HELENA, TEXAS The Toughest Town on Earth

by Barry Harrin

  In the spring of 1866 Hays Taylor started causing problems again. Acting as a trail boss he drove a herd, a number of them stolen, from Wilson County to Indianola through Helena for shipment to New Orleans.

  After delivering the herd he and some of his men went to the nearest saloon to celebrate their good fortune. Hays was at the bar drinking when two Negro soldiers bellied up. Upset that these newly freed slaves were at the same bar as whites, Hays and these soldiers exchanged some very nasty words. Hays told them that they must “step aside” because they didn’t have the right to be at the same bar with them.

  One of the Negro soldiers was upset with Hays’ remark. He told Taylor that he was as good as any white man and wasn’t going to move. After a few minutes the soldier’s attention shifted to other things. In the blink of an eye Hays pulled his six-shooter and shot both soldiers. He killed one and wounded the other, as his men drew guns and held off everyone in the saloon by threatening them with the same treatment.

  Hays and his men began backing away until they reached the saloon door, where they turned and broke into a run to their horses. As they galloped out of town they split up just in case they were being pursued by a posse.191 The Taylor gang members became active again in January 1867. In the dark of night Tom Dodd and Jim Wright stole four mules from a rural wagon yard near Helena after which they fled to Gonzales County.

  Hays now on his own, headed back to Karnes County. Unfortunately he encountered a military patrol led by a Negro sergeant. Hays observed that the sergeant was riding a mule that he believed had been stolen from a family friend, George Walton of Hallettsville. Hays accused the Negro sergeant of theft.

  After hurling more insults Hays drew his gun and shot the sergeant in the head. The mortally wounded sergeant got off one last shot hitting Hays in the arm. Luckily for Hays the other soldiers lost all courage after the shooting, quickly riding away. Hays stole the dead sergeant’s weapon and towed the mule behind his horse.

  Hays headed back to Helena, the town closest to his father’s ranch. He found Creed in one of Helena’s many saloons. Hays had his wounded arm in a homemade sling and told his father what happened with the troopers, after calling the sergeant and his men no- good “nig**rs,”192

  Creed angrily told his son that the sergeant’s mule did not belong to their friend because the mule had been found. Creed told his son to kill the sergeant’s mule and bury it in the woods so the authorities couldn’t find it. Although Hays didn’t want to kill such a fine mule, he finally accepted his father’s advice and got rid of the incriminating evidence.

  Hays then quickly left the area, staying with different friends and family to avoid charges for murdering the sergeant. Reports indicate that Hays was assisted by his cousin Joe Taylor in escaping to Monterrey, Mexico. Unfortunately Creed became homesick for his friends and family after a short time. He brazenly returned to the area where the authorities were well aware of his crimes.

  In December of 1866 eight members of the Taylor gang were on the San Antonio River not far from Helena and the San Antonio-Indianola Road. About midnight they came to the house of a Tejano, broke in and robbed the man. One of the gang claimed they got $115 but it wasn’t easy. It seems the man’s wife was game for a fight. One of the gang bragged he made short work of her. He grabbed a butcher knife and cut the woman, leaving her severely wounded and bleeding. Then the gang hid out in Karnes County.193

  The Taylor gang members became active again in January 1867. In the dark of night Tom Dodd and Jim Wright stole four mules from a rural wagon yard near Helena after which they fled to Gonzales County. They needed to get rid of the stolen mules before the owner had time to alert the local authorities.

  Our old friend John Littleton from Helena, the former Texas Ranger, and Karnes County Sheriff, Indian fighter, war hero and rancher was fed up with the Taylor gang. He knew of the Taylors’ cold blooded reputation having lost too many cattle and horses to them. After they killed Major Thompson of Fort Mason in cold blood, there was a $1,000 reward offered for each of them. Littleton joined forces with William “Bill” Stannard. The Taylors got wind of the bounty hunters’ plans and Taylor spies began watching Littleton and Stannard’s every move.

  The Taylors laughed at how easy it was to elude local authorities and even the military but they weren’t laughing about Littleton. They knew his reputation and were familiar with his tenacity. They intended to be very careful with him.

  Littleton and Stannard found out they were being trailed by Taylor spies so they traveled mostly at night or together with lawmen. This worked fine until Littleton had to go to an emergency business meeting in San Antonio. He got Stannard to accompany him in order to have his back covered.

  Littleton used a buggy as he had gained considerable weight and could no longer ride for extended periods by horseback. They arrived in San Antonio without incident and stayed about a week while Littleton did his business. They had no problem on the way back until about ten miles from Nackenut. Hays and Doughboy Taylor had been informed by spies as to their route and waited in ambush with their men.

  All of a sudden Littleton heard the thundering hooves of the Taylor gang heading right towards him with Hays Taylor in the lead. Each of the gang members were galloping towards him with either a shotgun or a six shooter ready to fire. That was probably the last thing he ever saw.

  Both Littleton and Stannard tried to reach for their weapon but unfortunately they were on the floor board. The Taylor gang shot them before they could raise their weapons. As Hays reloaded he quickly saw that Littleton was already dead as a bullet had entered the right side of his head and entered into his brain. Before he died Littleton cried out “murder” at least twice. Stannard said nothing as the bullets slammed into his body. He simply fell out of the carriage. The gang began arguing as to who fired the kill shot when Stannard moaned. Hays quickly fired a shot into Stannard’s head.194

  About a hundred posse members led by Jack Helm had been tracking the gang near the San Antonio River and Coleto Creek. Detective Bell with twenty civilians and two troopers from the fourth cavalry tracked the gang to Creed Taylor’s ranch on Ecleto Creek right outside of Helena.

  The posse put Creed Taylor and his family under house arrest and placed guards hidden around the house waiting for Hays and Doughboy. The next morning there was a shootout and Doughboy was hit as Hays came to help him. After killing a posse member Hays was killed by a shot in the head. Doughboy and another wounded gang member made their escape much to the frustration of the posse who had already spent the reward money … so to speak.

  Creed was arrested by the posse, given over to the military at the Helena Post, than locked up in the post stockade. He was held for a month until he convinced the commander Lieutenant Crossman that he was just a harmless old war hero from the revolution and could no longer control his grown sons. The commander bought the story and freed Creed.195

  Chapter 20: The Taylor-Sutton-John Wesley Hardin Feud

  Just when it seemed like things in South Texas couldn’t get worse … they did. The Taylors became involved in a battle to the death with an opposing faction. In most history books this battle was called the Taylor-Sutton feud.

  The Taylor-Sutton feud began in Dewitt County after the Civil War. It may have started over seemingly mundane issues such as disputes over cattle ownership, water rights and land boundaries but it evolved into the bloodiest feud in Texas history and lasted three decades.

  This was a time in South Texas when outlaws were running amok, countered only by lawmen and vigilante groups who may have been little better than the outlaws except they had badges with their guns.

  The two feuding factions were the pro-Southern Taylors, led by patriarch Creed Taylor and the pro-Union Suttons led by William “Bill” Sutton, a Dewitt County deputy sheriff and his chief enforcer, Jack Helm, a former captain of the pro-Union state police.

  The Taylor-Sutton feud was the longest and bloodiest in Texas history. It lasted from the 186
0s to the 1890s until the final court case mandated a state pardon for all the Texas feuds. During this period almost 200 men rode with Creed Taylor and his family against a similar force with the Sutton faction.196

  This battle to the death affected 45 counties of Texas. However the epicenter of the violence was mainly in three counties, Dewitt, Gonzales and of course … the always lucky Karnes County.197

  During this period the state police had a brutal reputation as being outlaws with Yankee badges. The fact that more than a third of them were former slaves just added gasoline to the fire of southern hatred. In April 1868 alleged horse thieves Charles Taylor and James Sharp were shot down in Bastrop County allegedly attempting to escape? During this period many men were killed “while attempting to escape.”

