Vol 04 No. 07 - April 1927

The Shooting Of Maurice Barrymore

By Clifton Seymour

Account of the tragic murder of actor Maurice Barrymore, father of Ethel Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, and John Barrymore. This event occurred at the Marshall Opera House, Marshall, TX in the winter of 1878.

Further Mentions: Characters:  John Drew, May Cummings, Maurice Barrymore, Ethel Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, John Barrymore, Sam Harvey, Benjamin Porter, Jim Currie, B. F. Eads, John H. Pope, Ruff Perry, Arch Adams, James H. Turner, A. J. Booty, Grover Cleveland.

 Locations:  Marshall, the Santa Fe, Katy, Frisco, Rock Island railroads, Fort Worth, Dallas, Longview Junction, San Antonio, Houston, Galveston, Austin, Waco, Harrison County, Lincoln County

The First Judge In The Panhandle

By Nina Kountz

Account deals with the first Judge in the Panhandle of Texas, Judge Emanuel Dubbs, who with his wife and three children settled originally on Sweetwater Creek about nine miles from where Fort Elliot was then located and also near a small hunting supply town on the edge of the reservation named Sweetwater, which was afterwards called Mobeetie. In the Fall of 1878 he was elected the first County Judge of the Panhandle, a position he served for ten years, until he moved to Clarendon, Donley County. This is his story. Frontier justice makes excellent reading and research – this article is no exception.

Further Mentions: Characters:  Emanuel Dubbs, Wilson Harrah, Walter Johnson, Tom O’Laughlin, Mr. Rhinehart, Captain Flipper, Mr. Edwards.

 Locations:  Sweetwater Creek, Fort Elliot, Sweetwater, Mobeetie, Clay County, Henrietta, Greer County, Clarendon, Donley County, Austin, Dallas, Oldham County, Tascosa.

A Negro Trooper Of The Ninth Cavalry

Account of Jacob Wilks who was born a slave in Kentucky, about thirty mild south of the Ohio river. While yet an infant his father and mother gathered their two children in their arms and fled, under cover of darkness to the Ohio river, where they found concealment in the jungle until they could attract the attention of a group of fishermen on the north bank of the river. These fishermen were connected with the "Underground Railroad", and took the family across the river and landed them in the free state of Ohio. Wilks was eventually adopted into the family of a Mrs. Waddell who raised Jake with nobility. During the Civil War, he enlisted in the 116th regiment colored infantry and served with distinction. He then served on the frontier and further distinguished himself with honor and bravery. This is his story.Further Mentions: Characters:  John Warren Hunter, Jacob Wilks, General McKenzie.

 Locations:  San Angelo, Galveston, San Antonio, Fort Concho, Fort Mckavett, Fort Stockton, Fort Clark, Fort Davis, Fort Quitman, Fort Bliss, El Paso, Eagle Springs, Buss Canyon, Rio Grande, Tule Canyon, Fort Sill, White Sand Mountain.

The Mysterious Ledbetter Boy

By John C. Jacobs

Account of events that occurred in the late 1860's at the Lynch Ranch, twelve miles east of Ft. Griffin where there was a school and two Ledbetter boys, ages 6 and 9 attended. After a storm they were headed back to the ranch when Johnny Ledbetter mysteriously disappeared. Then later there was…

Further Mentions: Characters:  Johnny Ledbetter, Tiger Jim

 Locations:  Rio Grande, Red River, Lynch’s Ranch, Fort Griffin, Devil’s River Canyon, Concho River, Galveston.

Racing At Junction In 1888

By Chas B. Boyce

Events that occurred around in the renowned cattle town of Junction City near Kimbleville, a couple of miles below the Junction of North and South Llano on Feb. 2, 1888.

Mentions: Dan Baker's store at the mouth of Johnson Fork of the Llano. , the Spiller Colt , Gip Clemmons, a prominent cattleman , Major Spencer, the popular sheriff and law on the Llanos , Tom Evans' place on Elm Creek, Menard County , Major Seth Mabry , the Circle A, tributary of the Little Missouri in Custer County, Montana

Further Mentions: Characters:  Sam Pullen, Spiller Colt, Gip Clemmons, Guadalupe, Dan Baker, L. L. Lewis, Seth Mabry, Tom Evans

 Locations:  Devil’s River Divide, Llano River, Bluffton, Burnet County, Bear Creek, Austin, Kimble County, Junction City, Johnson Fork, Kimbleville, Elm Creek, Menard County

TRIBUTE TO CAPTAIN SCHREINER.

