Honeymoon On The Old Cattle Trail
By T. U. Taylor, Austin, Texas
IN THE spring of 1886, Mary O.
Taylor of Austin, Texas, married
J. Howell Bunton, and they made
a brief honeymoon trip to the East.
On their return, they were forced
to go on another honeymoon. Mrs.
Bunton's father, Dr. M. A. Taylor,
was a capitalist of Austin, a man
of large land and real estate interests.
Young Mr. Bunton, of English extraction,
was almost gravitated into the cattle
business. He bought large herds
from Richard King, west of Corpus
Christi, and had them driven and
concentrated on Sweetwater Creek,
five miles north of Sweetwater,
Texas. This gathering took several
weeks, and Mr. Bunton himself had
no intention of going up the trail.
But at the last minute the prospective
herd boss was taken sick, and Mr.
Bunton was forced to become herd
boss of the three herds. The five
thousand cattle were divided into
three herds, the first consisting
of steers, the second of cows and
stock cattle in general, and the
third of long yearlings. While there
was a boss for each herd, Mr. Burton
had to ride from herd to herd and
keep in daily touch with each. His
bride was in Sweetwater on the ranch
with him when the sudden sickness
of the prospective foreman called
for Mr. Bunton's absence of several
months. His plucky wife, raised
in luxury in Austin, with true pioneer
spirit, "took the bit in her mouth"
and declared that she would go with
her husband, as the climax of their
honeymoon. Her husband protested,
but Miss Mollie gritted her teeth
and issued the "ukase," "I am going."'
And go she went. The Concord buggy
was provided, two stout young bays
were drafted from the "remuda" to
become harness horses. They were
tough, wiry, and fleet of foot,
and were promptly christened "Beautiful"
and "Darling."
Further Mentions: Mollie Dyer
Goodnight * Charles Goodnight *
the Brazos river near Miller's Creek
* the present site of Lake Kemp
in Baylor county * Mrs. Holmsley
* the Honeymoon Trail *
Self-Imposed Exiles Of 1865
By Laura Ratchford Fromme, Elgin,
Texas
Sad tale of the days immediately
following the Civil war, when "wreck
and ruin, desolation and starvation
covered the Southland from Virginia
to Texas." When fortunes in slaves
were gone and Confederate currency
was no longer of value, when all
the Southland was laid in waste
and ruin, Texas frontiers furnished
a gateway for a group of gallant
but discouraged men to embark upon
a self-imposed exile. These crossed
over Texas borders in 1865 to try
their fortunes in the armies of
Maximillian in Mexico in preference
to the endurance of what they considered
intolerable conditions at home.
This is the story.
Mentions: Judge Alexander Watkins
Terrell of Austin * Generals Sterling
Price, Hardeman, Magruder, Bee,
Clark, Preston * Fannie Ratchford
* the Wrenn Library of the University
of Texas * Judge Terrell * Governor
Murrah * Major Cadmus * the Bishop's
Palace * General Magruder * the
Aztec Club in Mexico * Rosencraus,
McClellan, Grant, Quitman *
RECALLS OLD MACKENZIE
TRAIL
H. B. Martin, an Amarillo, Texas,
printer, recalls that bleaching
bones of fifteen hundred horses-killed
by the Mackenzie expedition to keep
the Indians from using them-still
marked the old Mackenzie trail when
he went to the Plains in 1886. This
is the story.
Mentions: A. D. Tucker, first
sheriff of Haskell county * Tule
Canyon * Fort Concho * Captain R.
G. Carter * J. Pinckney Henderson
* J. B. Miller *
Lewis Strickland Tells Experiences
By J. Marvin Hunter
Account of old time cowman, Lewis
Strickland a native Texan, born
in Karnes county, six miles east
of old Helena, July 23rd, 1857 and
who came to Bandera county in 1876
and remained until he moved to California
in 1899. Includes excellent old
photo of Strickland.
Mentions: El Dorado, California
* His father, Jerome Strickland
* Bradford county, Pennsylvania
* Monroe county. Iowa * Orlando
Strickland * Morgan county, Indiana
* Nancy Williams * Mrs. Clara A.
Ricketson and Mrs. Emma Reagan of
Llano, Texas, and Lewis Strickland
of El Dorado, California * Mrs.
