The Horrell wars
Subtitle: feuding in Texas and New Mexico
By: David Johnson ; foreword by Bill O'Neal
Series: Number 15 in the A. C. Greene series
Publisher: UNT Press; University of North Texas Press
Published: 2014
Place of publication: Denton, Texas
Language: eng
Number of pages: 249
ISBN-13: 9781574415506; 9781574415605
Subjects: Frontier and pioneer life; Vendetta; History; Violence; Outlaws; Biography; Ranchers
Description: For decades the Horrell brothers of Lampasas, Texas, have been portrayed as ruthless killers and outlaws, but author David Johnson paints a different picture of these controversial men. The Horrells were ranchers, and while folklore has encouraged the belief that they built their herds by rustling, contemporary records indicate a far different picture. The family patriarch, Sam Horrell, was slain at forty-eight during a fight with Apaches in New Mexico. One Horrell son died in Confederate service; of the remaining six brothers, five were shot to death. Only Sam, Jr., lived to old age and died of natural causes. Johnson covers the Horrells and their wars from cradle to grave. Their initial confrontation with the State Police at Lampasas in 1873 marked the most disastrous shootout in Reconstruction history and in the history of the State Police. The brothers and loyal friends then fled to New Mexico, where they became entangled in what would later evolve into the violent Lincoln County War. Their contribution, known to history as the Horrell War, has racial overtones in addition to the violence that took place in Lincoln County. The brothers returned to Texas where in time they became involoved in the Horrell-Higgins War. The family was nearly wiped out following the feud when two of the brothers were killed by a mob in Bosque County. Johnson presents an up-to-date account of these wars and incidents while maintaining a neutral stance necessary for historical books dealing with feuds. he also includes previously unpublished photographs of the Horrell family and others.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 223-238) and index.
Table of contents: title: "I raised my boys to be fighters"; title: "A lame Texan is suspected of the deed"; title: "The Lampasas horror"; title: "The ways of the transgressor"; title: "Begged for mercy"; title: "Nothing was to come of it"; title: "Would have surrendered . . . at any time"; title: "Didn't fire a shot"; title: "The latest blossom of Lampasas chivalry"; title: "A shooting picnic at Lampasas"; title: "Bloody murder in Bosque"; title: "This saturnalia of blood"; title: Afterword: "A shocking murder"; title: Appendix 1; title: Appendix 2.