winter, and going up the line in the spring would
see thousands of buffalo. This buffalo proposition
caught me, and I went with the boys. After fifteen

92

MAJOR JONES AND HIS ESCORT
months' ranging with Captain Roberts I now joined
Company "A,"
Early in September Major Jones marched his
escort down to within five or six miles of San
Antonio and camped us on the Salado whUe he
went in to Austin, By the first of October he was
back in camp and started up the hne on his last
visit to the different companies before winter set in.
At that time Major John B, Jones was a small
man, probably not more than five feet seven inches
taU and weighed about one hundred and twenty-
five pounds. He had very dark hair and eyes and
a heavy dark moustache. He was quick in action,
though small in stature, and was an excellent horse
man, riding very erect in the saddle.
The major was bom in Fairfield District, South
Carohna, in 1834, but emigrated to Texas vrith his
father when he was only four years old. He was
prominent in Texas state affairs from a very early
age and served gaUantly with the Confederate Army
during the Civil War. On the accession of Gov
ernor Coke in 1874 he was appointed to command
the Frontier Battahon of six companies of Texas
Rangers. From his appointment until his death in
Austin in 1881, Major Jones was constantly engaged
in repulsing bloody raids of Indians, rounding up
ouflaws and making Texas secure and safe for the
93

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
industrious and peaceful citizen. In this work his
wonderful tact, judgment, coolness and courage
found ample scope.
From the organization of the battahon in 1874
until Major Jones was made Adjutant-General, Dr.
Nicholson was always with him. The doctor was
a quaint old bachelor who loved his toddy. The
boys would sometimes get him as full as a goose,
and the major would give the doctor some vicious
looks at such times. Dr. Nicholson was a great
favorite with all the men, and it is said he knew
every good place for buttermilk, butter, milk, and
eggs from Rio Grande City to Red River, a trifling
distance of eight hundred miles. The doctor always
messed with Major Jones, and, mounted on a fine
horse, traveled by his side. I don't think Dr. Nich
olson ever issued a handful of piUs to the boys dur
ing the year — ^he was just with us in case he was
needed. "When the escort was disbanded he retired
to private hfe at Del Rio, Texas, and finaUy died
there. This inspection tour was a wonderful experience
for me. The weather was cool and bracing, and
the horses had had a month's rest. We had with
us a quartet of musicians, among them a viohnist,
a guitar player and a banjo picker, and after the
day's march the players would often gather around
94

MAJOR JONES AND HIS ESCORT
the camp fire and give us a concert. The major
would frequentiy walk down and hsten to the music.
Nor was music our only amusement. Major Jones
had provided his escort with a fish seine, and when
we were camped on a big creek or river the boys
would unroU the net, make a haul and sometimes
catch enough fish to supply the thirty men several
days. "When recruited to its fuU strength Company
"A" consisted of a captain, orderly sergeant, second
sergeant, first and second corporals, and twenty-six
privates. Two four-mule wagons hauled the camp
equipage, rations for the men and grain for the
horses. One hght wagon drawn by two mules and
driven by George, the negro cook, carried the mess
outfit, bedding, tent, etc., of Major Jones and Dr.
Nicholson. Each morning at roll caU the orderly sergeant
detailed a guard of nine men and one non-commis
sioned officer to guard for twenty-four hours.
When ready to begin our day's journey the com
pany was formed in hne and the men counted off
by fours. On the march Major Jones and Dr. Nich
olson rode in front, foUowed by the captain of the
company, the orderly sergeant and the men in
double file. FoUowing these came the wagons. An
advance guard of two men preceded the column
95

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
about one-half mile. Four men, known as flankers,
two on each side of the company, paralleled the
column at a distance of one-half to one mile, de
pending on the nature of the country. In a rough,
wooded section the flankers traveled close in, but
in an open country they sometimes spread out quite
a distance. The non-commissioned officer with the
remaining guard covered the rear and brought up
the pack mules. Thus protected it was almost ira-r
possible for the command to be surprised by In
dians. At one time Major Jones had with him two Ton-
kawa Indians as guides. For protection this tribe
hved near Fort Griffin, a large mihtary post. One
of these old braves known as Jim had been given
an old worn out army coat with the shoulder straps
of a general upon it. Jim wore this coat tightiy
buttoned up and marched at the head of the column
with as much dignity and importance as a general-
in-chief. His companion wore a high crowned
beaver stove-pipe hat with the top gone, and car
ried an old umbrella that someone had given him.
Fitted out in this ridiculous and unique manner he
marched for days with the umbreUa over him.
Think of an Indian shading himself from the sun!
Major Jones never paid much attention to these
Indians unless he wished to inquire the lay of the
96

MAJOR JONES AND HIS ESCORT
country or the distance to some water hole. They
did pretty much as they pleased, sometimes riding
in front with the major, sometimes with the guard
and at others with the men. These old redskins
v> ere a constant source of amusement to the boys.
Jim and his pal were good hunters but as lazy as
could be. They got into the habit of killing a buf
falo late in the evening when they knew it was
almost time to pitch camp, cutting out just enough
meat for themselves and letting the remainder
go to waste. The major told these lazy-bones when
they kiUed a buffalo he wanted to know of it so
he could secure the meat for the company. The
Tonks paid no attention to this request and late
one evening came into camp with five or six pounds
of buffalo meat.
The orderly sergeant spied them, so he walked
over to Major Jones and said, "Major, those two
old Tonkawas are back in camp with just enough
meat for themselves."
"Sergeant, you get a pack mule, take a file of
men with you and make those Indians saddle their
horses and go \sith you to get that buffalo," the
major commanded, determined that his order
should be obeyed by the Indians.
The sergeant went to the Indians, who were busy
about the fire roasting their meat, and told them
97

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
what the major had said. Jim declared that he
was tired and did not wish to go. The non-com
missioned officer rephed that that made no differ
ence and commanded him and his pal to get their
ponies and lead the way to the dead buffalo.
"Maybe so ten miles to buffalo," protested Jim,
trying to avoid going.
The sergeant knew they were lying, for of all the
Indians that ever inhabited Texas the Tonkawas
were the biggest cowards. Just mention the Co
manches or Kiowas to them and they would have
a chiU. It was well known that the Tonks would
not venture very far away from the protection of
the rangers for fear of being kiUed by their enemies.
As soon as they knew they had to do as ordered,
they mounted their ponies and led the sergeant
over a httle hiU, and in a valley not more than half
a mile from camp, was the fine, fat buffalo the
Indians had kiUed. The animal was soon skinned
and brought into camp, where aU had plenty of
fresh meat.
These Tonks were as simple as children and as
suspicious as negroes. The weather had been hot
and dry for several days. Old Jim thereupon kiUed
some hawks with his bow and arrows, plaited the
long tail and wing feathers into his pony's mane
and tail, and said it would make "heap rain." Sure
98

MAJOR JONES AND HIS ESCORT
enough, in three or four days a hard thunder shower
came up and thoroughly wet everybody on the
march. Jim, with only his old officer's coat for
protection, was drenched to the skin, and his pony
looked like a drowned rat. The wood, grass, every
thing was wet. Jim stood by, shivering with
the cold and watched the boys use up almost their
last match trying to make a fire. Suddenly, with
a look of disgust, he ran up to his horse, which was
standing near, and plucked every hawk feather out
of the animal's taU and mane and, throwing them
on the ground, stamped upon them violentiy as if
that would stop the rain.
After the escort had crossed the Colorado River
on its way northward we found an advance guard
of buffalo on its way south, and it was an easy
matter to keep the company in fresh meat. We
spent about one week with Company "B" on the
upper Brazos, then turned south again to make our
winter camp near Old Frio Town in Frio County.
It was November now and freezing hard every
night. The last guard would caU the camp early, so we
generaUy had breakfast and were ready to move
southward by dayhght. We did not stop a single
time for dinner on this return trip, just traveled at
a steady gait aU day long without dinner untU
99

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
nearly night. We all wondered why we marched
the hve-long day without dinner, but it was not
until many years afterward when I became a Mason
that I learned the reason for our forced marches.
Major Jones was in hne to be made Most Worship
ful Grand Master of Masons in Texas and he had to
be in Houston on the first Tuesday in December for
the annual meeting of the Most Worshipful Grand
Lodge of Texas. If there were other Masons in
the company besides Major Jones I never knew it.
At this time we had for commander of the escort.
Lieutenant Benton. He was in bad health and rode
most of the way back in one of the wagons. On
arriving at the end of the hne he tendered his resig
nation and was succeeded by Captain Neal Cold-
well. The company camped for the winter on Elm
Creek, three miles southwest of Old Frio Town.
Captain Neal Coldwell was born in Dade County,
Missouri, in May, 1844, and served gaUantly
throughout the Civil War in the Thirty-second Reg
iment, Texas Cavalry, commanded by Col. W. P.
Woods. At the organization of the Frontier Bat
tahon in 1874, Neal Coldwell was commissioned
captain of Company "F."
It is difficult, in a single sketch, to do Captain
ColdweU justice or convey any correct idea of what
he accomphshed as a Texas Ranger. The station
100

MAJOR JONES AND HIS ESCORT
of Company "F," the southernmost company of the
hne, was the most unfavorable that could weU be
given him. His scouting grounds were the head
of the Guadalupe, Nueces, Llanos, and DevU's
Rivers — the roughest and most difficult part of
South Texas in which to pursue Indians, yet he held
them in check and finaUy drove them out of that
part of the state.

101

CHAPTER VII
THE HORRELL-HIGGINS FEUD
By the end of the year 1876 the Indians had been
pretty weU pushed back off the frontier, so that
there were very few fights with the redskins after
1877. From the spring of 1877 onward the rangers
were transformed into what might properly be
called mounted state pohce, and accordingly turned
their attention to ridding the frontier of the outlaws
that infested nearly every part of Texas. During
the winter of 1876-77 Captain Neal ColdweU broke
up a band of thieves that was operating in the north
western part of Atascosa County. I remember
helping him capture a man named Wolf. He was
wanted for murder, and we made several scouts
after him before we succeeded in landing him safely
in irons.
In April, 1877, Major Jones reached ColdweU's
company and at once made arrangements to march
up the hne on a visit of inspection. When the
major reached the headwaters of the South Llano
River he halted his escort and detailed several small
scouting parties of five or six men, each with or
ders to arrest every man that coiUd not give a good
account of himself. One scout was sent down the
102

c::>^P~^c^ ^u^cL^^r^JU^

THE HORRELL-HIGGINS FEUD
South Llano, a second down Johnson's Fork, while
a third was ordered over the divide with instruc
tions to hit the head of the North Llano and sweep
down that river, — all three parties to rejoin Major
Jones and the main escort near where Junction
City now stands. In these outlaw raids some fifty
or sixty men were arrested and brought in. Many
of the suspects were released upon examination,
but I remember one scout brought in two escaped
convicts who had been captured up on Copperas
Creek. We bagged several men wanted for mur
der and some horse and cattie thieves. Old Kimble
County never had such a clean-up of bandits in her
history. While these prisoners were being held in camp
other scouts were sent out in the northern part of
the county with orders to sweep Bear Creek, Gen
try, Red Creek, Big and Little Sahne, to cross the
San Saba River in Menard County and sweep up
that stream from old Peg Leg Station to Menard,
Many more suspects were caught in this haul.
With a party of scouts I was detaUed on a mis
sion to Fort McKavett, at that time one of the big
mihtary posts on the frontier. Many hard char
acters and gamblers gathered about these posts to
fleece the soldiers out of their easy-made money.
We made several arrests here, and camped for noon
103

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
one mile below the government post on the San
Saba River, During the dinner hour my horse, a
gray, in lying down to wallow, roUed on some
broken beer bottles and cut his back so badly that
he was unfit for use for some time. When the
escort moved north I was left with old Company
"D" until the return of Company "A" on its return
march some six weeks later, I thereby missed
some of the exciting scouts that took place on the
march north,
"When Major Jones reached Coleman City he
found orders from Governor Coke to send a scout
of rangers to Lampasas County to help the civil
authorities suppress a war known as the HorreU-
Higgins feud. Second Sergeant N. 0. Reynolds was
detached from Company "A" and with ten men
ordered to proceed to Lampasas and report to the
sheriff of that county.
After leaving Coleman, Major Jones visited the
northernmost ranger company and began his re
turn march. This was to be his last trip with his
escort, for immediately upon Ms return to Austin
he was commissioned Adjutant-General of Texas,
As there was no longer a major of the battahon,
there was no need of an escort, so old Company
"A" took its place on the hne as a stationary com
pany. Captain Neal Coldwell was ultimately made
104

THE HORRELL-HIGGINS FELT)
quartermaster of the battahon, and I beheve ranked
as major,
I was picked up at Company "D" by the escort
on their return march and was with Company "A"
when it was made a stationary command and
located in Frio County.
In the latter part of 1877 — during the late sum
mer — a. party of filibusters under command of a
Mexican general named Winkler assembled in Mav
erick County, near Eagle Pass, and prepared to in
vade Mexico. Captain ColdweU, then commanding
Company "A," was ordered to the Rio Grande to
break up the expedition. This he did by arresting
more than fifty participants, I was with him on
this expedition and saw much border service dur
ing this summer.
I remember a scout I was caUed upon to make
with Captain ColdweU over in Bandera County,
The captain took with him John Parker, Hawk
Roberts, and myself. In one week's time we caught
some ten or twelve fugitives from justice and ht
eraUy fiUed the httie old jaU at Bandera. Captain
ColdweU detaUed Hawk Roberts and myself to cap
ture an especiaUy bad man wanted in Burnet
County for murder. The captain warned us to take
no chances with this man — that meant to kill him
if he hesitated about surrendering. I can't remem-
105

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
her this murderer's name at this late date, but I
recaU perfectly the details of his capture. Sheriff
Jack Hamilton of Bandera County sent a guide to
show us where this fugitive hved. The guide led
us some fifteen miles northwest of Bandera and
finaUy pointed out the house in which the murderer
was supposed to be. He then refused to go any
farther, saying he did not want any of this man's
game, for the feUow had just stood off a deputy
sheriff and made him hike it back to Bandera.
It was almost night when we reached the house,
so Roberts and I decided to wait until morning be
fore attempting the arrest. We staked our horses,
lay down on our saddle blankets without supper,
and slept soundly tiU dawn. As soon as it was day
hght we rode over near the house, dismounted,
slipped up, and, unannounced, stepped right inside
the room. The man we wanted was sleeping on a
paUet with a big white-handled .45 near his head.
Hawk Roberts kicked the pistol out of the man's
reach. The noise awakened the sleeper and he
opened his eyes to find himself looking into the
business ends of two Winchesters held within a foot
of his head. Of course he surrendered without
fight. His wife, who was sleeping in a bed in the
same room, jumped out of it and heaped aU kinds
of abuse on us for entering her home without cere-
106

THE HORRELL-HIGGINS FEUD
mony. She was especiaUy bitter against Sheriff
HamUton, who, she said, had promised to notify
her husband when he was wanted so he could come
in and give himself up. She indignantiy advised
her husband to give old Sheriff HamUton a d — d
good whipping the first chance he had.
"WMle Company "A" was rounding up outlaws
along the border. Sergeant Reynolds was covering
himself with glory in the north. Upon reaching
Lampasas and reporting to the sheriff as ordered
by Major Jones, the sergeant was told that the
HorreU boys were hving on the Sulphur Fork of
the Lampasas River and were defying the authori
ties to arrest them.
The Horrells were native Texans and had been
raised on the frontier. These brothers, of which
five were involved in the feud (the sixth, John
HorreU, had been kiUed at Las Cruces, New Mexico,
previously) were expert riders, and, having grown
up with firearms in their hands, were as quick as
chained hghtning with either Winchester or pistol.
Sam HorreU, the eldest, was married and had a
large famUy of chUdren. He was a farmer and
hved a quiet hfe over on the Lampasas River. The
other four boys. Mart, Tom, Merritt, and Ben, were
aU cattlemen. They stood weU in the community,
but were considered dangerous when aroused.
107

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
At this time Lampasas was a frontier town and
wide open as far as saloons and gambling were con
cerned. The Horrells, like most cattlemen of the
period, loved to congregate in town, go to the sa
loons and have a good time, perhaps drink too
much and sometimes at night shoot up the town
for fun, as they termed it. Some of the more pious
and more settled citizens of the town did not ap
prove of these night brawls, and called upon Gov
ernor Edmund J. Davis, Provisional Governor in
1873, to give them protection. Governor Davis had
formed in Texas a State Pohce. Naturally they
were rank Repubhcans, and many of them were
termed carpetbaggers. This body was never pop
ular in Texas, especially as many of the force were
negroes. In answer to the call of the citizens. Governor
Davis dispatched Captain Wilhams with three white
men and one negro to Lampasas. On the way up
Captain Williams met several freighters going to
Austin and stopped one of them, Tedford Bean, to
ask the distance to Lampasas. The captain had
been drinking, and he told Mr. Bean he was going
to town to clean up those damn HorreU boys.
The httle squad of pohce reached Lampasas about
3 p, m., hitched its horses to some hve oak trees
on the pubhc plaza, left the negro to guard them,
108

THE HORRELL-HIGGINS FEUD
and then made a bee hne to Jerry Scott's saloon
on the west side of the square. Mart, Tom, and
Merritt HorreU, with some ten or fifteen cow men,
were in the saloon drinking, playing bUhards and
having a good time generaUy. One man was pick
ing a banjo and another plajdng a fiddle. Captain
Wilhams, an exceedingly brave but uuAvise man,
took in the situation at a glance as he walked up
to the bar and caUed for drinks.
He turned to BiU Bowen, a brother-in-law to
Merritt HorreU, and said, "I beheve you have a six-
shooter. I arrest you,"
"BiU, you have done nothing and need not be
arrested if you don't want to," interrupted Mart
HorreU, Like a flash of hghtning Captain WiUiams puUed
his pistol and fired on Mart HorreU, wounding him
badly. The HorreU boys drew their guns and be
gan to fight. Captain WiUiams and one of his men.
Dr. Daniels, were shot down in the saloon. Wilham
Cherry was kiUed just outside the door, and Andrew
MelviUe was fataUy wounded as he was trying to
escape. He reached the old Huhng Hotel, where
he died later. At the first crack of a pistol the
negro pohce mounted his horse and made a John
Gilpin ride for Austin. Thus, within the twinkhng

109

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
of an eye, four state pohce were kiUed and only
one of the HorreUs wounded.
Tom and Merritt HorreU carried the wounded
Mart to their mother's home, some two hundred
yards from Scott's saloon, then mounted their
horses and rode away. Great excitement prevailed
in the town. The state mihtia was caUed out, and
Governor Davis hurried other state pohce to Lam
pasas. They scoured the country for the HorreU
boys, but to no avail.
Mart HorreU and Jerry Scott were arrested and
carried to Georgetown, WiUiamson County, and
placed in jail. Mart HorreU's wife went to the jaU
to nurse her husband and, of course, kept her
brothers-in-law informed as to Mart's condition.
As soon as he was well the HorreU boys made up
a party and rode to WiUiamson County and as
saulted the jail at night. The citizens and officers
of Georgetown, taken unawares, put up a stiff fight,
but the Horrells had ten or fifteen weU organized
and armed men with them. They took stations at
all approaches to the jail and kept up a steady fire
with their Winchesters at anyone who showed up
to oppose them. Mr. A. S. Fisher, a prominent
lawyer of the town, took an active hand in the fight
and was badly wounded. Bill Bowen was shghfly
hurt while battering in the jaU door with a sledge
110

THE HORRELL-HIGGINS FEUD
hammer. Mart HorreU and Jerry Scott were hb-
erated and rode off with their rescuers.
By the next evening the Horrells were back on
Lucies Creek. They at once made arrangements to
leave the country and go to New Mexico. They
had gathered about them Bill and Tom Bowen,
John Dixon, Ben Turner, and six or eight other
men as desperate and dangerous as themselves.
They were so formidable that they no longer at
tempted to hide but openly and without hindrance
gathered their cattle, sold the remnant to Cooksey
and Clayton to be dehvered to them in Coleman
County, They even notified the sheriff of Lam
pasas County just what day they would pass with
their herd through RusseU Gap, but they were not
molested. As a cowboy I had worked for Cooksey and Clay
ton, and was with them when they dehvered cattle
to the HorreU boys on Home Creek, Coleman
County. I had dinner in camp with the outlaws
and they made no effort to hide from the authori
ties. I remember they sat about their camps with
Winchesters across their laps.
When all was ready the Horrells moved slowly
out of the country with their families and cattle
and finally reached New Mexico, setthng on the
head of the Hondo River in Lincoln County. They
111

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
had not been at their new home many months be
fore Ben HorreU was shot and kiUed at a fandango
near old Fort Stanton. Ben's brothers at once re
paired to the dance hall and killed eight Mexicans
and one woman.
This brought on a war between the HorreU boys
and the Mexican population along the Hondo River,
and it is said that in the fights that foUowed thirty
or forty Mexicans were killed between Fort Stanton
and Roswell, In one of those pitched battles Ben
Turner was kiUed. Turner was prominent in aU
of the fights staged by the HorreUs, was with them
when Captain Wilhams was kiUed and was one of
the assaulting party on the Georgetown jail. His
death was keenly felt by his companions.
Having now outlawed themselves in New Mexico,
the Horrells could no longer stay in that country.
They turned back to Texas, and next year showed
up at their old haunts in Lampasas County. The
shock of the Civil War was beginning to subside
and the State of Texas was then under civil govern
ment with a Democratic governor in office. The
friends of the Horrells advised them to surrender
to the authorities and be tried for the kilhng of
Captain Wilhams and his men. They were assured
a fair trial by the best citizens of Lampasas County.

112

THE HORRELL-HIGGINS FEUD
Accordingly, the HorreUs gave up, and upon trial
were acquitted of the charges against them.
The Horrells had not long been at ease before
Merritt, the youngest of the brothers, was accused
by Pink Higgins of unlawfuUy handhng his cattle,
ShorUy after^'ard, whUe Merritt was seated un
armed in a chair in the old Jerry Scott saloon. Pink
Higgins stepped to the back door of the place and
shot him to death. Thus Merritt met his death in
the same saloon where four years before he had
been a party to the kilhng of Captain Wilhams. At
this time Mart and Tom HorreU were hving down
on Sulphur Fork of Lampasas River. The news
of their brother's death was quickly carried to them.
They armed themselves and started in a run for
Lampasas, This move had been anticipated by the Pink Hig
gins party. They waylaid the HorreU boys outside
the town and at their first fire kiUed Tom HorreU's
horse and badly wounded Mart, Tom advanced
single handed on the attackers and put them to
flight. He then partly supported and partly car
ried his brother to the home of Mr, Tinnins, a
neighbor, where a doctor was hurried to the
wounded man.
Thus old Lampasas County was again the scene
of war with Mart, Tom and Sam HorreU, BUI and
113

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
Tom Bowen, John Dixon and Bill Crabtree on one
side and Pink Higgins, Bob Mitchell and their
friends on the other. These two factions met in
the town of Lampasas and a furious battle fol
lowed. A man was kiUed on each side and the
population greatiy endangered. Hence the gov
ernor's order to Major Jones to send rangers to
the aid of the officers at Lampasas,
"When Sergeant N. O, Reynolds reported to the
sheriff of Lampasas he was informed that the Hor
reU boys were hving ten miles east of Lampasas
and had ten or twelve desperate men with them,
so that it meant certain death to anyone making
an attempt to capture them,
"But, Mr, Sheriff, I am sent here to effect the
capture of all offenders against the law, and it is
my duty to at least make the attempt," rephed the
brave Reynolds,
"These men have never been arrested," declared
Sheriff Sweet, "and it is my honest opinion they
cannot be."
Reynolds then asked if the sheriff would send a
guide to show him where the HorreUs hved. The
rangers under the intrepid Reynolds left Lampasas
late in the night and finally the guide pointed at a
fhckering hght about a mile off.

114

THE HORRELL-HIGGINS FELT)
"There is where the HorreU boys hve. I am
going back to to\vTi," he said.
"When asked if he would not accompanj- the
rangers to the house, the guide rephed, "No, not
for a million doUars!"
With that he turned his horse and rode away.
Reynolds thought it woiUd be best to wait until
dayhght before attempting the arrest. He planned
to surprise the ouflaws, if such a thing were pos
sible, but if the rangers were discovered and an
engagement came on they were to fight to the last
man. As soon as dawn broke the rangers wended
their way on foot to the HorreU brothers' ranch.
It was a moment of great anxiety as they ap
proached the house, but not a sound was heard,
not a dog barked.
Sergeant Re3molds and his men tiptoed right into
the room in which the HorreUs were sleeping.
Some of the men were on paUets on the floor, whUe
others slept in beds in the one big room. Each
ranger pointed a cocked Winchester at the head
of a sleeper. Reynolds then spoke to Mart HorreU.
At the sound of his voice every man sat up in bed
and found himself looking into the muzzle of a
gun. The sergeant quickly explained that he was
a ranger and had come to arrest them. Mart re
phed they could not surrender, and Tom HorreU
115

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
said it would be better to die fighting than to be
mobbed. This gave Reynolds his cue. He warned the out
laws that if anything was started there would be
a dozen dead men in that house in one minute and
advised them to hsten to what he had to say. He
then guaranteed the Horrells upon his honor that
he would not turn them over to the sheriff to be
put in jail and mobbed, but promised he would
guard them in his camp until they could secure a
preliminary examination and give bond.
"Boys, this seems reasonable," said Mart HorreU,
rising to his feet. "I beheve these rangers can be
rehed upon to protect us. Besides this fight has
been thrust upon us. If we can get a hearing we
can give bond."
They all agreed finally to this proposition of Ser
geant Reynolds and laid down their arms, mounted
their horses and under guard of the rangers were
marched into the town of Lampasas.
The news of the capture of the Horrells spread
like wildfire through the town and county. Hun
dreds of people flocked to Lampasas to see Ser
geant Reynolds, the man that had accomphshed the
impossible in rounding up the most desperate band
of men that ever lived. The news was rushed to
Austin, and General Jones himself hurried to the
116

THE HORRELL-HIGGINS FEUD
scene. This act of Sergeant Reynolds covered him
with glory and brought to his name imperishable
renown. He was at once commissioned First Lieu
tenant, commanding Company "E,"
The HorreU boys were admitted to bond after a
prehminary hearing. After their release Mart Hor
reU came to Lieutenant Reynolds and feehngly
thanked him for carrying out his promise. With
tears streaming down his face he grasped the heu-
tenant's hand and said, "You are undoubtedly the
bravest man in the world today," These unfortu
nate men were later shot to death in the Meridian
jaU, The Higgins and MitcheU parties surrendered
to the authorities. Pink Higgins was tried and ac
quitted of the murder of Merritt HorreU. This
ended the feud, but it started Lieutenant Reynolds
on a new and important phase of his career as a
ranger.

117

CHAPTER VIII
SERVICE WITH REYNOLDS, THE INTREPID
As soon as Sergeant Reynolds was commissioned
first heutenant he was placed in command of Com
pany "E," then stationed in Coleman County, but
immediately ordered to Lampasas. At this time
Captain Sparks resigned the command of Company
"C," and this company was also ordered to report
to Lieutenant Reynolds at the same town. Late in
August the two commands went into camp at Han
cock Springs. Major Jones then authorized Lieu
tenant Reynolds to pick such men as he desired
from these two companies for his own company
and either discharge or transfer the remainder to
other commands. No other officer in the battahon,
I beheve, was ever accorded this privilege.
Lieutenant Reynolds had a week or ten days in
which to make his selection, so he studied the mus
ter rolls of the companies carefuUy, He had ranged
under such great captains as Perry, D. W, Roberts,
Neal Coldwell, and with Major Jones himself. He
knew what quahties were needed in a good ranger
and made his selections accordingly. From old
Company "A" Reynolds selected C. L. NeviU, Tom
Gillespie, Shape Rodgers, Jack Martin, John Gibbs,
118

tf^

^^y\r~Crfd^ .^...^^4.

SERVICE WITH RE^'NOLDS, THE INTREPID
W, T. Clements, and four others whose names I do
not now remember. These were the scouts that
had helped him capture the Horrells and naturaUy
were his first choice. From Company "E" came
Dick Ware, who one year later kUled the noted train
robBer, Sam Bass, then served MitcheU County as
its first sheriff for many years, and finaUy became
United States marshal for the Western District of
Texas under President Cleveland's administration.
Henry Thomas, MUler Mourland, George Amett,
and other Company "E" boys were selected. Henry
Maltimore, Ben and Dock Carter, BiU Derrick, Chris
Connor, Henry McGee, Abe Anglin, J. W. Warren,
Dave Ligon, Lowe Hughes, George (Hog) Hughes,
and others were picked from Company "C."
"When he had exhausted the two companies
Reynolds turned to General Jones and said, "There
is a ranger down on the Rio Grande in Neal Cold
weU's company that I want."
'^Who is it?" asked the general.
"Private Jim GiUett."
"You shaU have him," promised General Jones,
"I ^tU send an order to Captain ColdweU tonight
to have GUlett report to you here,"
It was late in the evening when Company "A's"
maU came in from Frio To^ti, but Captain Cold
weU sent for me as soon as General Jones' order
119

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
arrived, and told me that I must leave the company
next morning and report to the Adjutant-General
at Austin, I was nonplussed, for I did not know
what the order meant. Out on the frontier where
we then were operating we seldom read newspapers
or heard what the other companies were doing, so
I did not even know that Reynolds had captured the
HorreU boys and had been commissioned to com
mand Company "E," The following morning I
bade Captain Coldwell and the Company "A" boys
goodbye and started on my long ride to Austin,
As I jogged along I asked myself many hundred
times why I was ordered to report at Austin, and,
boy-hke, it made me nervous and uneasy. It took
me two days to reach San Antonio and three more
to get to Austin. I arrived in the latter town just
at nightfall, but I was at the Adjutant-General's
office as soon as it was opened next morning.
Presently General Jones entered with some of
ficers of the State Mihtia. He shook hands with
me and invited me to be seated, saying he had some
business to attend to for the moment. It was prob
ably an hour before the oflficers left and the general
could turn to me. He very kindly inquired as to
my trip and asked about Captain ColdweU and the
company. He then told me about the arrest of the
HorreU boys and Sergeant Reynolds' commission as
120

SER^TCE "WITH REYNOLDS, THE INTREPID
first heutenant commanding Company "E," vice
Lieutenant Foster resigned. He explained Reynolds
had requested that I be attached to his command,
and ordered me to report to my new commander
in Lampasas without delay.
I excused myself at once and lost no time in get
ting my horse out of the hvery stable and resuming
my 'wa.j. A great load was lifted from my mind,
and I was about as happy as a boy could be. I sang
and whistied aU the way to Liberty HUl, thirty
mUes from Austin. The foUowing day about 2 p. m.
I rode into Reynolds' camp at Hancock Springs.
I attracted some attention as I rode in, for I wore
a big Mexican hat mounted with sUver, a buckskin
jacket fringed from shoulder to elbow with a bunch
of flowers braided in highly colored silk on its back.
On my heels were enormous Mexican spurs. I
never saw a ranger sent to the Rio Grande for the
first time that did not rig himseff out in some such
outlandish attire, only to discard it a few weeks
later, never to wear it again. I was no exception,
and I think every man in camp tried on my hat.
Lieutenant Reynolds selected C. L. NeviU for first
sergeant, Henry W. McGee as second sergeant, and
J. W. Warren and L. W. Conner, first and second
corporals, respectively. On September 1, 1877, the
company was sworn in. The new command was
121

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
the most formidable body of men I had ever seen.
Our commander, Lieutenant Reynolds, was over six
feet tall and weighed probably one hundred and
seventy-five pounds. He was a very handsome man,
a perfect blond, with steel blue eyes and a long,
hght moustache. At that time he was about thirty
years of age, vigorous in mind and body, and had
a massive determination to succeed as a ranger.
His mind was original, bold, profound and quick,
with a wiU that no obstacle could daunt. He was
the best ranger in the world — there was never an
other hke him. The lieutenant was a native of
Missouri, and was always known as "Major" or
"Mage" Reynolds. It was said that Reynolds,
though a mere boy, had served with the Confed
erates in the latter part of the Civil War. He was
one of a party that captured a troop of Federal cav
alry, the major of which was weU supphed with
clothing. The captors, however, were very scantUy
clad and Reynolds appropriated the major's uni
form, hence his nick-name "Mage." In later years
when I had grown more intimate with him and was
probably closer to him than any other I mentioned
this story. He neither affirmed nor denied it, declar
ing he was a Missourian by birth, a bootmaker by
trade, and tiiat his early history could interest no
one. 122

