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- [00:00]
Narrator/Advertiser
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Josh (Wild West Extravaganza Host)
every Home John Lauren is another one of those lesser known gunfighters who had all the appearances of a respectable man. He owned his own ranch, married into a powerful family. Hell, at one point he was even elected as sheriff. Meanwhile, he was robbing his neighbors blind and burying anyone who got close enough to prove it. And riding beside him through it all was the notorious John Selman. Is it true that Lauren once killed a man and threw his body in the river just to feed the catfish? And what exactly was his final undoing? How did he go from wearing a badge to being gunned down like a rabid dog in the very same jail that he used to be in charge of? Stick around. Find out. My name is Josh and this is the Wild West Extravaganza. I wish I knew more about Lauren's early life, but unfortunately there's really not much out there. What else is new, Right? He was probably born in Alabama sometime around the year 1849. All I really know for certain is that once he headed west, he immediately began causing trouble. According to historian Leon Metz, quote, lauren came out of Mobile, Alabama and drifted into Colorado where he murdered a cattleman who objected to his borrowing a horse without asking. Couple of months later, he shot the sheriff who tried to arrest him. End of quote. Now, is there any hard evidence these shootings actually occurred? Not really. At least not as far as I'm aware. Some versions have that second killing happening down near Santa Fe, New Mexico instead of Colorado. But like I said, Lauren's past is pretty much just one big question mark. It's really not until he gets to Texas, things start to clear up. It's there in 1870 where you can find a still just 21 year old Lauren working as a cowboy over near Fort Griffin. And then the following year, when a local rancher by the name of Bill Hayes put together a large herd bound for Trinidad, Colorado, he hired Lauren to be his trail boss. Now, most of what we know about this drive comes from just one source A young cowboy by the name of Henry Comstock wrote about it years later in an unpublished manuscript. And what Comstock described wasn't exactly the most peaceful of trips. You see, at some point along the way, Lauren allegedly shot three Mexicans that dumped their bodies in the Pecos river to, quote unquote, feed the catfish. They stole livestock, they had a standoff with a patrol of soldiers who wanted to inspect their herd, and they even fought amongst one another. Lar's second in command, self described desperado known as Bill Bush, killed one of his fellow cowboys over a minor disagreement. Then once they arrived in Colorado, Bush reportedly killed the sheriff of Los Animas County. So needless to say, this was a pretty wild bunch. Nevertheless, and despite his habit of feeding the catfish, Lauren does seem to have maintained the appearance of respectability. Even got married to the daughter of a well to do rancher. Matter of fact, it was his father in law, Joe Matthews, who gave Lauren around 500 head of cattle as a wedding gift. Cattle that he then used to start his very own ranch on the Clear Fork of the Brazos, about seven or so miles outside of Fort Griffin. That land, by the way, where he built his ranch, was once the site of Camp Cooper, a military post from the 1850s that at one time had been commanded by Robert E. Lee. And the house that Lauren eventually built there using stones from the old camp is still standing to this day. Not only that, but it's still occupied. Who knows, maybe if he focused more on building houses instead of stealing livestock, he might have actually lived to see his 30th birthday. We'll get to that soon enough. But in addition to getting married, this is also around the same time that Lauren began palling around with John Selman. And yeah, this is the same John Selman who'd eventually go on to kill John Wesley Hardin. I've got an entire episode on Selman if you'd like to check it out. But this is a very nasty dude, to say the least. Much like Lauren, he was a natural born killer. And he also wasn't afraid of taking things that weren't his, as evidenced by he and Lauren teaming up to rob the aforementioned Bill Hayes. You know, the same Bill Hayes that hired Lauren to drive that herd up to Colorado. You see, Hayes was having a hard time selling his cattle up in Trinidad. And since Brandon season was quickly approaching back in Texas, he went ahead and gave Lauren power of attorney over what remained of his stock at Fort Griffin. And rather than doing the right thing and watching over his neighbor's cattle. Lauren and Stitch just changed their brands and moved him over to his ranch. As I'm sure you can imagine, Hayes was pretty hot by the time he got back home and found out what happened. So he and his brother John put together another herd. And then when it came time to trail him north, they went ahead and struck Lawrence Ranch and stole back all their original cattle. A little tit for tit, as the great Michael Scott once said. Only thing is, Lauren found out and obtained a warrant for Hayes's arrest, courtesy of a local constable named Riley Carter. He and Sellman then organized a posse of their own, including over a dozen buffalo soldiers, and rode off in pursuit of. They caught up with the herd In December of 1873, a place known as Bush Knob over in Throckmorton County. And what followed was nothing less than a massacre. Per historian Robert Dr. Mint descriptions of what then transpired are confusing and contradictory. The only known account by an actual eyewitness was Lt. Turner's official report to his superiors. He said that when the four men in camp spotted the posse, they reached for their weapons and began firing in the answering rifle barrage. Two were killed instantly while the other two were shot as they tried to escape. End of quote. It's also worth noting these weren't the only victims. There were four additional cowboys tending the