The Men Who War the Star: The Story of the Texas Rangers (55 page)

  14: The Salt War

1. Day, “El Paso’s Texas Rangers,” 157–58.
   
2. Bowden, “Magoffin Salt War,” 95–96; Smith, “El Paso Salt War,” 58–59.
   
3. Quotes from Majority Report, with Accompaniments, of Board to Investigate Recent Troubles in El Paso County, Texas, 45th Congress, Second Session,
   El Paso Troubles in Texas,
   15 (hereinafter cited as “Majority Report”); “little less than law,” W. M. Dunn, judge advocate-general, to Secretary of War, April 12, 1878, ibid.; Sonnichsen,
   Pass of the North,
   182–83; Smith, “El Paso Salt War,” 59.
   
4. Sonnichsen,
   Pass of the North,
   193, 195–98, 200; Smith, “El Paso Salt War,” 60–61; J. A. Zabriskie to Edward H. Hatch, January 11, 1878, and deposition of B. S. Dowell, January 11, 1878,
   El Paso Troubles in Texas,
   53–54.
   
5. Statement of A. Krakauer, February 1, 1878,
   El Paso Troubles in Texas,
   60.
   
6. Kerber to Steele, October 18, 1877, and Steele to Jones, October 24, 1877, both ibid., 153.
   
7. Smith, “El Paso Salt War,” 61; Sonnichsen,
   Pass of the North,
   201.
   
8. Sonnichsen,
   Pass of the North,
   202.
   
9. Minority Report, Board of Commissioners Appointed to Investigate the Troubles in El Paso County, Texas,
   El Paso Troubles in Texas,
   26 (hereinafter cited as “Minority Report”).
   
10. Ibid., 26–27; Hubbard to Cisto Solelnie, Leon Granillo, and Chico Barela, December 10, 1877,
    El Paso Troubles in Texas,
    114.
    
11. Deposition of Solomon Schutz, March 18, 1878, ibid., 32–33; Sonnichsen,
    Pass
    of the North,
    203–6.
    
12. Statementof J.B. Tays, December20,1877,
    ElPasoTroubles in Texas,
    80;statement of Capt. Thomas Blair, 15th Infantry, December 19, 1877, ibid., 56; Sonnichsen,
    Pass of the North,
    206. Fort Blissat El Paso recently had been deactivated by the War Department, making Fort Bayard the nearest U.S. military post.
    
13. Statement of J. B. Tays, December 20, 1877,
    El Paso Troubles in Texas,
    80–81; “The San Elizario Massacre, As Related by an Eye-Witness,” Mesilla, New Mexico,
    Independent,
    January 17, 1878, reprinted in ibid., 97; Smith, “El Paso Salt War,” 62; Sonnichsen,
    Pass of the North,
    206-7. Tays said Atkinson had $700, while the “Eye-Witness” (Juan Nepumoceno García) stated it was $11,000. Sonnichsen quoted the latter figure, which is probably nearer correct, given the extent of the transactions Atkinson was trying to protect.
    
14. “Mas arriba, cabrones!”
    Literally translated, the word
    cabrón
    refers to a goat, but in common usage, which Atkinson no doubt intended in view of the circumstances, it means “son of a bitch.”
    Cabrones
    is the plural form.
    
15. Statement of J. B. Tays, December 20, 1877,
    El Paso Troubles in Texas,
    81; “Eye-Witness,” Mesilla
    Independent,
    reprinted in ibid., 97-98; Sonnichsen,
    Pass of the
    North,
    209; Smith, “El Paso Salt War,” 86.
    
16. Statement of Mariana Núñez, February 3, 1878,
    El Paso Troubles in Texas,
    83; statement of J. W. Campbell, February 5, 1878, ibid., 84; statement of H. O. Matthews, February 3, 1878, ibid., 85; statement of Capt. Charles D. Beyer, Ninth Cavalry, February 3, 1878, ibid., 85; statement of John B. Tays, February 12, 1878, ibid., 87.
    
