Gringo Ranch

Let's Sing

2012-02-12T23:20:00.000-06:00

Let's Shoot

2012-02-07T08:20:00.001-06:00

The last part of this video is pure wisdom.

Let's Rope

2012-01-26T21:38:00.001-06:00

TEXAS

2012-01-18T18:20:00.003-06:00

There is a special feeling you get sometimes here. A feeling that is hard to explain. This gives one a little taste of that feeling.

Tejano

2012-01-13T21:22:00.004-06:00

Texans of Mexican descent is the Tejano. Juan Sequin and his militia initially ran Santa Anna's army out of Texas and when Santa Anna's army returned with Santa Anna leading the army, Juan served as a courier and soldier at the Alamo who with Sam Houston lead the charge in the defeat of Santa Anna's Mexican army at the Battle of San Jacinto. Gregorio Esparza died at the Alamo fighting against the dictator Santa Anna. Tejanos fought in WWII as members of the First Cavalry Division of Fort Hood Texas. Many oppose illegal immigration from Mexico as a threat to their family businesses in Texas, oppose centralized government and support government of the people, by the people, for the people.

Pictured above are Tejanos Eva Longoria, Selena Perez, Sophia Vergara, Robert Rodriquez, Juan Sequin.

Sunday Afternoon Around Stephenville, Tx.

2012-01-08T16:20:00.003-06:00

Driving past the huge cattle ranches along 67 or 281 when you are down around Stephenville, you can't miss the fact that just about every ranch has an arena where the cowboys play. In this picture, at the Mike Young's ranch, on Sunday afternoons you can ride bulls as many times as you want for only $5.

Degüello

2012-01-03T18:07:00.003-06:00

Barack Hussein Obama has just ordered the immigration department to get as many Visas approved as possible in hopes that he can cancel out as many American citizen votes cast in this years upcoming Presidential elections with votes from non-citizens who he is importing from outside the United States.

He is canceling out every individual right that he can for the American citizen in a "No Quarter" move.

Texas Governor Rick Perry Stands Tall, Guns Down MSM

2012-01-02T18:20:00.004-06:00

Rick Perry last week in Iowa came fully into the fold that abortion is wrong no matter what. He continues to move in the right direction as he wisely adopts more and more those values important to many of us. This shows his growing maturity as a moral leader.

Here he takes on MSM doing what they do best, spread lies. He asks a reporter at least a half dozen times for the source of a smear report. The reporter did not provide a source. This is a leader that Texas has believed in for 12 years. One who continues to grow and who always has his people's best interest at heart or who learns what is important to people. Not a leader who is hopelessly entrenched in bad, destructive policy such as Obama.

Your My Best Friend

2011-12-31T19:29:00.003-06:00

No matter what 2012 brings us, keep your friends and family high on your priority list. A great reminder from a West Texas Boy, Don Williams.

The Best New Years Resolution

2011-12-25T02:01:00.004-06:00

A good New Years resolution for 2012. Stand up for right vs wrong. Don't go "walkin around as dead as a beaver hat."

Three Wise Men

2011-12-11T12:44:00.005-06:00

Back in the days when cattle range was prairies wide and lone,
Three Bar Z hands was winter-camped upon the Cimarrón.
Their callin' names was Booger Bill and Pinto Pete and Tug,
And though their little dugout camp was plenty warm and snug,
They got plumb discontented, for with Christmas drawin' near,
They couldn't see no prospects of no kind of Christmas cheer.

Pete spoke about the bailes he'd be missin' up at Taos.
Tug said he'd give his gizzard just to see a human house
Alight with Christmas candles; and ol' Booger Bill avowed
He's shoot the next galoot who spoke of Christmas cheer out loud.
They sure did have the lonesomes, but the first of Christmas week,
A wagonload of immigrants made camp off down the creek.

They'd come out from Missouri and was headin' farther west,
But had to stop a little while and give their team a rest.
They seemed to be pore nester folks, with maybe six or eight
As hungry lookin', barefoot kids as ever licked a plate.
"We've just got beans to offer you," the wagon woman smiled,
"But if you boys will join us, I will have a big pot b'iled
On Christmas day for dinner, and we'll do the best we kin
To make it seem like Christmas time, although our plates are tin!"

Them cowboys sort of stammered, but they promised her they'd come,
Then loped back to their dugout camp, and things begun to hum.
They whittled with their pocketknives, they sewed with rawhide threads,
They hammered and they braided and they raveled rope to shreds.
They butchered out a yearlin', and they baked a big ol' roast.
They scratched their heads to figger out what kids would like the most,
Till when they went on Christmas day to share the nesters' chuck,
They had a packhorse loaded with their homemade Christmas truck:

Bandanna dolls for little gals, with raveled rope for hair;
Some whittled wooden guns for boys, and for each kind a pair
Of rough-made rawhide moccasins. You should have seen the look
Upon that nester woman's face when from their pack they took
A batch of pies plumb full of prunes, some taffy made of lick,
And a pan of sourdough biscuits right around four inches thick.

That ain't the total tally, but it sort of gives a view
Of what three lonesome cowboys figgered out to try and do
To cure the Christmas lonesomes on the Cimarrón, amid
The wild coyotes and cattle--and they found it sure 'nough did.

S. Omar Barker

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T07:41:00.002-06:00

And don't forget Who to thank.

Sunday Morning Church Choir in Texas

2011-11-08T09:45:00.004-06:00

YYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!

The Threat From Kenya

2011-10-26T08:26:00.006-05:00

The biggest allie the socialist/marxist Democratic Party has in its war on America.

"Don't Fence Me In"

2011-09-26T18:43:00.004-05:00

When Texas Governor Rick Perry says that as President he will make the government as inconsequential in our daily lives as possible, he is just saying, "Don't Fence Me In."

What You Learn When You Learn To Ride

2011-09-18T21:29:00.006-05:00

2011-09-13T21:17:00.002-05:00

Hat Tip DCat up in Seattle
Obama Care Highlighted by Page Number

THE CARE BILL HB 3200

JUDGE KITHIL IS THE 2ND OFFICIAL WHO HAS OUTLINED THESE PARTS OF THE CARE BILL.
Judge Kithil of Marble Falls, TX - highlighted the most egregious pages of HB3200
Please read this........ especially the reference to pages 58 & 59

JUDGE KITHIL wrote:

** Page 50/section 152: The bill will provide insurance to all non-U.S. residents, even if they are here illegally.

** Page 58 and 59: The government will have real-time access to an individual's bank account and will have the authority to make electronic fund transfers from those accounts.

** Page 65/section 164: The plan will be subsidized (by the government) for all union members, union retirees and for community organizations (such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now - ACORN).

** Page 203/line 14-15: The tax imposed under this section will not be treated as a tax. (How could anybody in their right mind come up with that?)

** Page 241 and 253: Doctors will all be paid the same regardless of specialty, and the government will set all doctors' fees.

** Page 272. section 1145: Cancer hospital will ration care according to the patient's age.

** Page 317 and 321: The government will impose a prohibition on hospital expansion; however, communities may petition for an exception.

** Page 425, line 4-12: The government mandates advance-care planning consultations. Those on Social Security will be required to attend an "end-of-life planning" seminar every five years. (Death counseling..)

** Page 429, line 13-25: The government will specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order.

HAD ENOUGH???? Judge Kithil then goes on to identify:

"Finally, it is specifically stated that this bill will not apply to members of Congress. Members of Congress are already exempt from the Social Security system, and have a well-funded private plan that covers their retirement needs. If they were on our Social Security plan, I believe they would find a very quick 'fix' to make the plan financially sound for their future."
- Honorable David Kithil of Marble Falls, Texas

Democrats Aren't Listening To America

2011-08-28T13:41:00.004-05:00

While the President is on his vacations... Time to trade them in for elephants (even though some elephants on the right look more and more like rinos - well get to that later).

Rick Perry Age 22 - Hussien Obama Age 22

2011-08-25T13:35:00.004-05:00

The punk on the right has the kind of smirk on his face that makes you want to slap the shit out of him, doesn't it?

Cloud of Confusion

2011-08-22T22:02:00.003-05:00

During the past 7 days after James Richard "Rick" Perry entered the Presidential race, never seen such a commotion. Islam is horrible. But, Rick Perry, a very strong Christian, is "sly as a snake and as wise as a fox" when it comes to the "Indian Threat".

But one thing is for sure, Rick came in stirring up things like a West Texas dust devil on a clear day.

Electric Cars Are Just Too Dangerous!

2011-08-21T00:05:00.003-05:00

Between Hussien Obama up in DC trying to get people to go to electric cars and his tree hugging EPA Wackos trying to shut down electric generating coal plants resulting in rolling blackouts... Electric cars just make no SENSE. And do you think anyone can survive a major collision riding in one of these electric chairs on wheels?

Right now in Texas we are experiencing weeks and weeks of well over 100 degree heat. No major black outs. Elderly people are still dieing in their homes if they don't notify anyone that their A/C units are going out. So by this time next year when Obama tree huggers hope to have many Texas coal plants shut down, the number of those deaths will sky rocket. And that is when arrest warrants for murder WILL need to be executed.

Time to Saddle Up, Ride

2011-08-18T23:22:00.004-05:00

Away from the ranch for a while because unfortunately a great people, thier great state, and the peoples' and states' great governor are under attack, supprisingly not from left wing moonbats, but dissappointingly from right wing roques.

Time to saddle up and ride. Time to protect and to defend.

Will be back when the job is done...

No Speed Limit

2011-08-15T21:37:00.007-05:00

Every now and then you have to just say "Adios" to your horses (Harley, Davidson, Diva, Princess) and take your fastest car out to the Texas Mile.

Where muscle cars love to play.

A little background on Texas Mile:

God, Honor, Country

We created The Texas Mile out of our own personal passion for motor sports and the desire to share this passion with others. Over the years, The Texas Mile has grown from a local venue to an internationally recognized "Must Attend" experience. We are honored and humbled by the personal stories that are shared with us and what The Texas Mile has come to mean to our participants, their families and our fans.

At our core is the Honor of God and Country.

We are able to deliver the wonderful experience of The Texas Mile because of:

•The amazing creation we have in this world
•The servant heart of all of those that help us conduct the events
•The ability each of us has to pursue "The American Dream" because of those that came before us and established this great country
•The ongoing sacrifice of our military personnel and their families that gives us the freedom to enjoy The Texas Mile and our other beloved national pastimes
•and the incredible participants and fans of The Texas Mile that take the time to share their personal stories and gratitude to our staff.

Texas Mile Website.

Governor Rick Perry Makes Formal Announcement

2011-08-13T11:33:00.008-05:00

Rick made a formal announcement today regarding his intentions to run for the Presidency, after Texas, under his Governorship created almost 800,000 jobs. The Entitlement Dem's are now running around saying two things: 1) Oil industry (which by the way the Dems Environmental Wacko EPA people are trying to shut down) created those jobs 2) The jobs are low wage jobs. Which means the Dems are want to encourage people to be dependent on their paltry unemployment checks and food stamps rather than work.

The Dem's stimulus did not put people to work. So now they are into bashing and nit-picking those who know how to put people to work. But until the Dem's big spending leader decides to get off the golf course and go to work in the Oval Office, and doing something constructive instead of demanding more money from the working tax payers, they have no room to criticize.

Paint Creek Boy to Run For President

2011-08-11T16:59:00.006-05:00

Rick Perry has announced his run for the Presidency.

From the Telegraph UK.

Paint Creek, where ranches and wooden homes, some now abandoned, are dotted beside cotton and wheat fields, is the place that defines the man who some Republicans believe could unseat President Barack Obama next November.

The cotton fields at Paint Creek are empty this year because of the fearsome drought. But amid the dust and searing heat, beneath a vast blue sky, the farmland of Mr Perry’s youth is still being worked. Life here is as hard as ever.

At the school, from which Mr Perry graduated third in a class of 13 in 1968, Don Ballard, the school superintendent, reflected on the place that had made Mr Perry what he is.

“We had farm values,” he said “We got up, we worked and we knew what the dollar meant. There was no squandering money here there and yonder. Everybody struggled.

“You’d have a good crop one year and maybe a bad crop the next. Rick Perry understands being up and being down and that if you’re down you’ve got to work to get back up. Most of the families round here want their kids to be better and have more than what they had growing up.” Mr Perry is descended from Confederate veterans of the Civil War on both sides. In an old interview, his grandfather Hoyt Perry, who died in 1992, recalled how his father arrived at Paint Creek in 1887.

“The whole country was covered with prairie dogs. The buffaloes were killed in about the 1870s. I did a lot of farming with the mules. We made our own toys. We made a wheel with an axle and rolled it around.” The future Texas governor spent his teens living in a brick bungalow that his father built a field away from the wooden frame home. J.R. “Ray” Perry and his wife Amelia, now in their mid-80s, still reside there.

Outside the house, beside a dusty farm road, the elder Mr Perry, who was out fixing his irrigation system, describes how he took a bus from Paint Creek after graduating from the school in 1943 and joined the US Air Force.

He was subsequently stationed at RAF Horham in Suffolk, from which he flew missions over Germany in B-17 bombers.

“Rick took us back there four or five years ago and we went to the old base. Of course there was nothing there, just a little strip of runway that they didn’t destroy. The rest they turned back into fields.

“I flew 35 missions as a tail gunner and never got a scratch. We had one gunner killed and one wounded. They got damn close to me but they missed me.” His son followed him into the Air Force in 1972 and became a transport pilot, flying C-130s in Europe and the Middle East.

Bob Earles went to Paint Creek School with Mr Perry and was a fellow Boy Scout. They both went to Valley Pennsylvania for the Boys Scouts of America Jamboree of 1964 and visited Washington, where they were given a tour of the Capitol.

“It was different world,” he says. “Back here we’d water ski on the lake in summer and camp out. If we did something wrong and got in trouble, the scoutmaster would call a board of education â “ a wooden paddle. It was a real Christian place. Baptist or Methodist, everyone was one or the other.” In the summer of 1966, Bob Earles introduced Ricky Perry to a girl called Anita Thigpen, who lived in the town of Haskell about 10 miles away and was staying at a lake cabin. “I saw a lot less of him after that,” Mr Earles joked. After a 16-year courtship, the two married and today Anita Perry is First Lady of Texas.

At the Double A Drive-In restaurant and the Rodriquez Inn, where the Texas governor still dines when he visits, there is still talk of Mr Perry’s antics as a youngster.

Bob Earles remembers the time when the two of them climbed on the school roof and built a snowman, intending to push it off on top of the girls’ basketball team. Unfortunately, the snowman landed on the head of the school superintendent.

Phil Coleman, one of Mr Perry’s class of 13 and another scout, climbed up a small canvas tower next to his tent to come face to face with a dead bull snake that had been placed there by his friend. “It scared the pants off me,” he says, laughing. “I jumped right off that tower. I guess he thought it was funny. I didn’t at the time.” After the Air Force, Mr Perry returned home to become a rancher, going into business with his father, a Democrat who served as an elected County Commissioner. In 1984, after considering becoming a commercial pilot, he decided to enter politics and run for state representative.

His friend Don Comedy, married to a girl from Mr Perry’s high school class, was his campaign manager. The district was so big that the pair used Mr Perry’s 1952 Piper Super Cub plane, decorating its cloth-covered fuselage with campaign stickers.

The population was so sparse that when they spotted a farmer on a tractor in his fields they would swoop down to land so they could canvas him.

“Once we had to land in a pasture due to fog,” he recalls. “A rancher came by in his pickup. We were both wearing coats and ties. Rick says 'Howdy’ and reaches into his jacket for a leaflet. I hear this lever action of a rifle – a very distinctive sound.

“This guy thinks we were drug dealers. Rick is looking down a rifle but he keeps talking.” By the time the conversation had finished, the rancher had written a cheque for the Perry campaign.

“I decided right then,” says Mr Comedy, “that anyone who can go in a matter of minutes from the first impression of being a drug dealer to getting a campaign contribution would go far.” It was the first of nine Texas elections that Mr Perry would win.

Hussien Obama Still Gets 80% Approval Rating

2011-08-10T23:04:00.004-05:00

From American MUSLIMS.

(This picture kind of reminds you of the Commanches of a 100 years ago. I guess things never change.)

(CNSNews.com) — Eighty percent of Muslim Americans approve of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as president, according to a newly released survey conducted by the Abu Dhabi Gallup Center, a partnership between Gallup and the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi.

Obama Photo Op Standing Over Our Dead Heros

2011-08-10T21:21:00.008-05:00

This man is Evil. The press was banned. This was about the soldiers and their families was what the White House told the media. But then the White House releases this photo to the public. The Pentagon said they did not know the White House photographer was there, hidden in the shadows, since no media of any form was to be there.

Why?

In the mind of Obama and his White House handlers it was all about trying to C.Y.A. Obama's inept military leadership that resulted in this tragedy with a picture from THEM, not something embarassing but true from the press. They USED this event supposedly for our dead heros and their families to try to rebuild Obama's stature. Also, the return of America's heroes was to blacked out, with the press banned, to be a NON-EVENT. All of these dead troops under his command was not to be seen. Only a picture of Hussein Obama.

This man is sick, this man is evil.

High Noon - Rick Perry, Obama to Face Off Next Week

2011-08-10T15:01:00.006-05:00

DES MOINES -- Texas Governor Rick Perry plans to be in Iowa next Tuesday, when President Obama visits the state, in hopes of establishing a one-to-one contrast between one of the nation's most successful governors and an incumbent president sliding in the polls.

Washington Examiner

Now this cowboy (Perry) knows when to go in for the take down, right when Obama has just ruined America. Obama, you can run, but you will not be able to hide.

Run by Strait, sung by Swift

2011-08-09T20:02:00.003-05:00

Those over there and over here fighting to protect our precious freedoms, and I know several of you, God Bless. But when you've done your duty and its time to come home, don't walk - RUN. Because, we miss you.

Reform Congress NOW

2011-08-09T09:31:00.002-05:00

Congressional Reform Act of 2011

1. No Tenure / No Pension.
A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as most Americans do.

4. Congress will no longer vote for themselves, a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the rest of the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 01/01/12.
The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

After US Downgrade Obama Encourages Geithner to Continue

2011-08-07T18:34:00.003-05:00

Obama's response to America's outrage at debt and downgrade.

"The president asked Secretary Geithner to stay on at Treasury and welcomes his decision," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement. Reuters

Casualties August 1-5

2011-08-07T16:00:00.015-05:00

Sgt. Dennis E. Kancler, 26, of Brecksville, Ohio

Sgt. Christopher M. Wrinkle, 29, of Dallastown, Pa.

Staff Sgt. Kirk A. Owen, 37, of Sapulpa, Okla.

Spc. Barun Rai, 24, of Silver Spring, Md.

Pfc. Cody G. Baker, 19, of Holton, Kan.

Pfc. Gil I. Morales Del Valle, 21, of Jacksonville, Fla.

Capt. Waid C. Ramsey, 41, of Red Bay, Ala.

