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.In the San Saba affair the members of two companies of theFrontier Battalion came together to enforce law and order.In doingso, two Rangers from Company B McDonald and Sullivan{ }1 4 9 YOURS TO C OMMANDstood out.Both officers were action-oriented individuals who hadgrandiose thoughts.Yet in their actions and writings about the mur-derous society the two lawmen did differ.Sullivan gave achameleon-like performance, from carrying out investigations withskill to engaging in personality clashes that would be his undoing.Furthermore, Sullivan s brief and inept statements in his memoirsabout his days at San Saba did not explain the ups and downs of hisrole in the affair (although one historical writer believed that his account of the San Saba Mob is the best ever written by a rangerparticipant of that strife-torn county ).77The audacity and untiring efforts of McDonald, as well as Dis-trict Attorney Linden, brought about a more orderly state of affairsin San Saba and surrounding counties.A Ranger historian went sofar as to say, Captain Bill proved no more temperamentally suitedthan Sullivan to handle the delicate relationships in San SabaCounty. 78 McDonald s official biographer also misread the role ofthe Ranger captain by giving too much emphasis to the Buzzards-Water-Hole story and by overplaying the role of Ogle in the mur-derous society.79 Although distrusting several county leaders for notdoing their jobs, McDonald nevertheless carried out his duties witha steadfast disposition.His bludgeon-like actions did help in puttingmembers of the Mob on the defensive.At one point Captain Billsaid that the sight of rangers will make those engaged in Mobactivities sick with something. The boys of Company B calledthis ranger fever. 80The San Saba Mob, or the Assembly, as it was called, kept itssecrets.A local authority wrote that the Mob was a bizarre mix ofmilitary structure, ritualism and religion that kept the organizationtogether. 81 The words to a romantic song revealed the emotionalups and downs of shedding blood and hiding trails.The first andlast stanzas went thus:The Mob had a meeting last night, LoveDown on Cottonwood Pond.{ }1 5 0 SAN SABA MOB: A MURDER SOCI ETYIt was a terrible sight, LoveThe most terrible sight above ground.Some day this Mob rule will be overWith the help of the Father above.I ll return to my home and familyAnd claim you for my own true love.82{ }1 5 1 Chapter 8REESE-TOWNSEND FEUD AT COLUMBUSDuring the month of March, 1899, Capt.McDonald, with two men, wereordered to Columbus, Colorado county, for the purpose of preventing troublethere between the Townsend and Reece [sic] factions.Capt.McDonald wentalone, his men not being able to reach him in time, and his courage andcool behavior prevented a conflict between the two factions.The districtjudge and district attorney both informed him that it was impossible tohandle the situation, but he told them that he could make the effort, and hegave the members of each faction a limited time in which to get rid of theirweapons, stating that he would put those in jail who refused to comply.Hisorder had the desired effect.1This report by the adjutant general added to McDonald s growingreputation as a two-gun crusading knight.Yet Captain Bill was onlyone of a number of Rangers who became involved in the affair overa period of time.Columbus is situated in the south central part of the state inColorado County.Settled by pioneers from Stephen Austin s colonyin the 1820s, the town began as a ferry site, took part in the TexasRevolution, became the county seat, and prospered through grow-ing cotton, raising cattle, and exploiting sand and gravel deposits.Due to the coming of the railroads and economic activity, the pop-ulation of the county increased to about 22,000 residents by 1900,as Germans and other nationalities moved into the area.The localehad come of age.2For years two of the more prominent families in ColoradoCounty were the Townsends and the Staffords.The former tracedtheir lineage back to the Texas Revolution, made a fortune in the{ }1 5 2 REESE-TOWNSEND FEUD AT COLUMBUScattle business, and entered law and police work through the sher-iff s office.In time, members of the Townsend clan married intofamilies named Burford, Clements, Hope, Lessing, and Reese.TheStaffords, on the other hand, entered Texas from Georgia on theeve of the Civil War.Less educated than the Townsends, the enter-prising Stafford brothers got rich in the cattle industry and becamewell schooled in practical affairs within the county.One writer saidthat the Townsends of note Mark and Sheriff John Light weretall, handsome, blond men with strong wills and much personalforce. 3 They would come up against the equally tough-minded andheadstrong Staffords.The relations between the Townsends and the Staffords werechangeable, lively, and unpredictable.Among the factors that pro-voked a violent clash was the fatal shooting by a posse of a fleeing A.Stapleton Townsend for stealing horses in 1867
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