Parents, Two Small Children In Ship PECOS, Tex., April 12 (AP)—Miss Letha Prewitt of Pecos was instantly killed, Mrs. William Turner, Pecos, probably fatally injured and four other passengers seriously hurt today when a barnstorming plane crashed at the Pecos airport. On Take off plane had gained about 100 feet altitude on the takeoff when the motor stalled and the ship side slipped to the ground. Miss Prewitt was killed and Mrs. Turner suffered internal injuries expected to prove fatal. William Turner, her husband, had internal injuries and both legs were broken. The two small Turner children were shaken up and one suffered a broken leg. Jack Eckles, pilot, received cuts and a broken nose. The plane was one of two operated by a barn storming circus in taking up passengers. Big Spring Daily Herald (Big Spring, Texas) 1930 April 13

Town Gets First Rain of Consequence in Two Years. BY WILBUR KEITH, Staff Correspondent of The News. PECOS Reeves Co., Texas, Aug.1.-A drought of two years standing was broken In the Pecos Valley Thursday night and Friday morning when a aeries of cloudbursts covered this section of the West. It was "he first real rain in over two years. Water overflowed from the draws into the town Of Pecos, flooding; stores and damaging merchandise. The Leader grocery store suffered the heaviest loss, with the Stool dry goods establishment second, with each loss about $1,000. Water stood in the streets and washed away grave: highways, standing in front of stores in many places two feet In depth. It was still raining at .Pecos and through out the valley Saturday morning. The first trouble encountered by auto tourists returning to their eastern homes was some eight miles west of the village of Kent where a railroad bank overflowed and converted itself into a river. From that point to a place between Toyah and Pecos bout mid-distance traveling was about as uncomfortable as it Is possible for it to be in a backland road after it has Just been flooded with rain. A space of some fifty acres some of fifteen miles west of Pecos resembles Corpus Christi Bay and the halt dozen automobiles that were able to ford this water land Friday night did so at the risk of the drivers lives. The water was so high it came above the lights and on some cars almost to the top of the radiator. At least twenty carloads of tourists camped on the west side of this point for the night and the east side some fifty or more were bogged up in a pasture on account of having to detour from the main highway. Men, women and children slept in automobiles for the night, after they gave up hope of ever-being able to pull out of the loblolly land in the big ranch through which they had to travel. Cafes and hotels in Toyah and Pecos were cleaned out by the over-flow of tourists held up at each town because of the cloudbursts. While the rain was a Godsend to the people of the Pecos and. Toyah Valleys, it proved a great handicap to those people who were forced to travel either by auto or by train. Tracks Was Washed Away. East of Van Horn between that place and Kent the Texas & Pacific Railroad has some two miles of track washed away and the road- bed has caved to such an extent that it will probably be several days before It will be possible to operate trains over it. The Pecos Valley Southern line, coming into Pecos from Fort Stockton, is in a worse condition than the Texas & Pacific, fourteen miles of track being washed away. Only one trail reached Pecos Friday from the east and none from the west. The trail from the east backed out of the town in the direction from which I came. No trains are running east farther than Sierra Blanca and none west from Pecos Saturday Work trains moving under slow orders have been dispatched to the washouts. No Loss of life Reported. Along the Texas & Pacific the mumbling of Mexican laborers a night blended with the buzz of the automobile engines on the highways until an early hour Saturday morning, when a few of the automobiles managed to pull out of the mire Into Pecos. So far no loss of human life has been reported by a number of small automobile were washed away Friday night and a section foreman on the Texas & Pacific went south with one of the cars. His Mexican laborer left the boss in the lurch. He finally rescued himself, however without injury. A few cattle had been drowned and hundreds of Jackrabbits likewise met death. While one car was stalled in one of the overflow lakes Friday a snake sought protection on the running board of the automobile. Six pistol shots were fired at the reptile but the marksmen missed their aim. The snake was finally killed with an automobile crank. The rain, while it has damaged highways and mercantile establishments in some places, will be worth millions of dollars to the Pecos Valley farmers and ranchers. August 2, 1925 Dallas Morning News