Sgt. Anthony Del Mar Peterson, 24, of Chelsea, Okla.

Spc. Mark J. Downer, 23, of Warner Robins, Ga.

Spc. Jinsu Lee, 34, of Chatsworth, Calif.

Sgt. Daniel D. Gurr, 21, of Vernal, Utah

Seal Team 6 Soldier 1

Kimberly Vaughn saw TV reports about the downed helicopter Saturday morning, but the tragedy reached her home when her doorbell rang.

"I thought, 'Oh, hopefully it's just a neighbor,' and as I rounded the stairs I saw the men in uniform and I just fell to my knees," she said. "There's no preparing for it. It's something you see in the movies. It's not something you're supposed to live through."

Her father was standing with her to hold her up as the Navy officers told her that her husband was killed in action.

Aaron and Kimberly, married for three years, also have a 2-month-old daughter, Chamberlyn.

Seal Team 6 Soldier 2

“He loved his family, his sister. He just became an uncle,” Charles Strange said, fighting back tears.

Neighbors along the family’s street flew their American flags, a tribute to a young man who gave his life to helping others.

Charles Strange says his son volunteered for the rescue mission that took his life. He was a hero to the very end.

Seal Team 6 Soldier 3

Lt Cmdr Jonas Kelsall. Louisiana

Seal Team 6 Soldier 4

Chief Petty Officer Robert Reeves. Louisiana - grew up as a class mate of LT Cmdr Jonas Kelsall

Seal Team 6 Soldier 5

Sgt Patrick Hamburger, 30, of Grand Island, Nebraska

Seal Team 6 Soldier 6

Kevin Houston

Seal Team 6 Soldier 7

Spencer Duncan of Olathe, Kansas

Seal Team 6 Soldier 8

Seal Team 6 Soldier 9

Seal Team 6 Soldier 10

Seal Team 6 Soldier 11

Seal Team 6 Soldier 12

Seal Team 6 Soldier 13

Seal Team 6 Soldier 14

Seal Team 6 Soldier 15

Seal Team 6 Soldier 16

Seal Team 6 Soldier 17

Seal Team 6 Soldier 18

Seal Team 6 Soldier 19

Seal Team 6 Soldier 20

Seal Team 6 Soldier 21

Seal Team 6 Soldier 22

Seal Team 6 Soldier 23

Seal Team 6 Soldier 24

Seal Team 6 Soldier 25

US Military Member 1 in same Helicopter KIA

Air Force Tech Sgt John Brown

US Military Member 2 in same Helicopter KIA

US Military Member 3 in same Helicopter KIA

US Military Member 4 in same Helicopter KIA

US Military Member 5 in same Helicopter KIA

US Military Member 6 in same Helicopter KIA

US Military Member 7 in same Helicopter KIA

US Military Member 8 in same Helicopter KIA

US Military Member 9 in same Helicopter KIA

All deaths attibuted to the militant arm of Islam. While the dumbass on the left waits for Islamic reformation... Families are torn apart. These hero's pictures will be posted as soon as possible in rememberance and in honor/recognition of the REAL American PEOPLE dieing right now to defend the freedoms that the "Commander in Chief-Obama" and his radical leftist allies are taking away from us here in America.

31 American Soldiers Die After Islamic Attack on Helicopter

2011-08-06T08:11:00.009-05:00

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- A military helicopter crashed in eastern Afghanistan, killing 31 U.S. special operation troops and seven Afghan commandos, the country's president said Saturday. An American official said it was apparently shot down, in the deadliest single incident for American forces in the decade-long war.

The Taliban claimed they downed the helicopter with rocket fire while it was taking part in a raid on a house where insurgents were gathered in the province of Wardak late Friday. It said wreckage of the craft was strewn at the scene.

UPDATE The Navy Seals killed in this mission were some of the same ones who got Bin Laden.

So while the BS flies stateside about how Jasser is going to reform 1.1 Billion Islamists, and the thin skinned get their panties in a wad during heated discussions and take down thier blog, our young men and women bleed to death by the dozens at the feet of Islamists, both stateside and on the foreign battle field. To hell with anyone who refuses to denounce ANY form of Islam established by a pedophile, murderous 6th century criminal.

U.S.A. Down Graded From AAA to AA

2011-08-06T00:31:00.002-05:00

~"A great historian says the story of the human race and of nations is always the same. It is from slavery to struggle, to freedom, to dedication, to prosperity, then to indolence and indifference and debt and default and dole and scarcity and poverty and back to slavery. And we’re seeing that cycle today in our own and beloved America. There is a disintegration and a devastating attack against the free system that has blessed our forefathers, for which they paid their life, and has blessed us and brought us to a prosperity beyond any which the world has ever known.

And we are departing from those principles, and are now looking with favor upon the coercion of the individual and upon the building of a socialist welfare state, and upon the concentration of power in the hands of the few..."~

Dr. W. A. Criswell

Obama Green Lights Sinaloa Cartel Drug Trafficing Into the U.S.

2011-08-05T12:12:00.003-05:00

U.S. federal agents allegedly cut a deal with the Sinaloa drug cartel that allowed it to traffic tons of narcotics across the border, in exchange for information about rival cartels, according to documents filed in federal court.

The allegations are made by Vicente Zambada-Niebla, a top ranking cartel boss extradited to the U.S. last year on drug charges. He is a close associate of Mexico's most wanted man, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and the son of Ismael "Mayo" Zambada-Garcia.

Both remain fugitives, in part, because of the deal Zambada- Niebla made with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, according to a defense motion filed last Friday in the case.

Fox News

Ft Hood Plotter Used Al Qaeda Bomb Manual

2011-08-02T23:56:00.005-05:00

Authorities told FOX News Channel Saturday that in a search of Abdo's hotel room they found 18lbs (8kg) of sugar, a pressure cooker and smokeless gunpowder that was to be used as the trigger. He had enough bomb making materials for two bombs, they said.

"He was all ready to go," one law enforcement source said.

The bomb making materials and methodology was "straight out of Inspire magazine and an al Qaeda explosives course manual," one counterterrorism source said, referring to the terrorist organization's English-language magazine.

A second source confirmed that two additional Fort Hood soldiers have been questioned about Abdo.

According to the criminal complaint, Abdo admitted to the arresting officers that he intended to conduct an attack in Killeen and Fort Hood and that he had explosives in his backpack and his hotel room.

It was revealed last week that police found a gun, ammunition, two clocks, and two spools of auto wire in Abdo's backpack, along with an article entitled "Make a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom."

Inside Abdo's hotel room, police discovered an electric drill, two clocks, five shotgun shells, four razorblades and ammunition for guns.

The criminal complaint stated that Abdo admitted to planning to assemble two bombs in his hotel room using gunpowder and shrapnel placed into pressure cookers. Prosecutors said Abdo intended to set off these bombs at a Fort Hood restaurant popular with servicemen and women.

Fox News

Janet Napolitano, Obama's useless dyke in charge of Home Land Security should be held accountable for missing this one. One attack at Ft Hood is a mistake, another attack or one that got this close and you are fired, but not in the Hussein Regime.

Take it Away Ladies

2011-07-31T22:19:00.004-05:00

From Austin - Texas

John 4:2-3 John 1:9

2011-07-31T20:04:00.004-05:00

I have aTREMENDOUS problem with those who would give Islam credibility. Believing that Islam can be reformed is giving Islam credibility. Allowing a toe hold for Islam to force its way into Main Stream America.

John 4:2-3
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

John 1:9
9 Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.

Anyone who claims to be Christian and also desires to "give Islam a chance", is a liar in the first place, and the supporter of the debased doctrine of Islam in the second place.

Herman Cain spoke candidly about dangers of Islam Jim Kelly

As is frequently the case, Eugene Robinson has it all wrong, “Robinson: No excuses for Cain’s bigotry” (Commentary, July 20).

Only in America could truthfulness be described as bigotry. Islam is a 7th-century socio-political system with its own set of laws and a military component. Women are considered property before they are persons. It does not recognize individual liberties and encourages conversion by force, enslavement or killing of infidels (that’s you and me, folks).
Muslims who leave Islam are to be killed if caught. To guarantee yourself paradise, you only need to die while killing unbelievers, be they fighters or women and children. Mosques in non-Muslim majority countries have traditionally been training facilities and armories for the jihadists.
The Muslim apologists will say that we are quoting from the Quran out of context, that jihad is a personal inner struggle, and that they don’t really want to kill us all. But one of the duties of an Islamist is taqiyya, lying for the advancement of Islam.
Cain is one of the few who will speak out candidly about the danger of Islam. It is no more bigotry to oppose Islam than it is to oppose NAMBLA or the Ku Klux Klan.

Jim Kelly
Belmar

Texas Gun Store Clerk Interview Re: Ft Hood Plotter

2011-07-29T10:26:00.003-05:00

This man is better than Obama's Homeland Security by a mile. At least.

Aljazeera Gave Ft Hood Massacre II Plotter Air Time

2011-07-28T22:27:00.005-05:00

One of the most disgusting things you see are Islam's usefull idiots trying to give Aljazeera credibility.

The video is of one of the three Ft Hood Massacre plotters, lets refer to him as Muslim US Soldier number 2, being given air time by Aljazeera and broadcast in Arab countries to denounce the United States Military, while he is in uniform.

Another Ft Hood Plot From Muslim Service Member

2011-07-28T10:41:00.008-05:00

Yeah, that's right, lets trust Muslim US Service Members. Better yet, lets believe them when they say the want to reform Islam.

At least one U.S. military serviceman has been arrested after raising concerns over another alleged plot to attack Fort Hood, Fox News has learned exclusively.

Pvt. Nasser Jason Abdo, an AWOL soldier from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was arrested by the Killeen Police Department near Fort Hood and remains in custody there. Authorities, however, will not say if Abdo is the one who raised security concerns.

Abdo was found with weapons and explosives at the time of his arrest, a senior Army source confirms to Fox News. He was arrested at around 2 p.m. Wednesday after someone called authorities to report a suspicious individual.

Eric Vasys, a spokesman with the FBI's San Antonio Office, said authorities found firearms and bomb making components, which he described as smokeless gun powder, inside Abdo's motel room. Fox News Exclusive

According to reports now, this man and two accomplaces were found ONLY after a local suspicious person report. All the while Home Land Security is busy groping Americans, stealing thier possessions during inspections and prosecuting anyone who resists thier actions.

UPDATE: GUN DEALER ALERTS POLICE
Rep. John Carter reports:

House Army Caucus Co-Chairman John Carter (R-TX31) is praising Killeen police and a local gun dealer who have apparently stopped another attack on Fort Hood through early detection and teamwork

“Thanks to quick action by a Texas gun dealer in alerting local police to a suspicious character, and a prompt and vigorous response by the Killeen Police Department, we may well have averted a repeat of the tragic 2009 radical Islamic terror attack on our nation’s largest military installation. We now have an example of what works to prevent these type attacks, and as the coming days reveal more details about this attempt, we can determine better ways to thwart similar efforts in the future.”

According to preliminary information provided to Carter’s office, Killeen gun dealer Guns Galore, the same store used by November 5, 2009 Fort Hood shooting suspect Major Nidal Hasan to purchase weapons used in that attack, called Killeen police concerning a “suspicious male” who purchased gunpowder, shotgun ammunition, and magazine for a semi-automatic handgun.

Killeen police investigations revealed the suspect also purchased uniforms with Fort Hood unit patches from a local military surplus store. On questioning, the suspect reportedly admitted to planning an attack on Fort Hood, and was taken into custody last night.

The suspect is identified only as U.S. Army PFC Abdul, and is allegedly AWOL from Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Unconfirmed news reports say two more soldiers in possession of weapons may have been taken into custody today in the case.

Carter, a former Texas judge, says a full investigation of the attempt should answer whether the suspect or suspects had previously been identified by the Army as security threats, what actions had been taken in the event there was any prior display of suspicious activities or behavior, and whether there are any links to known terrorists groups or individuals.

While Waiting for Islam to be Reformed...

2011-07-27T22:09:00.009-05:00

A Special Operations Soldier was killed July 21, during a combat operation in Paktika Province, Afghanistan.

Master Sgt. Benjamin A. Stevenson, 36, was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N.C.

Stevenson was born in Albany, N.Y., and graduated from Smithson Valley High School, Spring Branch, Texas in 1993. Stevenson enlisted in the U.S. Army as an infantryman on June 10, 1993.

Initially, Stevenson served with the 325th Infantry Battalion at Fort Bragg as a TOW gunner and squad leader and then as an aircraft power plant repairer with the 601st Aviation Support Battalion at Katterbach, Germany.

In 2000, Stevenson successfully completed the Special Forces Qualification Course and was assigned to 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Campbell, Ky.

There, he served as a weapons and intelligence sergeant and deployed three times in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and once in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

In May 2006, Stevenson was assigned as a special operations team member, U.S. Army Special Operations Command, where he deployed an additional four times to Iraq and two times to Afghanistan.

He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Omar enlisted in the Army in October 2001. In 2005 he joined the Nebraska National Guard's 134th Infantry Detachment in Crete and transferred to several Nebraska units in North Platte, Ogallala and Kearney. His current deployment was his third. He served two tours in Iraq.

Omar lived in Bogota, Colombia, for much of his childhood. He came back to America when he was 14 and enlisted in the Army when he was 18.

Family members stated that he loved being a soldier. He was a good soldier, a good husband and a very good man.

Military officials describe Omar as a very caring person who would go out of his way to help anyone.

Omar is survived by numerous loving relatives and friends including his wife, Ava, son Malachi and daughter Airiana.

_________________________________________________________________________________

They died July 19 in Kunar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device.

Both Staff Sgt. James M. Christen, 29, of Loomis, California and Sgt. Jacob Molina, 27, of Houston, Texas were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

Staff Sgt. Christen's awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart (both posthumous), Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Star, Iraq Campaign with Star, Global War on Terrorism Medal, Army Service Medal, Noncommissioned Officer Profession Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge and the Parachutist Badge.

This was Staff Sgt. Christen's third deployment overseas. He previously served two tours in Iraq. Staff Sgt. Christen enlisted in the U.S. Army June 22, 2000 as an Infantryman.

Sgt. Jacob Molina's awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal (posthumous), Purple Heart (posthumous), Combat Infantryman Badge (posthumous), Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Star, Iraq Campaign Medal with Star, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, and the Army Service Ribbon.

This was Sgt. Molina's second deployment overseas. He previously served one tour in Iraq. Sgt. Molina enlisted in the U.S. Army February 15, 2007 as an Infantryman.

Both Soldiers were married.

Reforming Islam vs Our Troops

2011-07-26T11:32:00.009-05:00

10 years after the atrocity of 911 and many of our troops lives lost or bodies maimed there are still people who call themselves Patriots saying a barbaric theocracy as atrocious as Islam can be reformed.

10 years ago, thousands died in Manhattan New York because of this mindset, after already 1400 years of every imaginable horror having been visited upon mankind on this planet under the banner of Islam.

Yet the naive still believe to this day that the theocracy based on the Koran whose followers number 1.1 billion and who would riot, murder and maim at the slightest negative act or comment towards the foundation of Islam or the Koran, can be reformed.

All the while our sons and daughters are fighting and dieing in Iran and Afghanistan. For WHAT, when the people over here refuse to stand totally and completely with them in this fight against this attrocious gathering cloud of darkness, hoping upon hope that such a barbaric theology can be changed instead.

I will now begin listing the names of our lost sons and daughters as often as possible to remind the world who they are. And you can't stop me from full filling that noble duty at THIS blog.

Master Sgt. Benjamin A. Stevenson, 36, of Canyon Lake, Texas, died July 21, in Paktika province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire. He was assigned to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N.C.

Sgt. Omar A. Jones, 28, of Crook, Colo., died July 18, in Balkh province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 126th Chemical Battalion, 92nd Troop Command, Nebraska Army National Guard, Wahoo, Neb.

They died July 19 in Kunar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device. They were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

Killed were:

Staff Sgt. James M. Christen, 29, of Loomis, Calif.

Sgt. Jacob Molina, 27, of Houston, Texas

At the Amazon, Maria, Her Sisters, Her Mom

2011-07-13T15:17:00.008-05:00

In Belem, Brazil, on the Amazon river. A lot of pictures and stories about the people, the place coming soon. Stories about the huge variety of fruit that comes out of the jungle, the beasts such as the Anacondas and their deadly legacy, the Indians and the river. Americanos being highly respected by the good people, prine targets for the criminal. The clash between affluent and poverty. Maria's family is both beautiful and very close. Maria is second from the right in the colorfull butterfly dress in this picture of her, her sisters and her mother other than for one sister who is still stateside (click the picture to enlarge). These women can COOK. One of them is a very accomplished Chef.

The people here are not very happy with the United States and the huge financial dilemma being caused by those currently in office. Once upon a time, relatives living and working in the US could send money to family here in Brazil and the US Dollar could be exchanged for 3 local "dollars". Now the US Dollar has fallen to half its previous value here. In other words, the mighty Dollar is now closer than ever to being worth the same as any second or third world currency on the global exchange.

What Obama and the Democrats are doing to the United States is complete and total madness and they must be held accountable.

Fort Hood Jihadist to Face Justice

2011-07-06T14:32:00.003-05:00

DEVELOPING: The Army psychiatrist charged in the deadly Fort Hood rampage in Texas will be court-martialed and face the death penalty, Fox News confirms.

Maj. Nidal Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the November 2009 shooting spree at the Texas Army post.

America and Israel - Friends Indeed

2011-05-24T14:25:00.005-05:00

God Bless America and His Chosen People

God sent Americans to Europe to liberate God's Chosen People from the gas chambers of Germany's National Socialists (Nazi's) in 1944. 4 years later those people re-established their nation after 2,000 years in exile. And like us, they have been vanguishing evil ever since.

So America's Socialists who are enjoying their brief 15 minutes of fame had better watch out. Millions of American's and millions of Jews are still allies, with a rich history of friendship. That will not change. The God we trust trully is One-And-The-Same.

Meeting Regarding Nidal Hasan With New Fort Hood General Delayed

2011-05-09T16:44:00.002-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: May 3, 2011 3:56:44 PM CDT May 6 meeting with Hasan defense team delayed
FORT HOOD, Texas -- At the request of Maj. Nidal M. Hasan's defense counsels, the May 6 meeting between the defense and Lt. Gen. Donald Campbell, III Corps and Fort Hood commander, has been delayed until the week of May 16. A specific date for the rescheduled meeting has not been set.

Campbell approved the rescheduling to ensure defense counsel can present all matters for consideration at the pending meeting.

Campbell serves as a general court-martial convening authority. The charges pending against Hasan have been forwarded to the general for disposition.

Campbell's decision will be made sometime after his meeting with Hasan's defense counsel. No deadline has been set for Campbell's decision.

Hasan is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

For more information contact:
Fort Hood Public Affairs Office
Media Relations
(254) 287-9993
(254) 287-0106
fax: (254) 288-2750
Chris Haug, MAJ Raul Marquez or Tyler Broadway
Media Relations Office
Fort Hood, TX 76522
query@forthoodpresscenter.com

Ft Hood Massacre Court Marshall of Jihadist Nadal Hasan Delayed AGAIN!

