Sutton–Taylor feud

The Sutton–Taylor feud arose from a growing animosity between the Texas Taylor family—headed by Pitkin Taylor, the brother of Creed Taylor (a Texas Ranger)—and local lawman William E. Sutton, who moved to DeWitt along with his mother when she married a man named William McDonald. Sutton had been elected deputy sheriff in Clinton, Texas, before the feud began. The feud lasted almost a decade, and has been called "...the "longest and bloodiest in Texas history..." ==Events==

Lead-up On April 23, 1866, William P. "Buck" Taylor shot a black reconstruction soldier, Sgt. John O'Brien, who had come to a dance. That same month, John Hays Taylor had killed a black soldier, Sgt. Josiah Ripley, in an Indianola saloon. On November 14, 1867, Maj. John A. Thompson and Sgt. John A. McDougall of the US 4th Cavalry Regiment were killed in Mason County, Texas, by Hays Taylor, P.G. Taylor, and a man named Spencer. Deputy Sutton shot and killed a Taylor kinsman, Charley Taylor—whom he was trying to arrest for horse theft—on March 25, 1868. These killings ignited the feud. The following year, in July 1870, Sutton was appointed to the Texas State Police Force, serving under Captain Helm. The police force was tasked with enforcing the Reconstruction policies of the federal government. This force was known to have operated with a bit of a free-hand: more often than not returning with "wanted" suspects dead. Deaths of lawmen Hardin's main notoriety in the Sutton-Taylor feud occurred two months later, in a May 17, 1873, gunfight in Cuero, Texas. Hardin killed DeWitt County Deputy Sheriff J.B. Morgan. Reportedly, Hardin, Helm, and Sam McCracken Jr. were talking in front of a blacksmith shop. Helm, who was an amateur inventor, was working on a project in the blacksmith's shop. He was therefore unarmed (having left his revolvers in his room at a boarding house). During the heated discussion, Jim Taylor snuck up on Helm from behind and attempted to shoot him, but his revolver misfired. As a startled Helm turned, Taylor managed to get off a shot, striking Helm in the chest. Helm rushed Taylor with the intent to grapple with him, but Hardin shattered Helm's arm with a shotgun blast. Helm then attempted to flee into the blacksmith shop. While Hardin held the townspeople at gunpoint, Taylor chased Helm down and unloaded the remaining five bullets into him. Afterward, as Hardin and Taylor mounted their horses and prepared to ride away, witnesses claimed they boasted that they "...had accomplished what they had come to do." The next night, Hardin and other Taylor supporters surrounded the ranch house of a Sutton family supporter, Joe Tumlinson. Eventually, a shouted truce was arranged. Both sides signed a negotiated peace treaty soon after in nearby Clinton. The peace, however, lasted less than a year. ==The feuding resumes==

, Capt. Jesse Lee Hall, lead his command to Cuero, Texas, and ended the feud On December 30, 1873, a Taylor supporter, Wiley W. Pridgen, was shot and killed at Thomaston station. The Sutton–Taylor feud reached its apex when Jim Taylor and his cousin William Riley "Billy" Taylor, along with several others, ambushed and gunned down William E. Sutton and a companion, Gabriel Slaughter, while they waited on a steamboat platform in Indianola, Texas, on March 11, 1874. William Sutton had grown tired of the feud and planned to leave the area for good. John Wesley Hardin admitted in his biography that he and his brother, Joseph, had also been involved—along with both the Taylors—in Sutton's and Slaughter's murders. In his autobiography, Hardin made only two references to Brown: that "Rube" Brown had arrested Billy Taylor before sending him to Galveston, Texas, for trial, and that Brown had been among the leaders of a Sutton "posse" that had been out to "get" him in Gonzales County. It is not known if Hardin was directly or indirectly involved in the killing of Reuben Brown as he made no further mention of the incident in his life story. Billy Taylor was tried twice and acquitted. Reportedly, he was killed in Oklahoma in about 1895. On September 16, 1876, Dr. Phillip H. Brassell and his son, George, were killed by the Suttons. Following the resultant outbreak of violence in October 1876, Texas Ranger Captain Jesse Lee Hall led a force into Cuero, Texas, to break up the feud for good. By January 1877, he and his supporting troop had put an end to the conflict once and for all. ==See also==