PECOS CITY. The Promising Condition of the Fair Young Daughter of the Plains.  To The News; Pecos City, June 4.-The people of this town and valley are rejoicing on account of the copious rainfall of this week. Gum boots, slickers and umbrellas have "been in demand in Pecos City almost for the first time since its existence and it is now in its ninth month. The rain came during Wednesday night and Thursday morning and amounted to over an inch of water, sufficient to start the grass growing and to wreathe the faces- of the stockmen and business men in smiles. The building boom, which was contracted to some extent by the strike in March drouth since, promises a fresh, and already the town is showing new life in building and in the real estate. Martin, Byrne & Johnson of Colorado have their new brick business house on the corner of Oak and Second streets, nearly finished. It is a credit to the city. The new Pecos Valley Star building will be completed this month and as soon as occupied by the Newspaper. The building now used as a newspaper office , which is owned by George A. Knight, will be fitted up for the office of the Pecos Valley Land Irrigation Company and himself. Among the prospectors in town this week are noticed Robt. Bowen. of Smith County and R. M. Bayard of Denton County. Both gentlemen are scrutinizing the town and valley closely with reference to going: into business here, and are well pleased with the outlook. Col J. A. Boyd, of Rusk, who has established a ranch here for breeding fine stock both horses and cattle has just purchased the residence of J. C. Sloan, who in turn has bought the home of Jos. Trumpitie. Col. Boyd leaves this morning to bring out his family. It is learned that quite a number of small stockmen from Central and Eastern Texas are on their way here with their herds. where water and grass are abundant and practically free. They are coming in a good time, as the rains have been sufficient to bring the grass out, and just now some of the largest stocks of cattle here are being moved out to Arizona and New Mexico, thus leaving a good opening for the smaller herds. The large cattle owners on the side Of the Pecos River and in the imitate vicinity of town have no land leased and do not own or control a single section therefore, the owners of small herds are not encroaching on each other's rights by coming here at this time. Cattle are improving here; the grass is green and. the mesquite bushes have an abundant crop of beans on them, first thought that work will begin on the Artesian well at an early day. June 6, 1911 Dallas Morning News

Orla Grocery’s owner gets 81st birthday surprise

 Bessie Mitchell had a surprise waiting for her on Thursday, when she arrived to open up the Orla Grocery. Local residents had decorated the front of the store, along with several other places in the small Reeves County community, to mark Mitchell’s 81st birthday. “They were doing this when I got here,” said Mitchell, who for the past 27 years has run the Orla Grocery, currently both the only store and gas station along a 75-mile stretch of U.S. 285 between Pecos and Loving, N.M. “The people here have been real good to me.” “I don’t feel much older, but I wouldn’t say I fell any younger,” Mitchell told one of her customers on Thursday. “I just make it one day at a time.” “She’s a remarkable lady,” said Jeanette Scott, the Orla postmaster who helped plan the birthday surprise. The post office and several signs along U.S. 285 were also decorated to mark the occasion. Orla Grocery is located at the intersection of U.S. 285 and FM 652 in Orla. The small store is adjacent to a now-closed café, and has an above-ground gas tank nearby, which is the only place to buy fuel between Pecos or Loving, or the equally barren stretch of FM 652, which runs 25 miles east towards Jal, N.M., through Loving County ranchland then west to U.S. 62-180 between Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains National Park. For drivers on that road, Orla Grocery is the only place for services for over 100 miles. Mitchell said the building was home to a grocery even before she took over operations. “I lease the building, but the store is mine,” Mitchell said. “In 1976, this old couple who owned this building, Paul and Jackie Oates, closed it. They died in 1977, and when they did that sold it to Bill and Linda Wilkinson.” Mitchell then leased the building and reopened the grocery, which at the time was among several businesses serving travelers and locals along U.S. 285. Oil and gas prices were up during the 1970s, and climbed even higher at the end of the decade. That was good for Orla, which is at the center of the oil and gas fields in northern Reeves County. But the decline in prices during the 1980s and 1990s took its toll on the small community and surrounding area. Only a few businesses remain, though oilfield activity has picked up recently and Mitchell said her customer base is “mostly fellows who work out here in the oilfield.” Still as far as retail businesses go, Mitchell’s store is all that’s left in Orla. “It used to be we had more travelers - people who thought they had lots of money would come through and spend it, but mostly it’s the boys working out here,” she said. “They’re drilling a lot more right now. I don’t know how long it’s going to last, but they’re doing it right now.” The oil business was what attracted Mitchell and her husband John to the Orla area in the first place. “He hauled water to the rigs, and I ran the store most of the time, and he filled in when I couldn’t,” she said. Mitchell said she is originally from California and lived in several states before she and her husband moved to Orla. “We didn’t think we were going to stay, but we did,” she said. The store itself has a limited number of items. “It’s mostly lunch supplies - beer, Cokes, candy and an occasional sandwich,” she said. “Not many people live out here anymore. When you go to town, you go to buy groceries, so now what I sell is mostly lunch supplies..” Mitchell’s husband died in 1995, and while she has run the store on her own for the past nine years, as far as the future goes, she said, “Right now, I have no idea what I’m going to do. I don’t want to move. I’ve got two daughters, one in Wyoming and one in Paris, Texas, and they keep asking me what I’m going to do. I said ‘I don’t know, maybe you’ll have to pick it out for me.” Tuesday, July 20, 2004 Pecos Enterprise By JON FULBRIGHT Staff Writer

