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009 - Service With Reynolds the Intrepid Part 1 · Six Years with the Texas Rangers, 1875 to 1881

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Speaker 1: Section eight of Six Years with the Texas Rangers eighteen
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Speaker 1: seventy five to eighteen eighty one. This is a LibriVox recording.
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Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Read
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Speaker 1: by Andrew Frame. Six Years with the Texas Rangers eighteen
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Speaker 1: seventy five to eighteen eighty one by James B. Gillette.
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Speaker 1: Service with Reynolds The Intrepid Part one. As soon as
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Speaker 1: Sergeant Reynolds was commissioned first lieutenant, he was placed in
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Speaker 1: command of Company E, then stationed in Coleman County, but
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Speaker 1: immediately ordered to impass us. At this time, Captain Sparks
0:42
Speaker 1: resigned the command of Company C, and this company was
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Speaker 1: also ordered to report to Lieutenant Reynolds at the same town.
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Speaker 1: Late in August, the two commands went into camp at
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Speaker 1: Hancock Springs. Major Jones then authorized Lieutenant Reynolds to pick
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Speaker 1: such men as he desired from these two companies for
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Speaker 1: or his own company, and either discharge or transfer the
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Speaker 1: remainder to other commands. No other officer in the battalion
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Speaker 1: I believe was ever accorded this privilege. Lieutenant Reynolds had
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Speaker 1: a week or ten days in which to make his selection,
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Speaker 1: so he studied the muster rolls of the companies carefully.
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Speaker 1: He had ranged under such great captains as Perry D. W. Roberts,
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Speaker 1: Neil Coldwell, and with Major Jones himself. He knew what
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Speaker 1: qualities were needed in a good ranger and made his
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Speaker 1: selections accordingly. From old Company A, Reynolds selected C. L. Neville,
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Speaker 1: Tom Gillespie, Shape Rogers, Jack Martin, John Gibbs, W. T. Clements,
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Speaker 1: and four others whose names I do not now remember.
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Speaker 1: These were the scouts that had helped him capture the Whorls,
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Speaker 1: and naturally were his first choice. From Company E came
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Speaker 1: Dick Ware, who one year later killed the noted train
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Speaker 1: robber Sam Bass. Then served Mitchell County as its first
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Speaker 1: sheriff for many years and finally became the United States
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Speaker 1: Marshall for the Western District of Texas under President Cleveland's administration.
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Speaker 1: Henry Thomas Miller, Morland, George Arnett, and other Company E
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Speaker 1: boys were selected Henry Baltimore, Ben and Doc Carter, Bill Derrick,
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Speaker 1: Chris Connor, Henry McGhee, Abe Anglin, J. W. Warren, Dave
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Speaker 1: Lygan Low Hughes, George hog Hughes and others were picked
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Speaker 1: from Company C. When he exhausted the two companies, Reynolds
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Speaker 1: turned to General Jones and said, there's a ranger down
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Speaker 1: on the Rio Grande and Neil Coldwell's company that I want.
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Speaker 1: Who is it? Asked the General, Private Jim Gillette. You
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Speaker 1: shall have him, promised General Jones, I will send an
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Speaker 1: order to Captain Coldwell tonight to have Gillette report to
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Speaker 1: you here. It was late in the evening when Company
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Speaker 1: a's mail came in from Freotown, but Captain Coldwell sent
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Speaker 1: for me as soon as General Jones's order arrived and
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Speaker 1: told me that I must leave the company next morning
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Speaker 1: and report to the Adjutant General at Austin. I was nonplussed,
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Speaker 1: for I did not know what the order meant. Out
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Speaker 1: on the frontier where we were then operating. We seldom
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Speaker 1: read newspapers or heard what the other companies were doing,
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Speaker 1: so I did not even know that Reynolds had captured
3:14
Speaker 1: the Horror Boys and had been commissioned to command Company E.
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Speaker 1: The following morning, I bade Captain Coldwell and the Company
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Speaker 1: A boys goodbye and started on my long ride to Austin.
