The Men Who War the Star: The Story of the Texas Rangers (54 page)

  12: The Rise of McNelly’s Rangers

1. Austin
   Daily Democratic Statesman,
   July 14, 1874, reprinted in Parsons,
   “Pidge,”
   26.
   
2. The company was organized in 1873 and incorporated into the regular Ranger Service two years later.
   
3. Durham,
   Taming the Nueces Strip,
   3; McNelly to Steele, various letters and telegrams, 1875, TAGR.
   
4. Douglas,
   GentlemenintheWhiteHats,
   120;King,“TexasRangerService,”2:350.
   
5. McNelly is discussed in Webb,
   Texas Rangers;
   Douglas,
   Gentlemen in the White
   Hats;
   Durham,
   Taming the Nueces Strip;
   Jennings,
   A Texas Ranger;
   Parsons,
   “Pidge,”
   and many other Ranger works. Chuck Parsons is presently writing his biography for State House Press. McNelly’s own papers in the Center for American History deal primarily with his Civil War career. Ben Proctor’s introduction to the Lakeside Press 1992 reprint of the Jennings book contains an excellent summary of McNelly’s life and career.
   
6. “Pidge”
   (T. C. Robinson), Austin
   Daily Democratic Statesman,
   September 24, 1874, reprinted in Parsons,
   “Pidge,”
   44.
   
7. Douglas,
   Famous Texas Feuds,
   70–71; Parsons,
   “Pidge,”
   26–27.
   
8. Sonnichsen,
   I’ll Die Before I’ll Run,
   83. Robinson’s life is detailed in Parsons,
   “Pidge.”
   Although he enlisted in McNelly’s company under the assumed name T. Chanders, the Rangers knew his true identity and refer to him as Robinson. The
   “Pidge”
   letters, which are reprinted in full by Parsons, are first discussed in detail in C. L. Sonnichsen’s
   I’ll Die Before I’ll Run,
   84. To the best of my knowledge, we are not related.
   
9. Austin
   Daily Democratic Statesman,
   August 8, 1874, reprinted in Parsons,
   “Pidge,”
   37–38.
   
10. Austin
    Daily Democratic Statesman,
    September 2, 1874, reprinted in ibid., 40. Like Creed Taylor, Tumlinson was a veteran Ranger of the Jack Hays era and a member of the “Fighting Tumlinson” clan.
    
11. Sonnichsen,
    I’ll Die Before I’ll Run,
    84–86; McNelly to Steele, August 7 and 8, 1874, TAGR; Parsons,
    “Pidge,”
    38; Austin
    Daily Democratic Statesman,
    September 2, 1874, reprinted in Parsons,
    “Pidge,”
    39–41.
    
12. Austin
    Daily Democratic Statesman,
    October 14, 1874, reprinted in Parsons,
    “Pidge,”
    45.
    
13. Austin
    Daily Democratic Statesman,
    October 14 and November 12, 1874, both reprinted in ibid., 45–48; Sonnichsen,
    I’ll Die Before I’ll Run,
    88–89; Webb,
    Texas Rangers,
    237–38.
    
14. Sonnichsen,
    I’ll Die Before I’ll Run,
    98ff.; Raymond,
    Captain Lee Hall,
    65.
    
15. Sonnichsen,
    I’ll Die Before I’ll Run,
    103; Jennings,
    A Texas Ranger,
    286.
    
16. Hall’s life is discussed in Dora Neill Raymond,
    Captain Lee Hall of Texas.
    
17. Hall to Steele, December 18, 1875, quoted in Jennings,
    A Texas Ranger,
    289.
    
18. Raymond,
    Captain Lee Hall,
    70; “I want you to do your part . . . ,” quoted in Jennings,
    A Texas Ranger,
    290.
    
19. Sonnichsen,
    I’ll Die Before I’ll Run,
    105–6. Durham (
    Taming the Nueces Strip,
    166) remembers the wedding as Christmas Eve.
    
20. Although the generally accepted account is Jennings,
    A Texas Ranger,
    290ff., most of this description of the showdown at the wedding comes from Durham,
    Taming the Nueces Strip,
    166–69. Durham is considered more reliable, and his account is more in keeping with the customs of the time. See also Sutton,
    Sutton
    -
    Taylor Feud,
    74–77.
    
