I'm starting this blog to document my findings as I research the background and history of the song "The Ballad of Bill Thaxton". Why am I doing this? Duh! MY name is Bill Thaxton and I am trying to figure out why Bobby Sykes wrote a song with my name in it.
I first learned of this song the first time I Googled my name about 10 years ago. I finally found an MP3 of the song and got even more curious since the song was, musically, an obvious takeoff on Marty Robbins hit, "El Paso" and the name Bill Thaxton really doesn't have the lyrical ring of Billy the Kid or Johnny Ringo.
Unfortunately, both Marty Robbins and Bobby Sykes are gone now so I had no way to directly ask about the roots of the song. I am still investigating and writing this blog is a way to find out if anyone else out there is curious or knows more than I have been able to find.
One of my first thoughts was that, maybe, the song is based on some real life person. I knew from some geneology research I had done that William Thaxton is a fairly common name in our family tree.
The song begins:
Bill Thaxton was an ex-ranger
One of the bravest by far
It's said that old Bill was the fastest man ever
To pin on a ranger's star
Stories about him were legends
Bill was the best of the bold
Bad men all feared him way back in his day
But he was now growing old
The song is part of a series of recordings Marty Robbins did called The Gunfighter Ballads. The era of the gunfighters, at least as far as popular myth and history is concerned, was in the late part of the 1800's. For instance, Billy the Kid was born in 1859 and died at the age of 21 in 1881. If we assume that the Ballad is set in this period, "Old Bill" would have been born sometime in the 1820's-1830's.
I have traced my geneology through OneGreatFamily.com well back into the 1700's and there are many William Thaxton's. One in particular was the brother of my great-great-grandfather, Robert Carroll Thaxton. He was born 15 SEP 1827 and died 6 SEP 1884. Both Robert Carroll and his father, Thomas Thaxton died in Williamson County, Texas which is just north of Austin and includes Round Rock and Georgetown. Other birth and death records indicate that the family lived in this area for some time and eventually moved farther west into San Saba County which at that time would have been frontier territory.
Here is where the history gets interesting. In a listing of Texas Ranger Company and Unit Commanders is this listing:
Capt. William Thaxton (1861; 1862 - San Saba County, 31st Brigade, TST)
So, it can be shown that there was an ex-Ranger named Bill Thaxton who lived in the western frontier region of Texas during the era of the Gunfighter. Wherever the rest of the story depicted in the Ballad came from, I have no clue. There are several references to William Thaxton in the San Saba County area but no mention of his association with the Rangers or as a gunfighter.
I also recently ran across a link to a gunfight re-enactment script for
"Kit Dalton - Bank Robbery Re-enactment"
This re-enactment features Johnny Ringo facing down a younger Bill Thaxton as the town sherriff.
Now I open the subject to the rest of the blogosphere in hopes that someone can add to the information I have found.
16 comments:
Sorry, Bill no help from me but I hope you get information
Hello Bill. I first heard about the song Dec. 2008, when my son knew he was dying, and wanted me to hear it. So in tribute I made a video on you tube my ID ( starfish50 );
Maby I am just hoping, but I believe the song was based on a REAL Texas Ranger.
NOW - in April 1909 a Texas killer named ( Jim Miller ) killed an Ada, Oklahoma Rancher. -- a TEXAS RANGER arrested Miller ( who used a metal plate over his chest ) and brught him back to Ada, just to have a lynch mob hang him. My Great Grandpa's brother ( DT David Thomas Gray ) was assigned to find the lynch mob, but was assanated here in Allen,OK. Dec. 24 1909 . I believe because he found the lynch mobe.
I have been desperatly serching for the name of that BRAVE Texas ranger, but dissabality has not helped.
I too am trying to assertain if Bill Thaxton actually was a ranger.
my 35 year old son died Jan. 10th 2009, and I want to do this for his memory.
Sincerely Peggy
I found the listing and of Captain William ("Bill") Thaxton (Former Texas Ranger, Member of Texas Frontier Regiment and Texas State Troups in this chronicled history of the Texas Rangers:
COMPLETE LIST OF TEXAS RANGERS COMPANY AND UNIT COMMANDERS
Compiled by Christina Stopka, Director, Texas Ranger Research Center, Austin
There have been ranging companies in the region now known as Texas almost as long as non-Indians have called Texas home. The modern Texas Rangers date their origins from ranging companies organized by Stephen F. Austin and Moses Morrison in 1823. These paramilitary volunteers were called by many names in the 19th century -- rangers and ranging companies, minute men, mounted volunteers, mounted gunmen, mounted riflemen, spies, frontier men, Texas State Troops, Frontier Regiment, Frontier Organization, Frontier Forces, Special State Troops, Special Force, Frontier Battalion, State Rangers and Texas Rangers. Their duties were essentially the same - protect the frontier from depredations by hostile forces - regardless of origin. By 1900, the ranging companies had been reorganized into a crime fighting, crime prevention and crime investigation organization, and their name had been standardized as "Texas Rangers."
