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Mrs. Lewis Coffer

Michael has a BA in History & American Studies and an MSc in American History from the University of Edinburgh. He comes from a proud military family and has spent most of his career as an educator in the Middle East and Asia. His passion is travel, and he seizes any opportunity to share his experiences in the most immersive way possible, whether at sea or on the land.

Eastland County, Texas

    Lewis Coffer was having chills, and sick in bed. So when James Temple, brother of Mrs. Lewis Coffer, came in one morning, she asked him to go see about the horses that had not been seen for two or three days. When he came in during the evening, he was asked if the horses had been seen, and when he replied that he had not yet hunted them, Mrs. Coffer, according to accounts, became irritated, buckled a six-shooter around her belt, and went out in search of the horses herself. In a few moments she was heard to scream, and a gun fired. Temple hurried to her assistance, but it was too late, for she had already been murdered by the savages. They then took after him, but he safely reached the ranch. Mrs. Coffer was killed about 1867, near her home, which was about twelve miles south of Eastland.

    Note: Author interviewed: W.C. McGough, who lived about six or seven miles from Mrs. Coffer at the time.

The above story is from the book, The West Texas Frontier, by Joseph Carroll McConnell.

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