Vol  3 No. 9 - June 1926</>

Some names mentioned in this volume:

Events of this account occurred in Mason Co., in 1875. This is excellent history of the area and a great account of the Indian pursuits that followed a raid upon the ranch of early Mason, co. settler and prominent citizen, John Gamel. Those involved in this important pursuit were Capt. D. W Roberts, Ranger Company D and the men picked to go with him were: Second Sergt. Jim Hawkins, Privates Paul Durham, Nick Donnelly, Tom Gillespie, Mike Lynch, Andy Wilson, Henry Maltmore, Jim Trout, William Kimbrough, Silas B. Crump, Ed Seiker, Jim Day, John Cupps, and one other, the author of this account, Srgt. James B. Gillett. This account has many notable historical details of this part of Mason co. in 1870’s. Story has old photo of Sqt. J. B. Gill V Meeting F. H. Lehmann After Forty-nine Years. Lehmann had been captured by the Indians in Mason county some years before this fight and had became one of them. He had hidden in the grass while the rangers were hunting him, and after they had gave up the search and disappeared he had followed on the trail of the Indians until he rejoined them.

Further Mentions: Honey Creek; the Frontier Hotel; Sergt. Plunk Murray; San Saba River near the mouth of Scalp Creek; the Big Saline; the headwaters of Bear creek; Kickapoo Springs; Tom Gillespie; Jim Day's Chico; Mike Lynch and Andy Wilson; Paul Durham; old Fort Clark, Texas; Wash Delong's ranch on the headwaters of the South Concho River; camp at Las Moras; M. M. Quaife; George W. Baylor; John Walker Baylor; old Fort Gibson in the Cherokee nation, now the State of Oklahoma; Major Jones, Captain Coldwell; Captain Roberts, and Lieutenant Reynolds; Sergeant Swilling; John Thomas; Captain Garcia; Don Ramon Arranda; Apache Chief Vietorio; General Terrazas; Tres Castillo; 'Los Pinos Mountains; Eagle Mountains; Diablo Mountains; Fort Quitman.

Joe T. McKinney. Author’s father was Felix Carroll McKinney. He was a native of South Carolina and the son of Archer McKinney and Mahaley Howard McKinney. His mother was Mary Pocahontas Cook McKinney, the daughter of Joseph T. Cook and Lucinda Bates Cook. Joe T. McKinney was born in the town of Falcon, Columbia County, Arkansas, June, 2 1858, and here recounts his experiences in the town of Uvalde, Uvalde co. where he settled in 1865 and lived in proximity to kin who had previously settled there. He goes on to relate many details of his life and events in the area, with numerous names and places mentioned – this is truly an exceptional first-hand account, rich in details.

Further Mentions: two brothers, Black and Bill Malone; grandfather, Joseph T. Cook; , E. A. Bates; Julius N. McKinney; Felix Bates; Mrs. Melvirda Baker of Hidalgo county, Texas; Mrs. Mary E. Blakeney; mother's uncle, Dave Cook & sons, Bob and Thalis; the Tortuga; John Bowles and Lark White; Thomas Cook; Thalis McKinney who married a Miss Kate Woods; The Woods family had lived on Turkey Creek for several 3 years, which is between Uvalde and Ft. Clark; Doke Bowles' grocery; Margaret Bennett; Aunt Caroline McKinney. She was a widow who had lost her husband, Uncle Thomas, in the Civil War; Grandma Cook's brother, Levi Bates; Hamilton Bennett, a' widower with several children; Alex, Claude, High, and Bill; E. A. (Anderson) Bates; James W. Cook; John Pulliam and Tom Evan; H. W. ("Zude") Pulliam; George Evans; Pulliam lived at Bowie, 24 miles east of Willcox; the Cox settlement on the Nueces; Miles Cantrell; Old Josh Cox; Thorp Springs; Randolph Clark; Prof. John W. Mahan; Coryell county; Anderson Bates & a farm where Batesville, Zavala county, now stands; cousin, Rufus M. McKinney who had a ranch and cattle on Clear Fork, about fifteen miles above old Fort Phantom Hill and just bellow the mouth of Bitter Creek; Bull Head; Paint Rock on the head of the Llano; Scabtown was on the north bank of the river and on the opposite side from Fort McKavett; Kickapoo Springs, Lipan Springs, Ft. Concho, old Ft. Chadbourne; Nick Eaton, Buford and Will Carputter; Mr. Ferguson, whose brand was C5 on the neck and 61 on the shoulder; Orren Baker; John Pope, foreman, Nick Eaton; Jess Benton of St. David; Z. C. Prina; what is called the "Shinnery", on the north side of the Clear Fork.

HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION ELECTS

Mentions: T. F. Harwood of Gonzales; Dr. W. S. Red of Austin; Col. A. J. Houston of Pasadena; Dr. Alex Dienst, Temple, vice president; Judge George W, Tyler, Belton, vice president; Dr. E. C. Baker, Austin, recording secretary, and Dr. Charles W. Ramsdell, Austin ; J. Frank Dobie; James K. Greer; Samuel E. Ashbury; Herbert Davenport; General George W. Morgan; Mrs. Mattie Austin Hatcher and Miss Winnie Allen; Dr. Robert Peebles; Mrs. Jane Long; Mrs. S. G. White of Hempstead;

Mentions: Prof. Gates Thomas of Southwest Texas State Teachers college, San Marcos; Miss Adina de Zavala and Col. M. L. Crimmins of 'San Antonio and Mrs. A. B, Looscan of Houston; Victor J. Smith of Alpine, Dr. L. W. Payne of Austin and Miss Julia Estill of Fredericksburg; Miss Fannie Ratchford; J. Frank Dobie; John Lee Brooks of Southern Methodist university of Dallas; Prof. R. C. Harrison; Miss Louise von Blittersdorf of Austin; G. T. Bludworth of the state department of education related "The Legend of Caddo Lake; Henry Yelvington of Three Rivers; Paul Mongan; Dean T. U. Taylor; G. A. Cunningham, Sam Sparks; John Creighton, Mrs. J. A. Jackson, Mrs. Lydia Lea, Mrs. A. C. Wright and Miss Eula Peyton.

A Review of Captain Gillett's Book, by Charles J. Finger. Mentions: Bruce Smith; Sam Bass and Eli Wixon and Starke Reynolds and the Bacas; the Devil's River country; Captain Gillett and George W. Baylor;

This is an authoritative account of the reknown TX badman whose skill as a gunslinger is perhaps unsurpassed by all the badmen of the frontier. The information in this article has been culled from various sources, the Galveston News, the Austin Statesman, weekly papers of 1875, quotations from Giddings Tribune, individual acquaintances of Bill Longley, state records in the office of the Secretary of State and in the State Library, and many personal friends of the writer. This lengthy and superb article includes the following subheadings:

• FIRST VICTIM
• FIGHT IN LEXINGTON
• THE EVERGREEN CIRCUS
• BURLESON COUNTY KILLING
• KILLING THE SERGEANT
• WITH CULLEN BAKER
• THE KILLING OF RECTOR
• KILLING THE HORSE THIEF
• KILLING OF THE YANKEE SOLDIER IN LEAVENWORTII.
• KILLING OF QUARTERMASTER GREGGORY.
• KILLING OF CHARLIE STUART
• FROM KANSAS TO TEXAS
• KILLING OF NEGRO IN BROWN COUNTY
• LONGLEY'S CAPTURE IN EDWARD'S COUNTY.
• THE KILLING OF A MEXICAN IN FRIO COUNTY
• THE KILLING OF LEW SAWYER ON THE DRY FRIO.
• LONGLEY'S FIRST LOVE AFFAIR
• IN THE TANAHA
• IN BASTROP COUNTY
• KILLING OF WILSON ANDERSON
• KILLING OF GEORGE THOMAS
• KILLING OF REV. ROLAND LAY OF DELTA COUNTY
• A DAUGHTER'S ACCOUNT OF THE KILLING OFT HER FATHER.
• THE CAPTURE OF BILL LONGLEY
• HANGING OF BILL LONGLEY
• TRIAL OF BILL LONGLEY
• A MURDERER CAPTURED
• BY THE SWEAT OF THEIR PENS
• SUMMARY OF CHARACTERISTICS.
• PEACE AT LAST

