by Barry Harrin
Other books written by Barry H. Harrin:
“A Manager’s Guide to Guerrilla Warfare,”
“Guess Who’s Listening at the Other End of Your Telephone”
“The Islamic Conquest of Europe 2020.”
Published By Comanche Press
Copyright © 2010 Barry Harrin
FIRST EDITION
Copyright © 2010
By Barry H. Harrin
Published in the United States of America
By Comanche Press
906 Lightstone Drive, San Antonio Texas 78258
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.helenatexas.com
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
ISBN 978-0-9626012-3-1
E-BOOK ISBN: 978-0-9626012-4-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2010916661
This book is dedicated to my sons, Brian and Brandon Harrin, without whose assistance and encouragement, this book would never have been written.
Preface
Not to know what happened before one was born is to always remain a child.
—Cicero
If you’re like me, you’ve seen a lot of Hollywood westerns with stars like Gary Cooper, John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. However, one movie stands out from the rest and epitomizes the violence and danger of the old west.
That movie was “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” and it took place in Tombstone, Arizona. The over-dramatic Hollywood version was a shootout between the law and the lawless - the essence of good versus evil … Hollywood style.
Well let me tell you something friend, if you think Tombstone was a tough place, than you’re in for a rude awakening when you learn the hidden story of Helena, Texas … previously known as “the toughest town on earth.”
Acknowledgments
First I would like to reiterate my gratitude to my sons Brian and Brandon Harrin. They spent many hours digging up artifacts in the blazing hot Texas summers, or helping me over many years to do research in libraries and dirty old buildings … to find missing pieces of the puzzle.
I would also like to thank the members of the Karnes County Historical society, especially Sue Butler Carter, Elizabeth Taylor, Trip Ruckman and of course Ramona Noone, curator of the Karnes County Museum in Helena, Texas.
Naturally, I would like to thank the foremost Historian of South Texas, Robert Thonhoff, for his generosity in sharing his time and amazing knowledge with me and my sons. He certainly brought new interest to my sons after informing them that one of their ancestors Jose de Urrutia had been the Spanish military commander in San Antonio in the early 1700’s.
I would like to also thank Lawrence Leibowitz and Martha Humphrey for editing the book and providing solid advice and Sue Hollis for her original painting used as our book cover. My thanks also go out to Tom Rifleman, Charlotte Nichols, Elmo Brockman and the late Tom and Shirley Ruckman for sharing their time and knowledge.
Introduction
This book is not meant to be a scholarly, politically correct or “white washed” version of history about Helena, about Texas or about the United States. My main objective was to bring to life “real history,” utilizing the best original sources where ever possible.
Some of the history brought forth in this book may surprise or shock you, if that’s the case, then I am happy. I say this because much of the history we are taught in school is boring, filtered and controlled by an eastern establishment group of historians and textbook publishers. This group has a set agenda and tends to filter out anything that doesn’t fit their world view. As a result we and our children don’t often get the “true history.”
I began my research for this book in 1988. During that time I have read and analyzed hundreds of books, and documents. The vast majority of these repeat the same history, virtually word for word, showing the same pictures and documents repeatedly. In this book, you may see some of those same pictures and documents when absolutely necessary, but be assured you will see documents, information and pictures that are totally unique to this book.
It is my hope and desire that after reading this book, you and your children will truly understand how we got to where we are today both in the United States and particularly in Texas.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End
Chapter 2: The Beginning
Chapter 3: The Europeans Are Coming
Chapter 4: El Fuerte Del Cibolo
Chapter 5: The American Revolution and Texas
Chapter 6: The Battle of Medina
Chapter 7: The Anglo Invasion
Chapter 8: The Battle of the Alamo
Chapter 9: Texas Is Now Free…But Not Free Of Trouble
Chapter 10: Helena and Karnes County Begin
Chapter 11: The Early Years in Helena
Chapter 12: The Cortina Wars
Chapter 13: The First Outlaws
Chapter 14: The Ox-Cart War
Chapter 15: Knights of the Golden Circle
Chapter 16: The Civil War
Chapter 17: Civil War Reconstruction
Chapter 18: Civil War Reconstruction in Karnes County
Chapter 19: The Taylor Gang
Chapter 20: The Taylor-Sutton-John Wesley Hardin Feud
Chapter 21: Helena Texas the Boom Town
Chapter 22: The Daileyville Massacre
Chapter 23: Helena’s Painful Death
Chapter 24: The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez
Chapter 25: Today the Ghosts Roam Freely
Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End
It was one o’clock in the afternoon on the 26th of December in the year 1884. The sky was cold, dark and ominous, as freezing rain and sleet pounded the wooden structures and sidewalks of Helena, Texas. The streets were ankle deep in mud as the false wooden building fronts swayed and creaked with each bone chilling, icy gust of wind.