2011-04-06T21:48:00.005-05:00

This is the link to the story that the extreme left wing MSM types did not report, even though this occured a week ago (from the date of this post).

The Obama administration has no desire to protect America and Americans from such massacres as is evident of the open borders policy and the non-prosecution of those who brutally murder and maim defenseless Americans, such as defenseless troops stateside in a processing center. A responsible President would push for the immediate court marshall and sentencing of such acts against Americans, especially when the culprit is so clearly guilty.

Again, IMPEACH Obama on the ground of Treason and prosecute all of those attempting to delay due Justice. THAT DAY WILL COME.

FORT WORTH, Texas — The Army psychiatrist charged in the Fort Hood shooting rampage won a delay Wednesday that is expected to move his case to the incoming commander who will decide whether he will go to trial and face the death penalty.

Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, the departing commanding general, granted a request by Maj. Nidal Hasan’s attorney to delay proceedings until late April, when Maj. Gen. Donald Campbell is expected to assume command at the post. Hasan’s lead attorney, John Galligan, contended Cone wouldn’t have been impartial because he was at Fort Hood on Nov. 5, 2009, and received information about the case early on that may not have been accurate.

Campbell has led the Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, Ky.

In a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday night, Fort Hood officials gave no reason why Cone granted Galligan’s request for the delay to meet with the commanding general — the military official who will decide if Hasan will be court-martialed and face death for 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. Two Army colonels already have made that recommendation.

No meeting date has been set, but Galligan likely will meet with Cone’s successor, according to the statement. Cone’s date of departure hasn’t been set. Senate approval is pending for his nomination, announced three weeks ago, to the rank of general and to lead the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Monroe, Va..

Court Martial Nidal Malik Hasan

2011-02-23T19:51:00.003-06:00

On November 5, 2009, Nidal Malik Hasan fired at least 200 rounds into a soldier processing center in Ft Hood, Texas, killing 13 troops and wounding 32 others. A terrorist/jihadist act which occured after email exchanges between Nidal Hasan and Imam Anwar al-Awlaki, who inspires terrorist acts against the West. Why these email exchanges with a terrorist Imam was not acted on needs to be investigated all the way up to the Oval Office.

Eric Holder, who refuses to classify this as a terrorist act by Hasan who has on his business card, "Solder of Allah", should be prosecuted for using his official capacity to provide aid and comfort to the enemies of our Constitution.

Colt: The Peace Maker a.k.a. Single Action Army

2011-02-14T01:04:00.005-06:00

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God." Mathew 5:9

One of Texas's deadliest outlaws, John Wesley Hardin was reputed to be the meanest man alive, an accolade he supposedly earned by killing a man for snoring. He committed his first murder at age 15 and admitted to killing more than 40 men over 27 years. In May 1874, Hardin killed Charles Webb, the deputy sheriff of Brown County and a former Texas Ranger. John Barclay Armstrong, a Texas Ranger known as "McNelly's Bulldog" since he served with the Special Force as a sergeant and Captain Leander McNelly's right hand, received permission to arrest the outlaw. He pursued Hardin across Alabama and into Florida and caught up with him in Pensacola.

Armstrong, Colt pistol in hand, boarded a train that Hardin and four companions were on, the outlaw shouted, "Texas, by God!" and drew his own pistol. When it was over, one of his gang members was killed, and his three surviving friends were staring at Armstrong’s pistol. Hardin had been knocked unconscious.

The first practical revolving-cylinder handgun was invented in 1831 by Samuel Colt of Hartford, Connecticut, and patented on February 25, 1836, the year of the Texas Revolution. Texas became a proving ground and nearly the only market for Colt's revolutionary product. Colt provided the struggling republic and frontier state with the increased firepower necessary to defend and advance itself. Colt revolvers were manufactured first in 1837 at Paterson, New Jersey, by the Patent Arms Manufacturing Company. Three principal variations of these five-shot Paterson Colt handguns were produced: the .28 caliber Pocket model, the .31 caliber Belt model, and the .36 caliber Holster model. The Republic of Texas ordered 180 of the .36 caliber Holster model revolvers for its navy in August 1839. Numbers of these rather delicate arms were issued to various Texas warships and served well in engagements against Mexico over the next four years. Colt was so pleased by the Texas purchase and with the performance of his product that he engraved the scene of the victorious naval battle fought off Campeche on May 16, 1843, by the Texas Navy on the cylinders of the 1851 Navy, 1860 Army, and 1861 Navy model Colts (in all, nearly 500,000 revolvers).

Many of the Paterson Colts purchased for the Texas Navy were ultimately used by the Texas army and in various quasimilitary expeditions. They are known to have been involved in the Council House Fight at San Antonio, as well as in the Texan–Santa Fe and Mier expeditions.qqv Most significant, however, were those revolvers reissued to units of the Texas Rangersqv. Among these border horsemen the Colt revolver first won its reputation as a weapon ideally suited to mounted combat. Using Paterson Colts purchased in 1843, Col. John Coffee Hays commanded a Ranger contingent in several uneven battles against depredating Comanches. Most notable was the contest in which Hays and fourteen rangers charged and routed nearly eighty Comanche warriors in the battle of Walker's Creek in 1844. Other victories against considerable odds at Nueces Canyon and Enchanted Rock reinforced the report of the Colt revolver's firepower. All of the forthcoming Walker and Dragoon model Colts (some 21,000 revolvers) carried a cylinder scene commemorating the so-called "Hays Big Fight" on the Pedernales. Colt himself came to call the Paterson Holster model revolver the Texas Arm, and present-day collectors generally refer to it as the Texas Model or Texas Paterson.

Although Colt's Paterson enterprise failed in 1842 because of inadequate sales, his early revolvers had won the devotion of frontier Texans, particularly those of the ranger force. Appropriately, it was a former Texas Ranger, Samuel H. Walker, who in conjunction with the demands of the Mexican War, put Colt back in business to stay. In November 1846 Captain Walker, then of the United States Mounted Riflemen, opened negotiations with Colt for the production of 1,000 improved revolvers. Familiar with the shortcomings of the Paterson arm, Walker specified a substantial new design incorporating a fixed trigger with guard and a loading lever beneath the nine-inch barrel. The massive revolver mounted a six-shot cylinder chambered for a .44 caliber conical bullet; the revolver weighed an unprecedented four pounds, nine ounces. Texas Ranger John S. (Rip) Fordqv claimed the new Walker Colt pistol was as powerful as the United States Model 1841 "Mississippi" rifle.

The Walker Colt inaugurated the era of perfected revolver design and manufacture. Colt produced his newly-designed revolvers in Connecticut at the factory of Eli Whitney, Jr., son of the cotton gin inventor. In 1855, in Hartford along the Connecticut River, he completed a new factory and incorporated his business as the Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company (today Colt's Manufacturing Company LLC) and began regular production. By the time of Colt's death on January 10, 1862, a succession of ten improved revolver models had been introduced, and some 468,000 units manufactured. Before the Civil War the most popular of these in Texas was the .36 caliber 1851 Navy model, about which traveler Frederick Law Olmsted observed, "Of the Colt's [Navy] we cannot speak in too high terms. . . . There are probably in Texas about as many revolvers as male adults, and I doubt if there are one hundred in the state of any other make." During the war the few Texas arms manufacturers producing revolvers—Dance Brothersqv, for instance—patterned their limited output on the Colt Dragoon and Navy models.

The Colt revolver remained preeminent among such arms in Texas and throughout the West for the remainder of the nineteenth century. The 1873 Single Action Army model, known as the Peacemaker or simply six-shooter, became the standard sidearm of the postwar military, the Texas Rangers, and the majority of cowboys across the plains. Though restrictions against carrying handguns were applied in Texas during the 1880s, widespread possession declined only slowly.

Windmills, barbed wireqqv fences, and Colt revolvers have been credited with settlement of the Great Plains. The Colt revolver and Texas remain inextricably associated in history, symbolism, and romance. Colt collectors abound in the state.

From the Wikipedia

Valentines: Roses Are Red

2011-02-11T14:01:00.001-06:00

Roses are red, ‘ceptin’ in
Texas where they’s yeller.
I’d be plum obliged to
be yer feller.

I’d be so proud to live
and to age
with the prettiest bloom
ever seen on the sage

The day we met it was round
up time in my heart,
and if’n I could corral you at the
homestead we’d never part.

I’d promise to love, trust, honor
and obey,
and from my little
cowgirl I’d never stray.

By your side I’d stay both night
and day,
and promise to love you the cowboy way.

© Bobby Cohoon

Some Say Happiness is: Keeping It Simple

2011-01-24T21:41:00.003-06:00

From Texas Country Reporter - Bob Phillips - www.TexasCountryReporter.com

Deputy Sheriff Sgt. Rusty Arnold

2010-12-31T14:13:00.003-06:00

SPRINGTOWN -- The long line of public-safety vehicles stretched down Farm Road 51 between Weatherford and Springtown just after noon Thursday. They slowly traveled the 17 miles from a funeral home to another long line -- a double row of Western hats and black-taped badges waiting at a high school football stadium to honor Parker County Sheriff's Deputy Rusty Gene Arnold.

Arnold, 32, was fatally injured in an off-duty wreck on Dec. 13. He died at a Fort Worth hospital on Dec. 21. Two other people were injured in the three-car crash.

The service focused on Arnold's time with the Sheriff's Department, where he had worked since 2001. He was a sergeant in criminal investigations when he died.

The Stephenville native was also an Iraq War veteran, serving as a sergeant in the Army Reserve in 2003 and 2004.

The bleachers quickly filled with Arnold's friends from Tarrant, Erath and Parker counties, and his adopted hometown of Springtown, population 2,639.

"He was a good guy," said Kara Harris of Weatherford, whose husband worked with Arnold in the Sheriff's Department. "You can't even say enough. Honestly, he was such a good officer, a good dad and a good husband."

Arnold always looked for the "teachable moments in his work," Riley said. "He could defuse a situation with his patience and special insight."

He once brought school supplies to a child he met on one of his calls, and on another occasion he counseled a hostile teen to stop blaming his parents for everything that went wrong in his life.

"Rusty's response to him was, 'If my parents were 7 feet tall, I'd be an NBA star, but they're not.' Rusty said, 'I've worked for what I have, and you can, too,'" Riley recalled.

Arnold cleaned up a paupers' cemetery for his Eagle Scout project, delivered Meals On Wheels with his grandparents, and continues to help people after his death as an organ donor, Riley said.

By Shirley Jinkins

Christmas Serenade

2010-12-18T14:09:00.003-06:00

It's 15 below on the prairie
the wind chill's down near 42
and I'm watchin' a Texas blue norther blow in
and I'm not sure what I'm gonna do.

'Cause the tanks are froze pretty near solid
and the handle broke off my best ax
and the feed's gettin' wet from a hole in the roof
where it's leakin' all over the sacks

And I'm feedin' more hay than I planned on
'cause the snow covered up all the grass
the tractor's broke down and the pickup won't start
and it's cold as a well digger's...shovel

It's the 24th day of December
and the sagebrush is covered with ice
and I think that a hot cup of coffee
or a good shot of rye would be nice

'Cause my feet are so cold I can't feel 'em
and my fingers are purty near froze
and there's icicles hung off my moustache
from the drip drippin' off of my nose

I was hopin' I'd get to quit early
and be back at the house Christmas Eve
but these baldies are cryin' and hungry
and there's no one to feed if I leave

And there's one little motley-faced heifer
who somehow got in with the bull
and she's just too little to leave by herself
'cause the calf's gonna have to be pulled

And there's one other thing I might mention
a fact that is painfully clear
I'm so broke that I can't pay attention
so I guess I'll spend Christmas out here

But it's pretty out here on the prairie
where the stars light the cold winter sky
and though I can't remember when things were much worse
I guess I'm still a right lucky guy

'Cause I've got a good woman who'll love me
no matter what time I come home
and my young 'un is happy and healthy
though I wish he weren't quite near so grown

And I've got that new 3-year-old filly
who's better than I even dreamed
and my old spotted gelding as good as they come
so things ain't all as bad as they seem

I've got no cause for being ungrateful
and to gripe and complain isn't good
'cause there's people all over this country
who'd trade places with me if they could

So I know that I'll have a good Christmas
in spite of my problems somehow
I'll just watch as this Texas blue norther blows in
and sing "O Holy Night" to the cows.

© 1996, J. W. Beeson

Texas Strikes Back

2010-11-19T09:49:00.007-06:00

“I never thought that we’d be in this paramilitary type of engagement. It's a war on the border," said Captain Stacy Holland with the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Holland leads a fleet of 16 state-of-the-art helicopters that make up the aviation assets used by the Texas DPS to fight Mexican drug cartels.

In recent years, the cartels have become bolder and more ruthless.

They cross the border with AK-47s on their backs, wearing military camouflage. They recruit in prisons and schools on the American side. Spotters sit in duck blinds along the Rio Grande and call out the positions of the U.S. Border Patrol.

To combat the cartels, the Texas Department of Public Safety is launching a counterinsurgency. Tactical strike teams send field intelligence they gather to Austin to a joint operation intelligence center, or JOIC in military terminology.

“It certainly is a war in a sense that we’re doing what we can to protect Texans and the rest of the nation from clearly a threat that has emerged over the last several years,” said Former FBI prosecutor Steve McCraw, who runs the undeclared "war."

And now that there is added pressure on the cartels, the drug runners are employing new techniques, known as a splash down. When the heat is on, they attempt to return to Mexico with the drugs, often times in broad daylight. And because the Texas law enforcement’s authority ends at the border -- in this case the river -- they even have time to put on their life jackets.

“The cartels may be ruthless, they may be vicious, they may be cowardly ... but they’re not stupid,” said McCraw. “They’ll adapt their tactics and recently they’ve adapted their tactics to utilize smaller loads, cross with rafts, stolen vehicles on our side.”

President Barack Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano have recently said the Mexican border is more secure now than it has been in 20 years, but some along this border strongly disagree.

"To suggest the southwest border is secure is ridiculous," said Holland.

NOTE: Governor Perry advocates sending the military into Mexico - Hat tip DrudgeReport.com

The Woman Who Saved Austin, Texas

2010-10-17T23:48:00.003-05:00

by Benjamin Gustafsson
As you walk between Sixth and Seventh Street you might notice the bronze statue of a woman getting ready to fire a six-pound canon ball across Congress Avenue. If you’re anything like me, you’ve asked yourself where that canon ball is headed. The answer is into the side of the General Land Office Building that stood in its way in 1842. The woman is Angelina Eberly, known as “The Savior of Austin.” This statue marks the exact spot where she fired a canon shot that once preserved Austin as the state capital.

So why did Eberly want to blow a giant hole in the General Land Office Building?

Apparently, in the America of the late 19th century, the primary symbol of political authority lay in government archives carefully maintained in the capital of each state. Similarly, the Republic of Texas archives had been kept since 1839 at the General Land Office building in the small frontier town of Austin, after Stephan F. Austin—which had recently changed it’s name from Waterloo to reflect its new status as the republic’s capital.

From the first days of the Republic, the Texas congress had favored a plan to build a planned city as its capital somewhere in the strategic center of Texas. However, Sam Houston—who will from here on be considered the villain of this story for the purposes of our narrative, in spite of his patriotic service at the Battle of San Jacinto—had hatched an ego-maniacal plan to move the capital to his precious namesake city of Houston. Using his authority as President, Sam Houston blocked congress plans and had the archive moved to Houston.

Yet, with the ascension of Mirabeau B. Lamar to the Presidency in 1839, the Central Texas plan was revitalized. Lamar chose an area near the village of Waterloo, which lay between Shoal and Waller Creeks on the banks of the Colorado River. Edwin Waller, whom the creek was named after, was then selected to draw up a plan for the city. He designed a fourteen-block grid with a broad north-south main street that would run from the river to the State Capitol. It later became known as Congress Avenue.

But despite these developments, Sam Houston refused to give up his plan. During the intervening years he railed against Austin, calling it “the most unfortunate site on earth for a seat of government.” Then in 1941 1841, Houston again became President of the Republic.

During the first year of his Presidency, Houston expressed his distaste for the new capital by refusing to stay in the official residence of the president. Ironically, during his visits to Austin he stayed at a room in the boarding home of his future nemesis: Mrs. Angelina Eberly.

In her time as his host, Mrs. Eberly grew suspicious of Houston.

In 1842, when the Mexican army took control of San Antonio, Goliad and Victoria, the president called for a meeting of the congress in Houston where he argued that Austin was too vulnerable against a Mexican attack and ordered that the precious archives be returned to his beloved Houston.

Ready for such a move, the residents of Austin formed a vigilante group to protect the archives, which they named “The Committee of Safety,” and threatened to defend the official papers with armed resistance if necessary. In response, Houston ordered that the papers be stolen in the dead of night.

The stage was set.

On a cold December night, Houston declared that Austin was no longer the state capital. That night twenty men, led by Colonel Thomas I. Smith and Captain Eli Chandler, arrived in Austin and began loading the archives into their wagons. Awoken by the sounds, Mrs. Eberly spotted the men, ran to a canon lying in wait and lit the fuselage. A six-pound canon ball exploded into the night and crashed into the side wall of the Land Office Building, frightening the soldiers and awakening Austin’s residents.

Smith and Chandler fled into the night with two wagons filled with archives—the vigilantes followed them. At Brushy Creek, in what is today known as Williamson County, the soldiers were forced to return the documents at gunpoint. To his credit, Houston had ordered the men to avoid bloodshed at all costs.

By the next morning the archives were returned to Austin where the citizens celebrated with a raucous New Years Eve Party.

For a number of years Sam Houston was able to keep the government located further north out of fear of further Mexican incursions. But in late summer of 1846 the seat of government was returned to Austin where Mrs. Eberly and the archives awaited.

In the late summer of 2004 the city erected the statue in her honor.

Another interesting piece of Texas History.

Black Cowboys of Texas

2010-08-26T00:58:00.007-05:00

Some of the finest people I know are Black Cowboys and Cowgirls of Texas.

Black Cowboys give urban young men and women an alternative perspective of life, and a good one at that:

Below is A narration by Edward 'Penny' Richards:

Texas Border Business See Dramatic Drop Because of Border Violence

2010-07-24T17:59:00.003-05:00

Texas Ranches Taken by Los Zetas

2010-07-24T17:11:00.003-05:00

All I can say is these Bravos just f-ed up...

Los Zetas gang cross over, raid and take several Texas ranches.

UPDATE: Story is now 100% confirmed by second source within the Laredo Police Department

The bloodbath continues along our southern border and now word is coming in that Los Zetas, the highly trained killers formerly with the Gulf Cartel, have crossed into the United States and taken over at least two ranches in the Laredo, Texas area.

http://www.thecypresstimes.com/article/News/National_News/BREAKING_MULTIPLE_RANCHES_IN_LAREDO_TX_TAKEN_OVER_BY_LOS_ZETAS/31835

UPDATE This is being kept quiet. All comments refering to this situation are "un-official", while "official" comments are nothing happening, "nothing to see, move along."

