Almost Christmas

 

The great Feast of the Nativity is almost upon us and lights went on at the Compound after a traditional trip to Walmart for last minute Christmas essentials. 

Now look here, punters, some traditions are good and we love them, they add depth, meaning and continuity to our fleeting lives. But other traditions are bad, like going to Walmart right before Christmas.

I tell you, and I'm no snob, don't laugh, it's true, that it was rough in there tonight and this is a country Walmart. Parse that as you will, while recalling that the rule of law is comparatively new here.

Speaking of which, could someone please make a law banning people from wearing pajamas in public, at the supermarket? But I won't neck-tattoo-bang-on, you get the picture. That in mind, let's recall the opening words of the governing Prayer (Collect) for what's left of this season.

Cast away the works of darkness and put upon us the armour of light. Needed, eh?

Stand Fast Against Leviathan,

LSP

Ride Like The Wind

I won't lie, we pretty much flew along over the fields and trails after Mass today. But when not going full tilt hell for leather and Devil take the hindmost, I worked on collection, posting trot and basic horsemanship.

Go on, Run at That Tree

Running at a tree and then galloping around it was pretty good fun; working on serpentines with minimal use of reins was maybe less so, but probably a more valuable exercise. And I won't discount the importance of galloping through the bucolic Mesquite trails of Olde Texas. Careful there, fella, don't get your eye gouged out!

See, That's What Happens

Thorns aside, it was good to simply explore the land on horseback, I find that relaxing, it clears the head. And think, not too long ago, almost within living memory, this county was only just settled, and even that might be stretching a point. But for all its lawlessness, and there was plenty, there weren't many Indian raids. In neighboring counties, sure, but not here. 

A Fairly Typical Tree

As I understand it, people think it was a kind of neutral zone, or "treaty area," which made it comparatively peaceful, as far as the tribes were concerned. Different story of course, if you were John Wesley Hardin.

Spot Hardin. Note, none of these people are in "The Band."

Harding shot and killed somewhere between 20 and 40 people, maybe more, before he was shot in an El Paso Saloon by lawman John Selman. Hardin had killed 8 men by the time he was 16 and I mentioned that to my friend who kindly lets me ride on his ranch. "The thing about him," he said, "is that he just wasn't sane."

It's more than conceivable, in fact it is likely, that Hardin rode through or very near the land I was riding on today. 

Mind how you go,

LSP

Hill County Outlaws

Pedro Vial, a Frenchmen hired by the Spanish to find a route between San Antonio and Santa Fe, was possibly the first European to enter the territory that became known as Hill County, Texas. That was in 1789.

In 1870, a 16 year old John Wesley Hardin was busy in the county, drinking, gambling and killing. By January of that year, Hardin had shot and killed 8 men, the first in a long list of 42 slayings that Hardin claimed before he was shot and killed in an El Paso saloon, in 1895 by Constable John Selman. Hardin wasn't alone.

In the years following the Civil War, Hill County was reportedly "infested with outlaws and desperadoes" who actively resisted Governor Edmund Davis' State Police. Davis had fought with the Union and was oddly unpopular in Hill County, along with the Reconstruction Government and its law. 

When the latter moved against the Kinch West -- who may or may not have ridden with Quantrill's Raiders -- and Cox Brothers gang, locals didn't give their support and martial law was declared in 1871. 

The outlaws have gone now and Hill County is comparatively law abiding. But reflect on this. 1871 isn't that long ago.

LSP