The Aransas Pass Progress (Aransas Pass, Tex.), Vol. 108, No. 7, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 15, 2017 Page: 4 of 12
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Aransas Pass Progress
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Page 4
TRIPLE LYNCHING TOUCHES OFF NASTY FEUD
tance at the local lockup and
whisked the prisoners off to
the nearest tree.
A Texas Ranger, who
just happened to be passing
through, crashed the necktie
party in time to save a pair
of the badmen. Sheriff Clark
suddenly appeared to back his
play but swore he could not
identify any members of the
mob that disappeared in the
darkness.
Word of the lynching
spread like wildfire. Although
the “native” ranchers could
have cared less about the
Backus bunch, they feared in-
discriminate attack from an
aroused German community.
In a show of force, they occu-
pied the county seat.
At the head of 60 armed
Germans, Sheriff Clark re-
took the town and negotiated
a fragile truce. Six weeks later,
the cold-blooded killing of a
popular “native” rancher shat-
tered the peace. Lured off his
property by a deputy sheriff,
Tim Williamson was brutally
bushwhacked.
The senseless slaying
brought into the simmering
feud Scott Cooley, the vic-
tims half-crazed adopted son.
Since Indians slaughtered his
parents and held him captive
as a child, Cooley had never
been quite right in the head.
The murder of the stepfather
he idolized pushed the grief-
stricken youth over the edge.
Coming upon the guilty
deputy digging a well, Cooley
shot him six times, repeatedly
stabbed his dead body and re-
moved his scalp. To prove his
gruesome point, he made the
rounds of the Mason saloons
proudly displaying the grisly
trophy in each and every es-
tablishment.
Both sides suffered casual-
ties in the ensuing county-wide
conflict. Cooley organized his
own band of trigger-happy
misfits, who had no stake in
the affair but relished the com-
bat. Mason County quickly
became a blood-soaked battle-
ground.
After weeks of strife, a
Ranger company commanded
by Major John B. Jones tempo-
rarily restored order. Sheriff
Clark complied by immedi-
ately resigning and vanishing
without a trace.
Cooley, however, calmly
stayed put. The former Ranger
bet his old comrades would be
reluctant to bring him in, and
to the disgust of Major Jones,
he was right.
Six weeks later, the Rang-
ers pulled out of the war-torn
county leaving a token force to
keep up the half-hearted hunt
for Cooley. Meanwhile, the
fugitive shrewdly steered clear
of Mason but continued his
search for German targets.
In late 1875, Cooley and
sidekick Johnny Ringo, the
same gunslinger who later
blazed his way into the history
books in Arizona, were ar-
rested in Burnet. Hopes for an
end to the bloodshed soared
in Mason County only to be
dashed by news of a suspicious
jailbreak.
Freed by friends in Lampa-
sas County, Cooley resumed
his rampage. But revenge did
not put food on the table, and
to satisfy his grumbling follow-
ers as well as his own stomach,
he turned to the tried-and-
true practice of rustling cattle.
In a few months, Cooley was
teaching old hands a thing or
two about swiping steers.
Deliverance
comes in strange packages,
and for Mason County it came
in a bottle. Cooley stopped for
dinner at Fredericksburg and
bought a fifth of whiskey for
the road. Several swigs later,
he tumbled from the saddle
and lapsed into a coma.
By dawn Scott Cooley was
a goner, done in not by a dose
of lead but poison. With him
died the Hoodoo War, and
the barricades at last came
down in battle-scarred Mason
County.
By Bartee Haile
A masked mob dragged
five suspected cattle thieves
kicking and screaming from
the Mason County jail on Feb.
18, 1875, lynched three of the
terrified outlaws and touched
off a nasty feud forever known
as the Hoodoo War.
In the chaotic aftermath
of the Civil War, Texans often
took the law into their own
hands. Desperate characters,
who mistook common folk for
easy pickings, were routinely
dispatched without benefit of
judge, jury or clergy.
Like so many similar epi-
sodes, the Mason County
hanging might soon have been
forgotten had the vigilantes not
been Germans and the victims
so-called “natives.” Blood be-
gan to flow when fear replaced
reason, and people blindly
picked sides along ethnic lines.
Small ranchers and farmers of
German descent hesitated to
strike back against the saddle
tramps plundering their pre-
cious few possessions in the
early 1870 s. Having suffered
*
\
it
sometimes
Bartee Haile
for their pro-Union opinions
during the war, they wanted
only to pick up the pieces of
their quiet lives. The last thing
most German Texans wanted
was trouble.
Confronted by a worsening
crime wave, Mason County
voters elected a new sheriff,
who promised a complete
cleanup. John Clark did his
best, but the rustler rings were
always one step ahead of the
inexperienced lawman.
In February 1875, the
sheriff got lucky. He caught
five members of the notori-
ous Backus Gang red-handed
with a herd of stolen cattle.
That evening a crowd of irate
citizens overcame light resis-
Bartee’s three books “Texas
Depression-Era Desperadoes,”
“Murder Most Texan” and
“Texas Boomtowns: A History
of Blood and Oil” are available
for purchase at barteehaile.
com.
February designated cancer prevention month
Through decades of re-
search, health organizations
and officials have determined
several habits our citizens can
incorporate into their lives to
help prevent cancer. Avoiding
the use of, or high exposure
to tobacco is the best way to
prevent lung cancer which has
been identified as the most-
deadly form of this affliction.
example, by applying sun-
screen regularly, reducing time
spent in artificial tanning beds,
and/or covering exposed skin
while spending time in the sun
will reduce the risk of develop-
ing skin cancer.
These safe practices are
especially important during
the suns peak times. The ex-
act time frames depend on the
season, but the rays from the
sun are usually strongest from
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
by reducing the intake of pro-
cessed foods and drinks, like
fast food and alcohol, and
replacing them with nuts or
vegetables and 100% real fruit
spread to others.