17. Dunn to Secretary of War, April 12, 1878, ibid., 4; various statements, ibid., 85ff. One local citizen, J. P. Miller, stated that two men broke into his home and threatened to kill him unless he told them where the women were; he positively identified the intruders as part of the New Mexico gang. Statement of J. P. Miller, March 7, 1878, ibid.
    
18. Statement of John B. Tays, February 12, 1878, ibid., 86–87; statement ofAntonio Cadena, March 4, 1878, ibid., 93. A statement of Dr. J. K. Ball, a surgeon who arrived at the Núñez house shortly after the killing, casts doubt on Ranger claims of self-defense; statement of J. K. Ball, February 14, 1878, ibid., 88. Colonel Hatch frankly stated he did not believe the Rangers. Edward Hatch to Col. John H. King, President, Military Commission, February 14, 1878, ibid., 94.
    
19. Hatch to King, February 8, 1878, ibid., 87; Headquarters, District of New Mexico, General Field-Orders No. 1, December 24, 1878, ibid., 88.
    
20. Dunn to Secretary of War, April 12, 1878, ibid., 4–5, Majority Report, ibid., 13ff.
    
21. Minority Report, ibid., 19ff.
    
22. Day, “El Paso’s Texas Rangers,” 159; Sonnichsen,
    Pass of the North,
    210.
    

  15: The Last of the Old Guard

1. Sam Bass is the subject of a phenomenal amount of literature, the classics being Wayne Gard’s
   Sam Bass
   and two reprinted “penny dreadfuls,”
   A Sketch of Sam
   Bass the Bandit,
   by Charles L. Martin, and
   “Hands Up!” The History of a Crime,
   by Al Sorenson. Among the general surveys of badmen, George D. Hendricks’s
   The Bad Man of the West
   probably is the best for detailed material on Bass. Ramon Adams’s introduction to the University of Oklahoma Press edition of Martin’s book has much good information, as do Adams’s own extensive works. A capsuled but useful description of the real Bass also appears in Robert Elman’s
   Badmen of the West.
   On pages 371–72 of
   The Texas Rangers,
   Webb reprints excerpts from a poem about Bass that was popular when he was a boy in west Texas in the 1890s. Excerpts of the cowboy ballad are quoted in Raymond,
   Captain Lee
   Hall,
   throughout Chapter 12.
   
2. Gard,
   Sam Bass,
   68–70; Elman,
   Badmen of the West,
   214–15. The Big Springs train robbery is the subject of Sorenson’s book
   “Hands Up!”
   
3. Gard,
   Sam Bass,
   106–7; Webb,
   Texas Rangers,
   374.
   
4. Webb,
   Texas Rangers,
   374–75.
   
5. Martin,
   Sketch of Sam Bass,
   105.
   
6. Ibid., 120–23; Webb,
   Texas Rangers,
   377.
   
7. Statement of J. W. Murphy, July 24, 1878; Evans, Memorandum in Regard to Jas. Murphy, May 21, 1878, both TAGF.
   
8. Statement of J. W. Murphy, July 24, 1878, ibid.; Gard,
   Sam Bass,
   169–72; Webb,
   Texas Rangers,
   280-83; Gillett,
   Six Years,
   116–18.
   
9. Gillett,
   Six Years,
   120–23; Raymond,
   Captain Lee Hall,
   160.
   
10. Raymond,
    Captain Lee Hall,
    160. Raymond cites an 1895 newspaper article by Hall stating that Murphy had been communicating with him as well as Everhart, but other sources do not mention it. Murphy had very little opportunity to communicate, and would have kept his letters to the minimum because he feared for his life, with good reason. Gard (
    Sam Bass,
    206) says Hall was ordered to Round Rock by Major Jones, who also summoned Armstrong and the others when he began to worry about whether Reynolds’s Rangers would arrive in time.
    
