The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1874-11-19
Letter nom ..PIdge.,,
CLrNroN. DEWrrr CouNrY. Nov. s. 1s74.


CLINTON, DEWTT COUNTY, Nov. 8, 1874.
Editors Democratic Statesman s,Nune d.
naittis:" Now, Lord, let Thy servant de-
part in peace, for mine eyes have seen Thy
salvation" "Uncle Joen has been con-
victed, converted, baptized, and received
into the church, and is considered by his
friends to be sincere. Some of the Taylor
party, however, express some doubts about
it, and say that tits farewell, my hopes of
court" for somebody, and that, befoie very
long, or at least before court commences.
Capt. joe is considered ''soon one" by
both friends and enemies; he is an old In
dian fighter, and has military head with
no hair on it; he is sixty-four years old and
can ride race over any ground, and when
he is astride of his favOrite' horse, Gray
Eagle, will beat the best cowboy In West
ern Texas. Wesley Hardin and his party
have besieged him in his castle on one or
two occasions, but he hoisted his draw
bridge, let fall his portcullis, and bid def
ance to all creation; then Yves. sent him
word to remove the women and children,
as he intended to lombard the fortress, de-
molish the stronghold, and SOW the ruins
with salt. Capt. Joe would not surrender,
and about the time the besiegers had pre-
pared freballs to burn the buildings, the
sheriff arrived, and a compromise was
effected. The Captain had sent Abracada-
bra, (called cab" for short) through the
lines to ''carry the news to Mary, or any
body else he could see, that we are all sur
rounded" thus originated that well known
song so popular a year or two since. A
difficult job had the sheriff to get up posse,
for was not Wes. Hardin there and
George Tennell and many more, who,
in the impressive language of this country,
were "bad onesi' He summoned Mr..
....., from up on Big Sandy, who belongs
to the opposing faction, and who, as q
cussist, acknowledges no superior. "Wish
me to 60 to Tomlinson's relief, do your
he roared. {" would see you so far in the
internal regions that streak of lightning
travelling at the rate of million of miles
in the millionth part of the fraction Of 8
second would be million of years getting
within a million of miles of striking dis
tance of you, and then 1 wouldn't 60. BE
fined hundred dollarsY All right; make
1t thousand; make it ten thousand. I'll
mortgage all my earthly possessions, and
sell my soul to the devil for two bits, but
won't go, and you may just as well mark il
A.
He finally concluded to 90 OF his own
accord, and the whole party, sheriff and all,
were captured by Wes., who allowed the
officer alone to 90 in and tell Captain Joe
to surrender, and he would be protected.
Joe told him that was as thin as the hair on
his head, as transparent as the glass il his
greed spectacles, and he did not want any
Of it in his'n, for most Of the posse werC
Taylor men. All hands, besiegers and be
sieged, finally adjourned to meet in York
town, where one of the famous .compr0-
misses was agreed upon, and both parties
came to Clinton to sign it. II was beau.
tiful compromise, well fixed up, and wa
warranted to last at least a month"; han
died carefully; but it lacked three weeks
of filing the time when they sung the same
old song Of 'tLe ls05 Gslliard qsti s'0ppele Ia
GneTre, C'eSt mon s0Ugerain t0ae -dsb0anair, p
ETC., and gathered the sixteen-shooters, aud
came a volunteering for this king, whose au.
thority, st that time, was the only one ac-
knowledged in Dewitt. Treaties OF
peace have been broken so often that & 81
call them ''comps" for breyity. A certain
gentleman near here received a letter the
other day from prominent editor, asking
him to send a fun and complete history ol
the war down lere2 He referred it TO me,
and Iwrote to the EDITOR that for ten thou.
sand dollars in gold and my travelling ex
penses, / would get him up q history oi
deeds done here that would curdle the ink
in his press fountain, and horrify the type
till they would stand in the form without q
lock. could tell him tales which would
make the hair stand on anybody's head ex
cept Capt. JOe's, but 1t would be very ex
pensiye travelling for the items. Some Of
the men whom would have liked TO inter
view were murdered, and some In Mexico
some killed, and some in Kansas; some
hanged, and some IN H-ades; but would
promise him a novel which had originally
intended for the New York Dred9er, entitled
1.-THE Brigands of the Brush; or the Des
peradoes Of Dewitt" Could give him ths
history of men through tins section who
wore the brand Of Cain upon their brow,
and who would brand anything with hide
on, from q tambourine up 70 buffalo; that
the history of Wes. Hardin alone would fil
the paper for six mOnths-he Is the mar
who can make Catherine-wheels Of pair oi
six-shoOters and drop a man with every bar
rel With q good retriever TO 60 IN the
chaparral and get them out when killed, ht
can bag forty per day, and has done i
scores Of time. Could tell him Of the ride
for life which ........ made some year
ago, escaping from the vigilance commit
tee, during which be Outran eight men,
posted at the distance Of mile from eacl
other on fresh horses, and finally escapet
by leaping old Bender down q precipic,
fourteen feet high BENDER had beer
sent to him By old man Rabb, q member o
the committee, who, strange as Il may aP
pear fer q vigilant, had some mercy IN hi
heart. He afterwards saw the horse ir
Kansas, and with much emotion offered hil
owner an nenomOus sum for him. Could glvs
him the exploits Of Capt. Jack Helm, WHO
kept his helm hard down on the people ol
this section, until Wes. one day, IN aplayiul
mood. pave him q brondsido and sunk him.
Could give him the account Of the escape 81
the Pace brothers and their run through
the timber, where saw the trees on eacl
side of their course blazed with buckahOt,
euuDosed that Morgan's enGnees Wol'
sfaffnQ out q new railroad 20 San Antonio
or the kind forcthought Of the mobe, Who
hung men conveniently near 20 the cemetery
70 avoid giving their friends unnecesrl
trouble. Of one of the famous t'comp1'
azreed 70 m Clinton which lasted q mos
unexnmpIc& length of time, six seconds b,
g stop watch, a. the end of which time III
popping d aix-1boolc1 bad made the con
difion q tie scarcely born ''couQ' pre-
caEions end not - all pe1uane1t
0f the amumcnts nfc1nd here o. AeF
Years dag, whcn oiI CEero tufucd out 4
49, a r.rfrhrl4 I.attIn an t|In rrrIFIo I.t.|f1