Arrows vs Colts : The Texas Rangers at Walker Creek

 

John Coffee Hayes

The Legend Begins

Eager for a fight, seventy-five Comanche warriors dismounted along a hillside about fifty miles north of San Antonio, near a tributary of the Guadalupe River called Walker Creek. Below them, at the base of the hill, fifteen mounted Texas Rangers were moving to attack. The numerous scrub oaks and gnarly black jacks helped conceal their presence while they stealthily rode up hill  toward the Comanches’ flank. Bursting from the woods, the Rangers caught the Comanches by surprise. After firing their single shot musket rifles, they threw them to the ground and drew their Colt Patterson revolvers. What happened next gave birth to a Texas legend.

The Comanche Threat

Since the early days of the Stephen F. Austin land grants, hostile Indians were a threat that grew in proportion to the increase in settlers. By far, the biggest threat from among the various Indian tribes was  the Comanches. Universally acknowledged as the greatest horsemen in the world, they dominated the southern plains down to the Texas Hill Country. Like most Plains Indians, they hunted the vast buffalo herds on the open plains they lived on. Skilled in the use of  the lance, tomahawk, and bow and arrow, the Comanches had few equals in battle. Though fewer in number, they made up for it with a terrifying ferocity, ruthlessness, and speed of attack. Frontier settlers that encroached on their land were especially vulnerable to their raids that left whole families dead and farms burned to the ground. To counter the Comanche raids, volunteers were organized into mounted militias and ranging companies that served for most of a year until the Fall harvest season.

The Birth of the Rangers

The Texas Rangers officially began on November 24, 1835 by decree of the Texas General Council. The Rangers would consist of three companies of fifty-six men each. In return for $1.25 per day, they would serve for one year and provide their own rations, clothes, horses, arms and ammunition. Their leader, Major Robert M. Williamson, was a charismatic, banjo-playing attorney from Georgia with a pronounced physical deformity. Stricken with  tuberculosis, his right leg was bent back to his rear end, forcing him to wear a wooden leg attached to his knee, leading to his nickname -  “Three-Legged Willie.” Their service ended after the victory at San Jacinto and the establishment of the Republic of Texas. The Republic’s new president, Sam Houston, believed that Indian problems could be solved by mutually beneficial treaties and trade agreements. Peace emissaries established treaties with the majority of Texas tribes, including three with the neighboring Penateka Comanches, but that didn’t include all Comanches.

Lamar’s Army

The second president of Texas took a different tact when it came to Indians. Mirabeau Lamar believed the new republic must progress and Indians were a major impediment best resolved by “extermination or expulsion.” Regular Texas army troops and Ranger companies enjoyed success, including a devastating victory at the Battle of Plum Creek. Though a staggering setback for the Comanches, it was by no means decisive. The raids continued. To make matters worse, Lamar’s army was plagued with desertions and a severe lack of funding. Lamar was forced to disband it.  

The Need for Fire Power

Texas Rangers and Texas militia units met the threat, but were at a disadvantage when it came to the horsemanship and the rapid fire bow and arrows of the Comanches. At times, single shot muskets and pistols could provide an edge, but it wasn’t enough. While reloading, Rangers were vulnerable to a steady stream of Comanche arrows. The answer to the problem came from an unlikely source - the Republic of Texas Navy.  

Navy Surplus

The Republic of Texas Navy was established in 1835 to protect the Texas coast and its vital supply line with New Orleans. Plagued with underfunding, rotted ship hulls, and mutinies, where one officer was murdered and four mutineers were hanged from a yard arm, President Houston had it disbanded in 1843. Among its surplus stock of armaments were over one hundred Colt revolving pistols manufactured in Patterson, New Jersey. Each of their five revolving chambers held a .35 caliber paper cartridge. Fragile in design, the Patterson Colt was reloaded by removing the barrel before replacing the cylinder, a next to impossible task on horseback. Nevertheless, they gave the user unprecedented firepower. The Rangers helped themselves to the surplus.

