Any Old West Action in Your Family?

[Comal Forge]

I did not want to hijack Scott's thread on Comanche fighting so I thought to start this one - how many of you can document any good Indian fighting or other Old West action in your ancestry?

Two of my grandparents' lines (both of Dad's parents) immigrated to Virginia in the late 1600's. The families worked their way West along with a lot of other folks and both coincidentally came to Texas in the 1840's by different routes. We have many people listed in the family tree as "killed by Indians" and I am sure it was a fairly common occurrence but I also have a success story to tell.

My great-great-grandfather was named Jesse Alexander Pate and served in Hood's cavalry in the Civil War. From what we know, he enlisted sometime in 1862, survived the war and came home to settle in Shackelford County after war's end, marrying his childhood sweetheart and becoming a rancher. We know that he brought back a pair of 1860 Army Colts (I have one of them) and a double barrelled muzzleloading shotgun.

Story goes that he and his wife were picking pecans along a river bottom near Albany, Texas, probably in the fall of 1868. Grandpa had hung his pistols on a tree branch and leaned the shotgun against the trunk of another tree. Sometime in the afternoon, three outlaws rode up on the pair and began threatening them. The bad men did not see the weapons and thought they were unarmed. Grandpa started a conversation with the outlaws and was able to eventually work his way to the pistols. He was able to kill two outright with the pistols, then wounded the third with the shotgun as he fled on horseback.

The rest of the story is that the wounded outlaw rode to town for assistance and arrived during the night. Apparently, his appearance and story was suspicious, so the locals kept quizzing him and eventually were able to conclude who shot him and where it had happened. Once they determined that, they also decided that Jesse Pate must have had a good reason so they hanged him the next day. Later that afternoon, Grandpa showed up in the wagon with the two dead men and saw the third man at the end of a rope. At least one of the men had a small reward on his head that Grandpa collected and used to expand his herd.

He lived into the 1930's and my dad knew him as a small child. I have a photo taken in the late 1920's and even at that late age, he looked like a man to be reckoned with.

My grandmother's eldest brother saw a good gunfight in Fredericksburg, Texas around 1910 or so that he related to me but I'll save that one for another time...who else has a story to tell?

[JReed]

I had family in Brigham Youngs trip to the Great Salt Lake. Also had family in the Mormon Battalion in their march from IL. to San Diego Ca.

[Rusty]

It's times like this I like to point out that I'm adopted.


In the family tree that my grandfather did in 1962 he states that one of our ancestors was one of the first men to be legally hanged in Mercer Co. WV for stealing a horse.

Does that count?


Rusty <><

[Ram Hammer]

I have a diary from a three or four greats back grandfathers who went to California in 1849 for the gold rush via the Oregon trail. They almost died in the Utah desert and he wrote of the near death experience rather poignantly.

On my wifes side there was an Oklahoma law man named Heck Thomas that was fairly well known.

[C. Cash]

Nothing as exciting as your tale Comal Forge. Sorry if I bore people to tears with my same old stories, but here goes(they haven't thrown me off Leverguns yet ):

My Dad's side were Texans/Tennesseans and previous to this went back to Westmoreland Co. VA in the 1600's. These are my Greats....William Hardin Cash b. 1858 and Florence Alexander b. 1862 who were from Tennessee as were their ancestors. They came late to Texas, about 1880 and settled near Bonham, Texas. Previous to all this, Williams father had fought in the War with Mexico("captured by Guerilla's at Amozoguay" )but surivived and later fought for in the Confederate 5th Tenn. Cavalry(McKenzie's) during the Civil War. Their farm was burned and stock taken while their Dad was away fighting. After the War, alot of the ex-Confederates and their kids went to Texas looking for a new life which is why they went. They eventually settled for good near Truscott, Knox Co. Texas. My Dad was born on the farm where this pic was taken in 1930:


William Hardin Cash was likely a cousin of John Wesley Hardin, the gunfighter, stemming from the same East TN family, but at this point impossible to confirm it. He had 16 kids with his wife and they all farmed and Ranched in West/Central Texas. They could barely write their name but they worked hard and did well eventually. The land is still owned by the Cash's to this day.

