Chapter 33
CHAPTER XXXIII OF CAPTAIN BILL MCDONALD, TEXAS RANGER A STORY OF FRONTIER REFORM For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. CAPTAIN BILL MCDONALD, TEXAS RANGER A STORY OF FRONTIER REFORM
By Albert Bigelow Payne OTHER WORK IN EAST TEXAS districts which even a ranger finds hopeless the touchstone murder the confession of a b angle it was only a short distance as distances go in texas only a hundred miles or so in a southeasterly direction from the transceder country made celebrated by the humphrey lynching
to certain sections of Walker, Houston, Madison, and Trinity counties where similar social conditions have developed. In Cottrell's Cut-Off, for instance, and around Groveton, there has developed a special talent for assassination. Men walking along the road in daylight are sometimes shot from behind.
When it is nightfall, the assassin may lie in wait by the roadside. If he gets the wrong man by mistake, it is no difference. It keeps him in practice. Sometimes the victim is called to his door at night and shot down from the dark. These are a few of the methods for removing individuals not favorably regarded by the active set,
and many other forms of murder are adopted or invented for particular cases. even Captain Bill McDonald found these districts hopeless as feels for reform he said if a whole community has no use for law and order it's not worthwhile to try to enforce such things you've got to stand over a place like that with a gun to make it behave and when you catch a man no matter what the evidence is against him they'll turn him loose in Groveton for instance
when I was there, they had only two law-respecting officers, the district clerk and the county attorney, and the county attorney they killed. Good citizens were so completely in the minority that they were helpless. Gittrell's Cut-Off was probably one of the most lawless places you could find anywhere, though it was named after a judge. It's a strip cut off of Houston and Trinity counties and added to Walker, and its name is the only thing about it that ever had anything to do
with the law. Many murders have been committed there, and no one ever convicted for them, so far as I know. Captain Bill was ordered to investigate a Cutrill's cut-off murder during December 1903. A man had been assassinated from ambush in the fashion of that section, and such attempts as had been made by the local authorities to uncover the murderers had been without result, but such murders had become so common there
that the few respectable citizens of the locality had decided to appeal to Governor Lanham for aid and their plea asked especially for Captain MacDonald. MacDonald went down, looked over the ground, and sent for one of his men, Lays Delling, to assist in handling the situation. the community being simply infested with men of low, desperate natures.
Already the ranger captain had taken up the trail and had arrested three men, and these were brought for trial. What was the use? Before the final trial, the three principal witnesses suddenly sickened and died. The district attorney found himself without a case.
The prisoners were discharged. It was about this time that County Attorney H.L. Robb, himself a victim later, asked that Captain MacDonald be sent to Groveton in Trinity County to unravel the mystery surrounding the murder of an old lady committed about a year before. Captain Bill went reluctantly, for he was tired of that section and cared not much for a cold trail at best. on arrival at Groveton he learned the facts so far as known a feeble old lady named touchstone living alone had been murdered for a stocking full of money supposed to be hidden somewhere on the
premises she had only a life interest in the money anyway but the errors to her trifling horde of probably not more than a few hundred dollars had been impatient and had frequently demanded their shares. They were a devilish brood, but the old lady did not seem to fear them and carried a stout stick for defense. She had been found murdered one afternoon, her throat cut, and her body left lying in the dooryard, where it had been mangled by hogs. Naturally, the relatives were
suspected, but thus far no evidence had been found against them. There was evidence enough, however, for a man who had eyes trained to follow clues and to distinguish signs. In a comparatively brief time, Captain McDowell felt warranted in causing the arrest of one Abe Engel and several others. Engel had married a granddaughter of the murdered woman, and all were relatives.
In the course of time, Engel's heart failed him, and he confessed the crime in full. In his sworn statement, he said, We all talked the matter over about going and robbing Mary Jane, Mrs. Touchstone, and Hilhudo said, Let's have an understanding. George Angle, Wash, and Joe Tallis, Hilhudo, and Mrs. Tallis, and myself, all relatives, were to meet over at Mary Jane's to see where she kept the money and to get it.
