Island Moon
A4
The signs are up!
Island History Continued from A 2 his .50 caliber Sharps rifle and ran toward the fight. At thirty paces McNelly drew his pistol and opened fire. Twenty paces from the brush Durham saw a man squatting behind a clump of scrub and cedar. His had showed first as he jumped up to get away Durham could see a fancy beaver hat and a long scar down his cheek. It was the man who had pistoled whipped a shop owners wife back on the Nueces during a raid a few week before to try to get her to reveal the hiding place of the store’s cash. He was now running for his horse. Durham pointed his .50 at the scar and dropped the hammer. In Durham’s word, “he had on a big beaver had and when I fired his head just seemed to explode along with that hat. Ihad made my first shot in combat and I hit my target. I had brought down the prise - that scar faced dude who quirted down Martha Noakes. Right then I quite being a scared country boy. I was a Rangers. A little McNelly. The Rangers were off their horses now and beating through the brush, taking the fight close in firing as they went. The brush line was only twenty paces deep. As the Rangers closed in bandits would pop up and make for their mounts but they had waited too late. Two jumped on one horse and took off but a Ranger got in a good carbine shot and one fell, the other made it another twenty paces before he fell too, two bandits with one shot. “I got dubs,” he shouted.
July 1, 2011
ran, jumping on his horse. “Ranger Smith brought him down with a pistol shot. He was slashing the grass and floundering when Smith came up too close. The outlaw rolled over, got one shot into Smith, and killed the Ranger in his tracks.” Smith had broken the Captain’s rule about approaching a wounded man. Durham jumped on an outlaw’s horse which carried the King Ranch Running W brand and joined the pursuit but the remaining bandits had a good head start. The fight was over. McNelly rounded up his Rangers and put them in a dry camp on the on the edge of Brownsville then he headed for the Miller Hotel. “My name’s McNelly,” he told the man at the desk. “I want two rooms. Two big downstairs rooms for our headquarters. We’re Texas Rangers.” At the order of Captain McNelly the bodies of sixteen dead bandits were stacked up like cordwood in the town square at Brownsville. An order was put out that if anyone tried to come and claim a body arrest them and bring them to the Captain. The bodies of the slain bandits would be used as bait for their fellow outlaws.
Now You Sign Up to Shake it Up!
Look for the signs—They are All Over The Island! Search for the signs in the windows of our island businesses! Seek out the sign on theFortuna Bay side of Island Presbyterian Church! Scour Gypsy St. for the big corner sign! They are all SIGNS of FUN TO COME for our community kids! You will be signing up for action -- games, experiments, arts and crafts, music, wonderful Bible stories and special yummy treats! All Community Kids between age four and grade six July 11 – July 15 9:00 until Noon Island Presbyterian Church – 14030 Fortuna Bay Dr. Register by phone at 949-8770 or Register on line at islandpresby.com See if you can find all the Shake It Up Cafe signs that are displayed on the island. When you come to VBS on July 11th, tell us how many signs you found!
Around the Island Cont. from A1 cross and it was said that two trips across the causeway would ruin a set of tires. It was one way at a time and a set of lights was set up to signal when the way was clear to start a car from the far shore. There were a few fistfights about who was going to back their way off the bridge and more than one Model-T had to be fished out of the drink after jumping the track. Islander Ernie Buttler over at Snoopy’s Pier is putting some of the old cedar planks from the causeway to a creative use. We’ll have more on that in later issues. Ellis Beach It was a great day at the beach on Saturday as a crowd turned out for the dedication of Michael J. Ellis Beach. It was a windy day but a great day for remembering our friend Mike. Say hello if you see us Around The Island.
Next time: Cortina retaliates.
McNelly had his section of the brush under control but one bandit was wounded and not firing but not dead. McNelly called to his men, “My pistol’s empty. Bring me some more shells.” At that the outlaw broke cover and ran toward McNelly grinning and brandishing a Bowie knife. McNelly fired his pistol and struck the man right in the mouth. McNelly mounted and rode out to where a Ranger was kneeling over the first man McNelly had shot while riding in. “ He’s asking for a chaplain,” the Ranger said. “he must be a war veteran.” The man had taken a .50 caliber Sharps round under the ribcage. McNelly, who had been a Virginia minister before becoming a Ranger took a bible out of his pocket and read scripture until the man died.
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On the other end of the brush line a bandit broke and
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