A Stranger Came to Town: Tales of an Arizona Ranger

By Nolan Gene Fondren

Patrick William Graham Jr. was destined to be small of stature, but that didnt mean he was short on courage. He grew up with a Cherokee tribe and became blood brother to the chiefs son, Leaping Wolf. One of Pats first toys was a hand-carved wooden pistol; when his draw was faster than his fathers, he was given a working gun.

When tragedy strikes, leaving Pats father dead and his mother remarried to a man Pat despises, he leaves his tribal home. Out in the world, his small frame makes him an easy target for bullies, predators, and petty men with something to prove. After he kills a man who was riding him for being small, Pats life changes in ways he cant control. He sells his skills as a gunman. In Mexico, he protects a silver mine from banditos and then helps them to improve their operation.

One fateful day, however, on a job rustling cattle, he finds God and a better way to live.

Pat is soon welcomed as the youngest Arizona Territorial Ranger, and he puts his skills and talents to the Lords work. He prevents war with the Indians seven times. But his life isnt all heroics and escapades. Along the way, he also finds a bride, buys a ranch, and works with a family named Earp.

Inspired by the stories told to him by his Texas rancher father, songs, and classic Western tales, A Stranger Came to Town is Nolan Fondrens love song to a long-lost time and place.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jun 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9781475992151

Nolan Gene Fondren

Nolan Gene Fondren’s imagination and fiction are heavily influenced by his father’s vibrant stories of life as a Texas rancher. After thirty-four years as a high school science teacher, Nolan retired to write. He now lives in Keller, Texas, with his wife, Kaleta. They have two children, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

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Copyright © 2013 Nolan Gene Fondren.

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ISBN: 978-1-4759-9213-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-9214-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-9215-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013909317

iUniverse rev. date: 6/13/2013

CONTENTS

Prologue

Chapter 1:   The Beginnings

Chapter 2:   In A Tombstone Saloon

Chapter 3:   After Tombstone

Chapter 4:   A Running Gun

Chapter 5:   The Master’s Call

Chapter 6:   Captain Jackson Needed Men

Chapter 7:   Pat’s First Assignment

Chapter 8:   The Wedding

Chapter 9:   The White Mountain Apaches Move To The Arizona Territory

Chapter 10:   New Homes

Chapter 11:   Trouble In Buckeye

Chapter 12:   Back To The Reservation

Chapter 13:   A Court Of Inquiry

Chapter 14:   Another Inquiry, A Baby And Training Techniques

Chapter 15:   New Neighbors

Chapter 16:   Mescalero Apache

Chapter 17:   The End Of The Rangers

Chapter 18:   To The Town Of Agua Fria

Chapter 19:   The Stranger Is An Arizona Ranger

Chapter 20:   They Catch A Stagecoach Robber

Chapter 21:   A Trial And Some Surprises

Chapter 22:   He Might Have Gone On Living

Afterward: One Year Later—A Letter From Pat To Billy

PROLOGUE

As I was growing up I was told tales of the west, of cowboys and Indians. My father grew up breaking horses and working cattle. My grandfather ranched from 1910 to 1940. Eleven of my great-uncles either farmed or ran stock all their lives. They told me all the trail stories, cowboy legends, Indian tales and explained how everything worked on ranches and trail drives. I was also fortunate enough to have my father take me across the great southwest showing me how to follow a trail, ride, rope and shoot. He taught me to find game, birds and fish, trap it or shoot it with rifle or bow, clean it and cook it. He taught me to find edible plants and seasonings. He also showed me how to find food when nothing else was available and get water from plants.

Dad also introduced me at a very young age to true western music, not what they call country music today, that were so influential to the story line of this book. Many parts of this book come from the ballads told in western music. The writers and performers of those western songs: Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Rex Allen and Rex Allen, Jr., Gene Autrey, The Sons of the Pioneers, Faron Young, Johnny Horton and my absolute favorite, Marty Robbins. The idea for many parts of this story is based off four of his songs: Big Iron, Mr. Shorty, Running Gun and The Master’s Call. Without his inspiration this book would never have happened.

