This is the legend of an
unusual woman. Sally Newman, the woman later called “Mustang Jane” by her
vaqueros, was born in Illinois in 1817 to Rachel (nee Rabb) and Joseph Newman.
Her parents followed her maternal grandparents through several states to
eventually settle in southeastern Texas and become part of Stephen F. Austin’s
“Old Three Hundred.” (If you’re not familiar with Texas history, Stephen F. Austin’s 300 is a Big Deal here.) As a pioneer wife, Mrs. Newman was
no stranger to conflict. On at least two occasions, she reportedly thwarted attacks from
Comanche or Apache with quick and decisive action while young Sally watched.
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| Longhorn cattle |
When Sally was sixteen, she
registered the brand for the cattle she had inherited from her father. Although
she registered the brand in her maiden name, she noted on the application that
she was the wife of Jesse Robinson, a man eighteen years her senior. The
alliance lasted for ten years. Custody of their children, Nancy and Alfred, was
ceded to Jesse when the couple divorced in 1843. Sally kidnapped Nancy, but was
forced to return her to Jesse.
Sally’s luck with her second,
third, fourth, and fifth husbands was no better. She went by the last name of
her second husband, Sally Scull. It was while she was married to George Scull
(sometimes spelled Skull) that she developed her love for and interest in
horsetrading.
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| Horses of the type Sally wanted |
While she was losing husbands
(with some speculation that she might have assisted a couple of them in
departing this life), Sally was gaining a reputation for marksmanship. Whether
in skirts or pants, she always wore two pistols belted to her waist and usually
wore a bonnet. She was a dead shot with both pistol and rifle, in either hand.
A tiny woman with steel blue eyes, she weighed 125 pounds at most. Her rough
language was notorious, and she spoke Tex-Mex as well as if it were her native
tongue.
When she wasn’t traveling alone, Sally rode in the company of several
Mexican vaqueros. She roamed the wide territory between the Sabine River and
the Rio Grande, making her headquarters at a small settlement called Banquette,
about twenty miles west of Corpus Christi. The vaqueros who worked for her and
other Mexicans who knew her called her “Juana Mestena,” Mustang Jane. She could
outshoot any of her ranch hands, roped and rode with the best of them, and
could drive a herd better than any of the wranglers in her employ.
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| I doubt Sally Scull was this cute, don't you? |
Horsetrading was her primary
business, a profitable one, and often under questionable circumstances. After a
trip into Mexico, she supposedly always returned with a nice herd of stock, yet her money
belt was still full. Sally knew all the ranches in the area. Ranch wives
sometimes hinted that while Sally made eyes at the menfolk, her vaqueros were
busy cutting the best horses from the herd. There were also rumors that she had
assistance from the Comanche. If Sally admired particular horses and the owner
refused to sell, Comanche raiders mysteriously visited the ranch shortly after
Sally’s departure. No one ever caught Sally in possession of a horse for which
she couldn’t show rightful ownership because she never let anyone inspect her
herd.
Sally worked hard and played
hard. She was an avid poker player and her favorite haunts included Old St.
Mary’s Saloon at Copano Bay, Pancho Grande’s in Corpus Christi, and several
places in Refugio. She attended many a fandango due to her love of dancing.
Can’t you imagine her dancing while wearing those two pistols belted around her
waist?
During the Civil War, Sally’s
knowledge of the southern Texas backcountry served the Confederacy. Union
forces blockaded Texas ports, stopping all shipments from England. The United
States could not block ports south of the border, so Mexico’s ports were open.
Sally sold her stock of horses, bought wagons, and turned her vaqueros into
cotton haulers.
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| Cotton freighting |
Sally's wagons became a common sight on the roads from San Antonio
to Matamoros on what became known as the Cotton Road. Cotton was traded in
Matamoros for guns, ammunition, medicines, coffee, shoes, clothing and other
goods vital to the Confederacy and needed by inland Texas settlements. When the
war ended in 1865, Sally sold her wagons and resumed the horse business.
Sally had little to do with
her son, Alfred, who lived with his father and stepmother and their eight
children on Ramerania Creek, about fifty miles northwest of Corpus Christi. No
one knows what happened to Alfred Robinson. Nancy and her mother were closer.
Sally sent her to one of the best boarding schools in New Orleans. Nancy
returned to Texas, married, and lived up to her mother’s dreams. They were
close until one visit when one of Nancy’s family dogs growled at Sally and she
shot the dog.
No one knows what happened to
Sally Scull. Texas mothers used to cajole their children to behave or “Old
Sally Skull will get you.” Not a nice remembrance, but Sally Scull had defied
all expectations of womanhood for her era or any other. She walked tall in a
world of strong men and made anyone in her path step aside.
FROM ANGELS TO HELLCATS: Legendary Texas Women 1835-1880, By Don Blevins
http://tshaonline.org/handbook
Caroline Clemmons is an award winning Amazon bestselling author of western romance. Find her books listed on her Amazon Author Page and like her there. Sign up for her newsletter for a free novella, HAPPY IS THE BRIDE.
