Weaned On Gun Powder

The Sutton and Taylor factions of Dewitt County

When describing the tinderbox of a situation between the Taylor and Sutton factions of Dewitt County, TX in the 1870s, a Texas Ranger stated "The people of both factions are men accustomed to writing their own wrongs, and they object decidedly to any interference. The leaders of each party turn the cylinder of a revolver as a rattle for the infants and give them empty cartridge cases as teething rings; they are weaned on gunpowder and brandy, and learn to shoot before they can talk."

Are you going to pull those pistols or whistle Dixie?

Things would only get worse once John Wesley Hardin got involved. Contrary to popular belief he was not related to the Taylors, although they did share a common hatred of Reconstruction authorities.

Possible photo of John Wesley Hardin circa 1875

Speaking of Hardin, the above photo comes from the Robert G. McCubbin collection and possibly features the young killer when he was on the run in Florida—hat tip to True West Magazine for this one.

Creed Taylor

And this is Creed Taylor, a patriarch of the Taylor clan. When Creed was 15, he saw action during the Battle of San Jacinto. Later he’d serve as a Texas Ranger under famed Captain John Coffee Hays, fight in the Mexican-American War, and—in 1863— enlist in the Confederate Army in 1863.

The Taylors of Dewitt County, Texas were fighting stock, to say the least. And although Creed would sit the Sutton-Taylor feud out, his brother Pitkin (also a former Ranger) wouldn’t. And neither would their many sons and nephews.

We will be discussing the Sutton-Taylor feud in full on The Wild West Extravaganza.

If you haven’t heard the previous two installments in the John Wesley Hardin series, you can find Part 1 HERE and Part 2 HERE.

I love you.