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Speaker 1: As I jogged along, I asked myself many hundred times
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Speaker 1: why I was ordered to report at Austin, and boylike
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Speaker 1: it made me nervous and uneasy. It took me two
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Speaker 1: days to reach San Antonio and three more to get
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Speaker 1: to Austin. I arrived in the latter town just at nightfall,
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Speaker 1: but I was at the Adjutant General's office as soon
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Speaker 1: as it was opened. Next morning, presently, General Jones entered
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Speaker 1: with some officers of the state Militia. He shook hands
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Speaker 1: with me and invited me to be seated, saying he
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Speaker 1: had some business to attend to for the moment. It
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Speaker 1: was probably an hour before the officers left. When the
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Speaker 1: General could turn to me, he very kindly inquired as
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Speaker 1: to my trip and asked about Captain Coldwell and the company.
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Speaker 1: He then told me about the arrest of the Horrel
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Speaker 1: Boys and Sergeant Reynolds commission as first Lieutenant commanding Company E.
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Speaker 1: Vice Lieutenant Foster resigned. He explained that Reynolds had requested
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Speaker 1: that I be attached to his command and ordered me
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Speaker 1: to report to my new commander in Lempasus without delay.
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Speaker 1: I excused myself at once and lost no time. In
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Speaker 1: getting my horse out of the livery stable and resuming
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Speaker 1: my way, A great load was lifted from my mind,
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Speaker 1: and I was about as happy as a boy could be.
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Speaker 1: I sang and whistled all the way to Liberty Hill,
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Speaker 1: thirty miles from Austin. The following day, about two PM,
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Speaker 1: I rode into Reynolds Camp at Hancock Springs. I attracted
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Speaker 1: some attention as I rode in, for I wore a
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Speaker 1: big Mexican hat mounted with silver, and a buckskin jacket
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Speaker 1: franged from shoulder to elbow with a bunch of flowers
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Speaker 1: braided in highly colored silk on its back. On My
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Speaker 1: heels were as Mexican spurs. I never saw a ranger
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Speaker 1: sent to the Rio Grand for the first time that
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Speaker 1: did not wrig himself out in some such outlandish attire,
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Speaker 1: only to discard it a few weeks later, never to
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Speaker 1: wear it again. I was no exception, and I think
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Speaker 1: every man in camp tried on my hat. Lieutenant Reynolds
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Speaker 1: selected C. L. Nevill for first Sergeant, Henry W. McGhee's
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Speaker 1: second sergeant, and J. W. Warren and L. W. Connor
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Speaker 1: first and second Corporals, respectively. On September first, eighteen seventy seven,
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Speaker 1: the company was sworn in. The new command was the
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Speaker 1: most formidable body of men I had ever seen. Our commander,
5:39
Speaker 1: Lieutenant Reynolds, was over six feet tall and weighed probably
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Speaker 1: one hundred seventy five pounds. He was a very handsome man,
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Speaker 1: a perfect blonde with steel blue eyes and a long
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Speaker 1: light mustache. At that time, he was about thirty years
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Speaker 1: of age, vigorous in mind and body, and had a
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Speaker 1: massive determination to succeed as a ranger. His mind was original, profound,
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Speaker 1: and quick, with a will that no obstacle could daunt.
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Speaker 1: He was the best ranger in the world. There was
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Speaker 1: never another like him. The Lieutenant was the native of
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Speaker 1: Missouri and was always known as Major or Maje Reynolds.
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Speaker 1: It was said that Reynolds, though a mere boy, had
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Speaker 1: served with the Confederates in the latter part of the
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Speaker 1: Civil War. He was one of a party that captured
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Speaker 1: a troop of Federal cavalry, the major of which was
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Speaker 1: well supplied with clothing. The captors, however, were very scantily clad,
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Speaker 1: and Reynolds appropriated the major's uniform, hence his nickname Mage.
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Speaker 1: In later years, when I had grown more intimate with him,
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Speaker 1: and was probably closer to him than any other. I
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Speaker 1: mentioned this story, he neither affirmed nor denied it, declaring
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Speaker 1: he was a Missourian by birth, a bootmaker by trade,
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Speaker 1: and that his early history could interest no one. First
6:52
Speaker 1: Sergeant Neville was six feet and one inch in height
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Speaker 1: and weighed one hundred eighty five pounds. All the non
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Speaker 1: commissioned officers were at least six feet tall and built
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Speaker 1: in proportion, and many of the privates were from five
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Speaker 1: feet eleven inches to six feet in height. I was
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Speaker 1: probably the lightest man in the company, being only five
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Speaker 1: feet nine inches and weighing but one hundred forty pounds.
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Speaker 1: When the company's roster was complete, Lieutenant Reynolds had but
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Speaker 1: twenty eight men, lacking two of his full complement of thirty.