Further Mentions: The careers of Cullen M. Baker; Ben Bickerstaff, Bob Lee, John Wesley Hardin and a reason why these men sprang up in the soil of post Civil War frontier Texas: racial tension; Campbell Longley, a devout, God-fearing man; the two Dozier boys; the Nacogdoches-San Antonio Road, or the Camino Real; Dr. G. D. Wilkerson, who graduated in medicine but in the early years following the War was a school master at old Evergreen; Two of the schoolmates of Bill Longley at the old Evergreen school, Will Grant, of Giddings, and Ike W. Sparks of Austin; Johnson McKowen; the H. & T. C. railroad; Will Grant, an, old schoolmate of Longley's; Early in 1868 Bill Longley went west to Karnes county, where he worked for Mr. John Reagan, a large stock owner of that county; the Taylor Clan; Cullen Montgomery Baker; the Baker Gang; General J. J. Reynolds; brother-in-law, John Wilson; a man by the name of, Charlie Stuart; Boggy depot in the old Indian Territory; Grayson county; Mr. Dan Sawyer; the ranch of Mr. Forsythe; Gholson 's Ranch in, Coleman county; the Williams Ranch in Brown county; Frank's Ranch; Joe Mitchell and Martin; the Santa Anna Mountain fight; Mason county and Sheriff Finley; Fredericksburg; Gillespie county; Edwards county; Kerrville; Rock Springs; activity in Frio county; Lew Sawyer was a very bad man and a very dangerous man; Bill, McKiver, an outlaw; Dave Clark; Fort Ewell; the land of the Tanaha; Angelina county; He continued westward to Bastrop county and secured employment a, a field hand on the farm of William Bakes on Walnut Creek; Jim Brown, the sheriff of the newly created county of Lee; Longley heard that a cousin of his, young Cale Longley, had been killed by Wilson Anderson near Evergreen; Wash Harris; the farm of Captain Sedbury about eight miles above Waco; the northeast side of the Brazos River about two miles below Chalk Bluff; the store of Frank Jones; the murder of Reverend Roland Lay; Mrs. Will C. Havens, now of Ben Franklin, Texas; a neighbor girl by the name of Lavinia Jacks; Captain Milt Mast of Nacogdoches; W. A. Knox, district clerk of Lee county; William Burrows of Nacogdoches county; the I. & G. N. train; Reverend Father Spillard of Austin; Captain Jim Lucy; Sheriff Jim Brown; Captain Z. P. Egleston; Captain W. G. McLennon; Chief Deputy Brown; Doctors Gasley, Fields, and, Johnson; Judge E. B. Turner in Giddings; Alec Thomson. and John Shaw; Clint Haworth - horse thief and a dozen times a murderer; John King -King Fisher, he insisted on being called;

A. Huffmeyer. This fearsome event occurred on the evening of May 19th 1868 in the San Antonio and surrounding area. Hailstones weighed from one fourth pound to over two pounds each. It started northwest of the city about Helotes, and took in a stretch of country four or five miles wide, and spent its force about three miles below the city. There was absolutely nothing left in its wake. Fields of corn, waisthigh, were cut down, and all of the fruit trees were trimmed of leaves and fruit, and the beautiful gardens were beaten into the ground. Thousands of chickens, turkeys, and birds were killed, dogs, calves, sheep and goats were also killed, and there wasn't a roof, door or window left on the north side of the buildings.

Further Mentions: St. Mary's College; Ed Steves, the father of the present owner of the Stevens lumber yards; Also mentions a couple of other notable hailstorm in the region.

Col. Martin L. Crimmins. This story chronicles the time that Robert E. Lee spent in Texas, including numerous accounts of his correspondence to wife and relatives in Virginia and his feelings about the place and people.

Further Mentions: General John E. Wool; the Rio Grande river near the Presidio 'of San Juan Bautista; Saltillo; Monclova, Mexico; Major Hardee; Colonel (Albert Sidney) Johnston; Mr. Radiminski; Oteys Creek in Jones County; Camp Cooper; Major George H. Thomas at Fort Mason; Ringgold Barracks; his old friend, Major Giles Porter; two Texas lawyers, a Judge Bigelow and a Colonel Bowers; Mr. and Mrs. Monod; General McClellan; Mary Custis Lee; General David Twiggs; Juan N. Cortina, the Mexicans bandit; Captain. William G. Tobin, of San Antonio; Major Samuel P. Heintzleman; the "Hostelry" kept by Mrs. Phillips in San Antonio;

Related by A. M. Nichols to S. C. Butler.

