Old school style…
A monograph written in the 1930s by a former Texas Ranger who served with Company G out of Mobeetie in 1883. Who also happens to be the great great uncle of one of my neighbors. She copied this off for me!
For those playing along at home who are going ‘Huh? There isn’t a Company G!’ You would be correct. They were disbanded in Dec 1883. In the 1870s they were south of Fort Worth in Brown County, and at some point moved a LONG way north! Here’s a ‘rough’ guess as to their coverage area in 1883, based on the details in the monograph.
Apparently Vernon, Texas was ‘quite’ the rowdy town back in the 1880s! The Round Timbers cowboys were coming in from the area of what is today Seymour, Texas, so probably a 20-25 mile ride to ‘town’…
Contemporary accounts are always fascinating. One can only imagine the tension felt by those who stood tall to prevent incidents and/or foul play.
That’s my dad’s old stomping grounds – Dad was born in 1911 in the little town of Margaret, just outside Crowell, not too far from Vernon. His dad was an oil field worker, imagine he would have had some interesting stories. Sadly, he was hit by a car and killed when dad was in his second year of junior college.
It’s pretty easy for us to forget that back in the 1880’s, it was a long journey between towns, and in that time, not long after the Comanche threat had been greatly reduced if not eliminated. Rough country and a hard life back then. The entire monograph you reference must be interesting. And undecipherable by much of today’s youth since it was rendered in cursive!
I’ll have to ask the kids if they can read it. I keep threatening to teach them cursive over the summer. My oldest already knows, because she was homeschooled for quite a while.
Neat!
I was taught to go back to primary sources wherever possible (direct accounts of people who were there).
That is a really cool find.
Rev- Even more the ‘daily grind’ that they did…
Tom- I remember your mentioning that. And probably true…LOL
JMI- LOL
Jon- Exactly. This man was literally boots on the ground!
Mobeetie, TX. Also known as tornado magnet. Town was nearly destroyed multiple times by tornadoes.
I have a lot of respect for the old school Texas Rangers. I grew up in the 60’s with a Ranger for a neighbor.
Very interesting, Old NFO. I always enjoy reading those first hand accounts. Their world was very different than ours is.
The same and not the same, I guess.
Feral- Yep, and I don’t know of anyone that doesn’t respect the Rangers.
LL- Exactly.
Thanks for posting that. I grew up 18 miles (as the crow flies) from Vernon.