THE HORRELL-HIGGINS FEUD
By the end of the year 1876 the Indians had been pretty well pushed
back off the frontier, so that there were very few fights with the
redskins after 1877. From the spring of 1877 onward the rangers were
transformed into what might properly be called mounted state police,
and accordingly turned their attention to ridding the frontier of the
outlaws that infested nearly every part of Texas. During the winter
of 1876-77 Captain Neal Coldwell broke up a band of thieves that was
operating in the northwestern part of Atascosa County. I remember
helping him capture a man named Wolf. He was wanted for murder, and we
made several scouts after him before we succeeded in landing him safely
in irons.
In April, 1877, Major Jones reached Coldwell's company and at once
made arrangements to march up the line on a visit of inspection. When
the major reached the headwaters of the South Llano River he halted
his escort and detailed several small scouting parties of five or six
men, each with orders to arrest every man that could not give a good
account of himself. One scout was sent down the South Llano, a
second down Johnson's Fork, while a third was ordered over the divide
with instructions to hit the head of the North Llano and sweep down
that river,--all three parties to rejoin Major Jones and the main
escort near where Junction City now stands. In these outlaw raids some
fifty or sixty men were arrested and brought in. Many of the suspects
were released upon examination, but I remember one scout brought in two
escaped convicts who had been captured up on Copperas Creek. We bagged
several men wanted for murder and some horse and cattle thieves. Old
Kimble County never had such a clean-up of bandits in her history.
[Illustration: _Neal Coldwell_]
While these prisoners were being held in camp other scouts were sent
out in the northern part of the county with orders to sweep Bear Creek,
Gentry, Red Creek, Big and Little Saline, to cross the San Saba River
in Menard County and sweep up that stream from old Peg Leg Station to
Menard. Many more suspects were caught in this haul.
With a party of scouts I was detailed on a mission to Fort McKavett,
at that time one of the big military posts on the frontier. Many hard
characters and gamblers gathered about these posts to fleece the
soldiers out of their easy-made money. We made several arrests here,
and camped for noon one mile below the government post on the San
Saba River. During the dinner hour my horse, a gray, in lying down to
wallow, rolled on some broken beer bottles and cut his back so badly
that he was unfit for use for some time. When the escort moved north
I was left with old Company "D" until the return of Company "A" on
its return march some six weeks later. I thereby missed some of the
exciting scouts that took place on the march north.
When Major Jones reached Coleman City he found orders from Governor
Coke to send a scout of rangers to Lampasas County to help the civil
authorities suppress a war known as the Horrell-Higgins feud. Second
Sergeant N.O. Reynolds was detached from Company "A" and with ten men
ordered to proceed to Lampasas and report to the sheriff of that county.
After leaving Coleman, Major Jones visited the northernmost ranger
company and began his return march. This was to be his last trip
with his escort, for immediately upon his return to Austin he was
commissioned Adjutant-General of Texas. As there was no longer a major
of the battalion, there was no need of an escort, so old Company "A"
took its place on the line as a stationary company. Captain Neal
Coldwell was ultimately made quartermaster of the battalion, and I
believe ranked as major.
I was picked up at Company "D" by the escort on their return march and
was with Company "A" when it was made a stationary command and located
in Frio County.
In the latter part of 1877--during the late summer--a party of
filibusters under command of a Mexican general named Winkler assembled
in Maverick County, near Eagle Pass, and prepared to invade Mexico.
Captain Coldwell, then commanding Company "A," was ordered to the Rio
Grande to break up the expedition. This he did by arresting more than
fifty participants. I was with him on this expedition and saw much
border service during this summer.
I remember a scout I was called upon to make with Captain Coldwell
over in Bandera County. The captain took with him John Parker, Hawk
Roberts, and myself. In one week's time we caught some ten or twelve
fugitives from justice and literally filled the little old jail at
Bandera. Captain Coldwell detailed Hawk Roberts and myself to capture
an especially bad man wanted in Burnet County for murder. The captain
warned us to take no chances with this man--that meant to kill him if
he hesitated about surrendering. I can't remember this murderer's name
at this late date, but I recall perfectly the details of his capture.