Bloody Tragedy at Pecos Texas, A Young Farm Hand Kills a Merchant. Fort Worth, Texas, Sept. 11.— At a young man rode up behind E. Meyenberg and shot him down, firing two shots from a rifle. The first shot took effect in the face, tearing a ghastly wound. Deceased fell to the ground. The killer then rode nearer and shot him again through the bodv. Either shot would have proven fatal. The murderer ran for a hiding place, going along the river. Sheriff Lovell at once gave a hot pursuit and overtook his man about eighteen miles out. Seeing there was no use to make a resistance he at once surrendered and was- brought back and lodged in jail. Meyenberg had been in business in Pecos for some ten years, was a free giver to chartly and deserved no such fate as befell him. The killer is a young man of powerful build, who has been working on farms above town and and has the name of being  a good field hand. Meyenberg was well connected, his father living at La Grange, Texas. His relatives wired to have the body embalmed and shipped to them for burial. The cause of the trouble is unknown. Sept 12, 1903 Palestine Daily Herald

Farmer Who Prayed For Rain Is Killed As Prayer Answered PECOS, Texas. June 30 <AP>.— Catherine Carrasco, 68-year-old Saragosa  farmer, prayed for rain to break an eight-month drouth m this part of West Texas. It rained Thursday. As Carrasco hurried from his field a lightning; bolt struck him in the head. Death was instantaneous. Dallas Morning News; Date: 07-01-1933

Late Thursday and during the night twisters menaced other points. One dipped down in West Texas between two houses at Saragosa in Reeves County but spared both as it damaged a cotton gin close by. Another hit ground without harm in neighboring neighboring Ward County

Del Rio News-Herald | Del Rio, Texas | Friday, April 15, 1977

MRS. CONSUELO H  NUNEZ PECOS (Staff) - Funeral mass will be read at 10 a.m. Friday for Mrs. Consuelo H Nunez, 45, of Saragosa, in the Christ the King Catholic Church in Balmorhea with burial in the Saragosa Cemetery. Pecos Funeral Hfome is in charge of arrangements. She died at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday in her home in Saragosa  of an apparent heart attack. Mrs. Nunez was born Feb. 17, 1926, in Candelaria and came to the Pecos area from Marfa in 1952. Survivors are her husband, Balois: eight sons of the home; two daughters of the home and a daughter in Hereford; three bro- thers, including Angelo Hignojos  of Marfa and Pedro Hionojos of Balmorhea two sisters Mrs. Maria Montez of Lovington N.M, and Mrs. Angeliita Fuentez of Monahans; and two grandchildren. Odessa American, The | Odessa, Texas | Thursday, June 10, 1971