On my Moms side they were from Eastern OK. I was raised by them really(when they later lived in California), and grew up on their stories. They were as straight as an arrow and I do believe what they told me. Though slightly before he was born, my Grandfather William Moore told me the story of his Mother being a close personal friend of Bob Dalton's wife. He told me how Bob was abusive to his wife and how she would hide out on my Great Grandfather's place. He was told by his parents how Bob Dalton came over and got her one night and beat her with a stick so severely that a portion of her dress came off. Nothing dramatic and no pistol play I'm afraid. Mainly his stories centered around the Ku Klux Klan that roamed the hills at that time....they were the law and order of the Ozarks in the early 1900's apparently. If a man ran off on his wife they would go get the dude and horsewhip him. My Grandmother told me how her Mom had seen Belle Starr ride into town and how she was not side saddle, and what a stir it caused in the town. How I wish I would have had my tape player running while they talked but alot of things that they have told me have faded. They were the best folks that one could ever hope to meet. That's about all I can think of for now and sorry for being long winded!

PS: Ram...Heck Thomas is one of my personal heroes. He was quite a feller.

[mescalero1]

Had my great grandfathers Complete McClellon saddle until some low life stolte it out of the barn

[Lastmohecken]

I guess I don't have any really good stories to tell regarding the early west. My dad's side lived in Kansas, I do remember my grandmother telling me about one of her relatives who was killed by indians. And she also told me ( she was born in the late 1880's) that when she was a young girl she had a pony that had a knot on it's leg for years and eventually festered up, and they removed a flint arrowhead from it.

She also told me that Her mother hated southerners because she lost a brother fighting for the Union, and never got over it.

On my mother's side, they migrated through Tenn. into Arkansas, sometime before the Civil War, and one of my grandfathers was a Blacksmith by trade, and fought for the South, he also owned at least one slave.

In one family tree book on my mother's side, I read that during the Civil war, we had some relatives that were so called bushwackers, simular to Quantrell's bunch, operating in nothern Arkansas. The story goes that they killed, on one occasion, 5 union soldiers and stripped their bodys, and threw the bodys in a pond. The rest of the story is that a Union Capt. found out about it, and rode the 60 miles to where this happened and found all of the bushwackers, and killed them the very next day. He must have had a busy day, and some darned good horses.

[TedH]

Great stories guys.

[RIHMFIRE]

Great stories..
My wife is somehow related to Davey Crockett....on her mothers side.
and we all know what happened to Crockett...

[RKrodle]

C.Cash, I live in Hunt county Texas, not to far from Bonham, there is a small town here by the name of Cash. Think there is any connection? My mothers family came here in 1910 from Catheys Creek Tenn. and settled in this area. Fathers side came from Germany in the 1850's and settled in Indiana, Grandpa Krodle came to texas in the early 1900's and settled in Bonham where he meet his wife (grandma, was half cherokee) dad was dorn there in 1918. He lost his birth records when the courthouse burned, seems a black fellow raped a white women and they tied him to the court house and burned him, along with the court house. Both of my parents grew up in the Cash and Van Sickle area where I still live.

[Tycer]

Great stories guys.

Yep!

[RKrodle]

C.Cash and Rhimfire, When Crockett came to Texas he passed thru the Bonham area. They camped at a grove of trees where they found a good supply of honey. It's now the town of Honey Grove.

[C. Cash]

Thanks for the info/stories guys. RKrodle....interesting you mention the connection! We had family in that area and I have always wondered about that. My Grandfather Homer Cash(son of the pair pictured) was supposedly born in Fairlie, Hunt Co. TX in 1902, but he also reports Gober on some documents. The brother of the fella pictured above was also in Hunt Co. area and had a big family. It may be named for kin. They were pretty thick in that area there but just not sure.

I guess the most infamous guy from Bonham was old John Wesley Hardin himself!

[AmBraCol]

The last time I saw my grandpa he told me stories I'd never heard about the family before. He told me how his grandpa and great grandpa had fought for the south. They were from NW MO. One time they got leave and rode up to visit their families. The yankees got word and rode by in the night, but the women folk put a table under a trap door to the attic and the men folk crawled up and hid before the ladies moved the table back and opened the door. The yankees didn't find them and rode off. The men then crawled down and rode back to war. When the yankees saw horses were missing from the corral they knew they'd been fooled so they came back to the farm, ran off the stock and burned the place down.