herd who Lauren and his posse also shot and killed later on that night, once again using the excuse they had tried to escape. Eight men, all total, including Bill Hayes. This is all later explained away by an officer over at Fort Griffin who said that stock theft was so common and it was virtually impossible to get a jury to rule against the rustlers. So rather than haul the cowboys in for trial, they just decided to handle it themselves. Now, in a just world, Lawrence, Sellman and all the others, they'd have spent the rest of their natural lives behind bars. But this ain't the movies. And instead of facing any consequences, Lauren instead just did more of the same. Hell, he and his buddies even joined an outfit known as the Tin Hat Brigade Vigilante committee comprised of some of the most respectable men in the area, including a judge. And they were very active. In fact, by the end of 1876, paper out of Austin would claim they had already lynched at least 11 men. That same article noted that four additional men were on their way to what they described as the quote unquote merciful village. And yeah, it was in large part due to Lawrence association with the Tin Hat Brigade that got him elected as sheriff of Shackelford County. Now that was in April of 1876 when he got sworn in. And little did Lauren know, but in just over two years he too would fall victim to the tin hats, mostly on account of the rampant stock theft and cold blooded murder. Once again, per historian Leon Metz, quote, the trouble began in earnest with a man named Bryant who ran a few head of his cattle with Lawrence. One day Bryant was killed by one of Lawrence ranch hands and the suspicion arose that it was done to get his stock. Since Bryant had no friends or relatives who cared enough or had nerve enough to investigate the matter, Lawrence simply added the animals to his own herd and considered the matter closed, end of quote. So pretty much the same thing he did to Bill Hayes, right? But then again, it wasn't just the ranchers who had to watch themselves around John Lauren. There was actually another incident, I believe at some point in 1877 when Lauren hired a pair of stone masons to build a rock fence there at his ranch. And then when it came time to pay up, he just had him shot and dumped in the river. Their bodies turned up a few days later floating over in the Clear Fork. But the local coroner, who just so happened to also be a member of the tin Hat Brigade, refused to rule their deaths as murder. Now, as far as Lawrence time as sheriff, he was said to have been effective, but then again, there's really not much in the way of particulars. People were still shot and hanged, but that was mostly the work of the vigilantes. How much of that he actually took part in I honestly can't say. But I do know that on at least one occasion he did hand a pair of prisoners over to his fellow vigilantes. And sure enough, following morning, both men were found hanging from a tree. He also made Sellman one of his deputies. Maybe Leon Metz goes more into detail on this in his biography of Selman and it does seem to be up for debate whether or not Selman was actually an official deputy. But either way, he was working very closely with Sheriff Larne. Now be that as it may, they did spend quite a bit of time just hanging out at Lawrence Ranch, often joined by others who Leon Metz referred to as hard bitten gunmen. Guys like Billy Bland and Charlie Reed, both of whom were also members of the tin hat brigade. Matter of fact, it was Reed and Bland who rode into Fort Griffin and started shooting the place up on the night of January 17, 1877. Eventually, the drunken duo stepped inside the Beehive Saloon and what long after that when another Lawrence deputies, Bill Kruger, came a calling by the way Krueger was a holdover from the previous sheriff. So, in other words, Lauren didn't hire him. He was also an alleged member of the tin hat brigade, and joined him there in the beehive was a local attorney by the name of Jeffries. Per leon Metz, quote, First Deputy W.R. krueger and County Attorney William Jeffries stepped inside the saloon with drawn guns. Reports differ as to whether or not Krueger asked the men to surrender and lay down their weapons. Bland, who was taking aim at a light while standing in the door between the saloon and the dance hall, turned in fire when he saw Kruger facing him with a pistol. The bullet inflicted a flesh wound on the deputy, and at that moment, the beehive exploded with sound and fury. Shots were fired in every direction, and when the smoke had cleared, a number of innocent bystanders lay dead. Dan Barron, a young lawyer, recently married, lay sprawled on the floor, a hole in his forehead. Lieutenant Myers, recently of the 10th Cavalry, was sitting in a chair, shot and dying and about to fall to the floor. Billy Bland was down, rolling in agony, his eyes already starting to glaze. William Jeffries, a gaping hole in his lungs, survived, as did Krueger, who was wounded only the one time, end of quote. As for Bland's partner, Reed, he managed to escape during the chaos and light out for parts unknown. Hey, real quick. Before we get back to the show, if you're enjoying the Wild west extravaganza, you might also want to check out our Patreon. For just five bucks a month, you get every episode ad free, plus early releases. And on top of that, you also get access to bonus content you can't find anywhere else. I got a tour of my recording space on there. I got all the early episodes that are really embarrassing to me, at least, and a whole lot more, including a conversation with the great James Townshend about a guy known as Beaver Smith. That's right, Beaver Smith, the saloon owner featured in Young Guns 2. I'm also currently in the process of narrating Frontier Fighter, the autobiography of George W. Coe. This is a man who personally knew guys like Billy the Kid and Clay Allison. So his book does offer up a lot of great insight. And you can hear it all on Patreon. So what are you waiting on? That's patreon.com wild west extra link down below.
