FOOTNOTES:[22]The New York "Sun," commenting on this, said:"Many of the assessors came to Austin with a feeling of animosity toward Captain McDonald, but he brought them all into line and before the meeting adjourned resolutions were unanimously adopted thanking him for taking up the question of assessments and promising to assess property at its full market value."[23]In addition to this work, State Revenue Agent McDonald has very largely increased the State income by the systematic and vigorous enforcing of the law, providing for the licensing of various public entertainments and for regulating the sale of liquors. His experience in putting into effect the new "Baskin-McGregor" law somewhat resembled his adventures with the Full Rendition law and ended with as signal a victory.
FOOTNOTES:
[22]The New York "Sun," commenting on this, said:"Many of the assessors came to Austin with a feeling of animosity toward Captain McDonald, but he brought them all into line and before the meeting adjourned resolutions were unanimously adopted thanking him for taking up the question of assessments and promising to assess property at its full market value."
[22]The New York "Sun," commenting on this, said:
"Many of the assessors came to Austin with a feeling of animosity toward Captain McDonald, but he brought them all into line and before the meeting adjourned resolutions were unanimously adopted thanking him for taking up the question of assessments and promising to assess property at its full market value."
[23]In addition to this work, State Revenue Agent McDonald has very largely increased the State income by the systematic and vigorous enforcing of the law, providing for the licensing of various public entertainments and for regulating the sale of liquors. His experience in putting into effect the new "Baskin-McGregor" law somewhat resembled his adventures with the Full Rendition law and ended with as signal a victory.
[23]In addition to this work, State Revenue Agent McDonald has very largely increased the State income by the systematic and vigorous enforcing of the law, providing for the licensing of various public entertainments and for regulating the sale of liquors. His experience in putting into effect the new "Baskin-McGregor" law somewhat resembled his adventures with the Full Rendition law and ended with as signal a victory.
XLIII
In Conclusion
CAPTAIN BILL MC DONALD OF TEXAS—WHAT HE HAS BEEN AND WHAT HE IS TO-DAY
Sonow we have arrived at the end of our story—the story of "a man who does things"—who has been making history for twenty-five years, who is still making it, to-day. It is the story of a life so full of incident and episode that we have been able to give only a chapter here and there—to touch the high places as it were; for the tale entire would fill a library, and would involve the chronology of a State, which in that quarter of a century has increased its population nearly five times, its wealth in a like proportion, while its progress in education and morals has been incalculable. It is with the improvement last named that Bill McDonald, and the little army of State Rangers from which he had been selected as an example, have been chiefly concerned, though advancement in other directions has been collateral and dependent on moral growth. Order is not only the first law of Heaven, but of the frontier, and by the sturdy Frontier Battalion has the fight for order been made, and won. For inspite of plague-spots here and there (and in a State of so vast an area, and so recent and motley a settlement, it would be strange indeed if these did not exist), Texas is to-day a splendid empire of beautiful towns and cities—of fair and fruitful farms, and of handsome, hardy law-abiding men and women.
The Pan-handle has become a garden—not a Garden of Eden, exactly, but a garden of agriculture and home-culture—a larger garden than Eden, and happier and more profitable than Eden has ever been, since the fall.
And the best evidence of what the Ranger Force has done for Texas may be found in the steady reduction of its numbers. By the very nature of its achievements it has each year reduced the necessity of its existence. To-day it consists of four little companies, aggregating about thirty men, all told. They are brave, picked men—who face death daily and are not afraid. If from among these Bill McDonald has been marked for special distinction, it is not because he has been more willing to do and dare, or more resolute in its purpose of reform, but because he was at his birth marked by that special genius which, whatever his environment, would make episodic achievement and peculiar distinction his inevitable portion. Long before he became an officer he was a peace-maker. Wherever trouble occurred, McDonald had a genius for being there, separating and disarming the combatants, admonishing them in that convincing manner which few men ever resented. No one ever knew him to flinch at a time like that—perhaps no one ever dreamed that he would be likely to do so.
He was variously gifted. His perceptions were abnormally keen—his deductive conclusions often startling in their exactness. In his detective work, he was sometimes referred to as the Sherlock Holmes of Texas, though his processes would seem to have been more instinctive, and perhaps less intellectual, than those of Dr. Doyle's imaginary hero. For he had the eyes of a fox, the ears of a wolf and he could follow a scent like a hound.
"Cap, you have eyes in the back of your head and can smell a criminal in the dark," was once said to him, and perhaps this statement was not so wide of the mark.
His understanding of character—frontier character—was likewise a gift. Almost every man has a right side, and Bill McDonald always seemed to know how to reach that side. When no right side developed, he knew how to handle the wrong one. He seldom failed to win the confidence and the respect—even the friendship—of his prisoners. Such enemies as he has to-day are not among the men he caused to be punished, but among those who feared—and still fear—capture and punishment. There may be a good many such. Time and again his removal was not only requested, but demanded—sometimes by a whole community—a community whichdid not want the law's enforcement, and such a demand was likely to be accompanied by the threat of political revolt. But Texas, from the days of Sam Houston, has had good governors—governors to whom such a demand was in the nature of a compliment and the best reason for retaining the "offending" incumbent. Hence Bill McDonald not only remained in service, but was given an ever widening usefulness.
His "suddenness" and determination was a constant amazement to law-breakers. Once when he was in El Paso he received a telegram stating that some of his horses had been stolen from a ranch he then owned on the Oklahoma and Texas line. That ranch was nearly five hundred miles away as the crow flies, but Bill McDonald was on the train bound in that direction while the telegram was still damp. Arriving at his ranch, he struck the trail and set out alone to follow it, without rest, through Greer County, riding hot foot a distance of three hundred miles; overtaking the thieves at last somewhere beyond Norman, Oklahoma. Sid Woodring, a wary old outlaw, was in that gang, also his nephew, Frank Woodring, and a third member whose name is not recalled. It was a genuine surprise when Bill McDonald, whom they thought at the other end of Texas, charged in among them and had them disarmed almost before they realized what was going on. He marched them back to the jail at Norman; had them indicted in Greer County,where court was then in session; got them convicted for terms ranging from five to ten years, and returned with his recovered horses—completing, in the space of a few days, one of the neatest and most spectacular bits of official work on record.
