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008 - The Horrell-Higgins Feud · Six Years with the Texas Rangers, 1875 to 1881

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  Speaker 1: Chapter seven 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 Jay Randolph. 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: the Horal Higgins Feud. By the end of the year
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  Speaker 1: eighteen seventy six, the Indians had been pretty well pushed
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  Speaker 1: back off the frontier, so that there were very few
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  Speaker 1: fights with the Redskins after eighteen seventy seven. From the
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  Speaker 1: spring of eighteen seventy seven onwards, the Rangers were transformed
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  Speaker 1: into what might properly be called mounted State Police, and
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  Speaker 1: accordingly turned their attention to ridding the frontier of the
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  Speaker 1: outlaws that infested nearly every part of Texas. During the
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  Speaker 1: winter of eighteen seventy six to eighteen seventy seven, Captain
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  Speaker 1: Neil Caldwell broke up a band of thieves that was
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  Speaker 1: operating in the northwestern part of Attiscosa County. I remember
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  Speaker 1: helping him capture a man named Wolfe. He was wanted
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  Speaker 1: for murder, and we made several scouts after him before
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  Speaker 1: we succeeded in landing him safely in Irons. In April
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  Speaker 1: eighteen seventy seven, Major Jones reached Coldwell's company and at
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  Speaker 1: once made arrangements to march up the line on a
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  Speaker 1: visit of inspection. When the Major reached the headwaters of
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  Speaker 1: the South Jano River, he halted his escort and detailed
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  Speaker 1: several small scouting parties of five or six men each
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  Speaker 1: with orders to arrest every man that could not give
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  Speaker 1: a good account of himself. One scout was sent down
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  Speaker 1: the South Jano, a second down Johnson's Fork, while a
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  Speaker 1: third was ordered over the divine, with the instructions to
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  Speaker 1: hit the head of the North Yano and sweep down
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  Speaker 1: that river. All three parties to rejoin Major Jones and
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  Speaker 1: the main escort near where Junction City now stands. In
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  Speaker 1: these outlaw raids, some fifty or sixty men were arrested
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  Speaker 1: and brought in. Many of the suspects were released upon examination,
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  Speaker 1: but I remember one scout brought in two escaped convicts
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  Speaker 1: who had been captured up on Copperas Creek. We bagged
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  Speaker 1: several men wanted for murder, and some horse and cattle thieves.
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  Speaker 1: Old Kimball County never had such a clean up of
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  Speaker 1: bandits in her history. While these prisoners were being held
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  Speaker 1: in camp, other scouts were sent out in the northern
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  Speaker 1: part of the county with orders to sweep Bear Creek, Gentry,
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  Speaker 1: Red Creek, Big and Little Sealine, to cross the San
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  Speaker 1: Saba River in Menard County, and sweep up that stream
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  Speaker 1: from Old peg Leg Station to Menard. Many more suspects
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  Speaker 1: were caught in this hall with a party of scouts.
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  Speaker 1: I was detailed on a mission to Fort mccvott, at
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  Speaker 1: that time, one of the big military posts on the frontier.
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  Speaker 1: Many hard characters and gamblers gathered about these posts to
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  Speaker 1: fleece the soldiers out of their easy made money. We
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  Speaker 1: made several arrests here and camped for noon one mile
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  Speaker 1: below the government post on the San Saba River. During
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  Speaker 1: the dinner hour, my horse, a gray in lying down
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  Speaker 1: to wallow, rolled on some broken beer bottles and cut
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  Speaker 1: his back so badly that he was unfit for use
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  Speaker 1: for some time. When the escort moved north, I was
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  Speaker 1: left with Old Company D until the return of Company A.
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  Speaker 1: On its return March some six weeks later. I thereby
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  Speaker 1: missed some of the exciting scouts that took place on
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  Speaker 1: the March North. When Major Jones reached Coleman City, he
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  Speaker 1: found orders from Governor Coke to send a scout of
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  Speaker 1: Rangers to Lampasas County to help the civil authorities suppress
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  Speaker 1: a war known as the Horal Higgins Feud. Second Sergeant N. O.
