> > I am sending you a revised article that appeared in the Ft. Worth > Star-Telegram some 5 plus years ago. It was concerning the Old West Mob of > San Saba you had been interested in. I hope it is of some interest or use > to you. Written by Art Chapman, staff writer for the telegram. > > > OLD WEST MOB > > In the dark of night, vigilantes once rode through the thick cedars and > sandy river bottoms of this Central Texas county. Now, more than 100 years > later, it is finally OK to talk about it. > > Or maybe not, cautioned the county attorney. > Stories of those days are still not suitable for discussion at local > cafes, he warned. Some families remain stung by the county's history and > want the tales of the "San Saba Mob" buried forever. > > The fear thy [the mob] inspired was so terrible nobody would even talk > about it, "said David Williams, the San Saba county attorney. "Even as late > as the 1970's, people still didn't talk about it in public". > > San Saba County, now known for its abundant pecan harvests, was > organized in 1856. Like many areas in Texas, it was left nearly defenseless > during the Civil War. Law and order were scarce. Renegade Comanche's, > deserters and outlaws moved through with impunity. > Because the area--bounded on two sides by the Colorado River and split > by the San Saba River--was a remote, sparsely populated region, the locals > had to fend for themselves in matters of safety, Williams said. > > Vigilante groups were formed in the mid- 1870's and 1880's to protect > lives and property. They soon became lawless themselves. They became the > mob. > > Kathy Cox, who leads the local historical commission, said some > great-grandchildren of original mob members live in the county, but not all > of them know much of the mob's history. "Some of them know very little, > some know nothing." she said. > > There was a time when everyone knew, but no one talked. In historian > CO.L. Sonnichsen's 1951 book, I'll die before I'll Run, The Story of the > Great Feuds of Texas, the chapter on the San Saba mob began: > "There was a time in Central Texas, not son long ago, when a group of > church people used to gather at the Buzzard's Water Hole to plot > murder--when as many as two hundred citizens from one small district were > frightened from their homes under threat of death...." > Sonnichsen went on to say that the story of the mob was "not an easy one > to tell, partly because people connected with it are still alive, and partly > because so much of it was dark and mysterious, full of secret fears, > midnight plottings, and unknown figures moving behind the scenes." > > Much of that story is still unknown, Cox said. It has become too > difficult over the years to sift the truth from the fiction, separate the > real history from the folklore. > > But a couple of events have been retold so many times, in similar ways, > that they have become legends founded in fact. > > It is guessed that the mob was probably fully organized by the > mid-1880's. One of its first known expeditions was to cross the Colorado > into Brown County, where it intended to kill a man accused of stealing. > > A curious San Saba school teacher wanted to go along and watch, the > story goes. When the mob arrived at the thief's house, the school teacher > crept closer. He got a little too close for comfort, though, because > spooked and broke into a run. > > The mob members, thinking it was the thief on the run, opened fire and > killed the school teacher. They slung him across the saddle of his horse > and dropped him off in the small community of Locker on their way home. > > Later two men who took part in the debacle got drunk in a saloon in > Lampasas and laughed at the way the schoolteacher's horse pitched when the > dead man as tied to the saddle. > > A few days later, they too were shot. They had violated the code of > secrecy. > > "The penalty for talking was death, whether the talker belonged to the > group or not," Sonnichsen wrote in his book. "Consequently it was almost > impossible and always dangerous to find out much about them". > > The mob ran roughshod over the county for most of the mid-1880's and > 90's. Lives were lost, people were forced from their homes. > > "The first members of the mob were some of the large property owners, > ranchers," said Cox. "They were trying to protect their property and they > hung a few people, and shot some. But most were just scared away. They got > a note telling them to clear out. They were usually given 20-30 days to > leave." > > Eventually, Cox said, it all got carried away. The good men dropped out > of the mob. They didn't want trouble with the law. They didn't want to > became outlaws themselves. But others stayed. > > "It wasn't racial," said Cox, brushing away notions of anything like the > KKK. "There weren't any blacks in the county then. There were very few > Hispanics. And religion played no real part in it, either. Some of the > members were probably ministers, but not from any one religion. Some people > say the original members of the mob were all Freemasons." > > In the end, she said, the only common denominator was greed. "Some of > them wanted their neighbors' land and they simply ran them off to get it. > That's what brought them down. > > Another of their downfalls was the senseless killing of William James in > 1896. James had never been involved in any trouble, but was bothered by the > mob activities, saddened by their killings. He discussed his fears with his > family. > > His children repeated their father's apprehensions on the playground at > school, and the word got around that he had "talked". On July 28 he went to > the river after water and was shot and killed. > > James left a wife and a "house full of children". That, along with the > cruelty of his death, finally aroused the ire of the entire county. The day > after the killing, District Judge W.M. Allison wrote to the Texas adjutant > general asking for permanent Ranger camp in the vicinity. > > W. C. Linden was district attorney at the time, and with the help of the > Rangers he got indictments, and later convictions, against several suspected > mob members. > > He reportedly warned the rest that although he probably didn't have > enough evidence to convict them, he could prolong the court cases against > them enough to drive them to bankruptcy. Their only choice was to sell > their San Saba holdings and relocate to some other part of the state. They > did. > > In the way they run so many others out of the county, they too had been > dispatched. > > Alma Ward Hamrick, in her book The Call of the San Saba, a History of > San Saba County, called the period of the mob, "the darkest days possible" > in the history of organized San Saba County. > > "Texas Rangers spent two years in the county," she reported. "It is > estimated that 43 lives were lost to the mob. > > There is still some shame left over from those days, Cox said of the > events, al now a century or more old. But many of those families never > repeated the stories of the mob. > > " I think you can discuss it now". she said, "but not everyone will know > what you're talking about". > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "gayla" <gayladean@hotmail.com> > To: <TXSSABA-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Monday, January 08, 2001 11:16 AM > Subject: [TXSSABA] Mob killings > > > > Posted on: San Saba Co., TX Queries<br> with Automated Mailing List > Posting > > Reply Here: http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/gc/USA/Tx/SanSaba/625 > > > > Surname: Dean, Brandon, Walker, Dunlap > > ------------------------- > > > > This is very interesting to know. I am NOT related to the James or > Henderson > > family that I am aware of but I was wondering did they know who made up > > this mob and during what years did this type of action take place? Are > > there other surnames that you could let us know about. Most of my Dean, > > Walker, Brandon and Dunlap families had left San Saba county by 1880 going > > to Oklahoma but stories hand down over the years are that they left > because > > of trouble in the area but that is all that was known. I would love to > > hear more on this if you could. > > > > > > ==== TXSSABA Mailing List ==== > > To send a post to the SAN SABA COUNTY, TEXAS list, > > send your message to TXSSABA-L@rootsweb.com > > > > ============================== > > The easiest way to stay in touch with your family and friends! > > http://www.myfamily.com/banner.asp?ID=RWLIST1