That was our intention, to get the money on Saturday night. hill hudo was to be there when we got there it was just dark when we got started and we went through the fields in an easterly direction in a trail through the woods the understanding was that joe tallis and i were to do the watching and joe was on one end of the gallery and i was on the other end he being told to watch the east end of the road and i to watch the west end hill hudo was to be there talking to mary jane while george angle and mrs tullis were to go in at the front and wash was to go in at the back of the house she mrs touchstone had some meal spread out on the floor to dry she was sitting down i do not know on what talking to hill
mrs tullis said mary jane we have come to see whether you have that money yet or not mary jane started to get up but hill hudo george angle washed tullis and mrs tullis grabbed her and carried her out on the gallery and told me and joe to watch the road good and we told her mrs tullis we would as far as we could see she mrs touchstone started to holler but wash put a handkerchief over her mouth he had a white handkerchief in his red coat pocket the confession then relates how they put out the fire fearing its light by throwing a bucket of water on it and how they jerked off a bonnet which the old lady had on it proceeds they her precious relatives carried her to the edge of the gallery and asked her to say where the money was and she said she did not have any and they pushed her off and as they pushed her off
hiljudo struck her with a stick it was at this point probably that they cut their victim's throat a detail which engel's confession does not mention through delicacy perhaps he says they went out and examined her going through her clothes carefully in search for her possessions hiljudo washtullis george angle and mrs tallis did the examining and they got one half and one quarter of a dollar george angle and wash tullis spent the money hilhudo wash tullis george angle and mrs tullis looked over the house and went through the trunks and the bed if they got any money i do not know of it they came out of the house and looked under the house to see if they could find any dirt dug up or any fresh signs but they could not find any and we went out at the west end of the gallery and climbed over the fence and took the trail through the fields and hill went the back way many half-burnt matches were found under the house by rangers mcdonald and delling to confirm this statement the confession proceeds
the stick and the bucket were thrown out near where she was the stick was her walking stick and the bucket the one wash put the fire out with hill threw the stick out and wash threw out the bucket hill said he would leave the bucket out there and the people would think she had just went out to slot the hogs and fell out it was understood that night by all six of us that wash and george would come back and get the hogs in there and that they would dig a hole on the left of the gate as you go in he details how washtalus and george angle changed their shirts before breakfast for the removal of ghastly evidence of course and how after breakfast they changed their trousers he relates how the hogs were to be tolled into the yard and adds the understanding was that we were to find her by the buzzards but jimray found her before the time now it would be natural to suppose that a confession like that would hang the confessor and his confederates as high as haman it did nothing of the sort angle's relatives prevailed upon him to retract his confession and under the law as administered in that district they were all discharged except angle himself who was sentenced for three years for having committed perjury by swearing to a confession which he subsequently declared a lie
it is hardly to be wondered at that men like bill mcdonald should lose interest in a neighborhood where conditions like these exist what use is it to track and bring home criminals only to see them go free perhaps vowing vengeance against their captors a detective was assassinated in groveton and ranger dunaway on invitation of attorney rob went over to look into the matter on their way to the court-house both rob and dunaway were fired upon from the window of a law office dunaway was severely wounded and rob fatally injured lived but a short time it would be monotonous to detail the instances of crime and of the captures made in the neighborhood of groveton madisonville and neighboring communities to record the careful and brave work of captain macdonald and his rangers which led only to failure in the end through the lack of public and official cooperation when the men who administer the law and a controlling number of the citizens do not want justice then perhaps it is just as well that law-abiding citizens should move away and let the rest murder one another to their heart's content
a father and son waylaid and killed an old man named tummins in madison county and were arrested single-handed by captain bill the two were discharged on the plea of self-defence a young man by the name of hunter gibbs was entrapped and assassinated near madisonville and his murderers were traced home and arrested by macdonald and his rangers they were eventually discharged a man named wright terry this was in groveton after killing an officer and a doctor and nearly killing a drummer was brought to book by captain bill and might have gone free like the others if he hadn't good-naturedly agreed to plead guilty and take a life sentence rather than discommoded his friends but enough let us turn to pleasner things chapter thirty three read by nancy cochrane girgen gilbert arizona january fifteenth two thousand twenty two