I wish I'd been able to record him telling that and other stories, like the time he and his brothers went camping down in Oklahoma. The rain came and the river raised and they were stuck for several days. They killed an old rooster they saw with a muzzle loading gun loaded with my grandpa's marble. It went in the rear and stayed lodged inside the bird - so he didn't lose his marble, that was in the early 1920's I believe, after the "wild west" and before the Great Depression.

[Sixgun]

No, not from the West but I did have some that were in the Sicilian Mafia. In fact, I think some of them still are. I always wondered how they managed to live in these huge villas on top on a mountain overlooking the Mediterranean, all on the income of a mom and pop grocery store. -------------------Sixgun

[donw]

my parents and grandparents are from eastern okla. on both sides of the family.

grandparents were all born in or near the okla IT prior to the turn of the 20th century around where "hanging judge" parker, heck thomas, bill tilghman and chris madsen were the only law. areas like poteau, zoe, rich mountain, page, spiro, stigler etc...

i have a copy of my late grandma's memiors about life there and it involved at least one gunfight and killing.

my dad recounted stories that during his youth there the indians "shot at them".

i recently went back for a visit to heavener and was very highly disappointed about the way it's now doggone nearly a 'ghost town'...main street of this once lovely little town is totally boarded up...the once bustling main street of many summers of my youth is now closed. there was nothing but one portable taco stand there...

[rangerider7]

I had a great uncle on my mother's side that was an old time Texas Ranger. He drove cattle for the south in the Civil War and is talked about in the book "Old Trail Drivers Of Texas" by Hunter. After the war he fought Indians for the state of Texas. The most memorable thing is that he had five wives and out lived them all. He married his last wife at 91, she was 19, and had his last of 22 children. They named a springs after him near Desdemona, Texas called McGough Springs. I guess because it just kept on flowing. My wife's grandfather drove cattle from Hereford, to Alpine Texas in 1898. That is about 900 miles. My grandfather had a shotgun pulled on him in the 30s. He took it away from the man and broke it over a tree then knock the man out with his fist. The man owed him some money. All my wife's and my grandfathers fought for the south in the Civil War

[octagon]

C.Cash: The Truscott Texas you name in your post was named for my wife's ancestor J.J. Truscott, an early pioneer and schoolteacher there. Another Truscott schoolteacher was her Grandpa Lucian King Truscott Jr. who became
a 4Star General in WWII, who at the onset of the War trained American commandos with Lord Mountbatten's men and later named them Army Rangers. He later took command of the 3rd Army from Patton. He is the author of "Command Missions" (his WWII adventure) and "Twilight of the U.S. Cavalry" both outstanding reads.
General Truscott married Sarah Randolph, a direct descendant of Thomas Jefferson - my wife is both a 7th AND 8th generational descendant. There are currently three different authors writing books on the General, who joined the U.S. Cavalry in 1917. The T.J. familial connection is fantastic and I have studied his life fairly extensively, so as to pass this Heritage on to my 3 kids, two of whom are named after America's Third President.

[C. Cash]

C.Cash: The Truscott Texas you name in your post was named for my wife's ancestor J.J. Truscott, an early pioneer and schoolteacher there.

Very cool Octagon and thank you for the information. No doubt some of your wife's folks knew mine. I am hoping to travel back there soon with my Dad(he just bought a 5th wheel and has the "itch" to see old family.) I would like to take my Grandfather's old shotgun and hunt the place while there. They supposedly have his waggon wheels there on the property and hope to beg/borrow/steal one and take it home!

[rjohns94]

We had a surveryer with Daniel Boone on one of his Wilderness trips. will have to dig out the story. We had People from Pa fight in the Rev War, then settled in NC and Georgia. Not too many went west except with Daniel.

[pricecw]

I had family in Brigham Youngs trip to the Great Salt Lake. Also had family in the Mormon Battalion in their march from IL. to San Diego Ca.

I had family in that trip also, Isaac Morley is a great-great-(...)-grandfather on my mom's side of the family.

