The red gravestone stands alone, iron-fenced and far out in the broken country of northern Kent County, Texas, on private land.
Atop it, visitors have placed coins, which weath- er in the elements.
Beside it lies an empty plastic mini-bottle that once contained a shot of Fireball.
Embedded in its concrete base is a horseshoe, which didn’t count for much luck on the afternoon of Wednesday, Oct. 1, 1902.
That unfortunate date concluded a long-standing feud between range detective William “Billy” Standifer, sometime of Dickens County, and his nemesis John Pinckney Calhoun “Pink” Higgins, himself a protection man for the Spur Ranch in an era when cattle rustling was rampant and gunfights not infrequent.
The bad blood between Higgins and Standifer, while never fully explained in the annals of history, is the subject of an awardwinning
History Ramble Day in Spur, Saturday, Oct. 12.
O’Neal will return to the site of the event and to Spur Sat., October 12, to present a program on Higgins, an ancestral kinsman, and to lead a History Ramble out to the gravesites of both Standifer and Higgins.
The Dickens County Historical Commission is organizing the event, which begins at 10:30 a.m. at the Palace Theater, 422 Burlington Avenue in Spur. A $20 ticket includes a lunchtime meal (several tastings, side dishes, dessert and beverage) at the Spur Chili Cookoff, and the afternoon guided excursion to the gravesites.
O’Neal will have copies of “The Bloody Legacy of Pink Higgins: A Half Century of Violence in Texas” and several other books on hand for purchase and signing.
Space is limited. For reservations, call (806) 2713381 or email PalaceSpur@gmail.com.
