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West of the Pecos Museum
120 E. Dot Stafford St Pecos, TX 79772 (432) 445-5076
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Robert Clay Allison sits for a photograph while injured | Photo courtesy Wikipedia
Gentleman’s Gunslinger by Melissa Hagins
C
lay Allison claimed, “I never killed a man that didn’t need it.” Known as a cattle broker and rancher, when asked what he did, Clay said, “I am a shootist.” While his life was marked with restlessness, violence, and too many outrageous stories to be properly documented, Clay did not die in a blaze of glory. Born around 1840 in Waynesboro, Tennessee, Robert Clay Allison was the fourth of nine children. He worked on the family farm until the Civil War broke out; at the age of 21 he enlisted in the Confederate Army. After a few short months he was medically discharged for a condition that doctors called “partly epileptic and partly maniacal,” resulting perhaps from an early childhood head injury. Some 20
AUTHENTIC TEXAS
have speculated the head injury may have been the cause of his violent behavior, especially when drinking. On September 22, 1862, Allison re-enlisted and served under Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. At war’s end, Allison surrendered with his unit, was held as a prisoner of war and returned home. Back in Tennessee, Allison was involved in numerous altercations before he moved to Texas with his brothers Monroe and John, sister Mary, and her husband Lewis Coleman. Allison learned the basics of ranching and excelled as a cowboy. In 1866 he signed on with Oliver Loving and Charles Goodnight and was part of the crew that blazed the Goodnight-Loving Trail. After receiving 300
PECOS
PECOS TRAIL REGION
