Original Grand Coulee outlaw, Texas, Jack Part 1

 

Last updated 7/29/2020 at 8:42am

Once, long before anyone even decided to put a dam at the Columbia River, there was a small community in the north end of the Grand Coulee. At first, sparse pioneers with cattle roamed the land approximately where Electric City is now located. Just a few miles away, in Rattlesnake Canyon lived the last of the outlaws, and the most notorious of the Grand Coulee area, Texas Jack.

When he spoke, he spoke with a Texan accent, but he didn't have much need for people and kept to himself mostly, in his dug-out cave in what we now call Crescent Lake. Of course, at the time there was no lake; instead, there were springs in the canyon wall and a stream flowing down the middle. For generations this area was used as a winter camp for the Indigenous people; now it was the home of Texas Jack. He lived the life of a recluse, barely talking to any of the newly arrived settlers, who all viewed him with suspicion. Some felt he was treated wrongly and shunned because he was uneducated, and dirty, but when cattle started to disappear all fingers pointed to one man: Texas Jack in Rattlesnake Canyon. (to be continued)

John M. Kemble,

Them Dam Writers online 2020

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 

Powered by ROAR Online Publication Software from Lions Light Corporation
© Copyright 2024

Rendered 02/01/2024 22:03