Prudie Lackey * Irion county * John
R. Strickland * Mrs. Annie Rambie
* Myron Strickland * Charles Gobler
* John A. Anderson, lived with the
Strickland family in Karnes county
* Choate & Bennett, Shanghai Pierce,
John Bishop and other prominent
cow buyers * Manuel Coy * the Strickland
ranch * Lewis Strickland attended
Covey College at Concrete, in DeWitt
county * Rev. J. V. E. Covey * Loss
Watkins * Del Rio * Kinney county
* a ranch near Dolores * Randolph
Pafford, Tom Pafford, Marion Pafford,
Hudson, Cude Adams, Tom Adams,
Bill Adams, John Perry, Taylor,
Pulliam * San Felipe Creek * John
and Marion Pafford operated a general
merchandise store, as did Old Man
Pulliam * Mason Creek and Pipe Creek
in Bandera county * John and Charlie
Slaughter prominent stockmen of
Frio county * Fort Clark (Brackettville)
* Lieutenant Bullis * Big Devil's
River * Bullis Bluff * Beaver Lake
* General R. S. Mackenzie * Costelitos
* Frank Buckelew * Wiley Schryers
* Government Water Hole on the San
Felipe * Lieut. Wilcox * Castle
Canyon on Devil's River * E. C.
Dees * Comstock * a negro named
Roach * George Burrow * a man named
Sanders * the H. C. Tardy cow camp
* Cienegas Springs * Colonel Shafter
* Shafter's camp * California Springs
* Devil's River. * Bill Reagan and
George Burrow * Mont Woodward *
Will Lackey * Bill Long * Cuero
* John Ware of Kincheloe Prairie,
near Sabinal * Miss Sarah E. Wagers
* Riddlesville, (now Gillett) in
Karnes county, Texas * Mrs. Ola
Lee Shearer of Sacramento, California
* Jerome Marvin Strickland, El Dorado,
California; Mrs. Mary E. Perschke,
El Dorado, California; Virgie W.
Strickland, Sacramento, California;
Charles Clyde Strickland, Richmond,
California * Buck Hamilton, Vent
Pue, Charlie Harris, George Hay,
Hugh Duffy, Charlie Montague * John
Kinney, leader of all the New Mexico
rustlers * He has a ranch in a cottonwood
grove south' of Rincon *
A Texas Sheriff And His Wife
By Judge J. M. Woods, San Antonio,
Texas
Account of L. B. Williams who
was "high sheriff and king of the
jail" of Liberty county, Texas,
and his wife and the unconventional,
if not downright illegal resources
they had to appeal to in order to
secure justice.
Mentions: A man by the name of
Owens * Neil * Ben Collins, a farmer
and stock-raiser of that section
* the city of McAllen * San Angelo
* the H. T. & T. C. Railroad Co
* Navasota * the Mexican Central
Railroad * Forts Concho, Griffin
and Richardson * Gen. William Tecumseh
Sherman * the Comanche, the Caddo
and the Kiowa * Menardville, now
Menard * Mrs. Carrie Martin Coldwell,
widow of the Captain Neal Coldwell,
of Center Point, Texas
A Journey Through Texas In 1856
By Frederick Law Olmsted
(Continued From Last Month)
Mentions: Gonzales * Peach Creek
* Victoria * Seguin * the lower
Guadalupe * etc, etc
(Continued Next Month)
Doak Bowles Was A Fearless Frontiersman
A. J. Sowell
AMONG the early settlers of Uvalde
county were the Bowles family. They
were bold and fearless men, and
aided materially in settling up
the country and fighting the numerous
bands of Indians who made desperate
efforts to drive the border men
back on the settlements east. W.
B. Bowles, better known as "Doak,"
was born in Allewamby county, Tennessee,
October 22, 1835, and came to Texas
with his father, John Bowles, in
the winter of 1849, and settled
on the Lampasas river, in Bell county,
four miles from Belton. John Bowles
helped to organize Bell county in
1851. This is a lengthy and detailed
account of Doak and his notable
Indian confrontations.