John Coffee Hayes

In addition to the revolvers, the Rangers had a skilled, disciplined field officer with a thorough understanding of Indian warfare - John Coffee Hayes. Named after one of General Andrew Jackson’s officers, John Coffee Hayes was born in Tennessee on January 28, 1817. Seeking opportunity and adventure, he and his brother William headed for Texas, where they earned a living as surveyors.  Surveying in Texas could be rewarding as well as hazardous. Aware that surveys often led to settlements, the Comanches often targeted frontier surveyors. Forced to become an Indian fighter as well as a surveyor, Hayes became a skilled at both. 

Guardians of San Antonio

In 1839, San Antonio organized a volunteer company of  Rangers. Hayes became their captain. Eventually he became the guardian of the city and its frontier surroundings. To the south, Mexico, which refused to recognize the Republic of Texas, posed a constant threat along with bandits that preyed on traders to and from the Mexican border. To the north, there were the Comanches. Through the following years, Ranger companies were formed and reformed with many volunteers that had served numerous times. In time, they gained experience and became veteran fighters.

Travel Light, Travel Far

Hayes realized that fighting Comanches meant learning how they fought.  This meant fighting on horseback and being on the move for long periods of time. Therefore, the Rangers traveled light. There were no tents, they slept in the open air with only a blanket for comfort. They wore apparel that protected them from the elements and facilitated freedom of movement. That included buckskin overalls,  moccasins, a light leather or wool jacket called a roundabout, and a coonskin cap, later followed by the wide-brimmed hat Rangers were most noted for. A Mexican blanket and a wallet containing salt, ammunition, tobacco, and parched corn were tied to the saddle. Like the Indians, they lived off the land by hunting wild game. 

A Ranger’s weapons included three revolvers, a short rifle or shotgun, and a Bowie knife.

Walker Creek

The Rangers’ tactics were tested on June 8, 1844, While scouting the Hill Country north of San Antonio, Hayes’ small Ranger company discovered a honey-laden bee tree. Hayes left several men behind as a rearguard while the rest availed themselves of the honey. It didn’t take the rearguard long to discover they were being followed by ten Comanche warriors. Having caught the Rangers attention, they fell back in a leisurely fashion into the nearby woods, a clear indication they were trying to lure the Rangers into an ambush. Hayes was too smart for that. Failing to draw in the Rangers, seventy-five Comanches rode out of the woods in plain view and then rode up a nearby hill, where they dismounted on the hillside before taunting the Texans in Spanish, enticing them to attack. Attack they did on the Comanches flank. Their Patterson Colts blazing, they shot down a number of warriors, forcing the rest to mount and counter the Rangers’ charge. Though now surrounded, the Rangers cooly fell back into a circle with their horses rump to rump. For fifteen minutes,  their revolvers warded of the Comanches, but not before two Rangers were wounded by lances. Overwhelmed by the Rangers’ gunfire, the Comanches rode from the hillside with the Rangers in pursuit. Under the command of a daring chief, they stopped and made several defensive stands. Still outnumbered and running out of ammo, Hayes yelled out, “Any man who has a load, kill that chief!” Ranger Ad Gillespie aimed his rifle at the chief and shot him down. Without their leader, the Comanches gave up and fled, leaving behind twenty-four dead warriors. With a handful of Rangers, Hayes defeated an overwhelming force of Comanches. For the “Lords of the Plains,” it was a preview of what was to come. 

Check It Out

Check out the book “Lone Star Justice: The First Century of THe Texas Rangers” by Robert M. Utley. This is an unbiased look at the history of the Texas Rangers during the 1800’s.

Ross' Raid

 

Trans-Mississippi Confederate Cavalry

Butternut Sons of Bitches

It was February in Southwest Missouri. Mud, sleet, and freezing temperatures brought misery to an overland march in the dead of winter. Still, the Confederate forces were miles down the road and unlikely to attack the Union columns heading southwest into northeast Arkansas. Guarding the columns, at Keetsville, Missouri, was Company C of the 6th Missouri cavalry, under the command of Captain Samual Montgomery. A staunch Missouri Unionist, Montgomery had little tolerance for the rebel sympathizers that populated the southwestern portion of his state, often referring to them as “damn butternut sons of bitches.” On February 25, 2026, after bedding down for the night, Montgomery’s command  received the surprise of their lives from a cavalry force of five to eight hundred yelling Texans. Leading them was a former Texas Ranger and Indian fighter with a knack for stealth. 

