Howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas!
We're on a new series about Texas Ranger Frank Hamer, who was one of our greatest lawmen.
Recap
In the last post we learned more about his time in the wilderness of the Hill Country in West Texas and about his skills in the woods as well as his skill in fighting.
His early training was extraordinarily unorthodox. He became a naturalist, survivalist, expert hunter, tracker, and marksman as well as a student of natural law and how the world works.
Texas Hill Country. He used to say that he spent 8 years in the wilderness here:
One of the reasons he was in the country in the first place was to escape the crowded living quarters of his family home. His parents and 7 brothers and sisters all lived in a small house.
We even have a photo of the house, on the left, and on the right was his dad's Blacksmith shop:
Nine people living in that shack?? I'd want to get out of there too!
Today's story
To understand Frank Hamer's character and some of his actions later in his career it's important to understand the code of ethics of the West. I've posted about it before, it was known as The Cowboy Code.
It's mostly about honor. And that honor means courage, honesty, giving your word as your bond, loyalty, tremendous respect and honor of women, and never backing down from a fight.
Parts of the Code are still alive
Many of these are instilled in the culture of rural Texas today. I can't speak for the cities, I rarely go there.
Frank himself said "I was born and raised in Texas. I was born and raised not to take an insult. Any time a man insults me he has to back it up." In the West it was totally acceptable to use violence to resolve social problems like being insulted.
This created alot of feuds
That's why the West and South had such bloody feuds between clans like the Hatfields and McCoys. Texas was as bad as anyplace for bloody family feuds. It sounds insane now but that's the culture that Frank grew up in.
Some of the Western Code was wonderful and some of it was nuts. Like using deadly force because someone insulted you. Shoot fire, there wouldn't be anyone left alive if we did that today!
The Western legal doctrine
But back then it was codified legally as the "stand your ground" or "no duty to retreat" doctrine which authorized a man to defend his home, family and even his honor against physical OR verbal attacks with deadly force.
It was straight out of the Wild West and was fully ingrained in the way boys in the West were raised going well into the 1900's. Frank Hamer was a living example of that Code which becomes evident in his law enforcement career.
In Frank's case I would add one trait to the Code which he demonstrated many times and that was "to defend the defenseless and stick up for the underdog."
In the next post we'll find out how at the age of 16 Frank accidentally got into a gunfight which dang near kilt him!
Thanks for reading folks!
-jonboy
Texas
PS- Since I did a post last week about the fabulous Fairy wire sculptures of Robin Wright I've kept my eye out for them and yesterday I saw a different type of Fairy.
It's not a wire sculpture but an antique Fairy lamp from the 1920's or there abouts which I found to be cute as well as elegant:
God bless you all!
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I love autumn. I'm also learning about Frank, do thank you @janton🙏
Posted using Partiko Android
Me too, I can't wait for cool days! Does it ever get cool over there?
Me too, I can't wait
For cool days! Does it ever
Get cool over there?
- janton
I'm a bot. I detect haiku.
haiku bot, you do not know what haiku is.
Howdy Sir @janton, you are so right, if that Texan code were to be followed today there would be nary a man standing and all governments would be run by women' Not a bad idea methinks, as at least love would be restored across the planet.
Blessings!
haha! Howdy tonight sir papilloncharity! yes I agree, women don't generally want to go around killing each other and trying to prove how tough they are! Plus, they know how to get things done instead of wasting time playing politics to see how powerful they can get!
You are so right Sir @janton, but women also have another side to them that can create great chaos amongst us poor men. But let me not go into that as it's a very sensitive issue and I can least afford a bunch of ladies on the war path against me hahaha
Keep the peace I would say old chap.
Blessings!
lol. Very true, sensitive subject where you can offend someone without even knowing it!
Three things that you never want to mess with Sir @Janton.
Religion, Politics and Women.
Especially Women. Rather go and face a raging bull at full charge unarmed, as then you will get rest for your soul hahaha.
Blessings!
lol! Excellent advice! So true. lol. I've gotten into it a few times on here, accidently. Man, those topics are killers!
Hi, very beatiful the fairy lamp.
Howdy truelovemom! Thank you, I think it is a wonderful design also!
Good morning janton, do you have a right spot for that gorgeous antique 'fairy lamp?"
lol! I would find a great spot for it! I love that kind of artwork but it's very expensive! That one is probably about $1,000. Maybe more because it's hard to find that kind with the wings intact.
Love the lamp! I do like the idea of women running the world. And you are right. I would rather be out sleeping under the stars than living in that shack with nine people.
Howdy Melinda! you have good taste in lamps too! I bet that one would cost a grand, maybe $1,500 to $2,000 because the wings still looked perfect. Having a crowded house was probably the best thing for him because it drove him away!