The following unusually interesting account of a happening in Kenedy, Karnes County, Bee county, Goliad and Atascosa Co in March 1875. It was then that a man by the name of Frank Fountain and about thirty cowboys, came in quietly on San Antonio river and Escondido creek. The men spread out, fanlike, up the creek. and drove out all the cattle that could be found within that radius. By daybreak the next morning they came together a few miles above where the town of Kenedy is now located. The rustlers had herded together a bunch of cattle to the number of some 9000 head, and which they proceeded to drive on west. When the true owners of the cattle arrived, they determined to cut their cows from the herd. The account goes on to describe what happens next and subsequent events. Good history of the area including many names and early ranch info.

Further Mentions: Bill Irvin, a cattleman of Atascosa county; Wm. G. Butler; Sam Calvert; J. M. Nichols, who was then living about one mile south of the present town of Kenedy; J. M. Choate, P. B. Butler, S.O. Porter; Buck Pettus and Edd Lott, John Wood, John Claire, Pat Burk, John Linney and other Bee co. cattlemen; J. A. Martin, Geo. Little, Craig McAda, Frank Oneal; the Butler camp on the Conquista, 5 miles south of where the town of Falls City is located; Manuel Coy; Uncle Dan Brister's, on the Lapann creek; the Oiler herd; was Buck Pettus, Ed and Will Lott, John Linney, Sam Porter, John Wood, John Claire, Bud Jordan, Babe Moye; the Brister ranch;

Excellent account of this master Texas Historian and his work.

Further Mentions: the story of Tumlinson; the J. M. Dobie ranch in LaSalle county; 800 Mexican dollars having been found under a mesquite tree in Atascosa county many years ago; I know of about 400 dollars in Mexican coin that were rooted up by hogs in Frio county 40 years ago,"; While excavators were preparing the foundation of new buildings on Soledad street in San Antonio, several hundred dollars in silver was found, according to old residents of the city; Prejean and Moutons two Cajan farmers; the lost San Saba or Bowie Mine; Live Oak County, Texas; John A. Lomax and Dr. L. W. Payne;

Account of Mrs Mary A. (Glasscock) Anderson surviving widow of noble Texas veteran, Mr. Washington Anderson Austin. Account details her travels to Texas with her parents siblings and number of slaves after a troublous 8-day voyage which finally ended on the gulf when they landed at the mouth of the Brazos River in 1835. Further describes settling in Williamson county where they established a grist and sawmill on Brushy Creek, in the vicinity of Round Rock.

Further Mentions: Captain Coleman; Judge William E. Jones; Webberville; husband was one of the commissioners who laid out the original town site of Georgetown; Mr. Joseph Cluck;

Colonel M. L. Crimmins. In 1884 the Tonkawe were moved to the Oakland Reserve, in the northern part of Indian Territory. In 1890 they consisted of a conglomerate of tribal remnants, who varied considerably in size, conformation and even in language, and only one of the thirteen totemic gentes were known as "genuine Tonkawes." They only had 78 members at that time. The Tonkawes were anthropiephagists in the early days, but they usually ate prisoners of war of other tribes, expecting by so doing to deprive the dead of the possibility of living a second life and taking revenge. They state that human flesh tastes like bear meat.

Account of Colonel Thomas Jefferson Shannon, who prairieschoonered his way into the vast and howling wilderness in the days of headrights and the buffalo. He is largely remembered by the old timers of the State as the man who introduced the Red Durham strain into the cattle business of the West if not the entire country.

The Red Durham strain is the breed immortalized in our era by the well known Bull Durham advertisements. It gradually replaced the standard Texas longhorn and fortunes were made by the ranchmen who bred it.

A WEST TEXAS PIONEER.

Brief account of M. B. Pulliam, of San Angelo, who came to Tom Green county in 1876 when buffaloes roamed the territory, Mr. Pulliam located his ranch three miles from the city on the North and Middle Conchos. He was here when John Arden brought the first sheep into the country from California in 1877. In 1878 Mr. Pulliam lost, twenty-four saddle horses stolen by the Indians