--Carl

[Comal Forge]

my parents and grandparents are from eastern okla. on both sides of the family.

grandparents were all born in or near the okla IT prior to the turn of the 20th century around where "hanging judge" parker, heck thomas, bill tilghman and chris madsen were the only law. areas like poteau, zoe, rich mountain, page, spiro, stigler etc...

...

I went to Stigler about 20 years ago and bought bulk coal at one of the privately owned mines there (6 tons for blacksmithing purposes). I recall it being a gorgeous area - lots of gentle hills and thick forest. We went in late fall and the leaves were in full color. I later heard that EPA regs wiped out a lot of the smaller operators so most of those mines are now closed or owned by conglomerates.

[bogus bill]

My mother in laws (wifes stepmother) is the great great granddaughter of john doyle lee. The only man to be exicuted for the mountain meadow massacure of 120+ people wagon train 9-11 1857.
Dads side of the family all came from what is now the ukraine. They were germans that migrated from germany to russia. I understand some were bodyguards to the czar. Probley picked because of their size, as they were large "scwabans". Lots of family storys that are dramatic but european. Mother had a great grandfather that was in wisconsins iron brigade in the civil war. He lived till 1906. Was captured, released or escaped and latter wounded at gettysburg. Also bull run. Others fought in revolution. No other western history. Heres a picture of the one that was in the civil war. Frederich Kerstell and wife elizabeth.

[Kurt]

My Great-Great-Grandmother was wounded while driving a wagon, during an Indian fight in Texas. She was pregnant with my Great-Grandfather, and my Great-Great-Grandfather was busy shooting back. The story was in a True West magazine from the 80's my Grandfather had me read.

[donw]

my grandpa was born in/around stigler in 1885...died in heavener in 1970. worked the KC southern railroad in that area from 1906 until 1960/61.

according to my mom and gramma, he was quite a "rounder" rode a big horse and wore a six-shooter, etc...

that area is chocked with western history as well as the vikings.

there is the authenticated remains of a viking settlement there in heavener along with a viking runestone that's been authenticated as being 11th century nordic. there's been other evidence of vikings found in the area, too. there were once more and biggers rivers there and the viking longboats were noted as being able to navigate in very shallow waters.

[donw]

this is a very interesting thread.

it shows where we come from and what we're made of.

[RKrodle]

Ya'll keep them coming, this good reading.

[gamekeeper]

Fascinating stories, I only wish I could contribute but the furthest west my family got to was Wales!

[AmBraCol]

Fascinating stories, I only wish I could contribute but the furthest west my family got to was Wales!

You never know... some long lost cousin of your mother's uncle's brother-in-law probably made it "To The Far Blue Mountains" and beyond... I know my own roots have been traced way back to the British Isles, etc with some of my kinfolk making it over not too long after the Mayflower. Kind of chaps my rear that a good portion of my blood is yankee...

[marlinman93]

My G-G-Great grandfather was a drummer boy with Phil Sheridan during the Civil War. After the war was over he became an enlisted soldier with Sheridan when he went out to California and later Oregon, to help fight indian uprisings in both territories.
It was here in Oregon that he met my grandmother, the first white child born in King's Valley, Oregon, and married her. My grandmother's family settled that area, as she was a King. Her mother was a Norton, who also settled in the same area West of Corvallis.
Lots of great stories passed on in the family about local skirmishes with indians back in the pre statehood days of Western Oregon. My grandfather's uniform and drum are in the state museum at Oregon State University.

[Chuck 100 yd]

My grandpa and Jessie James went to different schools together !

[C. Cash]

Chuck we can't take you anywhere anymore..... Actually that was pretty good.

Marlinman, That's a neat story. You guys beat the Liberals by almost a hundred years. Must have been nice then

[Griff]

While a little farther "west" than you mean, but still quite wild, my Maternal GGGrandfather was Captain James Hayter Jackson, a sailor, whaler and early pioneer in New Zealand. Leaving his native England as a young lad (exact details are somewhat sketchy), as a cabin boy in about 1808, he next turns up as 1st Mate on a schooner serving the Australian and New Zealand trade in the 1820s. By 1829, he'd moved to New Zealand, placing him in the first 60 European full-time inhabitants. He has been credited with circum-navigating the South Island (IIRC) in an open boat, and helped established the whaling station in Jackson's Bay (renamed in his honor after Captain Cook named it Open Bay), off Cook Strait (between the North and South Islands. At one time he was listed in the Guiness Book of Records as having memorized the Bible and a lesser book.