Sheriff Jack Hamilton of Bandera County sent a guide to show us where
this fugitive lived. The guide led us some fifteen miles northwest of
Bandera and finally pointed out the house in which the murderer was
supposed to be. He then refused to go any farther, saying he did not
want any of this man's game, for the fellow had just stood off a deputy
sheriff and made him hike it back to Bandera.
It was almost night when we reached the house, so Roberts and I decided
to wait until morning before attempting the arrest. We staked our
horses, lay down on our saddle blankets without supper, and slept
soundly till dawn. As soon as it was daylight we rode over near the
house, dismounted, slipped up, and, unannounced, stepped right inside
the room. The man we wanted was sleeping on a pallet with a big
white-handled .45 near his head. Hawk Roberts kicked the pistol out
of the man's reach. The noise awakened the sleeper and he opened his
eyes to find himself looking into the business ends of two Winchesters
held within a foot of his head. Of course he surrendered without fight.
His wife, who was sleeping in a bed in the same room, jumped out of
it and heaped all kinds of abuse on us for entering her home without
ceremony. She was especially bitter against Sheriff Hamilton, who, she
said, had promised to notify her husband when he was wanted so he could
come in and give himself up. She indignantly advised her husband to
give old Sheriff Hamilton a d--d good whipping the first chance he had.
While Company "A" was rounding up outlaws along the border, Sergeant
Reynolds was covering himself with glory in the north. Upon reaching
Lampasas and reporting to the sheriff as ordered by Major Jones, the
sergeant was told that the Horrell boys were living on the Sulphur Fork
of the Lampasas River and were defying the authorities to arrest them.
The Horrells were native Texans and had been raised on the frontier.
These brothers, of which five were involved in the feud (the sixth,
John Horrell, had been killed at Las Cruces, New Mexico, previously)
were expert riders, and, having grown up with firearms in their
hands, were as quick as chained lightning with either Winchester or
pistol. Sam Horrell, the eldest, was married and had a large family of
children. He was a farmer and lived a quiet life over on the Lampasas
River. The other four boys, Mart, Tom, Merritt, and Ben, were all
cattlemen. They stood well in the community, but were considered
dangerous when aroused.
At this time Lampasas was a frontier town and wide open as far as
saloons and gambling were concerned. The Horrells, like most cattlemen
of the period, loved to congregate in town, go to the saloons and have
a good time, perhaps drink too much and sometimes at night shoot up
the town for fun, as they termed it. Some of the more pious and more
settled citizens of the town did not approve of these night brawls, and
called upon Governor Edmund J. Davis, Provisional Governor in 1873,
to give them protection. Governor Davis had formed in Texas a State
Police. Naturally they were rank Republicans, and many of them were
termed carpetbaggers. This body was never popular in Texas, especially
as many of the force were negroes.
In answer to the call of the citizens, Governor Davis dispatched
Captain Williams with three white men and one negro to Lampasas. On
the way up Captain Williams met several freighters going to Austin and
stopped one of them, Tedford Bean, to ask the distance to Lampasas. The
captain had been drinking, and he told Mr. Bean he was going to town to
clean up those damn Horrell boys.
The little squad of police reached Lampasas about 3 p.m., hitched its
horses to some live oak trees on the public plaza, left the negro to
guard them, and then made a bee line to Jerry Scott's saloon on the
west side of the square. Mart, Tom, and Merritt Horrell, with some ten
or fifteen cow men, were in the saloon drinking, playing billiards and
having a good time generally. One man was picking a banjo and another
playing a fiddle. Captain Williams, an exceedingly brave but unwise
man, took in the situation at a glance as he walked up to the bar and
called for drinks.
He turned to Bill Bowen, a brother-in-law to Merritt Horrell, and said,
"I believe you have a six-shooter. I arrest you."
"Bill, you have done nothing and need not be arrested if you don't want
to," interrupted Mart Horrell.
Like a flash of lightning Captain Williams pulled his pistol and fired
on Mart Horrell, wounding him badly. The Horrell boys drew their guns
and began to fight. Captain Williams and one of his men, Dr. Daniels,
were shot down in the saloon. William Cherry was killed just outside
the door, and Andrew Melville was fatally wounded as he was trying to
escape. He reached the old Huling Hotel, where he died later. At the
first crack of a pistol the negro police mounted his horse and made a
John Gilpin ride for Austin. Thus, within the twinkling of an eye,
four state police were killed and only one of the Horrells wounded.
