Tuck Jackson and The Carsons(Shane Polley) (Note that Shane was 15 years old when he wrote this story.)

I, Tuck Jackson, was cornered and there wasn't any way I could get out. The Carson boys had me surrounded and were closing in. I had my six-shooter and my Winchester ready; they wouldn't get me without a fight. I never wanted a fight but I got myself a war.

In Houston a few years back I met up with Jesse Carson while getting a drink at the saloon. Carson, who was totally drunk, figured himself fast with a pistol, and he thought he'd make it known by killing me. He was looking for a fight. Carson walked over to me and said flatly, "I don't like you!" I could hardly suppress a grin, so I smiled and replied, "I don't cotton to you either!" "I aim to kill you," said Carson. "You can try, but you might get killed in the process," I said in reply. Silence filled the room. Carson went for his gun, but he was a might too slow. Before he had cleared leather I had my gun out and I shot the gun out of Carson's hand. "Drop the belt and get out of town," I demanded in a stern voice. Carson dropped his gun belt and lit a shuck out of town, but before he left he swore he'd get even with me, saying, "I'll get some of my brothers and come hunting you and we won't stop until you're dead!" Now, I have a lot of brothers too and they are all skilled with any type of weapon, so I wasn't particularly scared.

A couple months later when I was in Santa Fe I saw the Carsons. There were seven of them and they were hunting me. Now a body doesn't purposely jump into a fight that he knows he can't win, so I got out of there in a hurry and headed for the hills. My family had been living off the land for nigh onto two hundred years and I'd lived in the hills since I was three. I headed south into the Rockies where I figured to loose myself for a while.

On a previous visit I had found a cave in which I could hole up for a while. I stayed there for many a day catching fish from a stream and shooting deer, small game, and once in a while a buffalo for food. A few days after my arrival I was setting some snares when I stumbled upon some gold nuggets. After a careful search I found what appeared to be an abandoned gold mine. I explored further into it and found that it was indeed a gold mine and it still had a large supply of gold inside. I could only guess why it had been abandoned. Using some tools that I had found on the floor of the mine I worked for days to get that gold out and when I was done I had me a goodly sum of approximately forty-five thousand dollars. There wasn't any way I would be able to get that gold out in one trip, so I packed what I could fit on my horse in my saddle bags and hid the rest in a hole in the back of my cave.

I headed northwest to Albuquerque where I could get a fair price for my gold. I must have looked a mess since I had been in the mountains for about two years. I went down to the bank and sold my gold for twenty-five thousand dollars, a goodly sum. Then I went to the saloon for a drink, something I hadn't had for a long time. Just guess whom I met there but Jesse Carson and his seven brothers. I stepped up to the bar and ordered a drink and when I had finished my drink I got up and left. Those Carson boys were right behind me. I high-tailed it out of there and tried to lose them in all the buildings, but they were catching up. I ran down an alley and ground to a halt, for right in front of me were three of the Carson boys and four of them were on my tail. I was cornered and there wasn't anyway I could get out. The Carson boys had me surrounded and were closing in. I had my six-shooter and my Winchester ready; they wouldn't get me without a fight.

I might have been able to get two or three shots off before I was pumped full of lead. I acted those shots in my mind. I had to shoot Jesse first, then the two next to him. It would not be easy. All of a sudden shots broke out on the roof above. One man went down and then another. The Carson's started to fire back; it was time to act. I aimed my six-shooter at Jesse and squeezed off a shot. I shot two quick shots at two others and raced down the alley. Someone shot after me and I got hit in the shoulder, I fell on the ground, hit my head and passed out.

The next day I woke up in a bed with two of my brothers, Orlando and Angus, sitting by me. I tried to sit up but when I did my shoulder screamed out in pain. "Was that you two on the roof yesterday?" I asked. "Yeah, we were both up there," replied Orlando. "How did you guys happen to be there, you saved my bacon!?!" I inquired. "Ma got worried when she heard the Carsons were coming after you so she sent us to find you and help you out of this mess," said Angus. "We aren't finished yet either, four of them escaped, but two of them are wounded!" "Was Jesse among the dead?" I asked. "Yeah him and his brothers Jack and Bud." said Angus. "But the others got away." "That's all right, I've still got my money with me and gold hidden up in the hills," said I. "What gold?" they shouted in unison. "The gold that I took out of an abandoned mine I found in the Rocky Mountains and I still have half of it up in them there mountains." I told them. "We will help you go up and get the rest of the gold out of there when you're better." They replied. "It's a deal," was all that I could say.

I stayed there for about three weeks. When I was almost fully healed I went into town to buy me an outfit. I already had a horse, saddle, saddlebags, my six-shooter, and my Winchester. In town I bought some ammunition for my guns, a packhorse, an extra saddle horse, some grub, and a few other odds and ends. I had myself a good outfit.