The amount of his work was something enormous. In the two years ending August 31st, 1904, Ranger Company B, which he commanded, traveled 74,537 miles, made 205 scouts and 174 arrests. Thirty-one of the arrests were for murder, and nearly all for desperate crimes. When it is remembered that some of those scouts required days, and some of the arrests were hundreds of miles apart, and the result of long and arduous trailing and persistent detective work, the labor and the result can be better understood. Nor is this an unusual report. It has been selected at random and is by no means of the busiest period—the period of the early nineties—those riotous Pan-handle days.[24]
There was no show, no fuss and feathers about this work. Riot threatened or broke out here and there—the newspapers carried a line that Captain Bill was on the way to the scene. He arrived—often alone—disarmed a mob; made an arrest or two, perhaps; gave out a few quiet admonitions, and it was all over—next day to be forgotten. With many another man such cases would have meant resistance, bloodshed, troops, and the long animosities of years. That was his genius: to settle matters—to dispose of them—to get through and to be at other work without waste of time. Once when he was ordered to Galveston to prevent a prize-fight, he arrived at the hall where it was to take place, after the crowd had gathered. He did not bother to discuss matters with the managers or principals, but walked out on the stage and announced briefly to the audience that the fight would not take place, for the reason that it was against the law which he was there to enforce. That was a fair sample of his method—to know the law, and to enforce it, without a fire-works and without violence. No man has ever been his equal, perhaps, in that field.
It was true he was lucky, for bullets missed him, as a rule, and he steered clear of many dead-falls. Among the Mexicans, and bad men generally, there grew up a superstition that he was bullet-proof, and after the Rio Grande affair there would seem to be some reason for such a belief, for he stood up there in plain view, a tall and shining mark, blazing away, and no bullet touched him.
He has been always modest concerning his achievements, discussing them in the few words of an official report. When he has spoken at all it has been his habit to present the general result, rather than his part in it. It was this characteristic that made difficult the securing of material for these chapters. In preparing for the Rio Grande battle, for instance, I said to him:
"Of course you hit some of those Mexicans?"
"Well, you see, standing up as I was I had a good place to shoot from."
"Then you did hit some of them?"
"Well—of course, as I say, I had the best place to shoot from, and Ifeltas if I could pick the buttons off their coats."
"But, Captain, what I want to know is, if you think youreally hitany of them."
"Oh, well, hell (very reluctantly), I don't guess Imissedany of 'em!"
"Did you feel afraid?"
"No—I don't reckon I thought of that."
Yet every man is afraid of something. It was about the time of the conversation just noted (he was then visiting New York City), that he said anxiously to a companion who was steering him through the mess of traffic at one of the Twenty-third Street crossings:
"Look here, you'll get me killed, yet, in a place like this. I don't know the game."
The muzzle of a Colt 45, or of a Winchester, had no terrors for him, but a phalanx of automobiles and traction-cars, mingled with a medley of other vehicles, bearing down from four different directions—a perfect tangle of impending death—proved disturbing to one accustomed to simpler, even if more malignant, dangers.
With conditions of his own kind, however, he was at home, even in the metropolis. Visiting ConeyIsland one night he came upon two tough individuals, clutched in a fierce grip and trying to damage each other vitally. Texas was a long way off, but it did not matter. He took hold of those men saying:
"Look here, what are you men acting so sorry for? Stop this, now, and go home!"
They were the sort of men who would have resisted a policeman—who might have killed him. What they did now was to cease their warfare and stare in a dazed way at the tall lean figure, the unusual features and the large white hat of Captain Bill.
"You fellows go on home, now," he admonished, in his slow, homely way, and the two set out in different directions, without a word.
It was on his way back to Texas that he paid his promised visit to President Roosevelt. He was a bit nervous over the prospect, but found himself altogether at ease a moment after his arrival at the White House. For he was given the sort of hearty welcome that goes with the wider life he knew best, and was introduced without formality to men who were delighted to honor him for what he was, and had been. If Theodore Roosevelt had enjoyed his visit to the plains, so no less did Captain Bill McDonald find delight amid the halls and highways of legislation.
Captain Bill McDonald of Texas—the last of a vanishing race and a vanished day; of the race towhich Crockett and Bowie and Travis and Fannin belonged; of a day when a hip and a holster were made one for the other—when to reach in that direction meant, for somebody, post-mortem and obsequies. State Revenue Agent of Texas—such to-day is his title—and the work he has undertaken in his new field goes bravely on. Texas still needs his honesty, his courage, and his determination. When those qualities direct the affairs of the body politic, the prosperity and predominance of that commonwealth are assured.
FOOTNOTES:[24]For details of this report with tabulated statement of all Ranger work for that period see Appendix C.
FOOTNOTES:
[24]For details of this report with tabulated statement of all Ranger work for that period see Appendix C.
[24]For details of this report with tabulated statement of all Ranger work for that period see Appendix C.
THE END
APPENDIX
APPENDIX A
EXTRACTS FROM REPORT OF ADJUTANT-GENERAL W.H. MABRY OF TEXAS; 1896. THE FITZSIMMONS-MAHER PRIZE FIGHT
Adjutant-General's Office,State of Texas.Austin, Feb. 27, 1896.
Lieutenant-Governor George T. Jester, Acting Governor:
Sir:—I herewith briefly submit a few facts connected with my presence at El Paso.
Much of the views sent over the wires were all colored in the interest of the managers of the prize fight. In fact, two reporters informed me that Stuart exercised a kind of censorship over all dispatches; that he demanded they be colored in his favor, with the threat that unless it was so worded they could not see the fight. The dispatches contained the denunciatory proceedings of a city council against the Governor's order in sending the rangers, and by my action there, in having close watch kept over all that was done so far as it pertained to the bringing off of the fight, but failed, with one exception, to contain the resolutions of the Ministers' Union, who represented a large class among the best citizens approving the Governor's action and upholding my methods. I talked with many of the best citizens, among whom were district officials, who stated they believed the fight would have been pulled off on some adjacent disputed territory about El Paso. Of course, Mr. Stuart assured me that he would not bring the fight off in Texas, but the Governor of Chihuahua also informed me that Mr. Stuart assured him that he would not pull off the fight in Old Mexico, and at the same time he had the dispatches to quote him as saying he would never violate the laws of Texas. If he does not do so every day in some of his gambling establishments, then common report has woefully misrepresented him.
