Texas History Minute

their confidence to get confessions or witness their activities first-hand He increasingly worked undercover and refined his techniques, netting many arrests

Dr. Ken Bridges

For lawmen in the days of the frontier, the wide distances posed special problems as outlaws could easily disappear into the emptiness As a result, a number of famous law enforcement officials stepped forward to counter that with as much determination and stubborn resilience as the harsh countryside. One of the most innovative was Charlie Siringo, a Texas native who caught more than 100 suspects in his career and brought him into contact with some of the most famous names of the Old West

He was born Charles Angelo Siringo in Matagorda County in 1855 His parents were immigrants, his mother from Ireland and his father from Italy Siringo’s father died when he was only a year old, and his mother struggled to raise him and his older sister His education was sporadic, and he quit school at 15 to work as a cowboy

He spent the next few years working on various ranches along the Texas Gulf Coast In 1876, he began working on cattle drives, leading thousands of heads of cattle up to the railroad junctions in Kansas, where cattle sold for eight to ten times higher than in Texas He soon met famed lawmen Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson, striking up long-term friendships with them Siringo soon afterward began working on ranches in the Panhandle when he first encountered Billy the Kid As Billy the Kid’s notorious reputation grew in the neighboring New Mexico Territory, Siringo led a number of posses in pursuit of him, to no avail He later wrote a biography of Billy the Kid, relying heavily on stories he picked up from Sheriff Pat Garrett, whom he met in his pursuits of Billy the Kid

Siringo married in 1884 and returned to Kansas to settle down into a life as a businessman. Armed with a gift for storytelling and memories of his many adventures, he wrote an autobiography in 1885, A Texas Cowboy But many more adventures awaited. He was in Chicago in 1886 when he saw the chaos of the Haymarket Riots and was determined to enter law enforcement He soon picked up a job with the Pinkerton Detective Agency, with a recommendation from Garrett

He was sent to some of the most remote reaches of the Rocky Mountains in his years with Pinkerton Several of his early cases involved him tracking down wanted men He devised numerous ways to track and capture criminals, including new ways of winning

Only part of the Pinkerton Agency’s work involved pursuit of suspects or investigations With thousands of employees, Pinkerton was effectively a private army, often hired by corporations in the 1880s and 1890s to break up strikes by force In 1892, Siringo was assigned to infiltrate the Western Federation of Miners, who had been agitating for higher wages and shorter working hours for some time The Couer d’Alene Strike, as it was called, grew increasingly violent When a number of union leaders began plotting to attack mine owners, Siringo alerted authorities who had them arrested, ending the strike and temporarily ending the violence on both sides

He was sent back to Idaho in 1905 Labor disputes had continued, resulting in one radical detonating a bomb, killing the state’s popular governor Siringo was assigned to provide additional security for mine owners. In the emotional trial that followed, defense lawyer Clarence Darrow became the target of numerous death threats At one point, a lynch mob gathered to attack Darrow. Siringo leapt forward to protect Darrow and pulled him away to safety, saving the attorney’s life

Siringo continued to pursue outlaws across the West One of his most interesting cases was the pursuit of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Through Siringo’s clever infiltration of the Wild Bunch gang, he was able to disrupt the group, forcing the two leaders of the group to flee to South America

Dr. Bridges is a Texas native, writer, and history professor. He can be reached at drkenbridges@gmail com another block of commercial business only to be taken over by a church that took the entire block

So, we saw an empty decaying downtown only 30 years after the expressway

What has the new 1960s development model brought to Howe compared to the 1870s?

One might use property values of commercial businesses to determine what the future model should look like going forward.

Some of the most successful businesses in Howe sit on properties of a half-acre or more

We looked at four properties – all of which were built after 1966

One long-term very successful business west of downtown had a property tax value of $365,000 for one acre Another had a value of $497,000 for 0 70 acre A new business improved its property to $134,000 on a 0 51 acre And a highway-fronting property checked in at $163,000 on 0 60 acres Now let’s look at the 1870s development of Downtown Howe

Looking at commercial properties only, we combined all businesses together to make 0 52 acres But the overall combined property values of those combined properties accumulated $708,100 which represents a 428 percent increase Which is the best way to built wealth in a community?