TREASON!

2010-07-06T18:30:00.002-05:00

Justice Department Files Suit Against Arizona Immigration Law

Arizona is under attack from violent Mexican drug and immigrant smuggling cartels," Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said in a prepared statement. "Now, Arizona is under attack in federal court from President Obama and his Department of Justice."

Absolutely breath taking. Attack, attack, attack is Obama's plan before November against American citizens on behalf of citizens from another country in the United States illegally.

4th of July - Remember - This is a Republic

2010-07-02T13:24:00.004-05:00

REPUBLIC - a state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them.

Texas Citizens Stand Side By Side with Arizona Citizens!

2010-05-29T23:37:00.003-05:00

Stand for Law and Order. Stand with Arizona! Hold this President and the Democrats ACCOUNTABLE to the fullest extent of the law, for turning against Americans.

Need a Friend? She's the Guy to Call!

2010-05-12T08:50:00.004-05:00

"Man has his will -- but woman has her way." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

This post is dedicated to Maria, Dcat, BG, Joanne.

Gun Barrel City

2010-05-05T08:20:00.003-05:00

Doing business over in Gun Barrel City yesterday. Compared to Central and West Texas the forests are thick and there's lots of water with lakes, streams and rivers. Almost like Louisiana in a way. Gun Barrel City is the gateway to Cedar Creek Lake. Great fishing lake. A little history from Wikipedia:

"The town began as an unincorporated community known as the "Old Bethel Community" in the 1960s after completion of Cedar Creek Reservoir. It was incorporated in the late 1960s so it could legally sell beer and wine. The city takes its name from a former road, Gun Barrel Lane (which is now State Highway 198), as well as its motto, "We Shoot Straight with You" and its symbol - a rifle with two crossed antique pistols. Gun Barrel Lane got its name during the 1920s and '30s when outlaws frequented the area. It was considered a safe backwoods place during Prohibition when the likes of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker hung out in the area. A local resident, Mr. C. L. Wait, lived along the road and was known for sitting at the window of his house with a shotgun sticking out the window. It was his way of deterring those he deemed unwelcome on this back country road."

Spring Time in Rural Texas

2010-04-11T23:37:00.001-05:00

Time to do a head count, branding and a lot of sorting and catagorizing. Just like any other business.

It's Saturday Night!

2010-03-06T16:42:00.001-06:00

Time to find a nice watering hole with a live band.

A Message to the "Elite"

2010-01-27T09:40:00.011-06:00

As Hussein Obama of Kenyan descent continues to open the gates of our forts to the third world radicals to murder and kill our troops at home, this generation of America's people have finally begun to wake up. At a time on the heels of their sons and their daughters having in some cases given up their lives on the battle field against these same radicals, our sons and our daughters are now looking back from those same bloody battle fields to home and seeing their fellows being targeted, killed and massacred in the states. They are looking back and finding that Americans back home have allowed themselves to be fooled into electing people who do not honor the sacrifices made for the protection of our traditional way of life...

Politicians and Pundits had fallen lock-step behind America's first socialist President, but in one of the bluest states of this nation, a message was sent to these rubber stamp minions that the people are now coming after you. You are not the "elite", a label too often placed on you by talking heads in the media who want to consider themselves as co-"elites". There are no "elites" in Washington, DC. Too many people are refering to politicians and talking heads as "the elite", and for a short while they actually believed they were elite. But "Houston, we have a problem!"

In America, the "elite" are the PEOPLE. A nation of the people, for the people, by the people. In America, the people are the elite.

These socialists will try to repackage themselves before the November elections to try to keep thier positions which until recently they thought were their "positions of power" to "rule over the people". To try to shove THEIR policies down the throat of the people. But in their feeble minds and short memories these politicians found a rude awakening waiting for them when the people sent a man to Congress to tell them that those seats are not theirs. That those seats in Washington, DC, belong "To The People", are "For The People" and that unless they have forgotten, these politicians are there by "The Will of the People".

My Heros Have Always Been Cowgirls

2009-12-20T11:14:00.005-06:00

I was just telling some friends yesterday on another blog that Maria is the only gal that can talk me in to sitting down long enough to watch TV. Always thought there was just too much violence. Especially when JR got shot! As a work-a-holic it takes time for her to get used to me working so much, either in the big city of Dallas in my real job or out on the W-Bar-E. But she is finally bringing me around to the idea to take a break every now and then. I guess she know better than anyone that my settling down days have arrived...

My New Avatar

2009-11-22T17:18:00.002-06:00

Need I say more?

Haunted Ranch House of Marshall Ranch, Texas

2009-10-18T17:07:00.003-05:00

Stories from the Austin Star of an old Ranch, Marshall Ranch.

The Footsteps Upstairs
Between 1966 and 1969 me and a group of my friends ages 12-15, spent a lot of time at the Marshall Ranch - overnights and days. If we were not going to camp overnight in the house, we tried to be away from there by sundown. Once (on a Friday night), four of us went there to spend the night knowing that a bad storm was blowing in. We always slept on the bottom floor in the room with the fireplace. We put the bed frames against the doors in the room so the two doors could not be opened and the remaining beds frames were placed so that those people could watch the two windows. We then slept in sleeping bags on the bed frames and we always built a fire in the fireplace to cook and provide light at night. We all carried our rifles back then out there. That night we went to sleep and were awakened by footsteps on the floor above us. We yelled to "come down or we would begin to shoot". The footsteps stopped. We yelled again and the footsteps began. We all began to shoot through the ceiling into the upstairs room many times. The footsteps stopped. After a short while, they began again. We began shooting again and they stopped. This went on into early into the morning throughout a nasty thunderstorm. The next morning, we went upstairs and saw nothing other than the furnishings and our bullet holes through the upstairs floors. The Marshall Ranch - when we were there, we always knew we were not alone and not only that, there was a feeling of MANY presences there--not just one.

Ghost Horses Pull a Wagon
T. J., a good friend of mine, lived directly across Bee Caves Road from the ranch. He and his father told me it was not unusual for them to see strange foggy patches appear and cross the road at night. They said that they could sometimes hear what sounded like a wagon with horses walking on Bee Caves Road at night. They would never go outside at night unless they stayed in a lighted area right around the house.

The Ghost of a Man and Dog
On another occasion, three of us went to the Marshall Ranch on an afternoon but did not plan to stay the night. On the West hill above the house, we saw an older man wearing a worn cowboy hat and coat. He had a hound dog with him and was about 40 yards away. We saw him from behind, on a side angle and he did not seem to be aware of our presence although we were talking and such. He disappeared over a ridge and we followed. A short ways away in that direction we came across a large cemetery but the man was gone. We looked all around, did not see him or the dog and left pretty quickly thereafter to get off the ranch before dark. Back then, the nearest highway was Bee Caves Road. That was a pretty strange sighting.

The Seance
There was a seance that was held there in 1966 producing the name "Tom Burns", who had been murdered driving cotton into town at the turn of the century. Supposedly, he was buried there at the Ranch by the creek and the grave was found and dug up and then closed again. Actually, the man's name was Morris Moore (or Maurice Moore) and my grandmother told me the story when I was very young. There is a hill named Morris Moore Hill west of the Marshall ranch about 2 miles (past Camelot entrance) on Bee Caves Road. The old timers out there all knew that but it has probably been lost in history over the years. I also knew the Roy sisters (sisters of Rob Roy of the Rob Roy subdivision there off Bee Caves). They lived on the corner there below where the NIKE missile base radar used to sit up on the hill. They were older and never married. Both epitomized the idea of the Southern lady and they would always give me cats eye marbles when I would visit them with my Grandmother and Grandfather--just another interesting bit of Westlake history.

(credit the following web site: http://www.austinstar.com/hauntedhouse/)

Adios Josi

2009-08-24T20:12:00.008-05:00

(Click on the picture to enlarge)

For a couple of months Maria and I have been blessed with the company of a wonderful young lady from San Palo, Brazil. This is her last week with us. There is unexplainable beauty in listening to Maria and Josi talk Portuguese when we are all together. Maria and I decided to take Josi to Austin Saturday for the night life and then to San Antonio to the River Walk on Sunday.

We had a wonderful time. So many pictures and memories have been made and all I can say is, what a beautiful world.

On A Personal Note

2009-07-12T15:32:00.013-05:00

I love conservative women. It is recorded in Biblical scripture that "Man is the glory of God, Woman is the glory of man."

Maria is my girl. Texan for the last 16 years after finishing an internship of living in Texas 7 years ;-), the daughter of a high ranking officer in the Brazilian military, speaks the beautiful language of Portuguese, a better CEO than I will ever be. Strong woman. Scary strong. Just like Palin, Pamela Geller, Michelle Malkin, Dcat, BG, Joanne, Carrie Prejean. Schooled in a Catholic school she has morals. If she has caught a person in a lie she will pull them off to one side and tell them she thinks they just lied in that passionate Brazilian way. If she thinks a person is weak, she does not hesitate to find a respectable place to pull them off to one side and lecture them about why it is important to be strong in life. She has no problem with one going behind closed doors and shedding a tear about stress in ones life but when that person gets out there on the playing field, they better not show weakness.

She is my right hand man. I have seen her fill the roll of executive expecting to see the employees not take this women serioulsy who one employee was asked by another employee, "I heard that rg's Maria is beautiful" to which the other employee replied "She is not beautiful. She is gorgeous." But a day later I was in awe. The employees treat me with "yeah he's the boss" attitude which is typical in any enterprise. But when Maria was filling in, they treated her with almost total reverence. They loved and respected her. In a days time she knew in detail what each employee's responsibilities were and Maria knew how each one was doing. The first chance I had to sit and watch her work with the employees who dropped by "the office", she gently and professionally talked to them about what their expectations were that day and the next day.

I see the power exuded by her, the women on the front lines of the battle for freedom in Iran, and on the home front in America's culture war by the women I mentioned above, and I gotta tell you something cowboys - we are proud of them and should give the girl 110% of our all - nothing less.

25,000 to 35,000 Attend Dallas Tea Party

2009-07-05T19:47:00.003-05:00

Michelle Malkin was there, too.

12:07 PM CDT on Sunday, July 5, 2009
By WENDY HUNDLEY / The Dallas Morning News

An estimated crowd of 25,000 to 35,000 people attended the Independence Day tea party at Southfork Ranch on Saturday, one organizer said.

While the official figures haven’t been tallied yet, Debbie Meyers said the bulk of the crowd arrived after 7:30 p.m. to avoid the heat of the day. The temperature reached a high of 101 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

“I was standing on the stage and couldn’t see the end of the people,” said Meyers, president of the event-planning business Bravo Entertainment.

The event had been billed as the largest tea party in the nation, and some organizers had said the crowd could reach 50,000.

A Little Music...

2009-06-27T12:20:00.001-05:00

The County Farm was No Gitmo

2009-05-30T15:15:00.000-05:00

During the early 1900’s and possibly as far back as the late 1800’s there was a farm established in East Texas that was called during my school days, The County Farm. It was located up in the Upper Eastern part of Smith County Texas. It was almost impossible to find. To get to the sprawling farm you had to get off highway 69 or County Road 2710 and then take blacktop, back roads to either the front or back gate. When I was in elementary school, our school bus cut right down the middle of the picturesque farm.

Nestled above the Sabine River, the farm had a large white ranch house, several small houses for the families of the hired hands, a vast orchard of huge pecan trees, large wide open meadows where the cattle and other livestock grazed, the meadows enclosed on all sides by the deep East Texas forest that the massive farm was cut out of. The ranch house was a part of the large cluster of buildings which included the afore mentioned hired hand houses, a long tractor barn, a huge barn and a two story square concrete cell block. That’s right, a cell block.

The cell block could hold, it appeared, up to 24 prisoners. The prisoners were county prisoners. Ordered to “hard” labor by county judges. Across a small ravine to the left of the cell block was an old hickory tree. Underneath that hickory tree was a small grave yard of men who died in that cell block and then were buried there.

I recently tried to research detailed information about the County Farm but could not find any information. The farm has been sold several times since those days for millions of dollars per each sale to rich people. The old ranch house has been torn down, replaced a few hundred yards on down the old county road that runs through the middle of the place with a new sprawling one story ranch style house. The farm recently was opened as a place for people to go dove and quail hunting if they called ahead and paid a fee to do so, as well as its own going function as a cattle ranch. The old county road that cuts through the middle of the County Farm has since been privatized and gates block both ends of the road.

One thing I do know. The prisoners there were required to work. Not lounge around in a jail house or jail yard. They worked from dawn to dusk. They provided their own food. They built the buildings, cleared the forests, and planted the pecan trees, and dug out the stock ponds and tended to the large number of livestock on that farm.

Now that is what I call rehabilitation.

Memorial Day in America

2009-05-21T16:38:00.000-05:00

Have you ever looked, really looked, at a soldier's face? Sometimes it's young, barely
an adult the
hopes of youth still painted in its features. Sometimes it's old older
than faith, older than wisdom, older than time. And sometimes...sometimes it's a bit
of both all at once.
Sometimes it's gritty and pained, remembering the face of another who has fallen.
Sometimes it's laughing, pleased to have a moment of peace. Most of the time it's
proud because it knows, oh yes it knows, the world is a different place a
better
place because
of it.
Next time you look at a soldier's face, see if you can find that glint of pride.
Sometimes it’s hidden, and you have to search it out. You'll find it in the eyes always
in the eyes. For the eyes are indeed the windows to the soul, even a soldier's
soul.
And when you've carefully examined every feature of that soldier's face, stand up
straight and tall and smile your best smile. Thank that soldier, because it does what
some cannot or will not. It defends what it believes to be right with
it's very life.
But more important, it defends a perfect stranger you.
And when you see a flag covered casket, stand in memorium of all the soldier's faces
you've examined. For when one of them falls, they all fall. And when one of them
stands, they all stand.
Shouldn't we stand with them?
Lilian Leader
June 2, 2006

SRV

2009-04-29T16:45:00.000-05:00

Stephen Ray Vaughan was born to Martha and Jimmie Lee Vaughan at Methodist Hospital in Dallas, Texas on October 3, 1954, three years after his brother, Jimmie Vaughan. Stevie's father, whose nickname became "Big Jim", was an asbestos worker whose job carried the family to cities across Texas. Wherever there was an opening, the family would pack up and move to another city.

The Vaughan family finally moved into a small house in Dallas. The tension in the home was high, however, as Big Jim had a temper when he drank alcohol.

Big Jim and Martha loved to dance to Western Swing, and it was the boys' first exposure to music. The Texas Playboys, a country band, would hang out at the Vaughans' house often, playing dominoes with Big Jim. The Playboys would bring alcoholic beverages to the house and Stevie would sneak sips when nobody was looking. This started him on his addiction to alcohol.

When Jimmie broke his shoulder playing football when he was 12, family friend Michael Quinn gave him his first guitar. Soon after, Stevie got one of his own: a plastic Roy Rogers toy guitar from Sears, with only three strings. Stevie recalls that it also came with a set of blankets.

The boys, uninterested in taking formal guitar lessons, taught themselves to play by listening to records by Jimi Hendrix, The Yardbirds, and The Beatles, that Jimmie brought home. The brothers were also drawn to blues music and taught themselves the guitar techniques of blues guitarists like Albert and B.B. King, Otis Rush, and Buddy Guy.

At the age of 15, Jimmie was the lead guitarist in a local cover band called The Chessmen, and played gigs all over Texas. One day when bandmate Doyle Bramhall came to pick up Jimmie for a gig, he saw young Stevie playing along to the song Jeff's Boogie by The Yardbirds. Bramhall became the first to tell Stevie Ray Vaughan that he was actually good.

Success and Fame

Texas Flood
The band sent the tapes to legendary talent scout, John Hammond, Sr., a veteran of the record business who discovered Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, and Bob Dylan. He got the band a major contract with Epic Records. The mixed and mastered tapes were morphed into an album called Texas Flood. On June 3, 1983, the album made it to #38 on the Billboard 200 charts, received positive reviews, and sold over 500,000 units. Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble were an overnight success. The band then embarked on a successful tour for the album.

Note: On March 3, 2009, Harmonix released Texas Flood in its entirety as downloadable content for the game Rock Band via Xbox Live. The Playstation Network was set to receive it on March 5, 2009.

Couldn't Stand the Weather
In mid-December 1983, the band took two weeks off to write material for a new album. They went to The Power Station in New York City to record in January 1984. The new album took two weeks to record, but finally finished and released the album as Couldn't Stand the Weather. They went on another successful tour and played many TV shows including Solid Gold and Rockpalast.

On October 4, 1984, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble played a show at Carnegie Hall in New York City to celebrate his 30th birthday. The whole eleven-piece band wore custom-tailored mariachi suits. The band rehearsed for two weeks to prepare for the show. After the show, MTV invited all the guests to a local club where the new TV network would throw an after-party.

With several more shows after Carnegie Hall, the band flew to Australia and played two sold-out shows at the Sydney Opera House. Then it was off to New Zealand, with a several concert halls and stadiums on the itinerary. While in New Zealand, Stevie received word that he won two W.C. Handy Blues Awards: one for Entertainer of the Year and one Instrumentalist of the Year. He was the first white person to win both awards. He was presented the awards on November 18, 1984, and played with B.B. King, Rufus Thomas, Robert Cray, and Albert King. The ceremony was held at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis on Beale Street.

Soul to Soul
By early 1985, Stevie's performance contract required a fifth of Scotch in his dressing room each night and his cocaine habit rose to 4 grams/day. He would dissolve the cocaine in a glass of Scotch or Crown Royal every morning as a morning pick-me-up. This ritual lasted for 9 years.

Stevie and Double Trouble went to the Dallas Sound Labs in March 1985. After a couple of weeks of trying to come up with new material, it became evident that Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble needed a stronger rhythm section. Desperate, he got in touch with, Reese Wynans, an ace keyboard player who was playing with Delbert McClinton at the time.

On April 10, 1985, Stevie Ray was asked to play The Star Spangled Banner on opening day at the Houston Astrodome. Unfortunately, he didn't get a good audience response, as he played his rendition with slide guitar work.

The new quartet finished the album in May 1985 and was named Soul to Soul. The album was released on September 30, 1985, but lacked the fire and bite of previous albums.

By 1986, the band was touring the world non-stop, sometimes sharing the bill with The Fabulous Thunderbirds--and Stevie's cocaine habit had risen to 7 grams a day. Both bands were on tour in New Zealand when Stevie saw a group of schoolgirls walking back to a nearby hotel. He homed in on one girl in particular: stunningly beautiful 17-year-old model Janna Lapidus. The olive-skinned brunette had fled from Russia with her parents when she was a child. Stevie took Janna with him on tour in Australia.

