It's the End of another Year

I had figured that with the holidays and all, I would be able to keep up with the blog. Well..... we see how that went. Anyways, another year is almost gone.
Earlier this month Heidi, the Buckaroo, and I headed up to Indiana to see the old folks at home. On the flight up, I couldn't but help notice that Indiana has made it's fair share of notables to Old West history. Depending on whose version of the stiry you wanna believe, Henry McCarty, William Antrium, Billy Bonny, or Billy the Kid may have been born a Hoosier. We know for sure that Sam Bass was born in Indiana, before migrating to Texas, and buying the "Denton Mare". John Ringo was another Hoosier that would make his mark in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before committing suicide in 1882. And of course you have yours truly, who hopefully will have made a mark before I am finished. Goshen, Indiana wasn't exactly a sleepy town it's self. During the 1930's three banks occupied the corners of Lincoln Ave and Main St. With John Dillinger and his ilk running rampant, a pill box was erected on the corner of the court house square. A policeman, armed with a Thompson machine gun would keep an eye on the banks day and night in case of a robbery. It was good to go back and touch base with my roots again.

This month we saw the anniversaries of two notable encounters in El Paso history. The First was a double header. Most folks remember December 7th. Mainly for the Japanese attack on the U.S. Naval installation at Pearl Harbor. Even before that, a District Court Judge had been shotgunned, and a local attorney gunned down, all over politics. The year was 1870. Albert Fountain had been elected to the State Senate the previous year. He arranged for Gaylord Clarke to be appointed the Judge of the 20th District Court here in El Paso. Attorney B.F. Williams was not a happy camper about this, as he was expecting that position. Williams took some pot shots st Fountain. Judge Clarke ordered the arrest of Williams. The attorney's response of all this was a double dose of buck shot at close range. Fountain and LT French of the State Police terminated Williams career as an attorney.( Full Story)

Of the recent things we did this month, attended the grand reopening of the Coney Island. Now I have to admit, Judge William Moody did the organization and really put things togather. It was a great get together, and some darned good food. Now the occasion was also the 102nd anniversary of the shooting of Mannie Clements. Now Clements had entered the Coney Island the evening of December 29th, 1908, and with in 20 minutes, someone had put a bullet in the back of his head. Ironical, three of the more prominent lawmen of the period were sitting not more than 10 feet away and quietly slipped out the side door. (Full Story) While the case is still an unsolved murder, many still believe the owner, Tom Powers was the man that did the shooting.

That's about all for now. Have more pages to work on for the web site, and then back to the grind of school. So until next time, keep your powder dry.