The Mason County "Hoo Doo" War, 1874-1902 (review)

David Johnson, an independent scholar and author of The Mason County "Hoo Doo" War, 1874–1902, details a long-running feud that wracked the Texas Hill Country. The feud, which began during the years following Reconstruction, did not conclude until the first decade of the twentieth century. The author argues that local conditions that were particular to the Hill Country and to Mason County precipitated the conflict.

Ethnic envy and rivalry factored heavily into the origins of the "Hoo Doo" War. German immigrants, who had moved into the region during the 1840s and 1850s, generated a great deal of jealousy among Anglo settlers. The German residents of Mason County tended to be more educated and possessed much of the county's farm and ranch land. These Germans came to dominate not only the economic life of Mason County but also its political leadership. Old rivalries only magnified as Texas struggled to recover in the wake of the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Texas escaped the plight of invading Union armies during the Civil War. However, the state was plagued by economic dislocations that were endemic across the South during and after Reconstruction. A lack of cash and capital plagued the entire region. The cattle that roamed the open range of central Texas represented untapped economic opportunity for many residents of the state. Nevertheless, it was not until the 1870s when rail lines reached Sedalia, Missouri, and Abilene, Kansas, that Texans would realize the profit potential offered by the central Texas cattle herds. Control of the open range and its herds would offer the spark for old rivalries to burst into open and vicious conflict between the German and Anglo residents of Mason County.

The theft of cattle and control of the range became central themes during the mid-1870s in Mason County. Local authorities and courts weakened by Reconstruction seemed unwilling to bring an end to cattle rustling or to bring order to the county. In addition, state authorities seemed slow to react to requests from local residents to send Texas Rangers to the area to restore peace. Resident stockmen, who were usually German immigrants or of German descent, began to take the law into their own hands. Mob rule or vigilante justice became the key issue in Mason County as local ranchers vied with itinerant Anglo cattlemen for control of the range. The mob seemingly had a willing ally in the sheriff of Mason County, John Clark. However, Clark also demonstrated ineffectiveness and, according to Johnson, may have actually been aligned with the numerous raiders that plagued Mason County ranchers.

The old ethnic jealousies and newer economic rivalries continued to drive the "Hoo Doo" War until the death of a local rancher. The murder of Tim Williamson transformed the feud into a bloody conflict based on revenge. The war also drew outsiders like the outlaw John Ringo into the conflagration. These individuals had no local connections, and the feud spiraled into chaos. Something resembling order was restored only when the authorities in Austin dispatched a Ranger force to the area.

Johnson's work is well written and researched. He consulted many newspapers and local records of the era. However, the author at times leaves the story in Mason County to address feuds that occurred in Burnet and Llano counties. The writer never ties these three events together and the narrative loses some of its clarity. Nevertheless, Johnson offers an interesting and illuminating portrait of the Texas Hill Country in the years following Reconstruction.