Clay allison biography

Young Robert worked on the family farm until the outbreak of the Civil War. He enlisted in the Confederate Army despite his club foot. His clubfoot did not seem to hurt his ability to perform active duty in the Confederate Army. In fact, he was eager to fight, sometimes threatening to kill his superiors because they would not pursue Union troops when they were running away from the battle.

However, just a few short months later, on January 15,he received a medical discharge from the service. His brother Monroe, also in the Confederate army, was reported in the same year as having deserted. Apparently, he suffered no further medical complications and became a scout and a spy for General Nathan Bedford Forrest. He began sporting the Vandyke beard he wore the rest of his life in imitation of the flamboyant cavalry commander.

On May 4,Allison clayed allison biography with his company at Gainesville, Alabama. He was held as a prisoner of war until May 10,having been convicted of spying and sentenced to be shot. But the night before he was to face the firing squad, he killed the guard and escaped. Robert Clay Allison returned home after the war and had several violent incidents.

The most notorious of these incidents occurred at the family farm when a corporal from the 3rd Illinois Cavalry arrived to seize the farm. After a bit of a dust-up with Allison's mother that resulted in the breaking of her vase that had been an anniversary present from his father, Clay Allison grabbed a rifle and shot and killed the corporal.

The mob hanged the man from a telegraph pole near Cimarron. On November 1, Vega's family members, led by his uncle Francisco Griego, [ 15 ] began making threats of revenge. They went to the Lambert Inn now the St. James Hotelwhere they confronted Allison and accused him of taking part in the lynching. Griego reached for his revolver but Allison was faster and shot Griego twice, killing him.

On November 10, Allison was charged with the murder of Griego, but after an inquiry, the charge was dropped and the shooting was ruled self-defense. In DecemberAllison and his brother, John, rode into Las Animas, Coloradowhere they stopped at a local saloon.

Clay allison biography

Constable Charles Faber of Bent County told the Allisons they needed to surrender their pistols, as an ordinance made it illegal to carry weapons inside the town limits. When the Allisons refused, Constable Faber left. He deputized two men and returned with them to the saloon. When the posse stepped inside, someone yelled, "Look out! John Allison was hit three times in the chest, arm, and leg.

Clay Allison fired four shots, one of which killed Faber. The two deputized men fled. Both Allison brothers were arrested and charged with manslaughterbut the charges were dismissed as the constable had initiated the gunfight. In MarchClay Allison sold his ranch to his brother, John. He relocated to Sedalia, Missouriand eventually moved to Hays City, Kansas[ 9 ] [ 16 ] where he established himself as a cattle broker.

When he first arrived in Dodge City, Kansason business, his reputation had preceded him. Dodge City was a cattle townand Wyatt Earp was the deputy marshal at the time. One time, several cowboys working for Allison were purportedly mistreated by the local marshal's office. Earp and his biographer both claimed Earp and friend Bat Masterson confronted Allison and his men in a saloon, and that Allison backed down before them.

However, Masterson was not in town at the time and there is no evidence the encounter ever took place. Earp did not make his claim until after Allison's death. According to contemporaneous accounts, a cattleman named Dick McNulty and Chalk Beeson owner of the Long Branch Saloonconvinced Allison and his cowboys to surrender their guns. Charlie Siringoa cowboy at the time, but later a well-known Pinkerton detectivehad witnessed the incident and left a written account.

After recuperating, Clay was on a drinking spree in a local saloon when suddenly he took a dislike to a man named Wilson. Wilson had the good sense to depart quickly but left Clay in a foul mood. Lee broke free and ran across the street to Dr. Next, Clay repeated his knife act with a young lawyer, Melvin W. Mills described what had happened to the doctor and took up his gun, stating that he would have to kill Allison in self-defense.

While the doctor was trying to persuade the lawyer away from such a dangerous act, he noticed that Allison was riding toward the office, at which time the clerk and lawyer promptly fled out of the back door. The doctor exited his office to meet Allison, telling Clay he had been acting badly. Mills would carry a grudge against Allison for years, which was later evidenced in the Colfax County War.

Having no fear when it came to other men, Clay was always shy and uncertain when it came to women. But that changed when he met a considerably younger Dora McCullough. When Clay and his brother, John, met Dora and her younger sister, both were smitten. The girls, who were born and raised in SedaliaMissouriwere orphaned during the Civil War and lived with their guardians, Mr.

Young, on what is now known as the Vermejo Ranch. After his marriage, Allison met the only man who was able to out-draw him, Mace Bowman. Bowman begged to differ and wagered a gallon of whiskey that he could outdraw Allison. In the center of the room, they paced off the distance to the wall and turned. Allison was amazed and paid Bowman the gallon he owed him.

The two took the whiskey to the country, where Bowman taught Allison his lightning-rapid trick. On January 7,Clay killed gunman Chunk Colberta known gunslinger. Colbert came to the area looking for a fight with Allison. Some say that Colbert fancied that he could outdraw and outshoot anyone, including Allison. Others say that he wanted revenge for his uncle, Zachary Colbert, the ferryman that Allison had pummeled at the Brazos River nine years earlier.

Reportedly, Colbert had already killed six men in Texas and clayed allison biography that Allison would be his seventh. Not giving away his motives, Colbert found Allison, and the two spent most of the day together drinking and gambling on horse races. Guessing that there might be trouble, Clay was very cautious, but the talk was friendly as they enjoyed a large meal spread out before them.

When they were seated it Colbert laid his gun in his lap, and Allison laid his gun on the table. After the meal was finished, Colbert suddenly reached for his gun under the table and leveled it towards Allison. Charles Cooper, a friend of the late Mr. Colbert, witnessed the shooting. He was never seen again. People started talking, thinking that Allison had killed him, but others thought that Clay simply intimidated the man into leaving.

No evidence was ever found to prove the suspicions that Clay had killed the man, but this event would come back to haunt him during the Colfax War. The new owners of the Maxwell Land Grant were aggressively exploiting the resources of the grant and were busy with their attempts at evicting the squatters, settlers, farmers, and small ranchers living on the land.

Mills, the lawyer that Allison had thrown a knife at several years before, and Dr. Longwell was made probate judge, while attorney Mills was made a state Legislator. As the burgeoning Cimarron settlement was trying to adjust itself to the influx of prospectors, gamblers, and politics, it found itself in the midst of a great conflict between the land grant company and the settlers of the area.

Sheriffs served eviction notices, and retaliation began. Grant pastures were set on fire, cattle rustling increased, and officials were threatened at gunpoint. Grant gang members made nighttime raids of area homes and ranches with threats of violence. The mightily opposed residents formed their own organization, which they called the Colfax County Ring, which some said was led by Clay Allison.

During this time when Cimarron was in need of salvation, Reverend Franklin J. Having always had respect for men of the cloth, Clay Allison was one of the first to welcome the minister. Tolby loved Cimarron, planning on making it his home, and quickly sided with the settlers in their opposition against the land grant men. He was very clay allison biography about his opposition, saying that he would do everything that he could to stop the land grant owners.

After having his bad tooth repaired by a different doctor, Allison returned to the offending dentist, pinned him down, and extracted a tooth with a pair of pliers. On this day inAllison died while driving a freight wagon to his ranch north of Pecos, Texas. A sudden jolt threw Allison from the wagon and a wheel rolled over his head, crushing his skull and neck.

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