It was the day after Christmas and the locals were either recovering from celebrations or trying to stay warm to avoid the miserable weather that had struck Helena on Christmas Eve.
Some of the good citizens were huddled around their fireplaces or close to hot wood stoves. The other townspeople continued their post Christmas celebrations with loud whiskey charged voices at one of the 13 saloons1 that had sprouted up like mushrooms after summer rainstorms.
For weeks rumors had swirled around town about the bad blood between Sheriff Edgar Leary and William Green Butler (WGB). Butler was the richest rancher in Karnes County. He and his family were furious that Sheriff Leary and his deputies had forced their way into the Butler mansion while Butler was driving his cattle towards Kansas on the Chisholm Trail. The sheriff even had the gall to storm into Butler’s daughter’s bedroom, tearing off her covers.
Sheriff Leary’s excuse for the home invasion was to question Butler’s 20 year old son Emmett who, the sheriff claimed, was wanted for questioning in connection with the murder of a Negro in Wilson County.
Word reached Helena in the morning that Emmett Butler and his sidekick Hugh McDonald were drunk, shooting and terrorizing the Polish town of Panna Maria six miles down the road from Helena. Rumors swirled from house to house and saloon to saloon that Emmett was coming to town to avenge the Butler home invasion by Sheriff Leary and his deputies.
At about one o’clock in the afternoon galloping horses could be heard above the howling wind, driving rain and sleet. A multitude of bobbing heads peeked out from behind drawn curtains or above swinging saloon doors.
Two mounted men in yellow rain slickers could be seen charging into town with water shooting off their bodies. As was the custom in old H
elena, most of the 5002 citizens were well armed including Sheriff Leary and his deputies.
Everything occurred so quickly it was hard for people to truly recollect what actually happened. One thing is certain. As soon as Emmett Butler and his sidekick dismounted and drunkenly tied up their horses, the sheriff and his deputies approached the two and demanded that they surrender their guns. Emmett’s sidekick quickly complied. Emmett whirled around and pulled his six shooter, which was hidden under his rain slicker.3 In the blink of an eye, a flame shot from his pistol and a large bullet slammed into the sheriff’s chest at heart level.
As the sheriff slumped to the wooden sidewalk, blood gushing from his mortal chest wound, he gasped “He has killed me. Shoot him!”
Emmett’s sidekick was quickly knocked to the ground by a mob of angry men as Emmett jumped on his horse and began to gallop out of town. Unfortunately for him, before he got half a block, what sounded like a gatling gun echoed throughout the town.
More than forty shots were fired at Emmett by the townspeople,4 some of them slamming into his body and opening his brain to the freezing rain. As he lay moaning and bleeding on the ground, the populace all came out to see the arrogant rich man’s son receive his just reward. Emmett was pronounced dead that evening.
Upon hearing this terrible news, William G. Butler cut short his cattle drive and raced home to gather up 25 of his heavily armed ranch hands. They rode into Helena to retrieve Emmett’s body and to find out who shot his son.
When the 25 rough looking cowboys reached Helena not a soul could be seen or heard. William Butler yelled at the top of his lungs “I want to know who killed my son”. All he heard was the sound of silence. He repeated this several times, his booming voice echoing back from the battered buildings. The only reply he got was the wind blowing sagebrush over the wooden sidewalks.
Receiving no human reply, William Butler roared “This town killed my son; now I’m going to kill this town.”5
Chapter 2: The Beginning
Since time immemorial, before the dinosaurs roamed through what is now South Texas, Karnes County and the town of old Helena were wild and violent places.
The low rolling hills, knee-high prairie grass and open rangeland, had always been a natural trail for man and beast to reach the sea.
After the reign of the dinosaur ended, Neanderthal man followed by hunter gatherer Native Americans roamed this area, first as prey and then as predator.
Ice age mammoths, native camels, giant sloths followed by black panthers, saber-tooth cats, giant bear, buffalo, deer and every size and type of snake slithered throughout this land.6
The ancient Indian trade routes were like a giant magnet. They attracted thousands of Indians from below the Rio Grande in the area now known as Chihuahua and Coahuila in northeastern Mexico to trade, raid and hunt.
There is an abundance of archeological evidence that the area currently known as Karnes County had been the site of human habitation for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans.7
In the time before the arrival of Europeans, the future Karnes County was lush with vegetation and teeming with game. It became the hunting grounds for a number of tribes such as the Tonkawa, Karankawa and later the Comanche and Lipan Apache Indians.
Chapter 3: The Europeans Are Coming
The first Europeans to enter present-day Texas were the Spanish explorers. They arrived only a few years after the voyages of Christopher Columbus.
