John Ringo, King of the Cowboys: His Life and Times from the Hoo Doo War to Tombstone, Second Edition

Chapter 7. “back-shooting border scum and thieves”

54 7 C H A P T E R “back-shooting border scum and thieves” NEWSPAPERS HERALDED IT as the Mason County War or the Mason County Disturbances. Locally it was called the Hoo Doo War, and the troubles were never confined to Mason County. It was an ethnically divisive , brutal affair that began with two factions seeking range domination in Mason and Llano counties. Best known for the violence in Mason County during 1875 and 1876, it began earlier and lasted longer than the period of Ringo’s involvement, nearly thirty years.1 One historian concerned with Ringo’s role in the fighting correctly attributes that phase of the war to the murder of Tim Williamson.2 Williamson’s death and the subsequent killing of Moses Baird mark distinct turning points in the conflict.The first brought in Scott Cooley, the latter John Ringo. Simplistic reasons have been given for the feud’s outbreak. One ascribes the feud’s origins to the Civil War and the animosities that grew out of it. Others blame ethnic animosities between the recent immigrants from Germany and those from other parts of the United States. Concerning John Ringo, a writer incorrectly states that Ringo joined the Scott Cooley “gang which operated with the Americans when it suited their purpose.”3 Another, referring to the Cooley faction, states organized outlaw gangs took “advantage of the German-American feud.”4 “back-shooting border scum and thieves” 55 Elsewhere the author states that Ringo joined the Cooley gang, “a gaggle of back-shooting border scum and thieves,” and maintains that Cooley’s gang “intruded” into a range war that “became a complex and bloody three-way struggle” with the Cooley group preying on both sides.5 These alternative views diverge significantly from the primary sources that C. L. Sonnichsen and other historians base their accounts on. Sonnichsen clearly understood the conflict’s underlying causes: lingering Civil War animosities, ethnic hatred, cattle ownership, the poor laws governing the industry, and greed. Family alliances, intra-family animosities, and revenge fueled the violence. The conflict began “ostensibly over cattle ownership between German settlers in the Mason County area and American born men” living in neighboring Photograph of three unidentified Texas Rangers.The author believes that the man seated on the left is Scott Cooley. Courtesy Chuck Parsons. 56 JOHN RINGO, KING OF THE COWBOYS counties. The Germans “made continuous allegations” that their cattle were being stolen by the Americans. The Americans retorted that they were the proper owners and “had the right to gather their own stock.” Confusion over stock laws and mob violence intensified the conflict.6 Ringo’s involvement was due to his friendship with the Bairds.7 By the time John Ringo was drawn into the violence questions of cattle ownership had been replaced by blood vengeance. The Hill Country’s German population arrived in the mid-1840s. They faced cholera, hostile Indians, and a harsh land totally unlike Germany. With spirited determination these families spread to New Braunfels, Fredericksburg, and Mason where they established lasting homes.8 Trouble began immediately. The Mexican War prevented the immigrants from reaching the lands that had been promised them. Stranded in New Braunfels, a stopping-off point along the route, Rudolph Iwonski incited disgruntled colonists to riot on December 31, 1846. Little more than two weeks later a man named Schubbert attempted to organize a second revolt that also failed. Germany in the 1840s was a patchwork of small states dominated by Prussia and Austria and frequently at war, and the German colonists understood that strength lay in unity. Mason County’s settlers voted against leaving the Union and attempted to remain neutral during the Civil War. Gillespie County immediately south of Mason was far more vocal and formed the Union Loyal League. Deeming it subversive, in 1862 the Texas government moved to suppress it. Sixty-one members of the league fled toward Mexico under Major Fritz Tegener. The Confederates surprised them along the Nueces River on August 10. Nineteen men were killed outright. Nine others were captured and executed without semblance of due process. The Confederates pursued the remainder to the Rio Grande and killed nine men on October 18.9 The Germans never forgot or forgave, and as late as 1925 one German writer stated that the executions were “a crime unjustified by even the rules...