Bush Knob Massacre

John M. Larn, born in Alabama in 1849, had drifted to Fort Griffin about 1869 and in 1871 was foreman of Bill Hays's cattle drive to Trinidad, Colorado. After the killings here he joined the Tin Hat Brigade, a vigilance committee, in 1874 and served less than a year as sheriff from 1876. As hide inspectors he and John Selman also supplied beef to the fort and the Tonkawas, while ranchers complained of shrinking herds. In 1878 Sheriff William R. Cruger arrested Larn, and masked men shot him dead in the Albany jail before dawn on June 24.

What the plaque says

In 1873, rancher Bill Hayes organized a group to drive cattle to the Indian Territory. They gathered cattle, including some belonging to rancher and outlaw John Larn, who Hayes believed had earlier rustled his cattle. Larn and a deputy secured a warrant for Hayes' arrest and requested assistance from Ft. Griffin. Buffalo soldiers, under the command of Lt. Edward P. Turner, joined a posse assembled by Larn. They reached the herders and killed Hayes and others. The remaining cowboys were arrested and later killed on the way back to Clear Fork. While official reports indicated otherwise, it is believed that all of the cowboys were murdered. Tradition indicates that the victims were buried at Bush Knob Cemetery. (2008)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Griffin State Historic Site — 13 mi
  The ruins of an 1867 cavalry post on a plateau above the Clear Fork of the Brazos, judged unfit for habitation and used nine more years, now home to the official state longhorn herd.
• Fort Belknap — 24 mi
  The 1851 northern anchor of the first Texas frontier forts, on the Brazos below Newcastle, a Butterfield stop and the post beside the Brazos Reservation until its people were driven out in 1859.

More markers nearby

• Camp Cooper, C.S.A. — 6.0 mi
• Throckmorton County — 7.0 mi
• Great Western Trail — 8.7 mi
• Frontier Town of Fort Griffin — 12 mi