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Speaker 1: The company was then ordered to Austin, but before being
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Speaker 1: assigned to its position on the frontier, the Lieutenant enlisted
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Speaker 1: John and Will Banister, two celebrated frontiersmen. They were old cowboys,
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Speaker 1: splendid shots, and well acquainted with every part of Kimball, Minard, Mason,
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Speaker 1: and Kirk counties in which Company E was destined to operate.
7:43
Speaker 1: In appearance and ability, this company compared favorably with any
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Speaker 1: thirty Rangers ever sent to the Texas Frontier. Nearly every
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Speaker 1: member of the company had had more or less experience
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Speaker 1: as an officer, and all were exceedingly fine marksmen. Sergeant
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Speaker 1: Henry McGhee had been Marshal of wo and it figured
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Speaker 1: in several pistol duels in that city. Dave Lygan, the
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Speaker 1: oldest man in the command, had been a Confederate soldier
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Speaker 1: and had served with General Forrest's cavalry. In the summer
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Speaker 1: of eighteen seventy seven, Lieutenant Armstrong of Captain Hall's company,
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Speaker 1: assisted by Detective Jack Duncan of Dallas, Texas, captured the
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Speaker 1: notorious John Wesley Harden. It has been said that Texas,
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Speaker 1: the largest state in the Union, has never produced a
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Speaker 1: real world champion at anything. Surely such critics overlooked Harden,
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Speaker 1: the champion desperado of the world. His life is too
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Speaker 1: well known in Texas for me to go into detail,
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Speaker 1: But according to his own story, which I have before me,
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Speaker 1: he killed no fewer than twenty seven men, the last
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Speaker 1: being Charlie Webb, Deputy Sheriff of Brown County, Texas. So
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Speaker 1: notorious had hardened become that the state of Texas offered
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Speaker 1: four thousand dollars reward for his capture. Harden left Texas and,
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Speaker 1: at the time of his capture was in Florida. His
9:00
Speaker 1: aptors arrested and overpowered him while he was sitting in
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Speaker 1: a passenger coach. In September eighteen seventy seven, Sheriff Wilson
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Speaker 1: of Comanche County, in whose jurisdiction Hardened had killed Webb,
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Speaker 1: came to Austin to convey the prisoner to Commanche for trial.
9:15
Speaker 1: Wilson requested the governor for an escort of rangers. Lieutenant
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Speaker 1: Reynold's Company, being in Austin at the time, was ordered
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Speaker 1: to accompany Wilson and protect Harden from mob violence. This
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Speaker 1: was the first work assigned to Company E under its
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Speaker 1: new commander. The day we left Austin, between one and
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Speaker 1: two thousand people gathered about the Travis County jail to
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Speaker 1: see this notorious desperado. The rangers were drawn up just
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Speaker 1: outside the jail, and Henry Thomas and myself were ordered
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Speaker 1: to enter the prison and escort Hardened out. Heavily shackled
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Speaker 1: and handcuffed, the prisoner walked very slowly between us. The
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Speaker 1: boy that had sold fish on the streets of Austin
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Speaker 1: was now guarding the most desperate criminal in Texas. It
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Speaker 1: was glory enough for me. At his trial, Harden was
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Speaker 1: convicted and sentenced to twenty five years in the penitentiary.
10:04
Speaker 1: He appealed his case and was returned to Travis County
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Speaker 1: for safe keeping. The verdict of the trial court was sustained,
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Speaker 1: and one year later, in September eighteen seventy eight, Lieutenant
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Speaker 1: Reynolds's company was ordered to take Harden back to Comanche
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Speaker 1: County for sentence. There was no railroad at Commanchee at
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Speaker 1: the time, so a detachment of rangers, myself among them,
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Speaker 1: escorted Harden to the penitentiary. There were ten or twelve
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Speaker 1: indictments still pending against him for murder in various counties,
10:32
Speaker 1: but they were never prosecuted. Harden served seventeen years on
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Speaker 1: his sentence, and while in prison studied law. Governor Hogg
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Speaker 1: pardoned him in eighteen ninety four and restored him to
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Speaker 1: full citizenship. In transmitting him the governor's pardon, Judge W. S. Fly,
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Speaker 1: Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals, wrote Harden as follows,
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Speaker 1: Dear Sir enclosed, I send you a full pardon from
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Speaker 1: the Governor of Texas. I congradually you on its reception,
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Speaker 1: and trust that it is the day of dawn of
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Speaker 1: a bright and peaceful future. There is a time to
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Speaker 1: retrieve a lost past, turn your back upon it with
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Speaker 1: all its suffering and sorrow, and fix your eyes upon
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Speaker 1: the future, with the determination to make yourself an honorable
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Speaker 1: and useful member of society. The hand of every true
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Speaker 1: man will be extended to assist you in your upward course.
