Vigilante Justice Virtual Cache
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Virtual Cache. Just stop and read. A nice break on the way to Houston. Please email me with the answer to this question:
When were the first Vigilantes organized?
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McDade was a mighty rowdy place. The first business was a saloon that operated out of a tent. There a thirsty man could buy a tin cup full of whiskey for ten cents. When the town was incorporated in 1873, it had a post office, cotton gin, and a small Baptist church.
In 1879, a school was formed and McDade was called a "thriving depot town" - the population of the community had grown to about 150 people. Although you would think that this place had everything going for it as a law-abiding locale, it was not to be - violence and vigilante justice soon became a serious problem.
A group of outlaws known as the "notch cutters" took up residence in McDade. As there was no local law enforcement, the citizens of the town decided to deal with the bandits in their own way. They hung two of the outlaws and the bad guys retaliated by murdering two of the vigilantes. The citizens returned the favor by hanging a third outlaw.
In 1876, the citizens caught two men skinning a cow that was displaying the brand of the Olive Ranch. The men were shot on the spot - no questions asked. Again the outlaws retaliated. About 15 men, supposedly led by the son of one of the men shot, attacked the headquarters of the Olive Ranch. Two cowboys were killed and the ranch house was burned.
Today, the once-so-violent railroad town is a small and tranquil agricultural community best know for the melons that it grows in the fertile, sandy soil - that same soil covers the remains of the outlaws and vigilantes - grim reminders of those rough times in early Texas.
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