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  Speaker 1: Reynolds was detached from Company A and with ten men,
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  Speaker 1: ordered to proceed to Lampassas and report to the sheriff
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  Speaker 1: of that county. After leaving Coleman, Major Jones visited the
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  Speaker 1: Northernmost Ranger Company and began his return March. This was
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  Speaker 1: to be his last trip with his escort, for immediately
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  Speaker 1: upon his return to Austin, he was commissioned Adjutant General
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  Speaker 1: of Texas. As there was no longer a major of
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  Speaker 1: the battalion, there was no need of an escort, so
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  Speaker 1: old Company A took its place on the line as
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  Speaker 1: a stationery company. Captain Neil Caldwell was ultimately made quartermaster
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  Speaker 1: of the battalion and I believe ranked as Major. I
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  Speaker 1: was picked up at Company D by the escort on
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  Speaker 1: their return March and was with Company A when it
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  Speaker 1: was made a stationary command and located in Frio County.
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  Speaker 1: In the latter part of eighteen seventy seven, during the
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  Speaker 1: late summer, a party of filibusters under command of a
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  Speaker 1: Mexican general named Winkler, assembled in Maverick County near Eagle
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  Speaker 1: Pass and prepared to invade Mexico. Captain Caldwell, then commanding
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  Speaker 1: Company A, was ordered to the Rio Grande to break
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  Speaker 1: up the expedition. This he did by arresting more than
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  Speaker 1: fifty participants. I was with him on this expedition and
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  Speaker 1: saw much border service during this summer. I remember a
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  Speaker 1: scout I was called upon to make with Captain Caldwell
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  Speaker 1: over in Bandera County. The Captain took with him John Parker,
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  Speaker 1: Hawk Roberts, and myself. In one week's time, we caught
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  Speaker 1: some ten or twelve fugitives from justice and literally filled
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  Speaker 1: a little old jail at Bandera. Captain Caldwell detailed Hawk
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  Speaker 1: robertson myself to capture an especially bad man wanted in
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  Speaker 1: Burnett County for murder. The Captain warned us to take
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  Speaker 1: no chances with this man that meant to kill if
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  Speaker 1: he hesitated about surrendering. I can't remember this murderer's name
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  Speaker 1: at this late date, but I recall perfectly the details
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  Speaker 1: of his capture. Sheriff Jack Hamilton of Bandera County sent
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  Speaker 1: a guide to show us where this fugitive lived. The
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  Speaker 1: guide led us some fifteen miles northwest of Bandera and
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  Speaker 1: finally pointed out the house in which the murderer was
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  Speaker 1: supposed to be. He then refused to go any further,
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  Speaker 1: saying he did not want any of this man's game,
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  Speaker 1: for the fellow had just stood off a deputy sheriff
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  Speaker 1: and made him hike it back to Bandera. It was
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  Speaker 1: almost night when we reached the house, so Roberts and
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  Speaker 1: I decided to wait until morning before attempting the arrest.
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  Speaker 1: We staked our horses, lay down on our saddle blankets
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  Speaker 1: without supper, and slept soundly until dawn. As soon as
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  Speaker 1: it was daylight, we rode over near the house, dismounted,
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  Speaker 1: slipped up, and unannounced stepped right inside the room. The
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  Speaker 1: man we wanted was sleeping on a pallet with a
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  Speaker 1: big white handled forty five near his head. Hawk Roberts
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  Speaker 1: kicked the pistol out of the man's reach. The noise
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  Speaker 1: awakened the sleeper, and he opened his eyes to find
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  Speaker 1: himself looking into the business ends of two winchesters held
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  Speaker 1: within a foot of his head. Of course, he surrendered
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  Speaker 1: without a fight. His wife, who was sleeping in a
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  Speaker 1: bed in the same room, jumped out of it and
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  Speaker 1: heaped all kinds of abuse on us for entering her
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  Speaker 1: home without ceremony. She was especially bidder against Sheriff Hamilton,
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  Speaker 1: who she said had promised to notify her husband when
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  Speaker 1: he was wanted so he could come in and give
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  Speaker 1: himself up. She indignantly advised her husband to give old
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  Speaker 1: Sheriff Hamilton a d good whipping the first chance he had.
