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Who's that guy from Galveston?
By Ken Byler, Up the Creek
What does Allen have to do with Texas history, the economy, trains and Galveston?
Surprisingly, Allen has a lot to do with all of it. Folks recently celebrated Allen history by commemorating a train robbery. Train robberies, whether first, biggest or last, are always interesting, especially if Texas or Texans are involved.
It's been noted that "the last train robbery in Texas" took place in Val Verde County in 1912. The train was the westbound Southern Pacific Sunset Express. The perpetrators, Ole Hobek and Ben Kilpatrick, were last links to the Old West when fast horses still served as getaway vehicles. Kilpatrick, known as the Tall Texan, was a member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch. The Cimarron Kid, a boy claiming to be the son of the Sundance Kid, held the getaway horses at a designated spot beside the railroad tracks. The train robbery was foiled when a Wells Fargo agent named Trousdale did the Tall Texan in with an ice mallet, then shot Ole Hobek dead with the Tall Texan's gun.
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| Ken Byler |
In 1914, Willis Newton and his brother, Doc, robbed a train near Uvalde. Willis Newton also robbed a mail train in the town of Bells in 1921.
The richest train robbery in history, with a haul of $3 million, happened in 1924.
The robbery didn't take place in Texas. But it was Texas outlaws who pulled it off. Yep! It was Willis Newton and his brothers.
During the robbery, Doc Newton was accidentally shot by a cohort and captured. It's rumored that at his trial, the judge asked Doc if he was "shot in the fracas." Doc replied, "No sir. I was shot midway between the fracas and the navel."
Until some civic-minded folks went looking for something that would make their little town significant, outlaw Sam Bass was seldom ever mentioned. But in 1878 he pulled off the first successful train robbery in Texas at a speck on the map called Allen.
Sam Bass served Allen well when it was in need of something to be known for. But in the search for significance, important Republic of Texas state and economic history was overlooked.
Allen wouldn't exist if not for the dream of a leading citizen of Galveston. The man came to Galveston in 1836 during the time the city was serving as the capitol of the Republic of Texas.
This Galveston citizen was the last attorney general and acting secretary of state for the Republic of Texas, and the first elected attorney general for the state of Texas. His dream was a railroad running from Galveston to the Red River.
In the 1850s, Galveston was a leading port in America for cotton exports. In 1856, somewhere south of Dallas, bales of cotton were loaded on a steamboat docked on the Trinity River. It would take five months for the cotton to reach Galveston. It appeared that North and Central Texas farmers would be landlocked out of economic progress.
But only 17 years later, the final spike was driven into railroad cross ties a mile south of the Red River. The completion of the Galveston and Red River Railroad, now named the Houston and Texas Central, would change the economy of Texas. But the founder of the dream, Ebenezer Allen, wasn't alive when the last spike was hammered into the cross tie. Almost as an afterthought, a railroad waterstop by an old stone dam was given his name.
In an ironic twist, the city of Allen became the namesake of a man of historic importance, yet was once known only for being the scene of a crime. Now, however, Allen has been named one of the safest cities in America.
We've come a long way, indeed.
Ken Byler is a Star Local News columnist, an author and an artist. Email him at kbyler@tx.rr.com.
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