On March 31, 1879, a West Texas judge fined a local hell-raiser five dollars for a drunken spree that left a bystander short an ear and ordered the inebriated victim to fork over five cents for winking at the sharpshooter, when he bent down to pick up the body part.
What little law that existed on the Lone Star frontier was often dispensed with a humorous touch. The most gruesome event could tickle the funny bone of those adventurous souls living on the edge of civilization. Well aware the next day might be their last, they found a way to laugh to keep from crying.
Texans in the wide-open west took crime and violence in stride. With the exception of horse theft, that rugged breed accepted fist fights, gunplay, robbery, rustling and murder as occupational hazards of the frontier settler.