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Speaker 1: And I trust that the name of Harden will be
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Speaker 1: in the future associated with the performance of deeds that
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Speaker 1: will ennoble his family and be a blessing to humanity.
11:30
Speaker 1: Did you ever read Victor Hugo's masterpiece Le Miserab If not,
11:35
Speaker 1: you ought to read it. It paints in graphic words
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Speaker 1: the life of one who had tasted the bitterest dregs
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Speaker 1: of life's cup, but in his Christian manhood, rose about
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Speaker 1: it almost like a god, and left behind him a
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Speaker 1: path luminous with good deeds. With the best wishes for
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Speaker 1: your welfare and happiness, I am yours very truly w
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Speaker 1: s fly despite all the kind advice given him by
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Speaker 1: eminent lawyers and citizens, Harden was unequal to the task
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Speaker 1: of becoming a useful man. He practiced law for a
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Speaker 1: time in Gonzales, then drifted away to El Paso, where
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Speaker 1: he began drinking and gambling. On August nineteenth, eighteen ninety five,
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Speaker 1: Harden was standing at a bar shaking dice when John Selman,
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Speaker 1: constable of Precinct number one, approached him from behind, and,
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Speaker 1: placing a pistol to the back of Harden's head, blew
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Speaker 1: his brains out. Though posing as an officer, Selman was
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Speaker 1: himself an outlaw and a murderer of the worst kind.
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Speaker 1: He killed Harden for the notoriety it would bring him
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Speaker 1: and nothing more. After delivering Harden to the sheriff of
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Speaker 1: Travis County in eighteen seventy seven, Lieutenant Reynolds was ordered
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Speaker 1: to Kimball County for duty. Of all the counties in
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Speaker 1: Texas at that time, Kimball was the most popular with
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Speaker 1: outlaws and criminals, for it was situated south of Minard
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Speaker 1: County on the north and South Atlano Rivers, with cedar,
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Speaker 1: pecan and mesquite timber in which to hide, while the
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Speaker 1: streams and mountains furnished abundance of fish and game subsistence.
13:02
Speaker 1: Up on the South Lano lived Old Jimmy Dublin. He
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Speaker 1: had a large family of children, most of them grown.
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Speaker 1: The eldest of his boys, Dick or Richard as he
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Speaker 1: was known, and a friend Ace Langford, killed two men
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Speaker 1: at a country store in Langford's cove, Coriel County, Texas.
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Speaker 1: The state offered five hundred dollars for the arrest of
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Speaker 1: Dublin and the County of Coriel an additional two hundred
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Speaker 1: dollars to escape capture. Dick and his companion fled west
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Speaker 1: into Kimball County. While I was working as a cowboy
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Speaker 1: with Joe Franks in the fall of eighteen seventy three,
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Speaker 1: I became acquainted with the two murderers, for they attached
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Speaker 1: themselves to our outfit. They were always armed and constantly
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Speaker 1: on the watch out for fear of arrest. Dublin was
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Speaker 1: a large man, stout, dark complexed, and looked more like
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Speaker 1: the bully of a prize ring than the cowman. He
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Speaker 1: was often heard him say he would never surrender. While
13:53
Speaker 1: cow hunting with us, he discovered that the naturally brushing
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Speaker 1: and tangled County of Kimball would offer shelter for such as,
14:00
Speaker 1: and he persuaded his father to move out into that county.
14:04
Speaker 1: Dublin had not lived long in Kimball County before another son,
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Speaker 1: Dell Dublin, killed Jim Williams, a neighbor. Thus the two
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Speaker 1: Dublin boys were on the dodge, charged with murder. They
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Speaker 1: were supposed to be hiding near their father's home. Bill
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Speaker 1: Allison Stark Reynolds, and a number of bandits, horse and
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Speaker 1: cattle thieves and murderers were known to be in Kimball County,
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Speaker 1: so Lieutenant Reynolds was sent with his company to clean
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Speaker 1: them up. It was late in October eighteen seventy seven
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Speaker 1: before the company reached its destination and camped on the
14:35
Speaker 1: North Lano River below the mouth of Bear Creek. As
14:38
Speaker 1: soon as our horse was arrested and camp was fully
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Speaker 1: established for the winter, we began scouting. Several men wanted
14:45
Speaker 1: on minor charges were captured. We then raided Luke Stone's Ranch,
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Speaker 1: which was about ten miles from our camp, and captured
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Speaker 1: Del Dublin. He was fearfully angry when he found escape impossible.