WASHINGTON, Oct 8 Information has been received from U S Commercial agent at Piedras Negras, Mexico of the murder of Walter Henry a native of Texas by Mexicans near Saragosa. Morning Oregonian | Portland, Oregon | Wednesday, October 09, 1878

Murder Trial Opens Monday At Barstow PECOS—J. W. Goode, 60-year-old Saragosa farmer, will go on trial at Barstow Monday morning in 109th district court for allegedly shooting to death Fane Downs, 30- year-old neighbor, during March. A special venue of 108 men has been ordered to appear before  Judge J. A. Drane for jury service.  More than 75 witnesses have been summoned. These, with the large crowd of  spectators which the case is ex-pected to attract, will fill the old  Ward county courthouse to capacity, it Is believed. There is much legal talent on both sides of the case. Roy I. Biggs, former district attorney, and Hill D. Hudson, both of Pecos, represent the defense. Henry Russell of Pecos has been retained as special prosectuor to assist District Attorney William L. Kerr in. presentation of the state's case. Big Spring Daily Herald | Big Spring, Texas | Sunday, May 21, 1933

Saragosa the world has bypassed Wayne Hamilton's old store. From any angle, it resembles something out of the past as its stands near the depot on the tracks of the Pecos Valley Southern Railroad in the hamlet of Saragosa. The gray stucco building probably hasn't had a paint job in the last 30 years and Hamilton himself looks the part of an old time general mercantile store owner, with thinning grey hair and glasses hanging low on his nose. And to add to the authentic atmosphere, even the town of Saragosa has moved a mile or so down the road and lett the Hamilton Store all to itself,  BUT ALL this doesn't seem to bother him a great deal. He goes right on doing business the same as he has for the past 40 years. Looking at Hamilton and his store, a person would think he probably hasn't been more than 30 miles from there in his life. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Saragosa pioneer has traveled in every state in the Union, most of Europe and Russia, is retired from three different jobs, has held a wide assortment of others and isn't particularly looking forward to retirement even though he is fast approaching the 80-year mark. A visitor doesn't go to the store with the idea of shopping there just isn't any room. In fact, there is hardly room on the inside for more than three or' four customers at a time but this seems to be ample, considering that Saragosa only has about 200 residents.

HAMILTON has a unique way of displaying his canned goods. One small section of the outside wall holds a single sample of almost every variety he sells and all the customer has to do is ask for the desired item in the quantity he desires. After that Hamilton will head for the back of the store where all his canned goods are neatly tucked away in storage* Many items are not even on display and a customer only has to ask for what he wants — regardless of the article — and Hamilton will more than likely come up with it. The storekeeper said he actually started his grocery store around 1932 and much of his stock dates back to that period. "Oh, I have lots of people from all over West Texas come in here and ask for lots of things," Hamilton related, "and usually I will have just about anything they want but mostly they want medicine.They aren't  really interested in the medicine. Usually all they want is the bottle it comes in to add to their collection." The Wayne Hamilton Store is a haven if collecting medicine bottles happens to be a person's particular kick. A quick check in the main portion of the store reveals many different kinds of medicine unheard of by most people today. And a look around the loft of the old-fashioned store revealed several cartons of medicine bottles, so old that evaporation has claimed some of their contents. If a person would like some antique glasses that have never been out of the carton, the Hamilton store is the place to find them. Or. if a  part is needed for a coal-oil lantern, a Number 3 plow bolt, or another unusual item, Hamilton probably has it  tucked away in some obscure corner.

 "There are lots of things that I can't get anymore," Hamilton said, as he relaxed on his milk-crate stool directly in front of the door. "So many of the manufacturers have gone out of business or switched to some other line." "I would really like to let some of my stock run down. After all, I won't be around more than 100 more years and maybe, if I'm lucky, I can afford to retire some day." Retirement is something Hamilton could well afford. Not only does he draw a retirement check from the Santa Fe Railroad, he also draws retirement from the Pecos Valley Southern Railroad and the United States Post Office Department. "Oh, I get about $600 in retirement between the two railroads and Post Office and Social Security," he related, "but after I pay all the taxes on it, that doesn't leave me anything to live on. I took the office of postmaster here back in 1925 because they threatened to close the Post Office. The man who was postmaster couldn't stand the examination for the office so I took it just to keep the office open and then let him run it for me." Hamilton retired from the Post Office in 1960, when-Mrs. W. A. Job became postmaster.