It began with Pineda sailing along the Texas coast in 1519 and continued with the exploration of the interior by the explorers Cabeza de Vaca during the period of 1528 to 1534. While seeking food sources, Cabaza de Vaca and his men may have been the first Europeans to pass through present day Karnes County and Helena. Another famous Spanish explorer in Texas was Coronado in the year 1541. He was followed by a multitude of Spanish explorers who wisely used Indian guides and ancient Indian trails, some of which appear to have passed through Karnes County and Helena area.8
These explorations brought some of the initial contacts between the Europeans and Native Americans and were the basis for Spain’s claim on Texas. During this period there were many Native American tribes and cultures in the region. The Coahuiltecan, Karankawa, Caddo, Jumano and Tonkawa Indians lived in the area of present day Karnes County. Later the Apache and Comanche arrived.9 Finally in 1718, Governor Martin de Alarcon led an expedition into Texas under the imperial banner of Spain. This is the first recorded history of Europeans in this territory.
At this time Spain was the leading superpower in the world and needed money to fight wars to maintain its superpower status. The Spanish empire was one of the largest in world history and one of the first global powers. Therefore, its primary motivation for exploration was the search for gold and silver to fill the royal treasury. This would provide the fuel to run its war engine and support its preeminent status.
Upon failing to acquire an abundance of gold and silver, its secondary goal became the capture of the Indians as cheap labor or their subsequent sale as slaves to raise money.
The French were the next to arrive in the late 1600s. The French came primarily as traders and many of them married and settled among some East Texas Native American tribes.
The Spanish and French were like time travelers from the future. The effect they had on the primitive Native Americans’ culture was instantaneous, dramatic and permanent.
These Europeans introduced the Indians to futuristic trade goods such as guns and gunpowder, axes and knives, metal cooking utensils, blankets and cloth.10 Naturally the introduction of these goods changed the way Native Americans went to war, hunted, or prepared their food, and dress.
There were two other important gifts the Europeans brought to Texas. The first was the Spanish introduction of domesticated horses. These were acquired by various Native American tribes who mastered their use in warfare. In fact, the Comanche’s became the masters of mounted warfare and the best light cavalry in the world.
The second and most devastating gift presented by the Europeans to the Native American population of Texas and the rest of the Americas was disease. The Europeans brought smallpox, measles, whooping cough, cholera and, of course, the gift that keeps on giving … syphilis.
These plagues spread throughout the Native American population like a forest fire. Indigenous people had little or no resistance to such virulent killers. The effect was overwhelming as they spread from village to village and from tribe to tribe.
There are conflicting estimates and disputes regarding the true size of the Native American population before the arrival of the Europeans. Surprisingly some experts have estimated that there were between 70 and 100 million11 Native Americans in the new world before Columbus arrived, compared to Europe’s population of 70 million.12
Although there is some question regarding the overall Native American population, what is less in dispute is the fact that millions of Indians were wiped out and the level of devastation and death rate may have been as high as a 90%.13
As an example: In 1521 just weeks before the famous conquistador, Hernan Cortes, seized control of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), his military forces were on the verge of defeat. The Aztecs had continuously beaten back the Spanish invaders and were preparing a final offensive against them. Strangely, the attack never came. The weakened Spanish had their prayers answered by getting an unexpected chance to regroup. Cortes and his forces stormed the city on Aug. 21 only to find that some higher power had done their work for them. “I solemnly swear that all the houses and stockades in the lake were full of heads and corpses.”
Cortez’s chronicler, Bernal Diaz, wrote of the scene. “It was the same in the streets and courts … we could not walk without treading on the bodies and heads of dead Indians. Indeed the stench was so bad that no one could endure it. … and even Cortes was ill from the odors which assailed his nostrils. The same scent followed the Spaniards throughout the Americas.14
Clearly, the European conquest of
North America and Mexico would have been much more difficult, if not impossible, had the Native Americans not been decimated by these diseases.
The actions of European invaders varied between the capture, enslavement, conversion or ethnic cleansing of the Native Americans. The bottom line is that exposure to Europeans devastated the indigenous cultures.15
Chapter 4: El Fuerte Del Cibolo
The failure of the Spanish to find gold and silver in Texas led them to lose interest in this region for more than a hundred years. However, Spain’s interest level increased dramatically after France made an aggressive move in what they perceived as Spanish territory.
Tensions increased dramatically in the early 1680s after the famous French explorer La Salle claimed lands for France that included Texas. This was followed up by the arrival of La Salle with almost 300 French colonists and soldiers in Matagorda Bay and the construction of Fort St. Louis in what is now Victoria County, Texas. When word of this French invasion reached Mexico and the Spanish Government, Spain’s interest level exploded and approached a national hysteria.16