Tom and Merritt Horrell carried the wounded Mart to their mother's
home, some two hundred yards from Scott's saloon, then mounted their
horses and rode away. Great excitement prevailed in the town. The state
militia was called out, and Governor Davis hurried other state police
to Lampasas. They scoured the country for the Horrell boys, but to no
avail.
Mart Horrell and Jerry Scott were arrested and carried to Georgetown,
Williamson County, and placed in jail. Mart Horrell's wife went to the
jail to nurse her husband and, of course, kept her brothers-in-law
informed as to Mart's condition. As soon as he was well the Horrell
boys made up a party and rode to Williamson County and assaulted the
jail at night. The citizens and officers of Georgetown, taken unawares,
put up a stiff fight, but the Horrells had ten or fifteen well
organized and armed men with them. They took stations at all approaches
to the jail and kept up a steady fire with their Winchesters at anyone
who showed up to oppose them. Mr. A.S. Fisher, a prominent lawyer of
the town, took an active hand in the fight and was badly wounded. Bill
Bowen was slightly hurt while battering in the jail door with a sledge
hammer. Mart Horrell and Jerry Scott were liberated and rode off with
their rescuers.
By the next evening the Horrells were back on Lucies Creek. They at
once made arrangements to leave the country and go to New Mexico. They
had gathered about them Bill and Tom Bowen, John Dixon, Ben Turner, and
six or eight other men as desperate and dangerous as themselves. They
were so formidable that they no longer attempted to hide but openly and
without hindrance gathered their cattle, sold the remnant to Cooksey
and Clayton to be delivered to them in Coleman County. They even
notified the sheriff of Lampasas County just what day they would pass
with their herd through Russell Gap, but they were not molested.
As a cowboy I had worked for Cooksey and Clayton, and was with them
when they delivered cattle to the Horrell boys on Home Creek, Coleman
County. I had dinner in camp with the outlaws and they made no effort
to hide from the authorities. I remember they sat about their camps
with Winchesters across their laps.
When all was ready the Horrells moved slowly out of the country with
their families and cattle and finally reached New Mexico, settling on
the head of the Hondo River in Lincoln County. They had not been at
their new home many months before Ben Horrell was shot and killed at a
fandango near old Fort Stanton. Ben's brothers at once repaired to the
dance hall and killed eight Mexicans and one woman.
This brought on a war between the Horrell boys and the Mexican
population along the Hondo River, and it is said that in the fights
that followed thirty or forty Mexicans were killed between Fort Stanton
and Roswell. In one of those pitched battles Ben Turner was killed.
Turner was prominent in all of the fights staged by the Horrells,
was with them when Captain Williams was killed and was one of the
assaulting party on the Georgetown jail. His death was keenly felt by
his companions.
Having now outlawed themselves in New Mexico, the Horrells could no
longer stay in that country. They turned back to Texas, and next year
showed up at their old haunts in Lampasas County. The shock of the
Civil War was beginning to subside and the State of Texas was then
under civil government with a Democratic governor in office. The
friends of the Horrells advised them to surrender to the authorities
and be tried for the killing of Captain Williams and his men. They
were assured a fair trial by the best citizens of Lampasas County.
Accordingly, the Horrells gave up, and upon trial were acquitted of the
charges against them.
The Horrells had not long been at ease before Merritt, the youngest of
the brothers, was accused by Pink Higgins of unlawfully handling his
cattle. Shortly afterward, while Merritt was seated unarmed in a chair
in the old Jerry Scott saloon, Pink Higgins stepped to the back door of
the place and shot him to death. Thus Merritt met his death in the same
saloon where four years before he had been a party to the killing of
Captain Williams. At this time Mart and Tom Horrell were living down on
Sulphur Fork of Lampasas River. The news of their brother's death was
quickly carried to them. They armed themselves and started in a run for
Lampasas.