There are many stories about the family, and the other early whalers of NZ.

While not as exciting as the shoot 'em ups and Indians of the American West, life was still not without it's problems.

Thanks to all that have posted. A rich and variety legacy we own, may we all cherish it all.

[RKrodle]

Hey Chuck 100 yd, my grandmother, fathers side, went to school with Hop Along Cassidy. I forget his real name.

[lever-4-life]

When I was a kid My grandma told me storys about her grandpa and grandmas friends. She told me that our family was "soft" with the James Gang.

[shooter]

Not too many interesting stories to tell, but I'm supposedly distantly related to Robert E. Lee from my mother's side. Her maiden name is Lee. On my dad's side, my great-great grandpa settled in Southeastern Oklahoma and had to fight Indians to get his land. All of my grandparents are from Okla. Southwestern on my mom's side and Southeastern on my dad's. We've also got quite a bit of Indian blood in our family.

[Shasta]

My grandparents never talked much about any family history. I do know that my grandfather was born in Kansas in 1885 and moved around quite a bit, working various jobs and not sticking with any one in particular. The earliest picture I have of him was taken in 1911 somewhere in Florida. Grandpa is the one in the middle!



Shasta

[Joe Reilly]

Not really Old West stuff, but here goes.

Mom's neighbors ran a moonshine still in the 1950's. Talking to a guy at church that was a box boy at the grocery store at the time, he didn't know about the still but said the old lady bought a lot of sugar.

One of Dad's uncles drove a getaway car at a bank robbery in the 1930's.

Great Grandma killed a bear swimming in a river with a boat oar.

[donw]

william boyd

Hey Chuck 100 yd, my grandmother, fathers side, went to school with Hop Along Cassidy. I forget his real name.

[KirkD]

... He married his last wife at 91, she was 19, and had his last of 22 children.

Now there's some old west action right there! Forget about taking on 5 guys at once with a sixgun.

[2ndovc]

G-G-Uncle Ezra Burge Rode with Company H, 2nd Ohio Vol. Cav. during the Civil War. After several engagements including Gettysburg, where as luck would have it My GG Grandfather Jehu Hiatt, my Mother's Great Grandfather was fighting with the 3rd Indiana Vol. Cav. Attached to Major Buford's Unit.

Promoted to Sgt. Ezra was one of General's Doubleday's aides and bodyguard for a time.

Then Company H was sent West to Missouri and eventually tangled with Quantrill's raiders. The raiders were out numbered and out gunned ( Company H was issued Spencer repeaters ) and withdrew from the fight. Company H and my Uncle remained in Missouri to continue chasing raiders and "Indians" as it's written in our family history.

GG Uncle Ezra returned to Brighton, OH and became Marshal for a time. It's also recorded that one of his daughters moved West to Wyoming to teach school in the 1880s. Not much is known other than that.

GG Grandfather Juhu returned to farming.

Many other realitives fought in the Civil War for the Union.

Before that a GGG? Grandfather Fritzinger joined a group of Ohio Vols. the go fight the Mexicans. By the Time they WALKED to Texas the war was over!

My Grandfather had some wild times on the AZ border in the 20's

[Comal Forge]

Great stories - sort of what I was hoping for when I started the thread.
I'll tell the only other one I know out of our family, which is a good commentary on using enough gun.

One of my mom's uncles was born in 1896 and I knew him pretty well before he passed away in his 90's. He was born near Fredericksburg, Texas - the grandson of German immigants who settled the area in the 1840's.

Uncle Willie recalled this happening around 1910 but wasn't overly clear on the year - not that it matters now. Grandma's family was large and most everyone typically went to town once a month on Friday night and came back the next day with supplies unless there was a dance on Saturday night, when they might stay over until Sunday. They lived 9 miles from town so it was 2-3 hours by wagon.