The list that follows contains the names of commanding officers that the Hall of Fame and Museum staff considers to be bona fide ranging companies. Not everyone will agree with our selection or our criteria. It is often difficult in the pre-Civil War era to separate the ranging companies, often functioning as a militia, from purely military units - and in some cases the ranging companies were attached to the military and reported to military commanders.
At the time of their enlistment during the Civil War, they ceased being Texas Rangers in the service of the State of Texas and became soldiers in the service of the Confederate Army. They were paid by the Confederate Army, scouted and engaged in guerilla warfare as units of the Confederate Army, and reported (arguably) to Confederate Army officers.
The following list includes Captains, Lieutenants, and Sergeants, all of whom could have served as commanding officers for Ranger companies. It is not unusual for several men to act as commanding officers for the same company when the company was split into detachments stationed long distances apart.
COLONIAL TEXAS (CA. 1823 - 1835):
TEXAS REVOLUTION AND THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS (1835 - 1845)
TEXAS RANGERS (1849 - 1861)
FRONTIER REGIMENT / FRONTIER ORGANIZATION - TEXAS STATE TROOPS (TST) (1861 - 1865)
Capt. William Thaxton - 1861; 1862 - San Saba County, 31st Brigade, Texas State Troops - Ex-Texas Ranger
Throughout the Civil War, the Texas State legislature provided laws and appropriations to organize companies of men to provide frontier defense. These men were not part of the Confederate States Army but served under the command and control of officers in the employ of the State of Texas, although the organization of the troops was along military lines. The first of these groups was the Frontier Regiment, which existed from mid-1861 until December 1863 when the group was mustered into the CSA. They were replaced by the Frontier Organization, which was in existence until the end of the war in 1865. In the official State records these groups are often referred to as the Texas State Troops. A short description of the organization and responsibilities of these units can be found in The New Handbook of Texas, volume 3. A more in-depth treatment of State Troops during the years 1861 - 1865 can be found in David Paul Smith’s Frontier Defense in the Civil War. The following list is not a complete listing of commanders for these years and will be modified as new information comes to light.
MINUTE MEN (1865 - 1866)
FRONTIER FORCES (1870 - 1871)
MINUTE MEN (1872 - 1874, 1877)
FRONTIER MEN (1873-1875)
SPECIAL STATE TROOPS / SPECIAL FORCES (1874 - 1881)
FRONTIER BATTALION (1874 - 1901)
STATE RANGERS (1901 - 1935)
TEXAS RANGERS, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY (1935 - PRESENT)
I have heard that the Ballad of Bill Thaxton was not about a Texas Ranger but was about an Arizona Ranger.
Could be. "Big Iron", another of the gunfighter ballad, specifies an Arizona Ranger.
It can't be the Arizona Ranger from Big Iron. In Big Iron, the Ranger rides in to town to take the outlaw, whereas in the Ballad of Bill Thaxton, the outlaw rides in to take the ex-Ranger.
Yes Big Iron is a different story but the young Arizona Ranger who rides into Agua Fria to kill Texas Red may have been Bill Thaxton who many years later shot Sundown.
Hi all it doesn't matter great story song
Hi Guys, When I was about 12 years old (1977) I read a western comic book about a town sheriff that even in his old age many gunfighters would arrive in town to challenge him. So after the folks got tired of it happening over and over they decide to fake his death after a gunfight. They even put a marker in the cemetery to show whenever other gunfighters came to town, that eventually got them to stop coming to town so the Bill Thaxton could be retired in peace.
Hi Bill,
I guess you know Marty Robbins has a son who sings his songs. To me he sounds just like his father. Maybe he knows something about the basis of the song. His name is Ronnie Robbins and can be found singing on YOU Tube. A little web searching should find a way to contact him.
Good luck with your research.
Whut
The song never tells us what kind of "Ranger" Bill Thaxton is.
Marty Robbins wrote what some consider a Trilogy .
Big Iron
Pride and the Badge
The Ballad of Bill Thaxton
May I suggest that Bill Thaxton is an Arizona Ranger?
Is it possible that Bill Thaxton is "Big Iron"?
jimsixofhearts
I love all of Marty's gunfighter ballads and trail songs! I was very little when he passed. Never saw him perform but he is my favorite. ❤
My Grandpa's name was Bill Thaxton, William Bryan Thaxton Sr. to be exact!
I know i am a bit late to the blog but have you tired liking for sundown instead. if you find sundown you can likely find his killer. just a thought.
My husband is Bill Thaxton. His great great grandfather was Robert Carroll Thaxton from Williamson County TX. We just discovered this song and are very interested in your findings.
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