Live Alive
In mid-1986, Stevie and Double Trouble were ordered to record another album. As they didn't wish to do this, they decided to record a live album. They would simply record shows at the Austin Opera House and the Starfest in Dallas. This proved to be more difficult than they thought: many of the recordings were flooded with technical difficulties that needed touch-ups or errors that needed correction. The band started booking studio time to overdub drums or vocals.

Stevie's marriage to Lenny was also on the verge of collapse. His fame, fortune, success, and attention pushed her to the sidelines, and she reacted bitterly. One night after a long stretch on the road, he came home to find their house in Austin padlocked: the electricity was shut off and Lenny and their dog were gone. She had left with the money Stevie had been sending her frequently. This shocking discovery guaranteed that Stevie's alcohol and drug abuse would escalate.

Stevie moved to Los Angeles where he moved in with an old Austin acquaintance, Timothy Duckworth, who later became Stevie's personal assistant.

"Live Alive" was released on November 30, 1986.

On August 27, 1986, after years of suffering from Parkinson's disease, Stevie Ray's and Jimmie Lee's father, "Big Jim" Vaughan, died from heart failure. The boys rushed home to comfort their mother, but there was little time to mourn over the death of their father. Immediately after the funeral three days later, a jet rushed Stevie back on the road with Double Trouble.

A month later, on tour in Europe, Stevie's addictive lifestyle finally caught up with him. Drummer Chris Layton recalls being out in the street with Stevie when he suddenly dropped to his knees and acted confused, then began retching blood and bile. He said he needed a drink, but no drug stores were open. When Stevie had composed himself, the two walked back to their hotel in Ludwigshafen. Then Stevie began shaking, sweating and his eyes "were like the eyes of a dead animal." When the animation came back into his eyes, he sat up and quietly said, "I need help." Chris called an ambulance; the paramedics later described the trip to the hospital as a near death dehydration. Stevie was admitted under the care of Dr. Victor Bloom in London, the same doctor who helped Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend kick their addiction to heroin. Bloom monitored Stevie overnight to see his stomach reactions; it turned out that the whiskey was eating away his stomach lining, and the cocaine was crystallizing again and eating into his intestines.

Rehabilitation
After a failed attempt to get sober in London, Stevie asked his mother to fly the band to Atlanta, Georgia, where Stevie checked into Peachford Hospital, and Tommy checked into a hospital in Austin; both men spent a month in the Charter treatment program.

Stevie made a phone call to his wife Lenny, asking her to visit him in rehab, but she refused. In turn, he filed for a divorce which wasn't finalized until June 1988 due to a delay in an agreement between Stevie and Lenny.

Recovery
By late 1986, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble went back on the road with confidence and energy as Stevie and Tommy now played clean and sober. On February 28, 1987, the band played MTV Mardi Gras in New Orleans with The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Stevie also made an appearance with B.B. King for an HBO special that was broadcast at the Ebony Showcase Theater in Los Angeles, California on April 15, 1987. It was a lineup that included B.B. King, Albert King, Eric Clapton, Paul Butterfield (who died only a few weeks later), Phil Collins, Gladys Knight, and Etta James.

Stevie Wonder hosted a TV special called "Characters", in which a number of musical guests came to perform his hits. Stevie Ray played with Wonder on "Superstition" and "Come Let Me Make Your Love Come Down" and was broadcast in April 1988.

Stevie wanted to help others recover and overcome their problems with alcohol or drugs, as during the song "Life Without You", he would often speak to the audience about recovering and being there for others when they need love. On the road, he would attend Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) meetings regularly, sharing the lessons of his ordeal.

In Step
By 1988, the band was ready to return to the recording studio. For the new record, they traveled to Memphis to record in Ardent Studios, a pro recording studio that has such clientele as ZZ Top, Tina Turner, and Led Zeppelin. Together, old friend Doyle Bramhall and Stevie began writing songs about walking the tightrope to recovery, including "Tightrope", "Wall of Denial", and "Crossfire". The album was named appropriately, "In Step", released on June 6, 1989. "Crossfire" reached the #1 position on the Mainstream Rock Charts. It was the only hit single that they ever had.

In the spring of 1990, Stevie and his brother recorded an album together, one that would feature the music they had grown up with. They recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis and was produced by Nile Rodgers. The brothers agreed to name it "Family Style". That summer, Stevie and Double Trouble went on tour with British soul singer Joe Cocker, touring places like Alaska and the Benson & Hedges Blues Festival.

Death
To complete the summer portion of the "In Step" tour, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble played two shows on August 25 & 26 at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, WI. The shows also featured Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and Robert Cray with The Memphis Horns.

After Double Trouble's set at the final show, Vaughan originally planned to return to Chicago by car. Bass player Tommy Shannon and keyboardist Reese Wynans had already departed. The venue was difficult to reach via highway and Vaughan wanted to get back to Chicago to talk to his girlfriend, model Janna Lapidus, who was staying with him at the time.

Tour manager Skip Rickert had hired helicopters from Omni Flights to circumvent congested highway traffic. Most of the seats had already been reserved, but one was available. Vaughan took it.

The helicopters departed at 12:44 a.m. in thick fog. Just past the landing zone was a 200-foot hill. Vaughan's helicopter was piloted by Jeffrey Browne, who was unfamiliar with the flight pattern for exiting the area. He guided the helicopter to about half of the altitude needed to clear the hill before crashing into it. The force of the impact scattered the aircraft over a 200-foot area. The coroner's report stated that Vaughan died of severe loss of blood due to a force-of-impact rupture of the aorta.

On August 31, 1990, funeral services were held for Vaughan in his hometown of Oak Cliff. Thousands of family members, friends, and musicians gathered to say goodbye. With brother Jimmie, mother Martha, and girlfriend Janna among the mourners were all three members of ZZ Top, Bonnie Raitt, Stevie Wonder, and Jackson Browne. Vaughan was interred at Laurel Land Cemetery in Dallas, Texas.

Legacy

Vaughan memorial at Lady Bird Lake, in Austin, Texas.September 1990 saw the release of Family Style.

The 1991 album The Sky Is Crying was the first of several posthumous Vaughan releases to achieve chart success. Jimmie Vaughan later co-wrote and recorded a song in tribute to his brother and other deceased blues guitarists, titled "Six Strings Down".

The 1991 album of Bonnie Raitt, Luck of the Draw, was dedicated to him.

Many other artists recorded songs in remembrance of Vaughan, including Eric Johnson, Tommy Emmanuel (the song Stevie's Blues), Buddy Guy and Steve Vai ("Jibboom" on the album The Ultra Zone, 1999) and guitarist Wayne Perkins ("Big Stratocaster", from the album Rambling Heart).

In 1991, Texas governor Ann Richards proclaimed October 3, Vaughan's birthday, to be "Stevie Ray Vaughan Day." An annual motorcycle ride and concert in Central Texas benefits the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Scholarship Fund.

In 1992, the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation released the Stevie Ray Vaughan Signature Stratocaster, which Vaughan had helped design. As of 2007, the model is still in production. In 2004, Fender also released a limited edition exact replica of "Number One".

Stevie Wonder included a song on his 1995 live album Natural Wonder titled "Stevie Ray Blues". On the album, Wonder refers to the song as "Stevie Ray Vaughan Blues".

Stephen King's short story "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band" concerns a small town called Rock and Roll Heaven that's populated by late rock musicians, one of whom is Vaughan.

In 1994, the city of Austin erected the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Statue at Auditorium Shores on Lady Bird Lake,(30°15′47.1774″N 97°45′2.4228″W / 30.263104833°N 97.750673°W / 30.263104833; -97.750673) the site of a number of Vaughan's concerts. It has become one of the city's most popular tourist attractions.

In 2000, Stevie Ray Vaughan was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.

The last guitar that Vaughan played before his death is on display in the Hard Rock Cafe in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

In November 2007, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation released a second tribute to Vaughan, an exact replica of his second beloved guitar: Lenny. This guitar was given to him by his wife Lennora ("Lenny") on his 26th birthday and Vaughan was very fond of it. According to Fender, the original Lenny was a 1965 Strat that he saw in the window of a pawn shop that he was unable to afford. The guitar is sold with a strap, a case with Vaughan's name embroidered in the fabric lining, a number of brochures and memorabilia and a leather bound certificate of authenticity.

"A little over four years ago on June 24, 2004 Lenny was put up for auction and was sold to Guitar Center for $629,500. "

Also in November 2007, Sony BMG, Epic Records, and Legacy Records released the CD Stevie Ray Vaughan & Friends: Solos, Sessions & Encores.

Stevie Ray Vaughan became eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.

In 2008, residents voted to rename Dallas' Industrial Boulevard, with Vaughan's name being one of the finalists alongside Stanley Marcus, Eddie Bernice Johnson, and Cesar Chavez.

His music has been used in the popular rhythm-based video game series Guitar Hero, featuring Texas Flood and Pride And Joy. The entire Texas Flood album has also been released for download for Rock Band 2.

Personal life
Not much is known about Stevie's personal life. However, he did have several girlfriends in his early career, one of them being Lindi Bethel, the inspiration for "Pride and Joy."

Stevie married Lenora "Lenny" Bailey on December 23, 1979 between sets at the Rome Inn in Austin, TX. They divorced in 1988.

Stevie met model Janna Lapidus in New Zealand in March 1986. They remained a couple until his death.

He did not have any children.

(Wikipedia)

Doc Holliday: Arrived in Dallas a Dentist, Left as a Gunfighter

2009-03-30T21:34:00.000-05:00

In September 1873, he went to Dallas, Texas, where he opened a dental office at 56 Elm Street, about four blocks east of the site of today's Dealey Plaza. He soon began gambling and realized this was a more profitable source of income, since patients feared going to his office because of his ongoing cough. On May 12, 1874, Holliday and 12 others were indicted in Dallas for illegal gambling. He was arrested in Dallas in January 1875 after trading gunfire with a saloon-keeper, but no one was injured and he was found not guilty. He moved his offices to Denison, Texas, and after being found guilty of, and fined for, "gaming" in Dallas, he decided to leave the state.

In the years that followed, Holliday had many more such disagreements, fueled by a hot temper and an attitude that death by gun or knife was better than by tuberculosis. The alcohol Holliday used to control his cough may also have contributed. He would regularly use the term; "I'll be your Huckleberry." This may have been merely slang of the period for "I'm your best gun/man." Further, there was the practical matter that a professional gambler, working on his own at the edge of the law, had to be able to back up disputed points of play with at least a threat of force. Holliday continued traveling on the western mining frontier, where gambling was most likely to be lucrative and legal. Holliday was in Denver, Cheyenne, and Deadwood (site of the gold rush in the Dakota Territory) in the fall of 1876.

By 1877, Holliday was in Fort Griffin, Texas, where Wyatt Earp first met him (per his later account). They were initially introduced through mutual friend John Shanssey. The two began to form an unlikely friendship; Earp more even-tempered and controlled, Holliday more hot-headed and impulsive. This friendship was cemented in 1878 in Dodge City, Kansas, when Holliday defended Earp in a saloon against a handful of cowboys out to kill Wyatt, and where both Earp and Holliday had traveled to make money gambling with the cowboys who drove cattle from Texas. Holliday was still practicing dentistry on the side from his rooms in Dodge City, as indicated in an 1878 Dodge newspaper advertisement (he promised money back for less than complete customer satisfaction), but this is the last known time he attempted to practice. In an interview printed in a newspaper later in his life, he said that he only practiced dentistry "for about 5 years."

Holliday also met Mary Katharine Horony ("Big Nose Kate") in Fort Griffin and began his long-time involvement with her. Horony also met Wyatt Earp there. Holliday once stated he considered Horony to be his intellectual equal.

Dedicated gambler, gunman reputation

An incident in September 1878 had Earp, at the time a deputy city marshal, surrounded by men who had "the drop" on him. Holliday, who currently owned a bar in the town and was dealing faro (as he did throughout his life), left the bar, approached from another angle to cover the group with a gun, and either shot or threatened to shoot one of these men. Earp afterward always credited Holliday with saving his life that day.[citation needed] Many other accounts of Holliday's involvement in gunfights, however, are sometimes exaggerated. He had several documented saloon altercations involving small shootings, where he was accounted as fast as Wild Bill Hickok.

One documented instance happened when Holliday was employed during a railroad dispute. On July 19, 1879, Holliday and noted gunman John Joshua Webb were seated in a saloon in Las Vegas, New Mexico when a former U.S. Army scout named Mike Gordon began yelling loudly at one of the saloon girls. When Gordon stormed from the saloon, Holliday followed him. Gordon produced his pistol and fired one shot, missing. Holliday immediately drew his gun and killed Gordon. Holliday was placed on trial for the shooting but was acquitted, mostly based on the testimony of Webb.

Tombstone, Arizona Territory

Dodge was not a frontier town for long; by 1879, it had become too respectable for the kinds of people who had seen it through its early days. For many, it was time to move on to places not yet reached by the civilizing railroad, places where money was to be made. Holliday, by this time, was as well known for his prowess as a gunfighter as for his gambling, though the latter was his trade and the former simply a reputation. Through his friendship with Wyatt and the other Earp brothers, especially Morgan and Virgil, Holliday made his way to the silver-mining boom town of Tombstone, Arizona Territory, in September 1880. The Earps had been there since December 1879. Some accounts state the Earps sent for Holliday when they realized the problems they faced in their feud with the Cowboy faction. In Tombstone, Holliday quickly became embroiled in the local politics and violence that led up to the famous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in October 1881.

The gunfight happened in front of, and next to, Fly's boarding house and picture studio, where Holliday had a room, the day after a late-night argument between Holliday and Ike Clanton. The Clantons and McLaurys collected in the space between the boarding house, and the house west of it, before being confronted by the Earps. Holliday likely thought they were there specifically to assassinate him.

It is known Holliday carried Virgil's Coach Gun into the fight; he was given the weapon just before the fight by Wyatt Earp, as Holliday was wearing a long coat which could conceal it. Virgil Earp took Holliday's walking stick: by not going conspicuously armed, Virgil was seeking to avoid panic in the citizenry of Tombstone, and in the Clantons and McLaurys.

The strategy failed: while Virgil held up the cane, one witness saw a man, almost certainly Holliday, poke a Cowboy in the chest with a "large bronze pistol" (probably the shotgun), then step back. Wyatt Earp and Tom McLaury were the first men to fire, almost at the same time according to Wyatt's testimony. Shortly after, Holliday used the shotgun to kill Tom McLaury, the only man to sustain shotgun wounds — a fatal buckshot charge to the chest. This probably happened quite early in the fight, before Holliday fired a pistol, though scenarios in which Holliday held a pistol with one hand and a double-barreled shotgun in the other during the gunfight are postulated.

An inquest and arraignment hearing determined the gunfight was not a criminal act on the part of Holliday and the Earps. The situation in Tombstone soon grew worse when Virgil Earp was ambushed and permanently injured in December 1881. Then Morgan Earp was ambushed and killed in March 1882. After Morgan's murder, the Earps, their families, and Holliday fled town. In Tucson, while Wyatt, Warren Earp, and Holliday were escorting the wounded Virgil Earp and his wife Allie to California, they prevented another ambush and this could have been the possible start of the vendetta against Morgan's killers.

Earp Vendetta Ride

The first victim of the vendetta was Frank Stilwell, a former deputy of Johnny Behan's. Stilwell was in Tucson to answer a stage-robbery charge but wound up dead on the tracks in the train yard near the Earps' train. What Stilwell was doing in the train yard has never been explained (he may have been waiting to pick up another man who was supposed to testify in his favor), but Wyatt Earp certainly thought Stilwell was there to do the Earps harm. In his biographies, Wyatt admitted to shooting Stilwell with a shotgun. However, Stilwell was found with two shotgun wounds and three bullet wounds. Holliday, who was with Wyatt that night and said Stilwell and Ike Clanton were waiting in the train yard to assassinate Virgil Earp, is likely the second shooter. Holliday never directly acknowledged his role in Stilwell's killing or those that followed.

After the Earp families left for California and safety, Holliday, Wyatt, Wyatt's younger brother, Warren, and Wyatt's friends Sherman McMasters, Turkey Creek Jack Johnson, and Texas Jack Vermillion rode on a vendetta for three weeks, during which Curly Bill Brocius and at least two other men thought to be responsible for Morgan's death were killed. Eventually, with warrants out for six of the vendetta posse (including Holliday) in the Arizona Territory for the killing of Stilwell, the group moved to New Mexico, then Colorado, in mid-April 1882. While in New Mexico, Wyatt Earp and Holliday had a minor argument and parted ways, going separately to different parts of Colorado.

After the vendetta ride, neither Holliday nor any other member of the party ever returned to Arizona to live. In May 1882, Holliday was arrested in Denver for the Stilwell killing. Due to lack of evidence, Colorado refused to extradite him, although he spent the last two weeks of that month in jail while the issue was decided. He and Wyatt met again in June 1882 in Gunnison after he was released. There is controversy regarding whether any of the Earp vendetta posse slipped briefly back to the Tombstone area to kill Johnny Ringo on July 13, 1882. Biographers of Ringo do not believe it is very likely. Several other known gunmen were also implicated in the death, including "Buckskin" Frank Leslie, little known gunman Lou Cooley, and gambler Mike O'Rourke. Some believe, however, that Ringo's death was in fact a suicide, as reported.

Final illness and burial

Holliday spent the rest of his life in Colorado. After a stay in Leadville, he suffered from the effects of the high altitude; as a result of this and his increasing dependence on alcohol and laudanum, often taken by consumptives to ease their symptoms, his health, and evidently his gambling skills, began to deteriorate.

In 1887, prematurely gray and badly ailing, Holliday made his way to the Hotel Glenwood near the hot springs of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. He hoped to take advantage of the reputed curative power of the waters, but the sulfurous fumes from the spring may have done his lungs more harm than good. As he lay dying, Holliday allegedly asked for a drink of whiskey. Amused, he looked at his bootless feet as he died — no one ever thought that he would die in bed, with his boots off. His reputed last words were, "Well I'll Be Damned. This is funny." Recent Holliday biographer Gary L. Roberts, however, considers it unlikely that Holliday, who had scarcely left his bed for two months, would have been able to speak coherently, if at all, on the day he died. Despite legend, Wyatt Earp was certainly not present when Holliday died, and did not know of his death until months afterward. Though she later attested to attending him in his final days, it is also highly doubtful that Big Nose Kate was present at his death.

An Episcopalian minister presided at Holliday's burial, which was on the day of his death, Nov. 8, 1887. His grave stone sits in Linwood cemetery, which overlooks Glenwood Springs. Entirely on the basis of the late date in the year, it has been speculated (for example) that he was not actually buried in his marked grave, or even in the cemetery itself, on the theory that the ground was frozen and he must have been buried the same day in what was probably a temporary grave, not in the old cemetery, which was up a difficult road on the mountain. However, the weather was evidently mild at the time of Holliday's burial, as biographer Gary Roberts has located evidence of other bodies being transported up the mountain to the same cemetary at the same time in 1887. Roberts argues that it is thus possible Holliday's body is indeed where the modern gravesite is, but no exhumation has been attempted.