I took those four songs and combined them as if they were all about the same character. I then added historical information from various historical documents, such as: letters from the governor, reports from military officers to their superiors, records from congressional review, arrest files from various lawmen. I added stories I had heard from various relatives about the daring deeds of several different lawmen. In almost all cases those lawmen were Rangers. The tales of these were of Texas Rangers, Colorado Rangers, New Mexico Territorial Rangers, the Arizona Rangers and the Arizona Territorial Rangers and even one that I was told happened to a California Ranger. Wherever possible I explained the meaning of some of the language of the times used by these men. You will take note that there is very little cursing in this book. That is because most of the Western men I knew and have worked with only used it in cases of great stress.

I thank you for reading my book and I hope that you get as much enjoyment out of reading it as I got from writing it. And may the Lord in heaven watch over you and keep you safe. Happy trails.

1

THE BEGINNINGS

His parents named him Patrick William Graham, Jr. when he was born just outside of Gainesville, Texas to Patrick William Graham and Janene Graham. Janene was a five foot two and a half inch tall ninety pound girl of seventeen. Will was a twenty five year old quarter Cherokee who stood five foot six inches tall and weighed 130 pounds. With parents of such stature he was destined to be short. It was going to be one of the driving factors for much of his life.

Because of Will’s relationship with the Cherokee Nation and the proximity of a Cherokee village the small boy, who was called Pat, was accepted as a future member of the tribe. He was the same age as the chief’s son, Leaping Wolf, and they were closest friends and by the time they were four they had become blood brothers. They were trained by their fathers to sharpen their knives and keep them clean and polished. They kept them on their belts at all times. Leaping Wolf’s mother’s brother taught the boys to make a bow and bow string. He taught them that Osage Orange or horse apple trees made the best bows. He also taught them that cat tendons and cat gut made the best possible string but buffalo tendons was next best if no cats were available.

He showed them how to pick arrow shafts, make flint and obsidian arrowheads, mount them on the shafts, and put fletching on the shafts. They were taught to align the feathers with the arrowhead. Will taught them how to make metal arrow heads and keep them sharp. They were shown how to mark their arrows with their clan’s mark and their personal mark. Pat’s mark was two vertical lines crossed through by two diagonal lines followed by a horizontal line.

Then they were taught to shoot their bows and both became quite accurate. Then along with all the other boys in the village they were taught to track and stalk. They were taught to trap game or shoot it with bow and arrow. As they approached their fifth birthday they were taught to use a throwing stick and spear. Neither father accepted an empty hunting bag at the end of the day without a very strong reason. They made games out of practicing and whenever possible worked as a team. They did well on every hunt which made many of the older boys jealous. They became the butts of a lot of bullying, until one of the older boys used his newly prepared coup stick on them and left bruises that couldn’t be hidden.

Not wanting to directly intervene, Will showed Pat how to make his own coup stick out of gnarled horse apple or Beau D’Arc root or a stem of the same tree where a thick root met a nodule or a stem twisted into knobby knot. He taught Pat how to round the nodule or the knot so that a strike on the head of an opponent usually caused a large goose egg sized knot on the head without killing the victim. Pat naturally passed this information on to Leaping Wolf. They each made a coup stick of their own approximately thirty inches long. They found that these were too long and heavy for them to swing properly at their age. They made a second stick that was twenty four inches long but found they could not wield it properly either so they made a shorter stick that was eighteen inches long with a slightly smaller knot or nodule so that the balance was better for their smaller wrists. They kept them hidden until both their fathers had taught them how to fight with them. Then Leaping Wolf’s uncle taught them all the tricks, twists and turns that he had learned in fifteen years of fighting.

For three weeks they practiced in hiding with these three adults until they knew every trick that any of the adults could teach them. For the next three weeks they set their traps and snares then practiced with their coup sticks and bows. Then one day at the end of their third week of practice, the bullies found their trap line.