Hamilton appeared destined for an exciting life from the very start. His father was a surgeon for the railroad back in East Texas, where Hamilton grew up. Hamilton remembered the Spanish - American War and was a Longview resident when Sam Bass and his gang rode into town and held up the local bank. "I remember the robbery very well," he said. 'The robbery didn't impress me very much. Instead it was the horses that the gang rode that I like. "I can still remember that they shot one of the men as he was leaving the back door of the bank. They hung him up on a telephone pole just  to show they didn't intend for Bass to come back to town." Hamilton has held a number of jobs other than those from which he is retired, From 1906 through 1908, he was a newspaper reporter in San Angelo. He was also assistant cashier at the San Angelo National Bank for. awhile, drawing a fabulous salary of $35 a month, and even took time out to serve in the Army for five years. It was while he was in the Army that he served a tour of duty in Europe during World War I and in Russian Siberia.

 After the war Hamilton got his real start in the Saragosa area. In the early 1920s there was a booming hay market and the Madera Valley around Balmorhea was growing plenty of livestock feed. "When business was good I used to be agent for the farmers here," he related, "and I would ship as many as 4,500 railroad cars of hay out of here every year." Hamilton said he handled the hay for $1 a ton. Mathematically speaking, figuring 16 tons to the car and shipping 4,500 cars, he took in about $72,000 on an average year. "I was real smart though,'* he laughed. "When the hay business was good, I bought lots of the land around here and then the demand for hay declined until now I am stuck with the land with nothing to do with it. " I would sell  it if I could make any money off it," he noted. "But if I sold it the federal government would get all the money in taxes so I may as well keep it." With no thought of retirement, Hamilton enjoys operating his unique store, which is almost hidden from the view of the parsing motorist. Most customers that come in out of the heat of the day seem to know he will have just exactly what they want. To keep things from getting too dull, he tries some of his sales technique on them just to make certain they are not going off and forgetting something. , A Storehouse Of Treasures But You Must Ask For Them Odessa American, The | Odessa, Texas | Sunday, August 10, 1969

WASHINGTON. Jan,. 12. — The Supreme Court today refused to set aside a death sentence of Texas courts on Leon Gardenas Martinez, a 16-year-old Mexican convicted of murdering Miss Emma Brown near Saragosa Texas. Martinez asked the supreme court to release him because  he dared not appeal from the death sentence because of the fear of mob violence. Oakland Tribune | Oakland, California | Monday, January 12, 1914

Details of Miss Brown's Sad End.