Mentions: the Bowles home, on
the spot where the beautiful little
town of Salado now is * the Little
River * John Bowies came to Uvalde
county with his father in 1855 and
settled on the Sabinal river in
the Patterson settlement, six miles
below the present town of Sabinal
* the Bowles ranch * Leakey and
Barrymore * the Leona * Westfall
* the Wish ranch now * the Blanco
* Tom Wall, who lived in Frio Canyon,
* Rancheros Creek * Lieut. W. B.
Hazen, who was in command of Fort
Inge * Among the settlers were John
Daugherty, John Kennedy, James Cormack,
Ben Pulliam, Clabe Davenport, William
Thomas, Frank Isbelle, Nobe Griner,
Arnold, Arnette, Everette, Williams
* Everette * John Kennedy and William
Thomas * Frank Isbelle, Nobe Griner
* Lieutenant Everette * Judge James
McCormick * Black Creek * a man
by the name of Wheat, of Medina
county * Guide hill, six miles below
where Sabinal now is * a frontier
preacher named H.G. Horton *
THE BATTLE OF CONCEPCION
(Texas Almanac, 1859)
Mentions: Colonel Ugartechea
* the affair with Castonado * Colonel
Frank W. Johnson * Thomas J. Rusk
* The Municipality of Liberty *
Cos * Captain James W. Fannin *
Colonel James Bowie * La Purissima
Concepcion * Robert Andrews *
DAM DOOMS HISTORIC TOWN
Account of early settlers of
Bluffton, TX and of I. B. (Uncle
Ike) Maxwell, who came to Texas
from Arkansas and who were among
the earliest residents of Llano
county. Located in the extreme eastern
end of Llano county, in a bend in
the winding Colorado river, Bluffton
is one of the oldest and most colorful
communities in that section. It
was settled in the early '50's by
the family of "Uncle Billy" Davis
and his kinsman, I. B. Maxwell.
The completion of the Buchanan Dam
on the Colorado river between Llano
and Burnet, meant the doom of the
historic little hamlet.
Further Mentions: the Davis family,
including "Uncle Billy" Davis, his
wife, two daughters and four sons,
Ben Davis, Caleb Davis, Henry Davis
and Ned Davis, who had settled there.
* Chadwick Mill * Masonic lodge
* the residence of Max Maxwell *
the abandoned cemetery * Jim Maxwell
*
An Old Masonic Monument At Richmond
"In the old burial ground at
Richmond on the Brazos is a monument
erected in 1825 by William Morton,
a brickmaker and layer, in memory
of a brother Mason. The structure
is of brick, about eight or nine
feet high from the ground; the shaft
on four sides stands on a pedestal
five feet square and six inches
above the ground. From a projecting
cornice the whole terminates in
a point. In each of the four sides
smooth brick slabs are inserted,
on which are found in, quaint lettering
on one side this inscription..."
Mentions: Robert Gelespie * the
Masonic Lodge at Richmond * William
Morton * Mr. H. M. Darst of Richmond,
Texas * J. S. Sullivan of Richmond,
Texas * Morton Lodge, No. 72 * Mrs.
Andrews, whose husband, Dr. Frank
A. Andrews, was Worshipful Master
of the Lodge * the antiquity of
Masonry in Fort Bend county * William
Little * Stephen F. Austin * the
Gillespie monument *
Let's Know Texas And Texans
BY WILL H. MAYES
Mentions: R. M. Williamson *
Dr. Robert T. Hill, the eminent
Texas geologist * Jefferson Hotel,
Dallas, Texas * the present town
of Belton * Dr. Richard Edmondson
* Howard Long, Ernest Hillyer and
Richard Edmondson * Sidney Porter
* Hill City Quartette * Camp Hatch
* Col. Edw. Hatch' * Camp Kelly
* Anson Jones * Collin McKinney
* Dr. Rufus W. Bailey, president
of Austin College at Huntsville
* General Castrillion * Lorenzo
de Zavaila * Jose Antonio Navarro
* Francisco Ruiz. De Zavalla * McAnally's
Bend a fertile bend of the Colorado
river in San Saba county * R. McAnally
* were W. B. Travis, Thomas J. Rusk,
David Rusk, Samuel A. Maverick,
Bernard E. Bee, Henry P. Brewster,
John Hemphill, ad Frank R. Lubbock
* Revs. T. Klies and A. Sager *
New Braunfels * Rev. G. Huehner
* Rev. G. Brashier * Rev. C. Braun
* Col. John S. Sutton * Gen. Adrian
Woll * Sibley's brigade * Thurber
and Bluff Dale and in Starr and
other Rio Grande Valley counties
* Witte Museum grounds, San Antonio
* Fort Graham * the old Jose Maria
village * Gen. Lawrence Pike Graham
* the battle of Resaca de la Palma
* W. V. Criswell * abandoned Fayette
county cemetery * Andrew Jaskson
* A. J. Hamilton * Governor Joseph
D. Sayers * William Motley * Thomas
J. Rusk
Is Jesse James Still Among The
Living?