Iowa Boy Turned Texan

Lawrence Sullivan Ross was born on September 27, 1838 in Bentonsport, Iowa Territory. His family moved to Texas in 1839, eventually settling in Waco. Unlike many young Texans raised on the frontier, Ross realized the value of a higher education. He attended Baylor University in Independence, Texas and graduated in 1859 from the prestigious Florence Wesleyan University in Alabama.  After returning to Texas, he joined the Texas Rangers, patrolling Young County and the surrounding area for marauding Comanches. His greatest success came at the engagement at Pease River, where he captured Cynthia Parker, who was abducted by the Comanches as a child and later the mother of famed Comanche Chief Quanah Parker. On May 28, 1861, Ross married Elizabeth Donley, the daughter of a Waco planter. Together they had nine children. After the Civil War broke out, he was given the task of securing treaties with the Native American tribes in the Indian Territory, a fruitless endeavor when he found out the Confederate Indian Commissioner, Albert Pike, was already securing treaties with them to join the Confederacy. Upon his return, Ross joined a Waco cavalry company started by his older brother Pete, which later merged with other Texas companies to become the 6th Texas Cavalry Regiment. Elected to the rank of Major, Ross set out with his fellow Texans to Arkansas to join the command of Brigadier General Benjamin McCulloch. Hampering their journey was an affluent Dallas native, Colonel B. Warren Stone, whose fondness for drink threatened the chain of command. Additional problems included a shortage of ammo and poor supplies that included rotten beef and wormy flour that needed a good sifting before consumption. Around the middle of October, Ross and his fellow Texans arrived at McCulloch’s headquarters in Maysville, Arkansas. 

Scouting For McCulloch

Wearing an uncharacteristic black suit for a uniform and shiney Wellington cavalry boots, the former Texas Ranger McCulloch needed to know the location and intention of the Union Army under the command of Major General David Hunter. Facing Hunter was the Secessionist Missouri State Guard under General Sterling Price, a long time Missouri politician and former governor. Outnumbered and outgunned, Price was forced back to Carthage, Missouri. Ross and his fellow Texans were selected by McCulloch to serve as scouts. After twice entering, and escaping, through Union lines, he discovered Hunter was awaiting orders to move south against Price. McCulloch and Price disagreed on whether to attack Hunter in Missouri or fall back to the easily defensible Boston Mountains in Arkansas. Hunter decided for them, he withdrew to St. Louis on November 9, leaving Springfield for Price and his Missourians. It wouldn’t last long. A new Union commander, Samuel Curtis, replaced Hunter and brought a more aggressive, disciplined attitude to his new command. Defying military tradition, he decided to attack Price during the winter.    

Price vs McCulloch

The year 1862 was proving disastrous for Confederate forces in the Trans-Mississippi. Curtis’ surprise counteroffensive, by his Army of the Southwest, drove Price’s troops out of Springfield, Missouri, completely erasing their success the year before. Poorly supplied, clothed, and armed, Price’s command, along with a burdensome column of fleeing civilians, trudged southeast into neighboring Arkansas. Awaiting them, with less than open arms, was the Confederate command of General McCulloch, who was in Richmond at that time explaining to Confederate President Jefferson Davis his lack of a working relationship with Sterling Price.  McCulloch believed Price was more of a long-winded politician in charge of an army of poorly trained amateurs, who were not yet inducted into the Confederate Army. Price, on the other hand, felt McCulloch was overly cautious and frustratingly noncommittal toward liberating Missouri from Union control. To solve the problem of two sparing generals, Davis placed them both under the command of Major General Earl Van Dorn, a general totally lacking in logistical skills.