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  Speaker 1: While Company A was rounding up outlaws along the border,
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  Speaker 1: Sergeant Reynolds was covering himself with glory in the north.
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  Speaker 1: Upon reaching Lampassis and reporting to the Sheriff as ordered
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  Speaker 1: by Major Jones, the sergeant was told that the Horror
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  Speaker 1: Boys were living on the Sulfur Fork of the Lampasas
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  Speaker 1: River and were defying the authorities to arrest them. The
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  Speaker 1: Horrals were native Texans and had been raised on the frontier.
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  Speaker 1: These brothers, of which five were involved in the feud.
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  Speaker 1: The sixth John Horrel, had been killed at Las Crusis,
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  Speaker 1: New Mexico previously, where expert riders, and having grown up
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  Speaker 1: with firearms in their hands, were as quick as chain
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  Speaker 1: lightning with either winchester or pistol. Sam Horrel, the eldest,
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  Speaker 1: was married and had a large family of children. He
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  Speaker 1: was a farmer and lived a quiet life over on
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  Speaker 1: the Lampasas River. The other four boys, Mart, Tom Merritt,
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  Speaker 1: and Ben were all cattlemen. They stood well in the community,
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  Speaker 1: but were considered dangerous when aroused. At this time, Lampasas
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  Speaker 1: was a frontier town and wide open as far as
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  Speaker 1: saloons and gambling were concerned. The Horrals, like most cattlemen
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  Speaker 1: of the period, loved to congregate in town, go to
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  Speaker 1: the saloons, and have a good time, perhaps drink too much,
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  Speaker 1: and sometimes at night shoot up the town for fun,
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  Speaker 1: as they termed it. Some of the more pious and
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  Speaker 1: more settled citizens of the town did not approve of
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  Speaker 1: these night brawls and called upon Governor Edmund J. Davis,
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  Speaker 1: provisional governor in eighteen seventy three, to give them protection.
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  Speaker 1: Governor Davis had formed in Texas a state police. Naturally,
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  Speaker 1: they were rank Republicans, and many of them were termed carpetbackers.
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  Speaker 1: This body was never popular in Texas, especially as many
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  Speaker 1: of the force were Negroes. In answer to the call
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  Speaker 1: of the citizens, Governor Davis dispatched Captain Williams with three
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  Speaker 1: white men and one Negro to Lampassas. On the way up,
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  Speaker 1: Captain Williams met several freighters going to Austin and stopped.
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  Speaker 1: One of them, Tedford Bean, to ask the distance to
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  Speaker 1: lampass The Captain had been drinking, and he told mister
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  Speaker 1: Bean he was going to town to clean up those
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  Speaker 1: damn horror boys. The little squad of police reached Lampasas
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  Speaker 1: about three p m. Hitched its horse to some live
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  Speaker 1: oak trees on the public plaza, left the negro to
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  Speaker 1: guard them, and then made a bee line to Jerry
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  Speaker 1: Scott's saloon on the west side of the square. Mark
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  Speaker 1: Tom and Merritt Horrel, with some ten or fifteen cowmen,
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  Speaker 1: were in the saloon drinking, playing billiards and having a
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  Speaker 1: good time. Generally, one man was picking a banjo and
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  Speaker 1: another playing a fiddle. Captain Williams an exceedingly brave but
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  Speaker 1: unwise man took in the situation at a glance. As
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  Speaker 1: he walked up to the bar and called for drinks.