I had a close and constant espionage placed, not only on the principals, but also on the passenger depot and the cars loaded with paraphernalia of the ring, with instructions to follow the latter to wherever hauled. Not only did I do this, up to the 14th, but kept it up to the 21st, notwithstanding Mr. Albers' outburst of virtuous (?) indignation, because I kept a surveillance over Maher when taken to Albers' room, over the latter's place of business, on the night of the 13th, the day before the fight was to occur. I did this on the night of the 20th, when Maher was domiciled in the same room. By the way, from the report of Captains Hughes and Brooks, I find it hard to reconcile Mr. Albers' high sounding document with his action in going on the bond of some bunco men whom Captain Hughes arrested for swindling and placed in jail. They were let out of jail, and Captains Hughes and Brooks investigated the facts, and found Mr. Albers and a man by the name of Burns, a keeper of a "red light" joint, were the bondsmen. Now, the surveillance over men who were advertised to commit a crime which was a felony in Texas, made these people very mad, and much was said about the liberty of the citizen, martial law, etc. The drippings from such sanctuaries should come very seldom, and then in very broken doses. I usurped no authority, nor interfered with local officers in any duty they saw fit to perform. I was ordered there to see that no such crime as was widely advertised to come off near El Paso should be perpetrated upon any isolated Texas soil, nor even on any so-called neutral strip between Texas and Mexico. The presence of the ranger force was evidently very much appreciated by a certain business element there, when these people called on me for protection and to leave a detachment in El Paso to protect the banks, while most of my force would be out of the city on the day of the fight. The city was full of desperate characters looking for spoils from whatever source.
From the utterance of Mr. Stuart, and most of his friends, as expressed in press dispatches, it would appear that the rangers and he were there for the same purpose—to prevent the fight in Texas. Nevertheless, Mr. Stuart's side kept up their misrepresentations until it became a foregone conclusion that no fight could occur on any disputed or neutral ground convenient to El Paso, notwithstanding the press dispatches reported him as having Mr. Bat Masterson and 100 men to protect his ring. I never heard of one cat squalling because another cat's tail got mashed. They began looking for another place, and Maher's eyes becamevery sore, and apparently remained in that condition until a secure place was found in Old Mexico, some 400 miles from El Paso. Then his eyes began to improve every day. Still, they may have been sore, but Dr. Yandell, who was reported in press dispatches as saying "Pete had acute ophthalmia," informed me that he never diagnosed his case, nor saw Maher at the time.
The prize fighters were merely dough in the hands of Mr. Stuart and the hundreds of others who were present for the money they hoped to win, and would have fought in the ring, wherever located, if unmolested by officers at that time. It is hard to believe that Mr. Stuart had so much respect for law he regarded as wrong, and which he believed was passed to affect his interests. To illustrate his great respect for laws generally, Mr. Brooks, manager of the Western Union Telegraph Company, came to me the night before the start was to be made for Langtry, and demanded protection. He stated that a representative of Mr. Stuart had come to him and informed him that unless his company paid $10,000 to Mr. Stuart, that he (Mr. B.) could not use his own office and his own wires to send off the report of the fight at Langtry. This same representative of Mr. Stuart's informed Mr. Brooks that said Mr. Stuart would place his (Mr. Stuart's) men in the office and keep him out by force. I readily granted him protection to do his legitimate business and had my rangers about the office, with the proper instructions, and no such high-handed measures were undertaken.
The statement wired, that I and the rangers crossed the river to see the fight, was palpably made to belittle the force. They knew it was false at the time.
I desire to express my approbation for the intelligent and efficient manner in which Captains Brooks, McDonald, Hughes, and Rogers executed every order and performed every duty. The rangers conducted themselves in such manner as to reflect additional credit upon the name of a ranger—always a synonym for courage and duty well performed. They were active in the execution of every order, quiet and orderly in manner, determined in mien, fearless and vigilant on duty; they thus naturally incur the displeasure of the law-breakers everywhere.
I have the honor to be your obedient servant,
W.H. Mabry, Adjutant-General.
Thanks are due Captains Orsay and Owen for the manner in which they have performed their respective duties.
I beg to here express my appreciation for the thoughtful and courteous consideration always accorded to me by Your Excellency, and my obligations for the cordial and able co-operation and advice which you have rendered to me in the administration of my department.
I have the honor to subscribe myself,
Very respectfully your obedient servant,W.H. Mabry, Adjutant-General.
STRENGTH AND OPERATIONS OF THE FRONTIER BATTALION
As now organized, the frontier force consists of four companies, commanded by Captains J.A. Brooks, W.J. McDonald, Jno. R. Hughes and J.H. Rogers.
Three are stationed along the Rio Grande and one (McDonald) in the Pan-handle, with headquarters at Alice, Cotulla, Ysleta and Amarillo. They scout over a large section of country, and detachments are sent to different sections where needed, if it is possible to send them. Demands for rangers have been greater than this department could furnish, because of the limited number of men in the service. But every effort has been made to cover as much territory as possible.
The report of operations for the two years show that they have traveled in scouting 173,381 miles; arrested 676 criminals; returned 2,856 head of stolen stock to their owners; have assisted the civil authorities 162 times, and guarded jails 13 times.
The duties of the ranger are arduous and often dangerous. The most desperate criminals would naturally seek that isolated section, and when on the trail of the bold desperadoes, often life is the forfeit in the encounter that may follow. Praise is due the commanding officers and their men for the prompt and fearless manner with which they perform their duties. While the pay is small, none but young men of character, standing, and good habits are enlisted, and they so conduct themselves as to reflect credit upon the State in the efficient service they render.
Because of the limited force, and the great demands made upon the service, there have been enlisted 82 special rangers, who serve without pay from the State. They are almost exclusively located in the frontier sections, and are paid principally by private interests, who claim they are compelled to stand the hardship ofthe extra burden, or tax it imposes, because, in conjunction with the regular force as a standing menace to criminals, they are thus enabled to enjoy some of the protection which a State really guarantees to them. These "specials" are always enlisted upon the recommendation of the sheriff and the district attorney, or the sheriff and some other officer of the county or district.
APPENDIX B
PART OF TWO YEARS' REPORT OF ADJUTANT-GENERAL THOS. SCURRY
December 1st, 1898—October 31st, 1900
THE RANGER SERVICE
The fact that the State has had for some years past a force always ready to suppress disorder, arrest criminals and aid the civil authorities in the protection of courts and jails, has been the cause of hundreds of criminals taking refuge in the border States, outside of the jurisdiction of Texas, and in Mexico, who would return to Texas to continue their depredations and murders were it not for the ranger force. Instances can be shown where the moral effect of having the rangers ready to co-operate with the civil authorities anywhere in the State has been a deterrent to the commission of lawless acts, and numerous instances can be shown where whole counties have been purged of their criminal element by the presence of the rangers, who alone were able to restore peace and good order in the community.
In reality, the so-called Frontier Battalion is but four small detachments. The reports received at this office indicate that these men, while fearless and prompt in the performance of their duty, have always acted with discretion and in the most orderly manner. Their well-known reputation for courage of itself has had a most salutary and good moral effect on the lawless element of the communities where they have been stationed.