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Speaker 1: He tore his shirt bosom open and dared the rangers
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Speaker 1: to shit him While he was being disarmed, his elder
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Speaker 1: brother Dick, rode out of the brush and came within
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Speaker 1: gunshot of the ranch before he discovered the presence of
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Speaker 1: the rangers. He turned his horse quickly and made his escape,
15:11
Speaker 1: though the rangers pursued him some distance. When Dick learned
15:15
Speaker 1: that the Banister boys and himself were with Lieutenant Reynolds
15:18
Speaker 1: company and hot on his trail, he declared he would
15:20
Speaker 1: whip us with a court as a man would a
15:22
Speaker 1: dog if he ever came upon us, for he remembered
15:25
Speaker 1: us as beardless boys with Joe Frank's cow outfit. However,
15:29
Speaker 1: despite his threat, he never attempted to make it good,
15:32
Speaker 1: but took very good care to keep out of our way.
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Speaker 1: Until the fatal January eighteenth, eighteen seventy eight. There was
15:39
Speaker 1: no jail in Kimball County, so with a detachment of rangers,
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Speaker 1: I took Dell, Dublin and our other prisoners to Lano
15:45
Speaker 1: County lock Up. Shortly after, Reynolds selected Sergeant McGhee, Tom Gillespie,
15:51
Speaker 1: Dick Harris and Tim McCarthy and made a scout into
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Speaker 1: Minard County. He also had with him his Negro cook
15:58
Speaker 1: George to drive his light wise on the return toward
16:02
Speaker 1: Bear Creek, the scout camp for the night at Fort mccabot.
16:06
Speaker 1: At that time, each frontier post had its Chihuahua or Scabtown,
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Speaker 1: a little settlement with gambling halls, saloons, and the like
16:12
Speaker 1: to catch the soldier's dollars. At Fort mccavic were many
16:16
Speaker 1: discharged soldiers, some of them negroes from the Tenth Cavalry.
16:20
Speaker 1: These blacks had associated with white gamblers and lewded women
16:24
Speaker 1: until they thought themselves the equals of white men and
16:27
Speaker 1: became mean and overbearing. On this particular night, these negro
16:31
Speaker 1: ex soldiers gave a dance in Scabtown, and our Negro George,
16:35
Speaker 1: wanted to go. He was a light mulatto, almost white,
16:39
Speaker 1: but well thought of by all the boys in the company.
16:41
Speaker 1: He obtained Lieutenant Reynolds's permission to attend the dance and
16:45
Speaker 1: borrowed Tim McCarthy's pistol to carry to it. When George
16:49
Speaker 1: arrived at the dance, the ex soldiers did not like
16:52
Speaker 1: his appearance, as he was allied with the Rangers, whom
16:55
Speaker 1: they despised. They jumped on George, took his pistol and
16:59
Speaker 1: kicked him out of the The boys were all in
17:01
Speaker 1: bed when George returned and told McCarthy that the negroes
17:05
Speaker 1: at the dance hall had taken his pistol from him.
17:08
Speaker 1: Lieutenant Reynolds was sleeping nearby and heard what George said.
17:12
Speaker 1: He raised up on his elbow and ordered Sergeant McGee
17:14
Speaker 1: to go with McCarthy and George and get the pistol.
17:17
Speaker 1: The negroes saw McGhee coming, and, closing the door, defied
17:20
Speaker 1: him to enter the dance hall. McGhee was cool and careful.
17:25
Speaker 1: He advised the negroes to return the pistol, but they refused,
17:28
Speaker 1: saying they would kill the first white livered sob that
17:31
Speaker 1: attempted to enter the house. The sergeant then stationed himself
17:35
Speaker 1: at the front door and ordered McCarthy to guard the
17:38
Speaker 1: back entrance of the place, and sent George for the
17:40
Speaker 1: Lieutenant Reynolds hurried to the scene, taking with him Tom
17:44
Speaker 1: gillespie and Dick Harrison. The lieutenant knocked on the door
17:47
Speaker 1: and told the Blacks he was the commander of the
17:49
Speaker 1: rangers and demanded their surrender. They replied with an oath
17:53
Speaker 1: that they would not do so. Reynolds then ordered the
17:56
Speaker 1: house cleared of women and gave the Negroes just five
17:59
Speaker 1: minutes in which to surrender. Up to this time the
18:03
Speaker 1: women had been quiet, but they now began to scream.