Supply Lines and Shotguns

Unlike the Civil War theaters east of the Mississippi, supplies in the Trans-Mississippi had to be moved by mule or wagon. Railroads and navigable rivers weren’t available to quickly transport large amounts of arms and supplies. As a result, slow-moving, wagon borne supply lines could become dangerously extended and vulnerable to attack, especially during inclimate weather. Before Van Dorn’s arrival, McCulloch needed to get an idea of the size of the Union Army and where it was likely heading. In addition, he wanted to disrupt its supply line and raise havoc in its rear. Again, he turned to Ross, who had returned after a 60 day furlough. Riding for miles in winter weather and hilly terrain was anything but easy. In February 1862, Ross and his troopers made a wide move to the East to avoid Curtis’ position at Cross Hallows near Bentonville. They stealthily crossed into Missouri, keeping their ranks close together and off established roads  to avoid detection by Union scouts and pickets. Their arms were anything but standard Confederate issue, mostly Colt six shooters, crude Bowie knives, and double barrel shotguns brought from home. At the time of their enlistment, a mustering officer would purchase, at an ascertained value, the arms brought from home by their owners, or pay the owner a dollar a month for its use.

Ross Strikes

Seventy miles behind enemy lines, Ross struck a Union supply train near Keetsville. Barricaded in homes and buildings, Montgomery held off Ross’ Texans before retreating to Cassville. Many of his men were in various stages of dress, lacking hats, coats or shoes. Several commissary wagons were burned, eleven prisoners taken, and 70 badly needed horses were liberated for Confederate service. Though successful and adding more accolades to Ross and the 6th Texas, the raid did little to prevent the disaster that awaited Van Dorn’s army. Near a roadside stopover called Elkhorn tavern, Van Dorn’s inept leadership, combined with the calamitous death of McCulloch on the battlefield, led to a decisive defeat that kept Missouri out of the Confederacy for the duration of the war.   

Check It Out

 Check out the book "Sul Ross: Soldier, Statesman, Educator" by Judith Ann Benner. 

Greed, Race and Salt: The El Paso Salt War

 

Salt is Life, and Money

For centuries, salt was an essential part of daily living. Before refrigeration, salt was needed to dry-cure meat and fish to prevent spoilage, especially during winter months when game wasn’t readily available or when feeding large bodies of people on the move, such as an army or a cattle drive. It was also used to cure animal hides, provide a dietary supplement, and add spice to a bland meal. During times of drought in northern Mexico and the crop failures that followed, salt was a source of income. Resourceful Mexican villagers, braving desert heat and marauding Apaches, gathered salt from the salt lakes a hundred miles east of present day El Paso. The salt lakes were shallow lakes with high concentrations of salts at the base of Guadalupe Peak. The salt was poured into barrels, loaded on to wagons, and then peddled in the villages of Mexico’s interior. Mexicans firmly believed the salt lakes were communal property, open to all free of charge, and regardless of the U.S.-Mexico boundary. American businessmen in El Paso felt otherwise. 

Luis Cardiz and Charles Howard

Enter The Gringo

In 1877, El Paso was called Franklin and its sister city south of the Rio Grande was called El Paso del Norte, later changed to Juarez. The expanse of the West Texas desert isolated this narrow point of the Rio Grande Valley to where it was more a part of New Mexico than a part of Texas. Only 80 non-Mexican residents lived among the over 5,000 Mexicans, who spoke no English and had little understanding of American laws and customs, especially the concept of private property. In their minds, they were Mexican, not American nor Texan, with no compunction to adapt.

Into this troubled mix stepped Charles H. Howard, a Confederate veteran and lawyer from Missouri seeking wealth and political stature in El Paso. A Democrat in a mostly Republican region, Howard was a formidable presence with the physique and condescending attitude to match. To get the political power he craved, he needed the Mexican vote. That could only come from two men: a Texas state representative from El Paso County named Luis (or the more honorable Don Luis) Cardis and a Mexican priest with a lingering contempt for Americans - Father Antonio Borajo. 

