Hometown Hoedown – Karen Witemeyer

The fillies thought it might be fun to share some interesting tidbits found right in our own backyards. So in 2025, you’ll see a handful of Hometown Hoedown features, and I’m blessed to have the chance to kick off this new series.

My hometown is Abilene, Texas. I came to college here back in 1989, married me a Texan, and never left. I might not have been born here, but it is home in every other way. Abilene started as a railroad town. Local cattle ranchers learned the Texas & Pacific Railroad would be coming through their area and promised the railroad water for their steam engines if they would pass through the northern part of the county. The railroad agreed. One of the ranchers suggested the new town be named Abilene, after the cattle boom town of Abilene, Kansas.

As with many railroad towns, the population boom outpaced the town’s ability to organize necessary law enforcement. By 1883, the town had officially incorporated and the leaders were desperate to get rid of their lawless reputation. They wanted to create a civilized reputation in order to draw settlers and businesses to the area. So they began passing ordinances. No gambling. No firing a weapon within city limits. They cracked down on disorderliness around the saloons. However, sometimes it takes more than a rule to make an impact on people’s behavior.

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“On the evening of January 8, 1884, City Alderman Frank Collins and his brother, Walter, who was a Taylor County Deputy Sheriff, entered a saloon at the northeast corner of north first and pine streets (right side of picture above). The saloon proprietor, Zeno L. Hemphill, who had been convicted of assault in 1880 and was to be tried in April 1884 for killing a man the previous year, confronted Frank Collins about the newly-passed anti-gambling laws.  Angry words and punches were exchanged, and Hemphill drew a gun and shot Walter Collins, who had stepped between the two men. Gunfire then broke out between Frank Collins and Hemphill. When the dust settled, Walter Collins and Zeno Hemphill were dead, and Frank Collins died from his injuries after two months.” (Quoted from the Abilene Texas History blog.)

As a result of this deadly shootout, the town leaders hired John Clinton as the city marshal and made it clear that enforcing the new ordinances would be top priority to prevent any similar incidents from occurring. Mr. Clinton must have done something right, for he served as marshal for 37 years. The citizens of Abilene continuously voted in favor of prohibition for their town, county, and state. The state election in 1887 overturned their “dry” vote and it wasn’t until 1902 that Abilene successfully banned the sale of alcohol in their city. The saloons remained shut down for 75 years. Who knew the roots for this movement went all the way back to a rowdy saloon owner taking on a a lawman and city official over the right to gamble in 1884?

This piece of local history is often reenacted at Frontier Texas, and interactive museum in Abilene’s downtown.

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One hundred twenty-seven years later, on January 8, 2011, a historical marker was erected at the corner of North First Street and Pine Street to commemorate the shootout. It’s hard to believe today that a downtown area filled with museums and gift shops was once a place of lawless saloons and shootouts.

What do you think tamed the west? City ordinances and the lawmen who enforced them? An influx of “civilized” settlers and businessmen? Women with their emphasis on morality? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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For those who love to smile as they read, bestselling author Karen Witemeyer offers warmhearted historical romance with a flair for humor, feisty heroines, and swoon-worthy Texas heroes. Karen is a firm believer in the power of happy endings. . . and ice cream. She is an avid cross-stitcher, and makes her home in Abilene, TX with her husband and three children. Learn more about Karen and her books at: www.karenwitemeyer.com.

44 thoughts on “Hometown Hoedown – Karen Witemeyer”

    • I lived in Abilene for years before I happened to run across that particular historical marker downtown. I was so surprised! Shootouts seem like a very Hollywood western kind of thing, but they really did happen.

  1. I think women and lawmen settled the west. In my hometown we have a reenactment of the Dalton gang shoot out every summer. I think the lawmen helped with that situation.

    • I agree, Janice. Wild folk tend to balk at restrictions, and towns focused on protecting families would have created an envronment outlaws would rather escape than constantly fight.

  2. It was probably all of them. But, especially the women and the churches. The women put tight holds on the men.

  3. I am going to say it was probably all of them. That was quite a story about Abilene, TX. Thank you for sharing.

  4. What an interesting bit of history, I love reading about my home state of Texas and history in general, but this was new information to me.

  5. this is interesting information. thanks for sharing. I think a little bit of everything helped settle the west. I am sure that there were other circumstances involved also.

  6. Very interesting article. I always hated history in school, all those “facts” and “dates”, but I’m really enjoying these bits of history all of you are sharing on here. It was probably a little of all these things that finally brought peace to the area, but you have to admit, women play a big role. lol

    • I hear you, Sarah. I was EXACTLY the same way. It seemed like all our history classes wanted to teach about were wars and politics. Yuck! I wanted to learn about everyday people. That’s why I fell in love with Laura Ingalls Wilder. 🙂

  7. The general lawlessness of the Wild West can be attributed to the excess of testosterone and weapons and lack of the calming feminine influences that gradually “tamed” the west, as families gradually turned “hellholes” into civilized areas. I would speculate the presence of men of God also played a part, when available, since most people back east were religious. (Laughing–glancing up I see that many of the comments say exactly the same thing, but far more briefly!)

    Thanks so much for sharing Abilene’s story with us!

  8. Good morning, this is very interesting. I think that because of a little bit of all of the above tamed it.

  9. I think it was a mix of all that you mentioned, and that some of the people, at least, had to be Christians! Once churches got started, it helped a lot to settle a town down.

  10. I think it takes every person you mentioned. Law to enforce the law, caring citizens who will aid the law by standing up with the sheriff. Also, the mind set of law minded individuals who will assure guidelines are set and also that they are carried through. Women are great for starting committees for the betterment of one and all.

  11. WOW what a town history! I think it was a combination of several things that tamed the west. I don’t believe one thing can solve any problem and the “wild west” is the same. Laws and ordinances can be broken (and are even today) so they don’t work totally on their own. It takes the people that believe in a peaceful living plus law enforcement to make them work the best they can. Women can be powerful even when men think they are running things. Women “get into the minds” of their husbands with ideas without them even knowing. lol That too happens today. haha So a combination was needed.

  12. Never lived or visited Texas but I’m a Country girl through and through and think the Women had a lot to do with trying to tame their Men therefore resulting in a more tamed west

  13. Like others, I think it was a combination of things. Settlement, more wealth, increase in women, increase in religion, greater agriculture, discovery of resources (mines, timber, etc.), developments such as the railroad, tourism, rules/regulation/enforcement, so many things….

  14. I think it was a combination of things. Businessmen who wanted to expand what they could offer. Families who were moving into the area who wanted a safer place to raise their children. State and local laws that were passed and being enforced. The “bad elements” in the community moving on because things were getting to tame and law enforcement becoming more strict.

    • You’re right, Patricia. I’m actually working on a story set in Albany, TX which is close to Fort Griffin. After the Fort closed the area around it became known as The Flat and it became one of the wildest, most notorious outlaws areas in the west. Until the railroad came through and Albany sprung up. As more and more people moved in, bringing more law enforcement and civilization, the rowdies eventually abandoned The Flat and moved n to places like Wyoming and South Dakota. 🙂

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