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Narrator/Advertiser
Introducing Meta Glasses.
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Josh (Wild West Extravaganza Host)
You have questions, They've got answers. Hey, Meta, what's the capital of Peru?
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Narrator/Advertiser
Lima. How do you say where's the restroom in Spanish? Donde esta Alvano?
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Josh (Wild West Extravaganza Host)
Hey Meta, is a hot dog a sandwich?
- [11:32]
Narrator/Advertiser
Technically, no. Spiritually, yes.
- [11:34]
Josh (Wild West Extravaganza Host)
Hey Meta, what should I do with my life?
- [11:37]
Narrator/Advertiser
That's one of life's biggest questions. What do you think?
- [11:41]
Josh (Wild West Extravaganza Host)
Ask anything with the new Meta glasses Amazon Health AI presents Painful Thoughts why
- [11:50]
Narrator/Advertiser
did I search the Internet for answers to my cold sore problem? Now I'm stuck down a rabbit hole filled with images of alarmingly graphic source in various stages of ooze. I can clear my search history, but I can never unsee that.
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Josh (Wild West Extravaganza Host)
Don't go down the rabbit hole. Amazon Health AI gets you the right care fast. Health care just got less painful now. You'd think that Sheriff Lauren would have just been a tad bit concerned over one of his deputies being wounded in the line of duty, but that doesn't really seem to be the case. Mostly he was just angry over his friend Bland getting killed, to the point that he actually resigned his sheriff in protest. He also terminated his association with the Tin Hat Brigade. In fact, this entire ordeal caused a bit of a schism amongst the vigilantes. Not gonna lie, this part's a little bit confusing, but from what I gather, Lauren felt as if Kruger had broken an unwritten rule by gunning down a fellow Tin hat. Apparently not everybody agreed, and didn't help matters none that Lauren and Selman were becoming increasingly bold in the rustling. The very same rustling that the vigilantes were supposed to be preventing. Things eventually got so tense between the two different factions that Lauren and his buddies stopped sleeping there at the ranch altogether, instead opting to camp out in the hills each evening just to be on the safe side. Finally, in an effort to ease the tensions, pair of delegates from the Tin Hat Brigade rode out to Lawrence Ranch with an offer. Details are sparse, but the gist of it was that if Lauren and his compadres would knock off their drinking and blatant rustling, then the vigilantes would leave them be. And then, as sort of a consolation prize, vigilantes sought to with the Lauren and Selman were appointed as Deputy Inspector of Hides for the entirety of Shackelford county, which, given their proclivities, was like making a pack of wolves the official sheep counters. And on top of all that, Lauren also got a contract to supply beef to the soldiers over at Fort Griffin. So needless to say, he did not stop rustling. If anything, he ramped it up. This is also when Lauren and Selman took to riding at night, terrorizing all the smaller spreads and running off their stock. These raids actually became so widespread that at least one newspaper reported that the homesteaders were too scared to even work their crops. And when one of them finally tried to stand up to Lauren, he went missing. Things got so bad that the damn Texas Rangers got called in. And finally, In February of 1878, they were able to locate about six stolen cowhides that had been dumped in the river behind Lauren's house. Only thing is, he never faced any real consequences. Lauren and Selman were simply instructed to surrender themselves to the proper authorities. And instead of surrendering, they just rode over to nearby Albany and began threatening witnesses. In the end, the only people willing to speak out were the Texas Rangers. But since it wasn't the Rangers who'd lost the cattle, Lauren and Selman just walked free. Despite having been in possession of stolen hides. The ranger in charge, guy by the name of G.W. campbell, was so infuriated that he actually wrote a letter to his commander complaining that the entire county was rigged. According to him, there was something like 80 of the locals who were vigilantes and they would never consider moving against one of their own. Ah, but the vigilantes intercepted the letter, and a local judge who also was apparently a member of the tin hat brigade or at the very least a sympathizer, he wrote his own note to the governor making Campbell out to be a slanderer. And By May of 1878, Campbell was relieved of his command. As for Lauren and Selman, they just kept getting bolder