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THE DECLINE OF THE POACHER AS FOLK HERO IN TEXAS
- University of North Texas Press
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Riley Froh 7978-ch01.pdf 10/6/11 8:14 AM Page 28 THE DECLINE OF THE POACHER AS FOLK HERO IN TEXAS by Riley Froh Either poaching develops good hunters or else great hunters make good poachers, but the two fit together exceptionally well. However , one cannot be both a poacher and a sportsman. Certainly, trespassing on private property to take game and fish is best done by the slob hunter, someone who thinks only in terms of himself, neither caring for the future of wildlife nor the condition of his country, a selfish person of limited vision for the greater good of his surroundings. But the poacher is a legitimate folk character, larger than life and invoking all kinds of images in Texas—some, unfortunately, favorable. The most seductive image of the Texas poacher is the subconscious connection in the public eye with the legendary and romantic archer Robin Hood, who slew the King’s deer with deadly accuracy and robbed the rich to provide for the poor. This thief is acceptable in history only because of his time, and he hardly transfers to today’s market. Toleration of such habits in the twenty-first century is out of place. In the framework of Merry Old England, catching game illegally represented a steed of a different hue. It all started when Robin dropped a fine buck out of need, dispatched a King’s forester to save his own life, and then remained in Sherwood Forest out of necessity as a wanted man, an outlaw, and a first-rate poacher. Here he would operate in the heart of Britain’s version of the Big Thicket, righting wrongs inflicted on the “people ” while staying alive by hunting. Maid Marian was sort of in and out of camp, so to speak, to provide other needs. Old Rob was a happy man as long as he could outwit the Sheriff of Nottingham. There was a brief time when the twentieth-century poacher in Texas operated out of the need to feed his family. The public 29 7978-ch01.pdf 10/6/11 8:14 AM Page 29 [44.205.5.65] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 22:12 GMT) excused it as “gleaning in the fields.” However, except for some instances during The Great Depression, this picture is as false as a typical politician’s claim of possessing a compassionate nature. If every law-breaker who cites children’s hunger as a reason for taking game by criminal means got a job instead of going hunting, his children would eat better. To accept hunger as an extenuating circumstance today is a sympathy born out of silly sanctimony; this technique is the very thing defense attorneys have used for decades to defend their clients, and it works every other time because so many jurors enjoy soap operas. For an excellent visual example of the admired Texas poacher, watch the outstanding movie The Return of the Texan, set in the 1940s and based on Fred Gipson’s wonderful novel The Home Place. (Hollywood has always understood “The Texas Mystique.” Producers and directors put Texas or Texan in the title as a drawing card, and no other state will serve as well. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre comes to mind.) In The Return of the Texan, Walter Brennan (Grandpa Firth) sneaks onto the Richard Boone (Rod Murray) ranch to take a turkey. Of course, our sympathies are with Brennan , a retired Texas Ranger still using the old Winchester ’73 of his glory days. On the other hand, Boone plays a rich, selfish, mean, and grasping land owner, and the actor does a fine job playing this villain. Brennan is his likable best. His shot to break the turkey’s neck gives him away, but on foot he easily eludes Boone, who is slowed down on his horse by the hill country brush. Still, Walter can’t resist firing a few shots, and kicking up dust enough to spook the horse and get Boone thrown. And so here we have the poacher as folk hero. Never mind that it was Boone’s land and that Brennan was trespassing. Actually, what is clear to me from having observed for years the contradiction of such folk heroes is that they simply like to break the law. Poaching is only one degree in their shadowy lives. Typically , game thieves operate at night, so they frequently hold down fairly good day jobs. They delight in the added thrill of illegality plus...