SER^TCE WTTH REYNOLDS, THE INTREPID
First Sergeant NeviU was six feet and one inch
in height and weighed one hundred and eighty-five
pounds. AU the non-commissioned oflficers were at
least six feet taU and buUt in proportion, and many
of the privates were from five feet eleven inches to
six feet in height. I was probably the hghtest man
in the company, being only five feet nine inches and
weighing but one hundred and forty pounds.
When the company's roster was complete Lieu
tenant Reynolds had but twenty-eight men, — Slack
ing two of his fuU complement of thirty. The com
pany was then ordered to Austin, but before being
assigned to its position on the frontier the heuten
ant enhsted John and WiU Bannister, two celebrated
frontiersmen. They were old cowboys, splendid
shots, and weU acquainted with every part of Kim
ble, Menard, Mason, and Kerr Counties, in which
Company "E" was destined to operate. In appear
ance and abihty this company compared favorably
with any thirty rangers ever sent to the Texas fron
tier. Nearly every member of the company had
had more or less experience as an officer, and aU
were exceedingly fine marksmen. Sergeant Henry
McGee had been marshal of Waco and had figured
in several pistol duels in that city, Dave Ligon, the
oldest man in the command, had been a Confederate

123

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
soldier and had served with General Forrest's cav
alry. In the summer of 1877, Lieutenant Armstrong of
Captain Hall's company, assisted by Detective Jack
Duncan of Dallas, Texas, captured the notorious
John Wesley Hardin, It has been said that Texas,
the largest state in the Union, has never produced
a real world's champion at anything. Surely, such
critics overlooked Hardin, the champion desperado
of the world. His hfe is too well known in Texas
for me to go into detail, but, according to his own
story, which I have before me, he killed no fewer
than twenty-seven men, the last being Charley
Webb, deputy sheriff of Brown County, Texas, So
notorious had Hardin become that the State of
Texas offered $4000 reward for his capture, Hardin
had left Texas and at the time of his capture was
in Florida, His captors arrested and overpowered
him while he was sitting in a passenger coach.
In September, 1877, Sheriff Wilson of Comanche
County, in whose jurisdiction Hardin had killed
Webb, came to Austin to convey the prisoner to
Comanche for trial, Wilson requested the governor'
for an escort of rangers. Lieutenant Reynolds'
company, being in Austin at the time, was ordered
to accompany Wilson and protect Hardin from mob

124

SERVICE WITH REYNOLDS, THE INTREPID
violence. This was the first work assigned Com
pany "E" under its new commander.
The day we left Austin between one and two
thousand people gathered about the Travis County
jail to see this notorious desperado. The rangers
v/ere drawn up just outside the jail, and Henry
Thomas and myseff were ordered to enter the prison
and escort Hardin out, HeavUy shackled and hand
cuffed, tiie prisoner walked very slowly between
us. The boy that had sold fish on the streets of
Austin was now guarding the most desperate crim
inal in Texas; it was glory enough for me.
At his trial Hardin was convicted and sentenced
to twenty-five years in the penitentiary. He al-
pealed his case and was returned to Travis County
for safekeeping. The verdict of the trial court was
sustained, and one year later, in September, 1878,
Lieutenant Reynolds' company was ordered to take
Hardin back to Comanche County for sentence.
There was no railroad at Comanche at that time,
so a detachment of rangers, myseff among them,
escorted Hardin to the penitentiary. There were
ten or twelve indictments still pending against him
for murder in various counties, but they were never
prosecuted, Hardin served seventeen years on his sentence,
and while in prison studied law. Governor Hogg
125

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
pardoned him in 1894 and restored him to fuU citi
zenship. In transmitting him the governor's pardon. Judge
W, S, Fly, Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals,
wrote Hardin as follows:
Dear Sir: Enclosed I send you a fuU pardon from
the Governor of Texas, I congratulate you on its
reception and trust that it is the day of dawn of a
bright and peaceful future. There is time to re
trieve a lost past. Turn your back upon it with aU
its suffering and sorrow and fix your eyes upon the
future with the determination to make yourseff an
honorable and useful member of society. The hand
of every true man wiU be extended to assist you in
your upward course, and I trust that the name of
Hardin wiU in the future be associated with the per
formance of deeds that wiU ennoble his family and
be a blessing to humanity.
Did you ever read Victor Hugo's masterpiece,
"Les Miserables"? If not, you ought to read it.
It paints in graphic words the hfe of one who had
tasted the bitterest dregs of hfe's cup, but in his
Christian manhood rose about it, almost hke a god
and left behind him a path luminous with good
deeds. With the best wishes for your welfare and hap
piness, I am. Yours very truly, W. S. Fly,
126

SER^^CE ^TTH REY:N'0LDS, the INTREPID
Despite aU the kind ad^ice given him by eminent
lawyers and citizens, Hardin was unequal to the
task of becoming a useful man. He practiced law
for a time in Gonzales, then drifted away to El Paso,
where he began drinking and gambling. On Au
gust 19, 1895, Hardin was standing at a bar shak
ing dice when John Sehnan, constable of Precinct
No. 1, approached him from behind and, placing a
pistol to the back of Hardin's head, blew his brains
out. Though posing as an officer Selman was him-
seff an outiaw and a murderer of the worst kind.
He kUled Hardin for the notoriety it would bring
him and nothing more.
After dehvering Hardin to the sheriff of Tra\is
County in 1877, Lieutenant Remolds was ordered
to Kimble County for duty. Of aU the counties in
Texas at that time Kimble was the most popular
with outlaws and criminals, for it was situated south
of Menard County on the North and South Llano
Rivers, with cedar, pecan and mesquite timber in
which to hide, whUe the streams and mountains
furnished abundance of fish and game for sub
sistence. Up on the South Llano hved old Jimmie Dublin.
He had a large family of chUdren, most of them
grown. The eldest of his boys, Dick, or Richard,
as he was knoT^ii, and a friend. Ace Lankf ord, kiUed
127

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
two men at a country store in Lankford's Cove,
CoryeU County, Texas. The state offered $500 for
the arrest of Dublin and the County of Coryell an
additional $200. To escape capture Dick and his
companion fled west into Kimble County. While
I was working as cowboy with Joe Franks in the
fall of 1873 I became acquainted with the two mur
derers, for they attached themselves to our outfit.
They were always armed and constantly on the
watchout for fear of arrest. Dubhn was a large
man, stout, dark complected, and looked more hke
the bully of a prize ring than the cowman he was.
I often heard him say he would never surrender.
While cow hunting with us he discovered that the
naturally brushy and tangled county of Kimble
would offer shelter for such as he, and persuaded
his father to move out into that county.
Dublin had not hved long in Kimble County be
fore another son, DeU Dubhn, killed Jim Williams,
a neighbor. Thus two of the Dubhn boys were on
the dodge charged with murder. They were sup
posed to be hiding near their father's home. Bill
Allison, Starke Reynolds and a number of bandits,
horse and cattle thieves and murderers, were known
to be in Kimble County, so Lieutenant Reynolds v/as
sent with his company to clean them up.
It was late in October, 1877, before the company
128

SER^TCE V^TTH REY^NOLDS, THE INTREPID
reached its destination and camped on the North
Llano River below the mouth of Bear Creek. As
soon as our horses had rested and camp was fuUy
established for the winter we began scouting. Sev
eral men vranted on minor charges were captured.
We then raided Luke Stone's ranch, which was
about ten miles from our camp, and captured DeU
Dublin. He was fearfuUy angry when he found
escape impossible. He tore his shirt bosom open
and dared the rangers to shoot him. ^TiUe he was
being disarmed his elder brother, Dick, rode out of
the brush and came within gun shot of the ranch
before he discovered the presence of the rangers.
He turned his horse quickly and made his escape,
though the rangers pursued him some distance.
"^Tien Dick learned that the Banister boys and my
self were w-ith Lieutenant Reynolds' company and
hot on his traU he declared he would whip us with
a quirt as a man would a dog if he ever came upon
us, for he remembered us as beardless boys with
the Joe Franks' cow outfit. Hov.ever, despite his
threat, he never attempted to make it good, but
took very good care to keep out of our way until
the fatal January 18, 1878.
There .vas no jaU in Kimble County, so with a
detachment of rangers I took DeU Dublin and our
other prisoners to Llano County lockup.
129

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
Shortiy afterward Reynolds selected Sergeant Mc
Gee, Tom GiUespie, Dick Harrison, and Tim Mc
Carthy and made a scout into Menard County. He
also had with him his negro cook, George, to drive
his hght wagon. On the return toward Bear Creek
the scout camped for the night at Fort McKavett.
At that time each frontier post had its chihuahua
or scab town, a httle settlement with gambhng haUs,
saloons, etc., to catch the soldiers' doUars. At Fort
McKavett were many discharged soldiers, some of
them negroes from the Tenth Cavalry. These
blacks had associated with white gamblers and lewd
women until they thought themselves the equals of
white men, and became mean and overbearing.
On this particular night these negro ex-soldiers
gave a dance in scab town, and our negro, George,
wanted to go. He was a hght mulatto, almost white,
but weU thought of by aU the boys in the company.
He obtained Lieutenant Reynolds' permission to at
tend the dance, and borrowed Tim McCarthy's pis
tol to carry to it. "When George arrived at the dance
haU the ex-soldiers did not hke his appearance, as
he was alhed with the rangers, whom they despised.
They jumped on George, took his pistol and kicked
him out of the place. The boys were aU in bed
when George returned and told McCarthy that the

130

SERVICE WITH REYNOLDS, THE INTREPID
negroes at the dance hall had taken his pistol from
him. Lieutenant Reynolds was sleeping nearby and
heard what George said. He raised up on his elbow
and ordered Sergeant McGee to go with McCarthy
and George and get the pistol. The negroes saw
McGee coming and, closing the door, defied him to
enter the dance haU.
McGee was cool and careful. He advised the
negroes to return the pistol, but they refused, say
ing they would kill the first white-livered s — o —
b — that attempted to enter the house. The ser
geant then stationed himself at the front door, or
dered McCarthy to guard the back entrance of the
place, and sent George for the heutenant. Reynolds
hurried to the scene, taking with him Tom Gillespie
and Dick Harrison. The heutenant knocked on the
door and told the blacks he was the commander of
the rangers and demanded their surrender. They
rephed with an oath that they would not do so,
Reynolds then ordered the house cleared of women
and gave the negroes just five minutes in which to
surrender. Up to this time the women had been quiet, but
they now began to scream. This probably demor-
ahzed the negro men. One of them poked Mc
Carthy's pistol, muzzle foremost, out of a window.
131

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
"Here, come get your d— n pistol," he said.
McCarthy, a new man in the service, stepped up
and grasped it. The instant the negro felt the
touch of McCarthy's hand on the weapon he puUed
the trigger. The ball pierced McCarthy's body just
above the heart, giving him a mortal wound.
At the crack of the pistol the rangers opened fire
through the doors and windows on the negroes
within the house. Reynolds and his men then
charged the place, and when the smoke of battle
cleared they found four dead negro men and a httle
negro girl that had been killed by accident. Only
one black escaped. He was hidden under a bed,
and as the rangers came in, made a dash to safety
under cover of darkness. McCarthy died the fol
lowing day and was buried near old Fort McKavett.
Negro George fought hke a tiger and won the boys'
praise. A few days afterward the sheriff of Tom Green
County, foUowing the trail of a bunch of stolen
cattle from San Angelo, came into our camp. Lieu
tenant Reynolds sent Sergeant NeviU and a scout
of rangers with the sheriff. The trail led over to
the South Llano, where the cattle were recovered.
While scouting around the herd. Sergeant NeviU
discovered a man riding down the trail toward him.
He and his men secreted themselves and awaited
132

SERVICE WITH REYNOLDS, THE INTREPID
the stranger's approach. It was getting quite dark,
and when the newcomer had ridden almost over
the concealed rangers without noticing their pres
ence they rose up, presented their guns and ordered
him to halt.
"Yes, — ^hke heU!" he exclaimed, and, turning his
horse, dived into a cedar brake. A shower of bul
lets foUowed, but faUed to strike the fugitive. This
was the notorious Dick Dubhn with a $700 reward
on his head.
Sergeant NeviU returned to camp with about
fifty head of burnt cattle, but let the most notorious
criminal in the county escape. Lieutenant Reynolds
was disappointed at this, and said he did not under
stand how four crack rangers could let a man ride
right over them and then get away. He declared
his negro cook could have kiUed Dubhn had he been
in their place. This mortified the boys a great deal.
The latter part of December, 1877, Lieutenant
Reynolds sent a scout out on Little Sahne, Menard
County. On Christmas day this detail had a run
ning fight with four men. John Colhns, the man
who stole a yoke of oxen at Fredericksburg and
drove them up to within two mUes of our camp,
was captured, as was also John Gray, wanted for
murder in one of the eastern counties, Jim Pope

133

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
Mason, charged with the murder of Ranee Moore,
was in this skirmish, but escaped.
One cold morning about the middle of January
Corporal GiUett, with Privates John and Will Ban
ister, Tom GiUespie, Dave Ligon, and Ben Carter,
was ordered on a five days' scout. We saddled our
horses and packed two mules. "When all was ready
I walked over to Lieutenant Reynolds. He was sit
ting on a camp stool before his tent and seemed in
a brown study. I saluted and asked for orders.
"Well, Corporal," he said, after a moment's hesi
tation, "it is a scout after Dick Dubhn again. That
man seems to be a regular Jonah to this company.
He hves only ten miles from here and I have been
awfully disappointed at not being able to effect his
capture. It is a reflection on all of Company 'E.'
There is one thing sure if I can't capture him I will
make life miserable for him. I will keep a scout
in the field after him constantly."
I then asked if he had any instructions as to the
route I should travel,
"No, no," he replied, "I rely too much on your
judgment to hamper you with orders. After you
are once out of sight of camp you know these moun
tains and trails better than I do. Just go and do
your best. If you come in contact with him don't
let him get away," 134

SER\TCE WITH REYNOLDS, THE INTREPID
After riding a half mUe from camp the boys be
gan inquiring where we were going and who we
were after, I told them Dick Dublin, We quit
the road and traveled south from our camp over
to the head of Pack Saddle Creek. Here we turned
down the creek and rounded up the Potter ranch,
but no one was at home, so we passed on into the
cedar brake Tsdthout having been seen.
On the extreme headwaters of South Llano River
some cattiemen had buUt a large stock pen and
were using it to confine wUd cattie. This was far
out beyond any settlement and probably fifty or
sixty mUes from our camp. I thought it possible
that Dick Dubhn might be hanging around the
place, so we traveled through the woods most of
the way to it. Here I found that the cattlemen had
moved. The scout had now been out two days, so we be
gan our return journey. We traveled probably
twenty-five mUes on the third day. On the fourth
day I timed myseff to reach the Potter ranch about
night. Old man Potter, a friend and neighbor of
Dublin's, hved here with two grown sons. It was
known that Dublin frequented the place, and I
hoped to catch him here unawares. About sun-
dowTi we were within a mUe of the ranch. Here
we unsaddled our horses and prepared to round
135

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
up the house. If we met with no success we were
to camp there for the night. I left John Banister
and Ligon to guard camp while Gillespie, Will Ban
ister, and Ben Carter, with myself, approached the
ranch on foot. If I found no one there I intended
to return to our camp unseen and round up the
ranch again the following morning.
We had not traveled far before we discovered a
lone man riding slowly down the trail to the Potter
ranch. We remained hidden and were able to ap
proach within fifty yards of the house without being
seen. We now halted in the bed of a creek for a
short consultation. The one-room cabin had only
a single door, and before it was a smaU wagon.
The Potters cooked out of doors between the house
and the wagon. We could see a horse tied to the
south side of the vehicle, but could not see the camp
fire for the wagon and the horse. To our right and
about twenty-five steps away old man Potter and
one of his sons were unloading some hogs from a
wagon into a pen.
We knew the moment we left the creek bed w/e
would be in fuU view of the Potters and the ranch
house. We decided, then, that we would advance
on the house as fast as we could run and so be in
good position to capture the man who had ridden
into the camp. We rose from the creek running.
136

SERMCE WITH REYNOLDS, THE ENTREPID
Old man Potter discovered us as we came in view
and yeUed, "Run, Dick, run! Here comes the
rangers !"
We then knew the man we wanted was at the
camp. We were so close upon Dubhn that he had
no time to mount his horse or get his gun, so he
made a run for the brush. I was within twenty-
five yards of him when he came from behind the
wagon, running as fast as a big man could. I or
dered him to halt and surrender, but he had heard
that caU too many times and kept going. Holding
my Winchester carbine in my right hand I fired a
shot directiy at him as I ran. In a moment he was
out of sight.
I hurried to the place where he was last seen and
spied him running up a httie raAdne. I stopped,
drew a bead on him, and again ordered him to halt.
As he ran, Dubhn threw his hand back under his
coat as though he were attempting to draw a pistol.
I fired. My buUet struck the fugitive in the smaU
of the back just over the right hip bone and passed
out near his right coUarbone. It kiUed him in-
stantiy. He was bending over as he ran, and this
caused the unusual course of my baU.
The boys, whom I had outrun, now joined me,
and Carter fired two shots at Dubhn after he was
down. I ordered him to desist as the man was
137

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS

*

dead. I examined the body to make sure it was
Dublin, for I knew him intimately, as I had cow
hunted with him before I became a ranger. We
found him unarmed, but he had a belt of cartridges
around his waist. He was so completely surprised
by our sudden appearance he could do nothing but
run. The $700 reward on him could never be col
lected, as it was offered for his arrest and convic
tion. Dubhn's brothers, Role and Dell, swore ven
geance against myself and the Banister boys, but
nothing ever came of the oath.
In the month of February, 1878, Lieutenant
Reynolds started to Austin with five prisoners we
had captured in Kimble and Menard Counties.
They were chained together in pairs, John Ste
phens, the odd man, was shackled by himself. As
guard for these prisoners Reynolds had detailed
Will and John Banister, Dave Ligon, Ben Carter,
Dick Ware, and myself.
On the Junction City and Mason road, some ten
miles east of our camp, was the small ranch of
Starke Reynolds, a fugitive from justice, charged
with horse steahng and assault to kill. Company
"E" had scouted for him in Kimble County and had
rounded up his ranch many times. We knew he
was in the county, but he always managed to escape
us. As we passed this ranch. Lieutenant Reynolds,
138

SERVICE V^TH REYNOLDS, THE INTREPID
Privates Ware, Carter, Ligon, and myseff were
marching in front, with a four-mule wagon foUow
ing us, in which were the chained prisoners. Be
hind it came the Banisters, who were on guard that
day and detaUed to keep a constant watch on the
captive outiaws.
We passed the Starke Reynolds' home about 10
o'clock in the morning, and Lieutenant Reynolds
remarked that it was hardly worth whUe to round
up the house as he had done so many times in the
past without result, but that he would surely hke
to capture the feUow. We had not ridden more
than haff a mUe beyond the ranch when we came
face to face with Starke himseff. He was a smaU
man and riding an exceedingly good brown pony.
We were about four hundred yards apart and dis
covered each other at the same instant. The out
law w as carrying a smaU sack of flour in front of
him. He immediately threw this down, turned his
horse quickly and made a hghtning dash for the
Llano bottoms, some three raUes away.
At that point the Junction City and Mason road
winds along a range of high mountains with the
country sloping downward to the Llano River.
This grade was studded with scrubby hve oak and
mesquite brush not thick enough to hide a man but
sufficiently dense to retard his flight through it.
139

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
We gave chase at once and for a mile and a half
it was the fastest race I ever saw the rangers run.
We were closely bunched the entire distance, with
Lieutenant Reynolds — he was riding a fast race
horse — always slightly in the lead. He finally got
close enough to the fugitive to demand his surren
der. Starke only waved his gun defiantly and re
doubled his speed. Lieutenant Reynolds then drew
his sixshooter and began firing at the outlaw. After
emptying his pistol he began using his Winchester.
The Llano bottoms were now looming right up
in front of us. The race had been fast enough to
run every horse into a big hmber. Carter, Ware,
and Ligon dropped out of the race. Up to this time
I had contented myself by trying to keep up with
Lieutenant Reynolds, for it is always easier to fol
low a man through the brush than to run in the
lead. I had a good grip on my bridle reins and
was trying to steady my pony as best I could, I
now saw that the outlaw was beginning to gain on
us. I ran up beside the heutenant and said, "He
is getting away from us. Must I go after him?"
Lieutenant Reynolds turned and looked at me
with the wildest look on his face that I ever saw.
His hat was gone, his face was badly scratched by
the brush with the blood running down over his
white shirt bosom. 140

SERVICE WITH REYNOLDS, THE INTREPID
"Yes, G — d — n him; stop or kiU him!"
I changed the bridle reins to my left hand, drew
my gun with my right and, digging my spurs deep
into my pony's side, I was out of sight of the heu
tenant in three hundred yards. The fugitive saw
that I was alone and that I was going to overhaul
him. He suddenly brought his pony to a standstiU,
jumped down, took shelter behind the animal and
drew a bead on me with his gun.
"G — d — ^n you, stop, or I'U kill you!" he cried,
I tried to obey his order, but my pony was run
ning down hiU and ran straight at him for twenty-
five yards more before I could stop, I jumped
down from my horse and made ready to fight, but
Starke broke for a thicket on foot. As soon as he
ran out from behind his pony I fired at him. The
buUet must have come rather close to him, for he
turned quickly and took shelter behind his mount
again. As he peeped over his saddle at me I at
tempted to draw a bead on his head, but I was tired,
nervous and unsteady. Before I could shoot Dave
Ligon gaUoped right up to the outiaw, ordered him
to surrender and drop his gun, which Starke did
at once. The boys had heard me shoot and in five
minutes were aU upon the scene.
The captive was searched and ordered to remount
his pony. With one of the boys leading Starke's
141

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
mount we started back to the wagon, nearly three
miles away. As soon as the outlaw was a prisoner
and knew he would not be harmed no matter what
he said, he began a tirade against the rangers. He
declared the whole battahon v.^as a set of d — d
murderers, especiaUy Company "E," and said it
was curbstone talk in Menard, Mason and Kimble
Counties that Lieutenant Reynolds' men would kiU
a man and then yell for him to throw up his hands.
He kept up this running talk until he exhausted
Lieutenant Reynolds' patience. The latter then or
dered Starke to shut up, and declared the speaker
was a d — d har, for Company "E" never killed a
man without first giving him a chance to surrender.
Lieutenant Reynolds then said that with the last old
brier-breaker captured he had accomphshed the
task set him and was now ready to go elsewhere.
As we rode along one of the boys remarked that
my pony was hmping badly.
"I wish his leg would come right off up to his
shoulder," declared Starke in disgust, "It it hadn't
been for him I would have made it to the bottoms
and escaped,"
On approaching the wagon the prisoner Stephens,
a man of some inteUigence and humor, stood up and
called out to Starke, "By G — , old man, they got
you! They rode too many com fed horses and
142

SERVICE WITH REYNOLDS, THE INTREPID
carried too many guns for you. I don't know who
you are, but I'm sorry for you. While they w^ere
chasing you I got down on my knees here in this
wagon and with my face turned up to the skies I
prayed to the Almighty God that you might get
away." Starke was chained to this good-natured har, and
now, for the first time, our prisoner seemed to
reahze his condition. He asked Lieutenant Reynolds
to send word to his family that he had been cap
tured. The heutenant thereupon sent one of the
boys to Starke's home to teU Mrs. Reynolds that
the rangers would camp on Red Creek for dinner,
and if she wished to see her husband we would be
there probably two hours.
Presentiy Starke's old gray-haired father came
to our midday camp. "When he saw his son chained
he burst out crying, saying, "My son, it is not my
fault that you are in this condition. I did my best
to give you good advice and tried to raise you right."
After dinner we resumed our march toward Aus
tin. Starke Reynolds was finaUy turned over to the
sheriff of Tarrant County. He was admitted to baU
and gave bond, but before he came to trial he was
waylaid and kiUed, supposedly by relatives of the
man he had previously attempted to murder.
Early in the spring of 1878 a ranchman hving
143

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
five miles above our camp saw^ a bunch of Indians
on Bear Creek, Kimble County, and at once reported
to Lieutenant Reynolds. The redskins had been
seen late in the evening, and by the time a scout
could be started after them it was almost night.
The heutenant, however, followed the trail until
it entered a cedar brake. It was then too dark to
work farther, so the scout returned to camp to
make arrangements to resume the trail the follow
ing morning. On the march back to camp the
rangers picked up a paint pony with an arrow stick
ing in its hip. The Indians had probably tried to
catch the horse and, faihng to do so, had shot it,
as was their custom.
Just after dark a runner from Junction City came
in and reported a bunch of redskins had been seen
near the town steahng horses. It was a beautiful
moonhght night and a close watch was kept on
our horses. Just at midnight John Banister, an
alert man on guard, noticed that one of our pack
mules hitched at the end of our picket hne was
puUing back on its rope and looking over a brush
fence that enclosed the camp. With Winchester
in hand Banister passed through a gate, walked
slowly down the fence and into some small under
brush near the mule.
Suddenly a man rose to his feet and fired on Ban-
144

SERVICE WTTH REYNOLDS, THE INTREPID
ister at a distance of not more than ten steps, then
broke and ran. Banister at once opened fire on
the Indian. The very first report of a gun brought
every man in camp out of his bed. We could see
the flashes of Banister's gun and went to his aid
in our night clothes and barefooted. I ran down
by the picket line of horses and jumped the fence
where the mule had seen the redskin. By moon
hght I coiUd glimpse the Indian running down the
river bank. I shot at him nine times as he ran,
but without effect. Some two hundred yards be
low our camp was a ford on the Llano and the
fugitive w^as making for it.
Just as soon as the Indian reached the crossing
and plunged into the river, eight or nine of the
rangers that had foUowed Banister on the high
ground were in a position to sheU the swimmer as
he crossed. There were probably a hundred shots
fired at him, but he finaUy disappeared in the brush
on the south side of the river. Investigation of the
place where he crossed showed the timber cut aU
to pieces but, strange to say, not a shot hit the
Indian as far as we ever knew. We found a blanket
where the savage had risen and shot at Banister
and, measuring the ground, found that the ranger
was just twelve short steps from the Indian when
fired upon by the redskin. It was a miracle that
145

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
Banister was not killed; the bullet, a .45 cahber,
buried itself in some sacks of corn in a tent just
back of him.
The next morning we found where ten or twelve
Indians had waited under some large pecan trees
while this scout slipped up to our camp to investi
gate and steal a horse. The trees were about four
hundred yards from camp and on the opposite side
of the river. Some of the rangers jokingly said
those old braves must have thought this lone one
stirred up heU at the ranger camp.
On account of the range cattle and horses along
the Llano River, Lieutenant Reynolds lost some
eight or ten hours the next morning before picking
up the Indian trail. This gave the redskins ten or
twelve hours start, as they were at our camp just
at midnight. The trail passed out west between
North and South Llano Rivers and foUowed a rough
mountain country that made pursuit difficult and
slow. We followed the savages five or six days
and finally abandoned the trail near the head of
Devil's River after a heavy rain.
While we had been active in rounding up the
numerous outlaws and cattle thieves that infested
Kimble County, we had not been able to clean up
the mystery of the Peg Leg stage robbers, which
had long baffled the best detectives, sheriffs, and
146

SERVICE WITH REYNOLDS, THE INTREPID
rangers. Peg Leg was a smaU stage station on the
San Saba in the midst of a rough and very moun
tainous country. Here the stage was repeatedly
held up and as repeatedly the robbers escaped. The
scene of the hold-up was many times examined and
parties made determined efforts to traU the bandits
but always without success, for the traU was quickly
lost in the rough mountains. One of the features
that proved particularly puzzhng was the constant
recurrence of an exceedingly smaU footprint at each
robbery. These marks were so very smaU they con
vinced many observers that a woman from Fort
McKavett or Fort Concho was operating with the
bandit gang. NaturaUy the rangers were anxious
to round up this group of outiaws and put a stop
to their depredations.
In May, 1878, Sergeant NeviU made a scout up
on the South Llano and captured BUI Ahson, a son-
in-law of old Jimmie Dublin, father of the bandit,
Dick Dubhn. Ahson was wanted on several charges
of cattie theft, and was taken to Austin for safe
keeping. After remaining in the Travis County jaU
for nearly a year without being able to give bond,
Ahson became discouraged. He beheved his
brothers-in-law, the Dubhns, were not aiding him
to get bond and became bitter and resentful toward

147

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
them. This antagonism finally led to the unveihng
of the Peg Leg mystery.
In the spring of 1879 Dick Ware and myself took
some prisoners to the Austin jaU. BiU Ahson saw
us and called out to me. He and I had been cow
boys together long before I became a ranger.
"Jim," said Alison, "you know I have been cooped
up here in this jail for nearly a year. People who
ought to be my friends have evidently abandoned
me and I am not going to stand it any longer. I
can put the Peg Leg stage robbers behind the bars,
and I am going to do it."
Ware, who was something of a diplomat, said,
"Hold on. Bill. If you have anything to confess we
will get an order from the sheriff to take you to
see General Jones so you can talk to him."
The general at once wrote a note to Dennis Cor-
win, sheriff of Travis County, and asked that he let
Ahson accompany us to his office. The sheriff
turned his prisoner over to us and we took him to
General Jones, who had a private interview with
him for over an hour. "What Ahson confessed we
did not know, but we returned him to the jail.
General Jones moved quickly, for the very next
day a scout of rangers from Company "E" was
sent back to Kimble County. I was just preparing
to go west to El Paso with Colonel Baylor, so I
148

SER\TCE WITH REYNOLDS, THE INTREPID
missed this last and most important scout back into
Kimble County. However, this final expedition was
so successful I cannot omit it from a history of the
rangers. Arriving at Kimble County the Company "E"
detaU arrested Role and DeU Dubhn, Mack Potter
and Rube Boyce, In the running fight that resulted
in their capture Role received a bad wound in the
hip. The two Dublin brothers and Mack Potter
when arraigned in Federal court plead guUty to
stage robbery and were sentenced to fifteen years
at hard labor. During their trial the mystery of
the Peg Leg robberies was finaUy cleared up. The
Dublin boys were the guiding spirits in the hold
ups and worked with great cleverness. Old man
Jimmie Dublin's ranch on the South Llano was their
headquarters. From the ranch to Peg Leg Station
on the San Saba was not more than sixty mUes
across a rough, mountainous country. As there
were no wire fences in those days the robbers would
ride over to the station, rob the stage and in one
night's ride regain their home. Travehng at night
they were never observed. Dick Dubhn, whose
death whUe resisting capture has already been de
scribed, was the leader of the bandit gang. Even
the mystery of the tiny footprints was disclosed;

149

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
they were made by Mack Potter, who had an un-
usuaUy small foot for a man.
While Rube Boyce was confined in the Travis
County jail he made one of the most sensational
jail escapes in the criminal annals of Texas, Mrs,
Boyce called at the prison with a suit of clean
underclothes for her husband. The basket in
which she carried them was examined and she was
admitted into the ceU of her husband. However,
she had hidden a big ,45 Colt's revolver about her
person and smuggled it in. Rube changed his
underwear, put the soiled garments in the basket
and hid the pistol under them.
At the end of her visit Mrs. Boyce started out
and Rube accompanied her down the corridor to
the door. Mr. Albert Nichols, the jailer, opened the
door with his left hand to let the woman pass out,
at the same time holding his pistol in his right
hand. As the door swung open Rube reached into
the basket he was carrying for his wife, whipped
out the hidden pistol, thrust it into the jailer's face
and ordered him to drop his .45 and step within the
jail, Reahzing that a second's hesitation would
mean his death, Nichols comphed and was locked
in by the outiaw.
Boyce then ran out of the back yard of the jaU,
mounted a pony that had been hitched there for
150

SERVICE V^^TTH REYNOLDS, THE INTREPID
him and gaUoped out of Austin, firing his pistol as
he ran. He made a complete get-away. Three or
four years later he was arrested at Socorro, New
Mexico, and returned to Austin. At his trial for
participation in the Peg Leg stage robberies he was
acquitted, and perhaps justly so, for BUI Ahson de
clared to me that Dick Dublin with his brothers DeU
and Role and Mack Potter were the real robbers.
The arrest and conviction of the Dubhns, together
with the other men Lieutenant Reynolds had cap
tured or kiUed completely cleaned out the stage rob
bers, cattie and horse thieves and murderers that
had made Kimble County their rendezvous. Today
Kimble County is one of the most prosperous and
picturesque counties in the state. Its citizens are
law-abiding and energetic. Junction City, the
county seat, is a splendid httie city of probably
twenty-five hundred inhabitants.
Forty years ago, the time of which I write, there
were no courthouses in Kimble County. The first
district courts were held under the spreading boughs
of a large oak tree. The rangers, of which I was
frequentiy one, guarded the prisoners under another
tree at a convenient distance from the judge aind
his attendants.
Late in the spring or early summer of 1878 at a
session of the County Court of San Saba County,
151

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
BiUy Brown was being prosecuted by County At
torney Brooks for a violation of the prohibition
laws. Brown took offense at a remark of the prose
cuting attorney and attempted to draw his six-
shooter on him, T, J, T, KendaU, a law partner
of Brooks, saw Brown's move and quickly whip
ping out his own pistol, he kiUed Brown in the
courtroom. Then, fearing a mob if captured, Ken
daU fortified himseff in a second story of the court
house and refused to surrender. He held the whole
town at bay while his wife administered to his
wants. Meantime, he sent a hurry call to the near
est rangers asking for protection against mob vio
lence. Captain Arrington received the message and
sent a detachment from Coleman to San Saba to
preserve order.
General Jones was notified and ordered Lieuten
ant Reynolds at Junction City to march to San Saba
with his company, take charge of Kendall and re-
heve Captain Arrington's men. It was probably two
weeks after the kilhng before Company "E" reached
San Saba, but Mr, Kendall was still holding fort in
the upper story of the courthouse.
On the arrival of Reynolds' company, KendaU
asked the court for a prehminary examination.
"When court convened, the prisoner waived exami
nation and asked for transference to the Travis
152

SERVICE WITH REYNOLDS, THE INTREPID
County jaU at Austin. The court, realizing the feel
ing against KendaU, ordered his removal thither,
"When the time came for KendaU's removal a
hack was driven up to the courthouse door, where
a great crowd had assembled to see the prisoner,
Jim Brown, sheriff of Lee County, Texas, and
brother of BUI Brown, heavUy armed, had taken
his station within ten feet of the prison door. Just
before Mr, KendaU descended the courthouse steps
Lieutenant Reynolds ordered the crowd to f aU back
fifty feet from the hack. The people immediately
obeyed with the exception of Jim Brown, who sat
perfectly stiU on his horse. The heutenant looked
at Brown for a minute, then turned to his rangers
and ordered them to draw their guns and move
everyone fifty yards from the courthouse. Like a
flash every ranger drew his gun, dismounted and
waved the crowd back.
Brown turned to Reynolds and said, "I am going
to Austin with you."
"ff you do, you wiU go in irons. Move back !"
Brown, who had kiUed several men, slowly turned
his horse and rode away. He did not know the man
with whom he was deahng. Lawyer KendaU was
thereupon carried to Austin without incident.
"When we reached Austin, Jim Brown met Lieu
tenant Reynolds on the street and apologized for
153

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
the way he had acted at San Saba. He said he fuUy
intended to kill Kendall as he approached the hack,
but the presence of so many rangers caused him to
change his mind. Lieutenant Reynolds declared he
was anticipating just such a move and had in
structed his men to shoot Brown into doU rags at
his first move.
Soon after this Lieutenant Reynolds moved Com
pany "E" down on the San Saba in a beautfful
pecan grove, an ideal summer camp, about two
miles from the town of San Saba. From this point
we scouted aU over Llano, Lampasas, Burnet and
San Saba Counties at our favorite pursuit of round
ing up bad men. It was from this camp that we
made our sensational ride to Round Rock after
Sam Bass, the notorious train robber.