As very few people in Laredo are acquainted -with the details of the deslorable tragedy that led to the sad death of Miss Emma Brown and which have never been published in any of the state papers. The Times has secured the details from a responsible party and will give them as they were told by our informant. with her sister, Mrs. H C Copper who resided about eight miles from the little town of Saragosa, and which is near the town,of Pecos. The family did their trading; at a small store in Saragosa, where a Mexican boy of 17 years acted as clerk. Several times Miss Brown "had gone to the store to purchase supplies, and the boy. being of a flippant disposition appeared to become enamored with the young lady, who was very pretty.- He made several approaches toward her and said things at which Miss Brown took offense. On the day that she met her death she told the proprietor of the store that she was going to quit trading there, as his cterk had constantly insulted her. Tbe proprietor informed the young lady , who was alone on this occasion that he would look into the matter at once, and the result was the boy was discharged immediately This was on Saturday. The boy went his home instanter. secured a horse and followed Miss Brown out of town. She was in a buggy. When some distance out he rode up behind the buggy and without warning shot her four times in the back and stabbed her several times. The boy then returned to his home. Miss Brown not returning to her sister's  home on Sunday some alarm was naturally felt and a search was instituted and her dead body was found lying in the road. Their was no clue as to theidentity of the  perpertraitor of the deed . Finally before giving up the search the tracks of a horse with a broken hoof were detected and the services of experts in this line were enlisted. Working on the theory that the murderer had ridden on a horse with a broken hoof they set out to locate the horse and finally traced the horse to the home of the Mexican boy employed at the store. The father of the boy who came to the door was asked who had used the horse last and he said his son had been out for a ride on Saturday. There upon  the boy was arreseted on suspicion of having commited the crime and the horse was taken to the scene of the killing and the hoof of the animal corresponded  with the imprint of the  hoof found in the road. THe boy protested his innoncence or any knowledge of the crime.  The captors felt certain that they had the right man and finally decided to put the youth through sweat process with a view of compelling him to tell something.  This was on Sunday. He was left in this condition until Monday afternoon with the result he readily confessed his guilt and also told how the deed had been committed. He toh! his captors that he had killed Miss Brown because she  had told the boss about him and caused him to  lose his job. He was given a trial just seven days after the commission of his dastardly crime and given the death sentence by a jury. Laredo Times | Laredo, Texas | Sunday, August 06, 1911

PAUIL HOLMES GIVES TESTIMONY IN OWN BEHALF IN MURDER TRIAL AT BARSTOW. MAINTAINS SELF DEFENSE Testifies W C. Crowe Read Marriage Ceremony with Pistol  In Hand; Denies He Ruined the Girl; Story of the Killing. Special to The Reporter. BARSTOW, Jan. 27.—Paul Holmes, charged with shooting and killing Knox Crowe and seriously wounding the latter's father, W. C. Crowe, while the latter was marrying him (Holmes) to his daughter, went on the stand in his own behalf in District court here today. This is the sixth day of the trial and arguments will commence tomorrow morning, possibly this evening. What Witness Testified. "I shot Crowe at Saragosa," Holmes testified, "while W. C. Crowe was reading the marriage service uniting me in marriage with Dorsey Crowe. He had reached the point where he asked me if I would lake Dorsey Crowe as my lawful wife. I delayed answer until Crowe leveled a revolver, then said 'I do:"

Holmes said that on the day of the  tragedy the Crowes approached him at his pla'se of business and that the elder Crowe carried a revolver. They shook hand and started for the building when Holmes said Crowe threatened to kill him atter marrying him to his daughter, and he (Holmes) declared he was not the man who wronged Crowes daughter. Crowe began reading the marriage marriage ceremony, the wllfcess testified,.holding the book in one hand ad a revolver in the other. Before Crowe finished reading Holmes Declared he started to run away. He heard a shot and then entered the building secured a shotgun and fired, hitting both the father and the son . A number of witnesses are still to be examined..

Story of the Killing.

W. C. Crowe, father of the deceased, has resided at Toyah. for a number of years. Tttie Crowe family is welll known in that region. The defendant was for a time employed by the Reeves County Mercantile company ;at Toyah. as salesman. After leaving Toyah, he went to Kent, Texas, where he was connected with the Kent Mercantile company, but he only remained there a short time. From Kent, which is in El Paso county, Holmes moved to Saragosa, where be became interested In the Saragosa Mercantile company, and it was there that the killing occurred. Miss Crowe was teaching school at Saragosa, and there she met Holmes  They were together considerably. Finally she made ,a confession to her  father and implicated Holmes, and the elder Crowe decided to request a restitution from Holmes personally,

