Former Regents Professor of History at my alma mater Midwestern State University collected some cool tales for an anthology he published in 2005. Tales of Texoma: Episodes in the History of the Red River Border is full of great stories from one of the oldest areas in the state of Texas. Few people are aware that much of the land adjacent to the Red River was home to nomadic Native Americans, early pioneers, and cattlemen before the Texas Revolution.
One of the most well known cattlemen was Samuel Burk Burnett. He began ranching in 1870 when he bought a herd of cattle with brand of 6666, the Four Sixes. Over the years he acquired vast amounts of land and a large cattle herd. Like all successful ranchers, Burnett managed to deal with fluctuating cattle prices, droughts, fence wars, and land disputes. He was known as a quick draw when cattle rustlers were around.
Burnett frequently dealt with those individuals who thought if they saw good cows, they were theirs for the taking, especially a man named Farley Sayers. Sayers was what in that part of Texas is known as “squirrely.” One fall he stole ten or twelve young calves, drove them to a box canyon, and tried to feed them grass when that was definitely not what the calves wanted. The calves were bawling at the top of their lungs, the mama cows were putting on a ruckus, too. One of Burnett’s cowhands came up on the calves, rounded them up and took them to their mothers. Sayers was not at all happy.
In fact Sayers was seldom happy, especially holding a grudge against Burk Burnett. Sayers threatened to shoot an innocent cowhand who infuriated Sayers when he helped put out a grass fire on Burnett property. Sayers was quite vocal of his hatred of Mr. Burnett, probably out of jealously. He often expressed his intent to shoot Burnett and kill his whole outfit.
On May 23, 1912 Burk Burnett along with Tom Picket his friend and bodyguard were in Paducah, Texas about lunchtime. They decided to eat at the Goodwin Hotel. Before sitting down they went to the men’s room to wash up. Supposedly they didn’t know that Sayers was also washing up, but when Burnett and his friend walked in they saw Sayers pull his gun. Instantly Burnett fired and killed Sayers. Burnett then walked across the street to the sheriff’s office and turned himself in.
Numerous witnesses testified that Burnett was innocent. They had their say when the case came to court in July of 1913. The venue was changed to Seymour in Baylor County. The small town was full of spectators, 150 witnesses, newspaper reporters, and Burnett family members. Of course, Burk Burnett could afford the top defense attorneys in Texas.
After all the testimony, the all male jury adjourned. Deliberations lasted twenty-three minutes. The foreman read the verdict of “Not Guilty.” In gratitude, Burk Burnett donated $5,000 for a state-of-the-art operating room for All Saints Hospital in Fort Worth.
Not long after the trial, people all over that part of North Texas began to speculate that it wasn’t Burnett who killed Sayers. His vision was getting dimmer and his draw wasn’t as quick as it had been. Then they realized that it was the former sheriff and bodyguard Tom Pickett who pulled the trigger. No one mentioned it publically but Tom became a hero.
Even I was surprised at the ending when I read the story. Tales of Texoma is a great collection of Texas short stories.