154

CHAPTER IX
SAM BASS AND HIS TRAIN ROBBER GANG
Sam Bass, the noted train robber, was bom in
Indiana, July 21, 1851. He came to Texas whUe
quite a youth and worked for Sheriff Everhart of
Denton County untU he reached manhood. "WhUe
stUl an exemplary and honest young man, Bass
came into possession of a smaU race pony, a httie
sorrel mare. On Saturday evenings, when most of
the nei^iborfaood boys met in Denton, Bass raced
his pony with much success. Mr. Everiiart soon
noticed that Sam was beginmng to neglect his work
because of his pony and, knowing only too weU
what tins would lead to, he advised Sam to seU his
mare. Bass hesitated, for he loved the animaL
FinaUy matters came to such a point that Mr. Ever
hart told Sam he would have to get rid of the horse
or give up his job. Thereupon Bass prompfly quit,
and this was probably the turning point in his life.
Bass left Denton County in the spring of 1877
and traveled to San Antonio. Here many cattiemen
were gathered to arrange for the spring cattie drive
to the north. Joel CoUins, who was planning to
drive a herd from Uvalde County to Deadwood,
Dakota, hired Bass as a cowboy. After six months
155

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
on the trail the herd reached Deadwood and was
sold and all the cowboys paid off by Mr. Colhns.
At that period Deadwood was a great, wdde open
mining town. Adventurers, gamblers, mining and
cattlemen all mingled together. Though Joel Col
hns had bought his cattie on credit and owed the
greater part of the money he had received for them
to his friends in Texas, he gambled away aU the
money he had received for the herd. When he
sobered up and realized aU his money was gone he
did not have the moral courage to face his friends
and creditors at home. He became desperate, and
with a band of his cowboys held up and robbed
several stage coaches in the Black HiUs. These
robberies brought CoUins very httle booty, but they
started Sam Bass on his criminal career.
In the fall of 1877, Colhns, accompanied by Bass,
Jack Davis, Jim Berry, BiU Heffridge, and John
Underwood, better known as Old Dad, left Dead-
wood and drifted down to OgaUala, Nebraska. Here
he conceived, planned and carried into execution
one of the boldest train robberies that ever occurred
in the United States up to that time. When aU was
ready these six men, heavily armed and masked,
held up the Union Pacific train at Big Springs, a
small station a few miles beyond OgaUala. The
bandits entered the express car and ordered the
156

SAM BASS AND HIS TRALN' ROBBER GANG
messenger to open the safe. The latter explained
that the through safe had a time lock and could
only be opened at the end of the route. One of the
robbers then began to beat the messenger over the
head with a sixshooter, declaring he would kill hinn
if the safe were not opened, Bass, always of a
kindly nature, pleaded with the man to desist, de
claring he beheved the messenger w^as telhng the
truth. Just as the robbers were preparing to leave
the car without a cent one of them noticed three
stout httie boxes pUed near the big safe. The curi
ous bandit seized a coal pick and knocked off the
hd of the top box. To his great joy and dehght
he exposed $20,000 in shining gold coin ! The three
boxes each held a similar amount, aU in $20 gold
pieces of the mintage of 1877,
After looting these boxes the robbers went
through the train, and in a systematic manner
robbed the passengers of about $5000. By day
hght the bandits had hidden their booty and re
turned to OgaUala. They hung around town several
days whUe railroad officials. United States marshals
and sheriffs' parties were scouring the country for
the train robbers.
"WhUe in OgaUala before and after the robbery,
Collins and his men frequented a large general mer
chandise store. In this store was a clerk who had
157

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
once been an express messenger on the Union Pa
cific and who was weU acquainted with the officials
of that company. I have forgotten his name, but
I wiU call him Moore for the sake of clearness in
my narrative. Of course the great train robbery
was the talk of the town, Moore conversed with
Colhns and his gang about the hold-up, and the
bandits declared they would help hunt the robbers
if there was enough money in it,
Moore's suspicions were aroused and he became
convinced that Colhns and his band were the real
hold-up men. However, he said nothing to anyone
about this behef, but carefuUy watched the men.
FinaUy, Colhns came to the store and, after buy
ing clothing and provisions, told Mr. Moore that
he and his companions were going back to Texas
and would be up the trail the foUowing spring with
another herd of cattie, "When CoUins had been
gone a day's travel, Mr, Moore hired a horse and
foUowed him. He soon found the route the sus
pects were travehng, and on the second day Moore
came upon them suddenly while they were stopping
at a roadside farmhouse to have some bread cooked.
Moore passed by without being noticed and secreted
himself near the highway. In a short time CoUins
and his men passed on and Moore trailed them
untU they went into camp. When it was dark the
158

SAM BASS AND HIS TRAIN ROBBER GANG
amateur detective crept up to the bandits, but they
had gone to sleep and he learned nothing.
The next day Moore resumed the traU. He
watched the gang make their camp for the night
and again crept up to within a few yards of his sus
pects. The bandits had buUt a big fire and were
laughing and talking. Soon they spread out a
blanket, and to Moore's great astonishment brought
out some money bags and emptied upon the blanket
sixty thousand doUars in gold. From his concealed
position the traUer heard the robbers discuss the
hold-up. They declared they did not beheve anyone
had recognized or suspected them and decided it
was now best for them to divide the money, sep
arate in pairs and go their way. The coin was
stacked in six pUes and each man received $10,000
in $20 gold pieces. It was further decided that
CoUins and BUI Heffridge would travel back to San
Antonio, Texas, together; Sam Bass and Jack Davis
were to go to Denton County, Texas, whUe Jim
Berry and Old Dad were to return to the Berry
home in Mexico, Missouri.
As soon as Mr, Moore had seen the money and
heard the robbers' plans he shpped back to his
horse, mounted and rode day and night to reach
OgaUala. He notified the railroad officials of what
he had seen, gave the names and descriptions of
159

SIX YEARS WTTH THE TEXAS RANGERS
the bandits and their destinations. This informa
tion was sent broadcast over southern Nebraska,
Kansas, Indian Territory, and Texas. In the fugi
tive hst sent to each of the companies of the Fron
tier Battahon of rangers Sam Bass was thus de
scribed: "Twenty-five to twenty-six years old, 5 feet
7 inches high, black hair, dark brown eyes, brown
moustache, large white teeth, shows them when
talking; has very httle to say."
A few days after the separation of the robbers,
Joel Colhns and BiU Heffridge rode into a small
place in Kansas called Buffalo Station, They led
a pack pony. Dismounting from their tired horses
and leaving them standing in the shade of the store
building, the two men entered the store and made
several purchases. The railroad agent at the place
noticed the strangers ride up. He had, of course,
been advised to be on the lookout for the train rob
bers. He entered the store and in a httle while
engaged Colhns in conversation. While talking the
robber pulled his handkerchief out of his coat
pocket and exposed a letter with his name thereon.
The agent was a shrewd man. He asked CoUins if
he had not driven a herd of cattle up the trail in
the spring. Colhns declared he had, and finaUy, in
answer to a direct question, admitted that his name
was Joel Colhns. 160

SAM BASS AND HIS TRAIN ROBBER GANG
Five or six hundred yards from Buffalo Station
a heutenant of the United States Army had camped
a troop of ten men that was scouting for the train
robbers. As soon as Colhns and Heffridge re
mounted and resumed their w^ay the agent ran
quickly to the soldiers' camp, pointed out the ban
dits to the heutenant and declared, "There go two
of the Union Pacific train robbers!"
The army officer mounted his men and pursued
CoUins and Heffridge. "When he overtook the two
men he told them their descriptions taUied vrith
those of some train robbers that he was scouting
for, and declared they would have to go back to the
station and be identified. Colhns laughed at the
idea, and declared that he and his companion were
cattiemen returning to their homes in Texas. They
reluctanfly turned and started back with the sol
diers. After riding a few hundred yards the two
robbers held a whispered conversation. Suddenly
the two puUed their pistols and attempted to stand
off the heutenant and his troop. The desperadoes
were promptiy shot and kiUed, On examining
their packs the soldiers found tied up in the legs
of a pair of overalls $20,000 in gold, 1877 mintage.
Not a doUar of the stolen money had been used
and there was no doubt about the identity of the
men. 161

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
Not long after the divide up in Nebraska Jim
Berry appeared at his home in Mexico, Missouri,
At once he deposited quite a lot of money in the
local bank and exchanged $3000 in gold for cur
rency, explaining his possession of the gold by say
ing he had sold a mine in the Black HiUs, In three
or four days the sheriff of the county learned of
Berry's deposits and called at the bank to see the
new depositor's gold. His suspicion became a cer
tainty when he found that Berry had deposited
$20 gold pieces of 1877.
At night the sheriff with a posse rounded up
Berry's house, but the suspect was not there. The
home was well provisioned and the posse found
many articles of newly purchased clothing. Just
after dayhght, whUe searching about the place the
sheriff heard a horse whinny in some timber nearby.
Upon investigating this he suddenly came upon
Jim Berry sitting on a paUet. Berry discovered the
officer at about the same time and attempted to
escape by running. He was fired upon, one buUet
striking him in the knee and badly shattering it.
He was taken to his home and given the best of
medical attention, but gangrene set in and he died
in a few days. Most of his $10,000 was recovered.
Old Dad evidently quit Berry somewhere en route.

162

SAM BASS AND HIS TRAIN ROBBER GANG
for he made good his escape with his iU-gotten gain
and was never apprehended.
Sam Bass and Jack Davis, after the separation in
Nebraska, sold their ponies, bought a hght spring
wagon and a pair of work horses. They placed
their gold pieces in the bottom of the wagon, threw
their bedding and clothes over it, and in this dis
guise traveled through Kansas and the Indian Ter
ritory to Denton County, Texas. During their trip
through the Territory Bass afterward said he
camped within one hundred yards of a detachment
of cavalry. After supper he and Davis visited the
soldiers' camp and chatted with them untU bed
time. The soldiers said they were on the lookout
for some train robbers that had held up the Union
Pacific in Nebraska, never dreaming for a moment
that they were conversing with two of them. The
men also mentioned that two of the robbers had
been reported kiUed in Kansas.
This rumor put Bass and Davis on their guard,
and on reaching Denton County they hid in the ehn
bottoms untU Bass could interview some of his
friends. Upon meeting them he learned that the
names and descriptions of every one of the Union
Pacific train robbers were in the possession of the
law officers; that Colhns, Heffridge, and Berry had
been kiUed; and that every sheriff in North Texas
163

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
was on the watch for Davis and himself. Davis at
once begged Bass to go with him to South America,
but Bass refused, so Davis bade Sam goodbye and
set out alone. He was never captured. On his
deathbed Bass declared he had once received a
letter from Jack Davis written from New Orleans,
asking Bass to come there and go into the business
of bujdng hides,
Bass had left Denton County early in the spring
an honest, sincere and clean young man. By faU
ing with evil associates he had become within a few
months one of the most daring outlaws and train
robbers of his time. Before he had committed any
crime in the state the oflficers of North Texas made
repeated efforts to capture him for the big reward
offered by the Union Pacific and the express com
pany but, owing to the nature of the country around
Denton and the friends Bass had as long as his gold
lasted, met with no success.
Bass' money soon attracted several desperate and
daring men to him. Henry Underwood, Arkansas
Johnson, Jim Murphy, Frank Jackson, Pipes Hern
don, and Colhns, — the last one a cousin of Joel
CoUins — and two or three others joined him in the
elm bottoms. Naturally Bass was selected as leader
of the gang. It was not long before the outiaw
chief planned and executed his first train robbery
164

SAM BASS .\NT) HIS TRAIN ROBBER GANG
in Texas: that at Eagle Ford, a smaU station on
the T. P, Railroad, a few mUes out of Dallas. In
quick succession the bandits held up two or three
other trains, the last, I beheve, being at Mesquite
Station, ten or twelve mUes east of Dallas. From
this robbery they secured about $3000. They met
with opposition here, for the conductor, though
armed with only a smaU pistol, fought the robbers
to a fare-you-weU and shghtly wounded one of
them. The whole state was now aroused by the repeated
train hold-ups. General Jones hurried to Dallas
and Denton to look over the situation and, strange
to say, he arranged to organize a company of
rangers at Dallas. Captain June Peak, a very able
officer, w-as given the command. No matter how
brave a company of recruits, it takes time and train
ing to get results from them, and when this raw
company was throwTi into the field against Bass
and his gang the bandit leader played with it as a
chUd plays with toys. Counting the thirty rangers
and the different sheriffs' parties, there were prob
ably one hundred men in pursuit of the Bass gang.
Sam played hide-and-seek with them aU and, it is
said, never ranged any farther west than Stephens
County or farther north than Wise. He was gen
eraUy in Dallas, Denton or Tarrant Counties. He
165

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
would frequentiy visit Fort Worth or Dallas at
night, ride up with his men to some outside saloon,
get drinks aU around and then vamoose.
FinaUy in a fight at Salt Creek, Wise County,
Captain June Peak and his rangers kiUed Arkansas
Johnson, Bass' most trusted heutenant. Either just
before or soon after this battle the rangers captured
Pipes Herndon and Jim Murphy and drove Bass
and his two remaining companions out of North
Texas. At that time the state had on the frontier
of Texas six companies of veteran rangers. They
were finely mounted, highly equipped, and were
the best mounted pohce in the world. Any com
pany on the hne could have been marched to Den
ton in ten days, yet they were never moved one mile
in that direction. Any one of those highly trained
commands could have broken up the Sam Bass
gang in haff the time it took a command of new
men. After the fight on Salt Creek only Sam Bass, Sebe
Barnes, and Frank Jackson were left of the once
formidable gang. These men had gained nothing
from their four train robberies in North Texas, and
were so hard pressed by the oflficers of the law on
aU sides that Bass reluctantly decided to leave the
country and try to make his way to Old Mexico.
Through some pretended friends of Bass, General
166

SAM BASS ANT) HIS TRAIN ROBBER GANG
Jones learned of the contemplated move. He, with
Captain Peak and other officers, approached Jim
Murphy, one of Bass' gang captured about the time
of the Salt Creek fight, who was awaiting trial by
the Federal authorities for train robbay, and prom
ised they would secure his release if he would be
tray Bass. Murphy hesitated and said his former
chief had been kind to his famUy, had given them
money and provisions, and that it would be un
grateful to betray his friend- The general declared
he understood Murphy's position fuUy, but Bass
was an outlaw, a pest to the country, who was pre
paring to leave the state and so could no longer
help him. General Jones warned Murphy that the
evidence against him was overwhehning and was
certain to send him to the Federal prison — probably
for hfe — and exhorted bim to remember his wife
and his children. Murphy finaUy yielded and agreed
to betray Bass and his gang at the first opportunity.
According to the plan agreed upon Murphy was
to give bond and when the Federal court convened
at Tyler, Texas, a few weeks later he was not to
show up. It would then be published aU over the
country that Murphy had skipped bond and re
joined Bass. This was carried out to the letter.
Murphy joined Bass in the ehn bottoms of Denton
County and agreed to rob a train or bank and get
167

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
out of the country. Some of Bass' friends, sus
picious of Murphy's bondsmen, wrote Sam that
Murphy was playing a double game and advised him
to kiU the traitor at once. Bass immediately con
fronted Murphy with these reports and reminded
him how freely he had handed out his gold to
Murphy's family. Bass declared he had never ad
vised or solicited Jim to join him, and said it was
a low down, mean and ungrateful trick to betray
him. He told Murphy plainly if he had anything
to say to say it quickly. Barnes agreed with his
chief and urged Murphy's death.
The plotter denied any intention of betraying
Bass and offered to take the lead in any robbery
Bass should plan and be the first to enter the ex
press car or chmb over the bank raihng. Bass
was mad and so was Barnes. They elected to kiU
the har at once. Frank Jackson had taken no part
in the conversation, but he now declared he had
known Murphy since he was a httle boy, and he
was sure Murphy was sincere and meant to stand
by them through thick and thin. Bass was not
satisfied, and insisted that Murphy be murdered
then and there. Jackson finally told Bass and
Barnes that they could not kill Murphy without
first kilhng him. Although the youngest of the
party — ^Frank was only twenty-two years old — Jack-
168

SAM BASS AND HIS TRAIN ROBBER GANG
son had great influence over his chief. He was
brave and daring, and Bass at that time could not
very well get along without him, so his counsel
prevailed and Murphy was spared. The bandits
then determined to quit the country. Their plan
was to rob a small bank somewhere en route to
Old. Mexico and thus secure the funds needed to
facUitate their escape, for they were all broke.
Bass, Sebe Barnes, Frank Jackson, and Jim Mur
phy left Denton County early in July, 1878. With
his usual boldness, Bass, after he had passed DaUas
County, made no attempt at concealment, but trav
eled the pubhc highway in broad dayhght. Bass
and Barnes were still suspicious of Murphy, and
never let him out of their sight, though they refused
to talk to or to associate with him in any way.
When Bass reached Waco the party camped on
the outskirts of the town and remained there two
or three days. They visited the town each day,
looked over the situation, and in one bank saw
much gold and currency. Jackson was enthusiastic
and wanted to rob it at once. Bass, being more
careful and experienced, thought it too hazardous
an undertaking, for the run through crowded streets
to the outskirts of the city was too far; and so vetoed
the attempt.
"While in Waco the gang stepped into a saloon
169

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
to get a drink. Bass laid a $20 gold piece on the
bar and remarked, "There goes the last twenty of
the Union Pacific money and d — n httle good it
has done me." On leaving Waco the robbers stole
a fine mare from a farmer named BiUy Mounds
and traveled the main road to Belton. They were
now out of money and planned to rob the bank at
Round Rock, WiUiamson County.
General Jones was now getting anxious over the
gang. Not a word had been heard from Jim Mur
phy since he had rejoined the band, for he had
been so closely watched that he had had no oppor
tunity to communicate with the authorities, and it
seemed as if he would be forced to participate in
the next robbery in spite of himseff.
At Belton Sam sold an extra pony his party had
after steahng the mare at Waco. The purchaser
demanded a biU of sale as the vendors were
strangers in the country. While Bass and Barnes
were in a store writing out the required document.
Murphy seized the opportunity to dash off a short
note to General Jones, saying, "We are on our way
to Round Rock to rob the bank. For God's sake
be there to prevent it," As the postoflfice adjoined
the store the traitor succeeded in maihng his letter
of betrayal just one minute before Bass came out
on the street again. The gang continued their way
170

SAM BASS AND HIS TRAIN ROBBER GANG.
to Round Rock and camped near the old town,
which is situated about one mUe north of New
Round Rock. The bandits concluded to rest and
feed their horses for three or four days before at
tempting their robbery. This delay was providen
tial, for it gave General Jones time to assemble his
rangers to repel the attack.
After Major Jones was made Adjutant-General
of Texas he caused a smaU detachment of four or
five rangers to camp on the Capitol grounds at
Austin. He drew his units from different com
panies along the hne. Each unit would be detaUed
to camp in Austin, and about every six weeks or
two months the detaU would be reheved by a squad
from another company. It wiU readUy be seen
that this was a wdse pohcy, as the detaU was al
ways on hand and could be sent in any direction
by raU or on horseback at short notice. Besides,
General Jones was devoted to his rangers and liked
to have them around where he could see them daUy.
At the time of which I write four men from Com
pany "E" — Corporal Vernon WUson and Privates
Dick Ware, Chris Connor, and Geo. Harold — ^were
camped at Austin. The corporal helped General
Jones as a clerk in his oflfice, but was in charge of
the squad on the Capitol grounds, slept in camp
and had his meals with them.
171

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
"When General Jones received Murphy's letter he
was astonished at Bass' audacity in approaching
within fifteen or twenty miles of the state capital,
the very headquarters of the Frontier Battahon,
to rob a bank. The letter was written at Belton,
Texas, and received at the Adjutant-General's oflfice
on the last mail in the afternoon. The company of
rangers nearest Round Rock was Lieutenant
Reynolds' Company "E," stationed at San Saba,
one hundred and fifteen miles distant. There was
no telegraph to San Saba then. General Jones re
flected a few moments after receipt of the letter
and then arranged his plan rapidly.
He turned to Corporal WUson and told him that
Sam Bass and his gang were, or soon would be, at
Round Rock, Texas, to rob the bank there.
"I want you to leave at once to carry an order
to Lieutenant Reynolds. It is sixty-five miles to
Lampasas and you can make that place early
enough in the morning to catch the Lampasas and
San Saba stage. You must make that stage at
all hazards, save neither yourself nor your horse,
but get these orders to Lieutenant Reynolds as
quickly as possible," he ordered.
Corporal Wilson hurried to the livery stable, sad
dled his horse and got away from Austin on his
wild ride just at nightfall. His horse was fresh and
172

SAM BASS AND HIS TRAIN ROBBER GANG
fat and in no condition to make such a run. How
ever, WUson reached Lampasas at dayhght next
morning and made the outgoing stage to San Saba,
but kiUed his gaUant httle gray horse in the doing
of it. From Lampasas to San Saba was fifty nules,
and it took the stage aU day to make the trip. As
soon as he landed in towTi Corporal WUson hired
a horse and gaUoped three mUes down to Lieu
tenant Reynolds' camp and dehvered his orders.
After dispatching Corporal WUson to Lieutenant
Reynolds, General Jones hurried over to the ranger
camp on the Capitol grounds and ordered the three
rangers. Ware, Connor, and Harold, to proceed to
Round Rock, put their horses in Highsmith's hvery
stable and keep themselves concealed untU he could
reach them himseff by train next morning. The
foUowing morning General Jones went to Round
Rock. He carried wdth him from Austin, Morris
Moore, an ex-ranger but then deputy sheriff of
Travis County. On reaching his destination the
general caUed on Deputy Sheriff Grimes of WU
hamson County, who was stationed at Round Rock,
told him Bass was expected in town to rob the
bank, and that a scout of rangers woiUd be in town
as soon as possible, Jones advised Deputy Grimes
to keep a sharp lookout for strangers but on no

173

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
account to attempt an arrest until the rangers could
arrive. I well remember the hot July evening when Cor
poral Wilson arrived in our camp with his orders.
The company had just had supper, the horses fed
and tied up for the night. We knew the sudden
appearance of the corporal meant something of
unusual importance. Soon Sergeant NeviU came
hurrying to us with orders to detaU a party for an
immediate scout. Lieutenant Reynolds' orders had
been brief but to the point: "Bass is at Round
Rock. We must be there as early as possible to
morrow. Make a detail of eight men and select
those that have the horses best able to make a fast
run. And you, with them, report to me here at
my tent ready to ride in thirty minutes."
First Sergeant C, L, NeviU, Second Sergeant Henry
McGee, Second Corporal J, B, GiUett, Privates Abe
Anghn, Dave Ligon, Bill Derrick, and John R, and
W, L, Banister were selected for the detail. Lieu
tenant Reynolds ordered two of our best httle pack
mules hitched to a light spring hack, for he had
been sick and was not in condition to make the
journey horseback. In thirty minutes from the
time Corporal Wilson reached camp we were
mounted, armed and ready to go. Lieutenant
Reynolds took his seat in the hack, threw some
174

SAM BASS AND HIS TRAIN ROBBER GANG
blankets in, and Corporal WUson, who had not had
a minute's sleep for over thirty-six hours, lay down
to get a httie rest as we moved along. Say, boys,
did you ever try to foUow on horseback two fast
travehng httie miUes hitched to an open-topped
spring hack for one hundred mUes? WeU, it is
some stunt. We left our camp on the San Saba
River just at sunset and traveled in a fast trot and
sometimes in a lope the entire night.
Our old friend and comrade. Jack Martin, then
in the mercantile business at the httie town of
Senterfitt, heard us pass by in the night, and next
morning said to some of his customers that heU
was to pay somewhere as the rangers had passed
his store during the night on a dead run.
The first rays of the rising sun shone on us at
the crossing of North Gabriel, fifteen mUes south
of Lampasas. We had ridden sixty-five mUes that
short summer night — ^we had forty-five mUes yet
to go before reaching Round Rock. We halted on
the Gabriel for breakfast of bread, broUed bacon
and black coffee. The horses had a bundle of oats
each. Lieutenant Reynolds held his watch on us
and it took us just thirty minutes to breakfast and
be off again. We were now facing a hot July sun
and our horses were beginning to show the effects
of the hard ride of the night before and slowed
175

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
down perceptibly. We never halted again until we
reached the vicinity of old Round Rock between
1 and 2 o'clock in the afternoon of Friday, July 19,
1878, The heutenant camped us on the banks of
Brushy Creek and drove into New Round Rock to
report his arrival to General Jones,
Bass had decided to rob the bank at Round Rock
on Saturday, the 20th. After his gang had eaten
dinner in camp Friday evening they saddled their
ponies and started over to town to take a last look
at the bank and select a route to foUow in leaving
the place after the robbery. As they left camp Jim
Murphy, knowing that the bandits might be set
upon at any time, suggested that he stop at May's
store in Old Round Rock and get a bushel of corn,
as they were out of feed for their horses. Bass,
Barnes and Jackson rode on into town, hitched
their horses in an alley just back of the bank,
passed that building and made a mental note of
its situation. They then went up the main street
of the town and entered Copprel's store to buy some
tobacco. As the three bandits passed into the store.
Deputy Sheriff Moore, who was standing on the
sidewalk with Deputy Sheriff Grimes, said he
thought one of the newcomers had a pistol.
"I will go in and see," rephed Grimes.

176

SAM BASS AND HIS TRAIN ROBBER GANG
"I beheve you have a pistol," remarked Grimes,
approaching Bass and trying to search him.
"Yes, of course I have a pistol," said Bass. At
the words the robbers pulled their guns and kiUed
Grimes as he backed away to the door. He feU
dead on the sidewalk. They then turned on Moore
and shot him through the lungs as he attempted
to draw his weapon.
At the crack of the first pistol shot Dick Ware,
who was seated in a barber shop only a few steps
away waiting his turn for a shave, rushed into the
street and encountered the three bandits just as
they were leaving the store. Seeing Ware rapidly
advancing on them, Bass and his men fired on the
ranger at close range, one of their buUets striking
a hitching post wdtliin six inches of Ware's head
and knocking sphnters into his face. This assault
never halted Ware for an instant. He was as brave
as courage itseff and never hesitated to take the
most desperate chances when the occasion de
manded it. For a few minutes Dick fought the
robbers single handed. General Jones, coming up
town from the telegraph office, ran into the fight.
He was armed with only a smaU Colt's double action
pistol, but threw himseff into the fray. Connor
and Harold had now come up and joined in the
fusiUade. The general, seeing the robbers on foot
177

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
and almost within his grasp, drew in close and
urged his men to strain every nerve to capture or
exterminate the desperadoes. By this time every
man in the town that could secure a gun joined in
tiie fight.
The bandits had now reached their horses, and
reahzing their situation was critical fought with
the energy of despair. If ever a train robber could
be caUed a hero this boy, Frank Jackson, proved
himself one. Barnes was shot down and kiUed at
his feet, Bass was mortaUy wounded and unable
to defend himself or even mount his horse while
the bullets continued to pour in from every quar
ter. With heroic courage, Jackson held the rangers
back with his pistol in his right hand while he un
hitched Bass' horse with his left and assisted him
into the saddle. Then, mounting his own horse,
Jackson and his chief gaUoped out of the jaws of
heU itself. In their flight they passed through Old
Round Rock, and Jim Murphy, standing in the door
of May's store, saw Jackson and Bass go by on the
dead run. The betrayer noticed that Jackson was
holding Bass, pale and bleeding, in the saddle.
Lieutenant Reynolds, entering Round Rock, came
within five minutes of meeting Bass and Jackson
in the road. Before he reached town he met posses
of citizens and rangers in pursuit of the robbers,
178

SAM BASS AND HIS TRAIN ROBBER GANG
When the fugitives reached the cemetery Jackson
halted long enough to secure a Winchester they
had hidden in the grass there, then left the road
and were lost for a time. The fight was now over
and the play spoUed by two over-zealous deputies
in bringing on an immature fight after they had
been warned to be careful. NaturaUy Moore and
Grimes should have known that the three strangers
were the Sam Bass gang.
Lieutenant Reynolds started Sergeant NeviU and
his rangers early next morning in search of the,
flying bandits. After traveling in the direction the
robbers were last seen we came upon a man lying
under a large oak tree. Seeing we were armed as
we advanced upon him he caUed out to us not to
shoot, saying he was Sam Bass, the man we were
hunting. After entering the woods the evening before, Bass
became so sick and faint from loss of blood that
he could go no farther. Jackson dismounted and
wanted to stay with his chief, declaring he was a
match for aU their pursuers.
"No, Frank," rephed Bass. "I am done for."
The wounded leader told his companion to tie
his horse near at hand so he could get away i£ he
felt better during the night. Jackson was finally

179

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
prevailed upon to leave Bass and make his own
escape. When dayhght came Saturday morning Bass got
up and walked to a nearby house. As he ap
proached the place a lady, seeing him coming hold
ing his pants up and all covered with blood, left
her house and started to run off, as she was alone
with a small servant girl, Bass saw she was fright
ened and caUed to her to stop, saying he was per
ishing for a drink of water and would return to a
tree not far away and he down if she would only
send him a drink. The lady sent him a quart cup
of water, but the poor fellow was too far gone to
drink it. We found him under this tree one hour
later. He had a wound through the center of his
left hand, the bullet having pierced the middle
finger, Bass' death wound was given him by Dick Ware,
who used a ,45 caliber Colt's long barreled six-
shooter. The baU from Ware's pistol struck Bass'
belt and cut two cartridges in pieces and entered
his back just above the right hip bone. The buUet
badly mushroomed and made a fearful wound that
tore the victim's right kidney aU to pieces. From
the moment he was shot until his death three days
later Bass suffered untold agonies. As he lay on
the ground Friday night where Jackson had left him
180

SAM BASS AND HIS TRAIN ROBBER GANG
the wounded man tore his undershirt into more
than one hundred pieces and wiped the blood from
his body.
Bass was taken to Round Rock and given the
best of medical attention, but died the foUowing
day, Sunday, July 21, 1878. WhUe he was yet able
to talk. General Jones appealed to Bass to reveal
to the state authorities the names of the confed
erates he had had that they might be apprehended.
"Sam, you have done much evU in this world
and have only a few hours to hve. Now, whUe
you have a chance to do the state some good, please
teU me who your associates were in those viola
tions of the laws of your country."
Sam rephed that he could not betray his friends
and that he might as weU die with what he knew
in him,
Sam Bass was buried in the cemetery at Old
Round Rock, A smaU monument was erected over
his grave by a sister. Its simple inscription reads:
SAMUEL BASS
Bom July 21st, 1851
Died July 21st, 1878
A brave man reposes in death here. Why was he
not true?
Frank Jackson made his way back into Denton
County and hung around some time hoping to get
181

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
an opportunity to murder the betrayer of his chief,
an ingrate whose cause he himseff had so ably
championed. Jackson declared if he could meet
Jim Murphy he would kill him, cut off his head
and carry it away in a gunny sack.
Murphy returned to Denton, but learned that
Jackson was hiding in the elm bottoms awaiting
a chance to slay him. He thereupon asked per
mission of the sheriff to remain about the jaU for
protection, "While skulking about the prison one
of his eyes became infected, A physician gave him
some medicine to drop into the diseased eye, at
the same time cautioning him to be careful as the
fluid was a deadly poison. Murphy drank the en
tire contents of the bottle and was dead in a few
hours. Remorse, no doubt, caused him to end his
hfe. Of the four men that fought the Round Rock
battie with Sam Bass and his gang all are dead:
General J. B. Jones, and Rangers R, C, Ware, Chris
Connor, and George Harold, Of the ten men that
made the long ride from San Saba to Round Rock
only two are now ahve — Lieutenant N, O. Reynolds
and myseff.