By A. W. Koock, Austin, Texas

Brief account of Capt. Chas. Schreiner, pioneer ranchman of Kerrville and Kerr county.

General John B. Hood’s Victory

Account of John B. Hood's fight with a party of Comanches and Lipans near the head of Devil's river, Texas, on July 5 1857

Further Mentions: Characters:  John B. Hood, Nunley, Stifflen, Smothers, Davis

 Locations:  Devil’s River, Fort Mason, Concho River, Kiowa Creek, Rio Grande, Camp Hudson, Camp Colorado, Camp Wood, Nueces River, Maine’s Prairie, Anderson County, Lavaca County, Gonzales

Jack Hays, The Intrepid Texas Ranger

Continued from previous issue...

Further Mentions: Characters:  Captain John Coffee Jack Hays, Colonel Caldwell, Henry Mcculloch, John W. Smith, General Woll, Captain Dawson, A. H. Morrell, Judge Hemphill, General Mayfield, Z. N. Morrell, Arch Gibson, F. M. Harrison, R. A. Gillespie, Ben Mcculloch, Ben Highsmith, Ackland, Tom Galbreath, James Dunn, Sam Luckey, Bill Chisom, Emory Gibbons, Mary A. Maverick, John Hays Hammond, Robert Cage, Hammond Hays, Betsy Cage

 Locations:  Gonzales, Guadalupe, Seguin, Rio Grande, San Antonio, LaGrange, Medina, Hondo, Brenham, Washington County, Painted Rock, Medina River, Castroville, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Bandera Pass, Plum Creek, San Jacinto, Alamo City, Nueces Canyon, Pinta Trail Crossing, Enchanted Rock, Sabinal River, Frio River, Leon Creek, Painted Rock, Uvalde, Brazos River, Laredo

The Real Jim Bridger

By Gilbert Ellis Bailey

Bailey, who knew the old scout and mountain man personally for many years in Wyoming, addresses the questions that arise from history’s oft misunderstood evaluation of Bridger. "What kind, of a man was Jim Bridger? Was he a drunken rowdy and an ignoramus? What did he look like and how did he act?" This account answers these and other questions.

Further Mentions: Characters:  Jim Bridger, Jedidiah Strong Smith, Sublette, Ashley, Kit Carson

 Locations:  Fort Bridger, Black Fork Of The Green River, Mt. San Bernardino, Big Bear Lake, Salt Lake, Yellowstone Park

Kit Carson Loved Indians

Account of KIT CARSON, Indian killer, trail blazer, desert guide and romancer. The old-timers of Taos, NM where Carson made his home, do not remember Carson as a general. They recall him, rather, as a charitable neighbor, an amiable conversationalist, a quiet old gentleman who hated killings and loved Indians. This is the story.

Further Mentions: Characters:  Christopher Kit Carson, Lena Scheurich, Charles Bent

Texas After The Civil War

By Colonel Acie Sooner

The author of this account came to Texas immediately after the close of the Civil War. He describes in graphic detail, the very sad and ruinous condition that befell many in post Civil War Texas. The author speaks first of the conditions in and around Jefferson and Hunt co, and then relocating to Denton, nearer the frontier, he speaks of conditions there.

Ragged and half starved, heavy-hearted and some of them wounded, they surrendered their guns, wrung the hands of their comrades in a final farewell, and taking a last look toward the graves that dotted the fields of carnage, completed their journey home. They had been fighting four years for the glory and liberty of Texas.

Many found their homes in ruins; their farms overrun with weeds; their stock driven off by wild and merciless Indians, their barns empty, their business destroyed. Their money was worthless and their people were without government or law. Neighbors had been slain. They were crushed by defeat, and without money or credit...

