American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1875-05-01
LIFE CNIHE RIO GRANDE.
JACK BRADLEY'S ADVENTURE WITH MEXI-
CAN BANDITS

the recent furry broke ont In The
Western part of this State, between
the Rio Grandc and the Nueces,
there were several of Us who thought
1T onece OF Jack Bradley, whose cat
tie rancho WAS in the vcrJ heart OF;
The exposed territory, AMI who was
therefore peculiarly open the MeN,
can raid.
J.ck = on old camraiGaer, we'll
known 10 many III th!S city. lie u
nearly sixty year - aye, lived en-
Iire!y alone, wIth an immense bull
dog, and with 40 neighbour within
miles. Two or three Times II year he
GENES up to San Antonio on bust
ness connected with bis title. OF
which he always owns several
thousand. lie has been at this sort
of business off aud on for over a
dozen years. and beyond doubt is
wealthy so far as this worlds goods
ire concerned.
Jack Bradley is a fair specimen
i the daring, half civilized bOr-
tcitr, such as has been developed
y The settlement of all our States
l,. Territories Thirty nine years
40, OF more. he WAS with that little
;om, any of 7, X;ius in the Alamo,
% iici Santa Anna and his army
ia se!se. DrfuIe the investment
vas complete J..ci AID comrade
t,re sen! out on little hunt for
ooI. When they returned che fort
yt.s surrounded by the MeXicanS,
md it was impossible to get through
he li:les. They tried it repeatedly
turing the night, until the cOmpan-
on OF Jack WAS shot, and he him
self decided to draw off for the
line.
But Jack, though he lowered
around ike IL hawk. could do moth
ing except liz, hidden in the woods
ami content himself with picking Oft
Il greaser" when he got the chance.
He SAW the assault of Santa Anna
on the 9th of March, 1889, when the
Mexicans, numbering ten times as
many as the Texans, swarmed over
the walls like 4 drove of sheep, and
every one of the Texans were mas
sacred. 1t was there that Colonel
Travis went down with pile of the
towards all around him that Colonel
Bowie (the originator of the terri
be weapon that bears his name)
was shot in a sick bed, his very last
act being to bury his knife in one
OF his aSSaSSimS, and Colonel David
Crockett, finding they had all been
betrayed, made Il rush for Santa
Anna, but WAS killed before he
could reach him.
Jack went ali through the Texan
war of Independence, us he did
through our war with Mexico. In
the former he escaped without a
stratch, in the latter he was pretty
well riddled, and at Chapultepec he
was left for dead. However, he
pulled out all tight, and after peace
came went into the cattle business
in the West, between the Rio
Grande and Neuces.
The result of Jacks training was
that he came to abominate those on
the other side of the river. He had
been fighting MeXicans for dozen
years, and he knew them, as he
said, ''clean through" He took pos
he called his castle, and which had
only below and one above. Here
he kept half dozen rifles of the
finest pattern, with reviewers and
knives without number. He named
his dog '.Itough and Ready" after
the here OF the Mexican war, and
thus the old fellow lived, without
any other comi,anioiship. lie
always had three UI four vi the fleet
est mustangs, ana they were like
trained dogs il their intelligence.
They could scent danger II half mile
away, ard they never failed TO let
known in time, SO that cUuntinglu
thedOg, he had the best possible
kindof scntinels, and always lay
downwith us much serenity as We
do here in San Antonio.
There is no telling how many
times Jack got into ''scrimmages"
with his neighbors. His cattle were
not such an object, for they are too
plenty i'll these parts, but he was
an object to white and red men
alike. Some years ago the Conan
cheS would swoop down upon his
property, and then the fun was i'll.
Beyond question Jack enjoyed it.,
for no COmanche could surpasS him
in his skill in horsemanship, and
there was never a one that was his
equal i'll the unerringaccuracy of his
rifle arm.
He had 1T back and forth with
these red skins and greasers, and
when the late war broke out Jack
bt came one OF Ben McCullOch's
Texas Rangers. That kept him
busy for a time, but in sc he took
up his quarters again in his castle,
and there he has been ever since.
In the early part of March Jack
was here in San Antonio, and he
told us the greasers were getting
SASSY" and he shouldn't be sur
prised upon going back to his
rancho to find that they had been
foOling round the cattle. He had
left Rough and Ready in charge,
although for that matter there was
no necessity Tor anything of that
kind, as the cattle were given such
IA grazing area that they couldscarce-
~ wander beyond its limits, bat the
bulldog was useful to prevent
strangers medd!ing with his castle.
Jack did not remain in San An
tonic, as long as washiS intention Oh