182

CHAPTER X
A WTNTER OF QUIET AND A TRANSFER
In the fall of 1878 a man named Dowdy moved
from South Texas and settled on the headwaters
of the Johnson Fork of the Guadalupe River in
Kerr County, His family consisted of himself,
wife, three grown daughters, a grown son, and a
young son twelve or fourteen years old, Mr,
Dowdy owned two or three thousand sheep and
was grazing them on some fine upland pasture just
above his home. He contracted for his wdnter sup
ply of com, and when the first load of grain ar
rived at the ranch the three girls walked out haff
a mile to where the sheep were grazing to stay
with their younger brother whUe the elder returned
to the ranch to measure and receive the corn, "When
young Mr, Dowdy returned to the sheep an hour
later he was horrified to find that his three sisters
and his httle brother had been massacred by a
band of roving Indians, From the signs on a high
bluff nearby the sheep and their herders had been
under observation by the redskins for some time
and, seeing the only man leave, the Indians de
scended upon the defenseless girls and boy and
killed them. As there was no ranger company
183

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
within one hundred miles of Kerr County at the
time, a party of frontiersmen quickly gathered and
followed the murderers, but after pursuing them
for nearly two hundred miles the posse lost the
trail in the rough Devil's River country,
Kerr County then called for rangers, and Gen
eral Jones ordered Lieutenant Reynolds to proceed
to that county and go into camp for the winter at
the Dowdy ranch. This descent upon the Dowdy
family was the last raid ever made by Indians in
Kerr County, and was perhaps the most heart-
bending. We herded our horses that winter on
the very ground where the unfortunate young
Misses Dowdy and their brother were killed. At
the time they were murdered the ground was soft
and muddy from a recent rain, so one could see
for months afterward where the poor girls had run
on foot while the Indians charged on horseback.
I remember one of the young ladies ran nearly four
hundred yards before she was overtaken and shot
full of arrows by a heartless redskin. These mur
derers were probably Kickapoos and Lipans that
hved in the Santa Rosa Mountains, Old Mexico, and
frequently raided Southw^est Texas, stole hundreds
of horses and killed many people. While guarding
their horses on the ground where the Dowdy family
was killed the ranger boys built a rock monument
184

A WINTER OF QUIET AND A TRANSFER
eight or ten feet high to mark the spot where the
victims fell.
Lieutenant Reynolds kept scouting parties in the
field at intervals throughout the winter but, hke
hghtning, Indians never strike twice in the same
place. The winter of 1878-79 was the quietest one
I ever spent as a ranger. Kerr County was pretty
weU cleaned of outiaws and we made fewer arrests
that season than ever before.
The rangers encountered but one real bad man
in Kerr County. His name was Eh Wixon, and
he was wanted for murder in East Texas, It was
known that Wixon would be at the polls of the
county precincts to vote on election day, November,
1878, so Lieutenant Reynolds sent Corporal Warren
and Privates WUl Banister and Abe Anghn to ar
rest Wixon, Corporal Warren found his man at
the poUs and lost no time in teUing Wixon what
he was there for, and ordered him to unbuckle his
belt and drop his pistol. Wixon hesitated and
finaUy caUed on his friends to protect him from
the rangers.
The crowd came to his rehef, and for a time it
looked as if there would be trouble. Wixon abused
the rangers, caUed them a set of dirty dogs, and
dared them to shoot him. Corporal Warren was
brave and resolute. He told Wixon his abuse did
185

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
not amount to anything; that the rangers were there
to arrest him and were going to do it. The cor
poral warned the citizens to be careful how they
broke the law and if they started anything he de
clared Wixon would be the first man kiUed.
Then, while Banister and Anghn held the crowd
back with their drawn Winchesters, Warren dis
armed Wixon, grasped his bridle reins and led him
away wdthout further trouble. Lieutenant Rey
nolds took no chances with that sort of man, and
as soon as Wixon was in camp he was promptly
handcuffed and shackled. This usually took the
slack out of aU so-called bad men and it worked
hke a charm wdth our new prisoner.
As the winter wore on Lieutenant Reynolds, with
but httle to do, became restless. He once said of
himself that he never had the patience to sit down
in camp and wait for a band of Indians to raid the
county so he might get a race. Action was what
he wanted all the time, and he chaffed hke a chained
bear when compelled to sit idly in camp.
"When the Legislature met early in 1879 it was
known that it would be difficult to get an appro
priation for frontier defense. From time imme
morial there has been an element from East Texas
in the Legislature that has fought the ranger ap
propriation, and in this instance that element fought
186

A WINTER OF QUIET AND A TRANSFER
the ranger bUl harder than ever. The fund appro
priated for frontier defense two years before was
now running short and in order to make it hold
out until it could be ascertained what the Legis
lature would do it became necessary for General
Jones to order the various captains to discharge
three men out of each company. In a week a sim-
Uar order was promulgated, and this was kept up
untU the battahon was reduced to almost one-haff
its former strength. Lieutenant Reynolds was com-
peUed to sit idly by and see his fine experienced
rangers dwindle away before his eyes, and what he
said about those short-sighted lawmakers would
not look nice in print.
In March, 1879, Captain Pat Dolan, commander
of Company "F," then stationed on the Nueces
River, seventy-five nules southwest of Reynolds'
company, wrote to Lieutenant Reynolds that a big
band of horse and cattie thieves were reported oper
ating in the vicinity of the head of DevU's River
and along the Nueces. He wished to take a month's
scout out in that country, but since the ranger
companies had been so reduced he did not feel
strong enough to operate against them alone and
leave a reserve in his own camp. He, therefore,
asked Lieutenant Reynolds to send a detachment to
cooperate wdth him. I was then second sergeant,
187

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
and with five men I was ordered to report to Cap
tain Dolan for a three weeks' scout on Devil's River
and the Pecos. I reported to the commander of
Company "F" and we scouted up the Nueces River,
then turned west to Beaver Lake on the head of
Devil's River. From the lake we went over on
Johnson's Run and covered the country thoroughly
but without finding the reported outlaws.
One morning after starting out on our day's
scout Captain Dolan halted the command and, tak
ing with him Private Robb, went in search of water.
A heavy fog came up after he left us and hung
over the country the greater part of the day. The
captain did not return to us, and Sergeant G. K.
Chinn ordered his men to fire their guns to give
the lost ones our position. We remained in the
vicinity until night and then returned to Howard's
WeU, a watering place on Johnson's Run. The fol
lowing morning we scouted out to the point from
which the captain had left us the day before. It
was now clear, the sun shining brightly, but the
lost men could not be found. Dolan was an ex
perienced frontiersman, and we concluded that,
after finding himseff lost in the fog, he would re
turn to his headquarters on the Nueces, one hun
dred and twenty-five miles away. Sergeant Chinn,
therefore, headed the command for this camp, and
188

A WINTER OF QLTET .\ND A TRANSFER
when we reached it we found Captain Dolan and
Private Robb had preceded us. They had traveled
through a bad Indian country wdth nothing to eat
but what venison they had kiUed.
From Dolan's Company I marched my detaU
back to Company "E" by easy stages and reached
our camp at Dowdy's ranch the last week in March
wdth our horses ridden down. We had covered
something hke five hundred miles without accom
plishing anything.
As soon as I arrived I walked up to the heuten-
ant's tent to make my report. I was met by First
Sergeant C. L. NeviU, who told me that Lieutenant
Reynolds had resigned and left the company. At
first I thought the sergeant was only joking, but
when I was convinced that the heutenant had reaUy
gone I was shocked beyond measure. The blowr
was too strong and sudden for me, and I am not
ashamed now^ at sixty-five years of age to admit
that I shpped out of camp, sat down on the bank
of the Guadalupe River and cried hke a baby. It
seemed as if my best friend on earth had gone for
ever. Reynolds had had me transferred from Cold
weU's company to his ow-n when I was just a strip
ling of a boy. As soon as I was old enough to be
trusted wdth a scout of men and the vacancies oc
curred I was made second corporal, first corporal
189

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
and then second sergeant, I was given the best
men in the company and sent against the most
noted outlaws and hardened criminals in the State
of Texas, Lieutenant Reynolds gave me every
chance in the world to make a name for myseff,
and now he was gone, I felt the loss keenly, I
feel sure the records now on file in Austin will bear
me out when I say Reynolds was the greatest cap
tain of his time, — and perhaps of all time. The
State of Texas lost a matchless officer when "Mage"
Reynolds retired to private hfe. After leaving the
ranger service he made Lampasas his home and
served that county as its sheriff for several terms.
The Legislature finaUy made a smaU appropri
ation for frontier defense. Sergeant NeviU was
ordered to report at Austin with Company "E" for
the reorganization of the command. Reynolds'
resignation practicaUy broke up the company, and
though Sergeant NeviU was made Lieutenant of
Company "E" and afterward raised to a captaincy
and left behind him an enviable record, yet he was
not a "Mage" Reynolds by a long shot.
On reaching Austin, R, C. Ware and the Banister
boys secured their transfers to Captain Marshes'
Company "B," while the Carter boys, Ben and Dock,
C, R, Connor, and BiU Derrick resigned the service
and retired to private life, Abe Anghn became a
190

A WINTER OF QUIET AND A TRANSFER
pohceman at Austin, Texas, Henry Maltimore and
myseff, at our requests, were transferred to Lieu
tenant Baylor's Company "C" for duty in El Paso
County. With my transfer to this command the
winter of inaction was over, and I was soon to see
some exciting times along the upper Rio Grande,

I ill

CHAPTER XI
THE SALT LAKE WAR AND A LONG TREK
' At the foot of the Guadalupe Mountains, one hun
dred miles east of El Paso, Texas, are situated sev
eral large salt deposits known as the Salt Lakes,
These deposits were on pubhc state land. For a
hundred years or more the residents along the Rio
Grande in El Paso County and in northern Mexico
had hauled salt from the lakes free of charge, for
there was no one to pay, as the deposits were not
claimed by any owner, AU one had to do was to
back his wagon to the edge of the lake and shovel
it fuU of salt and drive off.
From San Elizario to the Salt Lakes was just
ninety miles, and there was not a drop of water
on the route. The road that had been traveled so
long by big wagon trains was almost as straight
as an arrow and in extra fine condition. The salt
haulers would carry water in barrels to what was
known as the Haff-way Station, about forty-five
miles from San Ehzario, Here they would rest and
water their horses and leave half their water for
the return trip. The teamsters would then push
on to the lakes, load their wagons, rest the teams
a day or two, and on their return trip stop at the
192

^a.k3aM

THE SALT LAKE WAR AND A LONG TREK
Haff-waj' Station, water their animals, throw the
empty barrels on top of the salt and, wdthout again
halting, continue to San Ehzario on the Rio Grande.
Charley Howard, after his election as judge of
the El Paso District, made his home at the old town
of Franklin, now known as El Paso, He saw the
possibihties of these salt lakes as a money-making
proposition and, knowdng they were on pubhc land,
WTote his father-in-law, George Zimpleman, at
Austin, to buy some land certificates and send them
to him so he could locate the land covering the salt
deposits. As soon as the land was located Judge
Howard forbade anyone to haul salt from the lakes
without first securing his permission. The Mexi
cans along both sides of the Rio Grande adjacent
to Fl Paso became highly indignant at this order,
A sub-contractor on the overland maU route be
tween El Paso and Fort Davis named Luis Cardis,
supported the Mexicans and told them Howard had
no right to stop them from hauhng salt, Cardis
was an Itahan by birth, had come to El Paso County
in 1860, married a Mexican wife, identified himseff
with the county, and become prominent as a poht-
ical leader. He was a Repubhcan, whUe Judge
How ard was a Democrat. Cardis and Howard soon
became bitter enemies, and in September, 1878, this
conflict between them became so acute that Howard
193

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
killed his opponent wdth a double-barreled shotgun
in S. Shultz and Brothers' store in Franklin. This
at once precipitated the contest know n as the Salt
Lake War, for grave threats were made against
Howard by the Mexicans.
After killing Cardis, Judge Howard fled to New
Mexico, and from his seclusion in that state he
called on the governor of Texas to send rangers
to El Paso to protect him and the courts over which
he presided. At that time not a company of the
Frontier Battalion was within five hundred miles
of that town. El Paso was seven hundred and fifty
miles by stage from San Antonio or Austin and
the journey required about seven days and nights'
travel over a dangerous route — an unusually hard
trip on any passenger attempting it.
The governor of Texas, therefore, sent Major
John B. Jones from Austin to Topeka, Kansas, by
rail and thence as far west into New Mexico as the
Santa Fe Railroad ran at that time, and thence by
stage down to El Paso. Major Jones dropped into
the old town of Frankhn (now El Paso) unheralded
and unknown. He sat about the hotel and gained
the information he needed, then made himself
known to the authorities and proceeded at once to
organize and equip a company of twenty rangers.
John'B. Tays, brother to the Episcopal minister of
194

THE SALT LAKE WAR AND A LONG TREK
that district, was made heutenant of the new com
mand, which was known as a detachment of Com
pany "C" and stationed in the old town of San
Elizario, twenty-five mUes southeast of El Paso.
Soon after this detachment of rangers had been
authorized. Judge Howard appeared at San Ehzario
and sought protection with it. No sooner had it
become known that Judge Howard was back in
Texas than the ranger company was surrounded
by a cordon of armed Mexicans, two or three hun
dred in number, who demanded the body of the
jurist. Lieutenant Tays refused to surrender How
ard, and the fighting began, and was kept up two
or three days at intervals. Sergeant Maltimore, in
passing through the court yard of the buUdings in
which the rangers were quartered was shot down
and kiUed by Mexican snipers located on top of
some adobe buildings within range of the quarters.
Then an American citizen, a Mr. EUis, was kiUed
near Company "C's" camp.
After several days of desultory fighting, the lead
ers of the mob, under flag of truce, sought an inter
view wdth Lieutenant Tays. The heutenant finaUy
agreed to meet two of the leaders, and while the
parley was in progress armed Mexicans one at a
time approached the peace party untU forty or fifty
had quietly surrounded Lieutenant Tays and put
195

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
him at their mercy. The mob then boldly de
manded the surrender of the ranger company.
Judge Howard, and two other Americans, Adkin-
son and McBride, friends of the judge, that had
sought protection with them.
There is no doubt that the Mexicans intimidated
Lieutenant Tays after he was in their hands and
probably threatened him with death unless their
demands were granted. The heutenant returned
to the ranger camp with the mob and said, "Boys,
it is all settled. You are to give up your arms and
horses and you wiU be allowed to go free."
The rangers were furious at this surrender, but
were powerless to help themselves, for the mob had
swarmed in upon them from all sides. Bilhe Marsh,
one of the youngest men in the company, was so
indignant that he cried out to his commander, "The
only difference between you and a skunk is that
the skunk has a white streak down his back!"
Judge Howard, seeing the handwriting on the
wall, began shaking hands and bidding his ranger
friends goodbye. As soon as the Mexicans had
gotten possession of the rangers' arms they threw
ropes over the heads of Howard, McBride and Ad-
kinson. Then, mounting fast running ponies, they
dragged the unfortunate men to death in the streets
of San Elizario and cast their mutilated bodies into
196

THE SALT LAKE WAR AND A LONG TREK
pososas or shaUow wells. The Mexicans then dis
appeared, most of them crossing the Rio Grande
into Mexico.
Lieutenant Tays at once resigned as commander
of the rangers, and Private Charles Ludwdck was
made first sergeant.and placed in charge of the com
pany untU the governor of Texas could send a com
missioned officer to take command of it. Had Lieu
tenant Tays held out twenty-four hours longer, a
thing which he could easUy have done, he would
have escaped the disgrace and mortification of sur
rendering himseff and his company to a mob of
Mexicans, for within that time John Ford with a
band of New Mexico cowboys swept into the Rio
Grande vaUey to reheve the besieged rangers. On
learning of the fates of Howard, McBride, Adkin-
son, EUis, and Sergeant Maltimore, the rescue party
raided up and down the vaUey from San Elizario
to El Paso and kiUed several armed Mexicans ac
cused of being part of the mob that had murdered
the Americans. The present battahon of Texas
Rangers was organized May 1, 1874, and in aU their
forty-six years of service this surrender of Lieu
tenant Tays was the only black mark ever chalked
up against it.
Afterward, when I arrived in El Paso wdth Lieu
tenant Baylor I had many talks with Privates
197

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
George Lloyd, Dr. Shivers, BiU Rutherford, and San
tiago Cooper, — all members of Tays' company —
and most of them beheved Lieutenant Tays had a
streak of yeUow in him, while a few thought he
made a mistake in agreeing to an interview with
the mob, thereby allowing himself to be caught
napping and forced to surrender.
Conditions in El Paso County were now so bad
that Lieutenant Baylor was ordered into the coun
try to take command of the ranger company. Be
fore leaving to assume his command. Lieutenant
Baylor was called to Austin from his home in San
Antonio and had a lengthy interview with Governor
Roberts, Baylor was instructed by his exceUency
to use all diplomacy possible to reconcile the two
factions and settle the Salt Lake War peaceably.
The governor held that both sides to the contro
versy were more or less to blame, and what had
been done could not be undone, and the restoration
of order was the prime requisite rather than a puni
tive expedition against the mob members.
On July 28, 1879, Private Henry Maltimore and
myself reached San Antonio from Austin and pre
sented our credentials to Lieutenant Baylor, who
thereupon advised us that he had selected August
2nd as the day to begin his march from San Antonio
to El Paso County, In his camp on the San Antonio
198

THE SALT LAKE WAR AND A LONG TREK
River in the southern part of the city the heutenant
had mustered myseff as sergeant, and Privates
Henry Maltimore, Dick Head, Gus Small, Gus Krim-
kau, and George Harold.
Early on the morning of August 2, 1879, our tiny
detachment left San Antomo on our long journey.
One wagon carried a heavy, old-fashioned square
piano, and on top of this was loaded the heutenant's
household goods. At the rear of the wagon w^as a
coop of game chickens, four hens and a cock, for
Lieutenant Baylor was fond of game chickens as
a table dehcacy, though he never fought them. His
famUy consisted of Mrs. Baylor, two daughters —
Helen, aged fourteen, and Mary, a chUd of four or
five years — and Miss Kate Sydnor, sister of Mrs.
Baylor. The children and ladies traveled in a large
hack drawn by a pair of mules. Rations for men
and horses were hauled in a two-mule wagon, while
the rangers rode on horseback in advance of the
hack and wagons. Two men travehng to New Mex
ico in a two-wheeled cart asked permission to travel
with us for protection. NaturaUy we made slow
progress with this unique combination. As weU
as I can remember, 1879 was a rather dry year, for
not a drop of rain feU upon us during this seven
hundred-mile journey. When we passed Fort
Clark, in Kinney County, and reached DevU's River
199

SIX YEARS \\^TH THE TEXAS RANGERS
we were on the real frontier and liable to attack
by Indians at any time. It was necessary, therefore,
to keep a strong guard posted at all times.
Around our camp fires at night Lieutenant Baylor
entertained us with accounts of early days on the
frontier. He was born August 24, 1832, at old
Fort Gibson in the Cherokee nation, now the State
of Oklahoma. His father, John Walker Baylor,
was a surgeon in the United States Army. Lieu
tenant Baylor was a soldier by training and by in
heritance. In 1879 he was in his forty-seventh
year and stood six feet two inches taU, a perfect
specimen of a hardy frontiersman. He was highly
educated, wrote much for papers and. magazines,
was a fluent speaker and a very interesting talker
and story-teUer. He was less reserved than any
captain under whom I ever served. He had taken
part in many Indian fights on the frontier of Texas,
and his descriptions of some of his experiences
were thrilhng. Lieutenant Baylor was a high-toned
Christian gentleman and had been a member of the
Episcopal Church from childhood. In all the
months I served with him I never heard him utter
an oath or tell a smutty yarn. He neither drank
whisky nor used tobacco. Had he written a his
tory of his operations on the frontier and a biog-

200

THE SALT LAKE WAR AND A LONG TREK
raphy of himseff it would have been one of the
strangest and most interesting books ever written.
I have not the power of language to describe
Lieutenant Baylor's bravery, because he was as
brave as it is possible for man to be. He thought
everyone else should be the same. He did not see
how a white man could be a coward, yet in a fierce
battie fought with Apache Indians on October 5,
1879, I saw some of his rangers refuse to budge
when caUed upon to charge up a mountainside and
assault the redskins concealed above us in some
rocks. George Harold, one of the attacking party,
said, 'T,ieutenant, ff we charge up that hill over
open ground every one of us wiU be kiUed."
"Yes, I suppose you are right," declared Baylor,
a contemptuous smUe on his face. Then, pointing
to some Mexicans hidden behind some boulders
below us, he added, "You had better go back to
them. That is where you belong."
Lieutenant Baylor was as tender hearted as a
httie chUd and w^ould hsten to any tale of woe.
He frequentiy took men into the service, stood good
for their equipment and often had to pay the biU
out of his own pocket. AU men looked alike to
him and he would enhst anyone when there was a
vacancy in the company. The result was that some
of the w-orst San Simone VaUey rusflers got into
201

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
the command and gave us no end of trouble, nearly
causing one or two killings in our camp.
Baylor cared nothing for discipline in the com
pany. He allowed his men to march carelessly.
A scout of ten or fifteen men would sometimes be
strung out a mile or more on the march. I sup
pose to one who had commanded a regiment dur
ing the Civil War a detachment of Texas Rangers
looked small and insignificant, so he let his men
have pretty much their own way. To a man hke
myself, who had been schooled under such cap
tains as Major Jones, Captain Coldwell, Captain
Roberts, and Lieutenant Reynolds, commanders
who were always careful of the disposition and
conduct of their men, this method of Baylor's
seemed suicidal. It just seemed inevitable that we
would some time be taken by surprise and shot
to pieces.
Another pecuharity of this wonderful man was
his indifference to time. He would strike an In
dian trail, take his time and follow it to the jump
ing off place. He would say, "There is no use to
hurry, boys. We wiU catch them after a while."
For instance, the stage driver and passenger killed
in Quitman Canyon, January, 1880, had been dead
two weeks before the heutenant returned from a
scout out in the Guadalupe Mountains. He at once
202

THE SALT LAKE WAR AND A LONG TREK
directed me to make a detaU of aU except three men
in camp, issue ten days' rations, and have the men
ready to move early next morning. An orderly or
first sergeant is hardly ever called upon to scout
unless he so desires, but the heutenant said, "You
had better come along. Sergeant. Y'ou may get an
other chance to kill an Indian." It seemed unrea
sonable to think he coiUd start two weeks behind
a bunch of Indians, foUow- up and annihilate the
whole band, but he did. Give Comanches or Kiowas
two weeks' start and they would have been in Can
ada, but the Apaches were slow and a different
proposition wdth which to deal.
Baylor was one of the very best shots wdth fire
arms I ever saw^ He kUled more game than al
most the entire company put together. "When we
first went out to El Paso he used a Winchester rifle,
but after the first Indian fight he concluded it was
too hght and discarded it for a Springfield sporting
rifle 45-70. He always used what he caUed rest
sticks; that is, two sticks about three feet long the
size of one's httie finger. These were tied together
about four or five inches from one end wdth a buck
skin thong. In shooting he would squat dowTi, ex
tend the sticks arm's length out in front of him
wdth the longer ends spread out tripod-fashion on
the ground. With his gun resting in the fork he
203

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
had a perfect rest and could make close shots at
long range. The heutenant always carried these
sticks in his hand and used them on his horse as
a quirt. In those days I used to pride myself on
my shooting wdth a Winchester, but I soon found
that Lieutenant Baylor had me skinned a mUe when
it came to kiUing game at long distance, I never
could use rest sticks, for I always forgot them and
shot offhand,
I cannot close this description of Lieutenant Bay
lor without mentioning his most exceUent wdf e, who
made the long, tedious journey from San Antonio
to El Paso County wdth us. She was SaUie Gar
land Sydnor, born February 11, 1842, Her father
was a wholesale merchant at Galveston, and at one
time mayor of that city, Mrs. Baylor was highly
educated and a very refined woman and a skiUful
performer on the piano. Her bright, sunny dis
position and kind heart won her friends among the
rangers at once. How sad it is to reflect that of
the twelve persons in that httie party that marched
out of San Antonio on August 2, 1879, only three
are hving: Gus SmaU, Miss Mary Baylor, and
myseff, "When we had passed Pecan Springs on DevU's
River there was not another cattie, sheep or goat
ranch until we reached Fort Stockton, two hundred
204

THE SALT LAKE WAR AND A LONG TREK
miles to the west. It was just one vast uninhab
ited country. Today it is all fenced and thousands
of as fine cattle, sheep and goats as can be found
in any country roam those hiUs. The Old Spanish
TraU traverses most of this section, and in travel
ing over it today one wdU meet hundreds of people
in high powered automobUes where forty years ago
it was dangerous for a smaU party of weU armed
men to journey, "WhUe ascending DevU's River I
learned that Lieutenant Baylor was not only a good
hunter, but a first class fisherman as weU, for he
kept the entire camp weU supphed with fine bass
and perch, some of the latter being as large as
saucers. Forty nules west of Beaver Lake we reached
Howard's WeU, situated in Howard's Draw, a trib
utary of the Pecos River, Here we saw the burned
ruins of a wagon train that had been attacked by
Indians a few months before, AH the miUes had
been captured, the teamsters kiUed and the train
of sixteen big wagons burned. Had the same In
dians encountered our httle party of ten men, two
women and two children we would aU have been
massacred. FinaUy we reached old Fort Lancaster, an aban
doned government post, situated on the east bank
of Live Oak Creek, just above the point where this
205

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
beautiful stream empties into the Pecos. We
camped here and rested under the shade of those
big old live oak trees for several days. From this
camp we turned north up the Pecos, one of the
most curious rivers in Texas, At that time and
before its waters were much used for irrigation in
New Mexico, the Pecos ran bank fuU of muddy
water almost the year round. Not more than thirty
or forty feet wide, it was the most crooked stream
in the world, and though only from four to ten
feet deep, was so swift and treacherous that it was
most difficult to ford. However, it had one real
virtue; it was the best stream in Texas for both
blue and yeUow catfish that ranged in weight from
five to forty pounds. We were some days travel
ing up this river to the pontoon crossing and we
feasted on fish.
At Pontoon Crossing on the Pecos we intercepted
the overland mail route leading from San Antonio
to El Paso by way of Fredericksburg, Fort Mason,
Menard, Fort McKavett, Fort Concho, Fort Stock
ton, and Fort Davis, thence west by Eagle Springs
through Quitman Canyon, where more tragedies
and foul murders have been committed by Indians
than at any other point on the route. Ben Frickhn
was the mail contractor. The stage stands were
built of adobe and on the same unchanging plan.
206

THE SALT LAKE WAR AND A LOI^^G TREK
On each side of the entrance was a large room. The
gateway opened into a passageway, which was
roofed, and extended from one room to the other.
In the rear of the rooms was the corraL the w-aUs
of which were six to eight feet high and two feet
thick, also of sun dried brick. One room w-as used
for cooking and eating and the other for sleeping
quarters and storage. The stage company furnished
the stage tender with supphes and he cooked for
the passengers when there were such, charging
them fifty cents per meal, which he was aUowed
to retain for his compensation,
"When the stage roUed into the station the tender
swung open the gates and the teams, smaU Spanish
mules, dashed into the corral. The animals were
gentie enough when once in the enclosure, but mean
and as wdld as deer when on the road. The stage
company would buy these httie mules in lots of
fifty to a hundred in Mexico and distribute them
along the route. The tiny animals were right off
the range and real unbroken bronchos. The mules
were tied up or tied down as the case might be and
harnessed by force. When they had been hitched
to the stage coach or buckboard the gates to the
corral were opened and the team left on the run.
The inteUigent mules soon learned aU they had to
do was to run from one station to the next, and
207

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
could not be stopped between posts no matter what
happened. Whenever they saw a wagon or a man
on horseback approaching along the road they
would shy around the stranger, and the harder the
driver held them the faster they ran.
On our way out our teams were pretty weU
fagged out, and often Lieutenant Baylor would
camp within a few yards of the road. The Spanish
stage mules would see our camp and go around
us on the run while their drivers would curse and
caU us all the vile names they could lay their tongues
to for camping in the road.
"When we camped at a station it was amusing to
me to watch the stage attendants harness those wary
htfle animals. The stage or buckboard was always
turned round in the corral and headed toward the
next station and the passengers seated themselves
before the mules were hitched. When aU was ready
and the team harnessed the driver would give the
word, the station keeper threw open the gates and
the stage was off on a dead run.
There should be a monument erected to the
memory of those old stage drivers somewhere along
this overland route, for they were certainly the
bravest of the brave. It took a man with lots of
nerve and strength to be a stage driver in the In
dian days, and many, many of them were kiUed,
208

THE SALT LAKE WAR AND A LONG TREK
The very last year, 1880, that the stage hne was
kept up several drivers were kiUed between Fort
Davis and El Paso, Several of these men quit the
stage company and joined Lieutenant Baylor's com
pany, and every one of such ex-drivers made excel
lent rangers.
From Pontoon Crossing on the Pecos River we
turned due west and traveled the stage route the
remainder of the way to El Paso County. At Fort
Stockton we secured supphes for ourselves and feed
for our horses, the first place at which rations could
be secured since leaving Fort Clark. Fort Stockton
was a large mihtary post and was quite hvely,
especiaUy at night, when the saloons and gambhng
haUs were crowded with soldiers and citizen con
tractors. At Leon Holes, ten mUes west of Fort
Stockton, we were delayed a week because of Mrs.
Baylor becoming suddenly iU. Passing through
WUd Rose Pass and up Limpia Canyon we suffered
very much from the cold, though it was only the
last of August. Coming from a lower to a higher
altitude we felt the change at night keenly. That
was the first cold weather I had experienced in the
summer. FinaUy, on the 12th day of September, 1879, we
landed safe and sound in the old town of Ysleta,
El Paso County, after forty-two days of travel from
209

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
San Antonio. Here we met nine men, the remnant
of Lieutenant Tays' Company "C" rangers. The
first few days after our arrival were spent in secur
ing quarters for Lieutenant Baylor's famUy and in
reorganizing the company. Sergeant Ludwick was
discharged at his own request, and I was made first
sergeant, Tom Swdlhng second sergeant, John Sea-
bom first corporal, and George Lloyd second cor
poral. The company was now recruited up to its
hmit of twenty men. Before winter Lieutenant
Baylor bought a fine home and fifteen or twenty
acres of land from a Mr. Blanchard. The rangers
were quartered comfortably in some adobe buUd
ings with fine corrals nearby and within easy dis
tance of the heutenant's residence. We were now
ready for adventure on the border.
When we arrived at Ysleta the Salt Lake War
had quieted down and order had been restored.
Although nearly a hundred Mexicans were indicted
by the El Paso grand jury, no one was ever pun
ished for the murder of Judge Howard and his
companions. In going over the papers of Sergeant
Ludwick I found warrants for the arrest of fifty
or more of the mob members. Though most of
the murderers had fled to Old Mexico immediately
after the kilhng of the Americans, most of them
had returned to the United States and their homes
210

THE SALT LAKE WAR AND A LONG TREK
along the Rio Grande. I reported these warrants
to Lieutenant Baylor and informed him that, with
the assistance of a strong body of rangers I could
probably capture most of the offenders in a swdft
raid down the vaUey. The heutenant declared that
he ha^ received instructions from Governor Roberts
to exercise extreme care not to precipitate more
trouble over Howard's death, and, above aU things,
not incite a race war between the Mexican offenders
and the white people of the country. He decided,
therefore, that we had better not make any move
at aU in the now dead Salt Lake War. And of
course I never again mentioned the matter to him.
Though the Salt Lake War was over, new and
adventurous action was in store for us, and within
less than a month after our arrival in Ysleta we had
our first brush with the Apaches, a tribe of Indians
I had never before met in batfle.