Some of the vicious, lecherous sort had frightened women and children and one of them went as far as to drag a woman from a horse on Holford Prairie, in Denton county, not far from the little town of Lewisville. This negro was caught by an organized band, said to have been but recently formed, and called the Ku Klux Klan. They carried him to Lewisville, where the lady resided, bound hand and foot, and turned him over to her. She told them that he was the identical negro that assaulted her and she requested them to take him out in the brush and kill him. They replied that they would take him out, but that she must do the killing herself, for that she was the only person that had the right to do so, being the party mostly aggrieved. Accordingly, they conveyed the negro to a lonely spot in the woods, and she shot him two or three times with a pistol, and then the men unbound him. About an hour after a boy came running into the house and reported that the negro was still alive. A man then went out and knocked him in the head with an ax. In about two hours afterward three or four men went out to get the corpse and bury it, but to their surprise the negro was gone, and could not be found near the place where he had been presumably killed. A posse was immediately organized, and by following a trace of blood and foot marks through the timber...

There was a widow with five children living alone on a farm. The husband had perished in the war, while gallantly leading a charge on a federal battery. She had but one horse and this was her only dependence for making a living for herself and children. The thief saw her come home from the field, after plowing all day and watched her feed her horse. He thought, according to his own confession, that as there was no man about the place, he could get off with the horse. So about midnight, while the widow and her children were wrapped in slumber, he stealthily crept to her home, untied the horse and appropriated it to his own use. Great was the excitement in that little family the next morning when the widow arose and found her only hope of making a living gone. Wringing her hands, she and her children went from neighbor to neighbor and reported the theft. The pioneers, as fast as they heard of the widow's loss, rose as one man to hunt the thief, and recover, if possible, the horse. Some of them could trail man or beast through the brush like a bloodhound. They could tell by the impression of the feet of the stolen horse how old the track was and by this means before the sun was down they had caught the thief in Tarrant county. As they returned with him bound on the horse he had stolen, the crowd increased in number, and by the time they had reached a point a few miles from town, the mob was crying "Hang him, hang him! " Already a rope was around his neck, while the thief, trembling, through pallid lips begged for his life. "Brother, brother, brother!" he kept repeating, "have mercy on me." They replied that he might ask God to forgive him, but that they could not. So they hanged him by the neck to the limb of a tree, until he was dead, on the Fort Worth road…

Further Mentions: Hardin Hunt was running the only tavern in the town , Mrs. Orr was postmistress and Prof Cushman had opened a school. Dr. Young was the principal physician and a Mr. Upthegrove the only lawyer. Fred Ende had a little grocery store and there was a blacksmith shop and a stable. The population numbered about 300 souls , Colonel Jim Bowlin and Colonel Young , Gainesville , R. J. Battle & Co., merchants , McKinney, a little clapboard town in Collin county , Big Elm , Luellen Murphy, Joe Carroll and O. G. Welch , the "Murphy House," owned by Henderson Murphy , Pinkneyville , New Alton , C. W. Geers , James Williams and Charles Brim , John Piner , the Bonham News , John Skaggs , J. R. McCormick , Mrs Lewis Fry , Columbus Daugherty , Acie Sooner, Hardin Hunt, Mrs. Orr, Professor Cushman, Dr. Young, Mr. Upthegrove, Fred Ende, Jim Bowlin, Colonel Young, Luellen Murphy, Joe Carroll, O. G. Welch, Henderson Murphy, C. W. Geers, James Williams, Charles Brim, John Piner, John Skaggs, J. R. McCormick, Mrs. Lewis Fry, Columbus Daugherty.

 Locations:  Jefferson, Greenville, McKinney, Denton, Sherman, Fort Worth, Dallas, Hunt County, Commerce, Celeste, Wolf City, Lone Oak, Tarrant County, Denton County, Wise County, Montague County, Collin County, Big Elm River, New Alton, Pinkneyville, Holford Prairie, Lewisville

’Wild Bill’ Hickok

By Eugene Cunningham

James Butler Hickok, had been christened at birth in La Salle County, Illinois, in May of 1837. From childhood he had handled a rifle and revolver and bowie-knife ; from the time he had learned to line his sights, he had been a restless youngster. So as a lanky youth of eighteen he was already a warrior of note in the bloody guerilla fighting that raged in Kansas before the Civil War. They called him "a bad man to rile;" fast and accurate performer with either rifle or the new Colt's revolver.