18:06
Speaker 1: This probably demoralized the Negro men. One of them poked
18:09
Speaker 1: McCarthy's pistol muzzle foremost out of a window. Here come
18:14
Speaker 1: and get your damn pistole, he said. McCarthy, a new
18:18
Speaker 1: man in the service, stepped up and grasped it. The
18:21
Speaker 1: instant the Negro felt the touch of McCarthy's hand on
18:24
Speaker 1: the weapon, he pulled the trigger. The ball pierced McCarthy's
18:28
Speaker 1: body just above the heart, giving him a mortal wound.
18:31
Speaker 1: At the crack of the pistol, the rangers opened fire
18:34
Speaker 1: through the doors and windows on the Negroes within the house.
18:37
Speaker 1: Reynolds and his men then charged the place, and when
18:39
Speaker 1: the smoke of battle cleared, they found four dead Negro
18:42
Speaker 1: men and a little Negro girl that had been killed
18:44
Speaker 1: by accident. Only one black escaped. He was hidden under
18:48
Speaker 1: a bed, and as the rangers came in, made a
18:50
Speaker 1: dash to safety under cover of darkness. McCarthy died the
18:54
Speaker 1: following day and was buried near Old Fort Macalvot Negro
18:58
Speaker 1: George fought like a tiger, won the boy's praise. A
19:02
Speaker 1: few days afterward, the sheriff of tom Green County, following
19:05
Speaker 1: the trail of a bunch of stolen cattle from San Angelo,
19:08
Speaker 1: came into our camp. Lieutenant Reynolds sent Sergeant Nevill and
19:11
Speaker 1: a scout of rangers with the sheriff. The trail led
19:14
Speaker 1: over to the South Lanta, where the cattle were recovered.
19:18
Speaker 1: While scouting around the herd, Sergeant Nevill discovered a man
19:21
Speaker 1: riding down the trail toward him. He and his men
19:24
Speaker 1: secreted themselves and awaited the stranger's approach. It was getting
19:28
Speaker 1: quite dark, and when the newcomer had ridden almost over
19:31
Speaker 1: the concealed rangers without noticing their presence, they rose up,
19:34
Speaker 1: presented their guns and ordered him to halt. Yes like hell,
19:39
Speaker 1: he exclaimed, and turning his horse, dived into a cedar brake.
19:43
Speaker 1: A shower of bullets followed, but failed to strike the fugitive.
19:47
Speaker 1: This was the notorious Dick Dublin, with a seven hundred
19:50
Speaker 1: dollar reward on his head. Sergeant Nevill returned to camp
19:54
Speaker 1: with about fifty head of burnt cattle, but let the
19:56
Speaker 1: most notorious criminal and the county escape. Lieutenant Reynolds was
20:01
Speaker 1: disappointed at this and said he did not understand how
20:04
Speaker 1: four crack rangers could let a man ride right over
20:07
Speaker 1: them and then get away. He declared his Negro Cook
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Speaker 1: could have killed Dublin had he been in their place.
20:14
Speaker 1: This mortified the boys a great deal. The latter part
20:17
Speaker 1: of December eighteen seventy seven, Lieutenant Reynolds sent a scout
20:21
Speaker 1: out on Little Saline, Menard County. On Christmas Day, this
20:26
Speaker 1: detail had a running fight with four men. John Collins,
20:30
Speaker 1: the men who stole a yoke of oxen at Fredericksberg
20:33
Speaker 1: and drove them up to within two miles of our camp,
20:35
Speaker 1: was captured, as was also John Gray, wanted for murder
20:38
Speaker 1: in one of the eastern counties. Jim Pope Mason, charged
20:42
Speaker 1: with the murder of Rance Moore, was in this skirmish
20:45
Speaker 1: but escaped. One cold morning about the middle of January,
20:49
Speaker 1: Corporal Gillette, with Privates John and Wilt Banister, Tom Gillespie,
20:53
Speaker 1: Dave Liken, and Ben Carter, was ordered on a five
20:56
Speaker 1: day scout. We saddled our horses and packed two mules.