Learn how to perform
self-exams and other helpful
facts at the following web-
sites: http://www.medicinenet.
com/cancer_detection/article.
htm, http://www.skincancer.
org/skin- cancer-information/
early-detection, http://www.
breastcancer.org/symptoms/
testing/types/self_exam/bse_
steps, and/or https://www.six-
stepscreening.org/self-exam/.
or symptoms that have been
associated with cancer. For
example, many who have suf-
fered brain tumors, caused by
cancer, experience headaches
that will not subside even after
treatment.
Unrelenting back pain may
also be a symptom of colon,
rectum, or ovarian cancers.
A more visible way to detect
potential cancer is through
changes in the skin.
Skin might begin to look
darker, redder, more yel-
low, etc. You can find a more
complete list of signs and
symptoms cancer can cause at
https://www.cancer.org/can-
cer/cancer-basics/signs-and-
symptoms-of-cancer.html.
By Todd Hunter
The month of February
is Cancer Prevention month.
The State of Texas recognizes
February to raise awareness of
this disease.
Cancer causes more deaths
than any other illness or health
issue worldwide. Cancer is a
varied group of diseases that
are caused by abnormal, inva-
sive cell growth within the tis-
sue of an organ.
Cancer cells are capable of
spreading to other parts of the
body if they are not discovered
and/or treated in a reasonable
amount of time. The World
Health Organization has de-
termined at least 1/3 of all can-
cer cases are preventable.
juices.
Gradual changes like these
can lead to the ability to main-
tain a healthy weight which is
also proven to reduce cancer
in the breasts, prostate, lungs,
colon, and/or kidneys.
Besides lung cancer, tobac-
co use causes cancer to develop
and/or spread in the mouth,
throat, larynx, pancreas, blad-
der, cervix, and kidneys.
Along with lung cancer,
skin cancer is another highly
common and highly prevent-
able form of this disease. For
For many, going to the doc-
tor for regular check-ups can
be difficult. Therefore, learning
how to perform self-exams can
increase the chances of detect-
ing cancer in its earliest stages
before the abnormal cells take
over the affected organ and/or
The sooner cancer is iden-
tified, the better! Cancer treat-
ments are typically much more
successful when the abnormal
cells are still fairly adolescent
and contained.
There are many signs and/
Another way to reduce
the possibility of developing
breast, colon, lung, kidney,
and/or liver cancer(s) is to es-
tablish a healthier diet.
This can be accomplished
The Aransas Pass
ess
Gov. Abbot gives State of State address
M
tern, education issues and ban-
ning “sanctuary cities”.
The issues with the child
welfare system is the top prior-
ity for Governor Abbott. This
broken system has resulted in
the deaths and neglect of hun-
dreds of allegedly abused chil-
dren in Texas.
school finance, pre-kinder-
garten programs and school
choice.
The Governor commended
the early efforts of the Texas
House of Representatives and
Senate to address the issue of
restructuring school finance.
He also reminded lawmak-
ers to keep the goal of achiev-
ing high quality pre-kinder-
in his address was the issue of
“sanctuary cities”.
“Sanctuary cities” are plac-
es where local officials do not
fully cooperate with federal
immigration authorities.
Governor Abbott asked
lawmakers to work towards
legislation that would ban
“sanctuary cities” in the state
of Texas.
garten programs on our own
list of priorities.
by Rep. I.M. Lozano
Editor/Publisher
John Bowers
Reporter
Norma L. Martinez
Bookkeeper
Denise Ayers
Distribution Manager
Michael Hembree
Contributing Writer
Annita West
Production
Mikayla Oelschlegel-Gonzalez
Governor Abbott finished
addressing education by ad-
vocating for the legislature to
pass a bill that would make
Texas the 31st state to offer
school choice.
Lastly, another emergency
item the Governor mentioned
Governor Greg Abbott de-
livered his State of the State
speech last week during a joint
session of the Texas House of
Representatives and Senate.
Governor Abbott
rein-
forced the legislatures opti-
mism that the states economy
would bounce back from an oil
downturn. He also laid out he’s
Governor Abbott declared
this issue an emergency item
for the legislature and encour-
aged the members to cast a
vote to save a child’s life.
The education issues that
the Governor focused on were
r I THINK ^1
I SPEAK FOR
EVERYONE HERE
when isAY-
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priorities for the 85th Legisla-
tive Session.
These items included re-
forming the child welfare sys-
rr
The Aransas Pass Progress
(USPS 028-900) is published by
DeWitt County Publishing LP.,
346 S Houston St., Aransas Pass,
TX 78336. Second Class postage
paid at Aransas Pass,TX. Post-
master: Send address changes
to The Aransas Pass Progress,
P.O. Box 2100 Aransas Pass,TX
78335.
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Subscription rates:
Aransas and San Patricio County,
Cities of Port Aransas and Rock-
port-$39 per year. Outside listed
area-$49 per year.
Memberships:
National Newspaper Associa-
tion, Texas Press Association;
South Texas Press Association;
Texas Gulf Coast Press Associa-
tion; Aransas Pass Chamber of
Commerce, Rockport Chamber
of Commerce, Ingleside Cham-
ber of Commerce.
Questions?^
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iv
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low readers and your city officials.
Submit your letter to the editor (up to
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Hi
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WHEN THE COUNTY GOVT. UNVEILS A NEW PROPOSAL
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Bowers, John. The Aransas Pass Progress (Aransas Pass, Tex.), Vol. 108, No. 7, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 15, 2017, newspaper, February 15, 2017; Aransas Pass, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1143784/m1/4/: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Ed & Hazel Richmond Public Library.