The bullies stole the game they had caught and smashed their traps. They were able to bring down a brace of rabbits before returning home but they were late. After they showed their fathers their traps their fathers told them to take care of it. The next day they made and set new traps and snares and waited for the bullies to return. Three of the bullies took the first trapped animal. When they started breaking up the trap Pat stepped out and challenged them. They lifted their coup sticks and prepared to beat the smaller boy. They were surprised to see him lift a coup stick of his own. They were not too concerned with three to one odds, but were startled to hear a second challenge from behind them as Leaping Wolf joined the fray.

Two of the bullies attacked Pat and the third attacked Leaping Wolf. Within seconds all three of the bullies had been disarmed, two were unconscious and the third was being pummeled as both of the two smaller boys chased him back to the village. When they reached the village, the bully’s screams for help were answered by four of his friends. The four new attackers came at Pat and Leaping Wolf with their coup sticks only to find themselves being out fought by half their number of smaller, younger and weaker enemies. Then, at almost the same instant both Pat and Leaping Wolf found out why they needed to use Osage Orange or horse apple for their coup sticks. The two younger boys each blocked an overhead strike from one of the bullies and with a flick of their wrist and a tricky twist brought their sticks crashing down in their own overhead attacks. The two bullies blocked their strikes and were shocked as the littler boys sticks crashed through their sticks breaking their sticks and smacking them squarely on top of their heads. The two bullies dropped like felled trees. Seeing their comrades fall, the three remaining bullies, two armed and one unarmed, ran for cover.

After that all the boys in the village had to try their skills against the two small brothers. Soon, all the older boys, even many of the young braves just promoted to adult, had to try and defeat these two small upstarts. The boys took some lumps, handed out a few lumps but win, lose or draw they learned a new trick or technique with every fight. Their prowess became so renowned that braves would come from miles away to test these youngsters. When the Kiowa Apaches migrated through the area the fame of the two had already reached their tribe and everyone under sixteen had to try these youngsters. They were soon acknowledged as masters of the coup stick before they turned six. At seven they started using their twenty four inch sticks which increased their prowess enormously.

The bullying had stopped and the two youngsters were protecting those other small ones and teaching them how to protect themselves. The more they taught the more they learned. They were soon left undisturbed to hunt and trap and practice tracking and stalking. They were better trackers than all but the top scouts and could disguise their trails so that only the very finest trackers could follow them. Their hunting prowess was due in no small part to their ability to stalk to within feet of their prey.

Shortly after Pat’s sixth birthday, Will and Janene took him into Gainesville on a supply trip. Shortly after they arrived in town two men got into an argument over the upcoming conflict between the North and the South. The argument escalated into a fight and they backed off to use their guns. His parents couldn’t get him under cover fast enough to keep him from seeing the shooting. Pat watched the two men draw and fire. He thought their hands moved like striking snakes. Both had been drinking a bit too much so when they fired one man was shot in the leg and the other one was missed entirely. Because nobody was hurt badly he didn’t feel traumatized at all. The glamour of the gunfight only caused him to want to learn to draw fast.

He started picking up any bent stick he could find and practice drawing. Will saw his interest in guns so, he carved a copy of his Bass .44 pistol out of a two by six piece of white pine and then he fashioned a holster and gun belt to fit the boy. It held his knife and his holster and toy gun. On his sixth birthday Will gave the gun and gun belt to Pat. He showed him how to draw, how to adjust it to improve the speed of his draw and how to point and shoot without any other aiming. Pat drew that toy pistol every second of every day that he wasn’t doing his chores. He drew that toy Pistol more than a hundred times a day and it seemed he got faster with every draw.

Will also gave Pat a Sharps .50 caliber rifle and taught him how to aim and shoot it. He practiced with thirty shots a day for a week then went after game. The last four days he never missed a target closer than 400 yards. The last two days he didn’t miss a target. He had already been shooting game with his bow and arrow or throwing stick and spear. Therefore, Pat was already an excellent tracker and stalker. So, he found shooting with the Sharps a breeze because instead of getting within twenty to fifty feet he only had to get within a hundred yards. He always crept up to within a hundred yards of the target instead of the five hundred yards that was the range of the gun because Will made it clear that he had better have a real good reason for not having a piece of game for every round of ammunition he used.

