The years 1995 and 1996 were interesting ones for this old “Know it All.” Yes, I am actually writing about the 20th century for once. There was my first face-to-face introduction to Mr. Leon C. Metz, and meeting and later going to work for the Buckaroo. Both men have had a great impact on my life. I met these men at the same place, the Centennial Celebration of Hardin’s death held at the Hacienda Café down on the Rio Grande.
It was a heck of an event. The Paso del Norte Pistoleros re enacted the killing several times that day. Bill Mansion, playing Hardin, hit the floor at least fifty times before it was done and over with. The after a brief walking tour of the downtown area, we went out to Concordia and had a Champaign toast to the slain gunman. It was a memorable night to say the least. As we all went home, the excitement wasn’t over just yet.
Down in Nixon, Texas some folks got together and decided it would be a nice tourist attraction iffn they dug up old Wes and moved him to his “home town” for his final resting place. Maybe they could even move poor Jane Bowen Hardin from the cow pasture she lay in, to rest beside her husband. Never mind the fact that Nixon, Texas didn’t exist during Hardin’s lifetime. So…. the folks found a distant relative, and a Judge willing to sign an court order.
Now The Buckaroo was a member of a group of well meaning, gun toting, for want of a better word, red necks. Matter of fact they called themselves the “Coalition Of Red Necks”, or CORN. They met for breakfast every Saturday morning, discussing how to cure the world’s ills, who did what to whom, and the latest scandals out of the Puzzle and Crystal Palaces. (City Hall & County Court House for those unfamiliar with my names for these institutions) Well someone had the brilliant idea that iffn they couldn’t find Hardin’s headstone, they wouldn’t know where to dig. So…. They loaded up and drove down to Concordia, and after much grunting and groaning, the stone was hauled off and stashed in plain sight. It’s scary, but they came up with this idea, while sober.
The folks from Nixon were met by various members of CORN, local gunfight groups, and law enforcement the next day. Nothing got resolved then and there, but the “battle” was taken to court. But news of the theft of the head stone of John Wesley Hardin galvanized the community like nothing else could have. In injunction was emplaced. And as far as the legal side goes, it’s still at a standstill.
Ironically, the stone was “found” a couple of days later in from of the Buckaroo’s shop.
And that’s the story of the great headstone caper.
Until next time, Take Care, God Bless, and Keep Your Powder Dry
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