The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 105, July 2001 - April, 2002 Page: 321
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Southwestern Historical Quarterly and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Texas State Historical Association.
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"With the Past Let These Be Buried"
fered deep scars and maintained social barriers created by the Great
Hanging for years, even as recently as the 1 98os. The city has not been
able to suppress the story, though the memorial for the victims is located
in a park on the far side of an interstate highway well away from down-
town. Springtown and Parker County also appear to have experienced
some qualms about the Hill massacre, perhaps in direct proportion to the
bizarre and grisly aspersions that have been cast upon the family ever
since.John Nix admits, "For years the old timers argued both pro and con
whenever two or three of them chanced to meet. It was usually in a
hushed uncertain voice, almost afraid." The 1980 History of Parker County
observes that "for the next two or three generations, many of the people
of Springtown were somewhat defensive when 'outsiders' asked questions
about the Hill story."62
Only now, with the comfortable distance of 128 years and a firm re-
liance on the exciting legend of the Hill Gang, are members of the local
community apparently able to accept and even celebrate their unique
myth as a classic frontier morality play. This is a testament to the dynamic
and interactive quality of local history and to the resilience and mal-
leability of human memory. The community creates the history that best
suits its changing needs over the years. The legend of drunken, profane,
gun-toting women wearing pants, riding astride, killing boys and babies,
and their inevitable and morally satisfying bad end has functioned as a
useful self-protective device for the community. This imaginative, dime
novel plot has served to obscure and soften the tragic fact that, as one vig-
ilante allegedly admitted to his grandson, "We shouldn't have hung the
women.""
62 McCaslin, Tainted Breeze, 193; Nix, History of Sprngtown, Parker County, and the Tale of Two
Schools, 26 (1st quotation); Skiles et al., History of Parker County, 128 (2nd quotation).
6 Laurie Moseley, "Vigilante Justice in Springtown,"<http://www.hometownstar.net/
comm/virtual/moseley/mosex.htm> [Accessed Jan. 30o, 1999], 11.2001
321
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 105, July 2001 - April, 2002, periodical, 2002; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101222/m1/351/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.