They usually stopped by the barbershop and one day, Willie and his father were there waiting for the older man's turn in the chair. The place was crowded with lots of conversation going on. A very large German man was getting a shave when a smaller man walked in with a pistol. Uncle said he held it out at arm's length and shot the guy in the chair three times. With a roar, the bigger fellow stood up and grabbed the smaller man and began beating him mercilessly. Most everyone ran for the door and into the street.

When things were sorted out, it became apparent that the two men were seeing the same woman. The smaller man had already been beaten in a couple of fist fights by the other one so decided to just shoot his competitor. Based on Uncle's story, I think he probably must have used a .32 or .38 Short with black powder shells. All three slugs simply stopped in the fat man's rolls of lard and left the pistolero open to a really bad whipping. Uncle W said the sheriff hauled off the attacker to jail while the other man sat back down in the chair and let the barber extract the bullets, which had not gone in very deep. The smaller man got the worst of it and wound up with a broken arm, multiple injuries and some jail time.

Uncle Willie told this story very matter of factly and it was one of his reasons for disliking pistols - he always maintained a rifle or shotgun were the right tools for that sort of job and handguns were an unreliable nuisance. Of course, a 45 LC in the same situation would have produced different results.

[Bob Hatfield]

My great great grandfather George Morgan heard rumors of yankees raiding farms in the area so old great great grandad figured he'd head them off at the pass so to speak. He ambushed a Union captain named Neuman or Newman during the Civil war near my original home in WV in 1863. They buried the Union captain where he fell..(later exhuming him to send him home)....My g. g. grandfather fled and joined the confederacy. While visiting home some of Neumans freinds captured him and he was sent to camp Chase Ohio? A P.O.W camp I think, where he died of pneumonia. The Union captains hollowed out grave is supposedly still in the area as a sink hole in the ground. The Wyoming county WV history book has a complete account of this story...............I always wondered what type of gun he used to slay the union captain.....................Bob

[geobru]

This is my GGrandfather in his Confederate uniform. The story that was passed down through my Grandfather is that he was fighting in the border wars and fought with the Quantrels and the James bothers. His squad was detailed to cut a telegraph wire in Kansas, which they did. They were pursued by Union soldiers and they rode hard for 5 or 6 days and wheeled into a small town in Texas where a guy was taking Daguerreotypes. He brushed his hair back with his hands and sat for this picture. It is the only picture that we have of him.



I don't think he was a guy to fool around with, judging by the size of his hands in relation to the pistol, and I noticed that his finger was on the trigger when the picture was taken! Does anyone know what kind of pistol he is holding?

During and after the war he and made his way back and forth across the country, including one trip to Jackson Hole, with 20 of his compatriates and a couple hundred head of Union livestock. My grandfather said that one of Pinkerton's detectives rode into their camp demanding to know if Andrew Jackson Richmond was there. He was, but there were 20 rifles pointed at him and he left without his man. (We always assumed that he left) He also was a wagon master and guided people across the plains. We really don't know what he did that got him in trouble with the law, but my mother remembers stories that my GGrandmother told about men coming to look for him and he hid under the floorboards of their cabin.

[JerryB]

geobru that sixgun looks to be Remington cap and ball to me.Sounds like he lived quite a life.

[geobru]

He really was quite a roust-about.

The rest of the story was how he died. Apparently one of his sons got in a bar fight and there was a woman who was badmouthing the way he had fought in the fight. That ticked off GGrandpa and the next day he got liquored up and decided to go give her a piece of his mind. A group of men followed him to see what was going to happen. According to the paper account, he walked to her house and swore at her through her screen door, then said he was going to go talk to her husband who worked at the train station. He was in his 70's and walked with a cane. She came out of her house carrying a pistol and being much younger, got to the train station before he did. He stood about 50 feet from the woman and her husband, apparently swearing at them, and finally picked up a stick and threw it in their direction. She lifted up the pistol and fired. According to witnesses, he walked a few hundred feet down the tracks and sat down. One of the witnesses went up to him and he said, She shot me! It was a gut shot, so a few days later he died of peritonitus. That was in 1901, and she went to trial and was acquitted. Sounded like GGrandpa was not very well regarded!

[RKrodle]

Great story goebru sounds like your GGrandfather was a real rounder and lived life his way.