211

CHAPTER XII
OUR FIRST FIGHT WITH APACHES
On October 5, 1879, at midnight, Pablo Mejia
brought Lieutenant Baylor, from Captain Gregorio
Garcia of San Ehzario, a note stating that a band
of Apaches had charged a camp of five Mexicans
who were engaged in cutting hay for the stage com
pany fourteen miles north of La Quadria stage
station and killed them. As first sergeant I was
ordered to make a detail of ten men and issue them
five days' rations. I detailed Second Sergeant Tom
SwiUing, Privates Gus SmaU, George Lloyd, John
Thomas, George Harold, Doc Shivers, Richard
Head, BiU Rutherford, and Juan Garcia for the
scout, and myself made the tenth man. It required
an hour to arouse the men, issue the rations and
ammunition and pack the two mules, so it was 1
o'clock a, m. when we finaUy left Ysleta,
By dayhght we reached Hawkins Station, near
where Fabins Station now is. Here we were told
we would find the survivor of the terrible massacre.
Riding up to the door of the stage house we had
to thump some time before we had evidence that
anyone was ahve on the premises. FinaUy the
door opened about an inch very cautiously and a
212

OUR FIRST FIGHT WITH APACHES
Mexican peeped out. Lieutenant Baylor asked him
ff he had been one of the grameros or hay cutters.
"Si, senor," rephed the sleepy Mexican.
Asked for an account of the massacre, the native
said it was nearly dark when the Indians, number
ing from twenty-five to fifty, charged the camp and
uttered such horrid yeUs that everyone took to his
heels and was soon in the chaparral. The speaker
saw his pobrecita papa (poor papa) running, with
the Indians about to lance him, and knew that he
and the remainder of the party were kiUed. He
himseff only escaped. As he mentioned the tragic
death of his beloved parent the tears roUed down
his cheeks. Lieutenant Baylor comforted the
weeper as best he could and asked ff the Mexican
would not guide the rangers to the raided camp,
but the survivor dechned with thanks, saying he
must stay to help the station keeper take care of
the stage mules, but he directed us to the ranch
where some of the dead men's families hved and
at which a guide could be obtained.
When we arrived at the ranch below Hawkins
Station it was sunrise and we halted for breakfast
after a night ride of forty nules. The people at
the ranch were very uneasy when we rode up, but
were rejoiced when they reahzed we were Texas
Rangers and learned our mission. They showed us
213

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
every attention. Among the first to come out to us
was an old Mexican who had been in the hay camp
when it was attacked. He gave a lurid account of
the onset. His son had been one of the grameros,
and when he mentioned this the tears began to
flow, "Ah, hijo de mi cara Juan, I shall never see him
again," he lamented, "AH were kiUed and I alone
escaped !"
Lieutenant Baylor then explained to the weeping
father that his son was very much ahve and that
we had seen him that very night bewaUing the
death of the father he thought kUled, And it now
developed that aU the dead men were ahve! When
the camp was attacked each Mexican had scattered,
and the Apaches had been too busy looting the
stores to foUow the fugitives. Moreoverii those
ranchers would fight and the Indians did not care
to foUow them into the brush.
A bright young Mexican went with us to the hay
camp, which was about six miles toward Comales,
where Don Juan Armendaris now has a cow ranch.
The Apaches had made a mess of things in camp
sure enough. They had broken all the cups and
plates, poured salt into the sugar, this combination
into the flour and beans and the conglomeration of
the whole on the ground, as the sacks were aU they
214

OUR FIRST FIGHT WITH APACHES
wanted. The Indians smashed the coffee pot, the
frying pan, the skillet and the water barrels with
an ax. Then taking all the blankets, the raiders
started eastward as though they intended to go to
the Sierra Priela, but after going a mile the trail
turned south. We found the redskins had come
from the north by way of Los Cormuros and were
probably from Fort Stanton, New Mexico, on their
way to raid Old Mexico. They were in a dry coun
try and making for the Rio Grande, fourteen miles
to the south. "When they discovered the hay camp
on their route they charged it and fired on the hay
cutters. The Mexicans scattered and made their
escape in the darkness, each thinking himself the
sole survivor and so reporting on reaching his home,
though as a matter of fact not a single hfe was lost.
Our guide went back to give the alarm to the
ranches below and we foUowed the trail down the
mesa until opposite Guadalupe. There we crossed
the overland stage route near the present Rio
Grande Station and found our guide waiting for
us. He had discovered the traU, and fearing the
Indians might ambush the road below, he had
awaited our arrival. The trail made straight for
the Rio Grande, crossing about one mile west of
the Mexican town of Guadalupe. From the pony
and mule tracks Lieutenant Baylor judged there
215

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
were fifteen to twenty Indians in the band. We had
some trouble following the trail after we got to
the river bottom, where loose horses and cattie ran,
but a few of us dismounted and worked the trail
out, crossed the river and struck camp for dinner.
Lieutenant Baylor sent Pablo Mejia into town to
inform the president of Guadalupe that we had
followed a fresh Apache trail to the Rio Grande
going south into Mexico, and asked permission to
follow the Indians into his country. The scout soon
returned and reported that the president was not
only pleased that we had pursued the redskins, but
would wdUingly join us himself with aU the men he
could muster. Just after we crossed the river we
came across a Mexican herder with a flock of goats.
As soon as he heard we were traihng the Apaches
he began yeUing at the top of his voice and soon
had the goats on the jump for town, though the
Indians had passed the night before. We were
quickly in saddle again, and as we rode into the
pueblo we were kindly received by the people. We
found a mare the Apaches had kiUed just on the
edge of town and from which they had taken some
of the choice steaks.
After leaving Guadalupe the trail went south,
foUowing closely the stage road from Juarez to
Chihuahua. Not long after leaving town we met
216

OUR FIRST FIGHT V^TH APACHES
a courier coming to Guadalupe from Don Ramon
Arrandas' ranch, San Marcos de Cantarica, twenty-
one mUes distant, who informed us that the Apaches
had kiUed a herder on that ranch and had taken
four horses and sixteen mules of the stage company.
We hurried onward and reached Cantarica at sun
set, having traveled seventy-eight mUes since 1 a, m,
that morning. Both men and horses were rather
tired. AU was confusion at the ranch. The Mexican
herder had been shrouded and laid out with a cross
at his head and several httle hghted candles near
the body. Many women were sitting around the
room with black shawls pulled up over their heads.
The Apaches, numbering sixteen well armed and
weU mounted warriors, had slain their victim and
captured the stock near the ranch just about noon.
Mexican volunteers from Guadalupe and San Ig-
nacio began to ride in until our combined force
numbered twenty-five or twenty-six men. Every
one was excited at the thought of a brush with the
redskins responsible for the murder.
Accompanied by our volunteer alhes we left the
ranch at dayhght next morning and picked up the
trail at once. It led off south along the base of the
Armagora Mountains or Sierra Bentanos. As the
Mexicans were famihar with the country they took
217

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
the lead and foUowed the trail rapidly. About 11
o'clock the trailers halted at the mouth of the
Canyon del Moranos, an ugly black hole cut in the
mountains, looking grim and defiant enough with
out the aid of Apache warriors. "When we had
joined the Mexicans — we were travehng some half
a mile behind them — Lieutenant Baylor and Captain
Garcia held a short conference. The heutenant
turned to me and said that Captain Garcia declared
the Indians were in the canyon among the rocks,
and ordered me to detaU two men to guard our
horses while we scaled the mountain on foot and
investigated it, I could not bring myself to be
heve that a band of Indians that had kiUed a man
and driven off all the stage stock the day before
had gone only thirty miles and was now lying in
wait for us.
"You don't know the Apaches," Lieutenant Baylor
declared when I voiced my thoughts. "They are
very different from the plains Indians, the kind you
have been used to foUo^ving, These Apaches de
hght to get into the rocks and lay for their enemies,"
At the conference the Mexicans suggested that
Lieutenant Baylor should take nine of his men and
ten of their volunteers and foUow the traU up the
canyon, but the heutenant declared that this would
never do, as the Apaches had no doubt anticipated
218

OLTl FIRST FIGHT VkTTH APACHES
just such a move and hidden themselves in the
cliffs where they could kill their attackers without
exposing themselves in the least. He proposed
scaling the mountain and foUowing them down on
top of the ridge in the Indians' rear. And this was
the strategy finally adopted.
The Mexicans dismounted and started up the
mountainside about one hundred yards to our left.
Lieutenant Baylor and his ei^t rangers marched
strai^t forward from our horses and began the
ascent. As we went along the heutenant puUed
some bunch grass and stuc^ it afl around under his
hat band so his head would look hke a clump of
grass and conceal his head and body if he should
have to flatten himseff on the ground. He coun-
seUed us to foUow^ his example. I had taken some
Mexican dieese out of my saddle pockets and was
eating it as we marched carelessly up the mountain.
Honestty, I did not beheve there was an Indian
within a hundred nules of us, but it was not long
before I changed my mind. Suddenly there came
a loud report of a gun and then another. I looked
up to where the Mexicans had taken position behind
a ledge of rocks and saw where a buUet struck the
stones a foot above their heads. I did not want
any more cheese, I threw down what I had in
niy hand and spat out what I had in my mouth.
219

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
These old Apache warriors, high in the chffs
above us, then turned their attention to our httle
band of eight rangers and fired twenty-five or thirty
shots right into the midst of us. One of these big
cahber buUets whizzed so close to my head that it
made a noise like a wdld duck makes when flying
down stream at the rate of fifty to sixty miles an
hour. Lieutenant Baylor ordered us to charge at
once. In running up the mountain I was somewhat in
advance of the boys. We came to a rock ledge
three or four feet high. I quickly scaled this, but
before I could straighten up an Indian rose from
behind a rock about fifteen to twenty yards ahead
and fired point-blank at me. The buUet struck a
smaU soap weed three feet in front of me and
knocked the leaves into my mouth and face. I felt
as if I had been hit but it was leaves and not blood
that I wiped out of my mouth wdth my left hand.
I turned my head and caUed to the boys to look
out, but the warning was unnecessary, — they had
already taken shelter under the ledge of rock.
Just as I turned my head a second shot from the
Apache carried away the entire front part of my
hat brim, I saw the warrior throw another cart
ridge in his gun and brought my Winchester quickly
to bear upon him. When he saw that I was about
220

OUR FIRST FIGHT WITH APACHES
to shoot he shffted his position and turned side
ways to me. We both fired at the same instant.
My buUet hit the redskin just above his hip and,
passing straight through his body, broke the smaU
of his back and kiUed him almost instantiy. This
old brave was a big man, probably six feet taU,
with his face painted in red and blue paint. He
used an old octagon barrel Winchester rifle and he
had with him an old shirtsleeve tied at one end in
which w^ere two hundred and fifty Winchester
cartridges. Some Indians fifty yards up the mountain now
began to sheU our position, so I took shelter behind
the ledge of rock. Fffteen or twenty feet to our
left and a httle higher up the mountain. Lieutenant
Baylor was sheltered behind some boulders. He
raised his head shghtiy above his parapet for a peep
at the Indians and those keen sighted warriors saw
him; a weU directed shot cut part of the grass out
of his hat. Had the buUet been six inches lower
it would have struck him fuU in the face,
"Dam that old Indian," exclaimed Baylor, duck
ing his head, "ff I had a shot gun I would run up
and jump right on top of him,"
The heutenant was mad now and ordered a
charge. The boys hesitated, and George Harold,
an old scout, said, "Lieutenant, ff we leave this
221

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
shelter and start up the mountain the Indians hid
den behind those rocks seventy-five yards above
wUl kiU us aU,"
"Yes, I suppose you are right; they would be hard
to dislodge," rephed Baylor.
The Apaches evidenfly had plenty of ammunition,
as they kept up a desultory fire all day. Seeing we
were not going to faU into their trap they turned
their attention to our horses. Although the ani
mals were four or five hundred yards from the foot
of the mountain they kiUed Sergeant Swilhng's
horse, the buUet passing entirely through the body
just behind the shoulders. When his horse, a large
white one, staggered and tumbled over, Swdlhng
began to mourn, for he had the horror of walking
aU Western men have, John Thomas, however, got
the laugh on him by sajdng, "Sergeant, you had bet
ter wait and see if you are going back to camp."
We could see the Indians' bullets knocking up dust
aU around the horses and the guard replying to the
fire, Baylor now sent a man and had the guard
move the horses out of range.
During the afternoon the Apaches moved up
higher toward the crest of the mountain, and in
doing so one of the Indians exposed himself. The
Mexicans to our left spotted him and kiUed him
with a well directed shot. The warrior feU out in
222

OUH FIRST FIGHT WITH APACHES
open ground where he was hteraUy shot aU to
pieces. We had been wdthout water aU day and when
night came Lieutenant Baylor and Captain Garcia
decided it was useless to continue the fight any
longer, so we withdrew toward our horses. After
reaching the animals we could stiU hear the Indians
firing on our positions. We might have captured
the Apaches' horses by a charge, but we would have
had to go down the side of the mountain and across
a deep canyon where we would have been com-
peUed to pick our way slowly under a constant
cross fire from the concealed riflemen, and neither
Baylor nor Garcia thought the horses worth the
sacrifice required to capture them.
As the nearest water was thirty mUes away and
our men and horses weary and thirsty, w^e rode
back to our hospitable friend, Don Ramon Arrandas'
ranch, w^here our horses were fed and we ourselves
supphed with fresh milk and cheese. On our re
turn to Guadalupe we were most kindly entertained
by Mr. Maximo Arrandas, custom house officer at
San Elizario, and brother to Don Ramon. We
reached our headquarters at Ysleta after being out
five days and traveling two hundred and twenty-two
mUes, sustaining no other damage than a few

223

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
bruises from scaling the mountain and the loss of
Sergeant Swilhng's horse. This first brush with
Apaches, however, was but a prelude to other ex
peditions after this tribe, and we were soon hot
on the trail of Victorio, the Apache Napoleon.

224

CHAPTER XIII
SCOUTING IN MEXICO
About a month after our first brush with Apaches,
duidng November, 1879, Chief Victorio quit the
Mescalero Reservation and with a party of one hun
dred and twenty-five warriors and a hundred women
and chUdren, traveled south into Mexico on a raid.
This old chief was probably the best general ever
produced by the Apache tribe. He was a far better
captain than old Geronimo ever was and capable
of commanding a much larger force of men. His
second in command was Nana, also a very able
officer. Victorio knew- every foot of the country and just
where to find wood, water, grass and abundance of
game, so he took his time and, coming from New
Mexico down into the state of Chihuahua, stopped
first at the Santa Maria. The country about this
stream is very mountainous, especiaUy to the south,
and here he could find refuge in case of an attack
from Mexican soldiers. Of this, however, there was
not much danger at that time, for the country was
thinly setfled, farming and stock raising being con
fined to the neighborhood of the smaU towns.
Gradually Chief Victorio moved down into the Can-
225

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
delaria Mountains, approaching them from the
northwest. Here he could get fresh range for his
large band of horses and be near the settlement of
San Jose, owned by Don Mariano Samaniego. Here,
also, he could watch the pubhc road between Chi
huahua and El Paso del Norte, the present Juarez,
One of the saddest and most heartrending trag
edies resulted from this move. Victorio was
camped at the large tanks on the north side and
almost on top of the Candelaria Mountains, where
he had fine range for his stock and plenty of game
and wood. From those almost inaccessible peaks
he could see for twenty or thirty miles in every
direction and watch every move of travelers or
hostile forces. The old chief now sent a smaU
band of Indians, some six or seven in number, on
a raid against the httle settlement of San Jose,
Here the Indians stole a bunch of Mexican ponies
and hurried back to their camp on top of the Can
delaria Mountains, The citizens of San Jose dis
covered the loss of thdr ponies, and on examining
the trail, found there was only a small band of In
dians in the raiding party, A company of the prin
cipal Mexicans of San Jose, under the command of
Don Jose Rodriguez, and augmented by volunteers
from the httle town of Carrajal, left to locate the
Indians and recover the stolen horses. The httle
226

SCOUTING IN MEXICO
band of fifteen brave men went to the northern side
of the mountains and struck the traU of Victorio's
band on an old beaten route used by the Indians,
which passed from the Santa Maria River to the
Candelaria Mountains. This road wound between
two rocky peaks and then down the side of the
hills to the plain between them and the Candelaria,
ending at last at the big tank.
From his position on the taU peaks Victorio had
seen the httie body of Mexicans long before they
struck his traU and, knowing they would never come
upon the Candelaria after seeing the size of his
traU, sent forty or fifty of his warriors to form an
ambuscade where the trail crosses the crest be
tween the two peaks. He must have been with the
braves himseff, for the thing was skilff uUy planned
and executed. On the north side of the traU there
were only a few boulders, but on the south the
hUls were very broken, rising in rough tiers of
stones. The Apaches hid in these rocks and awaited
their victims. On November 7, 1879, the Mexicans
entered the narrow defile and as soon as they were
between the two parties of Indians concealed on
each side of the pass the Apaches on the north side
of the trail fired a voUey upon them. The Mexicans
thereupon made for the rocks on the south, as was
natural. As they sought refuge there the redskins
227

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
in the chffs above the gaUant httle band opened
fire on them. Caught in a real death trap the entire
punitive force was massacred. "When I walked over
the ground some time afterward I saw where one
Mexican h^d gotten into a crevice from which he
could shoot anyone coming at him from the east
or west. He was hidden also from the Indians in
the chffs above him, but his legs were exposed to
the warriors on the north side and they had hter
aUy shot them off up to his knees, I also found
seven dead Mexicans in a smaU guUey, and on a
httle peak above them I discovered the lair of one
old Indian who had fired twenty-seven shots at the
tiny group untU he had killed them aU, for I found
that number of 45-70 cartridge sheUs in one pUe,
PracticaUy aU the horses of the Mexicans were
kiUed. Some of the animals had been tied to Span
ish dagger plants and when shot ran the length of
their rope before faUing. Some of the bodies rolled
down the deep canyon until they reached the bottom
of what we caUed the Canado del Muerte (Canyon
of Death) , and the Indians removed none of the sad
dles or ropes from the dead horses.
"When the company of Mexicans did not return
there was great sorrow and alarm in the httle town
of Carrajal. As it was supposed that only a smaU
band of Apaches bent on horse steahng was in the
228

SCOUTING EST MEXICO
Candelarios, another smaU band of fourteen men
volunteered to go and see what had become of
their friends and kindred. Don Jose Mario Rod
riguez was appointed commander, and the httie
party took the traU of their comrades wdth sad
forebodings. Old Victorio, from his watch towers
in the Candelarios, saw this rescue party and pre
pared for its destruction. The signs indicated that
the second party had walked into the same death
trap as the first, but the second band had scattered
more in fighting and a good many of the Mexicans
were kiUed on the southern slope of the hiUs. Two
had attempted to escape on horseback but were
foUowed and kUled. I found one of these unfor
tunates in an open plain some six hundred yards
from the hills. He had been surrounded, and, see
ing escape was impossible, had dismounted, tied
his horse to a Spanish dagger plant and put up a
good fight. I found thirty or forty cartridge shells
near where he had faUen. His pony had been
kiUed and the dagger plant shot to pieces. The
Apaches had cut off his right hand and had carried
away his gun, sixshooter, saddle and bridle.
"When neither party returned then, indeed, was
there sorrow in the town of Carrajal, for twenty-
nine of her principal citizens had left never to re
turn. Wives, mothers, and sweethearts mourned
229

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
the loss of their dear ones. A runner was sent to
El Paso del Norte and the citizens began to organize
a punitive expedition at once, calhng on Saragosa,
Tres Jacalas, Guadalupe, and San Ignacio for their
quotas. These towns responded quickly and soon
a hundred Mexicans were ready to take the field,
A note was sent to Lieutenant Baylor at Ysleta re
questing the rangers to go wdth the command,
Baylor readily agreed to accompany the Mexicans,
for he knew it was only a question of time before
old Victorio would again be murdering and robbing
on our side of the Rio Grande, A detachment of
Company "C" had been in one Apache fight in
Mexico and the Mexicans had a very kindly feehng
for us. Lieutenant Baylor's detachment of ten
rangers crossed the Rio Grande at Saragosa, a httle
town opposite Ysleta, and joined the Mexicans
under Senor Ramos, We marched to the ranch of
Don Ynocente Ochoa until the volunteers from the
other towns came to Samalaejuca Springs. "When
they had done so the rangers moved down and our
combined command amounted to one hundred and
ten men.
After organizing their force the Mexicans sent
Senor Ramos to inform Lieutenant Baylor that, on
account of his experience as a soldier and as a
compliment to the rangers, they had selected him
230

SCOUTING IN MEXICO
to command the entire party. The heutenant
thanked the messenger, but declared, as the cam
paign was on Mexican soU to rescue or bury Mexi
cans, it would be more proper to appoint one of
their own men commander, and that he himseff
would cheerfuUy serve under any leader so chosen.
Senor Ramos returned shortly and notified Lieu
tenant Baylor that the Mexicans had selected Don
Francisco Escapeda of Guadalupe as commander-
in-chief and Lieutenant Baylor second in command.
This solution of the leadership problem pleased
us, as there was an element among the Mexican
party that might have caused friction. Old Chico
Barelo, the pueblo cacique and principal com
mander of the mob that had kUled Judge Howard,
EUis, Adkinson, and McBride at San Elizario, was
with the expedition, and we had at our Ysleta head
quarters warrants for the arrest of himself and
many others, so we gave the old feUow to under
stand we were now fighting a common enemy and
should act in harmony together. We did this more
wUhngly, because we had learned that after kilhng
Judge Howard and the others the mob wanted to
murder aU the rangers barricaded in an old adobe
house, but had been dissuaded from this purpose
by old Chico, who declared the rangers could only
be kiUed after he had first been slain,
231

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
Leaving one wagon at the Ochoa ranch and tak
ing three days' rations cooked and more in case
of a siege, we went out in the night to avoid Vic
torio's spies, Don Francisco Escapeda with Lieu
tenant Baylor were at the head of the column. Ser
geant James B, Gillett and eight rangers followed
in Indian file, each ranger with a Mexican by his
side, showing they looked on us as volunteers in
the Mexican service. We rode out along the hard
sand road beyond Samalaejuca and sent spies ahead
to locate the Apaches if possible. Before we reached
the Candelarios we halted behind some mountains
to await their report, but they could learn nothing
certain. It was a bitterly cold night and a few of
us made fires in the deep arroyos. We moved on
toward the mountains north of the Candelarios and
reached them early next morning to find a large
fresh trail about two days old going in the direction
of Lake Santa Maria, but, for fear of some strata
gem, we divided our men. One party took the
crest south of the trail where the massacre took
place while the other' went to the right.
It was soon evident that the entire Apache band
had left and that nothing remained for us but the
sad duty of coUecting the bodies of the dead Mexi
cans for burial. The second, or rescue party, had
found the bodies of their kinsmen killed in the first
232

SCOLTTNG IN MEXICO
ambuscade and had coUected them and put them
in a big crevice in the rocks, "When they began to
cover the corpses wdth loose stones the Indians,
who had been watching them aU the w-hUe just as
a cat plays with a mouse before killing it, opened
fire on the burial partj- and killed the last one of
the unfortunate men. The saddest scene I ever wit
nessed w as that presented as we gathered the bodies
of the murdered men. At each fresh discovery- of
a loved friend, brother or father and the last hope
fled that any had escaped, a waU of sorrow went
up, and I doubt if there was a dry eye either of
Mexican or Texan in the whole command,
WhUe the immediate relatives were hunting for
those who had scattered in trying to escape, we
moved south to the main tank in the Candelarios.
The ascent was up a winding path on the steep
mountainside to the bench where the tank, one of
the largest in the west, was situated. The water
coming down from a height, and big boulders faU
ing into the tank, had cut a deep hole in the sohd
rock in which the water was retained. Although
Victorio's band of three hundred animals and two
hundred or more Indians and our command had
been using the water it could scarcely be missed.
We sent scouts to the left and right to make sure
no game was being put upon us, for the cunning
233

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
old chief, after sending his women and children off,
could have hidden his warriors in the rough chff
that towered high above and commanded the tank
of water and slaughtered all those below. We re
mained all day and night at this place. It was the
most picturesque spot I had ever seen. We rangers
rambled all over this Indian camp and found many
of the Mexican saddles hidden in the cliffs and
several hats, each wdth buUet holes in it. We also
discovered two Winchester rifles that had been hit
in the fight and abandoned as useless. I saw a
hundred or more old rawhide shoes that had been
used to cover the ponies' feet and dozens of worn-
out moccasins. This party of Apaches had kiUed
and eaten more than seventy-five head of horses
and mules in this camp.
I foUowed a plain, well-beaten foot path to the
topmost peak of the Candelario or candle moun
tain, so called from the candle-hke projection of
rocks that shot skyward from its top. The Cande
lario is in an open plain fifty miles south of El Paso,
Texas, and from its top affords one of the grandest
views in northern Mexico, To the south one could
see San Jose and Carrajal, to the north the moun
tains at El Paso del Norte, to the west the moun
tains near Santa Maria River and Lake Guzman
were in plain view^ while to the east the Sierra
234

SCOUTING IN MEXICO
Bentanos loomed up, apparentiy only a few mUes
away. On this peak old Victorio kept spies con-
stanfly on the lookout, and it would have been im
possible for a party of men to have approached
without having been seen by these keen-eyed
watchers, AU the bodies having been recovered they were
buried in a crevice of the mountain where they
had been kiUed, AH were in good preservation
owing to the pure cold air of the mountains. It is
a strange fact, but one beyond question, that no
wild animal or bird of prey wiU touch the body of
a Mexican, These corpses had lain on the ground
nearly two weeks and were untouched, K they
had been the bodies of Indians, negroes or Ameri
cans the coyotes, buzzards and crows would have
attacked them the first day and night.
Nothing of interest occurred on our return trip.
The rangers, as usual, always ate up their three
days' rations the first camp they made and got
out of bread, but our Mexican alhes divided with
us. Don Ynocente Ochoa's major-domo or ranch
boss gave us aU the fresh beef we could eat and a
supply of came seco (dried beef) to take with us
on campaign. Quite a company had come out to
see us from Corrizal and we returned sadly to the
widows of the brave men who feU in this, probably
235

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
the most wholesale slaughter ever made by Vic
torio's band. The citizens of Galena were nearly
as unfortunate, but it was old Hu and Geronimo
who massacred them. AU the Saragosa men made
for their church to offer up thanks for a safe re
turn. Men, women and children uttered their
"Gracias, senors," as the Texas Rangers rode
through their town. We arrived safely in our adobe
quarters at Ysleta and appreciated them after sleep
ing out of doors.
Though Victorio had escaped us on this scout,
and though he was to murder and piUage for a time,
yet his days were numbered. Our company of
rangers were again to cross into Mexico in pursuit
of him, but, though, one year later, he and eighty-
nine of his braves were kiUed by the Mexicans
under Colonel Joaquin Terrazas, the rangers were
not to take part in defeating him. However, our
rangers were destined to annihUate a smaU band
that escaped deserved destruction at that time when
it resumed its depredations in Texas,

236

CHAPTER XIV
TREACHEROUS BRAVES, A FAITHFUL DOG,
AND A MURDER
During the latter part of January, 1880, two min
ing engineers named Andrews and WiswaU from
Denver, Colorado, appeared at the ranger camp in
Ysleta, They had a new- ambulance puUed by two
elegant horses and led a fine saddle pony. They
were weU fitted out for camping and had the finest
big black shepherd dog I had ever seen, Mr, An
drews used a Springfield whUe Mr, WiswaU carried
a Sharps sporting rifle, besides they had shotguns
and sixshooters. These miners wanted to buy one
hundred pack burros and, not finding what they
wanted in the Rio Grande VaUey, decided to go
over in the upper Pecos VaUey near Eddy or Ros-
weU, New Mexico, for pack animals. They con
sulted Lieutenant Baylor about the best route they
should foUow. He advised them to travel down
the overland stage route to Fort Davis, thence by
Toyah Creek and on up the Pecos, but the engineers
thought this too much out of their way and con
cluded to travel by the old abandoned Batterfield
stage route, which leads by Hueco Tanks, Alamo
Springs, Cornudas Mountain, Crow Flat, Guada-
237

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
lupe Mountain and thence to the Pecos River, Lieu
tenant Baylor warned the men that this was a very
dangerous route, without a hving white man from
Ysleta to the Pecos River, more than one hundred
and fifty miles distant, and through an Indian coun
try aU the way.
Nevertheless, Andrews and WiswaU selected this
latter route, and the third day out from our camp
reached the old abandoned stage station at Crow
Flat about noon. This was in an open country and
from it one could see for nules in every direction,
A cold north wind was blowing, so, for protection,
the two men drove inside the old station waUs, un
hitched and hobbled their horses and pony and were
soon busUy baking bread, frying bacon and boihng
coffee, not dreaming there was an Indian in the
country, though they had been warned to look out
for them. Like all men travehng in that country
the two miners had the appetite of coyotes and be
came deeply absorbed in stowing away rations.
Unnoticed, the horses had grazed off some three or
four hundred yards from the station and the two
men were suddenly startied by a yelhng and the
trampling of horses' feet. Looking up, Andrews
and WiswaU saw ten or twelve Indians driving off
their horses.
Seizing their guns, the two white men started
238

A F.\nHFLX DOG .AND A MURDER
after the thieves at top speed. Both being W^estem
men and good shots, they hoped, by opening on the
redskins with their long range guns, to get close
enough to prevent them from taking the hobbles
off the horses. But the animals made about as good
time as if they had been foot loose. This fact was
weU known to the Texas Rangers, who hobbled and
side hned also and, even then, their horses when
stampeded would run as fast as the guards could
keep up with them on foot. The Apaches can't be
taught anything about horse steahng — they are al
ready past masters at the art. And whUe some of
the Indians halted and fought Andrews and Wis
waU the others ran the horses off and got away
with them. The two miners returned to camp feel
ing very blue indeed.
A councU of war was held and they were unde
termined the best course to pursue. To walk back
one hundred mUes to El Paso and pack grub,
blankets and water was no picnic. On the other
hand, it was probably seventy-five mUes to the
Pecos, but they finaUy decided to take the shortest
way to assistance, which proved the traditional
longest way. They determined to stay within the
friendly adobe of the old stage stand untU night.
To keep up appearances they rigged up two dummy
sentinels and put them on guard. They had no
239

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
fear of an attack at night, especially as they had
a dog to keep watch. They left the station at dark,
Shep, the dog, wanted to go with them, but the men
put a sack of com and a side of bacon under the
ambulance and made him understand he was to
guard it. They then set out and followed the old
stage route along a horrible road of deep sand. At
daybreak they were near the point of the Guadalupe
Peak, and after having traveled on foot about
twenty-five miles they were pretty well worn out.
The old stage road here turns to the right and
gradually winds around the mountain to get on
the mesa land. It makes quite a circuit before get
ting to the next water. Pine Springs, but there was
an old Indian traU that leads up the canyon and
straight through. As Andrews and WiswaU were
afoot and taking aU the short cuts, they took this
trail. It was late in the day when, in a sudden
bend of the trail, they came in fuU view of an
entire village of Indians coming towards them.
The redskins were only two or three hundred yards
off and discovered the white men at once.
Under such circumstances the two pedestrians
had to think quickly and act at once. They could
not hope to escape by running, for most of the
Indians were mounted. Fortunately, to the south
of the trail there was a sharp sugar loaf peak, and
240

A FAITHFUL DOG AND A MURDER
for this Andrews and WiswaU made wdth aU speed.
Reaching the summit they hastily threw up breast
works of loose rocks and as soon as the Indians
came into sight they opened ih-e on them. The
redskins returned the fire, but soon discovered th^
were wasting ammunition and ceased firing. The
besieged, suspicious of some stratagem, kept a sharp
lookout, and soon discovered the Indians were
craw-hng upward to the barricade and pushing boul
ders before them to shelter their bodies. The boys
decided to keep perfectiy still, one on each side,
and watch for a chance to kill a savage.
The w-atcher on the west side, w^here the fading
light stiU enabled him to see, saw a mop of black
hair rise cautiousty over an advancing rock. He
fired at once. The head disappeared and the boul
der went thundering down the hill with the two
white men running over the warrior, w^ho was kick
ing around like a chicken with its head cut off. As
good luck would have it most of the attackers were
on the east side, taking it for granted the men would
try to escape in that direction. Before the aston
ished Apaches could understand just what was oc
curring, the men, running hke old black-taued
bucks, were out of hearing, whUe night spread her
dark mantle over them in kindness. Being good

241

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
woodsmen, the fugitives had no trouble in shaping
their course to Crow Flat again.
Worn out and weary after travehng more than
fifty miles on foot and with not a wink of sleep for
thirty-six hours, they made the old stage stand and
found their dummy sentinels stiU on guard with
the faithful shepherd dog at his post. He was over
joyed at the return of his masters. At the old
adobe station Andrews and WiswaU were in a meas
ure safe, for they had water and grub and the walls
of the stand, five feet or more high, would shelter
them. Since the Apaches had made no attempt to
kill the dog or rob the ambulance, the miners were
satisfied that the Indians, after stealing their horses,
had kept on their way to the Mescalero Agency,
near Tularosa. This stage station was on the high
way of these murderous, thieving rascals, who were
constantly raiding Texas and Chihuahua, and in
their raids they had made a deep trail leading north
from Crow Flat or Crow Springs, as some caU it,
toward the Sacramento Mountains,
After the fugitives had rested they decided they
would puU out after dark and hoof it for Ysleta.
The fifty miles' walk over a rough country had
pretty well worn out their shoes, so they used
gunny sacks to tie up their sore and bleeding feet.
Again giving Shep his orders, with heavy hearts
242