The plaintiff left Toyah, accompanied by his daughter, on Nov. 20, arriving at Saragosa that day. He called at the Saragosa Mercantile company's store and asked for Holmes, and Holmes remonstrated that he was busy at that time but would be relieved shortly. As soon as Holmes took time to talk the father told him that he came with the purpose of asking him to make some restitiution for his daughter  and it was suggested that a marriage ceremony be performed . Holmes said that the girl wouldn't marry him but the father informed him that the girl was brought decidedly for that purpose, and that he had no reason to think there could be possibly any reasons for restraint on her part. Holmes then consented to the ceremony, which Crowe was qualified to perform as he was justice of the peace.The father telephoned to his son Knox Crowe, at. Toyah. to come to Saragosa by way of Pecos. where.he was to secure a marriage license. Knox Crowe arrived in Saragosa the rnorning of the 21st . The necessary ceremony was perfomed and as the father turned to his son to ask for a pen with which to have witnesses sign the record , Holmes drew an automatic revolver and began firing, according to the evidence adduced at, the inquest. The first shot entered Mr. Crowe's head an inch In front of his left ear, taking a downvard course and coming out near the nose, just missing the eyeball. The other two shots only grazed his neck. The first shot rendered him unconscious. One shot took effect in Knox Crowe's breast and the other in the Intestines. Returning to the store Holme's said to have procured a Winchester and to have fired another shot at Knox which., penetrated his breast and produced instantaneous death. Holmes, in an automobile, hastened to Pecos, Texas, where he surrendered to the sheriff. It was only a short time until he was released on a $15.000 bond, which was later raised to $25,000 A change of venue was granted from Pecos county to Ward county, owing to the condition of sentiment in Pecos. The deceased young man was a Master Mason. He was buried at Toyah, Texas.Abilene Daily Reporter | Abilene, Texas | Friday, January 27, 1911

Murder Trial Opens Monday At Barstow PECOS—J. W. Goode, 60-year-old Saragosa farmer, will go on trial at Barstow Monday morning in 109th district court for allegedly shooting to death Fane Downs, 30- ytar-old neighbor, during March.  A special venire of 108 men has been ordered to appear before Judge J. A. Drane for jury service. : More than 75 witnesses have been summoned.  These, with the large crowd of  spectators which the case is expected to attract, will fill the old  Ward county courthouse to capacity, it Is believed. There is much legal talent on both sides of the case. Roy I. Biggs, former district attorney, and Hill D. Hudson, both of Pecos, represent the defense. Henry Russell of Pecos has been retained as special prosectuor to assist District Attorney William L. Kerr in. presentation of the state's case Big Spring Daily Herald | Big Spring, Texas | Sunday, May 21, 1933

FEUD DETAILS TOLD PECOS, Oct 11. (AP)—Details of how a dispute over division of irrigation waters led to a bitter feud and the death of Fane Downs, 30, prominent Saragosa farmer, last March, were 'given in testimony in the murder trial of J. W. Goode, 60, neighboring farmer, here today. Goode testified that he shot Downs only after he had been led to believe his own life was in danger.Morning Avalanche | Lubbock, Texas | Thursday, October 12, 1933

Wounds Kill Young Farmer Of Saragosa 60 Year-Old Farmer Held At Pecos Charged With Murder . PECOS.—William Fain Downs, 29-year-old Saragosa farmer, ~died at midnight Wednesday night from complications arising as a result of the shooting at Saragosa -last Friday. ; J W. Goode, 60-year-old Saragrosa pioneer, is now-in the Reeves county jail facing charges  of murder in conection  with the shooting. . Down's death' came after a: gallant fight against overwhelming odds. Accorded only an outside chance of living over the three wounds inflicted in the shooting he staved off impending death for six days and a few hours He appeared much improved before the final relapse. Blood transfusions were used in prolonging his life, a brother giving two transfusion and a. friend and neighbor giving another. The body was prepared for burial by the Kolar funeral home and the services held at 1 o'clock' Friday afternoon from the Downs home at Saragosa. Interment  was in the Fort  Stockton  cemetery. Rev. Ramage of Pecos officiated. A large number of friends went frrm Pecos to attend the funeral and pay last respects to this popular young man. Mr. Goode had made no statement for publication concerning this unfortunate affair. His bond was set at $7500 by the court but Thursday afternoon this bond had not been made. Mr. Downs was shot three times, once in the neck, once in the shoulder and once in the abdomen. The weapon used was a .380 pstol. The shooting occured while Mr. Downs was working over a tire near the Baker garage at Saragosa. Big Spring Herald | Big Spring, Texas | Friday, March 24, 1933