Just after his ninth birthday Pat and Leaping Wolf went on a hunting trip. A herd of wild horses had come through the day before so Pat took his rifle, his riata, lariats made of braided leather strips, and his bow and quiver and Leaping Wolf took his bow and quiver, his riata and his spear and throwing stick. They both borrowed one of their father’s ponies and started tracking the herd. Each of the boys found two horses whose prints were easily recognizable and followed the herd. They followed the herd for two days until they rode into steep walled box canyon. When they caught up with the herd they found it was backed into a corner by a mountain lion. The herd stallion, standing twenty feet in front of his mares was holding the big cat at bay. They stopped a hundred feet behind and to the right of the cat. Pat slid from his mount and taking his Sharps .50 propped the gun on a rock outcropping, took aim and shot the puma just under the right shoulder.

The big cat jumped straight up into the air, landed on its feet, spun around and dropped dead where it stood. Their horses with Leaping Wolf still mounted stood in a narrow place in the canyon where the stallion could not easily ride past. Pat remounted and opened up the lariat swung out the loop and rode in and lassoed a dapple gray yearling colt and Leaping Wolf who had ridden up beside him lassoed a roan mare. They led the two ponies back into the narrow place in the canyon. The stallion with ten or fifteen members of his herd slipped past them while they were catching their two ponies. There were still four or five ponies in the back of the canyon so they decided to try to catch a couple more.

They hobbled and picketed the two ponies they had lassoed. They picketed their mounts and skinned the cougar, dressed it spread its blood across the narrow section of the canyon using its scent to keep the horses back. They lit three fires across that narrow section to further discourage the horses from trying to leave. They set one haunch of the big cat to roasting over one of their fires. Then one at a time they went and lassoed the five remaining ponies. One of them, it turned out, had a very young filly with her. They decide that each of them would take the first two horses he had caught, Pat would take the mother and filly and Leaping Wolf would take the other two. They wrapped the cougar meat in the skin, ate dinner of roasted cougar, prickly pear root and corndodgers. They took four hour watches and when morning came road back to the village. They bagged a javelina and a deer and a buffalo on the way back home so as not to return from a three day hunt empty handed. They draped the dead animals over the backs of two of their horses and made a travois for the buffalo from two poles they cut from a thicket near a creek running close to the spot where they shot the buffalo. They were told by the older bullies, that were even more jealous of them than before, when they got back to the village that they would have to give up three ponies to get the fourth one broken as they were too small to break the horses themselves.

There were two Nez Perce living with the Cherokee that year. The boys had assisted in finding the men who had taken two fine appaloosa horses. The horse thieves were white men. The boys led the sheriff, who had used the boys as trackers before, to the men and the horses and showed him how they had tracked them and how the Nez Perce had marked their horses’ ears. The sheriff took the horse thieves into custody and returned the appaloosa ponies of the Nez Perce to their owners.

When they heard how the older boys were trying to mistreat their young benefactors, they came up and said Nez Perce owe debt to young ones. Bring horses and we will teach you to train horses in Nez Perce way.

They had turned the buffalo over to Leaping Wolf’s mother and the deer and javelina over to Janene. The remainder of the mountain lion they shared with the Nez Perce for the three days it took to train their horses. They went to the largest stock pond on the Graham ranch where the Nez Perce put a bridal, blanket and saddle on Pat’s dapple grey. They attached the dapples reins to the pommels of the two appaloosas. When they said left the appaloosa on the left pulled that direction while the one on the right pushed into the right shoulder. When they said right the one on the right pulled and the one on the left pushed. After an hour of turning first one direction then the other, they moved in to the pond until the dapple was up to his withers. The Nez Perce had Pat swim out to the dapple grey and get into his saddle. They handed him the reins and told him to call out the direction he was going to turn. They continued to push when Pat pulled on the opposite rein. After an hour they no longer needed to push.

