San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-09-26
"ReCkless Joe"

tOeCkiess OOc'
From the Texas Commercial Traveller
Is there a commercial traveller in
Texas, who is not acquainted with
Joseph q. Booth, of Austin, Vice
President of Post F? To be on the
road and not know. this popular and
successful hat man is paradox. Mar.
Booth and the writer were messmates
in company of Texas rangers, COM
manded by that dauntless Indian
fighter, Captain Ed. Burleson, in
1860, but it remained for Ned Bunt-
line, the great novelist, to put 10 into
romance, and he was nick-named
Reckless Jo.n
In one of Buntline's novelties, he
describes scout made up of Booth,
Robert Golfer, now with Meyer Bros,
wholesale druggists at Dallas; Will
Lambert, the DANDY Ranger" didn't
have dudes in those days. whoalwa y
wore q button-hole bouquet in the
lapel of his buckskin coat; Will
George, brother Of r. F. George, of
this city; Bill Miller, now q drummer
for q Baltimore house, and others,
fifteen in all. This scout had struck
the trail of bunch of Comanches
who had stolen q white girl from the
home of a from tiersman away out on
the plains, near DEVILS river. After
Iollow wing the trail three days, only
stopping when darkness overlook
them: to eat a hasty meal cooked on
fires made of buffalo chip, the rang
ers came upon the Indians camp
upon the margin of a beautiful run
ming stream. A sharp fight ensued,
and the rangers were victorious. Five
bucks were killed, and as many made
captives. The ranchman's daughter
was rescued from a fate worse than
death.
The boys being tired and their
horses jaded it, was decided by Capt.
Burleson to camp there that night,
wood, water and grass being plentiful.
1t was cold, freezing night in
December, and big fire had been
kept up for the men on guard to sit
by at intervals during their 1.-TWO
hours on and four hours Off" Be-
fore night fall, Reckless 10" and the
Dandy Range went out and killed
a buffalo to get fresh meat for supper,
the fret they had since leaving head
quarters at Santa Anna's mountain,
in Coleman county. They skinned"
the huge animal and from his hide
cut a lot of thongs with which to
bind the Indian prisoners. Return
ing to camp, they cut lot of thongs
with which to bind the Indian pris
oners. Returning to camp, they COM
PEELED the COmanches to lie down in Il
row and tied their legs together, hard
and fast. Strange to say their hands
were not tied.
Now for the SEQUEL. 10 Booth was
called about midnight to go on guard.
He crawled out from under his warm
blankets, buttoned his buckskin jac-
ket closely around his 1.-the form,
buckled on his navy six, picked up
his rifle and went on his beat. After
making a circuit of the camp to see
that the horses were all right, he went
to the fire and relieved the man who
was guarding the prisoner. They
were apparently sound a sleep. 10
look ed at them, and then sat down
on log. He soon fell into s sweet
reverie, dreaming OF the girl he had
left behind him, and though wide
awake, was oblivious to the surround
ings. One of the Indian chiefs saw
his chance. He raised himself quick
ly to sitting posture, and grabbing
up hand full of embers and hot
ashes threw them square INTO JOS
tace, badly burning his eyes. The
sharp crack of JOS rifle woke up the
entire command, and the buck who
threw the fire lay stretched upon the
green sward, with a bullet hole be-
tween his eyes. The other Indians
"got lost" the next morning.
Mr.. Booth served during the late
war In the Teray Texas Rangers, and
made a gallant soldier. Doubtless
the name adopted by that command
had its fascination for him. He is a
whole team as q drummer, and an
ardent II. p. A. advocate.