and bolder. Ended up going to war with pretty much everybody, including some of their former buddies in the tin hats. A homesteader by the name of Lancaster swore that the two of them had chased him along the Clear Fork for several miles with the intention of killing him. And then In June of 1878, Lauren ambushed a well known rancher by the name of Treadwell, a man widely believed to have exposed his rustling. Lauren had to take a long shot. And although he missed Tread well, he did manage to kill his horse. And that was it. That was the straw that finally broke the camel's back. If Lauren would have just been a little more selective, you know, a little bit more low key, he likely could have continued unabated. But he got greedy. And it was this greed that proved to be his final undoing. A contingent of area ranchers ended up paying a visit to Lauren's father in law, Joe Matthews, and begged him to do something. Matthews did try, but he eventually just threw his hands up and told his neighbors that there really wasn't anything else he could do. At which point, the local law, who had thus far Been perfectly content to look the other way. Suddenly decided that Lauren and Selman were a problem. And the man they sent into arresting was his old deputy, the aforementioned Bill Krueger, who, by the way, had taken over as sheriff after Lauren had resigned. Now, believe it or not, Sheriff Krueger's posse consisted mostly of Lauren's in laws. And they were successful. They waited till Lauren came out the next morning to milk his cow. And that's when they arrested him. There are various accounts as to whether or not he was armed at the time of his arrest. Some claim that he was and that he willingly handed over his gun. While others say that he begged to go back into the house and retrieve a pistol so he could fight it out. There's also at least one story of him threatening to kill every single man in the posse just as soon as he made bell. In the end, though, he just simply asked that his wife and son be allowed to ride with the posse. I guess the idea being they'd be less inclined to lynch him if his family was present. And apparently it worked. As they did make it to Albany without issue. Lauren was then shackled by a blacksmith and chained to the floor of the little shack that passed for a jail. Meanwhile, his wife Mary made plans to go to Fort Griffin and fetch a lawyer. Of course, by that point, I'm really not sure there was much that a lawyer could accomplish. You see, nobody really planned on Lauren having his day in court. That wasn't exactly what the tin hat brigade was known for. And sure enough, later on that night, round about midnight, the vigilantes came to pay their respects. Now, initially, they were just gonna snatch Lauren out of the jail and string him up outside. But remember what I just said a moment ago about him being chained to the floor? So rather than go through the trouble of cutting the chains, they just aimed their rifles and opened fire. Though it were in the early morning hours of June 24, 1878, just 29 years of age, the former sheriff John Lauren fell dead, still chained to the floor of the same jail that he used to have the run of. One of his guards would later state that Lauren was game to the very end. That he smiled at the vigilantes and took it without a flinch as they shot him to pieces. His wife Mary, hearing the shots from the hotel across the street, probably knew exactly what they meant. She'd take her husband home the following day and bury him there on the ranch, right beside their infant son. And is there where he still remains. As for Sellman, well, unfortunately he was able to get away while the getting was still good. He had been warned of his impending arrest by his favorite prostitute gal they called Hurricane Minnie, and he hauled ass. He'd go on to terrorize New Mexico for a while, heading up a gang of cutthroats known as Selman Scouts, before eventually pinning on a badge over in El Paso. And it was there on August 19, 1895, when he stepped up behind John Wesley Hardin, shot him in the back of the head. Less than a year later, Selman himself was gunned down by a deputy U.S. marshal named George Scarborough, just about a block away from where he killed Harden. And yeah, I guess that's about all I've got on Sheriff John M. Larne. Thank you so much for joining me. And until next time, adios, Sam. Little tit for tit.
- [19:39]
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Josh (Wild West Extravaganza Host)
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- [20:11]
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Josh (Wild West Extravaganza Host)
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Josh (Wild West Extravaganza Host)
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