After the third hour they rode off to join Leaping Wolf and repeat the process with his roan mare. They told Pat to stay in deep water for another hour before moving into shallower and shallower water. By the end of five hours, Pat was out on dry land and Dap was responding to his every move of knee or rein or heel. Pat picketed the dapple and finished cooking the haunch of the cougar that Leaping Wolf had started and roasted a few potatoes from his mother’s garden. When Leaping Wolf finished and walked his pony out of the water they ate lunch. Then, the boys mounted on dry land and though the horses both folded their ears back they didn’t try to buck. The boys dismounted and picketed the horses with the others and got out two more ponies to train. Pat had put the remainder of the cougar in the smokehouse. He finally went to his parents and told them of the real hunt they had gone on. He asked his mother if she would fix supper for Leaping Wolf and the two Nez Perce.

When his father heard that the Nez Perce were teaching the boys their training techniques he was shocked. Those were secrets kept among the Nez Perce and a few rarely honored friends of the tribe. Janene said she would be glad to feed them. Will told his son he wanted to see the horses and wanted to thank the Nez Perce. When Will rode back to the pond with Pat the two Nez Perce became very stiff until Pat introduced his father and Will thanked them profusely and invited them to supper that night.

When they found out Will was Pat’s father they began praising Pat and Leaping Wolf and how the boys had saved their bands top breeding studs. They told that colts from these two studs had won the Nez Perce endurance race for the last three years for all groups. And that the two years prior to that each of these two stallions had won the race. This made the stud fees for these two horses one of the clan’s main sources of income and pride. These two tribal elders had been sent to retrieve their studs. Had it not been for the boys’ reputation and their connections with the local law enforcement officers the two Nez Perce would have never had their claim recognized.

The boys finished training their ponies, except for the little filly, and rode them back into the village. The bullies were frustrated again but could do nothing but sulk. Everyone in the village was completely shocked that the boys had been able to break two horses at their age let alone seven horses in two days. The two Nez Perce, having paid their debt to the boys, had headed north toward Colorado so there was no one to tell that they had not done it all on their own. Only Will knew the truth but he would keep it to himself. The boys refused to divulge anything about their training technique. Though later, that night Leaping Wolf did tell his father about learning the Nez Perce training methods but he didn’t tell him what they were.

By the time Pat had turned twelve he had become an extremely fast draw with his wooden gun. When his father saw that Pat could draw faster than him, he gave Pat his Bass .44 and taught him to draw, cock the hammer and fire in one move. The weight of the gun was heavier than the wooden toy but the shape was exactly the same. He was not allowed to load his gun for over a month when after more than 3000 draws with the Bass .44 his control of the real gun was as good as it had been with the toy. When he was used to the weight of the real gun his speed had increased to the point where it appeared the gun leapt into his hand without him reaching for it.

Will set up a target range with a man sized target drawn on a set of three one by twelve boards with a heart and a face drawn on it inside the outline of a man. With his first attempt he hit the target at thirty feet but he hit the target over an inch below the heart. He said, My Sharps wouldn’t drop that far over a hundred yard range. This will take a bit of practice.

Will added, And don’t forget to re-cock the hammer so you can fire a second shot if the first shot isn’t instantly lethal or if a second target presents itself. If either of these contingencies occurs and your gun is not cocked, you’re dead!

He drew, cocked and fired in an instant. This shot hit the target in the heart and when Will turned and checked the gun was already re-cocked. Pat continued drawing and firing from ranges of twenty feet to fifty yards without a miss. Then Will added a second man shaped target and set them at different distances and angles. He told Pat, First shot is to be a shot to the heart and the second is to be a head shot. I’ll tell you right or left wait two seconds then say draw and you had better do it fast and accurate. He shot fifty times with one miss. The twenty sixth round Pat shot the one on the right through the heart and totally blew the throat of the one on the left away. It was set up 50 yards behind the first. Will’s comment was, Effective shot but off target. Glad to see you were ready for a second shot, especially as bad as that shot was. Pat didn’t miss again and his speed increased.