A FAITHFLX DOG AND A MLTU)ER
Andrews and WiswaU turned their faces to the
Comudos Mountains, wdth the next stage station
twenty-five mUes distant wdthout one drop of water
on the w^ay. They were so tired and foot-sore they
did not reach Comudos untU late the next day.
Here they hid in the rocks, among the shady nooks
of which they found cold water and sweet rest.
After several days the two men dragged their weary
bodies, more dead than ahve, into Ysleta and to
the ranger camp.
Lieutenant Baylor ordered me to take eight
rangers, and wdth two mules, proceed to Crow Flat
to bring in the ambulance Andrew's and WiswaU
had abandoned there. The first day we made the
Hueco Tanks. Hueco is Spanish for tanks, and in
the early days travelers speUed it Waco. Many wUd
adventures have occurred at these tanks — ^fights be
tween the Mexicans and the Comanches. During
the gold excitement this was the main immigrant
route to Cahfomia. Here, too, the overland stage
route had a stand. The names of Marcy, General
Lee, and thousands of others could be seen written
on the rocks. The Indians themselves had drawn
many rude pictures, one of which was quite artistic
and depicted a huge ratflesnake on the rock under
the cave near the stage stand on the eastern side
of Hueco. 243

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
Many times when scouting in the Sacramento and
Guadalupe Mountains I have camped for the night
in the Huecos, Sometimes the water in the tanks
had been all used up by the travelers but there was
always plenty of good cool rain water twenty-five
feet above the main ground tanks. Often I have
watered my entire command by scahng the moun
tain to those hidden tanks and, filhng our boots and
hats with water, poured it on the flat, roof-hke
rocks so it would run down into the tanks below
where our horses and mules would be watered in
good shape. The city of El Paso, I am told, now
has a fine graded road to those old historic moun
tains and many of its citizens enjoy an outing there.
Our next halt was at the Alamose, across the
beautiful plains, at that time covered with antelope
that could be seen scudding away wdth their swift
change of color looking hke a flock of white birds.
Here we found some Indian signs at the flat above
the springs, but it was at Cornudos that we again
saw the old signs of the Apaches. This Cornudos
is a strange conglomeration of dark granite rocks
shot high in the air in the midst of the plains by
some eruption of the earth in ages past. This was
the favorite watering place of the Tularosa Agency
Indians on their raids into Texas and Mexico.
From Cornudos to Crow Flat is a long, monot-
244

A FAITHFUL DOG AND A MURDER
onous tramp of twenty-five or thirty mUes, and we
arrived in the night and were prompfly chaUenged
by the faithful sentinel, old Shep. Although we
were strangers, the dog seemed to recognize us as
Americans and friends. He went wdld with joy,
barked, roUed over and over and came as near
talking as any African monkey or goriUa could.
We gave him a cheer. The faithful animal had
been there alone for nearly fifteen days. His side
of bacon was eaten and the sack of com getting
very low. The rangers were as much dehghted as
ff it had been a human being they had rescued.
The dog had worn the top of the waU of the old
stage station perfectiy smooth whUe keeping off
the sneaking coyotes. Tracks of the latter were
thick aU around the place, but Shep held the fort
with the assistance of the dummy sentinels. We
found everything just as the owners, Andrews and
WiswaU, had left it.
As was my custom, I walked over the ground
where the Apaches and Messrs. Andrews and Wis
waU had had their scrap. Near an old dagger
plant I found where an Indian had taken shelter,
or rather tried to hide himseff, and picked up a
number of Winchester .44 cartridge shells. We
secured the ambulance and our return journey was

245

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
wdthout incident. We arrived back in our camp
after making the two hundred miles in a week,
Mr, Andrews presented Lieutenant Baylor with
a beautiful Springfield rifle, I don't know whether
Andrews or WiswaU are ahve, but that Mexican
shepherd dog is entitled to a monument on which
should be inscribed, "FIDELITY,"
In the spring of 1880 two brick masons, Morgan
and Brown, stopped at our quarters in Ysleta on
their way from Fort Craig, New Mexico, to San
Antonio, Texas. They had heard that some freight
wagons at San Ehzario would soon return to San
Antonio and were anxious to travel back with them.
These men spent two or three days in the ranger
camp and seemed very nice chaps and pleasant talk
ers. One of them, Mr, Morgan, owned one of the
finest pistols I ever saw. It was pearl handled and
silver mounted. Our boys tried to trade for it, but
Morgan would not part with the weapon.
After the two men had been gone from our camp
three or four days word was brought lo Lieutenant
Baylor that two men had been found dead near
San Ehzario, The heutenant sent me with a detaU
of three rangers to investigate. At San Ehzario
we learned that the dead men were at Colhns' sheep
ranch, four miles from town. On arriving there
we found, to our surprise and horror, that the dead
246

A FAriHFLX DOG AND A ilLTlDER
men were Morgan and Brown, who had left our
camp hale and hearty just a few days before. It
was surmised that the men had camped for the
night at the sheep ranch and had been beaten to
death with hea\-y mesquite sticks. They had been
dead tw^o or three days and were stripped of their
clothing, their bodies being partly eaten by coyotes.
On repairing to his sheep ranch Mr. Colhns found
the dead bodies of Morgan and Brown, his shepherds
gone and his flocks scattered over the country. Mr.
Colhns gave the herders' names as Santiago SkeviU
and Manuel Moleno, After beating out the brains
of their unfortunate victims the Mexicans robbed
the bodies and ht out for parts unknown.
As the murderers were on foot and had been
gone three or four days, I found it very difficult to
get their traU, as loose stock grazed along the
bosques and partiaUy obhterated it. As There
was a number of setflements and several htfle
pueblos along the river, I knew ff I did not f oUow
the Mexicans' tracks closely I could never teU where
they had gone, so I spent the remainder of the day
trying to get the traU from camp. We were com-
peUed to f oUow it on foot, leading our horses. We
would sometimes be an hour trailing a nule.
On the foUow-ing day I was able to make only
ten mUes on the trail, but I had discovered the gen-
247

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
eral direction. I slept on the banks of the Rio
Grande that night, and next morning crossed into
Mexico, and found that the murderers were going
down the river in the direction of Guadalupe. I
now quit the trail and hurried on to this httle Mexi
can town, Travehng around a short bend in the
road I came suddenly into the main street of Guad
alupe, and almost the first man I saw standing on
the street was a Mexican with Morgan's white-
handled pistol strapped on him,
I left two of my men to watch the suspect and
myself hurried to the office of the president of
Guadalupe, made known my mission and told him
I had seen one of the supposed murderers of Mor
gan and Brown on the streets of his city, and asked
that the suspect be arrested. The official treated
me very cordially and soon had some pohce officers
¦gD~with me. They found the two suspected Mexi
cans, arrested them and placed them in the hous-
gow. The prisoners admitted they were Colhns'
sheep herders and said their names were Moleno
and SkevUl but, of course, denied knowing any
thing about the death of Morgan and Brown, AU
my rangers recognized the pistol taken from the
Mexican as the weapon owned by Mr, Morgan. The
Mexican officers reported to the alcalde or town
president that the suspects had been arrested. The
248

A FAITHFUL DOG AND A MURDER
latter official then asked me ff I had any papers
for these men. I told him I did not, for at the time
I left my camp at Ysleta we did not know the na
ture of the murder or the names of the parties in
criminated. I declared I was sure the men arrested
had committed the murder and that I would hurry
back to Ysleta and have the proper papers issued
for the prisoners' extradition. The alcalde prom
ised to hold the suspects until the proper formah-
ties could be comphed wdth.
From Guadalupe to Ysleta is about fifty or sixty
nules, I felt the importance of the case, and whUe
I and my men were foot-sore and weary, we rode aU
night long over a sandy road and reached camp at
Ysleta at 9 o'clock the foUowing morning. Lieu
tenant Baylor at once appeared before the justice
of the peace at Ysleta and filed a complaint of mur
der against Manuel Moleno and Santiago Skevill,
had w^arrants issued for their arrest and himseff
hurried to El Paso, crossed the river to El Paso
del Norte and, presenting his warrants to the au
thorities, asked that the murderers be held until
apphcation for their extradition could be made.
Within a week we learned, much to our disgust,
that the two murderers had been liberated and told
to vamoose, I doubt whether the warrants were

249

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
ever sent to the alcalde at Guadalupe, A more cruel
murder than that of Morgan and Brown was never
committed on the Rio Grande, yet the murderers
went scot-free. This miscarriage of justice rankled
in my memory and subsequentiy it was to lead me
to take the law into my own hands when deahng
with another Mexican murderer.

250

CHAPTER XV
VICTORIO BECOMES A GOOD INDIAN
As soon as the summer rains had begun in 1880
and green grass and water were plentfful, old Vic
torio again began his raids. He appeared at Lake
Guzman, Old Mexico, then traveled east to Boracho
Pass, just south of the Rio Grande, This old chief
was then reported making for the Eagle Mountains
in Texas, The Mexican Government communicated
this ufformation to General Grierson at Fort Davis,
Texas, and Lieutenant Baylor was asked to cooper
ate in the campaign to exterminate the wUy old
Apache. General Grierson, on receipt of this information,
at once put his cavalry in motion for Eagle Springs,
and on August 2, 1880, Baylor left his camp at
Ysleta with myseff and thirteen rangers equipped
for a two weeks' campaign. On August 4th our
httie band reached old Fort Quitman, eighty nules
down the Rio Grande from El Paso, and Lieutenant
Baylor reported to General Grierson by telegraph.
His message was interrupted, for the Apaches had
cut the wires between Bass' Canyon and Van Horn's
WeU, but the general ordered him by telegram to
scout toward Eagle Springs imtU his command
251

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
should meet the United States cavalry. We were
to keep a sharp lookout for Indian trails, but we
saw none until we reached Eighteen MUe water
hole, where General Grierson's troops had had an
engagement with Victorio. From here the Indians
went south and around Eagle Mountains, so we
continued down the road beyond Bass' Canyon and
found the Apaches had crossed the road, torn down
the telegraph wire, carried off a long piece of it,
and destroyed the insulators. The Indians also
dragged some of the telegraph poles two or three
miles and left them on their trail. The signs in
dicated they had from one hundred and eighty to
two hundred animals. After destroying the tele
graph the raiders finaUy moved north toward Car-
rizo Mountains.
At Van Horn, Lieutenant Baylor could learn
nothing of General Grierson or his movements. We
thereupon took the general's trail leading north
and overtook him in camp at Rattiesnake Springs,
about sixty-five miles distant. Here we joined Com
pany "K," Eighth Cavalry, and Captain Nolan's
company, the Tenth. The cavalry camped at Car-
rizo Springs and our scouts found Victorio's traU
the next day leading southwest toward the Apache
Tanks. We left camp at dusk and rode aU night
and struck the redskins' trail next morning at the
252

MCTORIO BECOMES A GOOD INDIAN
stage road where General Grierson had fought. The
Indians crossed the road, but af terwards returned
to it and continued toward old Fort Quitman.
The overland stage company kept a station at
this abandoned frontier post, situated on the north
bank of the Rio Grande, eighty or ninety nules east
of El Paso, Texas. On August 9, 1880, Ed Walde,
the stage driver, started out on his drive wdth Gen
eral Byrnes occupying the rear seat of the stage
coach. The stage, drawn by two fast running httie
Spanish mules, passed down the vaUey and entered
the canyon, a very box-like pass with high moun
tains on either side, — an ideal place for an Indian
ambuscade. Walde had driven partly through this
pass when, around a short bend in the road, he
came suddenly upon old Victorio and his band of
one hundred warriors. The Indian advance guard
fired on the coach immediately, and at the first
voUey General Byrnes was f ataUy wounded, a large
caliber buUet striking him in the breast and a sec
ond passing through his thigh. Walde turned his
team as quickly as he could and made a lightning
run back to the stage stand with the general's body
hanging partly out of the stage. The Apaches fol
lowed the stage for four or five nules trying to
get ahead of it, but the htfle mules made time and

253

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
beat them into the shelter of the station's adobe
walls. It was a miracle that Walde, sitting on the front
seat, escaped wdthout a scratch and both of the
mules unharmed. At old Fort Quitman I examined
the httle canvas-topped stage and found it hteraUy
shot to pieces, I noticed where a bullet had glanced
along the white canvas, leaving a blue mark a foot
long before it passed through the top. Three of
the spokes of the wheels were shot in two and, as
weU as I remember, there were fifteen or twenty
buUet marks on and through the stage. Lieutenant
Baylor and his rangers buried General Byrnes near
old Fort Quitman and fired a voUey over his grave.
Subsequently Walde joined Lieutenant Baylor's
command and made an exceUent ranger. It was
from him that I obtained the particulars of the
fight that resulted in the general's death.
En route the Apaches raided Jesus Cota's ranch,
killed his herder and drove off one hundred and
forty head of cattle. In crossing the river forty of
the animals mired in the quicksands. The heart
less Indians thereupon pounced upon the unfortu
nate cattle and cut chunks of flesh out of their hv
ing bodies. Many of the mutUated animals were
still ahve when we found them. The redskins, with
a freakish sense of humor, perpetrated a grim joke
254

VICTORIO BECOMES A GOOD INDIAN
on the murdered herder. He was rendering out
some taUow when surprised and kUled, so the mur
derers rammed his head into the melted taUow to
make him a greaser !
After the fight at Quitman, Victorio and his band
crossed into Mexico and there found temporary
safety, as the United States troops were not per
mitted to enter that country in pursuit of Indians,
though negotiations to permit such pursuit of In
dians were even then pending between the two
governments. Alone, we were no match for Vic
torio's hundred braves, so we returned to our camp.
Victorio, however, did not remain idle in Mexico.
He made a raid on Dr, Saminiego's San Jose ranch
and stole one hundred and seventeen horses and
mules, besides killing two Mexican herders, Don
Ramon Arranda, captain of the Mexican Volunteers,
invited the rangers to Mexico to cooperate wdth him
in exterminating the Apaches, so, on September 17,
1880, Lieutenant Baylor wdth thirteen rangers, my
seff included, entered Mexico and marched to
Tancas Cantaresio, Don Arranda's ranch. Here we
were joined by Mexican volunteers from the towns
of Guadalupe, San Ignacio, Tres Jacalas, Paso del
Norte, and from the Texan towTis of Ysleta, Socorro,
and San Elizario, untU our combined force num
bered over a hundred men, 255

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
On the night of the 19th we crossed an Indian
trail south of the Rancheria Mountains, but could
not teU the number of redskins in the party, as
it was then dark and the trail damaged by rain.
The same night we saw Indian signal fires to the
east of the Arranda ranch. Next morning, with a
detail of five rangers and ten Mexican volunteers,
I scouted out in the direction of the fires but did
not have time to reach the sign, as I was ordered
to take and hold the Rancheria Mountains before
old Victorio and his band reached them.
At Lucero, the first stage stand, the Apaches were
reported within a league of Carrizal. We made a
night march with our rangers and seventy-three
volunteers, but found the Indians had left, and, as
a heavy rain had put out the trail, we struck east
toward El Copra Mountains. Here we again picked
up the trail and, foUowing it until night, we found
a few loose horses of Saminiego's. The marauders
now went west toward some tanks and we returned
to Candelario, where Victorio's entire band had
crossed the Chihuahua stage road. Thence we
marched back to San Jose and went into camp to
await the arrival of General Joaquin Terrasas.
The Mexican general made his appearance on the
3rd day of October with two hundred cavalry and
one hundred infantry. This general, a member of
256

VICTORIO BECOMES A GOOD INDIAN
a weU known famUy of Chihuahua, was more than
six feet in height, very dark and an inveterate
smoker of cigarettes. He used four milk white
horses, riding one whUe his aides led three. His
cavalry, weU armed with Remington pistols and
carbines, was nicely unfformed and mounted on
dark colored animals of even size. The infantry
were Indians from the interior of Mexico. These
foot soldiers wore rawhide sandals on their feet and
were armed wdth Remington muskets. Each sol
dier carried two cartridge belts, containing one hun
dred rounds of ammunition. I was impressed wdth
the httle baggage and rations these infantrymen
carried. On the march each man had a httie can
vas bag that held about one quart of ground parched
com, sweetened with a httie sugar — and a table-
spoonful of this mixture stirred in a pint cup of
water made a good meal. Of course when in a
cattle country plenty of beef was furnished them,
but when on the march they had only this httle
bag of corn. This lack of baggage and rations en
abled them to move quickly and promptiy. This
hght infantry had no trouble at aU in keeping up
with the cavalry on the march and in a rough coun
try they could move faster than the horsemen.
With General Terrasas' three hundred soldiers
and our hundred volunteers we could bring to bear
257

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
against Victorio about four hundred men. From
San Jose the combined command marched to Rebo-
sadero Springs, twenty miles south of El Caparo,
on the new Chihuahua stage road. There we rested
two days and then marched forty miles to Boracho
Pass, where the Apaches had camped after kiUing
General Byrnes and steahng Jesus Cota's stock.
We crossed the Indians' trail twenty miles west of
the pass and formed our hne of battle, as we ex
pected the enemy was camped at some tanks there.
He did not appear, so we camped at the pass to
await supphes.
When the supply wagons arrived. General Ter
rasas sent an orderly to Lieutenant Baylor and in
vited him to send his men to draw ten days' rations.
"While I was standing in my shirtsleeves near the
wagon one of the Mexican soldiers stole from my
belt a fine hunting knife that I had carried ten
thousand miles over the frontier. I discovered the
loss almost immediately and reported it to Lieu
tenant Baylor, who, in turn, mentioned it to Gen
eral Terrasas. The Mexican general at once had
his captains form their respective companies and
had every soldier in camp searched, but the knife
was not found. The thief had probably hidden it
in the grass. The Mexican volunteers remained
with General Terrasas until after the defeat of Vic-
258

VICTORIO BECOMES A GOOD INDIAN
torio, and one of them told me afterward he had
seen a Mexican soldier scalping Apaches with it.
Just one year later an orderly of General Terrasas
rode into the ranger camp at Ysleta and presented
Lieutenant Baylor, then a captain, with the miss
ing weapon and a note stating that Terrasas was
glad to return it and to report that the thief had
been punished,
"While at Boracho we were joined by Lieutenant
Shaffer, the Twenty-third United States Cavalry
(negroes). Lieutenant Manney, Captain Parker and
sixty-five Apache scouts. These latter were Geron-
imo's Chiricauhaus, who later quit their reserva
tion and wrought such death and destruction in
Arizona, New Mexico, and Old Mexico, From the
first General Terrasas viewed these Indian alhes
with distrust, and as soon as we had scouted south
east from Boracho to Los Pinos Mountains, about
seventy-five mUes distant, and learned that Vic
torio's trail turned southwest toward Chihuahua,
General Terrasas caUed Captain Parker, Lieuten
ants Baylor, Shaffer and Manney to his camp and
informed them that, as the traU had taken a turn
back into the state of Chihuahua and was leading
them away from their homes, he thought it best for
the Americans to return to the United States. I was
present at this conference and I at once saw my
259

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
chance for a scrap with old Victorio go glimmering.
But there was nothing to do but obey orders, pack
up and vamoose.
"While on scouts after Victorio's band I met many
United States officers, and often around the camp
fire discussed this old chief. The soldiers aU agreed
that for an ignorant Indian Victorio displayed great
mihtary genius, and Major McGonnigal declared,
with the single exception of Chief Crazy-horse of
the Sioux, he considered Victorio the greatest In
dian general that ever appeared on the American
continent. In foUowing this wily old Apache Napo
leon I examined twenty-five or more of his camps.
Victorio was very particular about locating them
strategicaUy, and his parapets were most skiUfuUy
arranged and built. If he remained only an hour
in camp he had these defenses thrown up. He had
fought in over two hundred engagements, but his
last fight was now very close at hand.
The very next morning after the United States
troops, the Apache scouts and the Texas rangers
turned homeward General Terrasas' scouts reported
to him that Victorio with his entire band of fol
lowers was camped at Tres Castilos, a smaU group
of hills about twenty-five miles southwest of the
Los Pinos Mountains. General Terrasas at once
set his column in motion for that place. Captives
260

VICTORIO BECOMES A GOOD INDIAN
afterward declared that Victorio's spies reported the
presence of the Mexican cavalry early in the day
and thereafter kept him informed hour by hour as
to the movements of the approaching enemy.
Victorio had just sent his war chief. Nana, and
fifty of his best young warriors away on a raid, so
he had left in his camp just an even hundred braves,
some of them very old men. He also had ninety-
seven women and chUdren and about five hundred
head of horses and mules, yet the remarkable old
Indian made no move to escape. By nightfaU Gen
eral Terrasas drew up near the Apache camp, sur
rounded the three hills as best he could and waited
untU morning before assaulting the enemy. During
the night twelve of Victorio's warriors, with four
women and four chUdren, deserted the old chief
and made their way back to the Eagle Mountains
in Texas. Here they committed many depredations
untU exterminated three months later in the Diablo
Mountains by Lieutenants Baylor and NeviU.
Early the foUowing morning Victorio mounted a
white horse and, in making some disposition of his
braves to meet the expected onset of the enemy
forces, exposed himseff unnecessarily. The Mexi
cans fired on him at long range and two buUets
pierced his body. He feU from his horse dead, —
a good Indian at last. 261

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
The loss of Victorio and the absence of Nana de-
morahzed the Apaches, and a vigorous assault by
Terrasas and his army resulted in a complete vic
tory for the Mexicans. Eighty-seven Indian war
riors were killed, whUe eighty-nine squaws and
their chUdren were captured wdth a loss of only
two men kUled and a few wounded. This victory
covered General Terrasas wdth glory. The Mexican
Government never ceased to shower honors upon
him and gave him many thousands of acres of land
in the state of Chihuahua. The general was so
elated over the outcome of the battle that he sent
a courier on a fast horse to overtake Lieutenant
Baylor and report the good news. The messenger
caught us in camp near old Fort Quitman. Every
ranger in the scout felt thoroughly disgusted and
disappointed at missing the great fight by only two
days after being with General Terrasas nearly a
month. The captured women and children were sent
south of Mexico City into a chmate perfecfly un
natural to them. Here they all died in a few years.
When Nana heard of the death of Victorio and
the capture of the squaws and children he fled with
his fifty warriors to the Sierra Madre Mountains
in the State of Sonora, Mexico. There he joined
forces with old Geronimo and massacred more
262

VICTORIO BECOMES A GOOD INDIAN
people than any smaU band of Indians in the world.
To avenge himseff on Terrasas for kiUing his friends
and carrying away their wives and chUdren, Nana
and his band killed more than two hundred Mexi
cans before joining Geronimo. Nana, with his new
chief, surrendered to General Lawton in 1886 and,
I beheve, w^as carried away by our government to
Florida, where he at last died.
On our return to camp at Ysleta a commission as
captain was waiting Lieutenant Baylor, since Cap
tain Neal ColdweU had been named quartermaster
of the battahon, his company disbanded and its
letter, "A," given to our company.
Though we missed the fight wdth Victorio it was
not long before we were caUed upon to scout after
the band of twelve warriors that had deserted the
old chief on the night before the batfle of Tres
Castilos. However, we had first to clean up our
company, for many undesirable recruits had seeped
into it. This accomphshed, we were ready to re
sume our Indian warfare.

263

CHAPTER XVI
SOME UNDESIRABLE RECRUITS
In the early fall of 1880 two well mounted and
well armed men appeared at the ranger camp at
Ysleta and apphed to Captain Baylor for enhstment
in his company. After questioning the applicants
at some length the captain accepted them and swore
them into the service. One gaVe his name as John
(Red) Holcomb and the other as James StaUings.
Unknown to us, both these men were outlaws and
joined the rangers solely to learn of their strength
and their methods of operations. Holcomb was a
San Simone Valley, Arizona, rustler and was hving
under an assumed name. StaUings, though he went
by his true name, had shot a man in Hamilton
County, Texas, and was under indictment for as
sault to kill.
These two recruits came into the service just
before we started on our fall campaign into Mexico
after old Victorio and were with us on that long
scout. Although one was from Texas and the other
from Arizona, the two chummed together and were
evidently in each other's confidence. StaUings had
not been long in the company before he showed
himself a trouble maker. 264

SOME UNDESIRABLE RECRUITS
As orderly sergeant it was my duty to keep a
roster of the company. Beginning at the top of the
hst and reading off the names in rotation, I caUed
out each morning the guard for the day. We had
in the company a Mexican, Juan Garcia, who had
always hved in the Rio Grande country, and Cap
tain Baylor had enhsted him as a ranger that he
might use him as a guide, for Garcia was famihar
wdth much of the country over which we were
caUed upon to scout. It so happened that Jim
StaUings and Garcia were detailed on the same
guard one day. This greatly offended StaUings,
and he declared to some of the boys that I had
detailed him on guard with a Mexican just to humil
iate him and he was going to give me a d — n good
whipping. The boys advised him he had better not
attempt it. I could see that Stalhngs was suUen,
but it was not until months af terv, ard that I learned
the cause.
After our return from our month's scout in Mex
ico, Captain Baylor received a new fugitive hst
from the Adjutant-General, and in looking over its
pages my eyes f eU on the hst of fugitives from Ham
Uton County, Texas. Almost the first name thereon
was that of James StaUings with his age and de
scription. I notified Captain Baylor that Stalhngs
was a fugitive from justice. Baylor asked me what
265

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
Stalhngs had been indicted for and I replied for
assault to kiU.
"Well, maybe the darned feUow needed kilhng,"
rephed the captain. "StaUings looks hke a good
ranger and I need him."
Not many days after this I heard loud cursing
in our quarters and went to investigate. I found
Stalhngs with a cocked pistol in his hand standing
over the bed of a ranger named Tom Landers, curs
ing him out. I could see StaUings had been drink
ing and finally persuaded him to put up his pistol
and go to bed. The next morning I informed Cap
tain Baylor of the incident, and suggested that if
we did not do something with Stalhngs he would
probably kill someone. The captain did not seem
inchned to take that view. In fact, I rather beheved
Captain Baylor hked a man that was somewhat
"on the prod," as the cowboys are w^ont to say of
a fellow or a cow that wants to fight.
John Holcomb soon found out as much about the
rangers as he desired and, fearing he might be dis
covered, asked Captain Baylor for a discharge.
After obtaining it he took up his abode in El Paso,
Not long afterwards one morning at breakfast,
while the twenty rangers were seated at one long
dining table, Jim Stalhngs had a dispute with John
Thomas, who was seated on the opposite side of
266

SO]ME LTSTOESIRABLE RECRLTTS
the table and, quick as a flash, struck Thomas in
the face wdth a tin cup of boihng coffee. Both men
rose to their feet and puUed their pistols, but be
fore they could stage a shooting match in the place
the boys on either side grabbed them,
I at once went to Captain Baylor and told him
that something had to be done. He seemed to be
thoroughly aroused now and said, "Sergeant, you
arrest Stalhngs, disarm and shackle him, I'U send
him back where he belongs."
I carried out the order prompfly and Captain
Baylor at once wrote to the sheriff of HamUton
County to come for the prisoner. Hamilton County
is seven hundred miles by stage from El Paso and
it took a w^eek to get a letter through. There was
no jaU at Ysleta at that time, so we were compeUed
to hold this dangerous man in our camp.
Stalhngs was shrewd and a keen judge of human
nature. We would sometimes remove the shackles
from him that he might get a httie exercise,
FinaUy it came the turn of a ranger named Potter
to guard the prisoner. Potter had drifted into the
country from somewhere up north, and Captain
Baylor had enlisted him. He knew veiy- htfle about
riding and much less about handling firearms,
Stalhngs asked Potter to go with him out into the
corral. This enclosure was buUt of adobe and
267

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
about five feet high. It was nearly dark and the
prisoner walked leisurely up to the fence with
Potter following close behind with Winchester in
hand. All of a sudden Stalhngs turned a hand
spring over the fence and hit the ground on tiie
other side in a run. Potter began firing at the
fugitive, which brought out all the boys in camp.
Stalhngs had only about one hundred yards to run
to reach the Rio Grande, and before anything could
be done he was safe in Mexico. He yelled a good
bye to the boys as he struck the bank on the oppo
site side of the river. Captain Baylor was furious
over the prisoner's escape and promptly fired Potter
from the service and reprimanded me for not keep
ing Stalhngs shackled all the time.
Though we had lost the man we had his horse,
saddle, bridle and arms. Stalhngs at once went to
Juarez and John Holcomb met him there. The fugi
tive gave his pal an order on Captain Baylor for
his horse, saddle, and pistol, and Holcomb had the
gall to come to Ysleta and present this order. He
reached our camp at noon while the horses were
aU in the corral. At the moment of his arrival I
happened to be at Captain Baylor's home. Private
George Lloyd stepped over to the captain's and said
to me, "Sergeant, John Holcomb is over in camp

268

SOME UNDESIRABLE RECRUITS
with an order from Jim StaUings for his horse
and outfit."
"GiUett, you go and arrest Holcomb and put him
in irons and I'U see ff I can find w^here he is wanted,"
ordered Captain Baylor, who heard what Lloyd said.
Holcomb, seeing Lloyd go into Captain Baylor's,
got suspicious, jumped on his horse and left for
El Paso in a gaUop. I detaUed three men to ac
company me to capture Holcomb, but by the time
we saddled our horses and armed ourselves the
fugitive was out of sight. We hit the road running
and after traveling two or three mUes and inquiring
of people we met in the road I became convinced
that Holcomb had quit the road soon after leaving
our camp and was striking for Mexico. I turned
back in the direction of camp and foUowed the bank
of the river.
We had probably traveled a mUe on our way
home when we discovered Holcomb coining up the
river toward us. He was about four hundred yards
away and discovered us about the same time.
Turning his horse quickly he made a dash for the
river. "Where he struck it the bank was ten feet
high, but he never hesitated, and both man and
horse went head first into the Rio Grande. The
three men 1 had wdth me outran me and when they
reached the point where the fugitive had entered
269

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
the water they saw him swimming rapidly to the
Mexican side and began firing at him. I ran up
and ordered them to cease, telhng them not to kill
Holcomb, as he was in swimming water and help
less. Just at this moment the swimmer struck shal
low water and I ordered him to come back or I
would shoot him.
"I'll come if you won't let the boys kill me," he
called back.
I told him to hit swimming water quickly, which
he did, and swam back to the American side. He
was in his shirtsleeves and wdth his hat gone. His
horse, meantime, had swam back to our side of
the river.
We all mounted and started back to camp, two
of the rangers riding in front with Holcomb. I had
not searched the prisoner because he was in his
shirtsleeves. As we rode along Holcomb reached
into his shirt bosom and pulled out an old .45 pistol
and handed it to one of the boys, saying, "Don't
tell the sergeant I had this." The rangers at camp
gave the prisoner some dry clothes and dinner,
then put him in chains and under guard.
Captain Baylor went on to El Paso, crossed the
river to Juarez and had Stalhngs arrested. In two
days we had him back in camp and chained to
Holcomb, The captain then wrote to Bell County,
270

SOME UNDESIRABLE RECRUITS
Texas, as he had heard John Holcomb was wanted
there for murder, Holcomb had a good horse and
he gave it to a lawyer in El Paso to get him out
of his trouble. Of course we had no warrant for
Holcomb's arrest and Judge Blacker ordered our
prisoner brought before him. The county attorney
made every effort to have Holcomb held, while his
lawyer tried his best to have the suspect released.
The judge finaUy said he would hold Holcomb for
one week and unless the officers found some evi
dence against him during that time he would order
the prisoner freed. It was nearly dark before we
left El Paso on our return to Y'sleta, twelve mUes
distant. Holcomb had, in some manner, gotten two
or three drinks of whisky and was feeling the hquor.
I had one ranger wdth me leading the prisoner's
horse. The road back to camp foUowed the river
rather closely and the country was very brushy aU
the way.
As soon as we had gotten out of El Paso Holcomb
sat sidewdse on his horse, holding the pommel of
his saddle wdth one hand and the cantie wdth the
other, aU the while facing toward Mexico. I ordered
him to sit straight in his saddle, but he refused.
We were riding in a gaUop and I beheve he intended
to jump from his horse and try to escape in the
brush. I drew my pistol and hid it behind my leg.
271

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
Although Holcomb had the cape of his overcoat
thrown over his head he discovered I had a pistol
in my hand and began a tirade of abuse, declaring
I had a cocked gun in my hand and was aching for
a chance to kill him. I told him I beheved from
his actions he was watching for a chance to quit
his horse and escape, and that I was prepared to
prevent such a move. We reached camp safely and
chained Holcomb to StaUings,
These boys, although prisoners, were fuU of hfe,
and laughed and talked aU the time. Holcomb
played the viohn quite well. We held the two sus
pects several days and finaUy one night one of the
rangers came to my room and said, "Sergeant, I
beheve there is something wrong with those pris
oners. They are holloaing, singing and playing the
fiddle," I was busy on my monthly reports and told him
to keep a sharp lookout and before I retired I would
come and examine the prisoners. On examination
I found that while Holcomb played the viohn StaU
ings had sawn their shackles loose. They laughed
when I discovered this and said that when the boys
had all gone to bed they intended to throw the pack
saddle, which they used for a seat, on the guard's
head and escape. We could get no evidence against
John Holcomb and the judge ordered his release.
272

