I guess I think on some things a little too much. I spend a lot of time on the road, so it gives
me time to actually think and get the creative juices flowing. Maybe that’s what causes me to
have an occasional crazy dream at night. Maybe I just get too wrapped up in my work. Who
knows, but let me share with you the most recent.
In preparation for the Coleman County Sesquicentennial, or as some are calling it, the Coleman
150, Ruth Poldrack found me copies of the Coleman County Chronicle 1951 edition The
Diamond Jubilee, which celebrated 75 years of the City of Coleman, and the 1958 County
Centennial edition, which celebrated 100 years of the founding of Coleman County.
I could hardly navigate through the ninety-some-odd pages without them crumbling in my
hands, so my wife, LaRae, and I took them to be laminated. The laminating technician, as it
were, tried to talk us out if the whole process because of the risk of static electricity causing the
old newsprint to wrinkle, thus rendering the pages unreadable. We decided to take the risk
since they were more-or-less unreadable anyway. It took three of us to feed the ever-so-delicate
pages into the machine, but they turned out great! We were more than pleased…and surprised
to boot!
I’ve spent the last couple of weeks looking through these papers, which, by the way are
available to the public (in-house) at the news office. It hasn’t been burdensome, since, as many
of you know, I love Western American history. I can easily get caught up in the stories of Texas
Rangers, Mexican bandits, Comancheros, and Indian fights. I have a small collection of books
about Texas Rangers, Texas cowmen, Native Americans, and the old west.
I suppose I must have enjoyed the reading a little too much, because a few nights ago I had a
very vivid dream. It was one of those dreams that went on allllllll niiiiiiight loooooooong. Even
though I woke up about every hour or so, I would fall back to sleep and the dream would pick
up where it had left off. If you’ve never seen the miniseries Lonesome Dove you may not
appreciate the story I’m telling, nevertheless, the dream went like this:
I was riding a stout bay gelding headed for old-town Abilene. As I descended the hill on the
outskirts of Abilene I stopped at my destination, The Hat Creek Cattle Company. I saw Newt
and Deets shoeing horses and I asked them where Gus and Call (former captains of the Texas
Rangers) were. These of course are the names of some of the characters from the Larry
McMurtry book and miniseries Lonesome Dove. They informed me that Gus and Captain Call
had gone to town, so I mounted my bay and rode the short distance to Abilene. I don’t know
much about what Abilene, Texas looked like in the 1870’s, but all the buildings in my dream
were plank- walled structures that mysteriously looked like many of the buildings I had seen in
the old Coleman Chronicle newspapers! There were saloons, barber shops, livery stables,
general stores, and other businesses along the north and south sides of the main street. I ran
across the ex-ranger Pea Eye Parker and he informed me that Gus and Call were either at the
saloon or the general mercantile store, he wasn’t sure. As luck would have it I spotted their
horses tied to the hitching post in front of the general store. I was thankful that I didn’t have to
go to a house of ill refute to find Gus!
Evidently I had been life-long friends with these ex-rangers and company because they knew
me and greeted me like an old friend. I must have been an ex-ranger myself, since they asked
me if I had seen Jake Spoon or any of the other rangers lately.
Now, I don’t know if this dream was Part II of another dream I had a few years ago, but in this
other dream I was a Texas Ranger and was fighting Comanches. This was another one of those
VIVID dreams and in this one I was riding along when something spooked my horse, causing
him to throw me. It was Comanches! I ended up surrounded by a fierce band of young
warriors, and all I had was my Colt Dragoon Revolver and my Henry Rifle, but I, much like
Captain Jack Hayes at Enchanted Rock, was holding them off as best as possible. I knew that I
was out numbered, but I kept on fighting. Just as they were closing in on me I heard the
response of a rifle behind me accompanied by a cowboy’s yells and the rapid moving hooves of
his horse. It was my fellow ranger James McRight! James is a cowboy/youth pastor buddy of
mine in real life...how he ended up in this dream, who knows, but here he was. Whew! Was I
ever relieved! The commotion momentarily spooked the warriors, as they didn’t know how
many riders might be coming in. James rode up next to me pulled me up, and off we took! We
cut through those fighters with the speed of lightening! I woke up to a pounding heart and bead
of sweat on my brow, and I was glad I was awake!
OK, back to the other dream. I walked into the general store and there stood Gus and Call,
arguing as usual. We talked about various things, and they asked me if I had seen Tom Taylor
(Tom is one of my Abilene real estate clients in real life. I guess he ended up in this dream
because of his ties to Abilene. Besides, he reminds me a lot of Gus McCrae.) After exchanging
pleasantries with the captains I told them why I was looking for them: I had to deliver a pistol to
the notorious outlaw Blue Duck. Blue Duck was a Comanche half-breed killer who was known
for his vicious and ruthless murderous raids throughout the territory. He would kill you just as
soon as look at you. For some reason I had traded with Blue Duck and owed him a pistol in the
trade. I would imagine the purpose was to create the opportunity to finally catch the villain. He
told me to deliver the gun about 10 miles up the trail northeast of Abilene; he was to meet me
there. His demeanor was cool and serious and his eyes were a piercing cold, deep dark-brown;
they just about ran through me when I was talking to him. I saw him in my dream so plainly,
riding away after our conversation. He was headed up a dry, dusty hill, his old paint horse
stammering as she kicked up no small amount of dust.
Gus and Call were more than willing to accompany me on my mission. After all, it was high
time to catch and try this outlaw once and for all. Woodrow Call finished loading up the Hat
Creek Cattle Company wagon while Gus and I headed to the barn to saddle some fresh horses.
As we saddled our mounts I complained to Gus that my bay always took in air when I cinched
the saddle, so that it would be loose and more comfortable on the ride. Gus just laughed in his
Robert Duvallish way. After we saddled and mounted we took off up the same dusty trail that
Blue Duck had taken, determined to get our man. I was surprised when Captain Call invited
young Newt, Deets, and Pea Eye along, but along we went.
That’s when the alarm went off. I never wanted to go back to sleep so badly in my life! I
wanted to see what happened! I’m sure we would have brought justice to Blue Duck, but will I
ever know? We’ll see. For now though, I’ll keep focusing on the Coleman Sesquicentennial and
maybe in the next dream we’ll bring the outlaw to justice. Maybe I just need to eat some more
burritos before bedtime! If I do indeed have a Part III dream, I’ll be sure and let you know, and
as Paul Harvey would say, then you’ll know “The Reeeessstt of The Story!”
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