A few days later my brothers and I set out to get my gold. Each of us had two saddle horses, a Winchester, a six-shooter, and grub that could last for a month if need be. We followed the Rio Grande south to where it meets up with the Rio Puerco. From there we turned East and headed deep into the heart of the Rockies. It was an uneventful trip to my cave. I had to scout around awhile to find it, but I finally did. When I went to dig up the gold I was astounded at what I saw, where the gold should be there was just dirt! My brothers and I dug up the whole cave, but no gold was found! Where had it gone? Had someone stolen it? We searched around outside and sure enough we found a print. It was a print of a horse carrying a heavy pack. We searched further and found some more hoof prints leading north, and ever so often there were scuffmarks from a person kneeling as if they were searching for a trail or something they had dropped.

We followed the trail north until it came to a stop at the door of a small cabin with a couple of horses picketed to the ground outside. There was one window in the cabin so I decided to take a look. I peeked in the window and at a table sat the four Carson boys and two tough looking brutes, and in the center of the table was my gold. We just had to get that gold! The trouble was there were six of them and only three of us, so I went to thinking. If we could distract them somehow and get them out of the house one of us might be able to sneak in and get my gold. Their cabin was surrounded by tall grass and I thought that if we could start a fire it would get them out of the house. Once they were out we could run into the house and get my gold.

Orlando then set out to light the grass afire, while Angus held the horses, and I set to get the gold. The fire was blazing pretty well by that time. A minute or two later all six men ran out of the house in wonderment. Two of them went inside and then rushed back out with six buckets. They handed them out and dashed to the well to get water to prevent the fire from spreading. This was my chance; I darted into the house and grabbed the gold. Then I hurried back outside to the horses where Angus and Orlando were waiting. We jumped on and lit a shuck out of there. Those Carsons and their men saw us and shot after us to no avail. They would have trailed us, but their hands were full with the fire.

From there we headed East to Dallas, Texas where a few of our brothers had a ranch, the Triple J. We stopped in Abilene to cash in our gold; we got twenty-five thousand dollars for it. We got to Dallas a few days after our stop in Abilene. Our brothers Mack, Joe and Hank were waiting for us at their ranch. When we got there supper was on the table and we were almighty hungry so we settled down to eat. Now my brothers and I could put grub away as if we hadn't eaten for months, Orlando most of all. Now the six of us cleared the table of food in about twenty minutes, man were we hungry. After supper we went to sleep in the first beds that we had slept in for months.

The next morning we awoke at the stroke of dawn. The breakfast was one of the best we'd had in a long time. All that day we helped out around the ranch. We got quite a bit done in those days. We fixed fences, roped cattle and the like.

About the time we arrived there had been a fight in town between Jobe Carson and Jose Frito in which Carson was killed and now the Carsons were hunting Frito. A couple days later Frito rode up to the ranch looking for a job. Since the Carsons were hunting him and me both, my brothers hired him. He was a good hand at roping cattle and an even better one with a gun.

The cattle were getting fat by that time and Mack, Joe, and Hank had decided to drive the cattle up to Kansas City were they had a friend who could get them the best price a head. Now we'd all go on the cattle drive, leaving a few trusted hands to watch over the ranch. A couple days later we headed out at the break of dawn and we had a hard time of it. Those cattle just didn't seem to want to go, but with the help of an old brindle steer in the lead, we somehow managed to get them going. They mostly stayed on the trail but once in a while a few would wander off and we had to get them back to the herd. It took a couple days but we finally got them trail broke. By day we drove the cattle, getting somewhere from fifteen to twenty miles a day, and by night we would set around the camp fire yarning while a few of us were out with the cattle. Around a campfire people tell stories and we got to know each other a bit more because of it.

On the third day of the drive some riders came up to camp with news for us, especially Frito and I. They told us that the Carsons were gathering up and they planned to stampede the herd and kill us all. A few days later, just after we got the heard moving, there were a bunch of gunshots, yells, and war whoops coming from just behind the herd. Those cattle were scared enough that they ran so hard they almost flew. Frito and I were on one side of the herd with Angus and Joe on the other. Between the four of us we somehow managed to contain the herd until they got to the Washita River, where they stopped to rest and drink. Luckily no one was in the front of the herd so no one got hurt.

Frito and Angus went back to camp to see how the others had fared. A while later the whole gang came down to our new camp on the Washita River. Trailing them were all the Carson boys numbering about twenty. We would have to fight it out on the banks of the Washita, and we could be sure some men would die.

We got as far away from the cattle as we could since we didn't want any of them to get shot. Those Carsons came charging at us like there was no tomorrow. We fought and fought with bullets flying all around us. All day we held our ground. By midday we were all dead beat, some of us were wounded, and a few men on both sides died. When dusk fell Orville Carson and the few of his remaining brothers held up a white flag signifying peace. We met them half way in between their side and ours. We took their guns and sent them packing down the road, we never saw them again in our born days. We had lost ten of our nineteen men. Joe, Hank, Mack, Angus, Orlando, Jose Frito, two hired hands Jake Burns and Tex Herring, and I were all that were left of us.

---