21:00
Speaker 1: When all was ready, I walked over to Lieutenant Reynolds.
21:03
Speaker 1: He was sitting on a camp stool before his tent
21:05
Speaker 1: and seemed in a brown study. I saluted and asked
21:09
Speaker 1: for orders. Well, Corporal, he said, after a moment's hesitation,
21:14
Speaker 1: it's a scout after Dick Dublin. Again. That man seems
21:17
Speaker 1: to be a regular Jonah to this company. He lives
21:20
Speaker 1: only ten miles from here, and I have been awfully
21:22
Speaker 1: disappointed at not being able to effect his capture. It
21:25
Speaker 1: is a reflection on all of company E. There's one
21:29
Speaker 1: thing sure. If I can't capture him, I will make
21:32
Speaker 1: life miserable for him. I will keep a scout in
21:34
Speaker 1: the field after him constantly. I then asked if he
21:38
Speaker 1: had any instructions as to the route I should travel. No, no,
21:43
Speaker 1: he replied, I rely too much on your judgment to
21:45
Speaker 1: hamper you with orders after you are once out of
21:48
Speaker 1: sight of camp. You know these mountains and trails better
21:51
Speaker 1: than I do. Just go and do your best. If
21:53
Speaker 1: you come in contact with him, don't let him get away.
21:57
Speaker 1: After riding a half mile from camp, the boys began
22:00
Speaker 1: inquiring about where we were going and who we were.
22:03
Speaker 1: After I told them Dick Dublin, we quit the road
22:07
Speaker 1: and traveled south from our camp over to the head
22:09
Speaker 1: of Packsaddle Creek. Here we turned down the creek and
22:13
Speaker 1: rounded up the Potter Ranch, but no one was at home,
22:16
Speaker 1: so we passed on into the Cedar Break without having
22:18
Speaker 1: been seen. On the extreme headwaters of the South Alano River,
22:23
Speaker 1: some cattleman had built a large stock pen and were
22:25
Speaker 1: using it to confine wild cattle. This was far out
22:29
Speaker 1: beyond any settlement and probably fifty or sixty miles from
22:32
Speaker 1: our camp. I thought it possible that Dick Dublin might
22:36
Speaker 1: be hanging around the place, so we traveled through the
22:39
Speaker 1: woods most of the way to it. Here I found
22:41
Speaker 1: the cattleman had moved. The scout had now been out
22:45
Speaker 1: two days, so we began our return journey. We traveled
22:49
Speaker 1: probably twenty five miles on the third day. On the
22:52
Speaker 1: fourth day, I timed myself to reach the Potter Ranch
22:55
Speaker 1: about night. Old Man Potter, a friend and neighbor of Dublin's,
22:59
Speaker 1: lived here with two grown sons. It was known that
23:02
Speaker 1: Doublin frequent at the place, and I hoped to catch
23:05
Speaker 1: him here unawares. About sundown, we were within a mile
23:09
Speaker 1: of the ranch. Here we unsaddled our horses and prepared
23:12
Speaker 1: to round up the house. If we met with no success,
23:16
Speaker 1: we were to camp there for the night. I left
23:18
Speaker 1: John Banister and Lygan to guard camp, while Gillespie, will Banister,
23:22
Speaker 1: and Ben Carter with myself approached the ranch on foot.
23:26
Speaker 1: If I found no one there, I intended to return
23:28
Speaker 1: to our camp unseen and round up the ranch again.
23:31
Speaker 1: The following morning. We had not traveled far before we
23:35
Speaker 1: discovered a lone man riding slowly down the trail to
23:38
Speaker 1: the Potter ranch. We remained hidden and were able to
23:41
Speaker 1: approach within fifty yards of the house without being seen.
23:45
Speaker 1: We now halted in the bed of a creek for
23:47
Speaker 1: a short consultation. The one room cabin had only a
23:50
Speaker 1: single door, and before it was a small wagon. The
23:53
Speaker 1: Potter is cooked out of doors. Between the house and
23:56
Speaker 1: the wagon, we could see a horse tied to the
23:59
Speaker 1: south side of the vehicle, but could not see the
24:01
Speaker 1: campfire for the wagon and the horse. To our right,
24:05
Speaker 1: and about twenty five steps away, old man Potter and
24:08
Speaker 1: one of his sons were unloading some hogs from a
24:10
Speaker 1: wagon into a pen. End of Section eight