HELENA, TEXAS The Toughest Town on Earth

by Barry Harrin

  The U. S. Army arrived in Karnes County on April 10, 1869. They established there the Post of Helena for the suppression of “insurrection, disorder and violence.” This was not the first time federal troops had to be brought to the county. There had been several previous occasions that the troops had to be rushed in to quell disturbances. The last occasion was in the spring of 1868 when fifty-nine troopers and two officers from the 35th U.S. Infantry were moved to Helena from Halletsville.

  They camped in Helena for almost a month to protect registrars of voters from violence and intimidation. During their stay in Helena federal troops came under gunfire from its lawless inhabitants. In this encounter the former Confederates ambushed the soldiers as they crossed Hondo Creek on the way to arrest a local resident.167

  The new troopers arrived in Helena in the spring of 1869 with no illusions about the possible fighting with outlaws and ex-Confederates. The Post of Helena was not physically impressive. It was located on a low hilltop next to the town of Helena.168 An observer would consider the camp to be a temporary facility as it had rough board shelters and tents. The quartermaster stores weren’t even on the Post. They were in a rented stone building in Helena.

  The troopers at Helena were not raw recruits that the ex-Confederates could easily dismiss. These were seasoned soldiers who had served on the frontier at Fort Chadbourne and Fort Concho. The Calvary officer commanding the Post of Helena was Second Lieutenant William A. Thompson.169

  There were on average three officers and fifty-nine enlisted men of Company H, 4th U. S. Calvary that established the Post of Helena on 10 April 1869. They were later joined there by Company G of the 10th U.S. Infantry on 12 August 1869. The two companies remained there together until Company H 4th Cavalry left the post for Austin on 15 January 1870. Company G 10th Infantry remained at Helena until 23 May 1870 when the post was formally abandoned.170

  Upon arriving they immediately posted guards in Panna Maria at the church door to discourage attacks and also protected voter registrars during registration and balloting in Karnes and the adjoining counties.

  A number of the other troopers served in much more dangerous pursuits, such as capturing, arresting and bringing in accused criminals to detention locations. A typical outlaw apprehended and delivered for safekeeping by federal troops at the Post of Helena was Oscar Rose, a wanted man with a three-hundred-dollar reward from McLennan County, Texas. He was arrested by Lieutenant George W. Smith in the summer of 1869.171

  The commanders of the post in addition to their military duties were essentially the government. They could remove any civil official who would not take the oath of allegiance to the United States, or who failed to fulfill their duties, and then they could also hand pick their replacements.

  When the Post of Helena was established, the civil affairs in the county were almost out of control. As an example, upon arriving in Helena Lieutenant Thompson wrote his superiors that the County sheriff had stolen $400 of county funds and was last seen leaving town with the minister’s daughter.172

  Two days later he reported to his superiors that a killing had occurred in Helena and the murderer had threatened to shoot anyone who would report the murder, and that “there was not a man in the town who had moral courage to inform me of the facts.”173

  Apparently once the Post of Helena got underway even these soldiers weren’t immune from Helena’s violence as seen from official U.S. Army records. Private John Carey, Co G, 10th Infantry was wounded in a quarrel, November 26th 1869 by a pocket knife which entered the left side, penetrating the abdominal cavity. He was admitted to the post hospital at Helena, Texas. Simple dressings were applied and the man was returned to duty January 16th 1870.174

  Just over a year after the Post of Helena had been established the U.S. Army believed they had successfully restored order to the area of Karnes County. The cavalry left the post for Austin on 15 January 1870. Company G 10th infantry remained at Helena until 23 May 1870 when the post was formally abandoned.175

  According to the Polish priest from Panna Maria, Father Adolf Bakanowski, the departing military officer from the Post of Helena had claimed the operation in Helena a success. Father Bakanowski said he was told that the U.S. Army in Helena during its stay had captured and executed one hundred fifty to three hundred outlaws176(sometimes stated rebels) in the area of Karnes County. This exaggerated statement for three hundred first appeared in his letter to Rome on 23 May 1870.177

  During this extremely lawless period life was hard and dangerous. Here is how an old former slave described it.178

  “I hauled freight between San Antonio and Port Lavaca and also Indianola, or Powder horn as it was called in Indianola when the worst yellow fever epidemic in Texas hit the town.

  People died so fast they couldn’t dig graves for them. They just dug a long trench on the beach north of town and buried them in it. When anyone ill with yellow fever began to spit black spit they were done for. In some cases they was put in boxes before they quit moving. I had to help take two girls off of beds and put them in boxes before they quit moving. Only the people who was living there a long time were affected. Those who were from outside like I was wasn’t taken sick with the yellow fever.

  When we was freighting we had to guard against robbers and cow skinners all the time. We would make a corral each night and put our steers in them to keep them safe. Cow skinners sure was bad in those days. They would kill anybody’s cattle just to for the hides. I’ve seen thousands of carcasses on the priare north of Yorktown where the skinners had killed them.