  The straw that broke the camel’s back was the killing on Christmas Eve 1868 of Buck Taylor and Dick Chisholm by William Sutton.198 This final spark ignited the gasoline as an orgy of violence exploded across South Texas.

  After the murder of two more of their soldiers the military joined the hunt for the Taylors along with the state police and vigilantes. The state police committed acts that were not condoned by their superiors in Austin and it was at this point that the Taylors needed more muscle.

  John Wesley Hardin (1853-1895) was related to the Taylors through marriage and joined them before his twenty-first birthday in 1873. He immediately became a leader and a major enforcer for the gang. Hardin had a nasty reputation as a vicious killer and gunslinger. His entry into the war certainly changed the balance of power in the Taylor’s favor.

  Hardin grew up in the Reconstruction era when corrupt politicians and police, backed by the United States Army treated southern women and Confederate veterans like dirt. Like many other southern young men of his generation he had a special hatred for freed slaves who went from slave to virtual master overnight, protected by Yankee guns. In Hardin’s own biography he claimed he put a few men in their place while sending a few others home to the Lord. This is the angry world Hardin lived in.199

  At the age of 14 Hardin apparently had some anger management issues and stabbed a classmate during recess. In 1868 at the age of 15 John Wesley Hardin killed his first victim, a former slave, twice Hardin’s size. Under the Reconstruction laws and military justice, killing a black man was a virtual death sentence for a white southerner … even in self defense.

  Hardin later claimed to have killed three Union soldiers sent to arrest him. A combination of relatives and neighbors helped him bury the bodies to hide evidence of his complicity in the crime.

  He quickly left the area, went out on his own, developing gambling skills and a love for horse racing. Hardin later admitted that by the end of 1869 he had killed a freedman and four soldiers. In December of that year he killed Jim Bradly in a fight after a card game. From this point forward Hardin fell into a never ending pattern of saloons, gambling, fighting and killing.

  In 1871 Hardin joined a cattle drive to Abilene, Kansas where he had no hesitation in using his gun. He left behind a large body count. One Indian who shot an arrow at him … and missed and five Mexicans who crowded his herd and then foolishly argued with this “kid.” In Abilene Hardin both got friendly with and sparred with Wild Bill Hickock. Hardin convinced Hickock to let his cousin Mannen Clements escape from jail after he had killed two of his cowboys. However, Hardin figured he overstayed his welcome with Hickock after he shot dead a man in an adjoining room … for snoring too loud.200

  Hardin took a short hiatus from his life of spreading murder and mayhem and returned to Gonzales County, Texas. He got married on February 29, 1872 to his sweetheart Jane Bowen from Karnes County near Helena. She would stand by his side until her death in 1892.

  Not long after entering the fray John Wesley Hardin became a hero and savior to the Taylor gang. His claim to fame was the assassination of Jack Helm. Helm was the sheriff of Dewitt County, the former Captain of the hated state police, and chief enforcer for the Sutton faction.

  The assassination took place by the blacksmiths’ shop at a village in Wilson County. While Hardin and Jim Taylor were at the blacksmith having a horse shod, Helm allegedly advanced on Taylor with a knife, only to be cut down by a Hardin-administered shotgun blast from behind. As Helm writhed on the ground, Taylor marched over with his pistol drawn and emptied it into Helm’s head.201

  The next night Hardin and other Taylor gang members surrounded a ranch house belonging to the Sutton ally Joe Tumlinson (In the attached military letter Tunilinson is pleading for help as he hides in the woods). A short lived truce was arranged and both sides signed a peace treaty in Clinton, Texas (DeWitt County). However in less than a year the war broke out again between the two sides.

  It finally came to a head on March 11, 1874 when Jim and Bill Taylor gunned down William Sutton and Gabriel Slaughter as they boarded a steamboat with their wives at the port of Indianola. An interesting side note is that, William Sutton and his family were leaving Texas forever, before he was murdered … in front of his family.202

  When Hardin went to Huntsville prison in 1878 he claimed to have killed 42 men. He was released in 1892. While in prison he attended Sunday school and studied law. He received a pardon from Governor Hogg in 1894, passed the law examination and set up practice in Gonzales. He drifted to El Paso, set up a law office there and slid back to his old ways of gambling and drinking. On August 19, 1895 John Selman with whom he had been arguing, shot him in the back of the head as he was throwing dice in the Acme Saloon in El Paso.203

  The Taylor-Sutton feud finally ended with neither side achieving total victory. However the bottom line is that the history we were taught in school was inaccurate. Our politically correct history books were carefully cleansed and sanitized. This is especially true regarding the post Civil War Reconstruction period in Karnes County and the rest of the south.

  In essence there was a second Civil War in Texas and the south and the former Confederates without any doubt … won it. The pro-slavery Democratic Party used the Taylor gang and scores of other paramilitary groups to destroy Republican Reconstruction governments, drive out carpetbaggers and subjugate African-Americans back to near slavery levels. The Confederate victory was not overturned until the civil rights era of the 1960s … almost a hundred years later.

  Chapter 21: Helena Texas the Boom Town

  Once the destructive period of Civil War Reconstruction ended in 1873 Helena and Karnes County achieved unprecedented growth and prosperity. The cattle industry was in full swing and a number of Karnes County ranchers became wealthy and powerful.

  Ranchers like William Green Butler (W.G. Butler), J.M. Choate, Pink Bennett, J. M. Nichols, P. B. Butler, S.O. Porter; Buck Pettus, Edd Lott, John Wood, John Claire, Pat Burk, John Linney and John Reagan achieved wealth that would have been unthinkable, just ten years earlier.204 America had a hunger for Texas beef, and the ranchers of Karnes County and South Texas were ready, willing and able to feed that hunger.

  Helena also received a tremendous boost, due to its fortunate location on the Old Ox-Cart Road. As ships poured into the Gulf Coast port of Indianola, which now rivaled Galveston, massive quantities of goods passed through Helena on their way to San Antonio or the west.

  As the economy boomed prosperity trickled down to the merchants and entrepreneurs in Helena. Many of the leading merchants such as the Ruckman’s, Seidel’s, Carver’s and Mayfield are prospered during this period as well.205

  From the 1870s through the early 1880s Helena was in its prime. Its streets were filled with more than 500 citizens, and this bustling little metropolis was one of the largest towns in South Texas. The majority of commercial activity and many stores were located directly across the street from the courthouse on the Old Ox-Cart Road from Indianola (now FM 81).

  The Helena Record on September 5, 1879 advertised the services of four lawyers - John Baley, T.S. Archer, L.S. Lawhon and L.H. Brown.206 Below is an actual portion of a tax collection letter sent by the Lawyer L. H. Brown
to Misters Hutchinson and Franklin in San Marcos, Texas. Notice that Lawyer Brown was part of a nationwide collection agency … back in 1879.

  Also in the newspaper are advertisements for physician and surgeon, Dr. J.W. Harmon. Proprietors Hoff and Meyer of the Pearl Saloon ran the following ad that day: “Keeps constantly best kind of liquors and segars (sic). With polite and attentive barkeepers, Recherche Liquors and Cigars that are Bon, we cannot but please the taste of the ton.” General store owner Max Cohn boasted of a new addition, a furniture store, which had “long been wanted in Helena.”

  The little city of Helena was also a chief stop on the stagecoach route connecting San Antonio, Goliad and the Gulf Coast port of Indianola with four-horse stages passing through town daily.

  Helena, the county seat, had a courthouse, a jail, a Masonic lodge, a drugstore, a blacksmith shop, a livery stable, a harness shop and churches. There were also two newspapers. The first was the Helena Record that began publication in 1879 with the motto “Don’t Tread on Me.” and the second newspaper was the Karnes County News first published in 1887.207