Texas History Notebook

Doan’s Crossing, Texas

Each year, the Doan’s Crossing Picnic is held in Wilbarger County north of Vernon. It is the oldest running pioneer celebration in Texas, held the first Saturday in May since 1884. The old settlement of Doan’s Crossing is located about 12 miles north of Vernon close to the intersection of FM 2916 and FM 924, near where the old cattle drives used to cross the Red River. The celebration includes the coronation of a king and queen, country and western music and other activities. For decades the picnic was a gathering place where old timers would tell of the early days in this Red River settlement, passing their stories down to later generations.

Image credit: *Amarillo Sunday News Globe,* 14 Aug 1938

John Horton Slaughter

John Horton Slaughter, nicknamed “Texas John” Slaughter was born October 2, 1841 in what is now known as Sabine Parish, Louisiana. His parents, Benjamin and Minerva Mabry Slaughter were living on a plantation there, before relocating to Texas. He was raised in Texas and grew up working on a ranch with his father and brothers. He joined the Texas Rangers shortly before the outset of the Civil War. He then enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1862 and served until 1864 when he was sent home due to an unspecified illness. Once he was able, he returned to serve in the Third Frontier Division of the Texas State Troops in Burnet County until the end of the war.

Sally Scull

Depending upon where you may have heard of Sally Scull, you might get the impression that she was a Texas Civil War heroine, a “black widow” husband-killer or just about anything between the two. You may also see her name spelled Skull as well as Scull, but for this purpose, we will use the latter. She had a reputation for being able to shoot as straight with her left hand as with her right. She usually carried two six shooters, often wore mens’ clothing and had a rough vocabulary that she used freely, and often.

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XIT Ranch

(image credit: tshaonline.org)

The XIT was once one of the largest ranches in Texas, comprising 3 million acres along the Texas-New Mexico border in the Panhandle area of the state. In 1879, the State of Texas was looking for funds with which to build the Capitol building. The Texas Legislature appropriated the remote Panhandle acreage to a syndicate led by Illinois natives John and Charles Farwell in exchange for an agreement to build the Austin structure. The original cost of the Capitol building was projected to be $1,500,000 but wound up costing about $3.7 million with the syndicate funding all but about $500,000 that the state picked up.

Clyde Barrow, Jailbreak in McLennan County

McLennanCountyCH

While living in Waco, I would occasionally drive past the old McLennan County courthouse. I had seen the feature film Bonnie and Clyde when it was on its first run. However, I assumed that both Bonnie and Clyde had escaped from the jail at the McLennan County Courthouse in the midst of their short crime spree. Years later I learned the details about how Bonnie had helped Clyde and two others escape.

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