Cardis, an Italian immigrant, spoke excellent Spanish and had lived in El Paso since 1864. Rotund, nattily dressed, and supporting a black mustache and chin whiskers, he enjoyed the support of the Mexican community on both sides of the border, and more important, the support of Father Borajo, who often used his position to shield himself from public scrutiny and issued church canons to attain personal ends, especially when it came to money.

 

Through the influence of Cardis and Borajo, Howard won the El Paso County election for district attorney followed later by an appointment to the office of district judge. Cardis was elected to the state legislature. This political coupling came to a crashing demise over ownership of the salt lakes near Guadalupe Peak.

Exit the Calm

The fight over the El Paso salt lakes began in the late 1860’s when El Paso businessmen and locals W. W. Mills, Albert J. Fountain, Luis Cardis, and Father Borajo tried to acquire title to the salt lakes.  Known collectively as “The Salt Ring,” they seemed to have the inside track in getting a title but were stymied when Fountain tried to gain title for himself and the El Paso community. In response, Cardis and Mills formed “The Anti-Salt Ring.” If things weren’t bad enough, Howard sought title through his father-in-law, former Confederate officer Major George Zimpleman, an influential Texas statesman and businessman who once owned the LBJ Ranch. After Zimpleman obtained title, Howard became his agent-in-charge. In no time at all, Howard publicly announced the salt was no longer free. Needless to say, the Mexican community exploded. Even more so when Howard had two men arrested in the town of San Elizario for vowing to gather salt without paying him. Things only grew worse from there. 

Mob Law

One of the arrested men admitted guilt in vowing to take salt before being turned over to Sheriff Charles Kerber in Ysleta - the county seat of El Paso County. A mob of 400 to 500 armed Mexicans from both sides of the border gathered in San Elizario and demanded the county judge and justice of the peace issue a warrant for the arrest of Charles Howard.  With no arrest forthcoming and having no understanding of the Texas legal process, the mob arrested the county judge and justice of the peace instead. Advancing on Ysleta, the mob arrested Sheriff Kerber and Howard, who was found hiding in Kerber’s house. Among the mob members, a junta was formed led by the influential Francisco “Chico” Barela. In return for his life, the burly Howard was forced to sign a document promising he would open the salt lakes to all until a court ruling was passed, not prosecute his abductors, and leave Texas in 24 hours - never to return. To guarantee these promises, Howard had to post a $12,000 bond backed by local merchants in San Elizario. Enraged, he departed for Mesilla, just across the New Mexican border. He believed Cardiz supported the junta and was responsible for his arrest. Needless to say, Howard wanted him dead.

  

Residents of Mesilla and El Paso began to fear an invasion from Mexico was forthcoming. Texas Governor Richard B. Hubbard was pressured to send troops, but few were available since nearby Fort Bliss had been abandoned for the past nine months. Those available were thirty African American cavalrymen guarding a detail erecting a telegraph line from Mesilla to El Paso. Under Lieutenant Louis H. Rucker, twenty of the cavalrymen were dispatched to San Elizario to prevent any armed incursions from Mexico. During a meeting with the junta, Rucker was assured there would be no further disturbances, and the judge and justice of the peace would be released. The unrest seemed to be subsiding. Contemptuous of any Mexican threats, Charles Howard, however, kept fanning the flames.

The Death of Cardiz

On October 7, 1877, Howard rode into El Paso accompanied by Rucker’s twenty troopers. Armed with a double-barreled shotgun, he strode into Solomon Schulz’s general store. Upon seeing Howard, a startled Don Luis Cardiz rose from his rocking chair before Howard fired two loads of buckshot into his stomach and chest. By killing Cardiz and breaking his bonded pledge, Howard reignited the uprising. Once again, El Paso County was approaching anarchy. This time Governor Hubbard contacted the Texas Rangers.