11. Gillett,
    Six Years,
    123–25; Gard,
    Sam Bass,
    210; Raymond,
    Captain Lee Hall,
    161–62.
    
12. Gard,
    Sam Bass,
    214ff., 231; Gillett,
    Six Years,
    126–27.
    
13. Peterson,
    “Facts As I Remember Them,”
    54.
    
14. Day, “El Paso’s Texas Rangers,” 159.
    
15. Ibid.; Baylor,
    Into the Far, Wild Country,
    273. The latter work is a compilation of a series of articles Baylor wrote for the
    El Paso Herald
    from 1899 to 1906, edited and annotated by Jerry Don Thompson.
    
16. Baylor,
    Into the Far, Wild Country,
    273–75; Day, “El Paso’s Texas Rangers,” 160; Gillett,
    Six Years,
    140–41.
    
17. Baylor,
    Into the Far, Wild Country,
    276–81; Gillett,
    Six Years,
    153–59.
    
18. Baylor,
    Into the Far, Wild Country,
    284; Gillett,
    Six Years,
    161–66.
    
19. Baylor,
    Into the Far, Wild Country,
    313–15; Gillett,
    SixYears,
    200–3; Webb,
    Texas
    Rangers,
    402–3.
    
20. Webb,
    Texas Rangers,
    425; Prassel,
    Western Peace Officer,
    158. In Texas the authority of a law enforcement officer is restricted to his or her own jurisdiction, i.e., city police within the city limits and county sheriffs within the county.
    
21. Day, “El Paso’s Texas Rangers,” 161; Baylor to W. H. King, adjutant general, September 30, 1881, TAGR; Metz,
    Dallas Stoudenmire,
    71–72.
    
22. Metz,
    Dallas Stoudenmire,
    71–72; Jones to Baylor, November 27, 1880, TAGR.
    
23. Stoudenmire to King, March 29, 1882; Baylor to King, April 26, 1882, both TAGR; Metz,
    Dallas Stoudenmire,
    78–79. Besides their professional association, Gillett was Baylor’s son-in-law (see Day, “El Paso’s Texas Rangers,” 164).
    
24. Gillett,
    Six Years,
    143.
    
25. Baylor,
    Into the Far, Wild Country,
    29; Day, “El Paso’s Texas Rangers,” 162.
    
26. Goliad Guard,
    May 26, 1877.
    
27. King, “Texas Ranger Service,” 2:352.
    
28. Williams,
    Texas’Last Frontier,
    279; Sonnichsen,
    Roy Bean,
    80, 88.
    
29. McDonald’s life is covered in Paine,
    Captain Bill McDonald, Texas Ranger.
    Most of this material comes from Chapter 28.
    

16: Gunmen, Pugilists, and a “Fistic Carnival”

1. Metz,
   John Wesley Hardin,
   222.
   
2. White,
   Them Was the Days,
   118.
   
3. Sonnichsen,
   Pass of the North,
   356–57.
   
4. Sonnichsen,
   Roy Bean,
   85–87.
   
5. Sonnichsen,
   Pass of the North,
   356; Metz,
   John Wesley Hardin,
   208, 211, 219–21.
   
6. Selman’s life is covered in Metz,
   John Selman, Gunfighter.
   The Shackelford County Feud, which extensively involved the Rangers, is detailed in Sonnichsen,
   I’ll Die Before I’ll Run,
   and Robinson,
   The Frontier World of Fort Griffin.
   
7. DeArment,
   George Scarborough,
   126–27; Martin,
   Border Boss,
   155.
   
8. Statement of John Selman,
   El Paso Daily Herald,
   August 20, 1895, reprinted in Hardin,
   Life,
   142.
   
9. White,
   Them Was the Days,
   106; DeArment,
   George Scarborough,
   127–29; Metz,
   John Wesley Hardin,
   264–65, 272.
   