Further Mentions: Characters:  Jack McCandlas, Shanghai Bill, James Butler Hickok, General Fremont, Dave Tutt, Jack Strawhan, General Phil Sheridan, Jack McCall

 Locations:  Oak Creek, Selkirk, Rio Grande,

The Squaw Who Saved Fayetteville

By Mrs. Sue Morgan

Account of a white squaw, whose stoicism was as great as an Indian's, yet whose mercy saved the city where her son was killed. The woman knew certainly that her son was dying; that the white men who sent for her did so to implore her aid to keep the truth from the Indians amongst whom her son was a great chief, son of a chief.

Further Mentions: Characters:  Sue Morgan, M. E. Moody

 Locations:  Fayetteville, Arkansas, New Braunfels, San Antonio

Historic Spots Of The Panhandle

By T. D. Hobart

Account mentions: the battle at Adobe Walls, in Hutchinson county, in November, 1864 , The battle between the buffalo hunters and Indians at Adobe Walls in June, of 1874 , the Buffalo Wallow fight with the Indians in what is now Hemphill county, September 12, 1874 , a desperate encounter was taking place a few miles to the northward where General Miles' supply trails was rounded up by the Indians , In 1874 an engagement took place between the troops under General Miles and the Indians, in what is now the J. A. Ranch in Armstrong county , The ill-fated Santa Fe expedition , In 1849 Captain Marcy laid out the south Santa Fe trail from Fort Smith, Ark., to Santa Fe, N. M. across the Panhandle, and escorted a train of emigrants on their way to the newly discovered gold fields of California. On this expedition it is probable that the first white children to be born in the Panhandle made their appearance, the time being June 8, 1849, when a pair of twin boys were barn on White Deer Creek in Hutchinson county

Further Mentions: Mr. Charles Goodnight , Kit Carson , General McKenzie , Blanco canyon , Fort Elliott , Tule and Palo Duro canyons , Red Deer creek , Dry river , Lieutenant Albert , Hemphill county , Canadian and Ouachita rivers , Jones and Plummer trails , Fort Elliott , Fort Supply trail , Mobeetie to Tascosa , Old Clarendon , William Dixon, Amos Chapman, General Miles,  Locations:  Adobe Walls, Hutchinson County, Red River, Gray County, Buffalo Wallow, Hemphill County, J. A. Ranch, Armstrong County, Blanco Canyon, Tule Creek, Fort Elliott, Austin, Santa Fe, Palo Duro Canyon, Red Deer Creek, Fort Smith, White Deer Creek, Ouachita River, Dixon Creek, Jones Trail, Plummer Trail, Mobeetie, Dodge City, Fort Supply Trail, Tascosa, Old Clarendon, Wichita Falls

Shot Through With Arrows

By Captain R. G. Carter

Account details an event that occurred during the early occupation of Fort

Chadbourn when a soldier by the name of Mattock, who was suddenly attacked by 6 Comanches, sustained the wounds of fourteen arrows and bristled with them like a porcupine. Three of these arrows had gone so far through him that the surgeon extracted them by cutting the feathered part of the arrow and pulling them through the man's body. This is the account of that engagement.

Further Mentions: Characters:  Col. Martin L. Crimmins, Gen. David L. Stanley, Lieutenant George B. Anderson, Mattock, Eben Swift, Brigadier General Swift

 Locations:  Fort Sam Houston, Fort Chadbourn, San Antonio, Fort Randall.

