Earlier that morning, about twenty-five miles to the north and somewhat to the west of Olsen's Falls, Angus Murdoch had been sitting on his porch awaiting the arrival of some of his hands. Roberto Mireles had awakened him earlier with the news of the attempt on Logan's life, along with the story of the death of Dan Bolton and three of the BAR-O hands. Murdoch had fed him and offered to let him get some rest before returning to Olsen's Falls, but the young Mexican had declined, preferring instead to return to town. Moose loaned him another horse, since his own, was nearly played out, and sent him on his way.

Murdoch had immediately made up his mind to go to Olsen's Falls as soon as possible. However, at that moment, except for his wife, their Chinese cook, and a couple of Mexican maids, there was no one else at the main ranch house. All of the hands were spread out over various parts of the ranch, tending to the cattle, and other basic necessities involved with the maintenance of the ranch.

Fortunately though, both of his sons, Shane and Brazos, were near, along with Tommy and Josh Mason. They were at the holding pens at the old ranch house about three miles north, along with a few other hands preparing a herd of beef to be driven up north to Santa Fe, New Mexico. So Murdoch had sent Chang Lee the cook, to fetch his two sons, along with the Mason brothers and about eight other hands.

The reason he didn't merely saddle up and ride over there himself was that he hated to leave Cora alone with just the two maids and cook to look after her. Normally, he would think nothing of it, but with trouble brewing, and the kind of people Tanner was hiring, anything could happen. After what Roberto had told him, he wouldn't put it past Tanner to hire some sniper to wreak havoc with the ranch house. He planned to leave four of the cowhands at the new ranch house when he left for Olsen's Falls, as a precautionary measure.

Murdoch was also tempted at first, to simply go into town alone and have it out with Tanner on a personal basis. The thought of personally feeling Tanner's back snap like a twig in his grasp, made Murdoch smile grimly. But again, that would necessitate leaving his wife unprotected even for a little while. Their cook, Chang Lee, was expert at hand to hand fighting having been some kind of a Chinese monk before being forced to depart for the U.S. But he knew little about firearms. And as to Murdoch tackling Tanner right now, problem was, he needed more evidence against Tanner before he could move against him, personally, or otherwise. Anyhow, the fact that Bolton no doubt, would be riding in to oversee the details of his son's funeral, meant there might be more than a few MT hands in town. Most of these would likely be gunman. Not that he feared any of the gunmen, or all of them for that matter. But he had no desire to have Cora become a widow.

Angus Murdoch personally feared no one, or even death itself. He was however, a practical man and was keenly aware of the love his wife and sons had for him, and was not about to tempt fate when it was not necessary. What he wanted was a show of support, and force, for Joe Bolton, and Jesse Logan if need be. He wanted Morgan Tanner to know in no uncertain terms, that he had better watch his step. If Tanner had gunhands, so did Murdoch, besides Jesse Logan, his sons Brazos and Shane were expert gunmen. The Mason brothers were also quite good, as were several other cowboys who worked for the M brand. Many of the hands had fought against both rustlers and Indians.

In those days, ranchers were forced to hire men who could shoot as well as handle cattle and horses. In later years, many ranch owners would hire cowhands only for their ability with stock, and some of them, would forbid the carrying of weapons on the ranch at all. But at that time, those days were still many years in the future. In 1870, a ranch had to constantly deal with rustlers and Indians, and Murdoch, like many others, had hired accordingly.

He wondered how badly Jesse had been hurt. Roberto Mireles had assured him that it wasn't too serious. However, Logan had not regained consciousness at the time of Roberto's departure. Murdoch knew that head wounds could cause a variety of damage. He could only hope for the best.

Jesse Logan was like a son to him, and for many years, he had practically been Jesse's father. George Logan, Jesse's real father, had been killed by Comanches when Jesse was only seven years of age. George had been one of Murdoch's closest and most loyal friends.

Tiring of waiting, and eager to be doing something, Angus Murdoch bit off a huge chunk from a plug of chewing tobacco and began to stroll around the grounds, admiring the ranch house he'd built for his family several years back, in the Davis Mountains.

The Davis Mountains were discovered by Alvar Nunez, Cabeza de Vaca only twenty three years after Columbus discovered America. He'd been making his way westward with a handful of other tattered Spaniards after escaping from Indians on the Texas Gulf Coast. Posing as medicine men or gods to avoid recapture, they were seeking a Spanish outpost in the west, and eventually they made it all the way to Mexico City. Their route through Texas occasionally turned northward to get across rivers (some of them couldn't swim), so they stumbled upon what was to become known as The Great Indian Trail and that led them through the Davis Mountains.