Bonnie and Clyde

2009-03-13T01:14:00.000-05:00

"The country’s money simply declined by 38 percent." "Gaunt, dazed men roamed the city streets seeking jobs... Breadlines and soup kitchens became jammed. (In rural areas) foreclosures forced more than 38 percent of farmers from their lands (while simultaneously) a catastrophic drought struck the Great Plains... By the time Bonnie and Clyde became well known, many had felt the capitalistic system had been abused by big business and government officials... Now here were Bonnie and Clyde striking back.", explains Milner, author of The Lives and Times of Bonnie and Clyde.

Bonnie Parker (October 1, 1910 – May 23, 1934) and Clyde Barrow (March 24, 1909 – May 23, 1934) were notorious outlaws, robbers, and criminals who, with their gang, traveled the Central United States during the Great Depression. Their exploits were known nationwide. They captured the attention of the American press and its readership during what is sometimes referred to as the "public enemy era" between 1931 and 1934. Though their gang was notorious for their bank robberies, Barrow preferred to rob small stores or gas stations. The gang was believed to have killed at least nine police officers, among several other murders.Though the public at the time believed Parker to be a full partner in the gang, and thus its crimes, her role in the Barrow Gang crimes has long been a source of controversy. Gang members W. D. Jones and Ralph Fults testified that they never saw Bonnie fire a gun, and described her role as logistical. Writing with Phillip Steele in The Family Story of Bonnie and Clyde, Marie Barrow, Clyde's youngest sister, made the same claim: "Bonnie never fired a shot. She just followed my brother no matter where he went." In his interview with Playboy magazine, W. D. Jones said of Bonnie: "As far as I know, Bonnie never packed a gun. Maybe she'd help carry what we had in the car into a tourist-court room. But during the five big gun battles I was with them, she never fired a gun. But I'll say she was a hell of a loader."Writer Joseph Geringer, in his article Bonnie and Clyde: Romeo and Juliet in a Getaway Car, explained part of their appeal to the public then, and their enduring legend now, by saying "Americans thrilled to their 'Robin Hood' adventures. The presence of a female, Bonnie, escalated the sincerity of their intentions to make them something unique and individual—even at times heroic."

Bonnie Parker

Bonnie Elizabeth Parker was born in Rowena, Texas, the second of three children. Her father, Charles Parker (? - c.1914), a bricklayer, died when Bonnie was four, prompting her mother, Emma Krause Parker (c.1886 - 1946), to move with the children to West Dallas, where they lived in poverty. An honor roll student in high school where she excelled in creative writing, she won a County League contest in literary arts, for Cement City School, and even gave introductory speeches for local politicians. Described as intelligent and personable yet strong willed, she was an attractive young woman, small at 4 ft 11 in and weighing only 90 pounds.
On September 25, 1926, less than a week before her sixteenth birthday, Parker married Roy Thornton. The marriage was short-lived, and in January 1929 they separated but never divorced; Parker was wearing Thornton's wedding ring when she died. His reaction to his wife's death was, "I'm glad they went out like they did. It's much better than being caught." On March 5, 1933, Thornton was sentenced to five years in prison for burglary. He was gunned down by guards on October 3, 1937, during an escape attempt from Eastham Farm prison.

There are a number of versions of the story describing Bonnie and Clyde's first meeting, but the most credible version indicates that Bonnie Parker met Clyde Barrow in January 1930 at a friend's house. Bonnie was out of work and was staying in West Dallas to assist a girlfriend with a broken arm. Clyde dropped by the girl's house and Bonnie was supposedly in the kitchen making hot chocolate. They did not meet, as legend has it, while she was a waitress.
When they met, both were smitten immediately and most historians believe Bonnie joined Clyde because she was in love. She remained a loyal companion to him as they carried out their crime spree and awaited the violent deaths they viewed as inevitable. Her fondness for creative writing and the arts found expression in poems such as "The Story of Suicide Sal" and "The Trail's End" (aka "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde").
Jimmy Fowler, writing for the Dallas Observer noted, "although the authorities who gunned down the 23-year-old in 1934 conceded that she was no bloodthirsty killer and that when taken into custody she tended to inspire the paternal aspects of the police who held her ... there was a mystifying devolution from the high school poet, speech class star, and mini-celebrity who performed Shirley Temple-like as a warm up act at the stump speeches of local politicians to the accomplice of rage-filled Clyde Barrow."

Clyde Barrow

Clyde Chestnut Barrow was born in Ellis County, Texas, near Telico just south of Dallas. He was the fifth of seven children, in a poor farming family. Clyde was first arrested in late 1926, after running when police confronted him over a rental car he had failed to return on time. His second arrest, with brother Marvin "Buck" Barrow, came soon after, this time for possession of stolen goods (turkeys). Despite holding down "square" jobs during the period 1927 through 1929, he also cracked safes, robbed stores, and stole cars. Known primarily for robbing banks, he focused on smaller jobs, robbing grocery stores and gas stations at a rate far outpacing the ten to fifteen bank robberies attributed to him and the Barrow Gang. Barrow's favored weapon was the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (called a BAR). According to John Neal Phillips, Clyde's goal in life was not to gain fame and fortune from robbing banks, but to seek revenge against the Texas prison system for the abuses he suffered while serving time.

The Spree
Buck joins the gang

During Buck Barrow's time in jail, Clyde had been the driver in a store robbery during which a man was shot and killed. The wife of the murder victim, when shown photos, picked Clyde Barrow as one of the shooters. In March 1932 Bonnie was captured in a failed robbery attempt in Kaufman, Texas, and was subsequently jailed. Clyde murdered merchant J. W. Butcher of Hillsboro on April 27, 1932. Bonnie remained in jail until June 17, 1932, when the grand jury for Kaufman County met in Kaufman and no-billed Bonnie, which led to her release. Within a few weeks she joined up with Clyde. They were again on the run together. On August 5, 1932, while Parker was visiting her mother, Barrow and two associates were drinking alcohol at a dance in Stringtown, Oklahoma (illegal under Prohibition). When they were approached by sheriff C.G. Maxwell and his deputy, Eugene C. Moore, Barrow opened fire, killing the deputy. That was the first killing of a lawman by what was later known as the Barrow Gang, a total which would eventually amount to nine slain officers.
On March 22, 1933, Buck Barrow was granted a full pardon and released from prison. By April, he and his wife, Blanche, were living with W.D. Jones, Clyde, and Parker in a temporary hideout in Joplin, Missouri. According to some accounts, the Buck Barrows were there merely to visit and attempt to talk Clyde into giving himself up. As was common with Bonnie and Clyde, their next brush with the law arose from their generally suspicious behavior, not because their identities were discovered.
Not knowing what awaited them, local lawmen assembled only a two-car force to confront the suspected bootleggers living in the rented apartment over a garage. Though caught by surprise, Clyde, noted for remaining cool under fire, was gaining far more experience in gun battles than most lawmen. He and W.D. Jones quickly killed one lawman and fatally wounded another. The survivors later testified that their side had fired only fourteen rounds in the conflict.
Between 1932 and 1934, there were several incidents in which the Barrow Gang kidnapped lawmen or robbery victims, usually releasing them far from home, sometimes with money to help them get back. Stories of these encounters may have contributed to the mythic aura of Bonnie and Clyde; a couple both reviled and adored by the public. Notoriously, the Barrow Gang would not hesitate to shoot anybody, civilian or lawman, if they got in the way of their escape. Clyde was a probable shooter in approximately ten murders. Other members of the Barrow Gang known or thought to have committed murders are Raymond Hamilton, W.D. Jones, Buck Barrow, and Henry Methvin.
The Barrow Gang escaped the police at Joplin, but W.D. Jones was wounded, and they had left most of their possessions at the rented apartment, including a camera with an exposed roll of pictures. The film was developed by The Joplin Globe, and yielded many now famous photos. Afterward, Parker and Barrow used coats and hats to cover the license plates of their stolen vehicles when taking pictures.
Despite the glamorous image often associated with the Barrow Gang, they were desperate and discontented, as noted in the account of their life written by Blanche Barrow while jailed in Missouri, following the death of husband Buck from wounds suffered in a shoot-out.

Platte City

In June 1933, while driving with W.D. Jones and Parker, Clyde Barrow missed some construction signs, dropping the car into a ravine. It rolled, trapping Parker beneath the burning car and causing third degree burns to her left leg. After making their escape, Barrow insisted that Parker be allowed to convalesce. After meeting up with Blanche and Buck Barrow again, they stayed put until Buck bungled a local robbery with W.D. Jones and killed a city marshal. On July 18, 1933, the gang checked into the Red Crown Tourist Court south of Platte City, Missouri (now within the city limits of Kansas City, Missouri across I-29 from Kansas City International Airport). The courts consisted of two brick cabins joined by two single-car garages, where the gang rented two cabins. Several yards to the south stood the Red Crown Tavern, managed by Neal Houser, who became interested in the group when Blanche Barrow paid for dinners and beer with silver coins instead of dollars.
When Blanche Barrow went into town to purchase bandages, crackers, cheese, and atropine sulfate to treat Bonnie's leg, the druggist contacted Sheriff Holt Coffey, who put the cabins under watch. Coffey had been alerted by Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas to be on the lookout for strangers seeking such supplies. The sheriff contacted Captain Baxter of the highway patrol, who called for reinforcements from Kansas City including an armored car. At 11 p.m. that night, Sheriff Coffey led a group of officers armed with Thompson submachine guns toward the cabins. But in a pitched gunfight at considerable distances, the submachine guns proved no match for the Clyde Barrow's preferred Browning Automatic Rifles, recently stolen from an armory.
Although the gang escaped once again, Buck Barrow had been shot in the side of the head and Blanche Barrow was nearly blinded from glass fragments in her eye. Their prospects for holding out against the ensuing manhunt dwindled.
On July 24, 1933, the Barrow Gang was at Dexfield Park, an abandoned amusement park near Dexter, Iowa. After they were noticed by local citizens, it was determined that the campers were the Barrows gang. Surrounded by local lawmen and approximately one hundred spectators, the Barrows once again found themselves under fire. Clyde Barrow, Parker, and W.D. Jones escaped on foot. Buck was shot in the back and his wife hit again in the face and eyes with flying glass. Buck died five days later, at Kings Daughters Hospital in Iowa, of pneumonia after surgery.
Although Jones parted ways with the pair the next month, Barrow and Parker regrouped, and on November 22, 1933, again escaped an arrest attempt while meeting family members at an impromptu rendezvous near Sowers, Texas.

Final run

In January 1934, Clyde finally made his long-awaited move against the Texas Department of Corrections. In the infamous "Eastham Breakout" of 1934, Clyde's lifetime goal appeared to come true, as he masterminded the escape of Henry Methvin, Raymond Hamilton, and several others. The Texas Department of Corrections received national negative publicity over the jailbreak, and Clyde appeared to have achieved what Phillips describes as the burning passion in his life: revenge on the Texas Department of Corrections.
It was an expensive revenge, for all concerned, as the killing of a prison officer by another escapee, Joe Palmer, brought the full power of the Texas and federal governments to bear on the manhunt for Bonnie and Clyde, ultimately resulting in their deaths. As the officer, Major Joe Crowson, lay dying, Lee Simmons of the Texas Department of Corrections reportedly promised him that the persons involved in the breakout would be hunted down and killed. He kept his word, except for Henry Methvin, whose life was exchanged in return for betraying Bonnie and Clyde. The Texas Department of Corrections then contacted former Texas Ranger Captain Frank A. Hamer, and convinced him to accept a commission to hunt down the Barrow Gang. Though retired, Hamer had retained his commission, which had not yet expired. He accepted the assignment immediately, as a Texas Highway Patrol officer seconded to the prison system as a special investigator, given the specific task of hunting down Bonnie and Clyde, and the Barrow Gang.
Clyde and Henry Methvin killed two young highway patrolmen in what is now Southlake, Texas, on April 1, 1934; an eyewitness account stated that Methvin fired the fatal shots. John Treherne exhaustively investigated this shooting, and confirmed that Methvin fired the first shot, after assuming Clyde wanted them killed (though Treherne found, and Methvin later admitted, Barrow did not intend to kill them, but had been preparing to capture them and take them on one of his famous rides, and that Bonnie approached the dying officers to try to help them). Having little choice once Methvin had begun a gun battle with law officers, Barrow then fired at the second officer. Methvin, however, is believed to have been the primary killer of both. (Ted Hinton's son states that Parker was actually asleep in the back seat when Methvin started the gun battle and took no part in it; it is notable that in accepting a pardon for these killings, Methvin admitted to both.) Methvin confessed in open court to being the sole killer in both killings. These particularly senseless killings shocked and outraged the public, which to this point had tended to romanticize the pair. Another policeman, Constable William Campbell, was killed five days later near Commerce, Oklahoma, which further soured public sentiment.
DeathBonnie and Clyde were killed on May 23, 1934, on a desolate road near their Bienville Parish, Louisiana hideout. They were shot by a posse of four Texas officers and two Louisiana officers (the latter added solely for jurisdictional reasons — see below). Questions about the way the ambush was conducted, and the failure to warn the duo of impending death, have been raised about the incident.

Texas officers
Frank Hamer

B.M. "Manny" Gault

Bob Alcorn

Ted Hinton

Louisiana officers
Henderson Jordan

Prentiss Oakley

The posse was led by Hamer, who had begun tracking the pair on February 10, 1934. Having never before seen Parker or Barrow, he immediately arranged a meeting with a representative of Methvin's parents in the hope of gaining a lead. Meanwhile, federal officials, who viewed the Eastham prison break in particular as a national embarrassment to the government, were providing all support that was asked for, such as weapons. Hamer obtained a quantity of civilian Browning Automatic Rifles (manufactured by Colt as the "Monitor") and 20 round magazines with armor piercing rounds.
Hamer studied the gang's movements and found they swung in a circle skirting the edges of five midwest states, exploiting the "state line" rule that prevented officers from one jurisdiction from pursuing a fugitive into another. Bonnie and Clyde were masters of that pre-FBI rule but consistent in their movements, allowing them to see their families and those of their gang members. It also allowed an experienced manhunter like Hamer to chart their path and predict where they would go. They were due next to see Henry Methvin's family, which explained Hamer's meeting with them within a month of beginning the hunt.
On May 21, 1934, the four posse members from Texas were in Shreveport, Louisiana when they learned that Barrow and Parker were to go there that evening with Methvin. Barrow had designated Methvin's parents' Bienville Parish house as a rendezvous in case they were later separated. Methvin was separated from the pair in Shreveport, and the full posse, consisting of Captain Hamer, Dallas County Sheriff's Deputies Bob Alcorn and Ted Hinton (who had met Clyde in the past), former Texas Ranger B.M. "Manny" Gault, Bienville Parish Sheriff Henderson Jordan, and his deputy Prentiss Oakley, set up an ambush at the rendezvous point along Highway 154, between Gibsland and Sailes. They were in place by 9:00 p.m. and waited through the next day (May 22) but saw no sign of Bonnie and Clyde.

The car riddled with bullet holes after the ambush.

At approximately 9:00 a.m. on May 23, the posse, concealed in the bushes and almost ready to concede defeat, heard Clyde's stolen Ford V8 approaching. The posse's official report had Clyde stopping to speak with Henry Methvin's father, planted there with his truck that morning to distract Clyde and force him into the lane closest to the posse, the lawmen opened fire, killing Bonnie and Clyde while shooting a combined total of approximately 130 rounds. By 9:15, the couple was dead. The posse, under Hamer's direct orders, did not call out a warning, or order the duo to surrender. Barrow was killed instantly from Oakley's initial head shot. Parker did not die as easily. The posse reported her uttering a long, horrified scream as the bullets tore into the car. The officers emptied the specially-ordered automatic rifle, as well as rifles, shotguns and pistols at the car. According to statements made by Ted Hinton and Bob Alcorn:
"Each of us six officers had a shotgun and an automatic rifle and pistols. We opened fire with the automatic rifles. They were emptied before the car got even with us. Then we used shotguns ... There was smoke coming from the car, and it looked like it was on fire. After shooting the shotguns, we emptied the pistols at the car, which had passed us and ran into a ditch about 50 yards on down the road. It almost turned over. We kept shooting at the car even after it stopped. We weren't taking any chances."
The memorial at the ambush site in Gibsland, LouisianaSome sources say Bonnie and Clyde were shot more than 50 times, while other sources claim a total closer to 25 bullet wounds per corpse, or 50 total.
Following the ambush, officers inspected the vehicle and discovered a small arsenal of weapons including stolen automatic rifles, semi-automatic shotguns, assorted handguns, and several thousand rounds of ammunition, along with fifteen different license plates from various states.
When later asked why he killed a woman who was not wanted for any capital offense, Hamer stated "I hate to bust the cap on a woman, especially when she was sitting down, however if it wouldn't have been her [sic], it would have been us."
Bonnie and Clyde wished to be buried side by side, but the Parker family would not allow it. Parker's mother had wanted to grant her daughter's final wish, which was to be brought home, but the mobs surrounding the Parker house made that impossible. Over 20,000 people turned out for Bonnie Parker's funeral, making it difficult for her family to reach the grave site. Clyde Barrow is buried in the Western Heights Cemetery, and Bonnie Parker in the Crown Hill Memorial Park, both in Dallas, Texas. The following words, from a poem of Parker's, are inscribed on her stone:
As the flowers are all made sweeter: by the sunshine and the dew,So this old world is made brighter: by the lives of folks like you.

Funeral and burial

The bullet-riddled Ford containing the two bodies was towed to the Conger Furniture Store & Funeral Parlor. The firm was located on Railroad Avenue in downtown Arcadia, Louisiana across from the Illinois Central train station (which is now a historical museum containing Bonnie and Clyde artifacts.) Preliminary embalming was done by C.F. "Boots" Bailey in the small preparation room in back of the furniture store. It was estimated that the northwest Louisiana town swelled in population from 2,000 to 12,000 within hours, the curious throngs arriving by train, horseback, buggy, and plane. Beer which normally sold for 15 cents a bottle jumped to 25 cents; ham sandwiches quickly sold out.
H.D. Darby, a young undertaker who worked for the McClure Funeral Parlor in nearby Ruston, Louisiana, and Sophie Stone, a home demonstration agent also from Ruston, came to Arcadia to identify the bodies. Both Darby and Stone had been kidnapped by the Barrow gang several weeks previously in Ruston and released near Waldo, Arkansas. Parker reportedly laughed when she asked Darby his profession and discovered he was an undertaker. She remarked that maybe someday he would be working on her. As it turned out, she could be no closer to the truth: Darby assisted Bailey in embalming the outlaws.
Parker's family used the now defunct McKamy-Campbell Funeral Home, then located on Forest Avenue in Dallas to conduct her funeral. Hubert "Buster" Parker accompanied his sister’s body back to Dallas in the McKamy-Campbell ambulance. Her services were held Saturday, May 26, at 2 p.m. in the funeral home, directed by Allen D. Campbell. His son, Dr. Allen Campbell, later remembered that flowers came from everywhere including some sent by Pretty Boy Floyd and John Dillinger. Soloists at the funeral included the late Dudley M. Hughes Sr., who later became the prominent operator of four large Dallas funeral homes. Initially, Parker was buried in the Fishtrap Cemetery, but in 1945, was moved to the new Crown Hill Cemetery in Dallas. The next year, services for Raymond Hamilton, a member of the Barrow Gang, who was executed May 10, 1935 by the State of Texas, were also held at the McKamy-Campbell Funeral Home.
Barrow's family used the Sparkman-Holtz-Brand Morticians, located in the A.H. Belo mansion in downtown Dallas. After identifying his son's body, an emotional Henry Barrow sat in a rocking chair in the furniture part of the Conger establishment and wept. Thousands of people gathered outside both Dallas funerals homes hoping for a chance to view the bodies. Barrow’s private funeral was held at sunset on Friday, May 25, in the funeral home chapel. He was buried in Western Heights Cemetery in Dallas, next to his brother, Marvin. They share a single granite marker with their names on it and a four-word epitaph previously selected by Clyde: “Gone but not forgotten.”
The bullet-riddled Ford in which the pair was killed and the shirt Barrow wore the last day of his life, were, as of March 2008, on display at the Gold Ranch Casino in Verdi, Nevada.
The life insurance policies for both Bonnie and Clyde were paid in full by American National of Galveston. Since then, the policy of pay-outs has changed to exclude pay-outs in cases of deaths caused by any criminal act by the insured.