Major John B. Jones

Ersatz Rangers

Major John B. Jones didn’t look like your typical Texas Ranger. Short and dapper, he looked more like a Wall Street financier than a weather-beaten Texas frontiersman. What he lacked in physical appearance, he made up for with efficiency and a knack for mediation. Although he garnered wide acclaim for cleaning up crime ridden Kimble County, he entered the salt fray at a decisive disadvantage - inexperienced and unreliable local manpower to assist him. Working alone, he tried negotiation instead. Shortly after arriving in El Paso by railroad and stagecoach through three different states, Jones set out for San Elizario on November 7, 1877. He found a town in turmoil. The local merchants that had put up the bond money for Howard’s release were fortified in a store, surrounded by an angry mob of Mexicans from both sides of the border demanding collection of the bond money and the arrest of Howard for murdering Cardiz. Jones assured the Junta that he would arrest Howard, and a court would try him as well as settle the dispute over the salt lakes. He also informed them that he was going to raise a Ranger company, which totally irked the Junta. They claimed no Mexican would serve in his company but, they wouldn’t stir up any more trouble. The Ranger company Jones raised was mostly inexperienced as well as unqualified, men more interested in a paycheck than protecting Texas from an armed insurrection. Their leader, Lieutenant Johnny B. Tays, was a local handyman whose only qualities were honesty and willingness. He would need more than that in San Elizario.   

Jones arranged for Howard to come to El Paso and submit to arrest. On November 16, 1877, Howard appeared before the local justice of the peace who set bail at $4,000 and commanded him to appear at the district court in El Paso in March,1878. Meanwhile, some forty Mexicans drove their carts to the salt lakes.  Howard foolishly set out to intercept them and serve legal papers to sequester the salt they gathered. Accompanied by ten of Tays’ Rangers, he arrived in San Elizario only to be forced to shelter in Charles Ellis’ store.   

Lt. Johnny Tays

Tays’ Dilemma

Needing assistance, Tays alerted the local federal army officer, Captain Thomas Blair, who had recently replaced Rucker.  Captain Blair and twenty African American cavalrymen set out for San Elizario, only to be turned back by armed Mexicans and unfounded assurances from the growing mob that every Mexican present was a resident of the county and not Mexico. Therefore, it was up to local and state authorities, not Federal troops, to quell the uprising. Meanwhile, Charlie Ellis tried to reason with the Mexicans after leaving the safety of his store. A man on horseback threw a lasso around him and then dragged him down the street. Not satisfied with an extended dragging, the rider dismounted and slashed Ellis’ throat. Hays made his way to the nearby Ranger quarters where Tays and his men were barricaded. The Rangers positioned themselves on the roof and nearby corral.

Texas Rangers

The Salt War Erupts

On December 13, 1877, the Rangers awoke to an enraged, well-armed force of mounted and unmounted Mexicans. Merchant John Atkinson arrived with $11,000 for Howard’s bond. He told the Rangers they had three hours to surrender Howard or they would be attacked. While patrolling the town, Ranger Sergeant Charles E. Mortimer was shot in the back before being carried back to the Ranger quarters. He died that evening.  A gun battle began in earnest. Four of the attackers were shot down. After five days, the gunfire subsided when Howard decided to surrender himself to the mob.  "I will go," he said, "as it is the only chance to save your lives, but they will kill me." Taking their cue from Howard, Tays’ Rangers also surrendered; the only time in the Texas Rangers’ storied history that a detachment of Rangers surrendered. Howard, his agent John E. McBride, and local merchant John G. Atkinson were shot by a firing squad. A mass looting of San Elizario's’ stores followed.

The Salt War Ends

Within a few days several detachments of troops and a posse of mostly freebooters, if not outlaws, from Silver City, New Mexico descended on San Elizario.  More interested in looting and plundering, the freebooters killed four men, wounded several others, and committed a number of outrages along the way. The leaders of the mob and many of their followers fled to Mexico. No one was arrested and no trials were held. A congressional investigation was conducted, but no action followed except the reestablishment of Fort Bliss, which remains a major U.S. Army base today. The salt, with no objections nor uprisings, was no longer free. 

El Paso Salt Flats

Check It Out

Check out the book "The El Paso Salt War,1877" by C.L. Sonnichsen. This is a short but good account of the El Paso Salt War. What makes this subject so fascinating is the conflict between centuries-old Spanish customs and practices versus good ole U.S. business greed.