Hello from the Texas Hill Country

[Patrick Thomas]

Howdy all, just joined the forum today. Looks like it is going to be fun with lots of info. My passion is hunting and other outdoor sports. When I was a teenager...which wasn't yesterday...I saved up and bought a .45 "Kentucky" rifle. Not a very accurate reproduction, but an exceptionally accurate rifle. Killed several deer with it but put it away when I went school and then the Navy. Been hunting with bolt guns and handguns since. But, the bug has bitten me again and am fixin to buy a Lyman GPR .54. I'd like to use it for deer, Elk, and an upcoming caribou hunt. I've always been interested in Buckskinning as well. Anyway, glad to be here.

 

[Louisk]

Welcome! I just bought a Great Plains rifle and joined this forum myself. I'm just in the process of getting used to the rifle and muzzleloading in general, but really have the bug now. I'd like to shoot today but it's snowing to beat the band! Of course on the plus side the shooting spots might not be too crowded.

Very knowledgeable and helpful bunch of folks here.

 

[wayne terry]

Welcome enjoy the site.

 

[Cowboy]

Welcome and enjoy the forum! A GPR is a good choice. Getting it in 54 Cal. is another good choice. The longer you stay here on the forum the more you will learn. I learn something new every day. The members here have decades of experience and knowledge. They are more than happy to answer any questions that you may have. This is the best site that Traditional Muzzleloading has to offer. You are in the right place. Respectfully, cowboys1062.

 

[Grumpa]

:metoo: Welcome. :hatsoff:

 

[ny griz]

:hatsoff: Howdy,good ta have ya here :thumbsup: Griz

 

[Eterry]

Mercier, welcome to the forum, lots of good info on here. I'm a few hours north of you. Was on a transport to Burnett last month and stopped at Storms drive in...surprisingly good food!!
Again, enjoy and join in the chat!
E Terry

 

[Tom Compton]

Welcome!! I was on a lease just across Inks Lake from you. Will be at Brady Lake Oct 1-4 for Tx MLRA fall shoot. CW over visit and shoot a little.
TC

 

[BillinOregon]

Mercier, welcome to the best muzzleloading Web site I have found in many years bouncing around the Internet.
I see you are from Burnet. In the early 1850s, my great-great grandfather, Champion Travis Traylor, built one of the first stores in what was then called Hamilton. In August of 1856, he was murdered there. The local Masons got him buried and took care of his widow, who was pregnant with my great grandfather, also named Champion Travis Traylor. He was born on Christmas Day of 1856. Managed to drive through Burnet a few years ago while in Texas for my daughter's graduation from Baylor. I really favor the Hill Country.

 

[Patrick Thomas]

I will not have my rifle by then, but I think I will come over for a bit. I grew up in Brownwood, just north of Brady and always wanted to get to that shoot.

Pat

 

[Patrick Thomas]

Well Bill, if you ever make it back this way, give a holler and we will get together. My great, great grandfather ended up in Brownwood, TX after the Civil War. He was a cavalryman in Tennessee and couldn't go home after the war...longer story there. Brownwood is not far from Hamilton.

 

[BillinOregon]

Passed through Comanche and Brownwood on our way to Buffalo Gap, where my great-grandparents got hitched in the early 1880s.
My understanding is the folks in Burnet asked to change the name from Hamilton to Burnet in 1858, as there was already a Hamilton, Texas, some miles north of Burnet.
So darned much history in all that country. Tried to find several graves, but no luck.

 

[Patrick Thomas]

I did not know that Burnet had once been named Hamilton. I'll have to check that out. One interesting item of history for Burnet, Johnny Ringo, of Tombstone fame, spent his first ever night in jail in Burnet.

 

[Eterry]

Mercier, I had forgot about John Ringo being in that area...about five years ago a co worker made a transport to your area and while at the local Sheriff's Office saw the original warrant for Ringo's arrest for murder. He had the deputies make a copy of the warrant, and I later got a copy of his. I'll have to dig it out and see what county it was.

 

[Patrick Thomas]

Eterry,

I could be wrong, but I believe Johnny Ringo was involved in the Mason County Wars, sometimes called the Hoodoo Wars. Ringo had come to town to "let off some steam" and went a little too far.

It could have been the earlier Lampasses Range War, but I think that was too early for Ringo.

 

[Billnpatti]

I wonder if Johnny Ringo was related to the Ringos of the Ringo Gang in Jackson County, Indiana. They pulled off the first ever train robbery just outside of Seymour, Indiana. They were a bad bunch and the local citizens got tired of them paying off the local law and always getting off. So, one day they stopped the train that was taking four of the gang to be tried at the courthouse in Brownstown and hung them from the nearest tree. That spot in Seymour, Indiana is known to this day as Hangman's Crossing. Others of the gang were lynched in a jail. I forget where the jail was located.

Four of the Ringo brothers are buried in the old City Cemetery in Seymour. Prior to their life of crime, they served honorably in the army during the Civil War and every Memorial Day, their graves are decorated with flags. Odd but true.

 

[Patrick Thomas]

I know that John Ringo was born and educated in either Indiana or Illinois, then moved southwest. Any knowledge I have of him comes from the biography of Sgt James B Gillette of the Texas Rangers.

 

[Billnpatti]

This account http://www.franksrealm.com/Indians/Outlaws/pages/outlaw-johnringo.htm has him having been born in Indiana. It makes me suspect that he was likely related to the Ringos of Jackson County Indiana.

 

[Patrick Thomas]

That is a great reference. Yes, I agree with you. He also verified that Ringo was involved in the Hoodoo war, which was called the Mason County War.