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  Speaker 1: He turned to Bill Bowen, a brother in law to
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  Speaker 1: Merit Horrel, and said, I believe you have a six shooter.
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  Speaker 1: I arrest you. Bill, you have done nothing and need
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  Speaker 1: not be arrested if you don't want to interrupted mart
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  Speaker 1: Horel like a flash of lightning, Captain Williams pulled his
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  Speaker 1: pistol and fired on mart Horal, wounding him badly. The
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  Speaker 1: Horral boys drew their guns and began to fight. Captain
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  Speaker 1: Williams and one of his men, doctor Daniels, were shot
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  Speaker 1: down in the saloon. William Cherry was killed just outside
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  Speaker 1: the door, and Andrew Melville was fatally wounded as he
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  Speaker 1: was trying to escape. He reached the Old Healing Hotel,
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  Speaker 1: where he died. Later, at the first crack of a pistol,
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  Speaker 1: the Negro police mounted his horse and made a John
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  Speaker 1: Kilburn ride for Austin. Thus, within the twinkling of an eye,
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  Speaker 1: four state police were killed and only one of the
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  Speaker 1: Horals wounded. Tom and Merrit Horal carried the wounded mart
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  Speaker 1: to their mother's home. Some two hundred yards from Scott's saloon,
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  Speaker 1: then mounted their horses and rode away. Great excitement prevailed
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  Speaker 1: in the town. The state militia was called out, and
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  Speaker 1: Governor Davis hurried other state police to lampass Us. They
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  Speaker 1: scoured the country for the Horal Boys, but to no avail.
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  Speaker 1: Mart Horrall and Jerry Scott were arrested and carried to Georgetown,
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  Speaker 1: Williamson County, and placed in jail. Mart Horrell's wife went
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  Speaker 1: to the jail to nurse her husband, and of course
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  Speaker 1: kept her brothers in law informed es to Mart's condition.
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  Speaker 1: As soon as he was well, the Horror Boys made
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  Speaker 1: up a party and rode to Williamson County and assaulted
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  Speaker 1: the jail at night. The citizens and officers of Georgetown,
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  Speaker 1: taken unawares, put up a stiff fight, but the Horals
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  Speaker 1: had ten or fifteen well organized and armed men with them.
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  Speaker 1: They took stations at all approaches to the jail and
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  Speaker 1: kept up a steady fire with their winchesters and anyone
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  Speaker 1: who showed up to oppose them. Mister A. S. Fisher,
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  Speaker 1: a prominent lawyer of the town, took an active in
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  Speaker 1: the fight and was badly wounded. Bill Bowen was slightly
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  Speaker 1: hurt while battering in the jail door with a sledge hammer.
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  Speaker 1: Mart Horrell and Jerry Scott were liberated and rode off
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  Speaker 1: with their rescuers. By the next evening, the horrels were
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  Speaker 1: back on Lucy's Creek. They at once made arrangements to
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  Speaker 1: leave the country and go to New Mexico. They had
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  Speaker 1: gathered about them Bill and Tom Bowen, John Dixon, Ben Turner,
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  Speaker 1: and six or eight other men as desperate and dangerous
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  Speaker 1: as themselves. They were so formidable that they no longer
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  Speaker 1: attempted to hide, but openly and without hintrance, gathered to cattle,
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  Speaker 1: sold the remnant to Cooksie and Clayton to be delivered
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  Speaker 1: to them in Coleman County. They even notified the sheriff
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  Speaker 1: of Lampasas County just what day they would pass with
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  Speaker 1: their herd through the Russell Gap. But they were not molested.