Controversy and aftermath

Controversy lingers over certain aspects of the ambush, and the way Hamer conducted it. Historians and writers, such as E.R. Milner, Phillips, Treherne have turned up no warrants against Bonnie for any violent crimes. FBI files contain only one warrant against her, for aiding Clyde in the interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle. Posse member Bob Alcorn, the Dallas County Deputy Sheriff who identified Barrow on the road and cleared the way for the others to fire, was quoted in his deposition to Dr. Wade, who chaired the Coroner's Jury in Arcadia, Louisiana, as claiming Parker had been indicted for murder. In addition to officially identifying the bodies of both Clyde and Bonnie, and stating that he knew them personally, the deposition claims that "he know[s] of his own knowledge that both were 2 [times] indicted on charge of murder Case #5046&7 Criminal District Court Dallas Tex. November-28-1933." While this appears to be offered as some sort of "proof" that Bonnie had been indicted for murder, she had not yet been so charged. The only claim that Bonnie ever fired a weapon during one of the gang's crimes came from Blanche Barrow, and is backed by an article from the Lucerne, Indiana newspaper on May 13, 1933.
In the years after, Prentiss Oakley was reported to have been troubled by his actions. He was the only posse member to publicly express regret for his actions. The posse, including Frank Hamer, took and kept for themselves stolen guns that were found in the death car. Personal items such as Bonnie's clothing and a saxophone were also taken, and when the Parker family asked for them back, they were refused. These items were later sold as souvenirs.
In a grisly aftermath, the men who were left to guard the bodies (Gault, Oakley, and Alcorn) allowed people to cut off bloody locks of Bonnie's hair and tear pieces from her dress, which were sold as souvenirs. Hinton returned to find a man trying to cut off Clyde's finger, and was sickened by what was occurring. The coroner, arriving on the scene, saw the following: "nearly everyone had begun collecting souvenirs such as shell casings, slivers of glass from the shattered car windows, and bloody pieces of clothing from the garments of Bonnie and Clyde. One eager man had opened his pocket knife, and was reaching into the car to cut off Clyde's left ear." The coroner enlisted Hamer for help controlling the "circus-like atmosphere," and only then did people move away from the car.
In 1979, Ted Hinton's account of the ambush was published. According to Hinton, the posse had tied Henry Methvin's father, Ivy, to a tree the night before the ambush, to keep him from possibly warning the duo off. Hamer made Ivy Methvin a deal: keep quiet about being tied up, and his son would be pardoned for the murder of the two young highway patrolmen, a pardon which Henry Methvin did receive.[38] Hamer allegedly made every member of the posse swear they would never divulge this secret. Hinton said:
"Ivy Methvin was traveling on that road in his old farm truck, when he was stopped by the lawmen, standing in the middle of the road. They took him into the woods and handcuffed him to a tree. They removed one of the old truck's wheels, so that it would appear to have broken down at that spot."
Blanche Barrow's injuries left her permanently blinded in her left eye. After the 1933 shoot-out that left her husband mortally wounded, she was taken into custody on the charge of "Assault With Intent to Kill." She was sentenced to ten years in prison but was paroled in 1939 for good behavior. She returned to Dallas, leaving her life of crime in the past, and lived with her invalid father as his caregiver. She married Eddie Frasure in 1940, worked as a taxi cab dispatcher, and completed the terms of her parole one year later. She lived in peace with her husband until he died of cancer in 1969. Warren Beatty approached her to purchase the rights to her name for use in the film Bonnie and Clyde. While she agreed to the original script, she objected to the final re-write that was used in production, describing Estelle Parsons' Academy Award-winning portrayal of her as "a screaming horse's ass." Despite this, she maintained a firm friendship with Beatty. She died from cancer at the age of 77 on December 24, 1988, and was buried in Dallas's Grove Hill Memorial Park under the name "Blanche B. Frasure". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_and_clyde

"I am a friend to any brave and gallant outlaw."

2009-03-09T16:08:00.000-05:00

Once arrested in Dallas and charged with Horse Theft, Belle Starr was one of the many notorious figures who passed through Big D's history. An excerpt from Women in History regarding Belle Starr.

...Allegedly, she took Pearl and Ed and went to Dallas, where she lived off the gold from the Grayson robbery. She wore buckskins and moccasins or tight black jackets, black velvet skirts, high-topped boots, a man's Stetson hat with an ostrich plume, and twin holstered pistols. She spent much her time in saloons, drinking and gambling at dice, cards, and roulette. At times she would ride her horse through the streets shooting off her pistols. This wild behavior was among what gave rise to her rather exaggerated image as a pistol-wielding outlaw.

The Name of a Slave

2009-02-23T16:39:00.000-06:00

Along a major freeway in Dallas lies the graves of former slaves who were almost forgotten. Workers widening the freeway 140 years after their burial came upon numerous graves and after some research regarding the location, the city found that the field was a 140 year old grave yard of former slaves, too poor to afford grave markers, the purpose of the field was forgotten until the construction project for the freeway.

The City of Dallas and state of Texas stopped the project and archeologists carefully relocated all the graves further into the old field. They city and state also built beautiful marble structures of statues and poems to the former Southern slaves.

The poem below is located next to one of many unmarked graves of a former slave.

EULOGY TO AN UNKNOWN FREEDMAN
We transient men of clay can well attest to
The inherent frailty of the human frame
And do likewise confess that most of our names
Are inevitably reduced to whispering ashes of fond
Recollections.
Scattering before the breath of the night wind
That blows out of the twilight of our day.

However, unlike the freedman, we can draw comfort
From our nostalgic prediction
To leave our moral names engraved in stone upon the
Sod,
While he could only cling to the clarity of his
Perception.
That his name has been inscribed in the mind of God.

Though anonymous here the past deeds of this
Seemingly lost life of sorrows
Still impact on our today and our tomorrows
For the complex fabric of our times is thickly
Interwoven
With the sturdy cotton threads he spun upon his
Wheel of life:
Yes, we’ve heard of this “motherless”-child of Africa
Whose matchless paeans still echo here and do persuade
Us even now
That we are, indeed standing in an active valley of
“Them dried bones”
With no need of rows upon rows of labeled stones
For it is certain that “on that great getting’up
Mornin’ “
This unidentified sleeping soul is going to stand up
And tell us his name!”

Ramona Newton

The Cherokee Pass Through Dallas

2009-02-16T17:42:00.000-06:00

The soldiers were after them again. The Cherokees had been run and starved down the trail of tears to Oklahoma, then to East Texas and when Sam Houston could do no more for them they run back to Oklahoma to wait for the end of the world. For much of this history their leader was Chief Bowles. A late Summer Day. 100 degrees.

Chief Bowles and his people were on the move again. Up to Dallas they hid in woods where White Rock Lake would be. They got up before the sun and began to move up along White Rock Creek in the brush. Moving North up to just East of the end of the future Lover's Lane. They moved away from the water and down an animal trail there from before memory. They crossed another main artery where animals had moved North and South since anyone could remember. Where the Central Tracks were. Where Central Expressway is. Near here. There was a field nearby that Chief Bowles had been told about where Indian grass and Bluestem made a magic carpet. Whoever laid down on it would become invisible. And all around it grew Mesquite, Oak, Pecan, Cedar and Horse Apple trees, thickened vines and thorns of vines with long black thorns, wove the trees together, hid the field. You had to know about the tunnel that went straight down into the bedrock and could only be seen in the setting sun the day after the last full moon of Summer. Chief Bowles knew the way. He went to a spot beside a man-high stack of stones, where the tunnel entrance was. He crawled and the Cherokees followed. They came up in the secret field and were safe for a while in the white aroma of white Moonflowers they slept in neon red silence for a week.
Robert Trammell

Hells Half Acre

2009-02-14T15:39:00.000-06:00

A notorious red light district known as hell's half acre developed in Ft Worth after the arrival of the Texas Pacific railway in 1876 launched a local economic boom. Ft Worth was soon the favorite destination for hundreds of cowboys, buffalo hunters, railroad workers and freighters eager to wash off the trail dust and enjoy themselves. To meet the demand a large number of saloons, dance halls, gambling houses, and bordellos opened between the courthouse square and the railroad depot.

Illegal activities in hell's half acre were tolerated by city officials because of their importance to the town's economy. The district prospered in the 1880s and added to Fort Worth's growing reputation as a rowdy frontier town. Famous gamblers like Luke Short, Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp and outlaws Sam Bass, Eugene Bunch, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are known to have spent time in hell's half acre.
A 1906 newspaper headline calling the district Ft Worth's den of sin and refuge of criminals was representative of periodic efforts to clean up the district. These efforts proved unsuccessful until army officials at Camp Bowie, established in Ft Worth during World War I, helped local officials shut the district down. Texas Historical Commission

This is the first of several installments of local history. The next installment will be regarding the Cherokees on the run through Dallas during the "Trail of Tears" event. Even though there were many savage tribes in Texas, the Cherokee should have been given leniency in Texas, but the Texas Governor at that time had seen much devastation by other indians against settlers and declared war on all indians.

Friends of Sarah and Amina Put Together a Tribute

2009-02-08T09:01:00.000-06:00

Amina and Sarah

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Who You'd Be Today" by Kenny Chesney

Sunny days seem to hurt the most
I wear the pain like a heavy coat
I feel you everywhere I go
I see your smile, I see your face
I hear you laughing in the rain
I still can't believe you're gone

It ain't fair you died too young
Like a story that had just begun
But death tore the pages all away
God knows how I miss you
All the hell that I've been through
Just knowing no one could take your place
Sometimes I wonder who you'd be today

Would you see the world, would you chase your dreams
Settle down with a family
I wonder what would you name your babies
Some days the sky's so blue
I feel like I can talk to you
I know it might sound crazy

It ain't fair you died too young
Like a story that had just begun
But death tore the pages all away
God knows how I miss you
All the hell that I've been through
Just knowing no one could take your place
Sometimes I wonder who you'd be today

Today, today, today
Today, today, today

Sunny days seem to hurt the most
I wear the pain like a heavy coat
The only thing that gives me hope
Is I know I'll see you again someday