Some names mentioned in this volume:

Sgt Kit Ackland; Arch Adams; Lt Albert; Clay Allison; Lt George B. Anderson; Gilbert Ellis Bailey; Dan Baker; Gen Bandera; Miss Ethel Barrymore; John Barrymore; Lionel Barrymore; Maurice Barrymore; R. J. Battle; Gov P. Hansborough Bell; Charles Bent; Capt J. L Bomar; A. J. Judge Booty; Col Jim Bowlin; Charles B. Boyce; Jim Bridger; Charles Brim; Lt Bullis; Gen Cabell; S. I. Prof Cade; Betsy Cage; Robert Cage; Col Caldwell; Gov Thomas M. Campbell; Maj John Caperton; Joe Carroll; Christopher "Kit" Carson; Capt R. G. Carter; Amos Chapman; Bill Chisom; Gov Edward Clark; Gip Clemmons; Grover Cleveland; Gov Richard Coke; Gov O. B. Colquitt; Col Corasco; Martin L. Col Crimmins; Gov C. A. Culberson; Miss May Cummings; Eugene Cunningham; Andy Currie; Jim Currie; Prof Cushman; Columbus Daugherty; Capt Dawson; Billy Dixon; William Dixon; Prof J. Frank Dobie; John Drew; Emanuel Judge Dubbs; James (Red) Dunn; Dr B. F. Eads; Fred Ende; Tom Evans; Gov James E. Ferguson; Miriam A. Gov Ferguson; Capt Flipper; Capt Freanor; Gen Fremont; Mrs Lewis Fry; Dr C. O. Gaither; Tom Galbreath; C. W. Geers; Emory Gibbons; Arch Gibson; Capt R. A. Gillespie; Jim Gillett; Goodnight; Gen Grant; Nellie Gray; William Greenwood; A. J. Gov Hamilton; John Hays Hammond; Wilson Harrah; F. M. Harrison; Fred Harvey; Sam Harvey; Miss Betty Hays; Capt Hays; Jack Hays; Capt Jack Hays; John C. Hays; John Coffee Hays; John Coffee ("Jack") Hays; Maj Hays; Judge Hemphill; Gov J. Pinckney Henderson; James Butler Hickok; Shanghai Bill; "Wild Bill"; Ben Highsmith; Boot Hill; T. D. Hobart; Gov W. P. Hobby; Gov J. S. Hogg; Gov R. B. Hubbard; C. B. Hudspeth; Hardin Hunt; Gov John Ireland; Jackson; Walter Johnson; Col Karnes; A. W. Knock; Miss Nina Kountz; Gov S. W. T. Lanham; John Ledbetter; Johnny Ledbetter; L. L. Lewis; Abe Lincoln; Abraham; S. J. Lore; Gov F. R. Lubbock; Sam Luckey; Maj Seth Mabry; A. B. Macdonald; Mrs Mattie A. Maddux; Alexander Majors; Capt Marcy; Mrs Mary A. Maverick; Gen Mayfield; Jack McCall; Jack McCandlas; Jim McCandlas; J. R. McCormick; Capt Ben McCulloch; Henry McCulloch; Lt Henry McCulloch; Lt McCulloch; Gen McKenzie; Gen Miles; Gov Dan Moody; M. E. Moody; Mrs Sue Morgan; A. H. Morrell; Z. N. Morrell; Henderson Murphy; Lady Murphy; Luellen Murphy; Gov Pendleton Murrah; Gov Pat M. Neff; Dr Nicholson; Dr J. E. Nicholson; Tom O'Laughlin; Gov E. M. Pease; Ruff Perry; John Piner; Judge Plemons; Plemons; Col Alex Pope; Bill Col Pope; Dr John H. Pope; Benjamin Porter; Sam Pullen; Tom Reilly; Gov O. M. Roberts; Gov L. S. Ross; Gov H. R. Runnels; Gov Joseph D. Sayers; Miss Lena Scheurich; Capt Schreiner; Capt Charles Schreiner; Capt Juan N. Seguin; Clifton Seymour; Gen Phil Sheridan; John Skaggs; Col Smith; Jed Smith; Jedidah Strong; John W. Strong; King Soloman; Col Acie Sooner; Sowell; Maj Spencer; Gen David L. Stanley; Maj Steadman; Mrs Harriett Beecher Stowe; Jack Strawhan; Clifton Seymour Stuart; Gen Brig Swift; Eben Swift; Seth Thomas; Tom Threepersons; Gov J. W. Throckmorton; Maj James H. Turner; Dave Tutt; Gen Twiggs; Cov Wallace; Cov Walton; O. G. Welch; Kittie Wells; Jacob Wilks; Sgt; Wilks; James Williams; Webster Witter; Gov George T. Wood; Capt (See Hays Maj)Yack.