This move had been anticipated by the Pink Higgins party. They waylaid
the Horrell boys outside the town and at their first fire killed Tom
Horrell's horse and badly wounded Mart. Tom advanced single handed on
the attackers and put them to flight. He then partly supported and
partly carried his brother to the home of Mr. Tinnins, a neighbor,
where a doctor was hurried to the wounded man.
Thus old Lampasas County was again the scene of war with Mart, Tom and
Sam Horrell, Bill and Tom Bowen, John Dixon and Bill Crabtree on one
side and Pink Higgins, Bob Mitchell and their friends on the other.
These two factions met in the town of Lampasas and a furious battle
followed. A man was killed on each side and the population greatly
endangered. Hence the governor's order to Major Jones to send rangers
to the aid of the officers at Lampasas.
When Sergeant N.O. Reynolds reported to the sheriff of Lampasas he was
informed that the Horrell boys were living ten miles east of Lampasas
and had ten or twelve desperate men with them, so that it meant certain
death to anyone making an attempt to capture them.
"But, Mr. Sheriff, I am sent here to effect the capture of all
offenders against the law, and it is my duty to at least make the
attempt," replied the brave Reynolds.
"These men have never been arrested," declared Sheriff Sweet, "and it
is my honest opinion they cannot be."
Reynolds then asked if the sheriff would send a guide to show him
where the Horrells lived. The rangers under the intrepid Reynolds
left Lampasas late in the night and finally the guide pointed at a
flickering light about a mile off.
"There is where the Horrell boys live. I am going back to town," he
said.
When asked if he would not accompany the rangers to the house, the
guide replied, "No, not for a million dollars!"
With that he turned his horse and rode away.
Reynolds thought it would be best to wait until daylight before
attempting the arrest. He planned to surprise the outlaws, if such
a thing were possible, but if the rangers were discovered and an
engagement came on they were to fight to the last man. As soon as dawn
broke the rangers wended their way on foot to the Horrell brothers'
ranch. It was a moment of great anxiety as they approached the house,
but not a sound was heard, not a dog barked.
Sergeant Reynolds and his men tiptoed right into the room in which the
Horrells were sleeping. Some of the men were on pallets on the floor,
while others slept in beds in the one big room. Each ranger pointed
a cocked Winchester at the head of a sleeper. Reynolds then spoke to
Mart Horrell. At the sound of his voice every man sat up in bed and
found himself looking into the muzzle of a gun. The sergeant quickly
explained that he was a ranger and had come to arrest them. Mart
replied they could not surrender, and Tom Horrell said it would be
better to die fighting than to be mobbed.
This gave Reynolds his cue. He warned the outlaws that if anything was
started there would be a dozen dead men in that house in one minute and
advised them to listen to what he had to say. He then guaranteed the
Horrells upon his honor that he would not turn them over to the sheriff
to be put in jail and mobbed, but promised he would guard them in his
camp until they could secure a preliminary examination and give bond.
"Boys, this seems reasonable," said Mart Horrell, rising to his feet.
"I believe these rangers can be relied upon to protect us. Besides this
fight has been thrust upon us. If we can get a hearing we can give
bond."
They all agreed finally to this proposition of Sergeant Reynolds and
laid down their arms, mounted their horses and under guard of the
rangers were marched into the town of Lampasas.
The news of the capture of the Horrells spread like wildfire through
the town and county. Hundreds of people flocked to Lampasas to see
Sergeant Reynolds, the man that had accomplished the impossible in
rounding up the most desperate band of men that ever lived. The news
was rushed to Austin, and General Jones himself hurried to the scene.
This act of Sergeant Reynolds covered him with glory and brought to his
name imperishable renown. He was at once commissioned First Lieutenant,
commanding Company "E."
The Horrell boys were admitted to bond after a preliminary hearing.
After their release Mart Horrell came to Lieutenant Reynolds and
feelingly thanked him for carrying out his promise. With tears
streaming down his face he grasped the lieutenant's hand and said, "You
are undoubtedly the bravest man in the world today." These unfortunate
men were later shot to death in the Meridian jail. The Higgins and
Mitchell parties surrendered to the authorities. Pink Higgins was tried
and acquitted of the murder of Merritt Horrell. This ended the feud,
but it started Lieutenant Reynolds on a new and important phase of his
career as a ranger.