21. Sonnichsen,
    I’ll Die Before I’ll Run,
    109.
    
22. Jennings,
    A Texas Ranger,
    298–99.
    
23. King, “The Texas Ranger Service,” 2:350.
    
24. The free zone is discussed by Samuel E. Bell and James M. Smallwood in
    The
    Zona Libre 1858–1905.
    
25. Ibid., 25; Thompson,
    Juan Cortina,
    72. The main sources of information on McNelly’s activities on the border are the records in the Texas Adjutant General’s Files, T. C. Robinson’s
    “Pidge”
    letters, and Ranger George Durham’s memoir,
    Taming the Nueces Strip.
    Napoleon A. Jennings’s
    A Texas Ranger
    devotes considerable space to the border conflict, but that part of his book should be used with caution. Despite the general accuracy of his account and its autobiographical format, Jennings did not join McNelly’s company until the following year, and drew his material on the border conflict from interviews and eyewitness accounts of actual participants. For recent and unbiased evaluations of Jennings, see Jenkins,
    Basic Texas Books,
    280–84, and Ben Proctor’s introduction to the 1992 Lakeside Press edition of the Jennings book.
    
26. Parsons,
    “Pidge,”
    72; McClure to Steele, April 18, 1875, TAGR.
    
27. Parsons,
    “Pidge,”
    72; McNelly to Steele, April 29, 1875, TAGR. McNelly left San Antonio on April 10, and apparently took two weeks to ride the 150 miles to Corpus Christi. Why it took so long was not explained.
    
28. Headquarters Company A, Volunteer Militia, Special Order, April 27, 1875, TAGR.
    
29. San Antonio
    Daily Express,
    quoted in Parsons,
    “Pidge,”
    72; Durham,
    Taming the
    Nueces Strip,
    29–33. Durham’s description of the arsenal probably referred to the old King Ranch commissary building, which was fortified, rather than the house proper.
    
30. McNelly to Steele, April 29, 1875, TAGR.
    
31. Durham,
    Taming the Nueces Strip,
    35–37.
    
32. Ibid., 38, 40.
    
33. Ibid., 40-42; Parsons,
    “Pidge,”
    74; Webb,
    Texas Rangers,
    239.
    
34. McNelly to Steele, June [?], 1875, TAGR. Sandoval’s interrogations are described in Durham,
    Taming the Nueces Strip,
    54, and in Webb,
    Texas Rangers,
    242–43. Webb interviewed Callicott and reprinted the interview verbatim.
    
35. Durham,
    Taming the Nueces Strip,
    58–59.
    
36. Ibid., 59–60; McNelly to Steele, June [?], 1875, TAGR.
    
37. McNelly to Steele, June [?], 1875, TAGR; Parsons,
    “Pidge,”
    77–78.
    
38. McNelly to Steele, June [?], 1875, TAGR; Parsons,
    “Pidge,”
    74.
    
39. Webb,
    Texas Rangers,
    242, 250–51; Durham,
    Taming the Nueces Strip,
    66, 69; McNelly to Steele, June [?], 1875, TAGR. The post cemetery at Fort Brown was closed in 1912, and the bodies were removed to Alexandria, Louisiana. Today the old cemetery site is occupied by the Fort Brown Motor Hotel, the Chancery of the Diocese of Brownsville, and apartment and office complexes.
    
40. Durham,
    Taming the Nueces Strip,
    67–68.
    
41. Thompson,
    Juan N. Cortina,
    72; Parsons,
    “Pidge,”
    78-81; Webb,
    Texas Rangers,
    256.
    
42. Austin
    State Gazette,
    September 20, 1875, reprinted in Parsons,
    “Pidge,”
    82–83.
    
43. Webb,
    Texas Rangers,
    256; Austin
    State Gazette,
    March 4, 1876, reprinted in Parsons,
    “Pidge,”
    92–93.
    
44. Headquarters, Fort Brown, Texas, Special Orders No. 156, November 8, 1875, copy in TAGR.
    
45. Randlett to AAAG, District of the Rio Grande, December 1, 1875; Randlett to AAAG, District of the Rio Grande, November 16, 1875, both in ibid.
    