"There are many people living
today, who are familiar with the
career of Jesse James, who do not
believe that James was killed by
Bob Ford, and some of these folks
are ready to accept the story that
is being told by the man who is
now appearing in theaters in many
cities and claiming to be the real
Jesse James.
August 9, 1936, the following
article appeared in the Houston
(Texas) Post. It was written by
Rev. J. W. E. Airey, life-time chaplain
of the National Frontiersmen's Association,
and an authority on frontier history"
Mentions: James boy's band *
Bob Ford, his cousin * Jim Williams
* Charlie Bigelow * Mrs. Samuels
* Rev. J. W. E. Airey * L. O. Daniel,
Jr. * William Clark Quantrill's
bloody band of Missouri-Kansas border
cut-throats * Rev. J. W. E. Airey
* Charley Ford * Billy the Kid *
Pat Garrett * William P. Longley
* Centerville * Zerelda Cole * Rev.
Robert James * Alexander Franklin
James * Dr. Reuben Samuel * Quantrill's
band (often mispelled as Quantrell)
* "Bloody" Bill Anderson * the Youngers
* Rock Island train near Adair,
Iowa * Pinkerton detectives * Archie
Samuel * Clell Miller * Bill Stiles
* Jim Younger * Sam Wells * Mrs.
Mary Barr, wife of prominent Kearney
farmer * Ed Earl Repp * Mr. Tom
Howard * Pawnee Bill (Major Gordon
W. Lillie) * Tom Howard was shot
by Bobie Ford * Ysleta, Texas *
Marcos de Niza * G. P. Winship *
H. H. Bancroft * Earle r. Forrest
* William McLeod Raine * Tonto Basin
* the Tewksbury's * the Grahams
* Pleasant Valley * MUZZLE-LOADINGS
Mentions: Dean T. U. Taylor *
Bill Longley, Cullen Baker, John
Simpson Chisum, Jesse Chisholm *
Gov. James V. Allred, Senator Jim
Neal, Dean T. U. Taylor, J. Frank
Dobie, Judge R. L. Bobbitt * John
T. Walker, Medina Texas * Mr. and
Mrs. Sam Ashburn and their manly
little son, William Frank Ashburn,
of San Angelo, Texas * the Horsehead
Crossing on the Pecos near Crane
City * Hal Burnett, the commissioner
at Buena Vista and Imperial * J.
D. Dillingham * E. A. Brininstool
* Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Ryan of Monterey,
California * Mrs. H. J. Niehaus
and daughters, Louise and Dora,
of Kerrville, Texas * Mrs. W. A.
Peril and Mrs. L. M. Langford, of
near Kerrville * Samuel Nott of
Gillespie county * the large fortune
of Wrigley * James Adams * Governor
Henry Smith * Fletcher Davis * Miss
Anne Davis, of Hondo, Teras * Fletcher's
Farming, a real high class farm
magazine * the Hondo Anvil-Herald
* "Shanghai" Pierce * Abel H. Pierce
* Shanghai Pierce Ranch * Florence
Johnson Scott * Gertrude Harris
* S. G. Miller * Lona Shawver and
Walt Cousins * Lois F. Boyle * Walter
Prescott Webb * Harry Harter * Frank
Bushick * Chris Emmett * May E.
Francis * W. B. Lewis * Harry Williams
* Chris Emmett * Howard W. Peak
* Roxylea Melas * Jules Verne Allen
* E. E. Kirkpatrick * Fred Chabot
* Herman Ehrenberg * James K. Greer
* Dr. Florence E. Barns * Melissa
A. Castle * Paul A. Morgan * Boyce
House * Florence N. Barnes