Since January 1, 1899, the officers and men of the Frontier Battalion have been very actively engaged in running down the criminal element in the west, and in subduing lawlessness in other portions of the State. The rangers have only been used in other portions of the State when a direct request on your Excellency was made by the civil authorities of cities or counties needing them. That their work has been effective and to the satisfactionof those requesting their service, it is only necessary to refer to letters on file in this office in reference to their efficiency received from citizens and officials of the various cities and towns to which rangers have been ordered. It is probably appropriate to mention some prominent features of the work of the rangers during the past two years, outside of the duties usually performed by them in the way of scouting in the sparsely settled district of the west, and the work accomplished in recovering stolen cattle, arresting thieves, murderers, etc.
During the month of March, 1899, Captain McDonald, with two men, was ordered to Columbus, Colorado county, for the purpose of preventing trouble there between the Townsend and Reece factions. Captain McDonald went alone, his men not being able to reach him in time, and his courage and cool behavior prevented a conflict between the two factions. The district judge and district attorney both informed him that it was impossible to handle the situation, but he told them that he could make the effort, and he gave the members of each faction a limited time in which to get rid of their weapons, stating that he would put those in jail who refused to comply. His order had the desired effect.
Captain McDonald was ordered by your Excellency to Henderson county to work on the cases against the lynchers of the Humphreys. In reference to this affair, I take the liberty of quoting from a letter from Hon. N.B. Morris, ex-Assistant Attorney-General:
"You will remember that at the request of the sheriff, county attorney and other local authorities of that county, Captain McDonald and Private Old were sent there to assist them and myself in the investigation of that horrible murder which was then enshrouded in a mystery that it seemed almost impossible to uncover. Before the rangers reached us the people in the neighborhood of the murder seemed afraid to talk. They said they would be murdered, too, if they took any hand in working up the case. About the first thing that Captain McDonald did was to assure the people that he and his associates had come there to stay until every murderer was arrested and convicted, and that he would see that all those who assisted him would be protected. They believed him, and in consequence thereof they soon began to talk and feel that the law would be vindicated, and I am glad to say that it was. The work of the rangers in this one case is worth more to the State, in my opinion, than your department will cost duringyour administration. In fact, such service cannot be valued in dollars and cents....
"The rangers were at all times sober, orderly and quiet, and left that country on good terms with all factions. They paid no attention to the criticism of the mob sympathizers, but went straight along, did their duty and now have the confidence not only of the good citizens, but of the members of the mob and their friends."
Three of the lynchers turned State's evidence and eight of them were sentenced to the penitentiary for life.
In March, 1899, Company E, Captain J.H. Rogers commanding, was ordered to Laredo to assist the State health officer to enforce the quarantine laws, there being an epidemic of smallpox in that city. The Mexicans living there objected to being moved from their homes to the hospital, and the State health officer, considering it absolutely necessary for them to be moved in order to stop the spread of the disease, required force to accomplish his object. The Mexicans showed a disposition to riot on the 19th, collecting together in hundreds, some of them being armed. The city officials had a fight with them, several shots being fired, and on the 20th, Captain Rogers, followed by one ranger and a special ranger, went with the sheriff of the county to search for arms secreted in the house of an ex-policeman, it is supposed, for the purpose of making an assault upon the State health officer and his force if approached. These officers met resistance from the inmates of the house. A fight ensued in which Captain Rogers received a wound in the right arm, and one of the Mexicans was killed. The remaining detachment of Company E, having been advised of the fight, and having met Captain Rogers in a disabled condition, and presuming that the lives of the ranger and special ranger were in jeopardy, went to the scene of action without hesitation, and immediately upon reaching the street in which the Mexicans were assembled were fired upon by the latter. The six rangers proceeded up the street firing as they went, being under the impression that a man seen lying in the street, dead, was one of the rangers who accompanied Captain Rogers. Several disinterested citizens have said that these rangers showed remarkable pluck and daring in coming down the street, fighting several times their number without the slightest hesitation. Several Mexicans were wounded. After this the work of moving the smallpox patients to the hospital was an easy task.
In April, 1899, two rangers of this company were sent intoWharton County by request, and were successful in breaking up a gang of cattle thieves operating in that locality. Several were arrested, including the recognized leader.
In September, 1899, Captain Rogers and several of his men were ordered to Orange by request of the civil authorities, on account of an organized mob killing one negro and wounding another, and sending anonymous letters to others directing them to move out of the country. Several arrests were made. Captain Rogers was removed from Orange on account of his wound, and Captain McDonald and several of his men were ordered there to relieve him. Captain McDonald succeeded in arresting and having indicted four men for murder and a great number of men for conspiracy to murder in connection with the above mob. It is to be regretted that Ranger T.L. Fuller, while in the discharge of his duty at Orange, Texas, found it necessary to shoot and kill Oscar Poole in self-defense.
On the 15th day of October, 1900, while Captain W.J. McDonald, Lieutenant T.L. Fuller and Private A.L. Saxon, of Company B, were attending court at Orange, Texas, as witnesses, and Lieutenant Fuller to answer the charge of false imprisonment (for making an arrest while a private),[25]the latter was shot and killed by Tom Poole, a brother of Oscar Poole, while in a barber shop talking to one of the barbers. From the information received it is certain that Lieutenant Fuller did not know of the presence of Tom Poole when shot. While this ranger was enlisted on account of his previous good record as a deputy sheriff, he enlisted with the hope of saving sufficient money to finish his education in the University of Texas, having at that time just completed his freshman year. He was a young man of temperate habits, quiet in his manner and a fearless ranger.
RECOMMENDATION
I recommend that the law governing the ranger service be so amended "that the officers, non-commissioned officers and privates of the ranger force be clothed with the powers of peace officers to aid the civil authorities in the execution of the laws anywhere in the State; that they be given authority to make arrests, and in such cases to be governed by the laws regulatingand defining the powers and the duties of sheriffs when in discharge of similar duties." That this force consist of not to exceed four companies of twenty men each. The commissioned officers to be four company commanders, each with the rank of captain, one quartermaster with the rank of captain, and four 1st sergeants. The pay of the officers and non-commissioned officers to be as heretofore prescribed, and the pay of privates to be $40.00 per month. By increasing the pay of the privates, the State will secure the service of a better class of men, who will remain in the service a longer time and do more efficient work.
In view of the fact that a number of criminal suits have been brought against privates in the ranger force for false imprisonment by reason of arrests made by them prior to the promulgation of the attorney-general's opinion advising that only the officers of the ranger force had authority to execute criminal process under the law (see General Orders No. 24, Exhibit P), I respectfully recommend that an act be passed by the Legislature legalizing the official acts of the rangers as peace officers prior to May 26, 1900.
Officers and privates have for twenty-four years been acting in good faith under the impression that all rangers had the authority of peace officers, and privates of the Frontier Battalion have, during that time, received orders from higher authority to exercise the power of peace officers.
FOOTNOTES:[25]This tragedy resulted in the following recommendation by the Adjutant-General, which recommendation was duly acted upon.