The Davis Mountains are the most forested of the Trans-Pecos region. Cottonwoods and other deciduous trees line the creeks while on the higher slopes are yellow and limber pine, eighteen varieties of oak including the gray in dwarf form, and black cherry. The area was especially beautiful in the fall, when one could view the brilliant golden foliage reflected in still pools as he observed white or black-tailed deer passing by. It is truthfully claimed that the air is clearer there than anywhere else in Texas, and at night, the view of the stars is magnificent, having few rivals anywhere upon the North American continent.

The Murdoch ranch house, was not exactly a mansion by eastern standards, but was fairly large by western standards of the time. It was located in a canyon in the Davis Mountains, about twenty miles southwest of today's town of Balmoreah. It was a three story edifice built of rock and timber nestled in a grove of trees which were predominantly cottonwoods, but also contained, oaks, elms, maple, mountain juniper, and a smattering of pines. These were nourished by a small stream which fed a large, crystal clear pool of water about one hundred yards from the front door of the ranch, before continuing north. The stream in turn had its source from a spring less than a quarter of a mile to the southwest somewhat higher up into the Davis Mountains. The third story was actually only two rooms atop the second story, which were surrounded by an open verandah. Angus used one room for a private study, and another, just to sit back and enjoy the evenings with his wife Cora--when he could find the time. In fact, Angus had built this house primarily to satisfy his wife.

He had been content with the original ranch house which was located near the holding pens where his sons were now at work. However, though the old house was much better suited for ranch work, it did not possess the serene scenic beauty of the spot where he presently stood. His wife had personally picked it out after only two weeks of living in the spartan living quarters of the old ranch house which had been little more than a glorified log cabin.

Game was abundant. Deer were everywhere and often could be seen from the house drinking from the stream. Thus Angus had named it "Deer Creek". Elsewhere in the Davis Mountains, there were black bear, mountain lions, and bobcats, as well as deer and cottontail and antelope. The mountains were like an oasis in the desert, and an ideal setting for Murdochs' ranch headquarters.

Left to himself however, he would have remained at the old ranch site since it afforded a better location from which to work stock. It had ample grass and water (Deer Creek ran through it also although somewhat swelled by the addition of other creeks flowing into it along the way) with a huge meadow for grazing cattle or horses. He'd built the cowboys' bunkhouses there originally, even before building his own ranch house. He had next erected a series of stock pens from which to work the stock. And from there, he fenced in a large portion of the meadow primarily to keep the cattle or horses from wandering in until he was ready to fatten them up for sale or a cattle drive where the cattle would stand to lose a great deal of weight. This was in order to preserve the meadows which would rapidly become overgrazed if the livestock were left to themselves.

For the most part however, the meadowland area was used for horses. Murdoch was famous for breeding some of the finest horses in the country. They were much larger than the standard cowpony and yet durable enough for virtually any type of work needed on a ranch or cattle drive. They also were known for their ability to run for long distances at great speeds that would leave the average cowpony winded and lathered in short order. But where working cattle or cattle drives over terrain that was rugged and food and water was scarce, would kill a thoroughbred, a cowpony would thrive. Murdoch's breed would even out do the average cowpony under such conditions. Such horses were treasured by outlaws who were on the run from the law, as well as Comanches whose very existence depended upon horses.

However, even though the old ranch house was in a beautiful spot itself, it nowhere nearly approached the pristine beauty of the spot on which the new one had been erected. Also, Cora wanted to be somewhat apart from the hubbub of everyday ranch activities. Murdoch didn't like it much, but the two places were separated by only about three miles after all.

Cora had her peace and quiet, although during times of hostile Indian activity, it presented a problem since Murdoch had to protect two places at the same time. That split his crew in half. If he were to leave either vacant, the Indians would burn the other to the ground. And there had been plenty of Indians, for both the Comanche and Apaches had often used these Mountains as a stronghold in the past.

Thinking about it now however, and drinking in the quiet beauty and serenity of the site, he was glad he'd given in to his wife's wishes and built the ranchhouse there. Though Indians were still a problem at times, he had a much larger crew now than he'd had when the new house had originally been built. Thus, protecting both of them was no longer the difficulty it had once been. It had been two years since they'd had any Indian trouble although the Comanches were still raiding to the east on occasion.

Top of This Page | Front Page | Next Chapter

Copyright © 1999 by John T. Crow
All rights reserved.