[C. Cash]

This is my GGrandfather in his Confederate uniform. The story that was passed down through my Grandfather is that he was fighting in the border wars and fought with the Quantrels and the James bothers. His squad was detailed to cut a telegraph wire in Kansas, which they did. They were pursued by Union soldiers and they rode hard for 5 or 6 days and wheeled into a small town in Texas where a guy was taking Daguerreotypes. He brushed his hair back with his hands and sat for this picture. It is the only picture that we have of him.



(I apologize for the size of this picture, but I can't seem to get a smaller one out of photobucket.)

I don't think he was a guy to fool around with, judging by the size of his hands in relation to the pistol, and I noticed that his finger was on the trigger when the picture was taken! Does anyone know what kind of pistol he is holding?

During and after the war he and made his way back and forth across the country, including one trip to Jackson Hole, with 20 of his compatriates and a couple hundred head of Union livestock. My grandfather said that one of Pinkerton's detectives rode into their camp demanding to know if Andrew Jackson Richmond was there. He was, but there were 20 rifles pointed at him and he left without his man. (We always assumed that he left) He also was a wagon master and guided people across the plains. We really don't know what he did that got him in trouble with the law, but my mother remembers stories that my GGrandmother told about men coming to look for him and he hid under the floorboards of their cabin.

His "crime" may have been the side that he served, and ill feelings left behind. The Civil War really didn't end in 1865. Southern men were harrassed, shot/killed and run off for years afterward by mobs and murdered outright in broad daylight. I'm sure the opposite happened also(Union men being harrassed/killed). Many ex-Confederates had to move on to areas that had been more sympathetic to their cause after the War, or face serious retribution from Unionists.

[Charles]

My earliest relative to come to Texas with the original Austin Colony. Several others came during the time Texas was a Republic (1836-1846). They have been in Texas ever since.

Some have fought the Comanche before the Civil War as Rangers. Quite a few served in Texas regiments during the War of Northern Agression. After the WNA, they drove cattle to the railheads, served in the Rangers, were lawmen, ranchers, Preachers, lawyers and judges.

As far as I can find in my research, they were all honest upstanding foks. I can't find any of them hanging from the family tree

It would take a good sized book to set of the details of the stuff they saw and did.

Oh yes... my Granfathers sister married John Wesley Hardin's nephew for whatever that is worth.

[creosote]

I am fascinated by the connections to our common past as Americans.
Both of my parents left me and the rest of their decendants a rich heritage.
When I was small the old folks would talk of the people we came from, but in the universal ignorance of the young I did not press for more,and record
the tales with pen and paper.
Lucky for me that the information is so available now ,thanks to the internet and the dedicated genealogists that delve into these things.
The mention in previous posts of Virginia, and The Lees,and Pates.
I would like to say Hello Cousins!
Captain Thomas Buford who fell at The Battle of point Pleasant in 1774
Was a many gggg grand Father. John Hildebrand was at Fort Pitt and later
Floated down the Ohio with George Rogers Clark to Kaskaskia and also
payed a visit to the British "Hair Buyer" at Vincennes. He was many G G grandfather.
The land he settled on in Missouri was the scene of a massacre for the Hildebrand family, one generation from Indians,the other from Federals.
Francois Valle of Missouri, "the richest man in the louisiana territory"
who is known for Lead,and Fur and other pursuits. and his son J.B. Valle
who Clark mentions in the journals of the Voyage of Discovery both were
gggg grandfathers to me.
I always thought it was a shame that old Francois Valle`s fortune did not last until I came around,GRIN.
My Grand Mothers Grand Father was Sam Hildebrand,A Missouri Guerilla
While Sam was
Illiterate,He knew a couple of men who wrote down his version of war in
Missouri. Brutal it was. and still some hard feelings after all these years.
Said to be one of very few first hand accounts of the very bad years of that War.
Old uncle John Forchee was a noted moonshiner, and My Grand Father
AB Young shot down a fellow at a dance in 1908, seems the fellow took offense from grandfathers being at the dance and he started stabbing
grandfather in the arm with a pen knife.
My grandfather always carried a "big revolver" under his coat and shot the man dead right there.
CREOSOTE