FOOTNOTES:
[25]This tragedy resulted in the following recommendation by the Adjutant-General, which recommendation was duly acted upon.
[25]This tragedy resulted in the following recommendation by the Adjutant-General, which recommendation was duly acted upon.
APPENDIX C
REPORT OF CAPTAIN W.J. McDONALD, COMMANDING COMPANY B, RANGER FORCE
September 1st, 1902 to August 31st, 1904
The Adjutant-General, State of Texas:
Sir:—I have the honor to herewith inclose a report of the operations of Company B, Ranger Force, for the two years ending August 31, 1904:
September, 1902.—Captain McDonald, with Privates Blanton, Ryan and Taylor, scouted to Hutchinson County, from Amarillo. Private Taylor arrested James Newlin for assault to murder and turned him over to Sheriff Randal. Sergeant McCauley and Private Delling were ordered to Newlin county on a scout, and escorted a party of surveyors, who had been run out of pastures with Winchesters, and protected them from violence. Captain McDonald with Privates Blanton and Taylor went to Columbus to carry Gregorio Cortez to Karnes County district court. His life being threatened by a mob, it was necessary to secure two men from Company C and guard the jail in which he was placed. By order of the district judge we carried him back to Columbus and put him in jail there. Captain McDonald arrested S. Harvard for theft of a bale of cotton valued at $25.20 and put him in jail at Quanah.
October, 1902.—I went to Norman, O.T., to appear in cases against horse thieves previously caught by me, for theft of horses. Accompanied by Privates Taylor and Ryan, I went to Eagle Lake to investigate the attempted assassination of W.T. Eldridge and to protect Mr. Eldridge from further violence, and succeeded in finding out who did the shooting. Privates Blanton, Warrent and Ryan scouted Oldham, Moore, Hutchinson, Roberts, Hemphill, Wheeler, Gray and Carson counties during the month, locating cow thieves, reported to be in that section. Sergeant McCauley assisted Sheriff Johnson in carrying a crazy man tothe asylum at Austin, Texas. During this month, 2,600 miles were scouted and traveled.
November, 1902.—Accompanied by Privates Ryan and Taylor, I attended district court at Richmond, where trouble was anticipated in connection with the attempt to assassinate Mr. Eldridge. I went to Texline and Clayton, N.M., to investigate cattle stealing.
December, 1902.—With Privates Blanton and Kenton I took Will Carr, who had turned State's evidence on the county clerk, cattle inspectors and others in Hutchinson County, to Lipscomb County to district court, where one of the cases had been transferred. By order of the Governor of the State, Company B was ordered to Fort Hancock, on the Rio Grande, which was made headquarters, instead of Amarillo.
January, 1903.—Private Smith scouted to Alpine, to Santiago and to Comstock. Arrested Joe Hammon for murder and delivered him to the sheriff at Alpine. Also arrested a man for theft.
February, 1903.—Privates Smith and Taylor arrested a man at Sanderson for burglarizing Lockhamden ranch. He recovered the stolen property and turned it over to the owner. He turned the burglar over to the sheriff of the county. Sergeant McCauley and Private Ryan arrested Joe Jones, wanted at Pecos for forgery, and turned him over to the sheriff of the county. The money in his possession was secured and turned over to the sheriff of the county, and the defendant sent to the penitentiary at once. Privates Bean and Blanton scouted to Shafter and guarded the money for the mines. I assisted the local officials of El Paso several times during the month, and went to Mangum, O.T., as witness, and to assist in the prosecution of Sid Woodring, Frank Woodring and others for stealing my horses. These men were followed by me from the line of Collingsworth County to Cleveland County, O.T., and caught with the horses. They were sent to the penitentiary for the theft.
March, 1903.—Sergeant McCauley and Privates Bean and Blanton scouted on two trips to Shafter and Marfa, and up the Rio Grande in search for the notorious Bill Taylor, the train robber and murderer, and who had broken jail on several occasions, but he escaped into Mexico. Privates Taylor and Smith scouted to Sanderson and assisted the constable in preventing trouble at a trial in court, where the defendant, a sheriff, had killed the justice of the peace. Private Taylor, at the requestof the sheriff, went with him to El Paso to bring Geo. Maglovlin, who was charged with rape, to Alpine court. He also assisted in the arrest of a man for rape, one for horse theft, and one for murder, and put them in jail. Many scouts were made along the river in search of cow and horse thieves during the month.
April, 1903.—I assisted the officers and went with the sheriff of Pecos County to locate a man, but he escaped into Mexico. Sergeant McCauley and Private Bean arrested two men for theft of wood, and one for theft of a horse. Sergeant McCauley assisted the sheriff in arresting a man for threatening to take life. Privates Delling and Ryan scouted to Valentine and assisted in following horse thieves, but the thieves escaped into Mexico. They recovered one stolen horse and returned it to owner. Private Smith arrested a man for assault, and went to Sanderson to investigate the attempted burning of a hotel. He also went to Del Rio to look after several horse-stealing cases. Private Taylor went with Inspector Cook on a scout, looking for stolen cattle.
May, 1903.—I assisted in bringing to justice Gil Brice, a Mexican, charged with killing a lawyer named Tusselman several years ago, and who had escaped at Fort Hancock while shackled. Privates Ryan and Bean were sent to Sanderson to investigate the killing of a justice of peace and another man. Private Taylor arrested Thos. Chappis for attempt to murder, and succeeded in getting him in jail. Arrested R.C. McMahan for killing of Mr. Bob Smith, a justice of the peace, and Chas. Reed for lunacy.
June, 1903.—Private Ryan scouted down the river and to Sanderson. Sergeant McCauley scouted with and assisted river guards. Private Bean scouted from Sanderson in pursuit of a Mexican wanted in Tom Green County for attempt to rape. Scouted to Sanderson and arrested Tom Brown for killing Mr. Morris, the operator. Private Delling scouted to Ferlingin and investigated some cattle stealing.
July, 1903.—Privates Bean and Dunaway scouted four days down the river looking for stolen cattle. They arrested three Mexicans for shooting at Fort Hancock. Privates Delling and Ryan scouted to Sanderson to prevent trouble between factions, and to Fort Stockton to be present at the examining trial of McMahan, who was charged with murder, as trouble was expected. They also arrested a man charged with rape.
August, 1903.—Sergeant McCauley and Private Bean scouted in the northern part of El Paso County, looking after cattle andhorse thieves. Private Dunaway arrested John McCain while he was in the act of robbing a T. & P. caboose. Private Taylor scouted during the month. Various other scouts were made during the month.
