Palacios Beacon (Palacios, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 1, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 1, 1987 Page: 4 of 10
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Page 4-P«l«clos Beacon, Jan. 1,1987
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Guerrillas terrorize North Texas
BY BABTEE HAtl.E
Dec. 31, 1863, a New Year’s
Eve bash at a Sherman dance hall
ended in a wall-to-wall brawl.
The party-goers who pounded
each other senseless all were
members of the notorious guer-
rilla band, Quantrill’s Raiders.
After leaving Lawrence, Kan-
sas, in ashes, Col. William
Clarke Quantrill wisely decided
to lie . low for the winter. On a
creek; north of Sherman, hund-
reds of miles from his familiar
haunts, he ordered the 300
Confederate irregulars to make
camp. For rest and recteation,
the Marauders tormented North
Texans and fought among them-
selves like cats and dogs.
A 26-year old ex-teacher,
Quanlrill seemingly started hts
checkered career with honorable
intentions. During the first mon-
ths of the Civil War, he rallied
Missouri farmers to resist the
frequent attacks of Jayhawkers
TOsSleS
from neighboring Kansas.
Northerrf authorities only made
matters worse in early 1862 by
branding the sod-busters as
outlaws subject to summary
execution; Strengthened by a
wave of atigry recruits, Quantrill
wrested control from the Yankees
of Independence, Missouri, an
achievement that won him a
commission as a Confederate
captain.
The schoolmaster’s style of
all-out combat attracted a cast of
shady characters. Cole Younger
and the James brothers, Frank
and Jesse, represented Missouri
youths craving revenue against
, the .Union army, while others like
Little Archie Clement, who sca-
lped fallen foes, were muideroUs
maniacs. Many of t,hi rest were
copinion criminals interested in
nothing more than plunder.
Failing to find the elusive
guerrillas, Northern soldiers sei-
zed th.e, wives, mothers and
sisters of ideqtifietl Quantrill
followers. The unsuspecting citi-
zens of Lawrence, Kansas, paid
dearly for this blunder. In the
bloody raid of August 1863, ISO
inhabitants were killed, and the
town went up in flames.
At his headquarters in nearby
Bonham, Brigadier General Hen-
ry McCulloch was informed of
the raiders' arrival. Well acqua-
inted with their dubious exploits,
he protested to his superior that
"certainly we cannot as a Christ-
ian people sanction a savage,
inhuman warfare in which men
are shot down like dogs.”
In an effort to calm the fears of
his subordinate, Gen. Edmund
Kirby-Smith replied that the
Quantrill contingent was com-
posed of "bold, fearless, mqn"
and "the very best class of
Missourians.” He encouraged
McCulloch to utilize their special
expertise by sicking the guerril-
las on the Confederate deserters
hiding out in North Texas.
Against his better judgement,
McCulloch obeyed and was not
surprised by the results. The
trigger happy raiders were good
at hunting down deserters but
even better at finding excuses to
riddle1 them ■"with bullets. Very
few lived long enough to return
to active duty.
The New Year's Eve melee
revealed the seething conflicts
festering within the Quantrill
ranks. The Lawrence slaughter
gnawed at the conciences of a
few raiders, while others had
surmised that the Southern cause
was doomed after the defeats at
Gettysburg and Vicksburg. But
most simply felt they were not
receiving their fair share of the
loot.
A rash of murders and robber-
ies in January 1864 was blamed
on the Quantrill incorrigibles and
again prompted McCulloch to
write Kijby-Smith. Swearing that
the Missourians were "but one
shade bptter than the highway-
.......
men," he maintained that the
guerrillas "regard the life of a
man less than you would a
sheep-killing dog ”
By the time the undaunted
Texan amassed sufficient eviden-
ce to call Quantrill on the carpet,
petty squables and defections
had reduced the band to less than
a hundred. When Quantrill set
foot in Bonham, he was instantly
arrested for the recent crime
wave.
However, while McCulloch
took a dinner break, the resour-
ceful prisoner escaped from his
hotel room cell. Quantrill rallied
his remaining riders, hurriedly
broke camp and left Texas for
good.
In less than a year, the colonel
was replaced at gunpoint by an
ambitious underling. But with his
blood curdling reputation, he had
no trouble starting over with a
new batch of volunteers. Out to
prove that he was no has-been,
Quantrill dreamed up his most
daring and diabolical deed to
date.
On his way to Washington to
kill Abraham Lincoln, he discov-
ered in April 1863 that an
upstaging actor had already
beaten him to the President.