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  Speaker 1: As a cowboy, I had worked for Cookseie and Clayton
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  Speaker 1: and was with them when they delivered cattle to the
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  Speaker 1: horral boys on Home Creek, Coleman County. I had dinner
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  Speaker 1: in camp with the outlaws, and they made no effort
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  Speaker 1: to hide from the authorities. I remember they sat about
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  Speaker 1: their camps with winchesters across their laps. When all was ready,
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  Speaker 1: the Horrals moved slowly out of the country with their
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  Speaker 1: families and cattle, and finally reached New Mexico, settling on
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  Speaker 1: the head of the Hondo River in Lincoln County. They
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  Speaker 1: had not been at their new home many months before
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  Speaker 1: Ben Horrel was shot and killed at a fandango near
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  Speaker 1: Old Fort Stanton. Ben's brothers at once repaired to the
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  Speaker 1: dance hall and killed eight Mexicans and one woman. This
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  Speaker 1: brought on a war between the Horal boys and the
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  Speaker 1: Mexican population along the Hondo River, and it is said
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  Speaker 1: that in the fights that followed, thirty or forty Mexicans
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  Speaker 1: were killed between Fort Stanton and Roswell. In one of
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  Speaker 1: those pitched battles, Ben Turner was killed. Turner was prominent
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  Speaker 1: in all the fights staged by the Horals, was with
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  Speaker 1: them when Captain Williams was killed, and was one of
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  Speaker 1: the asaulting party on the Georgetown Jail. His death was
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  Speaker 1: keenly felt by his companions. Having now outlawed themselves in
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  Speaker 1: New Mexico, the Horals could no longer stay in that country.
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  Speaker 1: They turned back to Texas and next year showed up
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  Speaker 1: at their old haunts in Lampasas County. The shock of
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  Speaker 1: the Civil War was beginning to subside, and the state
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: of Texas was then under civil government, with the Democratic
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  Speaker 1: governor in office. The friends of the Horals advised them
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  Speaker 1: to surrender to the authorities and be tried for the
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: killing of Captain Williams and his men. They were assured
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  Speaker 1: a fair trial by the best citizens of Lampasas County. Accordingly,
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  Speaker 1: the Horals gave up, and upon trial, were acquitted of
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: the charges against them. The Horals had not long been
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: at ease before Merrit, the youngest of the brothers, was
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: accused by pink Higgins of unlawfully handling his cattle. Shortly afterward,
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  Speaker 1: while Merrit was seated un armed in a chair in
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  Speaker 1: the old Jerry Scott saloon, pink Higgins stepped to the
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  Speaker 1: back door of the place and shot him to death.
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  Speaker 1: Thus Merrit met his death in the same saloon where
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  Speaker 1: four years before he had been a party to the
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  Speaker 1: killing of Captain Williams. At this time, mart and Tom
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  Speaker 1: Horrell were living down on Sulfur Fork of Lampassas River.
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  Speaker 1: The news of their brother's death was quickly carried to them.
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  Speaker 1: They armed themselves and started in a run for Lampasss.
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  Speaker 1: This move had been anticipated by the Pink Higgins party.
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  Speaker 1: They waylaid the Horror Boys outside the town, and their
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  Speaker 1: first fire killed Tom Horall's horse and badly wounded mart
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: Tom advanced single handed on the attackers and put them
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  Speaker 1: to flight. He then partly supported and partly carried his
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  Speaker 1: brother to the home of mister Tinnans, a neighbor, where
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: a doctor was hurried to the wounded man. Thus, Old
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: Lampassas County was again the scene of war, with Mark
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: Tom and Sam quorl Bill and Tom Bowen, John Dixon
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  Speaker 1: and Bill Crabtree on one side, and Pink Higgins, Bob
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  Speaker 1: Mitchell and their friends on the other. These two factions
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  Speaker 1: met in the town of Lampasses and a furious battle followed.
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  Speaker 1: A man was killed on each side and the population
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  Speaker 1: greatly endangered, hence the Governor's order to Major Jones to
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: send rangers to the aid of the officers at Lampasses.