September, 1903.—By order of General Hulen, I took Private Dunaway and went to Marfa to investigate an attack made on L.N. Holbert, county attorney. Mr. Holbert had been taken from the hotel by a mob and seriously beaten. I found who the guilty parties were, and brought Mr. Holbert to go before the grand jury to prosecute them, but through fear he begged off from the district attorney and wanted the matter dropped. I made an investigation of some whitecappers, and furnished the grand jury with evidence of same. One man was indicted. By order of General Hulen, Sergeant McCauley and Private Dunaway went to Eagle Pass to assist in the quarantine regulations and guarded the river until the quarantine was raised. Accompanied by Sergeant McCauley, I went with Deputy Sheriff Kenton to capture a man, but failed to get him out of Mexico. Several scouts were made to Sanderson and Fort Stockton to assist the officers. Private Bean arrested two Mexicans for carrying pistols, and carried them to jail, by order of the justice of the peace. Privates Delling and Ryan arrested two Mexicans for disturbing the peace. Private Taylor went to Columbus as witness in the Cortez case. Privates Delling and Smith went with Sheriff Walton to assist him in his county for several days.
October, 1903.—Sergeant McCauley and Private Dunaway were still on quarantine service at Eagle Pass. Private Dunaway arrested a Mexican for running a night watchman from his duty, and put him in jail. Privates Ryan and Bean arrested a man for burglarizing Finley ranch; recovered the property stolen, and turned it over to its owner. The man was put in jail at El Paso. Private Smith assisted the sheriff and scouted with him over the county, and then went to Marfa and assisted the officers there. Sergeant McCauley and Private Dunaway returned from Eagle Pass, where they have been on duty for several months. Private Bean scouted after outlaws during the month. Private Ryan went to Fort Stockton to attend district court, and went to Sanderson to do some work for the sheriff in serving some papers. Privates Taylor, Smith and Delling carried prisoners from Fort Stockton to Marfa for safe keeping. Privates Smith, Taylor and Delling attended district court in Del Rio.
December, 1903.—By order of General Hulen, I went toWalker County to look after parties who waylaid and assassinated Bob James in Kittrell's "Cut-off" on December 4th. I arrived there on the 12th, and on the 13th and 14th arrested Buck Shaw, Henry Shaw, P. Clark and Jim Alston as being implicated in the murder, carried them to Huntsville, and had them put in the penitentiary for safe keeping. Held a court of inquiry before Judge Cox, a justice of the peace, every few days. On the 24th Buck Shaw, the leader of the gang, had an examining trial, and was held without bail. Chas. Rhoden was tried on the 29th and held without bail. The defendants then sued out writs of habeas corpus before District Judge Smithers. Alston was allowed bail in the sum of $1,500. Private Delling arrived in the "Cut-off" on the 16th and has been assisting me since in the cases. Private Delling assisted in arresting two men for theft of cattle. Private Bean killed a negro porter at El Paso for knocking him down with an iron poker, and was promptly acquitted in district court at El Paso in January. Sergeant McCauley went to Marfa to investigate some stealing there and then went to investigate the killing of William Johnson.
January, 1904.—I, together with Private Delling, went to Corrigan and Livingston to look after some witnesses. I went after a bad negro for Sheriff Brooks. The negro was armed with a shot-gun, and considerable shooting occurred. After the negro ran out he shot at me and I wounded him in the side. Went to Huntsville to attend habeas corpus trial of the murderers of Bob James, which resulted in holding Shaw, Rhoden and Clark without bail. Assisted Sheriff Brooks in arresting a bad negro, wanted for robbing. Scouted in Houston, Trinity and Walker counties during the month, continually. Private Delling went to Polk County and arrested four men for theft of hogs and put them in jail at Huntsville. Sergeant McCauley arrested C. Marsden for murder. Sergeant McCauley, Privates Ryan and Bean scouted to Love's ranch to stop an invasion of Mexicans who were coming over after parties charged with murder on this side.
February, 1904.—I went to Crockett after attached witness. Private Delling arrested a man in the "Cut-off" for theft of hogs. I was ordered to Groveton by Adjutant General Hulen for the purpose of investigating the murder of an old lady. Touchstone, who was murdered for her land and money and thrown out the door for the hogs to eat. After investigation, I found that her throat had been cut and that she had beenkilled outright. Assisted by Private Delling I arrested Ab Angle, who had run off, as principal, and five others as accomplices. These parties were indicted by the grand jury. I caught one of them over the line of Arkansas while running away and put him in the pen at Henderson. Private Delling arrested a man in the "Cut-off" for horse theft, and put him in jail at Groveton. Private Dunaway arrested a man for robbing a camp. Private Bean arrested five Mexicans for disturbing the peace, and one man for assault to murder. Privates Taylor and Smith attended district court at Marfa. Privates Smith and Dunaway were ordered to Groveton to assist me in holding down the toughs of east Texas. Private Ryan attended district court at Amarillo; attended district court at Huntsville; assisted the sheriff in handling prisoners. Private Delling arrested three men for shooting up the town. He also arrested one who was charged with adultery in the "Cut-off" and one for waylaying and shooting two men at Phelps with a shot-gun. Private Dunaway arrested a man for carrying a pistol at Groveton, and two men for conspiring to kill Abe Hyman, the only eyewitness to the murder of Dr. Gary, and another man at Groveton. One of the men had fixed a plan to make the other believe that Abe Hyman was going to do him some violence, and succeeded in getting him to get a shot-gun in order to kill Abe Hyman. Private Dunaway took the gun and landed both men in jail. The accused men admitted the whole truth. One of these men was made constable, deputy sheriff and jailer as soon as he was released from jail. The other was run off at once, but I have his sworn statements of the facts. Private Dunaway arrested a man for burglary and rape and put him in jail. Private Taylor arrested a man at Sanderson for stealing cattle. Private Taylor was ordered to report to me at Groveton. Private Dunaway arrested a man for carrying a pistol, put him in jail, but the sheriff released him soon after, pretending he was an assistant of his.
April, 1904.—I carried two of the accomplices in the Touchstone murder from Huntsville to Groveton. By order of the Adjutant General I went to Leon County to investigate the murder of Tummins, who was waylaid and killed. Two men were arrested at the house of the murderer and put under $5,000 bond, but the grand jury failed to find a bill against them. They then began shooting into houses and had the people considerably disturbed. With Private Delling, I arrested them and held them without bail at the examining trial and also in habeas corpustrial. I was ordered to San Jacinto County to investigate lawlessness there, especially wire cutting, but found some of the wire cutters on the grand jury, and it was the opinion of the district and county attorney that we could do no good under existing circumstances, and nothing was accomplished there. Private Dunaway arrested a man for assault to rape. Assisted by Privates Dunaway and Delling, I arrested four persons charged with murder. They had previously been arrested for being accomplices to the Touchstone murder. I arrested a man for theft of a horse. Sergeant McCauley scouted in different counties on the Rio Grande, and investigated the stealing of horses. I went to Waverly to investigate the poisoning of a well and cistern, but decided it was done by the parties themselves, in order to accuse others of it. I went to Palestine to assist the sheriff in hanging a negro charged with rape. Private Delling went to Leon County to investigate the murder of Bob Blackwell, and succeeded in securing the required evidence. He attended the examining trial of the two men charged with the murder, who were held without bail. Privates Smith and Dunaway arrested a man for attempting to murder A.A. Smith and put him in jail. They also arrested the same man for carrying a pistol. Private Ryan arrested two Mexicans for stealing sheep in El Paso County and another for stealing wood.
