Tag: Scalp Mountain
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The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez
Gregorio Cortez and his brother Romaldo were working as ranch hands at the W.A. Thulmeyer ranch in Karnes County one day when they saw County Sheriff W.T. Morris and his deputies riding toward them. It was June 12, 1901, and life for Cortez would never be the same. Within five minutes Cortez, 25, became a…
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When Congressmen Carried Guns
by Julia Robb In 1832, Sam Houston stood in the U.S. of Representatives, on trial for attacking Ohio Representative William Stanbery. It was a headline trial. Sam Houston, a six-foot-two, good-looking Tennessean, was already famous. While Houston defended himself, a woman in the balcony threw him a bouquet of flowers and cried “I would rather…
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How the Old West Bad Men Did or Did Not Get to Midland, Texas
by Julia Robb I’m standing in the Midland County (Texas) public library basement staring down at six plaster of paris death masks. Jesse James, Butch Cassidy, Bill Dalton, Robert Ford, Wild Bill Hickok and Clay Allison lay in a waist–high glass display case, with their eyes closed. Bill Dalton’s tongue is stuck between his lips,…
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The Little Girl Who Wrote the Waltz
The Little Girl Who Wrote the Waltz By Julia Robb Certain kinds of people do not believe in coincidences: They believe everything is planned, that unseen forces coordinate life. I’m one of those people, although it’s not always clear who’s in charge of the non-coincidence department–God, guardian angels, or whatever. …