The decade following the Civil War was marked by lawlessness in Erath County. Several factions of “Night Riders” took it upon themselves to clean up the county. Sometimes victims were tied up and lectured on morality and beaten. Sometimes worse. “It was a common sight in the morning to see two or three people hanging from trees.”

Lena Lewis, “Erath County: A Compilation,” Stephenville, Texas, [no date]. Unpublished manuscript in Tarleton library.