SOME UNDESIRABLE RECRUITS
WhUe a prisoner Holcomb swore vengeance
against myseff and Prosecutor Neal. Mr. Neal
heard of this threat, met Holcomb on the streets
of Fl Paso afterward and, jerking a smaU Derringer
pistol from his pocket, shot Holcomb in the beUy.
Holcomb feU and begged for his hfe. He was not
badly hurt, and as soon as he was weU he quit El
Paso, went to Deming, New Mexico, where he stole
a bunch of cattie. He drove the stolen herd to the
mining camp of Lake VaUey and there sold them.
"WhUe he was in a saloon drinking and playing his
fiddle the ow-ner of the cattie appeared with a shot
gun and fiUed the thief fuU of buckshot. As he
feU Holcomb was heard to exclaim, "Oh, boys,
they have got me at last."
Jim Stalhngs was sent to Fort Davis and placed
in the jaU there, from which he and haff a dozen
other criminals made their escape.
A man named John Scott came to Captain Baylor,
told a hard luck story, and asked to be taken into
the service. Captain Baylor enhsted the apphcant
and fitted him out wdth horse, saddle, bridle and
armed him wdth gun and pistol, himseff standing
good for the entire equipment. Scott had not been
in the service two months before he deserted. I
was ordered to take two men, f oUow him and bring
him back. I overtook Scott up in the CanutUlo,
273

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
near the hne of New Mexico, and before I even
ordered him to halt, he jumped down, sought refuge
behind his horse and opened fire on us with his
Winchester. We returned the fire and kiUed his
horse. He then threw down his gun and surren
dered. We found the deserter had stopped in El
Paso and gotten a bottle of whisky. He was rather
drunk when overtaken, otherwise he probably
would not have made fight against three rangers.
Captain Baylor took Scott's saddle, gun and six-
shooter away from him and kicked him out of
camp, but was compeUed to pay $75 for the horse
that was kiUed.
Another man, Chipman, deserted our company
and stole a bunch of horses from some Mexicans
down at Socorro. The Mexicans foUowed the traU
out in the direction of Hueco Tanks, where it turned
west and crossed the high range of mountains west
of El Paso. The pursuers overtook Chipman with
the stolen horses just on the hne of New Mexico.
The thief put up a fierce fight and kUled two Mexi
cans, but was himself kiUed. Captain Baylor had
a scout following the deserter but the Mexicans
got to him first and had the fight before our men
arrived. However, the ranger boys buried the body
of Chipman where it feU. This chap had made a
very good ranger and we aU felt shocked when we
274

SOME L'NDESIRABLE RECRUITS
learned he had stolen seven ponies and tried to get
away with them single-handed.
Yet another San Simone VaUey rustier. Jack
Bond, enlisted in the company. A band of rustiers
and cow thieves were operating up in the CanutUlo,
eighteen mUes above El Paso, about the time he
joined the command. I did my best to break up
this band and made scout after scout up the river,
but wdthout success. FinaUy Captain Baylor l^imed
that Bond and another ranger, Len Peterson, were
keeping the thieves posted as to the rangers' move
ments. The captain fired these two men out of the
company and within ten days I had captured Frank
Stevenson, the leader of the CanutUlo gang, and
broken up the nest of thieves. Stevenson was later
sent to the penitentiary for fifteen years. Bond
and Peterson went to El Paso, stole Mayor M. C.
Coffin's fine pair of carriage horses and fled to New
Mexico. Subsequentiy Bond was kUled at Deming
by Deputy Sheriff Dan Tucker in an attempted
arresL Captain Roberts, ColdweU or Lieutenant Reynolds
would never have let such a bunch of crooks get
into their companies, for they had to know some
thing about a man before they would enhst him.
However, there was some excuse for Baylor at the
time he was on the Rio Grande. It was a long way
275

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
from the center of population and good men were
hard to find. Then, too, it looked as if aU the crim
inals in Texas had fled to New Mexico and Arizona,
from which states they would ease back into the
edge of Texas and join the rangers. Captain Bay
lor was hberal in his views of men: they aU looked
good to him until proven otherwise. If there was
a vacancy in the company any man could get in.
And if they lacked equipment the captain would
buy the newcomer a horse, saddle, and arms and
then deduct the cost thereof from the man's first
three months' pay. However, Baylor had generaUy
to pay the bill himself. The captain also hked to
keep his company recruited to the hmit and this
made enhstment in his command easy.
In all the years I was wdth Captain Baylor I never
knew him to send a non-commissioned officer on a
scout after Indians. He always commanded in per
son and always took with him every man in camp
save one, who was left to guard it, for he hked to
be as strong as possible on the battlefield.
Captain Baylor never took much interest person-
aUy in foUowing cattle thieves, horse thieves, mur
derers and fugitives from justice. He left that al
most entirely to me. Sometimes we would have
as many as six or eight criminals chained up in
camp at one time, but the captain would never come
276

SOME UNDESIRABLE RECRUITS
about them, for he could not bear to see anyone in
trouble. His open, friendly personahty endeared
Baylor to the Mexicans from El Paso down the val
ley as far as Quitman. They were aU his com-
padres and would frequentiy bring him venison,
goat meat and mutton. Always they showed him
every courtesy in their power.
Now, having freed the company of its undesir
able recruits, we were once more a homogeneous
force ready and anxious to perform our duty in
protecting the frontier and bringing criminals to
justice. Almost as soon as the last undesirable
had been fired from Company "A" we started on
the scout that was to culminate in our last fight
with the Apaches.

277

CHAPTER XVII
LAST FIGHT BETWEEN RANGERS AND
APACHES
Despite General Terrasas' great victory at Tres
CastiUos as recorded in a preceding chapter, he
did not entirely destroy aU the Apaches that had
been with old Victorio. Nana and fifty warriors
escaped and flnaUy joined Geronimo in his cam
paign of murder and destruction. On the night
preceding the battle in which Victorio was kiUed
and his band of warriors exterminated twelve
braves wdth four squaws and four children deserted
the old chief and made their way to those rough
mountains that fringe the Rio Grande in the vicinity
of Eagle Springs. At once this band of twenty
Indians began a series of piUages and murders that
has no paraUel considering the smaU size of the
party. The htfle band of Apaches soon appeared at Paso
Viego and began their depredations by an attack
on Lieutenant MUls and his cavalry. Paso Viego
is a gap in the mountains that paraUel the Rio
Grande from Eagle Mountains on the west to Brites'
ranch on the east, and is situated ten or twelve
miles west of and in plain view of the present httle
278

LAST FIGHT, RANGERS AND APACHES
town of Valentine, Texas, on the G., H. & S. A.
Railroad. The tribe of Pueblo Indians has hved
at the old town of Ysleta, El Paso County, Texas,
for more than three hundred years. They have
always been friends to the Americans and invet
erate enemies to the Apaches. It was customary,
therefore, for the United States troops at Fort Davis
to employ the Pueblos as guides during the Indian
disturbances along the border. In 1881 Bemado
and Simon Olgin, two brothers, were the principal
chiefs of this tribe. Bemado was the elder and
looked it. Both chiefs dressed in the usual Indian
fashion, wore moccasins, buckskin leggins and had
their long black hair braided and hanging down
the back. Simon was a very handsome Indian,
and he, with four of his tribe — aU nephews of his,
I think — ^were employed by General Grierson during
the troublesome times of 1880-1881.
Simon and his four scouts had been detaUed to
make scouts down on the Rio Grande wdth Lieu
tenant MiUs, commander of the Tenth United States
Cavalry (colored). On their way out the troops
reached Paso Viego early in the evening, and after
they had eaten supper Simon Olgin advised the
heutenant to move out on the open plains three or
four mUes north of the pass where they would be
safe from attack. Olgin declared Paso Viego was
279

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
a favorite camping place for the Indians going to
and returning from Mexico because of the fine
water and good grass. He stated that should a
band of redskins appear at the pass during the
night and find it occupied by soldiers they would
attack at dayhght and probably kiU some of the
troopers. Lieutenant MUls, fresh from West Point, rephed
that he was not afraid of Indians and did not pro
pose to move. During the night the httle band of
twenty Apaches reached the pass, just as Olgin had
prophesied, and hid themselves in the rocks. The
next morning the soldiers had breakfast, packed
their mules, and as they were standing by their
horses ready for the order to mount a sudden fusil
lade of bullets was fired into their midst at short
range. Other voUeys came in quick succession. At
the very first fire that grand old Indian, Simon Olgin,
was shot down and kiUed, as were five or six of
the negro cavalry. The remainder of the company
thereupon fled, but the four Pueblo scouts, Olgin's
nephews, took to the rocks and fought untU they
had routed the Apaches and saved the bodies of
their old beloved uncle and the soldiers from falling
into the hands of the attackers to be mutilated.
Repulsed at Paso Viego the twenty Apaches next
appeared at Bass' Canyon, a gap in the mountains
280

LAST FIGHT, RANGERS AND APACHES
on the overland stage road about twelve or fourteen
nules west of Van Horn. Here the redskins way
laid an immigrant train on its way to New Mexico.
At the very first fire of the Indians Mrs. Graham,
who was walking, jumped upon the tongue of the
wagon and reached for a Winchester, but was shot
and kiUed. A man named Grant was kiUed at the
same time, whUe Mr. Graham had his thigh broken.
From Bass' Canyon the Indians turned south,
crossed around the east end of the Eagle Mountains
and again entered Old Mexico, where they were
for a time lost to view.
We next hear of this band at Ojo Cahenta, some
hot springs on the Rio Grande southwest from
Eagle Mountains. A captain of cavalry wdth some
colored troops near old Fort Quitman detailed seven
men and instructed the sergeant in charge to scout
down the river as far east as Bosque Bonita, keep
a sharp lookout for Indian signs and report back
to camp in one week. These troopers foUowed
orders, and on their return journey camped for the
night at Ojo Cahenta. Next morning at break of
day the soldiers were preparing to cook breakfast
when the Apaches feU upon them and kiUed aU
save one at their first assault. This single survivor
made his escape on foot, and after two days in the
mountains without food finaUy reached the soldier
281

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
camp and reported to his captain. The Indians
evidently located the soldier scout the evening be
fore but, as they never make a night attack, waited
until dayhght to massacre their victims. The red
skins captured all the soldiers' equipment and bag
gage, including seven horses and two pack mules.
They piUaged the camp and took everything mov
able away wdth them. Before resuming their jour
ney the Apaches took six stake-pins made of iron
and about twenty inches long that were used by the
soldiers to drive into the ground as stakes to which
to fasten their horses and drove one through each
soldier's corpse, pinning it firmly to the earth. The
captured stock was kiUed and eaten, for the soldiers'
animals were fat whUe most of the ponies and httle
mules of the Apaches were worn out by constant
use in the mountains, and consequently very poor.
This band was not heard of again for nearly two
months — until the warriors set upon the stage at
Quitman Canyon and killed the driver, Morgan, and
the gambler, Crenshaw, a passenger. The reports
about this stage robbery and murder were so con
flicting and the impression so strong that the driver
and the passenger had themselves robbed the stage
and made Indian signs to avert suspicion that Cap
tain Baylor deemed it best to go down to the canyon
and investigate for himself. Accordingly, the cap-
282

LAST FIGHT, RANGERS AND APACHES
tain made a detaU of fourteen privates and one cor
poral, and wdth ten days' rations on two pack miUes
left Ysleta on January 16th to ascertain if possible
whether the stage had been robbed and the driver
and passenger kiUed by Indians or by white men,
and to punish the robbers ff they could be caught.
To keep dowTi disorder and violence threatened at
El Paso, the captain left me and a detaU of three
men in our camp at Ysleta.
At Quitman, Captain Baylor learned that the
traU of the stage robbers bore southwest to Ojo
Cahenta, and as the foothiUs of Quitman Mountains
are very rough, he went downi the north bank of
the Rio Grande, as he felt quite certain he would
cut signs in that direction. About twenty-five nules
below Quitman he struck the traU of a freshly shod
mule, two barefooted ponies and two unshod mules,
and within fifty yards of the traU he found the kid
glove thought to have been Crenshaw's. The traU
now bore down the river and crossed into Mexico,
where the Indian band made its first camp. Cap
tain Baylor foUowed, and the next day found the
Apaches' second camp near the foothiUs of the Los
Pinos Mountains, where we had left General Ter
rasas the faU before. Here aU doubts about the
Indians were dispeUed, as the rangers found a horse
kiUed with the meat taken as food and a pair of
283

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
old moccasins. Besides, the camp was selected on
a high bare hiU after the custom of the Indians.
The same day Captain Baylor found another camp
and a dead mule, and on the trail discovered a boot-
top recognized as that of Morgan, the driver. Here
also was the trail of some fifteen or twenty mules
and ponies, quite fresh, coming from the direction
of the Candelario Mountains with one smaU traU
of three mules going toward the Rio Grande. The
rangers passed through some very rough, deep
canyons and camped on the south side of the Rio
Grande, this being their second night in Mexico.
Next morning the trail crossed back into Texas.
Going toward Major Carpenter's old camp above
the Bosque Bonito the scouting party found a camp
where the Indians had evidentiy made a cache, but
Captain Baylor only tarried here a short time and
foUowed on down the river a few nules when he
found the Apaches had struck out on a bee hne for
the Eagle Mountains. The captain felt some hesi
tation about crossing the plains between the Eagle
Mountains and the Rio Grande in the daytime for
fear of being seen by the Indians, but as the traU
was several days old he took the risk of being dis
covered. He camped within three or four mUes
of the mountains and at daybreak took the trail
up a canyon leading into the peaks. The party
284

LAST FIGHT, RANGERS AND APACHES
came sudderUy upon an Apache camp which had
been hastUy deserted that morning, for the Indians
left blankets, quUts, buckskins and many other
things useful to them. They had just kiUed and
had pUed up in camp two horses and a mule, the
blood of which had been caught in tin vessels.
One mule's tongue was stewing over a fire and
everything indicated the redskins were on the eve
of a joUy war dance, for the rangers found a five-
gaUon can of mescal wine and a horse skin sunk
in the ground that contained fifteen or twenty gal
lons more. Here Captain Baylor found the mate
to Morgan's boot-top and a bag made from the legs
of the passenger's pantaloons, besides express re
ceipts, postal cards and other articles taken from
the stage. The night before had been bitterly cold
and the ground had frozen hard as flint rock, so
the rangers could not get the traU, though they
searched the mountains in every direction, and the
three Pueblo Indians, Bemado Olgin, Domingo
Olgin, and Aneseta Duran, looked over every foot
of the ground. The scouting party now turned
back toward Mexico to scout back on the west side
of the Eagle Mountains around to Eagle Springs in
search of the traU,
At Eagle Springs, as good luck would have it,
Captain Baylor learned that Lieutenant NeviU and
285

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
nine men had just gone toward Quitman to look
for him. As soon as Lieutenant NeviU returned to
the Springs he informed Baylor that he had seen
the trail six miles east of Eagle Springs and that
it led toward the Carrizo Springs or Diablo Moun
tains, Captain Baylor's rations were out and Lieutenant
NeviU had oiUy supphes enough to do the combined
force five days, but the two commanders trusted
either to catch the Indians or get in striking dis
tance of the Pecos settlements within that time.
The Apaches made pretty good time across the
plain in front of Eagle Springs, and did not seem
to recover from their scare until they reached the
Diablo Mountains. Here they killed and cooked
meat from one horse and obtained water by melt
ing snow with hot rocks.
The trail led northward by Chih Peak, a noted
landmark to be seen from Eagle Station, Here the
rangers quit the trail and went into the Diablo
Mountains to camp at Apache Tanks, where Gen
eral Grierson cut off Victorio from the Guadalupe
Mountains the summer before. Next morning Cap
tain Baylor foUowed the trail north and camped on
the brow of chffs overlooking Rattlesnake Springs.
The sign now led to the edge of the Sierra Diablo,
where the Indians camped and slept for the first
286

LAST FIGHT, RANGERS AND APACHES
time since leaving Eagle Mountains. They were
stiU watchful, as they were near a most horrible
looking canyon dowm which they could have dis
appeared had the scouting party come upon them.
Their next camp was about ten mUes farther on,
and Captain Baylor saw they were getting more
careless about camping. On the 28th he came
across another horse and fire where the Apaches
had eaten some meat. The leg of the horse was
not yet stiff and blood dropped from one when
picked up. The chase was getting to be exciting,
and Captain Baylor and his men felt their chance
to avenge the many outrages committed by this
band was now near at hand.
The traU led off north as though the redskins
were going toward the Cornudos in New Mexico,
but turned east and entered Sierra Diablo Moun
tains. In a narrow gorge the rangers found where
the Indians had eaten dinner, using snow to quench
their thirst, but their horses had no water. From
this camp the Apaches made for the cliffs on the
northeast side of DevU Mountains, The scouting
party now felt the Indians were nearby, as they
were nearly aU afoot. The danger of being dis
covered ff they passed over the hUls during the day
hght was so apparent that the rangers decided to
make a dry camp and pass the mountain's brow
287

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
before day the next morning, AU the signs were
good for a surprise; the trail was not over two
hours old, and a flock of doves passing overhead
going in the direction of the traU showed that water
was nearby.
The morning of the 29th of January the party
was awakened by the guard, and passed over the
mountain's brow before dayhght. There was some
difficulty in picking up the trail, though Captain
Baylor, Lieutenant NeviU and the Pueblo trailers
had been up the evening before spying out the land.
By stooping down wdth their faces close to the
ground the Pueblos got the trail leading north along
the crest of the mountains. Soon the Indian guides
said in low voices: "Hoy esta los Indias." And Cap
tain Baylor perceived the Apaches' camp fires not
over half a mile distant.
Leaving a guard of five men with the horses the
rangers advanced stealthUy on foot. By taking
advantage of the crest of the mountain they crept
within two hundred yards of the camp, supposing
the Indians were camped on the western slope of
the hill. The Apaches, however, were cautious
enough to put one tepee on the eastern slope over
looking the valley and the approaches from that
direction. Captain Baylor thereupon ordered Ser
geant Carruthers of Lieutenant NeviU's company to
288

LAST FIGHT, RANGERS AND APACHES
take seven men and make a detour to the left and
attack that wigwam while Lieutenant NeviU and
himseff with seventeen men advanced on the east
ern camp. Sheltering themselves behind some large
Spanish dagger plants and advancing in Indian file
the attackers got within one hundred yards of the
enemy, who was apparently just out of bed, for it
was then sunrise. Halting the men deployed to the
right and left and then, kneehng, the rangers gave
the astonished Indians a dehberate volley. At the
second fusillade the Apaches broke and fled, the
rangers charging the flying foe wdth a Texas yell.
Sergeant Carruthers executed his orders in gal
lant style. The Apaches on his side, alarmed and
surprised by the fire of Captain Baylor's force, hud
dled together and three were killed within twenty
yards of their camp fire. The redskins ran like
deer and made no resistance, for it was each man
for himself. Nevertheless, as they fled they were
thickly peppered, as there were but two or three
out of the party of sixteen or eighteen but left
blood along their trail as they ran off.
One Indian the rangers named Big Foot (from
his enormous track) ran up the mountain in fuU
view for four hundred yards, and not less than
two hundred shots were fired at him, but he passed
over the hill. Sergeant Carruthers and several men
289

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
pursued the fugitive for a mile and a half and
found plenty of blood all the way. Another war
rior was knocked down and lay as though dead
for some time, but finaUy regained his feet and
made two-forty time over the hills with a running
accompaniment of Springfield and Winchester balls.
One brave stood his ground manfully, principaUy
because he got the gable end of his head shot off
early in the action.
Of course the women were the principal sufferers.
As it was a bitterly cold, windy morning and aU ran
off wdth blankets about them few of the rangers
could tell braves from squaws, and in the confusion
of battle two women were killed and one mortally
wounded. Two children were killed and a third
shot through the foot. One squaw wdth three bul
lets in her hand and two chUdren were captured.
Seven mules and nine horses, two Winchester rifles,
one Remington carbine, one United States cavahy
pistol and one .40 double action Colt's, six United
States cavalry saddles taken from the troops klUed
at Ojo Cahente and some women's and children's
clothing, American made, — evidently those of Mrs.
Graham, — a Mexican saddle with a buUet hole in
it and fresh blood thereon and over a hundred and
fifty yards of new cahco fell as spoil to the victors,
AU the Indians' camp equipage was burned,
290

LAST FIGHT, RANGERS AND APACHES
The victorious rangers breakfasted on the battie-
ground, as they had eaten nothing since dinner the
day before. Some of the men found horse meat
good, whUe others feasted on venison and roasted
mescal. The band of scouts could not remain long
at this camp for water was very scarce. They had
forty head of stock to care for, and the Indians,
in their flight, ran through the largest pool of water
and hberaUy dyed it with their blood, and as none
of the men were bloodthirsty enough to use this for
making coffee or bread they were short of water.
However, the rangers found enough pure good
water for their use but the horses had to wait until
the force reached Apache Tanks, thirty mUes dis
tant. This scarcity of water made it impossible to
remain at this Apache camp, otherwise Captain
Baylor could have added three or four scalps to
his trophies. The return march was begun, and at
Eagle Station Lieutenant NeviU and Captain Baylor
separated. The captured squaw and the two chil
dren were sent to Fort Davis to be turned over to
the post commander for medical attention, for the
rangers had neither a sifl-geon nor a hospital.
On their return from the battie of the Diablos,
Captain Baylor's Pueblo Indian scouts. Chief Ber-
nado Olgin, Domingo Olgin, and Aneseta Duran,
suddenly halted about one mUe from Ysleta, un-
291

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
saddled and unbridled their tired little ponies and
went into camp. This was their custom after a
successful campaign against their Apache enemies
so that their comrades might come out and do
honor to the returning heroes. For three days and
nights a feast and a scalp dance was held by the
whole of the Pueblo tribe of Ysleta, They feasted,
wined and dined their returning warriors and in
vited the rangers to the festivities. The boys aU
went and reported they had a fine time generaUy.
This celebration was the last scalp dance the Pueblo
Indians ever had, for the destruction of the Apaches
in the Diablos exterminated the wild Indians and
there were no more of them to scalp.

292

CHAPTER XVIII
AN INTERNATIONAL EPISODE
The American citizens of Socorro, New Mexico,
during Christmas week of 1881, held a church fes
tival, and Mr, A, M, Conkhn, editor of the "Socorro
Sun," was conducting the exercises, Abran and
Enofrio Baca appeared at the church under the in
fluence of hquor. Their talk and actions so dis
turbed the entertainment that Mr. Conkhn went to
them and requested them to be more quiet, at the
same time teUing the offenders they were perfectly
welcome in the church but that they must behave.
The brothers, highly indignant, invited Mr, Conkhn
to fight, but Mr, Conkhn dechned and again assured
the two that they were welcome but must act as
genflemen, Abran and Enofrio at once retired
from the church.
After the social had ended and as Mr. Conkhn
wdth his wife at his side passed out of the church
door, Abran Baca caught Mrs. Conkhn by one arm
and jerked her away from her husband. At the
same instant Enofrio shot and killed the editor on
the church steps.
This foul murder created no end of indignation
in the httle town of Socorro. Scouting parties were
293

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
sent in all directions to try and effect the capture
of the murderers. However, the two Bacas man
aged to elude their pursuers and made their way
into the Repubhc of Mexico, The governor of New
Mexico at once issued a proclamation offering $500
for their capture and the citizens of Socorro offered
a like amount for the murderers, dead or ahve.
The proclamation, with a minute description of the
Baca boys, was sent broadcast over the country.
And, of course, the rangers at Ysleta received sev
eral of the circulars.
In the spring of 1881 the county judge of El Paso
County was Jose Baca, an uncle of the two mur
derers. He was also a merchant at Ysleta, then
the county seat of El Paso County. Captain Bay
lor's company of rangers was quartered in the west
end of Ysleta, about one-half mile from the pubhc
square. On receiving the New Mexico proclama
tion I set a watch over the home and store of Judge
Baca and kept it up for nearly a month but with
out success. We finally concluded that the Baca
boys had not come our way and almost forgot the
incident. However, one morning in the latter part of March,
1881, Jim Fitch, one of our most trustworthy
rangers, hurried back to camp from Ysleta and in
formed me that he had seen two weU dressed Mex-
294

AN INTERNATIONAL EPISODE
ican boys, strangers to him, sitting on the porch
of Judge Baca's home, I at once made a detail of
four men. We saddled our horses, rode to town,
rounded up the Baca home and captured two strange
Mexicans, I beheved them to be the Baca brothers,
and left at once for New Mexico with my prisoners.
Before we had reached El Paso on our journey
we were overtaken by Judge Baca, who had wdth
him an interpreter. He asked me to please halt
as he wished to talk wdth the prisoners. After a
short conversation wdth the boys the judge asked
me what was the reward for the capture of Abran
Baca. I rephed, "Five hundred doUars."
"If you wiU just let him step out in the bosque
and get away I wdU give you $700," Judge Baca
finaUy said wdth some hesitation.
Subsequentiy the judge raised the bribe to one
thousand doUars, but I irfformed him there was
not enough money in El Paso County to buy me
off, so he returned to Ysleta and I continued my
journey to New Mexico, feehng assured I had at
least captured one of the Conkhn murderers. On
arriving at Socorro I was at once informed that I
had Abran aU right but my second prisoner was
Massias Baca, a cousin of the murderers, but not
incriminated in the crime.
I was treated royaUy by the citizens and oflficers
295

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
of Socorro. They were dehghted that one of the
murderers had been captured and promptly counted
out to me $250 as their part of the reward offered
for the apprehension of one of the criminals.
Colonel Eaton, head deputy sheriff of the county,
issued me a receipt for the body of Abran Baca
dehvered inside the jail of Socorro County, New
Mexico. This receipt, forwarded to the governor
of the territory, promptly brought me a draft for
$250 and a letter of thanks from his exceUency.
Early in April, about one month after the cap
ture of Abran Baca, I learned from Santiago Cooper,
a friend that hved in Ysleta, that he had seen a
man at Saragosa, Mexico, who, from the description,
he beheved to be Enofrio Baca, I told Cooper I
would give him $25 if he would go back to Saragosa
and find out to a certainty if the person he had seen
was Enofrio Baca, A week later Cooper came to
me and said the man at Saragosa was Baca and
that the murderer was clerking in the one big store
of the town. This store was a long adobe buUding
situated against a hiU wdth the front facing so that
one riding up to the front of it would bring his
saddle skirts almost on a level with the buUding
because of the terraces in front of it made necessary
by the slope of the hill, Enofrio was of florid com-

296

AN INTERNATIONAL EPISODE
plexion wdth dark red hair, which made it easy to
identify him,
I kept this information about the murderer to
myself for nearly a week while I pondered over it,
I was anxious to capture Baca, yet I well knew from
previous experience that if I caused him to be ar
rested in Mexico the authorities there would turn
him loose, especially when the influence of wealthy
relatives was brought to bear. Knowing he would
follow the law to the letter I dare not take Captain
Baylor into my confidence. Saragosa, a httle town
of about five hundred inhabitants, is situated about
four miles southwest of Ysleta. "While it is only
about a mile from the Rio Grande as the crow flies,
yet, because of the many farms and big irrigation
ditches, it was impossible to enter or leave the town
only by foUowing the pubhc road between Ysleta
and Saragosa. It has always been the dehght of
border Mexicans to get behind an adobe wall or
on top an adobe house and shoot to ribbons any
hated gringo that might be unfortunately caught
on the Mexican side of the river. I knew only too
well from my own experience that I could not go
into Saragosa, attempt to arrest a Mexican, stay
there five minutes and hve, yet I determined to
take the law in my own hands and make the
attempt. 297

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
I took into my confidence just one man, George
Lloyd. If ever there was an ace in the ranger
service he was one, I unfolded my plans to him,
I did not have to point out the danger to him for
he had hved on the Rio Grande ten times as long
as I,
"Sergeant, that is an awful dangerous and risky
piece of business and I wdU have to have a httle
time in which to think it over," he said when I
talked wdth him.
The next day Lloyd came to me and said, "Ser
geant, I wiU go anywhere in the world with you."
Though wilhng to accompany me I could teU he
doubted our abihty to execute the capture.
I planned to attempt the capture of Baca the next
morning and sent Cooper back to Saragosa to look
over the situation there once more. He informed
me on his return that Baca was stiU clerking in the
store, I now told Lloyd to keep our horses up
when the animals were turned out to graze next
morning. This move caused no especial thought
or comment, for the men frequently would keep
their horses to ride down town. As soon as we had
crossed the Rio Grande into Mexico I planned to
quit the pubhc road, travel through the bosques,
pass around on the west side of Saragosa and ride
quickly up to the store in which our man was work-
298

AN INTERNATIONAL EPISODE
ing. Lloyd was to hold the horses while I was to
dismount, enter the store and make the arrest.
Then, if possible, I was to mount Baca behind Lloyd
and make a quick get-away.
Our plans were carried out almost to the letter.
We reached Saragosa safely, and while Lloyd held
my horse in front of the store I entered and dis
covered Baca measuring some goods for an old
Mexican woman. I stepped up to him, caught him
in the collar, and wdth a drawn pistol ordered him
to come wdth me. The customer promptly fainted
and feU on the floor. Two other people ran from
the building, screaming at the top of their voices.
Baca hesitated about going with me, and in broken
Enghsh asked me where he was to be taken. I in
formed him to Paso del Norte. I shoved my pistol
right up against his head and ordered him to step
hvely. When we reached our horses I made Baca
mount behind Lloyd. I then jumped into my sad
dle and, waving my pistol over my head, we left
Saragosa on a dead run. Our sudden appearance
in the town and our more sudden leaving bewUdered
the people for a few minutes. They took in the
situation quickly, however, and began ringing the
old church bell rapidly, and this aroused the whole
population. As I left Saragosa I saw men getting their horses
299

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
together and knew that in a few minutes a posse
would be foUowing us. When we had gone two
miles almost at top speed I saw that Lloyd's horse
was faihng, and we lost a httle time changing Baca
to my mount. We had yet two miles to go and
through deep sand most of the way. I could see a
cloud of dust and shortly a body of mounted men
hove in view. It was a tense moment, Lloyd thought
it was all off wdth us, but we stiU had a long lead
and our horses were running easily. As our pur
suers made a bend in the road we discovered nine
men in pursuit. As soon as they had drawn up
within six hundreds yards they began firing on us.
This was at long range and did no damage. In fact,
I beheve they were trying to frighten rather than
to wound us as they were just as hkely to hit Baca
as either of us. We were at last at the Rio Grande,
and while it was almost one hundred yards wide
it was flat and shallow at the ford, I hit the water
running and as I mounted the bank on good old
Texan soil I felt hke one who has made a home run
in a world series basebaU game. Our pursuers
halted at the river so I puUed off my hat, waved
to them and disappeared up the road.
We lost no time in reaching camp, and our ap
pearance there wdth a prisoner and two run-down
horses caused all the boys in quarters to turn out,
300

AN INTERNATIONAL EPISODE
Captain Baylor noticed the gathering and hurried
over to camp,
"Sergeant, who is this prisoner you have?" he
asked, walking straight up to me,
I rephed it was Enofrio Baca, the man that had
murdered Mr, Conkhn, The captain looked at the
run-down horses, wet with sweat, and asked me
where I had captured him,
"Down the river," I rephed, trying to evade him.
"From the looks of your horse I would think
you had just run out of a fight. "Where down the
river did you capture this man?"
I saw the captain was going to corner me and I
thought I might as weU "fess up." I told him I
had arrested Baca at Saragosa and kidnaped him
out of Mexico. Captain Baylor's eyes at once
bulged to twice their natural size.
"Sergeant, that is the most imprudent act you
ever committed in your hfe ! Don't you know that
it is a flagrant violation of the law and is sure to
cause a breach of international comity that might
cause the Governor of Texas to disband the whole
of Company "A"? Not only this, but it was a most
hazardous undertaking and it is a wonder to me
that the Mexicans did not shoot you and Lloyd into
doU rags,"

301

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
Captain Baylor was plainly out of patience with
me, "Gillett, you have less sense than I thought you
had," he declared, heatedly, "If you have any ex
planation to make I would hke to have it,"
I reminded the captain of the tragic fate of Mor
gan and Brown and how the authorities at Guad
alupe had turned their murderers, SkeviU and Mo-
hna, loose, I declared that had I had Baca arrested
in Mexico he would have gone scot-free with his
rich and influential friends to help him, Baylor
declared that two wrongs did not make one right,
and said I should have consulted him, I finaUy told
the captain frankly that I had been in the ranger
service six years, had risen from the ranks to be
orderly sergeant at a salary of only $50 a month,
I pointed out that this was the highest position I
could hope to get wdthout a commission, and while
one had been promised me at the first vacancy yet
I could see no early hope of obtaining it, as every
captain in the battalion was freezing to his job.
This remark seemed to amuse Captain Baylor and
somewhat eased his anger,
I went on to say that I not only wanted the $500
reward offered for Baca, but I wanted the notoriety
I would get if I could kidnap the murderer out of
Mexico without being killed in the attempt, for I
302