Granted, those businesses in downtown rely on public street parking, but we’re talking about a $650,000 property tax advantage over the recently improved business with a new parking lot

The three remaining buildings from the 1870s are still outperforming the post 1960s developments in terms of value

Let’s also factor in the length of connectivity for water and sewer

They’ve long been in place, but if a new downtown development just like 1870 was recreated, the impact on lines laid for water and sewer would be far less financially impactful than a stretched out development covering a large amount of acreage Mr Haning and S.W. Young and the great developers of the 1870s left an endowment of sorts to the City of Howe Therefore, it could be in the best interest for the city to push forward to rebuild the structures in the downtown area to create even more wealth from those small

Heath Garrett Horton, 1981-2018

Heath Garrett Horton, 36, of Howe, died November 18, 2018 after a very brief battle with pneumonia and sepsis narrow and deep lots A few parking spaces can be relocated in exchange for two properties that value $100,000 each in the short term and much more than that in the long term Maybe we can leave our own endowment to the City of Howe that they can reap the rewards even on into the year 2150.

Let’s take a Lowe’s or Target facility and wonder in 15-30 years how difficult it would be to fill those stores should they go out of business Was it easy to get a Gander Mountain to fill the KMart building? Was it easy to keep the Gander Mountain in business? How much incentive money and tax abatements does it take to bring in one of those businesses? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose? I would suspect that whatever comes next to one of those facilities is lower down the food chain than what was originally designed for the location

What about a Sher-Den Mall or a Midway Mall? In 2018 who has more businesses, Midway Mall or either of the downtowns in Sherman or Denison? If you build it, they will come And go As it turned out, the developers of the 1870s, 1910s, 1920s, had a proper model to grow commercial wealth in the city When one of the downtown buildings have a business fail, or a retirement, the building is very easily converted for the next business They are incredibly adaptive to market shifts of retail space to wholesale space to residential space Our ancestors for thousands of years built with these principles

Perhaps the greatest future commercial investment in Howe could be to retro fit the initial design The traditional development approach with modern finance would allow for narrow and deep commercial lots Those designs have the same amount of trade area and less demand on public infrastructure with less street, less sidewalk, less cost because the cost is essentially shared by more properties All of this maximizes a return on investment from not only the developer but also the city.

Heath was born on December 16, 1981 to Mickey and Mike Horton He was a 2000 graduate of Howe High School and attended Texas Christian University where he played football before going to work for 24 Hour Fitness After great success there and also with Aspen Fitness clubs he came back home to Howe and in 2008 opened #1 Fitness Heath loved his community and the surrounding areas and had a huge heart for its people He was an unrelenting encourager and friend to anyone he met He was unapologetic in his desires to lead people to the Lord he loved so much

Heath is survived by the greatest love of his life, his son, Zion Isaiah Horton; his parents, Mike and Mickey Horton; two brothers –Damion Horton and Corey Horton; aunt and uncle, Camille and Larry Miller; numerous cousins and countless friends He was preceded in death by his grandparents Edna and Arnold

A memorial service celebrating Heath’s life was held at #1 Fitness on Wednesday, November 21st In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Baptist Church in Howe

Grief at Thanksgiving

I can understand your feelings; losing a loved one can be almost unbearably painful Grief is real, and even when we know our loved one is in Heaven, we still feel like something has been ripped out of our minds and hearts

And to be honest, not everyone understands this particularly if they’ve never experienced it themselves Perhaps your letter will encourage many of our readers to be more sensitive and compassionate toward those who are grieving the loss of a loved one particularly during the holiday season, when memories tend to overwhelm us Perhaps because it’s the shortest verse in the Bible, people sometimes overlook the profound grief that Jesus expressed when He approached the tomb of His friend Lazarus. The Bible simply says, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35)

At the same time, one of the best ways to deal with our grief is to be with others even if it’s hard Your family loves you and knows what you’re going through, and they care about you and want to help you The Bible tells us to “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2)

Whether or not you spend time with some of your family this Thanksgiving, take time in spite of your grief to thank God for His blessings to you and your wife over the years Grief melts in the sunlight of gratitude Thank Him most of all for Christ, and the hope we have because of Him - Billy Graham

What should I do for extra work during the holidays?