Seriously wounded the next
month in a Kentucky skirminsh
with a Federal patrol, he lingered
three weeks before finally dying.
At the request of his mother,
Quantrill’s remains were dug up
22 years later. However, before a
second burial in his native Ohio,
a family friend with an ironclad
stomach sold several of his
famous bones to the highest
bidder.
In the 1940’s, the missing skull
was located in a college fraternity
house where the relic was used
for initiation rites. The ghoulish
episode seemed strangely appro-
priate for Quantrill, whom many
thought had lost his head while
still alive and kicking.
Care and feeding of
Christmas gift plants
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Once again this year, I’d like to
offer a few capsulized tips on the
care of your Christmas gift plants:
AFRICAN VIOLET
For the rest of the winter locate
this plant in bright light. It will
have to be moved out of direct sun
toward the end of winter. Average
warm room temperatures with
nights not below 60 F and high hu-
midity, together with bright light
will ensure continued bloom. Take
care not to overwater. The soil
should be kept only just moist.
AMARYLLIS
Keep a little cool and out of di- '
ract sun to prolong bloom. When
flowers are spent, remove entire
flower stalk above the bulb. Keep
the plant watered and fertilized
for strong, healthy foliage to
maintain vigor in the bulb. Plants
may be summered outdoors and
dried gradually in the fall. Store
the bulb in its pot in a cool but not
cold (around 55 F) spot for about
two months before starting it up
again.
AZALEA
Bright light, cool temperatures,
high humidity and constantly
moist soil will keep your azalea
perky and blooming. Water and
mist with rainwater or fridge de-
frostings, if possible. These are
lime-free and suit this acid-lover
bqst. Keep dead flowers and foli-
age picked off the plant.
CHRISTMAS CACTUS
Keep this forest cactus in bright
light and fairly cool night tem-
peratures, the soil slightly moist.
After bloom, rest the plant a little
until spring by watering less. Set
outside in filtered light for the
summer. Rest again in the fall,
when cool, drier and shorter days
will help initiate flower buds
again.
CHRYSANTHEMUM
These plants will stay fresh and
blooming longest in bright light,
with consistently moist soil, high
humidity and cool temperatures,
especially at night. Cut back
shoots after bloom is finished to
about 5 inches and continue care
until spring when the plant can be
M
Sk
M
1
Backyard
Gardener
separated into pieces for planting
in the garden or into pots for
plunging in the garden.
CITRUS
Full sun, moist soil, a cool and
airy location and a summer out-
doors are the keys to caring for
dwarf orange and lemon trees.
Should leaves show yellowing with
the veins remaining green, feed
with an acidic fertilizer like Mira-
cid or with chelated iron.
CYCLAMEN
This beauty needs decidedly
cool temperatures to prolong its 1
flowering. At least at night, try to
find a cool spot around 50 F for it
Keep soil uniformly moist but
avoid pouring water on the foliage
or the center of the plant. Pull out
rather than cut the stalks of faded
flowers.
It is normal for this plant to
begin dying down after flowering.
Gradually reduce water when this
happens, remove old foliage and
rest dry until spring. Then repot
with the top of the corm above soil
level, and set outdoors in cool,
light shade till fall.
KALANCHOE
Bright light and cool night tem-
peratures around 60 F will help
keep this plant and its flowers in
prolonged fine shape. Allow the
soil to dry a little on top between
waterings. Too much water often
will promote rotting in this succu-
lent plant Can be summered out-
doors like Christmas cactus, but
requires four months of cool, 14-
hour nights to flower again.
POINSETT1A
Keep this one out of hot and
cold drafts, in bright light and
even, slightly cool temperatures.
Keep the soil moist and maihtain !
high humidity levels by frequent- **
misting of the lower leaves and
setting the pot on a hollow con-
tainer with damp peat or pebbles.
Finally, a few words on fertiliz-
ing Christmas gift plants. As a
general rule, fertilize while plants
are in active growth or bloom —
once weekly with a very diluted
quarter-strength solution, alter-
nating between a natural product
like liquid seaweed or fish and a
chemical product like 15-30-15.
For acid lovers like azaleas, use a
fertilizer like Miracid at every
second feeding, still keeping to a
quarter-strength solution.
PaldcloaX Beacon
Secee4 CUm FwtaM Pdf At
PaiaciM, Tmm 77463
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West, Nicholas M. Palacios Beacon (Palacios, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 1, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 1, 1987, newspaper, January 1, 1987; Palacios, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth726707/m1/4/?rotate=90: accessed June 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Palacios Library.