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: When Sergeant N. O. Reynolds reported to the Sheriff of Lampasses,
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  Speaker 1: he was informed that the horl Boys were living ten
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: miles east of Lampassis, and had ten or twelve desperate
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: men with them, so that it meant certain death to
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: anyone making an attempt to capture them. But mister Sheriff,
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  Speaker 1: I am here to effect the capture of all offenders
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  Speaker 1: against the law, and it is my duty to at
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  Speaker 1: least make the attempt, replied the brave Reynolds. These men
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  Speaker 1: have never been arrested, declared Sheriff's sweet, and it is
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  Speaker 1: my honest opinion they cannot be. Reynolds then asked if
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: the sheriff would send a guide to show him where
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: the Horals lived. The rangers, under the intrepid Reynolds, left
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: Lampasses late in the night, and finally the guide pointed
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: at a flickering light about a mile off. There's where
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: the Horral boys live. I am going back to town,
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: he said. When asked if he would not accompany the
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: rangers to the house, the guide replied, no, not for
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: a million dollars. With that, he turned his horse and
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: rode away. Reynolds thought it would be best to wait
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: until daylight before attempting the arrest. He planned to surprise
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: the outlaws if such a thing were possible, but if
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: the rangers were discovered and an engagement came on, they
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: were to fight to the last man. As soon as
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: dawn broke, the rangers wended their way on foot to
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: the Horal brother's ranch. It was a moment of great
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: anxiety as they approached the house, but not a sound
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  Speaker 1: was heard, not a dog barked. Sergeant Reynolds and his
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: men tiptoed right into the room in which the Horals
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  Speaker 1: were sleeping. Some of the men were on pallets on
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  Speaker 1: the floor, while others slept in beds in the one
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  Speaker 1: big room. Each ranger pointed a cocked Winchester at the
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: head of a sleeper. Reynolds then spoke to Matt Horrel.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: At the sound of his voice, every man sat up
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: in bed and found himself looking into the muzzle of
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: a gun. The sergeant quickly explained that he was a
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: ranger and had come to arrest them. Mark replied they
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: could not surrender, and Tom Horrel said it would be
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: better to die fighting than to be mobbed. This gave
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: Reynolds his cue. He warned the outlaws that if anything
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  Speaker 1: was started, there would be a dozen dead men in
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  Speaker 1: that house in one minute, and advised them to listen
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  Speaker 1: to what he had to say. He then guaranteed the
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  Speaker 1: Horals upon his honor, that he would not turn them
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  Speaker 1: over to the sheriff to be put in jail and mobbed,
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: but promised he would guard them in his camp until
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: they could secure a preliminary examination and give bond. Boys,
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: this seems reasonable, said Marred Horel, rising to his feet.
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: I believe these rangers can be relied upon to protect us. Besides,
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: this fight has been thrust upon us. If we can
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: get a hearing, we can give bond. They all agreed
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: finally to this proposition of Sergeant Reynolds, and laid down
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: their arms, mounted their horses, and under guard of the
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: rangers were marched into the town of Lampasas the news
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: of the capture of the Horral spread like wildfire through
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: the town and county, hundreds of people flocked to Lampassas
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: to see Sergeant Reynolds, the man that had accomplished the
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: impossible in rounding up the most desperate band of men
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: that ever lived. The news was rushed to Austin, and
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: General Jones himself hurried to the scene. This act of
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: Sergeant Reynolds covered him with glory and brought his name
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: imperishable renown. He was at once commissioned and first lieutenant
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: commanding Company E. The Horror Boys were admitted to bond
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: after a preliminary hearing. After their release, mart Horrell came
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: to Lieutenant Reynolds and feelingly thanked him for carrying out
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: his promise. With tears streaming down his face, he grasped
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: the Lieutenant's hand and said, you are undoubtedly the bravest
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: man in the world today. These unfortunate men were later
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: shot to death in the Meridian Jail. The Higgins and
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: Mitchell parties surrendered to the authorities. Pink Higgins was tried
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: and acquitted of the murder of Merit Horrel. This ended
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: the feud, but it started Lieutenant Reynolds on a new
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: and important phase of his career as a ranger. End
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: of chapter seven