46. McNelly to Steele, November 22, 1875, ibid.
    
47. McNelly to Steele, November 18, 1875, ibid.
    
48. McNelly to Steele, November 19, 1875, ibid.
    
49. Austin
    State Gazette,
    January 19, 1876, reprinted in Parsons,
    “Pidge,”
    88; McNelly to Steele, November 22, 1875, TAGR; Durham,
    Taming the Nueces
    Strip,
    104.
    
50. McNelly to Steele, November 22, 1875, TAGR; Durham,
    Taming the Nueces
    Strip,
    107–9; Callicott to Webb in Webb,
    Texas Rangers,
    264–65; Austin
    State
    Gazette,
    January 19, 1876, reprinted in Parsons,
    “Pidge,”
    88.
    
51. McNelly to Steele, November 22, 1875, TAGR; Durham,
    Taming the Nueces
    Strip,
    110-14; Webb,
    Texas Rangers,
    265-67; Austin
    State Gazette,
    January 19, 1876, reprinted in Parsons,
    “Pidge,”
    88–89.
    
52. McNelly to Steele, November 22, 1875; García “To the Commander of the American forces on Mexican Soil,” November 19, 1875, both TAGR. In Mexico a municipality combines the function of city and county, and so the mayor’s jurisdiction covers a much larger area than the immediate boundaries of his city.
    
53. Ord to Steele, November 19, 1875, and Potter to Alexander, November 20, 1875, copies in TAGR.
    
54. McNelly to Steele, November 22, 1875, and Wilson, copy of telegram to unnamed official, November 20, 1875, both in ibid.
    

  13: Bad Times for Badmen

1. Headquarters, Frontier Battalion, General Order No. 5, October 27, 1874, TAGF.
   
2. Headquarters, Frontier Battalion, General Order No. 6, October 25, 1875, TAGF.
   
3. Jones to Steele, December 1, 1874, TAGR.
   
4. Gillett,
   Six Years,
   85; Hendricks,
   Bad Man of the West,
   48.
   
5. Cook,
   Fifty Years on the Old Frontier,
   59–60.
   
6. Hardin,
   Life,
   88; Marohn,
   Last Gunfighter,
   65–66; Metz,
   John Wesley Hardin,
   130ff.
   
7. Metz,
   John Wesley Hardin,
   136–38; Hardin,
   Life,
   90ff.
   
8. Metz,
   John Wesley Hardin,
   141–42; J. H. Taylor, “Ranger Reminiscences,” TAGF.
   
9. Hardin,
   Life,
   93.
   
10. Metz,
    John Wesley Hardin,
    142.
    
11. Hardin,
    Life,
    95ff.; Metz,
    John Wesley Hardin,
    142ff.
    
12. Frontier Battalion, Exhibit “D,” undated; J. H. Taylor, “Ranger Reminiscences,” both in TAGF.
    
13. Hardin,
    Life,
    107; Metz,
    John Wesley Hardin,
    158, 160–62.
    
14. Metz,
    John Wesley Hardin,
    158ff.; Hardin,
    Life,
    112; Parsons and Parsons,
    Bowen
    and Hardin,
    59.
    
15. Texas Adjutant General’s Office,
    A List of Fugitives from Justice,
    27.
    
16. Smith,
    Armstrong Chronicle,
    84–85. Most works spell Armstrong’s middle name “Barclay,” but Smith, who wrote her book with the cooperation of the Armstrong family, uses “Barkley.” The confusion appears to arise because some descendants spell their own names “Barclay.”
    
17. Jennings,
    A Texas Ranger,
    131.
    
18. Smith,
    Armstrong Chronicle,
    101; Metz,
    John Wesley Hardin,
    165. Webb (
    Texas
    Rangers,
    298) also attributes Armstrong’s interest to “sporting blood.”
    
19. Metz,
    John Wesley Hardin,
    165.
    
20. Metz,
    John Wesley Hardin,
    165; Hardin,
    Life,
    114; Parsons and Parsons,
    Bowen
    and Hardin,
    59–60; Raymond,
    Captain Lee Hall,
    130.
    
