By Jeff Jackson

On a June day in 1877 the Horrell-Higgins Feud came to the streets of Lampasas. The bad blood, which had been festering for many months, came to a head that day on the square. And for an hour and a half the downtown area echoed with the sounds of gunfire. When the smoke finally cleared, one man had been seriously injured, one was fatally wounded and another was dead.

Both the Horrell and Higgins families were Lampasas County pioneers having come to the territory in the 1850s. They shared the same frontier hardships.

The Horrells originally settled northeast of town near Lucy Creek where they were farmers and cattlemen. Since outlaws and Indians were common on the Texas frontier, they learned to live by the gun. Their reputation grew during the 1870s because of the family's involvement in gunfights from Lampasas to Lincoln County, N.M. They became a dangerous lot.

The oldest of the brothers, Bill Horrell, died of an illness during the Civil War, John Horrell was bushwhacked and killed near Las Cruces, N.M.; one week later, their father was killed by the Apache Indians at San Augustin Pass near Las Cruces; and in 1873, Ben Horrell was shot to death in Lincoln, N.M. By 1877, the remaining Horrell brothers were Sam, Mart, Tom, and Merritt.

The Higgins family also settled in the northeast portion of the county near the Lampasas River. Higgins Gap was named in their honor. Pink Higgins grew up under the same conditions as the Horrell brothers. He was a cowboy and went with many herds of cattle to the northern markets. Pink earned a reputation as a gunfighter. In later years he worked as a range detective for the Spur Ranch in the panhandle of Texas. He could have filed several notches in his gun had that been his style. Pink was very hard on those he believed were transgressors of the law.

By 1877, hard feelings had developed between Pink Higgins and his entourage and the Horrell brothers and their followers. In May 1876, Pink accused Merritt Horrell of taking one of his calves and took the matter to a court of law. When the jury found Merritt "not guilty," Higgins told Horrell that next time he would settle the matter with his Winchester. The next time came in January 1877, and the feud became a shooting war when Pink shot and killed Merritt in the Gem Saloon in Lampasas.

Afterwards, both factions traveled only in groups with their guns ready for use. Whenever and wherever the opposing factions met gunshots were exchanged. On March 26, Tom and Mart Horrell were on their way to town to attend district court when they were ambushed by unknown parties. Mart was slightly wounded in the shoulder and Tom was more seriously wounded in the lower back. It was never determined who was guilty of the attack, but of course the Horrells blamed the Higginses and they were probably right.

Picture Caption (left). Pink Higgins and R.A. Mitchell upon their return from a trip up the cattle trail. Bottom row from left to right: Felix Castello, Jess Standard, R.A. Mitchell, Pink Higgins. Top row from left to right: Powell Woods, unknown, Buck Allen, A.T. Mitchell. (Courtesy of the W.P. Webb Papers, Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin)

In April, Pink Higgins and Bob Mitchell surrendered to Captain John Sparks of the Texas Rangers for their part in the murder of Merritt Horrell. Each was released from custody on $10,000 bonds. On June 4, the courthouse in Lampasas was burglarized by unknown persons. The District Court records were taken out and destroyed. Among the records were the bonds of Pink Higgins and Bob Mitchell.

Upon hearing of the destruction of their bonds, Higgins and Mitchell decided to come to town on June 7, 1877 and see about entering into new bonds. Suspecting a possible ambush by the Horrells somewhere on the way to town, they brought about twelve other men with them. They left these men to wait three or four miles outside of town. Bill Wren and Pink's brother-in-law, Ben Terry, accompanied Higgins and Mitchell on into town. They arrived about ten o'clock in the morning by way of the Gatesville Road, passed Hanna Springs and then turned west on Second. Street.

 Picture Caption (below): Townsen's Corner about 1882. (Courtesy of the Keystone Square Museum)

The Horrell party, Tom, Mart, and Sam Horrell, John Dixon, Rufus Overstreet, Bob McBee, and Jim "Buck" Waldrup were already in town. In a while, they gathered near the public well under some large live oak trees on the northwestern part of the square. Later, John Dixon and Rufus Overstreet left the group and went to Dixon's mother's house near the east end of the Star Hotel.

Shorty, Tom Horrell noted the approach of the Higgins party and said, "Over yonder comes the Higginses."

Bill Wren and Bob Mitchell were riding about fifteen or twenty yards in front of Pink Higgins and Ben Terry as they entered town. Bill recognized some of the horses on the square as belonging to the Horrells and said, "Let's go up this street (meaning Second Street) and get into town, and maybe they won't attack us in town."

When the Horrells and their allies saw the Higgins party coming down Second Street, they took cover and got ready for a shooting match. Town people near the well headed for cover.