June, 1904.—Private Delling and myself scouted in Kittrell's "Cut-off," Houston and Trinity Counties. I went to Comstock; made a scout on Devil's River, to El Paso and to Fort Hancock. Sergeant McCauley arrested a man for embezzlement and started to jail with him at El Paso, but he escaped by jumping out of a window while the train was in motion. Sergeant McCauley and Private Ryan arrested two Mexicans for theft of horses and saddles, recovered the property and returned the same to its owners. Private Ryan attempted to arrest a man for theft of cattle, and had a running fight with and wounded him. He escaped across the river. Private Dunaway arrested a man and put him in jail for carrying a pistol. Privates Delling and Smith went to Centerville to court to prevent trouble between citizens there, when a malicious prosecution was filed against him. Private Delling arrested a man for carrying a pistol in the "Cut-off."
July, 1904.—Accompanied by Privates Delling and Wilcox, I went to Oakwood to investigate train robbing of the I. & G.N. We captured two of the men without a doubt. They were putin jail at Palestine and identified by the conductor as the two men that came into the sleeper, and the only two tracks that led up to where the express packages were torn open fitted theirs. They afterwards admitted them to be their tracks. While we made a strong case against them, the influence of the officers and others was too strong to find any bills. I would like to have space to add in this report the testimony taken at the examining trial.
August, 1904.—I went to Groveton to attend court, and carried Ab Angle before the grand jury, but he failed to testify, as he had been persuaded not to do so. I arrested a man for being implicated in train robbery, but he proved an alibi and was released. Private Delling went to Centerville to district court. Sergeant McCauley recovered six stolen horses and turned them over to the owners. He arrested four Mexicans for theft of cattle.
Very respectfully,W.J. McDonald,Commanding Company B, Ranger Force.
Table Showing Result of Operations of the Ranger Force from September 1, 1902, to August 31, 1904.
APPENDIX D
REPORT OF AN INVESTIGATION MADE BY HERBERT J. BROWN, EMPLOYED BY THE WAR DEPARTMENT IN CONJUNCTION WITH CAPTAIN W.G. BALDWIN, WITH A VIEW OF LEARNING WHAT HAPPENED AT BROWNSVILLE, TEX., ON THE 13TH AND 14TH OF AUGUST, 1906
Washington,D.C.,December 5, 1908.
Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report relative to the investigation of the Brownsville raid:
Ex-Private Boyd Conyers, of Company B, Twenty-fifth Infantry, now at Monroe, Ga., told William Lawson, a detective in the employ of Captain William G. Baldwin, of Roanoke, Va., that he and three [or four] other men of the Twenty-fifth Infantry were the leaders in the Brownsville raid. This information was obtained at different dates during the month of June, 1908. (See Exhibit A.)
I submit the affidavit as presented. There are certain discrepancies of a minor character, due to the fact that Lawson is illiterate and had to depend on his memory for details. But it should be borne in mind that Lawson was unacquainted with the details of the Brownsville raid and was given information which could have come only from one familiar with the secret history of the affair. Lawson's first report included the names of Conyers, John Holloman, John Brown, and "another man." Subsequently he supplied the name of James Powell, but I think the original name given was that of Robert L. Collier, Company C, one of the relief guard. This information was corroborated in the presence of witnesses, but before Lawson could finish his work Conyers became suspicious and would give no further evidence incriminating himself. From then on he furnished to A.H. Baldwin, Captain W.G. Baldwin, and to myself information piecemeal and reluctantly. The name of Carolina de Saussure, his bunk mate, was the last one obtained.
Conyers tried to commit suicide after he found that he had made his statements to a detective, declaring that the other negroes would kill him when it got out. He finally wrote to Senator Foraker and received a reply, a copy of which is annexed. That reply he construed to mean that he should stick to his original story told before the Senate committee at all hazards, and there he stands. I have every reason to believe that his confession is genuine and gives for the first time the true secret history of the Brownsville raid.
The list of participants given in this report Conyers furnished me personally. I believe it is substantially correct, but with the influences shown to be backing Conyers to adhere to his false testimony given before the Senate committee still being exerted he cannot be relied on to support his own confession until it is thoroughly sustained from other sources.
Evidences of similar encouragement to stick to the lies told at Brownsville and before the Senate committee were found in many places, and subsequent to the date of the Foraker letter they became stronger and more obstructive than ever.
The investigation has been conducted with strict recognition of the advisability of preserving secrecy, and with discretion. No promises of immunity were made. The knowledge on the part of the ex-soldiers that the Government could not punish them after their separation from the service, coupled with the belief that by preserving silence they would aid in the passage of the relief legislation now pending in Congress, has added to the difficulty of securing information.
The issue has evidently become racial. The colored detectives would be confronted frequently in the smaller towns where these men are living with a demand from colored men for information as to their business.
We have located over 130 of these ex-soldiers, and have been in thirty States in quest of information. The appendices give statements as to the results obtained. They indicate a general knowledge on the part of the ex-soldiers that the raid came from inside the fort, and that the soldiers of Company B were the guilty parties.
We earnestly urge that we be permitted to continue the investigation. Several detectives are still in the field, and within the coming week a number of affidavits will be forthcoming.
With some repetition of matter appearing later in the report, Boyd Conyers's story is given here in narrative form:
REPORT OF T.B. SKIDMORE.
"The rumors of trouble over the assignment of colored troops to Brownsville were circulated before the troops left Fort Niobrara, and preparations were made among the men to 'get even with the crackers,' so the whites were called. Some cartridges were held out at range practice, but more en route to Brownsville. Pretense was made that they were given away at stations along the road. Some were, but a large number were secreted.
"At inspection in Brownsville, Lieutenant Lawrason, Company B, threatened punishment to the men who were short of ammunition, but nothing was done about it, and the deficiency was supplied.
"The friction with citizens of Brownsville began at once. In Boyd Conyers's language, 'Whisky made all the trouble. If we hadn't been drinking we wouldn't have had the nerve to shoot up the town.'
