Customer Reviews

John B. Armstrong, Texas Ranger and Pioneer Ranchman (Canseco-Keck History Series)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

John B. Armstrong is best known for the 1877 capture and arrest of the hardcore Texas outlaw John Wesley Hardin. Armstrong served in the famed Frontier Battalion of McNelly's Texas Rangers for three years, taking part in taming the so-called Nueces Strip, a lawless area of Texas bounded in the north by the Nueces River and in the south by the Rio Grande. During this time Armstrong made lasting friendships with Richard King and Mifflin Kenedy that would pay off for him in later years.



While Armstrong was with the Rangers, he was also assigned to DeWitt County to help quell the Taylor-Sutton Feud. It was while serving in this capacity that his plan for capturing Wes Hardin began to perculate. An accidental discharge of his own sidearm in a Goliad hotel put Armstrong out of commission. During his recovery his plan crystalized. By then, Wes Hardin had skipped Texas with a $4000 bounty on his head for killing a well-respected deputy sheriff in Comanche County.



Still walking with the aid of a cane, John Armstrong enlisted the help of Dallas detective John Duncan, who quickly infiltrated Hardin's circle of friends in Gonzales County. Through an intercepted letter, Duncan learned of Hardin's whereabouts. He was living in Alabama and doing business in Florida under the alias of John Swain. Duncan and Armstrong requested the necessary extradition papers, and set out by rail to apprehend Hardin.



What followed was the spectacular ambush of Hardinand few of his friends in the smoking car at a Pensacola train station. One of Hardin's pals was shot dead by Armstrong, who then knocked Hardin unconscious with the butt of his Colt .45. Later, Armstrong sent a laconic wire to Ranger headquarters: "Arrested John Wesley Hardin ... Had some lively shooting."



After this sensational episode, widely reported in national newspapers, Armstrong became a sort of Ranger celebrity, his every move causing notices in local papers, including an 1878 mention in the Advocate when he and some of his fellow Rangers "passed through Victoria on their way to Cuero."



The bounty money Armstrong received for Hardin's capture allowed Armstrong to marry his Austin sweetheart, Mollie Durst.

The Durst family had once owned 77,000 acres in the Nueces Strip, but had lost it due to underhanded dealings by the lawyers who managed Mollie's deceased father's estate. Armstrong set about recovering the lost land, with the help of his King and Kenedy friends.



In 1897, Mollie Durst Armstrong died of rabies from a dog bite. Armstrong never remarried. He raised his six children on his ranch in Kenedy County, where his descendants continue to live today. A genealogical chart and statistical appendixes are provided at the end of the book.



"John B. Armstrong, Texas Ranger and Pioneer Ranchman" is a lively and riveting read, particularly in the chapters that deal with Armstrong's rangering days. I, for one, thought I knew all there was to know about John Wesley Hardin's arrest and capture, but Parsons has uncovered much new material in his diligent research. John Armstrong was a fearless, no-nonsense Texas hero with far more depth and integrity than other, better-known lawmen, such as Wyatt Earp and Wild Bill Hickok. By the end of the book, however, you have the feeling Armstrong would not have desired their notoriety.

This biography is concise and well written. It is a quick read and doesn't speculate where there are gaps in the record as do some of the biographies that I have read in the past. The Book is a quick read that is both enjoyable and informative.