10. Martin,
    Border Boss,
    155; DeArment,
    George Scarborough,
    127.
    
11. Metz,
    John Selman,
    198; Robinson,
    Frontier World of Fort Griffin,
    144.
    
12. Sonnichsen,
    Roy Bean,
    175; Time-Life,
    The Gamblers,
    220. The Texas statutes governing both human and animal combat are discussed in Miletich,
    Dan Stuart’s
    Fistic Carnival,
    26, and
    Chicago Tribune,
    September 18, 1895.
    
13. The preliminaries are covered in Miletich,
    Dan Stuart’s Fistic Carnival,
    and in Time-Life,
    The Gamblers,
    220.
    
14. Chicago Tribune,
    September 2, 1895.
    
15. Ibid., September 30, 1895.
    
16. Ibid.
    
17. Ibid.
    
18. Ibid., September 19, 28 (Mrs. Culberson’s remark), and 29, 1895.
    
19. Time-Life,
    The Gamblers,
    220; Paine,
    Captain Bill McDonald,
    194–95.
    
20. DeArment,
    George Scarborough,
    137; Riley, “Prizefight,” 40.
    
21. Paine,
    Captain Bill McDonald,
    195.
    
22. DeArment,
    George Scarborough,
    138.
    
23. Sonnichsen,
    Roy Bean,
    179.
    
24. New York
    World,
    February 12, 1896.
    
25. Sonnichsen,
    Roy Bean,
    180; DeArment,
    George Scarborough,
    138–39.
    
26. DeArment,
    George Scarborough,
    139; Mabry to Lieutenant Governor George T. Jester, February 27, 1896, in Paine,
    Captain Bill McDonald,
    400; Riley, “Prizefight,” 41; Miletich,
    Dan Stuart’s Fistic Carnival,
    151–54.
    
27. New York
    World,
    February 13, 1896.
    
28. Ibid.; Miletich,
    Dan Stuart’s Fistic Carnival,
    129–30.
    
29. Sonnichsen,
    Roy Bean,
    183; Miletich,
    Dan Stuart’s Fistic Carnival,
    161, 164–65; New York
    World,
    February 16, 1896.
    
30. New York
    World,
    February 16, 1896.
    
31. Ibid.
    
32. Mabry to Jester, February 27, 1896, in Paine,
    Captain Bill McDonald,
    400; Martin,
    Border Boss,
    164; New York
    World,
    February 13, 1896.
    
33. Stuart quoted in Riley, “Prizefight,” 41; Miletich,
    Dan Stuart’s Fistic Carnival,
    161–62.
    
34. Mabry to Jester, February 27, 1896, in Paine,
    Captain Bill McDonald,
    399; New York
    World,
    February 22, 1896.
    
35. New York
    World,
    February 12, 1896.
    
36. Sonnichsen,
    Roy Bean,
    152, 178; Sonnichsen,
    Pass of the North,
    361.
    
37. Mabry to Jester, February 27, 1896, in Paine,
    Captain Bill McDonald,
    401; Sonnichsen,
    Roy Bean,
    174; Miletich,
    Dan Stuart’s Fistic Carnival,
    173.
    
38. Miletich,
    Dan Stuart’s Fistic Carnival,
    175.
    
39. New York
    World,
    February 22, 1896.
    
40. Ibid., February 16, 1896.
    
41. Paine,
    Captain Bill McDonald,
    197–98.
    
42. Masterson’s biographer Robert K. DeArment discusses the episode in “That Masterson-McDonald Standoff.”
    
43. Sonnichsen,
    Roy Bean,
    187; Miletich,
    Dan Stuart’s Fistic Carnival,
    181; Martin,
    Border Boss,
    165.
    
44. New York
    World,
    February 22, 1896.
    
45. Miletich,
    Dan Stuart’s Fistic Carnival,
    182.
    
46. Ibid., 183, 229n13; New York
    World,
    February 22, 1896.
    
47. Sonnichsen,
    Roy Bean,
    189.