Francisco Gonzalez

## Introduction

Francisco was born near the Juarez region of Mexico in the mid 1800s. His official age is unknown as are the specifics of his past.

However if one pays close attention to his stories and words, small pieces of his past come to light.

## Biography

Thus far it is known that he had a rough childhood but things took a turn when his parents were killed. He has never said by who or for what, however it is clear that left him scarred.

Young Francisco was taken in by a roaming Bandito gang he has once referred to as “Los Vaqueros” where he learned to ride, rope, shoot, fend for himself, defend himself, and survive in the harsh deserts of Northern Mexico.

Between his childhood and present day, little is known to detail. Save two things he has mentioned.

The first, when he was in a small cattle town near Tijuana, he took a lover and spent several months there with her. Her name was Hermosa and she took his name before he left her in the middle of night to flee the local law that had tried to arrest him for robbing the town’s coffers and leaving a bank teller dead.

The final detail known of Francisco’s life is his nickname that has followed him. El Cascabel or The Rattler. This was coined after a drunken bar fight in a poor mining town in the southern United States left him weaponless and fighting several drunken miners, to the death. Francisco was set upon and tossed into a pit during the brawl and while the stumbling miners attempted to climb down to attack him, Francisco frantically grasped out for something, anything, to defend himself and grabbed onto the midsection of a rattlesnake. Before the snake even had a chance, he flung it at his attackers where it bite several of them in succession. The attackers wailed and screamed in horror as they tried to flee the snake and the madman who used it as a weapon. Unable to emerge from the pit, Francisco slowly grabbed a large rock and beat each of the men to death, then the snake last. He climbed out of the pit, covered in blood and carrying the dead snake over his shoulder.

The details of the story are something of campfire story in accuracy, but the fact remains that when he emerged from the pit word spread throughout the region of “El Cascabel” or “The Rattler”, the fearless killer who used a deadly snake as a weapon.

Francisco continued to roam and travel until he joined up with the Del Lobos, a large racially mixed gang that controlled a large piece of territory known as New Austin in the state of West Odessa. However, none of the groups gang leaders wanted him for fear of him seizing their leadership so they set him on his way into their territory giving him right to start a gang of his own within the territory and group.

He has gathered several to his side and has claimed Tumbleweed as his home far to the west in New Austin.

### Epilogue

After the death of Cucuy and Cascabel's return to New Austin and the state of Odessa, he assisted El Coyote in the avenging of Cucuy's death by aiding in the kidnapping and subsequent attempted murder of Sheriff Viktor. However, El Cascabel was a broken man after losing Cucuy and not being there to defend his brother. He disappeared into isolation for a long while after that where he quietly shed his poncho and title of "El Cascabel". He became Francisco Gonzalez once more.

After some time had passed, he wandered back to Odessa and there he learned that El Coyote was to be hung for his crimes. He began searching for remaining Del Lobos to aid him but with no luck, set out to single handedly rescue his comrade. However, before he could locate Coyote, he was detained by a now one-eyed Sheriff Viktor and his underling, Deputy Freumont. The two were convinced it was El Cascabel that they had but could not prove it and threw him in a cell under the watchful eye of Under Sheriff Winona. However, he had bartered with the lawmen to be free to wander the office, under Winona's guard, until they lawmen could return from fetching the prisoners scheduled for execution.

During his time with Winona he attempted to smooth talk and ease Winona's guard and when the time was right he conned her into the alley behind the law office and, under the guise of urination, he undid his lasso tied at his waste and subdued her. Leaving her tied in the alley, he ran when voices spooked him. He ran straight to Thieves Landing where he re-armed and rode for Fort Mercer, as he learned that was where Coyote was being held from Winona. En-route he rode right past the transport and turned to pursue. During the pursuit, out of nowhere, El Aescino and two armed men set upon the wagon and the scene erupted into a hail of gunfire.

Both lawmen were struck down in the fight and all three prisoners were set free. Coyote, Mari (Bug), and Arana were all released and escorted to safety by Francisco. The rest split in another direction, disposing of the bodies of the lawmen. It took some time but the group of escaped convicts, made their way north through the mountains and found themselves in Annesburg. They began scavanging for food, clothes, and any weapons they could find.

After being spotted by a miner in Annesburg, the group moved south to Van Horn where they stayed several nights before a drunken townsperson started a shootout with the fugitives and forced them from Van Horn as well. With nowhere else to go, the group decided it was time to finally leave Odessa once and for all.

Using what little connections they had remaining, they attempted to barter transport out of the state via a steamer in the Port of Saint Denis. However the ship would be delayed and they found another vessel preparing to leave. But before they could make their escape, a posse under the leadership of Sheriff Viktor, found them hiding amongst the cargo on the docks.

After a stand off and lots of deals being thrown back and forth, Francisco and Coyote opened fire on the lawmen. In a shootout under the thunder and lightning and rain, the two bandits were gunned down. Francisco attempted to fire off one last shot towards Simmons, an old "friend" from days long gone, but before he could pull the trigger Freumont fired one more time, ending Francisco's life.

Simmons convinced Viktor to let him take Francisco's body to Tumbleweed and bury him there, as it seemed fitting for the once ruler of that town to be laid to rest there. When he was thrown into the open grave, he landed on a sleeping rattlesnake. He recoiled, struck the dead body with a bite and slithered off into the dust. Simmons left a simple wooden cross marking the grave, and ending the tale of one of Odessa's most notorious outlaws.