Just who fired the first shot will never be known, but with the Horrells already in position it most likely came from their side. Wren dismounted and went into the alley behind Mellon's store. Bob Mitchell went into the alley on the other side of the street. Bob was able to return fire and exchanged shots with Tom Horrell. Tom was behind a pile of wire near the corner of Mellon's store. Wren was not able to find anyone to shoot at from his position and decided to cross the street and join Mitchell. He was shot in the hip while crossing the street.

Pink Higgins and Ben Terry had just rounded the corner of Live Oak Street when the shooting started. They whirled their horses around and took cover behind Justo Escobedo's gun shop. They were not far from John Dixon's Mother's house where Dixon and Rufus Overstreet were visiting. Their position was not good and they decided to leave and go for the men they had left outside of town.

Picture Caption (below): North side of the Public Square. (Courtesy of John W. Hall)

Tom and Sam Horrell went through Mellon's store to get a better shot at Mitchell and Wren, who when they realized their position was unsafe decided to move down the alley to the back of Yates and Brown's store and then upstairs into Abney's law office where they stayed for the remainder of the gunfight.

Yates and Brown's store was located on the north side of Third Street, midway between Live Oak Street and Western Avenue. Mack Mitchell and his son, Frank, were unloading flour at the store when the shooting started. Frank and Bob Mitchell were brothers.

Until now, Frank had not been involved in any of the feuding, but with his brother Bob and his friend Bill Wren outnumbered by the Horrells he decided to join the fight. Frank went to the back of the store where he borrowed a pistol from Bill Wren, then returned to the front of the store and started shooting.

At this time Mart Horrell and Buck Waldrup were in the alley directly across the street from Yates and Brown's store. Frank opened fire on them and fatally wounded Waldrup who died about twenty hours later. In turn Mart Horrell shot and killed Frank Mitchell.

Mart then helped Waldrup to an unfinished stone building in the middle of the west side of the square. Eventually all the Horrell party located there. They were well fortified, and an army of men could not have driven them out.

About an hour later, Pink Higgins and Ben Terry arrived back in town with their reinforcements. The reserve force included John Cox, Nute Higgins, Bud Higgins, Ben Mitchell, Lonce Mitchell, and several others, about twelve in all. They came to Yates and Brown's store where part of the group scattered around town and fighting was renewed.

About this same time the local officers and few Texas Rangers, who were camped near town, got organized and were able to disarm the feudists. The Higginses were persuaded to leave of town. The Horrells were also disarmed and later in the day they left town. Thus ended the shootout on the square.

About a week later, Major John B. Jones and detachment "A" and "C” of the Frontier Battalion arrived in Lampasas. The rangers set up camp at Hancock Springs and remained in the area until they had arrested the major participants of the feud and brought about an agreement to end the fighting by both sides. Open warfare between the two factions had ended by August 1877.

The exact number of men killed during the Horrell-Higgins feud is not known. However, four can be identified, Merritt Horrell, Buck Waldrup, Frank Mitchell, and Carson Graham. Graham is believed to have been killed by the Horrells shortly before the end of the feud. The actual number of deaths resulting from this feud may be as high as nine and still others may have been killed in later years as an out-growth of the feud. But undoubtedly the shootout on the square, on June 7, 1877 was its most public battles.

Map of the area in Lampasas where the Gunfight took place.

1. By mid-morning of June 7, 1877, the Horrells brothers, Tom, Mart, and Sam, gathered near the public well.

2. Bill Wren and Bob Mitchell, Pink Higgins, and Ben Terry road into town from the northeast.

3. Tom and Sam Horrell took cover near the front of Mellon's Store.

4. Mart Horrell and others went to the front of Fulton & Townsen's Store and began shooting up Live Oak Street.

5. & 6. Wren (5), and Mitchell (6) went into the alley just off the square when the shooting began. Wren was wounded while running across the street to join Mitchell.

7. Higgins and Terry took cover behind Justo's Gunsmith Shop then decided to leave town for reinforcements

8. Mitchell helped Wren down the alley to the back of Yates & Brown's store and went upstairs and stayed in Abney's Law Office.

9. Bob Mitchell's brother, Frank borrowed a pistols from Wren and went to the front of Yates & Browns and began shooting at the Horrells and fatally wounded Buck Waldrop.

10. Mart Horrell fatally wounded Frank Mitchell in the exchange of gunfire.

11. The Horrells took cover inside a stone building on the west side of square.

For more information concerning this article, email Jeff Jackson at jackson@igg.tx.net.

© 1990 Historical Guide to the Shootout on the Public Square, by Jeff Jackson