Someday, someday

~~~~~~~~~~~

In the mean time, I am trying to expand my contacts in Egypt to get eyes on the ground there for the apprehension of Yasser Said.

“There is no back door to the Alamo. That’s why they were all heroes.”

2009-02-08T01:59:00.000-06:00

Alamo Backdoor
by Mike Cox

Three Alamo expressions are almost universally known: “A line in the sand,” “Remember the Alamo,” and “The Alamo had no back door.”

The world will never know whether Col. William B. Travis used his saber to draw a line on the ground and invited all who chose to fight to the death to cross it. But the expression endures as resolutely as our memory of the siege that ended on the morning of March 6, 1836.

The second leg of the triad, “Remember the Alamo,” is well-documented as the last three words hundreds of Mexican soldiers heard before they died at the hands of Sam Houston’s vengeful army during the battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836.

But who first noted that the old Spanish mission in San Antonio had no back door? And what if the Alamo did have a back door, or at least a secret escape route?

On Sept. 15, 1894, the Eagle Pass Guide reprinted a story from the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, “The Alamo’s Secret Passage.”

The piece began:
“There has been a tradition among the Mexicans of this city [San Antonio], since the early part of the present century, that the old Alamo and Conception Missions are connected…by means of an underground passage, and a discovery has just been made …which leads to the belief that the tradition is well founded.”

A few days earlier, the story went, workmen digging a well on the farm of one Walter Scott, just south of town, struck a layer of rock.

“After penetrating this barrier they came upon a passage which is about 8 feet in height and 5 feet wide,” the story continued. “The sides are walled with rock slabs, and the bottom seems to be laid with a material resembling cement. The passage runs in a north and south direction, and at the time the discovery was made it was half filled with water, it being just after heavy rains…. The top of the passage is about 12 feet from the surface. It is in direct line between the two missions, and Mr. Scott is thoroughly convinced that he has at last discovered the long-lost passage, and that upon further exploration he will bring some wonderful things to light.”

The story said a brief exploration of the passage had been made, but no one had gone very far because of the water. The unidentified author of the article said secret passages were common in the missions of Mexico and the Southwest and that they were “constantly [being] discovered and explored, even at this late day, and in some of them immense amounts of treasure have been brought to light.”

While that’s possible, the notion of secret tunnels is a definite folk tale sub-category, often connected with the broader treasure story genre. The idea behind the tunnels, of course, is that they were used as escape routes in the event of Indian attack.

The story went on:
“When the Franciscan Fathers came to the new world they found many enemies …with which to contend in their work of advancing [religion] and civilization. They built these missions and fortified them so that in case of attack from the savages or other …enemies they could make resistance. [It]…is a well-known fact that in many places in Mexico they were successfully used in turbulent times, and when the attacking party would enter the religious edifice it would be found deserted.”

The passages were both well-built and well-disguised, the story noted.

“Another thing that lends color to the theory that the Alamo and Conception Missions are connected…,” the story said, “is that in the north wing of the Alamo in one of the cell-like rooms that was formerly occupied by the severe and sober-appearing monks, there is a spot about five feet square in the cement floor which within the past few years has sunk several inches, and when one walks upon the spot there is a hollow sound.…”

Should the existence of a passage running three miles from the Alamo to Mission Conception be proven, the story said, “the discovery will also reveal that the Texas martyrs who lost their lives in the Alamo, had they known of the existence of this outlet, [could] have saved their lives by escaping through it.”

None of the basic Alamo histories mention anything about a tunnel ever having been found, though scholars do believe some of the Alamo defenders tried to escape once they realized they had no hope of survival inside the mission. The underground rock-lined structure found in 1894, assuming the story wasn’t made up, might have been a remnant of the Spanish irrigation system that connected to the San Antonio River.

As for the “back door” line, it is variously attributed to the late Maury Maverick Jr. or some unnamed member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. Supposedly, when President John K. Kennedy visited the Alamo in 1960, he asked following his appearance to be escorted out the back door of the old mission.

“There is no back door to the Alamo,” Kennedy learned. “That’s why they were all heroes.”

However, I do have to disagree to some extent. The men who fought and died at the Alamo had a chance to leave. But they choose to stay and fight.

Renewed Search for Yasser - 2009

2009-01-20T18:37:00.000-06:00

(pictures hat tip "Habits Not Peculiar" blog by Steady John and AtlasShrugs)

I just want to let the world know that since we did not catch Yasser in 2008, that only made us more determined to track this animal down in 2009.

Got that Yasser?

For the rest of you out there, as they say down here in Texas, "Let's git it done!". When it comes to this vermin, my six guns are strapped on I am ready to rumble!

Bush Returns to Dallas

2009-01-12T13:05:00.000-06:00

I don't beleave that the house George and Laura are moving in to at Preston Hollow is a two story like this one, and to get there you will have to jump the new gate the city is installing on the street into the neighborhood and then get past the secret service agents and their German Shepards, just to deliver the pizza and tacos (at least until we can get him back on a TexMex diet again).

In a few days, George and Laura Bush will be back in Dallas after 8 years in Washington. They will be out at their Prairie Chapel ranch on weekends. The following is a great summary of Preston Hollow in Dallas where they will live...

Prominent residents of Old Preston Hollow include Dallas mayor Tom Leppert, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and its President Terdema Ussery, former Dallas Cowboys Roger Staubach and Chuck Howley, Stream Energy Chairman Rob Snyder, billionaire investors Harold Simmons and T. Boone Pickens, sports team owner (Dallas Stars, Texas Rangers and Liverpool F.C.) Tom Hicks, software developer Larry Lacerte, noted trial attorney and Democratic party fundraiser Fred Baron and ex-Dallas Mayor Laura Miller and her husband Steve Wolens (retired Texas legislator).

Former noted residents of Old Preston Hollow include the late Robert Dedman Jr., former American Airlines chairman Bob Crandall, and the late cosmetics magnate Mary Kay Ash.

Presidential candidate billionaire Ross Perot, Dallas Cowboys football coach Wade Phillips, and Dallas Stars Mike Modano also live in the greater Preston Hollow area.

On December 4, 2008, U.S. President George W. Bush, a former resident of Preston Hollow, announced that he would be moving into the area upon leaving office the following month.[1]

Homes in Preston Hollow are among the most expensive in the state and have continued to increase in value in recent years. Currently houses range from $800,000 tear downs up to $40,000,000 estates.

A house in Preston HollowThe most expensive estate in the greater Preston Hollow area, a US$45 million mansion, caught fire while still under construction. The original owner combined several lots to produce what would have been the biggest house in Dallas. The owner eventually abandoned the project.

The most expensive home currently available in the Preston Hollow area is the Park Lane estate owned by software company founder Larry Lacerte, which is priced at $40 million.

Southern Superstition: Blackeyed Peas on New Years Day

2008-12-31T14:08:00.000-06:00

I can remember when I was a kid my mother and everyone else in East Texas made sure you ate your helping of black eyed peas on New Years day. I asked a couple of young people in Dallas if they were aware of that tradition and they said they had never heard of it. Times do change. Below is the best explanation to this once popular tradition I could find, from About.com. Not sure if the Black Eyed Pea Festival in Athens, Texas is still going on each year but it was a very interesting event to say the least.

A staple in the Southern diet for over 300 years, black-eyed peas have long been associated with good luck. A dish of peas is a New Year's tradition in most areas of the South, thought to bring luck and prosperity for the new year. According to Jessica Harris, author of "Welcome Table," some add a dime to the peas for an extra "boost" of luck to the recipient. Greens, thought to symbolize folding money, are often eaten eaten with the peas.

Black-eyed peas with sausage and barbecue sauce.

Ingredients:
1 pound dried black-eyed peas
1 pound link sausage, or your favorite
1 small onion, chopped
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup prepared barbecue sauce

Preparation:
Rinse, prepare, soak, and cook peas in about 3 cups water, following directions on the package. Drain and reserve half of the cooking liquid. In a skillet over medium heat, brown sausage and onions; drain off excess fat. Place peas in a 3-quart casserole; add sausage and onions. Stir in reserved liquid, brown sugar, mustard, salt, and barbecue sauce. Bake at 300° for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Serves 6. About.com

Don't forget to add a little rice to the peas and sausage that the above recipe doesn't include. Makes for a great meal!

A Cowboy's Night Before Christmas

2008-12-03T20:17:00.000-06:00

By David Kelley

'Twas just before Santy came,
the story is told.
Cattle weren't stirrin', fact they's
bunched against the cold.

The tack was hung near the
chuckwagon with care.
Why, we didn't know Santy was
close anywhere.

Cowboys on the ground were
wishin' for their beds
While nightmares of wild steers
ran through their heads.

'Tween now and the next gather,
we needed a nap.
Cookie had just finished, and
tied down the flap.

When out past the cavvy, there
rose such a fuss,
I sprang to my feet, leavin'
the bedroll a muss,

And grabbin' my shotgun and my
ragged ol' hat
I run t'ward the racket thinkin'
"...what'n thunder's that?"

When thoughts of amazement
through my head courses,
It was a buckboard teamed up
with draft horses,

A driver in red buckskins, so
spry and dainty,
I know'd in an instant, it
must be ol' Santy.

Quicker than jackrabbits, them
horses they came,
And, he's shoutin' commands to
each one by name...

"Get a step, Joe!. One more, Prince!.
On, Big Ed!
Pick it up, Sam! Tighten up, Lou!
On, Old Ned!

Don't spook the cavvy, back away
from them pens,
You're a pullin' this wagon like a
bunch of ol' hens!

Now, when I haul on these lines
I mean to stop.
Hold up in this cow-camp like a
ton of cow flop!"

They sat down in their riggin',
like I knew they would,
With a wagon of goodies ... made
of leather and wood.

Then, in a twinklin'
with no further delay,
He said, "Back it up, boys, this
here ain't no sleigh".

I couldn't believe my ears,
and lookin' around,
Off that wagon ol' Santy came
with a bound.

He was short, and his chinks
reached near to his toes.
He was happy and fat, with
a little red nose.

There was a ton of packages
and some new tack,
And, ol' Santy was carryin' it
all on his back.

His eyes sort of bloodshot,
much like a cherry,
From 'rastlin' them horses
clean across the prairie.

His lips was plumb puckered,
his mouth drawn and droll,
(Mine got that way, the day I
swallered my Skoal.)

He was holdin' a piggin' string
tight in his teeth,
Not fer' tie down, but for tyin'
'up' a fine wreath.

His head was too big and he
had a round belly,
No doubt derived from eatin'
Texas Chili.

He's chubby and plump all right,
I'd say quite jolly.
I laughed plumb out loud when
I seen him, by golly.

He winked his bloodshot eye,
and spat 'tween his lips,
And, it made me to know we
were all in the chips.

He weren't much for chatter,
just done what was due,
Givin' presents and goodies
to the whole durn crew.

Then, he stuck his finger in
his wee little ear,
Wallered it around and said,
"We're through bein' here".

He fled to the wagon, and his
team called 'em up,
"Come on you swaybacks ... what's
the dad-burn holdup?

We won't be back till next year
'cause we're flat broke.
Merry Christmas, my eye,
I just busted a spoke!"

[Thanks to Sam Canby]

Patricia Said (aka Tissie Said) and Islam Said: Accessory to Commit Murder

2008-12-01T19:15:00.000-06:00

As we all know, the daughters of Yaser Said, Sarah and Amina Said, were brutalized all their lives by their father while Patricia and Islam did nothing to protect them for very long. Patricia Said always returned Sarah and Amina to Yaser to be brutalized over and over again through out their lives.

The final week of Sarah and Amina's lives, Patricia lied to them in an effort to bring these two young women back to Yaser after initially taking them out of state for the sole purpose of preventing what she knew would be another session of brutality levied against them. Patricia Said knew she had to lie about where she was taking them or they knew would not have gone with her to Texas, knowing that brutality would follow as has always been the case. Patricia took them back to a brutal situation by returning to Texas and then ensured brutality by showing up where they were staying in Texas to then take them directly to Yaser.

The terrifying brutality that these two women experienced was instant death by point blank gun fire to one and then a period of torture by gun fire and then murder by gun fire inflicted upon the other.

That act on Patricia Said's part was Conspiracy to Murder at the least. When Islam provided the weapon to be used in the commission of the murders of his sisters by their father, that act by Islam Said was an act of Accessory to Murder.

Plain and simple.

Now, after many months it is clear that police agencies both local and federal refuse to inforce laws that would hold Patricia Said and Islam Said accountable for assisting in the brutal deaths of Amina and Sarah Said. Local and federal police agencies are accessories to this murder "after the fact" by refusing to charge and prosecute these individuals for their roles in the murder of these two young women.

As you can see at this link, during the past few days Islam has openly asked anyone who encounters specific relatives and the two former boy friends of Sarah and Amina to GUN THEM DOWN.

If these people are murdered, citizens MUST VIGOROUSLY REQUIRE each and every inept law enforcement official involved in this case who refused to enforce the law to be held accountable to the fullest extent possible.

Accessory (legal term)
From Wikipedia

Criminal law

Actus reus · Causation · Concurrence
Mens rea · Intention · Recklessness
Criminal negligence

An accessory is a person who assists in the commission of a crime, but who does not actually participate in the commission of the crime as a joint principal. The distinction between an accessory and a principal is a question of fact and degree:

The principal is the one whose acts or omissions, accompanied by the relevant mens rea, are the most immediate cause of the actus reus (Latin for "guilty act").
If two or more people are directly responsible for the actus reus, they can be charged as joint principals (see common purpose). The test to distinguish a joint principal from an accessory is whether the defendant independently contributed to causing the actus reus rather than merely giving generalised and/or limited help and encouragement.

United States
The U.S. criminal code makes aiding and abetting a federal crime itself a crime[1]:

(a) Whoever aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures the commission of an offense, is punishable as a principal.
(b) Whoever willfully causes an act to be done which if directly performed by him or another would be an offense, is punishable as a principal.
A person may be convicted of aiding and abetting any act made criminal under the code. The elements of aiding and abetting are, generally:

(1) guilty knowledge on the part of the accused ( the mens rea);
(2) the commission of an offense by someone; and
(3) the defendant assisted or participated in the commission of the offense (the actus reus).

Chingon - Malagueña Salerosa

2008-11-15T16:17:00.000-06:00

Chingon - Malagueña Salerosa
Uploaded by onadarkdeserthighway

As requested by our on-line posse...

Tammy Key Takes Home $4090.00 and a Cowgirl Tuff Saddle

2008-11-03T11:34:00.000-06:00

At Lone Star Arena Tammy Key come in at 15.2 seconds riding Easy Dash Oak to win top prize of $4,090 and a new saddle.

Next week we WILL begin taking a close look at the relatives of our Egyption Fugitive who killed his daughters who may have information on Yasser Said.

Per Mike H's Request: Malaguena Salarosa

2008-10-26T15:17:00.000-05:00

Time For a Cowboy to Sing, Just My Rifle, My Pony and Me

2008-10-14T20:53:00.000-05:00

Sun is sinking in the west
The cattle go down to the stream
The redwing settles in the nest
It's time for a cowboy to sing

Purple light in the canyon
that is where I long to be
With my three good companions
just my rifle my pony and me

Whippoorwill in the willow
sings a sweet melody
Riding to Amarillo
just my rifle my pony and me

No more cows to be ropin'
No more strays will I see
'round the bend she'll be waitin
For my rifle pony and me
For my rifle my pony and me

At Lone Star Arena - Match Roping Time

2008-10-08T22:59:00.001-05:00

There will be a lot of steer roping going on at Lone Star Arena this weekend. The rancher across the road from the W bar E raises "Mexican Steers" for events like this. They are one unusual looking bunch of cattle... even without the sombreros. ;-)

There Should ALWAYS be Love in Daddy's Hands

2008-10-07T23:38:00.000-05:00

By Holly Dunn

Where Yaser Shot His Daughters

2008-10-07T20:51:00.001-05:00

The above location is where the shootings occured. Click on the picture to enlarge.

This is a panarama of four pictures I photographed of the scene. The UPPER LEFT is the entry way off of River Front Drive with a drive that drops down to a parking area. As you can see, just beyond the parking area is a pavillion that has picnic tables and benches. Behind the pavillion is a jogging trail, beyond that is a river/lake. An outdoor shooting range lies beyond the river/lake. There are trees that line the far bank of the river that block the view of the outdoor shooting range. Yaser planed this location so that anyone hearing the shots at the park would think they were coming the shooting range just across the Trinity-Elm Fork River.

This park is brand new, built only a few months prior to the shooting in January. The shooting occured at 7:30 PM on January 1 of this year, 2008, there were most likely no cars in the parking lot, and if there were, it may be that Sarah was able to get off her 911 call while Yaser was checking to make sure there were no witnesses in the park area after having completed his first round of shooting. Or, Yaser may have been placing the "lets meet for coffee" call to a relative. If that were the case, and after that call was made, if Yaser then found Sarah on the phone, there would be sudden urgency for Yaser to finish Sarah off and then get out of the area without the cab. I am sure Yaser was not sure what Sarah was saying and to whom so he had to get away from the car and the area ASAP.

The Lower Left picture is a closer look at the parking area at the park.

Now this is where things could get interesting. The Lower Right picture shows the jogging trail that runs behind the pavillion which is to the right of the trail. To the left of the trail is a flat area in the picture. That is the river/lake. The Upper Right picture is a closer look at the river/lake as it appears directly behind the pavillion.

THIS is where evidence may still reside.

Critical Evidence Scenario 1) If Yaser planed to abandon the taxi with his daughters in the taxi and flee the country, he most likely would have ran over to the river/lake and tossed the weapon into the water to try to prevent the murder weapon, which would easily tie him to the murder, from being found. The river/lake has little or no current. It is a very still water area. The weapon would have dropped to the bottom of the river/lake like a rock and is still there if he did throw the weapon into the water.

Critical Evidence Scenario 2) If a search for the weapon results in the weapon not being found, it is because Yaser needed the weapon, and would mean that Yaser is still in the US.

Critical Evidence Scenario 3) Or Yaser handed the weapon off to a local relative that he planned to meet just before leaving the country, which would implicate other relatives in the murder scheme if a search warrant executed against those relatives turned up the weapon.

The location of this weapon is very important and would tell us a lot about several things regarding the people who took part in this tragic event.

Now we move a mile over to the Omni Mandalay Hotel just off of River Side on Las Colinas Blvd. Click on the image to enlarge.

This neighborhood is a very high profile area, the home to Mobil Exxon, the hotel that Fox Network uses when they have people in Dallas/Ft Worth, Dr. Phil even has an office two blocks over at Court Room Sciences Services, Las Colinas community being the premier the location of over 2000 corporations. Bill Parcells lived directly across the street during the time he coached the Dallas Cowboys.

The Lower Left Image is the taxi que that runs along a drive. From the lobby you can only see the first taxi in the line as the que snakes along behind a wall. Las Colinas Blvd is beyond a retainer wall to the left of the taxi que.

The Upper Left Image is very, very important. That is the location of the front taxi, visible from the lobby of the hotel where door men (see Lower Right Picture) load baggage and passengers into the front cab after it is signaled to leave the taxi que and drive up the circle drive to the lobby door to load a hotel passenger.

Here is a very troubling point. I asked a doorman where the taxi was parked that had the bodies of Sarah and Amina, and he pointed directly to where the first taxi was parked. The spot where a taxi would be next in que for picking up the next passenger. Since there would be very few people in the hotel on January 1, and demand for taxis would therefore be slow, did Yaser actually get into another taxi, or did he flee the area with another person who he summoned by phone from inside the hotel. Because if he pulled in and found himself to be the only taxi there... The doormen found the bodies of Sarah and Amina after another taxi driver went up and informed the doormen that the front taxi would not move forward, he went up to tell the driver to take passengers, he found no driver and saw the bodies of the girls.

By the way. Mohamed Elmougy, who told the Dallas Morning News Editorial Board that "Honor Killing" was justified to restore honor to the Muslim family, managed this very hotel where Yaser parked the taxi that contained the bodies of Sarah and Amina. Elmougy was no longer managing the hotel on January 1 as he was now starting up a hotel about 30 minutes north of the Omni in Allen, Texas. But THIS would be where Yaser could go to get help to escape the area if all his plans failed due to that call to 911 that Sarah made.

No problem. We are about to take a look at ALL of the people. So for the next installments, lets saddle up, we are going to check out a few inlaws and non-inlaws, anyone who could possibly be outlaws.

After that we are going to list a few criminal statutes that lawmen on this case are not enforcing, at least up to now...

(Amina's myspace picture of her with her German Sheppards.)

Critical Piece of Evidence

2008-09-30T15:50:00.000-05:00

Update

I will be posting the installment that focuses on a piece of critical evidence which I believe the location thereof is still at the park where the Sarah and Amina murders occurred and that piece of evidence will be discussed in detail. As soon as I get over a flu bug that is. I wanted to post that today but I am getting over a severe cold/flu bug. A good thing so now my anti-bodies are in place to protect me this winter and a flu shot is not required! :-)

If that piece of evidence is there, that would provide a clue as to where Yaser's general location is. I will explain in detail and will have images available at this blog on Friday.

I would like to make the comment threads welcome anyone who wants to discuss the possibilities as to where Yaser Said is and theories relative to any part of this murder. I will be inviting many people from around the world here to make comments.

I also am hoping that people can provide information that can definitively tie other members of the Said family to the murder of Sarah and Amina. The statute of limitations is unlimited when it comes to murder in Texas. The punishment is appropriately severe. I want to see those closest to Sarah and Amina who played key roles in facilitating their murders punished to the fullest extent as allowed under statutory laws of Texas and the United States applicable to felonies such as this.

If any of those people come here to comment, I suggest they seek legal council first, because what they say here will be used aggresively to secure their conviction.

Murder Scene of Amina and Sarah Said

2008-09-28T23:03:00.000-05:00

I will posting several installments of the murder scene of Amina and Sarah Said who were murdered by their father, Yaser Said. There will be many details posted about each area of the murder scene.

The above map was taken from Yahoo maps, as it shows the best topography of the murder scene. You may click on the map to get the large version of the map.

I will now provide an over all view of the area of the murders. Note that this is a good ways, possibly 10 miles from Lewisville, the home of the girls, and I am sure that they became concerned that he was driving that far away from Lewisville, towards the DFW International Airport area.

SCENE A This is an Irving Police sub-station that Yaser Said most likely drove past with his daughters still alive, just prior to the shootings at the nearby park. This sub station is the next building to the park area where the girls were shot. I am sure that when Sarah made the 911 phone call, she most likely felt help was only a moment away. The area A and B by the way is more like a rural area. There is water - a river and small lake, a lot of green meadows and trees block the view of the police sub-station from the park where the girls were shot. The distance between the parking area and the police station is about a quarter mile with only the lake, river, trees and meadows between them, however, no other buildings are between the park and the police sub-station along this drive called Riverside Drive.

B This is where the shootings happened. This is “Bird’s Fort Trail” park is entered by turning off of Riverside Drive and onto a short drive that drops down into a parking area of the park. There is nothing blocking the view of the parking area from Riverside Drive. If the shootings had occured during the day, drivers on Riverside Drive would have seen that event, but at night, the parking area was mostly dark. Next to the parking area is a covered, open on all sides picnic table facility which has a view of a small lake on this fork of the river. This is a new park and is a favorite site for joggers to park and jog on the jogging trail that runs along the river, and passes through this park. On January 1 after dark when it is rather cool outside, the trail would be vacant of joggers. There is a forest on the opposite bank of the river. Just beyond the trees on the opposite bank of the river is an outdoor shooting range. The trees block the view of the range from the park, but shots fired at the shooting range are very loud at this park and would easily be suspected by police at the substation near by or people driving by on River Side drive to be coming from the shooting range. The range is open after dark however this was on a holiday, January 1. When Sarah called 911, the call was traced to this area, but the police could not find anyone at this location by the time they arrived from the nearby sub station and officers on patrol.

C This is where Yaser abandoned his taxi. This is a VERY upscale hotel called the Omni Mandaley a block off of Riverside Drive on Las Colinas Blvd. Fox Network houses all of their people here when they come into Dallas to do Network shows such as COPS, NFL Football, etc., etc.. On January 1, you would not find very many people in the hotel, but until about 10PM, there are going to be taxis lined up at an area just out of view of the hotel's front entrance near the street.

GENERAL THOUGHTS As you can see by the map, this entire scene is within proximity of DFW International Airport, a few miles away, and the Omni Mandaley Hotel is a block from the on-ramp of a major freeway, highway 114, that would allow for a quick escape from the area. Even though the international airport is near by, this close proximity could be a decoy used by Yaser to make the authorities believe he left the country. Yaser did a lot of detailed planning of this scheme to murder his own daughters. I believe he was not alone in the planning of these murders. After all, new non-residential mail boxes were opened in Texas possibly by Yaser and in New York state by a close relative just prior to the murders, and Yaser did call a local relative asking to "meet for a cup of coffee" moments after the murders. That relative lives just south of DFW Airport in Arlington, TX.

I am sure that Yaser left B, the park and headed over to C, the hotel taxi queue immediately after his final shots killed Sarah as he found her on the phone with 911 dispatch, knowing that the police sub station was next door and that he now had to get out of the park fast and on over to area C for the escape. C where the hotel is and where the taxi was abandoned is about a mile and a half from the sub station, a little less than a mile from the park and Yaser has now parked his taxi containing the bodies of his daughters in the taxi queue. It is after dark, shortley after the 7:30 PM 911 call that Sarah made and his taxi is now not looking suspicious for a short while as it is part of the line of taxis at the Omni. This gives Yaser the opportunity to get away, even though I am sure that as he is leaving, most likely in the seat of another taxi, the nearest one he can find to get him out of the area, he saw police cars passing by to go to the park area.

NEXT INSTALLMENTS The next installments will provide details of each of the areas of the scene, including pictures of the areas and the people involved.

More Information Coming on the "Honor Killing" of Amina and Sarah

2008-09-24T21:09:00.000-05:00

In a few days I will be posting detailed information from the murder scene of Sarah and Amina. This is the myspace page of Amina. This was an Islamic "Honor Killing". I pass by the areas everyday while I am in the city of Dallas where the young girls were murdered by their father and then where their father left the taxi that he drove to the hotel taxi stand to escape the area. Interestingly, that hotel is where FOX Network houses its production people when they come in to shoot episodes for their shows in the Dallas, Ft Worth area. One of those episodes is the TV show COPS.