Over the past two years his strength had increased and his control of the Sharps .50 had increased as well. If he had a clear shot at up to 500 yards he would take his shot. He still didn’t take wild shots because his father still didn’t believe in wasting bullets. He was now a crack shot with either of his guns, his bow or his throwing stick. He rarely went into town and when he did he didn’t wear his gun because it scared his mom.

So when the sheriff sent for him and Leaping Wolf to come to town and to bring their guns and bed rolls he was a bit surprised. His mother was distraught, his father concerned and the boys were excited and curious. Will decided to ride into town with them just to see what was going on.

The sheriff, Joe Lance, was surprised to see Pat wearing the Bass .44 and said, I meant for you to bring your rifles, not a hand gun. I need a couple of trackers and I like working with the boys. I’ll lend them each a rifle so we can get on this trail as soon as possible.

What’s this all about, Joe? Will asked. Is this a manhunt?

The sheriff answered, Will, two days ago four men rode through here. They meet the description of the men that robbed the bank in Sherman. We got the flyer on them this morning and my deputies and I all recognized the men from the description on the flyer. I need a good tracker now. With these two I have a great pair of trackers that never miss a thing.

Will shot back, They are only twelve year old boys. Are you crazy?

Will, I need them. The sheriff tried to calm the irate father down. I have twelve men on the posse. When we spot the outlaws, we’ll drop the boys behind so they won’t be in any danger.

Will turned to the boys, You don’t have to do this. The look on their faces told Will that the boys had no intentions of turning the sheriff down so he continued, I think Joe will watch out for you but don’t take any chances. Watch out for ambushes and take care of each other. Your mothers are going to kill me as it is but if either of you gets hurt I will be drawn and quartered after I kill the sheriff. There was no levity in his voice or on his face when he said these last words and stared at the sheriff.

The sheriff swallowed and said, I’ll take care of them Will. You have my word on it.

Will said, The timing couldn’t be worse. I can’t leave the ranch for the next few days. But if you’re not back in a week, I’ll be coming after you. He shook the sheriff’s hand patted the two boys on the back, mounted his horse and returned to the ranch.

The sheriff handed each boy a Colt 1855 Model revolving rifle in a boot. They quickly tied the rifles to their saddles and asked if there were any tracks that the sheriff knew to belong to the outlaws. After two days it was doubtful but one deputy said that two of the men in question had rode off the road as they left town going northwest.

The boys rode over to the edge of town dismounted and walked around the area for fifteen minutes then walked back to their horses. They took their reins and walked them northwest down the road. Every so often one or both of the boys would kneel down and inspect a track and point out whatever they were seeing to the other. After another thirty to forty five minutes the boys nodded to each other and mounted up and took off.

At first they moved at a walk watching the ground carefully. They stopped two or three times over the next hour to discuss the trail. At the end of two hours they rode back to the sheriff who was staying about fifty feet behind them to stay out of their way. The sheriff asked, Having trouble finding their trail? He had a troubled look on his face.

Pat answered, We did at first. Too much travel over the top of theirs close into town.

Wolf continued, The two sets of tracks the deputy pointed out to us where they stepped off the road allowed us to follow those two horses until they separated from most of the other traffic.

Over the past half mile we have been able to mark all four horses and we can travel a little faster if you are ready to go, stated Pat.

The sheriff nodded and smiled at the confidence the boys had in themselves. The boys turned their horses and took off at a fast canter. They rode at that pace for seven hours stopping twice to water the horses as they crossed a stream. At the second of those streams they found where the outlaws had stopped for the night the day before. Three hours later they crossed another stream. This time Pat said, Pitch camp. Build the fire under that big cottonwood near that rise. It will break up the smoke and block the light of the fire. We’ll go hunting.

