A History of Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas: Being an Account of the Early Settlements, the Civil War, the Ku-Klux, and Times of PeaceMonks, William
History
A History of Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas: Being an Account of the Early Settlements, the Civil War, the Ku-Klux, and Times of Peace
Monks, William
Arkansas -- History -- 19th century; Arkansas -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865; Guerrillas -- Ozark Mountains -- Biography; Missouri -- History -- 19th century; Missouri -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865; Monks, William, 1830-1913; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narr
They went to work and made for themselves a uniform, procured a bugle,
fife and snare drum, procured a hack, made them a place for a candle
and aimed to come up in the night.
Coffey owned considerable stock among which was a bull about four
years old. The range then was luxuriant and there was a pond near the
side of the road that led from Thomasville and West Plains and the
bull with other cattle had lain down on the edge of the road about one
mile from Coffey's residence. They armed themselves, procured their
musicians, got into their hack, drawn by two horses and started off to
the scene of action with a bright light, with a flag flying and the
music playing. When they reached the place near where the male was
laying, he rose to his feet, squared himself and fetched a keen bellow
as though (although he was animal) he might have some information as to
their mission. They paid no attention to the action of the bull and on
their driving within about ten feet of him he made a desperate lunge
forward; they supposed that he intended to gore the horses, but missed
his aim, struck the hack near the coupling, broke the coupling pole and
turned head over heels, and fell right between the horses. The horses
became frightened, made a desperate lunge to extricate themselves, and
the bull at the same time was scuffling to extricate himself. Both
horses fell, the bull and horses were all piled into a heap, grunting
and scuffling. The occupants of the hack were all piled out in a heap,
almost in an instant, and before they could extricate themselves and
get onto their feet the bull had gotten up and was moving in the
direction of his master's house bellowing every step as if to say, "I
dare you to come any further." As soon as the posse got to their feet,
having prepared, before they started, with plenty of whiskey, and being
pretty well filled at the time of the occurrence, Boles got to his
feet, drew his pistol, cocked it and swore he could whip any bull he
ever saw, especially a one horned Coffey bull.
The hack was almost demolished and the occupants considerably bruised,
both horses crippled, and after consultation, they concluded that as
the Coffey bull had proved so successful they had better abandon their
trip and retreat "in good order" to Thomasville, leaving their horses
hitched by the roadside and the shattered hack piled up at one side of
the road.
The next morning they sent out a team and brought the horses and hack
back to Thomasville, and they were wiser and perhaps better men, as
they never again attempted to mob Coffey.
The strange feature about this matter is that the bull was never known
to be cross before this occasion, when his master was to be mobbed.
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