Pidge, Texas Ranger by Parsons Chuck;

Author:Parsons, Chuck;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Published: 2013-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Captain McNelly died in September, 1877, survived by his wife and one son. In appreciation for his success in fighting cattle thieves Capt. Richard King had this impressive obelisk placed on McNelly’s grave near Burton, in Washington County, Texas. Author’s photo.

As an evidence that history repeats itself it is only necessary to introduce an extract from an account of the Scotch and English borders during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. “What manner of cattle stealers they are that inhabit these valleys, John Leslie, a Scotchman himself, and Bishop of Ross, will inform you.92 They sally out of their own borders in the night, through in-frequented by-ways and many intricate windings; all the day time they refresh themselves and their horses in lurking holes they had pitched upon before, till they arrive in the dark to those places they have a design upon. As soon [as] they have seized upon the booty, they in a like manner, return home in the night, through blind-ways and [avoiding?] many a [company?]. The more skillful any Captain is to pass through them wild deserts and crooked turnings his reputation is the greater, and he is looked upon as a man of an excellent head. And they are so very cunning that they seldom have their booty taken from them,” etc. This is a perfect description of robber tactics on the Rio Bravo at present. The Magote de San Juan, about forty miles from our present camp, is a favorite rendezvous for the marauders; this is a jungle of chapparal, situated in a large open prairie, and elevated; it contains water, and from this point they sally forth and gather small bunches of cattle until a sufficient number are collected, when they drive them full speed for the river. These raids are generally made at the full of the moon, the robbers arriving singly on a certain day at the point previously agreed upon.93 They have a little business on the Mexican shore of the river to engage their attention at present, all of our particular friends from La Bolsa, Las Cuevas and other robber dens having taken service with Gen. Diaz and the revolutionists. The latter are not doing much at present, and each party seems to be dodging the other; very few have been killed as yet, and it is regarded as very fortunate by people on this side. The cavalry from Fort Brown have gone out several times to dispense revolutionists said to be on this side, but found them not. I heard last evening that they had demanded the surrender of Matamoras; do not know the truth of this report.

In haste,

“PIDGE”

P.S.—I see that some carpet-bagging idiot from Connecticut, who happened to get into the Virginia Legislature, has introduced a bill taxing all persons who chew tobacco, smoke, drink whiskey, or “cuss.”94 I am going home to spend my pay; shall leave on next steamer; will write you from New Orleans.95 Heaven knows I ought to pay it out for “cussing;” I “cussed” enough before I got a part of it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.