AN INTERNATIONAL EPISODE
beheved the notoriety would lead to something bet
ter than a ranger sergeancy. And this is what
reaUy happened, for I subsequently became First
Assistant Marshal of El Paso under Dallas Stoude-
mire at a salary of $150 per month, and in less
than a year after my arrest of Enofrio Baca I was
made Chief of Pohce of that city at a salary that
enabled me to get a nice start in the cattle business,
"Sergeant, you can go wdth your man," Captain
Baylor finaUy said, "but it is against my best judg
ment, I ought to escort him across the Rio Grande
and set him free,"
I lost no time in sending a ranger to the stage
oflfice at Ysleta wdth instructions to buy two tickets
to Masilla, New Mexico, and one to El Paso. The
stage was due to pass our quarters about 12 o'clock,
so I did not have long to wait. I took Lloyd as a
guard as far as El Paso and there turned him back,
making the remainder of the journey to Socorro,
New Mexico, alone wdth the prisoner, I reached
the old town of Masilla, New Mexico, at dark after
a rather exciting day, I was afraid to put Baca in
jail at that place, as I had no warrant nor extradi
tion papers upon which to hold him and feared
the prison authorities might not redehver Baca to
me next morning. The stage coach from MasiUa
to Rincon did not run at night so I secured a room
303

SIX YEARS V^TH THE TEXAS RANGERS
at the hotel and chaining the prisoner to me we
slept together.
On the foUowing day we reached Rincon, the
terminus of the Santa Fe Railroad at that time, I
wired the oflficers of Socorro, New Mexico, from
El Paso that I had captured Baca and was on my
way to New Mexico with him, Baca's friends had
also been informed of his arrest and lost no time
in asking the Governor of New Mexico to have me
bring .the prisoner to Santa Fe as they feared mob
violence at Socorro. "When I reached San Marcial
I was handed a telegram from the governor order
ing me to bring Baca to Santa Fe and on no account
to stop with him in Socorro.
Because of delay on the railroad I did not reach
Socorro until late at night. The minute the train
stopped at that town it was boarded by twenty-five
or thirty armed men headed by Deputy Sheriff
Eaton. I showed Eaton the governor's telegram,
but he declared Baca was wanted at Socorro and
that was where he was going, I remonstrated with
him and declared I was going on to Santa Fe with
the prisoner. By this time a dozen armed men
had gathered around me and declared, "Not much
wiU you take him to Santa Fe," I was furious, but
I was practically under arrest and powerless to help
myself. Baca and I were transferred from the
304

AN INTERNATIONAL EPISODE
train to a big bus that was in waiting. The jaUer
entered first, then Baca was seated next to him and
I sat next the door with my Winchester in my hand.
The driver was ordered to drive to the jail.
It was a bright moonhght night and we had not
traveled far up the street before I looked out and
saw at least a hundred armed men. They came
from every direction. Boys, did you ever encoun
ter a mob? I assure you it is far from a pleasant
feehng when you face one. The men swarmed
around the bus, three or four of them grabbed the
horses by the bridle reins and held them, whUe
others tried to force the bus doors, I asked the
jailer if I could depend on him to help me stand
the mob off, but he rephed it would do no good. I
was now madder than ever, and for the first time
in my hfe I ripped out an oath, saying, "G — d — n
them, I am going to stand them off!"
As the doors were forced I poked my Winchester
out and ordered the mob to stand back or I would
shoot. The men paid no more attention to my gun
than if it had been a brown stick. A man standing
beside the bus door seized the muzzle of my rifle
and, with a quick jerk to one side, caused it to fly
out of my hand and out upon the ground.
By this time another of the mob grabbed me in
the coUar and proceeded to puU me out of the bus.
305

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
I spread my legs and tried to brace myself, but
another hard and quick jerk landed me out on the
ground, where one of the men kicked me, I was
tame now and made no effort to draw my pistol.
One of the crowd said to me, ""What in h — do you
mean? We do not wish to hurt you but we are
going to hang that d — n Mexican right now!"
I then informed the mob of the nature of Baca's
arrest and told them that the hanging of the pris
oner would place me in an awkward position.
Then, too, the reward offered by the territory of
New Mexico was for the delivery of the murderer
inside the jail doors of Socorro County. The lead
ers of the crowd consulted for a few minutes and
then concluded I was right. They ordered me back
into the bus, gave me my Winchester and we aU
started for the jaU. As soon as Baca had been
placed in prison Deputy Sheriff Eaton sat down and
wrote me a receipt for the dehvery of Baca inside
the jail doors.
By this time day was just beginning to break and
I tried to stay the hanging by making another talk.
The mob interpreted my motive and invited me to
step down a block to their community room where
they would talk wdtii me. I started with them and
we had gone only a hundred yards before the whole
mob broke back to the jail. I started to go with
306

AN INTERNATIONAL EPISODE
them but two men held me, saying, "It's no use;
they are going to hang him."
The men took Baca to a nearby corral and hanged
him to a big beam of the gate. The next morning
Baca's relatives came to me at the hotel wdth hats
in their hands and asked me for the keys with
which to remove the shackles from the dead man's
legs. As I handed them the keys I felt both mor
tified and ashamed. A committee of citizens at
Socorro waited on me just before I took the train
for home, counted out to me $250 as their part of
the reward and thanked me for capturing the two
murderers. The committee assured me that it
stood ready to help me financiaUy or otherwise
should I get involved with the Federal Government
over the capture and kidnapping of Enofrio Baca.
I presume the relatives of young Baca reported
his kidnapping to our government, for a few weeks
after his capture Mr, Blaine, Secretary of State,
wrote a long letter to Governor Roberts regarding
a breach of international comity. Governor Roberts
wrote Captain Baylor for a fuU explanation of the
matter. Captain Baylor, whUe never countenancing
a wrongdoing in his company, would stand by his
men to the last ditch when they were once in
trouble. He was a fluent writer and no man in
Texas understood better than he the many foul and
outrageous murders that had been committed along
307

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
the Rio Grande, the perpetrators of which had
evaded punishment and arrest by crossing over into
Mexico. Baylor wrote so weU and so to the point
that nothing further was said about the matter.
Only an order came to Captain Baylor admonish
ing him never again to allow his men to foUow
fugitives into Mexico.
Soon afterward the Safety Committee of Socorro,
New Mexico, wrote to Captain Baylor saying, "We
are informed by a rehable party that Jose Baca of
Ysleta, Texas, has hired a Mexican to kiU Sergeant
GiUett. Steps have been taken to prevent this.
However, he would do well to be on the lookout."
Baylor at once went to Judge Baca with this letter,
but the jurist denied in the most emphatic terms
any knowledge of the reported plot. Also, there
was a report current in both Ysleta and El Paso
that a reward of $1500 had been offered for the
dehvery of Sergeant Gillett's body to the Mexican
authorities at El Paso del Norte, Upon investiga
tion I found that no such offer had ever been made,
but for safety's sake I kept out of Mexico for sev
eral years.
The kidnapping of Baca aroused much comment
and gave me a deal of notoriety and, as I had antici
pated, it was not long in bearing the fruit I de
sired, — promotion into larger and more remuner
ative fields of work. 308

CHAPTER XIX
LAST SCOUTINGS
During the summer of 1881 Captain Baylor's
company made several scouts out to the Sacra
mento and Guadalupe Mountains. These were re
ported to the Adjutant-General as scouts after In
dians, but there were no more redskins in Texas,
for the rangers had done their work effectively.
These expeditions were, therefore, more in the na
ture of outings for the boys. And it was quite a
pleasure to get away from camp in the hot Rio
Grande Valley and scout in those high mountains
covered wdth taU pine timber that teemed wdth
game such as deer, bear and , wild turkey. The
plains between the Guadalupe Mountains and Ysleta
contained hundreds of antelope, thus affording the
rangers the best of sport.
Turning over the pages of my old scrap book I
find this htfle announcement taken from the El Paso
Times: "Colonel Baylor and twenty of his rangers
have just returned from a scout in the Guadalupe
Mountains, in which they kiUed twenty-five turkeys,
fifteen deer and two antelope."
On one of these hunting expeditions we had with
us George Lloyd, who had been a ranger under
309

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
Lieutenant Tays when his company was first mus
tered into service in El Paso County. We camped
at Los Cornuvas, and here Lloyd had had an en
gagement with Indians. He went over the ground
and gave us an interesting account of his fight. He
said there were but twelve men in the scout, includ
ing Lieutenant Tays. In marching from Crow
Springs to Los Cornuvas, a distance of thirty raUes,
six of the rangers were riding nearly a nule ahead
of the others and on approaching Los Cornuvas
made for some tinajas (water holes) up in those
mountains. They rode around a point of rocks and
met face to face some ten or twelve Indians coming
out from the water. Indians and rangers were
within forty feet before they discovered each other's
presence and paleface and redskin hteraUy fell off
their horses, — the Indians seeking cover in the rocks
above the trail while five of the rangers turned a
somersault into a friendly arroyo.
A ranger said to be a Russian nobleman and
nihihst was kiUed early in the fight and buried on
the spot where he feU. A headboard was placed
to mark the grave, but the Indians soon defaced it
by hacking at it wdth their knives whenever they
passed the spot. Though he could have had splen
did cover, the Russian stood upright according to

310

LAST SCOUTINGS
the etiqpiette prevaihng among British oflficers in
the Transvaal and was shot through the brain.
In dismounting, Lloyd held on to the end of a
thirty-foot stake rope that was tied around his
horse's neck. Four of the dismounted scout wrig
gled their way down the creek and got away. In
reloading his Winchester after shooting it empty
Lloyd unfortunately shpped a .45 Colt's pistol cart
ridge into the magazine of his .44 Winchester and
in attempting to throw a cartridge into his gun it
jammed — catching him in a serious predicament.
However, taking his knife from his pocket this fear
less ranger cooUy removed the screw that held the
side plates of his Winchester together, took off the
plates, removed tiie offending cartridge, replaced
the plates, tightened up the screw, reloaded his gun
and began firing. It takes a man with iron nerve
to do a thing hke that, and you meet such a one
but once in a hf etime. Is it any wonder, then, that
when I cast around for a man to go into Mexico
with me to kidnap Baca I selected Lloyd out of the
twenty men in camp?
Seeing that the Russian was dead and his com
panions gone, Lloyd crawled back down the arroyo,
puUing his horse along the bank above untU he was
out of danger. The five rangers' horses, knowing
where the water was, went right up into the rocks,
311

SIX YEARS V^TH THE TEXAS RANGERS
where they were captured, saddles, bridles and aU,
by the Indians.
The redskins, as soon as Lloyd was gone, came
out of hiding, took the Russian's Winchester and
pistol and left. Lloyd was the only man of the six
to save his horse, for the Indians, wdth their needle
guns high up in the rocks, held Lieutenant Tays
and the remainder of his force at bay.
In the latter part of the summer of 1881 Captain
Baylor moved his company of rangers from Ysleta
to a site three miles below El Paso. "While camped
there the captain was warned by the sheriff of
Tombstone, Arizona, to be on the lookout for four
San Simone VaUey rustiers, supposed to be a part
of Curley BiU's gang. The robbers' names were
given as Charley and Frank Baker, Bilhe Morgan
and a fourth person supposed to be Curley BiU
himself. These outlaws had stolen sixteen big work
mules and four horses at a wood camp some twelve
miles from Tombstone. They had also robbed a
store and, assaulting the proprietor with pistols,
left him for dead. A $500 reward was offered for
the capture of the desperadoes and the stolen stock.
The robbers' trail led down into New Mexico and
it was beheved Curley Bill and his gang were headed
for western Texas, where they would try to dis-

312

LAST SCOUTINGS
pose of their stolen stock at some of the railroad
grading camps near El Paso.
Captain Baylor at once ordered me to take seven
men and five days' rations and scout up the Rio
Grande to the hne of New Mexico for the bandits'
trail, and, if I found it, to follow it up. I worked
up the river but found no trail. Neither could I
learn anything about any strange men driving stock
through the country. My time was nearly up and
I concluded to return to camp through a gap in
the Frankhn Mountains, some thirty or forty mUes
north of El Paso, We left the Rio Grande late in
the evening, passed out through the gap and made
a dry camp on the plains east of the mountains.
Early the foUowing morning we rode to a water
ing place known as Monday's Springs and stopped
for breakfast. Here the boys discovered some horse
and mule tracks. At first we thought nothing of
this, supposing the trail had been made by some
loose stock grazing near the water. From Mon
day's Springs a dim road led along the east side of
the mountains to El Paso and we took this route
home. Before we had traveled very far we noticed
that some of the stock was travehng the same road,
though even then I never suspected that these tracks
might be the trail of the bandits for whom we were
scouting, FinaUy we came to footprints made by
313

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
some men as they adjusted their saddles or tight
ened their packs. It here dawned upon me that the
tracks might have been made by the parties we
wanted. I thereupon foUowed the trail carefully and it
led me through what is today the most beautiful
residential portion of the city of El Paso. The
tracks led to a big camp yard where now stands
the $500,000 Federal buUding and postoflfice. In
the description of the stolen stock we were told
one of the mules carried a smaU Swiss stock heU.
As I neared the wagon yard I heard the tinkle of
this heU and felt sure we had tracked our quarry.
We dismounted, and wdth our Winchesters cocked
and ready for action, our httie party of rangers
shpped quickly inside the large corral gate and
within ten feet of it we came upon three heavily
armed men bending over a fire cooking their break
fast. Their guns were leaning against the adobe
fence near at hand, so the surprise was complete.
The outlaws rose to their feet and attempted to
get their guns, but my men held their cocked Win
chesters at their breasts. I told our captives that
we were rangers ordered to arrest them and de
manded their surrender. The robbers were un
decided what to do; they were afraid to pull their
pistols or seize their guns, yet they refused to hold
314

LAST SCOUTINGS
up their hands. Finally one of the Baker brothers
turned shghfly toward me and said they would
rather be shot down and kiUed than give up — sur
render meant death anyway, I thereupon answered
that we had no desire to hurt them, but declared
that the least attempt to pull a gun would mean
instant death to them aU, and again ordered them
to raise their hands. They slowly obeyed, I stepped
up to them, unbuckled their belts and took their
weapons. In looking over their camp I found four saddles
and Winchesters but I had captured only three men.
I mentioned this fact to the prisoners and they
laughingly said one of their number had stepped
down town to get a package of coffee, had probably
noticed our presence and ht out. The two Baker
boys and Bilhe Morgan were the men captured, and
I asked if the missing man was Curley BUI himseff.
They rephed it was not, but refused to teU who the
fourth member of their party was. As we had no
description of him and he was on foot in a town
full of armed men we had no means of identifying
him and he was never captured.
From the captured robbers we learned that they
had run out of provisions, and for this reason they
had not camped at Monday Springs, They had
risen early and come into El Paso for breakfast,
315

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
They declared it was a good thing for us that they
had built their camp fire so near the gate, for had
they been thirty feet from it they would have put
up a fight we should have remembered for a long
time, I rephed that the eight of us could have held
our own no matter where they had camped.
These robbers were held in our camp some ten
days or more until the proper extradition papers
could be had from the State Capitol at Austin, as
they refused to be taken back to Arizona without
the proper authority. They owned horses, which
they gave to some lawyers in El Paso to prevent
their being taken back to the scene of their crimes.
We secured aU the stolen stock — sixteen mules and
four horses. The owners came and claimed them
and paid the rangers $200 and the Arizona sheriff
paid a hke amount for the capture of the rustiers.
Our rangers became weU acquainted with these
thieves while we held them in our camp. The rob
bers admitted they were going under assumed
names and said they were Texans but refused to
say from what part of the state they came. The
three of them were taken back to Arizona, tried
for assault to kiU and the theft of the horses at
Tombstone and sent to the prison at Yuma for
twenty-five years. They frequently wrote to our
boys from there and seemed to hold no grudge
316

LAST SCOUTINGS
against us for capturing them. The scout to cap
ture these men was the last one of importance I
took part in, for my work wdth the rangers was
now growing toward its close.
In the faU of 1881 Captain Baylor received word
from Israel King of Cambray, New Mexico, that a
band of thieves had stolen a bunch of cattle from
him and at last reports were headed toward El Paso
with them. With a detail of four rnen I was or
dered to make a scout up the river and into the
CanutUlos to intercept the rustlers. After travehng
some ten miles up the Rio Grande we crossed the
river into New Mexico to get on more even ground.
Some eighteen miles above El Paso we found the
trail of the stolen stock and foUowed it back across
the Rio Grande into Texas.
"WhUe working our way along the traU through
almost impassable brush we entered a smaU glade
and came upon the stolen stock quietly grazing.
On the opposite side of them a Mexican with a Win
chester stood guard while his horse grazed nearby.
The guard fired on us as he ran to his horse and
we were compelled to run around the cattie to get
to the thief. We fired our guns as we ran and this
sudden noise frightened the loose pony so the fugi
tive was unable to mount. He was then forced to.
dive into the brush on foot. Knowdng we could!
317

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
make no headway through the heavy tornilla bosque
we dismounted and charged it on foot. The fleeing
Mexican undertook to run through a muddy slough
formed by back water from the Rio Grande. Here
he bogged but, extracting himself, he backed out
the way he had entered and found safety in the
friendly brush. In running to where he was last
seen we found his gun abandoned in the mud.
Some twenty or thirty shots were fired at him and
while none found the mark we captured his Win
chester, his pony and thirty-six head of stolen cattie
and gave him a scare that he wdU remember so long
as he hves. The cattle were returned to Mr. King,
who kindly presented us wdth $200 for their re
covery. We learned later that Frank Stevenson, a notori
ous rustler, whose rendezvous was in this CanutUlo
brush, had stolen these cattie and had left the Mex
ican in charge of them while he had gone into
El Paso to effect their sale. As described in a pre
vious chapter, I finaUy captured Stevenson and he
was sent to the penitentiary for fifteen years for
horse stealing. His capture and imprisonment
broke up the CanutiUo gang, and today, forty
years after his arrest, the upper Rio Grande
VaUey is almost an Eden on earth with its
fine apple and peach orchards, its alfalfa fields, big
318

LAST SCOUTINGS
dairy herds and elegant homes. It is one of the
beauty spots adjacent to the now fine city of El Paso.
The Santa Fe Railroad traverses this valley, and
I sometimes travel over it. As I sit in an easy seat
in the PuUman and look out over the country I
always reflect on the past and wonder how many
of its present inhabitants know what a wilderness
and what a rendezvous it once was for aU kinds of
cutthroats, cattle thieves and murderers.
"While the rangers were camped near El Paso dur
ing the faU of 1881 I met Captain Thatcher, then
division superintendent of the Santa Fe Railroad.
He told me, because of the stage and train robberies
in New Mexico and Arizona, the railroad and the
Wells-Fargo Express companies feared that their
trains would be held up near El Paso. To protect
themselves they had, therefore, decided to place
armed guards of three men on the main hne of the
Santa Fe to run between Deming and Las Vegas,
New Mexico, and a similar guard on the branch
from El Paso, Texas, to Rincon, New Mexico. Cap
tain Thatcher had known me as a ranger and my
kidnapping of Enofrio Baca out of Mexico had won
me no httle notoriety, so he now offered me a posi
tion with the railroad company as captain of the
guard at a salary of $150 per month. I would be

319

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
aUowed to select my own men for guards and would
be responsible for their acts.
I requested time to consider the proposition.
"While the position as captain of the railroad guard
might not be permanent — might not hold out more
than six months — yet the salary attached was
exacfly three times what I received from the State
of Texas as sergeant of rangers. I discussed
Thatcher's offer with Captain Baylor and finaUy
prevailed upon him to give me my discharge. And
on the 26fli of December, 1881, after serving the
State of Texas as a ranger for six years and seven
months I laid down my Winchester wdth the sat
isfied consciousness that I had done my duty ever.
My term of service embraced one of the happiest
portions of my hfe, and recollections of my ranger
days are among my most cherished memories.
Among my dearest possessions, though preserved
in an old scrapbook, is my discharge. It reads
simply: DISCHARGE
This is to certify that James B. Gillett, 1st Ser
geant of Captain Geo. W. Baylor's Company "A"
of the Frontier Battahon of the State of Texas, is
hereby honorably discharged from the service of
the state by reason of his own request. I take great
320

LAST SCOUTINGS
pleasure in testifying to his uniform good conduct
and gallant service in my company.
Given at El Paso, Texas, tins, the 26th day of
December, 1881. GEORGE W. BAYLOR
Commanding Company.
The personnel of Captain Baylor's company
changed rapidly, so that at the time of my discharge
there was scarcely a man in the company that had
served longer than six months. There was, there
fore, no wrenching or straining of strong friend
ship ties when I left the command, save only for
my leaving of Captain Baylor. To part from him
did, indeed, make me feel sad. My farewell and
departure was simple and unimpressive. I sat
down with my comrades for a last ranger dinner of
beans, bacon, bread and black coffee. After the
meal I arose from the table, shook hands with
Captain Baylor and the boys, mounted my horse
and rode away from the ranger camp forever. Yet,
though my term of actual service was over and
though I had garnered a host of memories and ex
periences, I had not quite finished wdth the rangers
— ^I had not gathered all the fruits of my ranger-
ship, — an appointment to the pohce force of El Paso
in the vicinity of which city I had so often scouted.

321

CHAPTER XX
FRUITS OF RANGER SERVICE
Early in the spring of 1881 the old town of El
Paso awoke out of her Rip Van Winkle sleep to
find that four grand trunk railroad hues, — the Santa
Fe, Southern Pacific, G., H. & S. A., and the Texas
& Pacific — ^were rapidly building toward her and
were certain to enter the town by the end of the
year. Situated as it was, many hundreds of mUes
from any other town, it was a foregone conclusion
that El Paso had the making of a great city and
was a fine field for investment. Bankers, mer
chants, capitahsts, real estate dealers, cattlemen,
miners, railroad men, gamblers, saloon-keepers and
sporting people of both sexes flocked to the town.
They came in buggies, hacks, wagons, horseback
and even afoot. There was not half enough hotel
accommodations to go around, so people just slept
and ate at any old place. El Paso Street, the only
business thoroughfare at that time, was flooded
wdth crowds.
At night there was not enough room for people
to walk on the sidewalks and they filled the streets.
To me it looked just a miniature midway at a
world's fair. A saloon was opened on almost every
322

DALUAS STOUDENMIRE

FRUITS OF RANGER SERVICE
corner of the town wdth many in between. Each
drinking place had a gambhng house attached
where the crowds played faro bank, monte, roulette,
chuck-a-luck, stud poker and every gambhng game
on the calendar. If one wished a seat at the gam
ing tables he had to come early or he could not get
within thirty feet of them. Two variety theaters,
the Coliseum, operated by the Manning Brothers, —
the largest in the southwest — and Jack Doyle's, were
quickly opened.
An election was called in El Paso and the city
was duly incorporated and a mayor and board of
aldermen installed. George Campbell was elected
city marshal and given one assistant, BUI Johnson.
The new marshal had come to El Paso from Young
County, Texas, where he had been a deputy sheriff.
Campbell had done some good detective work and
was a fairly good and efficient officer, but his as
sistant was much below ordinary.
The city marshal soon found that with but one
man to aid him he had the biggest kind of a job
on his hands wdth something doing every hour in
the twenty-four. CampbeU decided he was not get
ting enough pay for the work he had to do and
asked the City Council for a raise ih his salary, but
the councU refused it. The marshal at once re
signed and left BUI Johnson to hold the town.
323

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
Campbell was very friendly wdth the sporting ele
ment in El Paso, especially wdth the Manning
Brothers, who were running two saloons and a big
variety theater. Campbell and his friends decided
to use strategy to force the council to increase his
salary and planned to shoot up the town, thinking
this would cause the city fathers to reinstate Camp
bell in his old position with a substantial increase
in pay. At 2 o'clock one morning the town was
shot up, some three or four hundred shots being
fired promiscuously and with no attempt to make
arrests. The following morning Mayor McGoffin sent a
hurry call to Captain Baylor at Ysleta and asked
that a detachment of Texas Rangers be sent to El
Paso to help pohce the town. At that time I had
not severed my connection wdth the rangers, so I
was ordered to make a detaU of five rangers, issue
them fifteen days' rations and have them report at
once to the mayor of El Paso.
The peace loving citizens of the town welcomed
the rangers, secured nice quarters for them and fur
nished the detachment wdth a stove on which to
cook its meals. The rangers had been in El Paso
on pohce duty about a week when there appeared
in the town from New Mexico the famous Dallas
Stoudenmire. The newcomer was six feet two
324

FRUITS OF RANGER SERVICE
inches in height, a blonde and weighed one hundred
and eighty-five pounds. Stoudenmire had a com-
peUing personahty and had been a Confederate
soldier, having served wdth General Joe Johnston at
Greensboro, North Carohna. Mr. Stoudenmire ap
phed to the mayor and City Council for the position
of city marshal. He presented good references and
was duly appointed town marshal.
George Campbell now saw his chances for re
instatement as an officer in El Paso go ghmmering.
Marshal Stoudenmire called on Bill Johnson for the
keys of the city jail, but the latter refused to sur
render them. Thereupon Stoudenmire seized the
recalcitrant assistant, shook him up and took the
keys from his pocket, thereby making his first
enemy in El Paso.
About ten days after the new marshal had been
installed it was reported in El Paso that two Mexi
can boys had been found murdered some ten or
twelve miles from town on the Rio Grande. The
rangers stationed in the city went out to the ranch
to investigate. The bodies were brought to El Paso
and a coroner's inquest was held in a room front
ing on El Paso Street. Johnnie Hale, manager of
Manning's httle ranch, was summoned to appear
before the coroner, and it was beheved by the

325

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
rangers that Hale and an ex-ranger named Len
Peterson had committed the double murder.
The inquest, being held in such a pubhc place,
attracted a crowd of onlookers. Besides the ran
gers. Marshal Stoudenmire, ex-Marshal Campbell,
and Bill Johnson were present. A man named Gus
Krempkau acted as interpreter. The trial dragged
along until the noon hour and the proceedings were
adjourned for dinner. The rangers went at once
to their quarters to prepare their meal, though
there was still a crowd standing about the scene
of the inquest. Krempkau came out of the room
and was accosted by John Hale, who had become
offended at the way the interpreter had interpreted
the evidence. After a few hot words Hale quickly
pulled his pistol and shot Krempkau through the
head, kilhng him instantiy. Marshal Stoudenmire
ran up, shot at Hale but missing him kiUed a Mexi
can bystander. At the second shot from the mar
shal's pistol John Hale feU dead. George CampbeU
had puUed his pistol and was backing off across
the street when Stoudenmire suddenly turned and
shot him down. Four men were thus kiUed almost
within the twinkhng of an eye.
Stoudenmire was held blameless by the better
class of citizens for the part he had played, but a
certain sporting element — mostiy friends of Camp-
326

FRUITS OF RANGER SERVICE
heU — ^was highly indignant at Marshal Stoudenmire
for kilhng CampbeU, and declared the latter had
been murdered. The Manning Brothers were esper
daily bitter against the marshal, as he had kUled
their ranch foreman. Hale, and their friend, Camp
bell. This feehng against Marshal Stoudenmire
never subsided, and just a httle more than one year
after, DaUas Stoudenmire was shot and kiUed in
a street fight by Jim and Dr. Manning within fifty
feet of the spot where Stoudenmire himself had
kiUed the three men the year before.
¦ The friends of George Campbell now sought to
take the hfe of Marshal Stoudenmire, and they used
as their instrument BiU Johnson, a man almost
simple mentally. The plotters furnished Johnson
with plenty of free whisky and when they had made
him drunk they told him Stoudenmire had no right
to catch him in the coUar and shake him as if he
were a cur dog. Johnson finally agreed to kill the
marshal. Armed with a double-barreled shotgun
the tool of the plotters took up a position one night
behind a pUe of bricks in San Antonio Street where
it enters El Paso and lay in wait for his intended
victim. Marshal Stoudenmire was then down at Neal
Nuland's Acme saloon, and it was weU known he
would soon make his round up the street. Shortiy
327

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
afterward he was seen coming, and when he had
approached within twenty-five feet of the brick pile
Bill Johnson rose to his feet and fired both barrels
of his shotgun. Unsteady with drink, Johnson's
fire went over the marshal's head and left him un
harmed. The marshal pulled his pistol and wdth
hghtning rapidity filled Johnson's body full of holes.
At the same moment CampbeU's friends, posted on
the opposite side of the street, opened fire on Stou
denmire and shghtly wounded him in one foot, but
the marshal charged his attackers and single-handed
put them to flight.
From this day Marshal Stoudenmire had the
roughs of El Paso eating out of his hand. There
was no longer any necessity for the rangers to help
him pohce the town and they were wdthdrawn.
Stoudenmire's presence on the streets was a guar
antee of order and good government. He was a
good man for the class of people he had to deal
wdth, yet he knew there were those in El Paso that
were his bitter enemies and always on the alert for
a chance to take his hfe. This caused him to drink,
and when under the influence of hquor he became
mean and overbearing to some of his most ardent
supporters, so much so that by the spring of 1882
he was asked to resign. In a dramatic and fiery
speech Stoudenmire presented his resignation and
328

FRUITS OF RANGER SERVICE
declared he had not been treated fairly by the City
Council and that he could straddle them aU,
Immediately on leaving the rangers, as narrated
at the close of the preceding chapter, I accepted a
position of captain of guards on the Santa Fe RaU-
rbad under my friend. Captain Thatcher, I did not
long remain in the railroad's employ, and after a
few months I resigned my position there to become
assistant city marshal under Mr, Stoudenmire,
Upon the resignation of Mr. Stoudenmire I was
appointed city marshal of El Paso. Upon my ap
pointment the ex-marshal walked over, took me by
the hand and said, "Young man, I congratulate you
on being elected city marshal and at the same time
I wish to warn you that you have more than a man's
size job on your hands."
Stoudenmire at once secured the appointment as
United States deputy marshal of the Western Dis
trict of Texas wdth headquarters at El Paso. Stou
denmire always treated me wdth the greatest consid
eration and courtesy and gave me trouble on only
one occasion. I reproduce here a chpping from an
El Paso paper of the time:
"Last Thursday night a shooting scrape in which
ex-Marshal Stoudenmire and ex-Deputy Page played
the leading parts occurred at the Acme saloon. It
seems that early in the evemng Page had a mis-
329

SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS
understanding with BiUy BeU. Stoudenmire acted
as peacemaker in the matter. In doing so he car
ried Page to Doyle's concert haU, where the two
remained an hour or so and got more or less in
toxicated. About midnight they returned to the
Acme and soon got into a quarrel. Stoudenmire
drew his pistol and fired at Page; the latter, how
ever, knocked the weapon upward and the baU went
into the ceihng. Page then wrenched the pistol
from Stoudenmire and the latter drew a second pis
tol and the two combatants were about to perforate
each other when Marshal GiUett appeared on the
premises wdth a double-barrel shotgun and corraUed
both of them. They were taken before court the
foUowing morning and fined $25 each and Stouden
mire was placed under bond in the sum of $250 to
keep the peace."
My election to the marshalship of El Paso I at
tribute solely to my training as a ranger and to the
notoriety my kidnapping of Baca out of Mexico had
given me, so that the marshalship of the town was
one of the direct fruits of my ranger service.
I was an officer of El Paso for several years. Not
very long after my acceptance of the marshalship
Captain C. L. NeviU, wdth whom I had served in
Lieutenant Reynolds' company, resigned his ranger
command and became sheriff and tax coUector of
330

FRUITS OF RANGER SERVICE
Presidio County, Texas. The Marfa country was
now seen to be a very promising cattie section, so
Captain NeviU and myself formed a partnership
and embarked in the cattle business. This did not
in the least interfere wdth our duties as sheriff and
marshal, respectively, and we soon built up a nice
httie herd of cattle.
In the spring of 1885 General Gano and sons of
Dallas, Texas, formed a company known as the
Estado Land and Catfle Company. The new con
cern arranged to open a big ranch in Brewster
County and General Gano wrote to Captain NeviU,
asking him please to secure a good cattleman as
ranch manager for the new company. NeviU at
once wrote me and advised me to accept this posi
tion. In his letter he jokingly remarked:
"Jim, you have had a quart cup of buUets shot
^t you while a ranger and marshal, and now that
you have a chance to quit and get something less
hazardous I advise you to do it. Besides you wiU
be near our own httle ranch and can see your own
cattle from time to time."
I considered the proposition seriously, and on the
1st day of April, 1885, I resigned from the pohce
force of El Paso and became a cowboy again. In
accepting the marshalship I reaped the fruits of my
ranger service and now, in resigning from that
331

SIX YEARS V^TH THE TEXAS RANGERS
position I completely severed all my connection
with the ranger force and aU that it had brought
me. Henceforth my ranger days and ranger service
were to be but a memory, albeit the most happy
and cherished one of my hfe,
I was manager of the Estado Land and Catfle
Company's ranch for nearly six years and during
that period the herd increased from six to thirty
thousand head. When I resigned the ranch man
agership it was that I might attend to my own ranch
interests, which had also grown in that period.
Though today I own a large and prosperous ranch in
the Marfa country and though my business interests
are many and varied, I stUl cherish the memory of
my ranger days and am never too busy to see an
old ranger comrade and re-hve wdth him those six
adventurous, happy and thrilhng years I was a
member of the Frontier Battahon of the Texas
Rangers. the end

332

,US£S^