Tar Heel in Texas
Lee Holl from Greensboro — ranger, ronchcr,
Indion agent.
By RAYMOND INGRAM
It was a sluggish August afternoon
in the camp of "special" Texas Rang¬
ers. Some of the men were stretched
out near a fire to escape the dead-eye
marksmanship of mosquitoes, others
were down by the creek washing
clothes. The men were waiting.
From time to time the men would
stretch their necks and squint their eyes
in the direction of distant hoof-beats
as a Ranger scout rode in, cartridge
belt slung low with .45 caliber Colt
and bowic knife, and a Winchester or
Sharps rifle in the saddle holster.
Each new arrival would join the
waiting group by the fire, but, likely as
not, only after shouting "Grub muy
pronto" to the cook toiling over skillets
full of perch fresh from Christova!
Creek. Mingling with the smell of cook¬
ing fish was the nostril-tingling aroma
from the huge, steaming camp coffee
pot. And the men waited on — waited
for the man from Greensboro, North
Carolina.
Then a horseman came into distant
view silhouetted against the sky. As he
came nearer the men saw that he rode
easily. Now he was upon them, dis¬
mounting.
"Say. have any of you boys got a
chaw of tobacco?" the towering red¬
head said. “I’m Hall."
And so Lee Hall of Greensboro be¬
gan his career of adventure with the
1лч‘
Hall culled I lie* greutesl of Rang¬
ers: lii.4 special squad rounded up over
100 outlaws.
famed Texas Rangers in 1876, a career
that was to inspire praise from good
citizens, outlaws, fellow Rangers, gov¬
ernment officials, newsmen and his¬
torians. Some called him one of the
greatest Texas Rangers. Others called
him the greatest.
Lee Hall was born Oct. 9, 1849. in
Iredell County, but moved to Greens¬
boro with his family in 1858. when he
was 9 years old. His father was Dr.
James King Hall, who befriended
Greensboro's William Sydney Porter,
later to become O. Henry the famous
short story writer. On visiting his son
in Texas in 1882. Dr. Hall took young
Porter with him and for a time Porter
lived in one of Lee Hall’s ranch houses.
Lee became a model for heroes in some
of O. Henry's Western stories.
It is likely that Hall's appetite for
adventure was whetted during the years
About Lee Hall, in
С. Л1-
phonso Smith’s biography of
O. Henry: ** "He «as the bravest
man I ever knew,* said the old
Comanche chief against «hose
«arriors Red llall had led the
Texans in the last battle «ith the
tribe in northeast Texas."
he spent with his Presbyterian grand¬
father. the Rev. Jesse Rankin, at
Lenoir. This was during the Civil War
in which Dr. Hall served as a Confed¬
erate surgeon.
After the war Lee (or Leigh; he
changed the spelling of his name after
going to Texas) was reunited with his
family at Greensboro. But the strapping
redhead, now skilled in trapping and
shooting, was adventure-minded and
Don't look like TV heroes, do they? These were the speeiol stole troops in Texos, selected tor
cleoning up pockets of outlows throughout the stole. Lee Holt, third non standing.
THE STATE. June IS. 1965
9