I love this whole series. It makes me wanna be a cowboy, to live by the cowboy code. If only we had something of that sort now. Seems the moral code today is "get it while you can."
Thank you for the resteem. Appreciate it.
Howdy owasco! My pleasure for the resteem, that post was so powerful.
There is alot to be said for the Cowboy Code that's for sure. Lots of people hate Texas because it's been old fashioned for so long and has stayed with her traditional values but that's changing now with the exploding population of migrants.
When we first moved here from Ohio, I'm a Kansas farmboy raised out by Dodge City, but was living in Ohio. Anyway, when we first got here the first thing my wife noticed was the deep respect and honor shown her by the men.
That first week she'd been called Ma'am more times than in her whole life in the North. lol. And never had a hat tipped to her either. But I hear it's not like that in the cities.
Sounds like your geographical path has been much like Hamar's granddaddy's.
I love the south for the respect that people show to one another, for one reason. That, and the belief in personal freedom, especially medical, that is much more prevalent than it is in the north. Texas is on my radar as a relocation option.
Howdy owasco! lol, that's true about my path, very observant of you! I agree, I love it for the same reason but if the large numbers keep pouring into Texas she will not be the same in 10 years, the democrats are spending many millions per year to turn her into a blue state.
For that reason I might look at Tennessee or Kentucky as a relocation state if you want to go South. I lived in Kentucky for about 4 years and absolutely loved the people.
Oh my I have been looking in Nashville!
Too expensive and not enough land to grow food
So now I am looking outside Nashville, Franklin is the first town I'll check out.
I'm an ex Democrat, voted blue for 45 years. Now I see, especially here in Rockland County, the county that is mandating 72 vaccines per child or they can't go to school. Only medical exemptions at this point but they will be gone soon too. Insanity reigns in the blue states! And Dems think they are the only sane ones on the planet. Really bizarre to have otherwise intelligent friends with license plates that say "vote blue no matter who". They have convinced themselves that they have cornered the market in compassion, and that conservatives have no compassion whatsoever. I try to point out the illogic of that, but insane people can not follow logic. (rant over)
Howdy owasco! oh my gosh that was so well written! You nailed it so well. Yes, you cannot reason with them, they are mostly blind to the truth and are convinced that conservatives are evil.
I was so shocked when I heard about the number of vaccines and then people being forced to get them! WAY too much government control. I think TN is a wonderful state. It's conservative and the economy is booming.
What in insightful story!
It's interesting learning about cultures from around the world.
Love the pictures too - that tree picture is just like looking at a beautiful painting! :)
Howdy fiesoerensen! Nice to meet you, I'm glad you enjoy the story and thank you for the kind words!
Mornin’ Cowboy! Frank Hamer seems to have his sh#t together. I like the Cowboy Code he went by.
Howdy redheadpei! Some feminists hate the Cowboy Code because they think it treats women like weaker people but that's not true, we just treat them with the honor and respect they deserve and we think it's the man's job to protect them. They're much stronger in some ways and men are stronger in some ways.
But yes, even at a young age he had his stuff together! Even as a teen he was very mature.
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Howdy steem-plus and thank you for the upvote!
Ah, my bedtime story...
lol! thanks so much joelai but you know that this one is going to turn bloody as Frank goes up against killers, drug smugglers and all kinds of criminals right?
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Howdy steem-ua! Thanks so much for the upvote!
I still think you would find the history of southern Spain in the 1800's interesting. The bandit groups were particularly interesting.
I'm sure I would sir fotosdenada, is the information easy to come by? I wouldn't know what to search for but it sounds like very interesting material!
I wish that "giving your word" and "respect and honor of women" still meant something in today's world. I never knew about not backing down from a fight. I absolutely love that antique fairy lamp. Hope you had a great weekend @janton. : )
Howdy Butterfly! Well in rural Texas women are still highly respected and honored I guarantee you. I think I mentioned that it's the first thing Mrs. J noticed when we came here, all the men calling her Ma'am and helping her in little ways that she'd never seen anywhere else.
You have good taste in lamps!
It sounds like you Texas men need to teach the men in other states about respect for women and people in general. It amazes me how cruel people can be to others.
I am a sucker for antiques and when I find an antique that I like, it is the most expensive thing in the store. Of course, I never bring those things back home with me.
You have a good taste in lamps too @janton! : )
lol! I love antiques! I love traveling around to the shops everywhere. Hey, aren't you up a little later than your bedtime young lady??
I have been an antique hunter since I learned how to drive. I also used to buy and sell antiques and collectibles. It was so much fun. Yes, I am up past my bedtime but I don't want to get behind in my replies to you. : ) Now I have one more stop to make before bed...your blog. : )
Hey don't wear yourself out because of me, my blog can wait! lol.