21. Metz,
    John Wesley Hardin,
    167–70; Hardin,
    Life,
    114–17; Parsons and Parsons,
    Bowen and Hardin,
    60; Marohn,
    Last Gunfighter,
    111; Webb,
    Texas Rangers,
    299. Hardin, who wrote his memoirs years later and whose memory was faulty on small details, said he was captured on July 23. Armstrong’s report to Adjutant General Steele, reprinted in Webb (300), gives the date as August 23. All other sources agree.
    
22. Marohn,
    Last Gunfighter,
    111–12; Metz,
    John Wesley Hardin,
    178ff.; Hardin,
    Life,
    136.
    
23. The Bowen case is discussed in Parsons and Parsons,
    Bowen and Hardin.
    
24. Fisher, “Life and Times,” 233–36.
    
25. Jennings,
    A Texas Ranger,
    238–39; Raymond,
    Captain Lee Hall,
    55. The story of Fisher’s killing the Bengal is from Jennings. Durham (
    Taming the Nueces Strip,
    150) says he understood that Ben Thompson shot the tiger and had the chaps made as a gift for Fisher. The two man-killers were close friends.
    
26. Fisher, “Life and Times,” 237–38.
    
27. Adjutant General’s Office,
    A List of Fugitives from Justice,
    153. George Durham (
    Taming the Nueces Strip,
    143) said Fisher’s name was not in “The Book,” as the
    List of Fugitives from Justice
    was called, but Durham was writing in 1934 and his memory appears to have been faulty on that point.
    
28. Durham,
    Taming the Nueces Strip,
    134; Parsons, “Gunfire at Espantosa Lake,” 23. Although this conflicts with McNelly’s request for Winchesters in the Taylor-Sutton Feud, it is generally agreed that he did prefer the Sharps. He may have requested the Winchesters because the numerous gunfights dictated a repeating rifle, and because DeWitt County, which is heavily wooded, is not suitable terrain for the long-range Sharps.
    
29. McNelly to Steele, reprinted in Jennings,
    A Texas Ranger,
    231–32.
    
30. Parsons, “Gunfire at Espantosa Lake,” 21; Durham,
    Taming the Nueces Strip,
    138–39.
    
31. Jennings,
    A Texas Ranger,
    234; Durham,
    Taming the Nueces Strip,
    139ff.; Fisher, “Life and Times,” 239.
    
32. Jennings,
    A Texas Ranger,
    239–41. McNelly’s health is discussed in Durham,
    Taming the Nueces Strip,
    148.
    
33. Durham,
    Taming the Nueces Strip,
    155–56.
    
34. Durham,
    Taming the Nueces Strip,
    156–58; Raymond,
    Captain Lee Hall,
    38–39. Hall was sworn in as an officer of the company on August 10, 1876.
    
35. Durham,
    Taming the Nueces Strip,
    158; Jennings,
    A Texas Ranger,
    257–58; Parsons, “Gunfire at Espantosa Lake,” 22.
    
36. Durham,
    Taming the Nueces Strip,
    158–59; Armstrong quoted in Jennings,
    A
    Texas Ranger,
    258–59.
    
37. Durham,
    Taming the Nueces Strip,
    159–60; Jennings,
    A Texas Ranger,
    259–61; Parsons, “Gunfire at Espantosa Lake,” 22–24. According to Jennings, McAlister was still alive in 1892. Parsons cites Armstrong’s report to McNelly in saying there were only four horse thieves in camp. The report is reprinted in Webb,
    Texas
    Rangers,
    296.
    
38. Durham,
    Taming the Nueces Strip,
    161; Parsons, “Gunfight at Espantosa Lake,” 24.
    
39. Durham,
    Taming the Nueces Strip,
    161.
    
40. Adjutant General’s Office,
    A List of Fugitives from Justice,
    reprinted by State House Press as
    Fugitives from Justice: The Notebook of Texas Ranger Sergeant
    James B. Gillett,
    193.
    
41. Metz,
    John Wesley Hardin,
    191–92; Rosa,
    Taming of the West,
    68.
    
42. Steele quoted in “The Reason Why Capt. McNelly Was Not Retained,” undated, unattributed newspaper clipping, TAGF; Webb,
    Texas Rangers,
    288; Durham,
    Taming the Nueces Strip,
    158, 161–62; King, “Texas Ranger Service,” 352.