Hey Taylor - I’m thinking about picking up part-time work around the holidays and wondered if you had any suggestions I’m not looking for a new career, just hoping to make a few extra dollars to help cover gifts and travel and such Thanks! - Brooke

Hey Brooke - First off, I think seasonal work is a great way to bring in a little extra money People often ask about how to find a side hustle, and jobs that are dependent on holidays or weather are a great place to start

As far as what work you should look for around the holidays, there are almost too many options to mention I’d start by thinking about the hours you can realistically keep open, as you don’t want to get halfway through the interview process and realize a job won’t work with your schedule Decide if you’re willing to give up weekends, or if you need to limit the work to weekdays and weeknights

Once you have an idea of what you’re looking for, look at the local industries and figure out what positions are created by the holiday rush There are a lot of additional delivery services around Christmas time, so that’s something you can look into Companies like UPS and FedEx often bring on seasonal workers to deal with the all the extra shipping.

Customer support is another

Living with children

option Right after the year, companies expe surge in customers ne operating devices and services This rush do through the year, so a online companies brin seasonal help in Janua it through the busy tim help you bring in extr before Christmas, but yp work also conflicts less with most holiday travel plans

In mid-December you could look at a part-time retail job, as outlet stores and malls get hit the hardest in the weeks leading up to December 25th If you already have retail experience, you could land a pretty good gig If you don’t have any retail experience, this is a good opportunity to get some

Lastly, you can look to get catering work for holiday parties Businesses across the globe will be throwing annual holiday parties and bringing on teams to cater and prep for those events, and you can expect small catering companies to hire more staff as the parties start to pile up Working just a few events can do a lot to pad your wallet

If you have the time, I think picking up extra work on a seasonal basis is a smart move Think about your schedule and the types of industries hiring, and I’m sure you’ll find something that works for you Good luck, Brooke!

Taylor Kovar - Family Man. Wealth Manager. Author. Speaker. Serial Entrepreneur. Travel Lover Chick-Fil-A Fanatic Kovar is the CEO and founder of Kovar Capital Management LLC of Lufkin, Texas.

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Q: Our 9-yearold daughter recently announced to us that she doesn’t like school, doesn’t want to go, and doesn’t want to do the work We’ve been unable to get a coherent reason out of her and her third-grade teacher tells us that she seems well-adjusted, has friends, and is doing above-average work, which is probably her best She usually makes this complaint during homework time, when she encounters a difficult problem or doesn’t readily understand some explanation I’ve given Lately, however, her complaints have become more frequent, anytime the subject of school comes up We’ve tried to figure out what the problem is, but to no avail She has no explanation other than “I just don’t ” Do you have any ideas or suggestions?

A: I have two suggestions, both of which may seem counterintuitive, but both of which are based on solid research:

First, stop talking to your daughter about her attitude toward school and schoolwork Research in the field of neuro-linguistics predicts that the more you discuss her dislike of school, trying to get to the bottom of it, the more she will complain of disliking school, and the more convinced she will become that she has valid reasons for not liking school The same is true, by the way, concerning repeated discussions of irrational childhood fears, self-deprecating remarks like “I’m ugly” and “No one likes me,” and threats of selfharm

At some point, the proper response is “We’ve talked about that enough I’ve said all I have to say about it. We’re not going to talk about it anymore ” Talking, however wellintentioned, can transform a random comment (Let’s face it, folks, at some point, nearly all children complain of not liking school, being irrationally afraid of something, not liking themselves, being unpopular, and so on) into a drama

The value of talking about a problem has been overblown of late Talking, like most things that are initially beneficial, carries with it a point of diminishing returns When that point is reached, talking becomes counter-productive Having an audience, someone who will listen sympathetically to complaint, is a powerful thing (which is something even some therapists fail to understand)

Second, stop helping your daughter with her homework The latest research – which I review in my book Helping Your Child Succeed in School (2014) –confirms what I’ve been saying for more than thirty years: to wit, parents who help with homework run a strong risk of depressing their children’s academic performance According to the research in question, that’s true regardless of a parent’s education or the ability level of the child in question Occasional, time-limited help is fine, but anything more than infrequent, brief homework consultations – as in, sitting with a child while homework is being done – is likely to stimulate complaints of “I can’t!”

Said another way, the more parents help with homework, the more evidence children give that they need help with their homework It’s that audience thing again Family psychologist John Rosemond: johnrosemond com, parentguru com

John Rosemond has worked with families, children, and parents since 1971 in the field of family psychology In 1971, John earned his masters in psychology from Western Illinois University and was elected to the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society