"It was agreed, at a gathering of a few men in the saloon of Allison, the colored ex-soldier, on the afternoon of August 13, 1906, that the raid should take place that night at 12 o'clock. It seems to have been delayed a few minutes to let Tamayo, the Mexican scavenger, get away from the B barracks.
"John Holloman, the money lender of Company B, was the chief conspirator and leader in the raid and custodian and distributor of the cartridges, but his plans could not have been carried out had not Sergeant George Jackson, of Company B, in charge of the keys of the gun racks in B barracks, and Sergeant Reid, in command of the guards, co-operated both before and after the raid.
"The four men who led the raid were John Holloman, John Brown, Boyd Conyers, and Carolina de Saussure, all of Company B (and probably R.L. Collier, of Company C). Holloman was in barracks, Brown in the bake shop, Conyers and De Saussure in the guardhouse. The two latter were in the same detail, and had been relieved at about 11 o'clock, de Saussure on the post at the guardhouse, and Conyers on No. 2, around the barracks and facing the town. Holloman got the party together. Conyers and De Saussure slept on the same bunk in the guardhouse, claiming that they wanted to get under the mosquito net, and they had the trick of taking their guns into the bunk instead of placing them in the open rack, on the excuse thatthey didn't rust so badly under cover, but really so the absence of the guns from the open guardhouse rack would not attract attention, and their own absence would be ascribed to a visit to the closet, which was back of the guardhouse. These two men slipped out the rear door of the guardhouse, passed through the sally port, and joined Holloman and Brown.
"The party crossed the wall of the fort down near the end of A barracks, went up the roadway to the entrance to the Cowen alley, where the signal shots were fired. These shots were immediately tallied onto by the alarm shots of Joseph B. Howard, guard on No. 2, and formed the series testified to by Mrs. Katie E. Leahy, of Brownsville. Her testimony is further borne out by the statement that not over thirty seconds elapsed before a number of men of Company B swarmed out on the upper gallery and opened a fusillade on the town.
"It is an absolute certainty that it would have been impossible for Sergeant Jackson to have opened the gun racks, for the men to have assembled, secured their guns, loaded them, gone out to the gallery, and started firing, all after the first shot was fired; all aroused, as they testified unanimously, from sound slumber, in less than two minutes, in the confusion of a dark barrack room. Beyond the possibility of a doubt, the racks had been opened and the inside conspirators were ready to pour out on the signal shots. The testimony is ample that there were scarcely twenty seconds between the last of the signal shots and the first general volley from B barracks.
"The number firing from the barracks is unknown, but perhaps 20 men were involved. A smaller number went to the ground and followed the leaders up the alley. It will be remembered that one of the witnesses testified to hearing some one of the group of soldiers exclaim, 'There they go!' Whereupon these men leaped over the wall and ran up the alley.
"Boyd Conyers is the man whose gun jammed at the exit of the alley by the Cowen house, testified to by Herbert Elkins, and it was taken from him by De Saussure and fixed in the street where the light from the street lamp at the corner of Elizabeth Street shone on them.
"Less than five minutes elapsed from the time the first shot was fired until these men were all back inside the fort.
"Conyers stated that Reid was told that they were going to shoot up the town, and he had laughed and said, 'Don't go out there and let the crackers get the best of you.'
"When Conyers and De Saussure reached the guardhouse they ran in the back way and got into their bunks. Sergeant Reid came in and swore at them, but Conyers was so excited and out of breath that he could hardly stand, so Reid stationed him at the rear of the guardhouse in the dark where he could not be scrutinized so closely.
"Holloman came around with extra cartridges about daybreak and Reid passed them out. The guns were all cleaned before daylight."
This day personally appeared before me William Lawson, who, being duly sworn, deposes and says:
"On June 5, 1908, I was sent to Monroe, Ga., to interview Boyd Conyers, one of the soldiers who was stationed at Brownsville, Tex., in August, 1906. I was sent by Mr. Baldwin to get in with Conyers and ascertain if he knew who did the shooting at that point. I was not given the names of any of the members of either of the companies stationed at that point, nor was I given any other information, except the fact that a shooting occurred at the time and place above mentioned, and that Boyd Conyers was suspected of knowing who did same.
"I arrived at Monroe, Ga., on June 5, and stopped at the home of Esther Crews, colored. I met Boyd Conyers, who is known as 'Buddie' Conyers, on the morning of June 6, but had very little conversation with him, but was introduced to him as an old soldier. On the morning of June 8, between 8 and 9 o'clock, I met Conyers about halfway between the station house and Main Street. We talked some twenty or twenty-five minutes. I broached the Brownsville case, and mentioned the fact that the soldiers had shown their good sense by keeping their mouths while at Washington. I then asked him what the motive was for the shooting. He told me that the 'crackers' at Brownsville had made threats that they would have no negro soldiers at Brownsville, and the soldiers had made it up in their minds that if they bothered them that they would go in and clean up the ground. He also said that they mentioned this to Sergeant Reid, who was commander of the guards, and that Reid said, 'All that I have to say is to take care of yourself and the boys when you go down there.' S.H. Parker, whose home is at Charleston, S. C, was present and heard the same conversation.
"About then a gentleman called Conyers to come and clean some clothes, and Conyers left, and nothing further was said about the matter at this time. I was with Conyers nearly everyday, and went to Gainesville, Ga., on an excursion with him on the 15th of June. I did not mention the Brownsville matter to Conyers again until on the 29th of June, when I returned from Atlanta, having gone there on June 27. On this date I met him at Joe Blassingame's and had a pint bottle of liquor, offered him a drink—he would not drink in the house, but we went up the street and we stopped under a storehouse porch, near Main street. We took a drink or two, and I started the Brownsville case again. He told me that he was doing guard duty at the time of the shooting at Brownsville, and was stationed at the outlet toward the town. He said that when the guard was called the night of the shooting they mentioned to Sergeant Reid what had occurred downtown, and he said, 'Boys, if you are not satisfied, you will have to go and get satisfied,' and they remarked that they were going to get satisfaction that night. Reid then laughed and said, 'Boys, don't you go down there and let them get the best of you.' He then assigned the guard and went away.
"In this conversation Conyers told me that John Brown, J.H. Holloman, and a man named Powell, and several others, came down where he was on guard, and that they went downtown and just gave them hell, and after they shot out all of their cartridges they ran back to the barracks, and when they got back to the barracks they found that the alarm had been sounded and the officers were calling the roll. Holloman, Brown, and himself were late for roll call, but that some one answered for Brown and Holloman, but that he was late, and that Reid told him that they had gotten themselves and himself in a hell of a hole, and told him to go to the guardhouse and pretend to be asleep, which he did.