The sheriff was about to object that the noise of their shots might be loud enough to warn the outlaws when he saw them draw out their bows. So he pitched camp and let the boys go. Fifteen minutes later the boys walked back into the camp carrying a pronghorn over their shoulders already cleaned. They skinned the animal as soon as they got back and put it on a spit over the fire. Over a dinner of roasted meat and corndodgers, they discussed the probable destination of the outlaws and where they would go next to get supplies. They decided it would probably be Wichita Falls. That was a little over eighty miles from Gainesville. The outlaws were covering less than twenty miles a day while the sheriff and his posse were covering thirty. If they didn’t run into any delays they would catch up a day outside of Wichita Falls.

They were up at first light and riding hard before true dawn. Before noon they had reached the site of the outlaw’s second night’s camp and were off and running again. At about six that afternoon they found the outlaws camp from the night before. Being less than twenty miles behind the outlaws, the posse decided on a cold camp for that night. That decision allowed them to ride until they could no longer see. That gave them over two hours more riding. After just over two hours the boys announced they could no longer see the tracks. They stopped for a supper of corndodgers and left over pronghorn.

They were all complaining about not having any coffee. Pat had climbed a nearby hill along with Leaping Wolf. Just moments after they reached the top of the hill they came running back. They announced that the outlaws were close enough for the boys to see the camp fire of the ones they were following. Then he added something everyone else seemed to have forgotten; if this is the right group.

Pat and Leaping Wolf had the posse up and riding by first light again. They rode into the camp the boys had seen the night before. They had been gone for a couple of hours and the boys were sure it was the same group they had been following from Gainesville. They took off again. They rode on for half an hour before Pat raised his hand as they were about to climb a ridge. He dismounted and peeked over the top. No one was visible so he crept forward as quickly as possible. He crawled all the way across the mesa until he could look down over the top of the east face. Down below him were four men. One was holding the four horses and the other three were holding rifles pointing at the posse just getting in range. The only way up to them was the trail they were standing on. They couldn’t leave but nobody could get up to them. There was no cover at the bottom so the posse would be sitting ducks.

What the outlaws didn’t know was that they had no cover from someone standing up here. From Pat’s point of view they were the sitting ducks.

When the sheriff rode up to the bottom of the butte he yelled, We know you are up there. There is no way for you to get away. If we have to we’ll starve you out.

Your posse won’t wait that long and we have a stash of food so we can stay here for months, said one of the outlaws. The next series of events happened very rapidly. As soon as he stopped talking he shot the sheriff out of his saddle, Pat yelled, NO! and shot the outlaw. The other three outlaws turned and looked up but saw nothing. Pat said, Throw down your guns and walk down the trail. I don’t have time to wait. I’ll count to ten and then I’ll shoot you where you stand. He counted three and the men threw down their guns and started walking. Pat added, Leave the horses and keep your hands up. Get rid of any hideout guns or knives you might have. If we find one, we’ll shoot you on the spot.

Pat signaled Wolf to come and help the sheriff and the posse rode up to help. They took charge of the three outlaws when they reached the bottom and two of them went up to get the horses, guns, the banks money and the fourth outlaw. Pat raced across the top of the butte and rode down the switch back as fast as his horse would let him. He raced around the butte and got to the sheriff to find he had a broken shoulder and had lost some blood. The bullet had gone right through the shoulder. Wolf had stopped the bleeding and the deputy had cut two fifteen foot saplings off the slope. Pat tied the saplings to the saddle of the sheriff’s horse, wrapped a blanket around the poles to make a travois to carry the sheriff out on. Once they had the sheriff on the travois, the dead outlaw over his horse and the three living outlaws tied to their horses they rode as fast as the sheriff could to Wichita Falls and the nearest doctor.

They started out the next morning for home with all but thirty dollars of the bank’s money having been recovered. The outlaws had spent that money on supplies. They met Will half a day out of Gainesville on the eighth day of their trip. He was proud of Pat for his shot that saved the sheriff from being shot again and mad that he had been in position to make it. Each boy was given twelve dollars cash reward and the sheriff gave each boy the revolving rife he had loaned them.

The War Between the States had been going on for four years and Will didn’t believe that Texas was on the right side, but he was a born Texan and wouldn’t fight against her so he joined neither side. Nobody that knew him would ever call him a coward but strangers riding through saw a man not