  I once seen the bodies of three men hanging from the limb of an oak tree down there who had been hanged by vigilantes. One time three vigilantes caught a man red-handed right in the act of skinning one of their cows. They killed him, cut the cow’s paunch open and stuck the man’s head in and then put up a sign warning other skinners that they would be done the same way.”

  I don’t want to leave you with the impression that it was total chaos in the county and Texas. As you can see from this newspaper advertisement there was some semblance of commerce and trade being attempted. The advertisement below for a new stagecoach service through Helena, demonstrates that there were still commercial opportunities.

  Not everyone in Helena and Karnes County had turned to violence or destructive behavior. There were a lot of good people trying to keep business going and civilization growing in the county. The Ruckman family continued their life long quest to build Helena’s commerce while men like William G. Butler, Monroe Choate and Pink Bennett began building the cattle industry of Karnes County … virtually from scratch.

  President Ulysses S. Grant proclaimed Reconstruction in Texas at an end on March 30, 1870. However, it wasn’t until the election of 1873, when Southern Democrat Richard Coke defeated radical Republican Governor E.J. Davis, that Texas Reconstruction died … for good.179

  What the U.S. Army and the Unionists didn’t realize was that the violence wasn’t really over … it was just on a low burner. Some of the old K.G.C. members had begun morphing with hard core ex-confederates into paramilitary units that were the precursor to the KKK. The second Civil War was on and the South would win it, at the expense of African Americans and Hispanics … at least until the civil rights movement of the twentieth century.

  Chapter 19: The Taylor Gang

  Josiah Taylor was the patriarch of the clan that played an essential part in the mosaic of Texas history. He was born in Virginia in 1791, got married in Georgia and then temporarily left his wife and two young children, to find adventure and treasure in Spanish Texas.

  In 1813 serving as a cavalry Captain he fought in the Battle of Medina, the bloodiest battle ever on Texas soil. He was one of the few survivors of the battle. He rode over 450 miles to safety on horseback with seven battle wounds, including two bullets in his body.180 He eventually reunited with his wife and two children in Georgia.

  Once Texas was opened up for American settlement by Stephen F. Austin, Josiah retu
rned to Texas in 1824, This time with his wife Hepzibeth. They finally settled down on Green DeWitt’s grant. There they received a league of land in today’s DeWitt County along the Guadalupe River not far from present day Cuero.181

  They became Texas farmers and ranchers. Together they had six sons. William, Creed, Josiah Jr, Rufus, Pitkin and James. Although Josiah Sr. died at a young age in 1830, his children survived and prospered.

  The most famous of Josiah’s sons was Creed (1820–1906). Creed attended school in Gonzales. During the Texas Revolution Creed As a teenager was caught up in the patriotism of the time, fighting in a number of armed clashes including the Battles of Gonzales and Mission Concepcion.182

  Under Ben Milam he took part in the storming of San Antonio. On hearing news of the frightening disaster at the Alamo, like everyone else, Creed rushed his family to safety during the “runaway scrape.” He and his younger brother Josiah Jr. are reputed to have joined General Sam Houston and participated at the battle of San Jacinto.

  He fought Indians on the frontier and was involved in fighting the Comanche’s at the Battle of Plum Creek in 1840. Creed served under Jack Coffee Hays as a Ranger 1841. He saw action in a number of battles such as Bandera Pass and Salado Creek. At Salado Creek he received a serious, but not mortal wound. He also fought in the Mexican War (1846-48) in a number of battles including Buena Vista and Palo Alto. Although some historians claim that Creed may have embellished his service record, as you’ll see shortly he and his family were tough as nails.

  After the Texas Revolution, Creed began his own family. He went back to DeWitt County, married Nancy Matilda Goodbread and raised two sons and a daughter. His sons were John Hays (known as “Hays”) born in 1836 and Phillip G. (known as “Doughboy” or “Doboy”) born in 1837. These two boys under daddy’s supervision would be future leaders of the infamous Taylor gang.183

  After Creed’s wife died he initially moved to a ranch in Wilson County near Ecleto Creek where he raised cattle and horses. Later he bought another ranch, this one in Karnes County, also along the Ecleto near Helena.184

  Creed and his brother Pitkin became the heart of the Taylor gang and first began causing concern to South Texas authorities in the 1850s. The gang developed extensive cattle operations in DeWitt, Gonzales, Karnes, Kimble and Wilson counties.

  In the aforementioned counties so called vigilance committees were formed by neighboring ranchers as their cattle began to mysteriously disappear. The neighbors blamed the Taylors and claimed they were cattle rustlers and horse thieves … certainly a serious offense back in the day.

  The epicenter of the problem seemed to be in DeWitt County which borders Karnes County. Some of the vigilance committee members included former Texas Ranger Joe Tumilson, James “Jim” Cox and our old friend, former sheriff and Indian fighter John Littleton.185 In order to counter these seasoned vigilance committees Creed and his gang brought in hired gunfighters and increased their force to near eighty men. This essentially created a standoff allowing the Taylors to continue their questionable activities throughout the Civil War period.

  As previously demonstrated the secession and Civil War period in Karnes and the surrounding Counties was a time of great animosity and violence. Staunch southerners like the Taylors were quick to take action against any Yankees or Union sympathizers and they didn’t have long to wait. Word got back to the Taylors that there was a problem in Karnes County. An old man named Riddle owned a mill and had refused to grind corn for supporters of the southern cause, including women whose husbands were away fighting for the Confederacy.

  Pitkin Taylor was incensed. Leading a pro-Confederate group (K.G.C.?), he found Riddle and lynched him as he begged for his life.186 This made a lasting impression on any people in Karnes and the surrounding counties who were less than enthusiastic about the southern cause.

  Although the Taylor’s claimed great love for the Confederacy it appears that these bad boys used the conflict as a cover for achieving significant profits from cattle rustling and stealing horses … and then blaming these dastardly deeds on Confederate deserters, Indians and Mexican desperados.

  Now clearly I’m not trying to convince you that Karnes County and South Texas was a kindergarten. It had an overabundance of outlaws and desperados who were murdering, robbing and stealing cattle and horses. However it appears that the Taylor gang had a significant role in destabilizing Karnes County and the entire region.

  As you may remember from earlier chapters regarding the Spanish period in Karnes County and South Texas, Hispanics had created very large cattle ranches in the area. After Mexico won its independence in 1821 the Spanish were overthrown and left for good. However because of weak Mexican Government control from far away Mexico City these large cattle ranches eventually fell into disrepair and the cattle ran wild.

  By the time the Civil War ended in 1865, after running wild and reproducing at will for so many years the longhorn cattle may have numbered up to five million.187 Travelers passing through the area at that time claimed the cattle were so numerous that you could never lose sight of them. After the war demand for beef or beeves exploded and the Taylors along with William Green Butler, Monroe Choate and Pink Bennett began rounding up these wild longhorns and branding them. Then they would either drive them to regional centers or move smaller herds on the Ox-Cart Road down to the Gulf coast and ship them to New Orleans to feed the country.

  As cattle became king these cattle drives made some rich. However cattle rustling became a true plague that could easily put a cattleman out of business. Simple economics drove rustling to plague levels after prices soared in 1867. In Gonzales for example prices increased from $70 to $100 a head. Although the counties required brands to be registered, the rustlers used different techniques to cover up their crimes. Sometimes they would over-brand, “brandbklott” or just say the hell with it and run the stolen cattle to the regional centers with the original brand still showing.

  It was common knowledge that the Taylor’s were the worst rustlers in south and central Texas. The Taylors operated like a mafia mixing both legitimate and illegitimate cattle business together. The major difference with the Taylor’s was they became leaders to the disenfranchised Yankee hating rebels. Also they demonstrated no hesitation in using extreme violence against lawmen or soldiers who interfered especially if they happened to be former slaves and carpetbaggers. The Taylors were definitely a part of the second civil war that refused to accept the defeat of the south or equality for African Americans.

  Creed from his ranch near Helena remained the principal leader and chief strategist of the gang even after his sons and nephews came of age.

  Within just a few months of Union Army occupation of Texas, Creed’s sons Hays and Doughboy came to the attention of military commanders.188

  The Taylor gang, in addition to their day to day criminal activities harassed, attacked and sometimes killed freed people. They even attacked their schools and teachers as they considered them scum, only fit to serve white people.

  They also added to their many criminal services the robbery of travelers and merchants on the San Antonio to Helena road outside Helena. In fact James Thompson (aka Jim Tope) and up to 30 Taylor gang members made life a living hell for these travelers. At times they would wear stolen military uniforms impersonating military officers and at other times impersonating civilian lawmen, silver stars on their vests and all. This allowed them to get the drop on their prey … before they knew what hit them. s189

  The authorities were after Buck Taylor who was Creed’s nephew. He was accused of multiple murders in DeWitt County near Yorktown. It seems that in September, 1865 the Eighteenth New York Cavalry was on escort duty when two of the men had to drop behind due to tired horses. The Captain sent a detachment to find them. The squad found the dead bodies of the two Cavalry men lying on the side of the road.

  Letters were written to the New York Unit Headquarters in Yorktown from former Rebels in the county. The former Rebels wrote an
onymous letters threatening to attack their garrison and wipe them out. Also local Unionists were written or told they would die as soon as the Yankee troops left. Naturally Buck decided it was a great time to vacation outside the area … for an extended period of time.

  As you can see here there was a general sense of mayhem and violence towards the Yankee authorities, freed slaves and carpetbaggers. Let me further prove my point to you right from the mouth of U.S. Military Cavalry Commander in the District Of Texas, none other than the soon to be famous Colonel George Armstrong Custer wrote in January, 1866 “the original secessionists … are as much secessionists today in belief and sentiments as (they were) one year ago.”190

  He added that those former Rebels were as willing to oppose the Union government as they had been during the actual war. The colonel said that if they believed a revolt could be successful the former Confederates and their sympathizers would be in “open armed hostility” to the government. I think this helps you understand what things were like on the ground.

  Before the U.S, military arrived in Helena the town and the county appeared to be under siege from the Taylor gang. Here are just a few examples: