(Editor's note: This is taken from a column that appeared originally in the Aug. 30, 1998, edition of the Herald Democrat and has been edited for this publication.)

"This is an awful bad matter, ain't it?"

These were the words of Dave Hanna directed to deputy sheriff Scott Creager in the thicket north of Howe on Sunday morning, May 26, 1889, a few seconds after Grayson County Sheriff R.L. (Bob) May had been shot.

Sheriff May, with deputies Creager and Jim May, had ridden to Howe that morning looking for the Ison cousins, Ben and Mander. They had with them a warrant for the arrest of Ben Ison.

Evidently the officers had concluded that if they found Ben and Mander Ison together, they would have to arrest both men.

The three officers had entered the thicket and spread out, hoping to come upon the Isons by surprise. The officers had seen John Eades and Dave Hanna walking toward the thicket a few minutes before, so they had reason to believe there were four men in there.

According to sworn testimony of deputy Creager at the examining trial held on Monday, June 3, 1889, he was about 30 feet from the sheriff as they were moving through the thicket when he heard Sheriff May call out:

"Here they are! Throw up your hands!"

Almost simultaneously, shots rang out. Creager testified:

"Before the words were out of his (Sheriff May's) mouth, they fired. Immediately after he was shot, Bob May fired.

"Just after the first two shots, to the best of my knowledge, Ben Ison and John Eades moved to the west from where Bob May and I stood. Mander Ison and Dave Hanna moved to the east.

"I started toward the sheriff and as I was going, one of the defendants fired another shot through the brush.

"Just before I got even with Sheriff May, I saw him standing by a tree, with his pistol in his right hand.

"About this time Mander Ison fired his gun in the direction of Sheriff May and it was leveled when he fired.

"I moved ahead of the sheriff eight or 10 feet and fired at Mander, who was running south at the time. I followed him till I reached Dave Hanna and I leveled my pistol at him (Hanna).

"Hanna put his hands up and said, 'Don't hurt me, I had nothing to do with it.'

"Seeing he had nothing to shoot with, I went on past Hanna for 15 or 20 steps without seeing Sheriff May. Then I turned to see where the balance of the crowd had gone and saw no one but Dave Hanna.

"Satisfied something was wrong, I went back to where I had seen Sheriff May, and as I again passed Dave Hanna he said, 'This is an awful bad matter, ain't it?'

"I made no reply to Hanna but went on to Sheriff May. I raised him up to a sitting position and asked him if he was killed. He looked up at me and opened his mouth but he couldn't speak.

"Dave Hanna was moving towards us and I told him to come quick, the sheriff had been killed. As Hanna came up, I took the pistol belt off the sheriff and told Hanna to go for a doctor. I then called deputy Jim May.

"The body of Sheriff May was picked up and carried near to Capt. Tom Burke's house, then taken to the depot in Howe where his body was laid down."

Creager also said that when he saw Mander Ison coming toward the depot in Howe, he threw his pistol down on him and Mander said, "I have done nothing; I shot my gun in the air. I thought I would come in and surrender. Ben and I made an agreement to shoot up in the air when the officers came, and if the officers didn't run, the two of us would run."

Mander also stated, according to Creager, that he had done as agreed but Ben Ison had shot at the officers.

(To be continued)

R.C. VAUGHAN of Sherman is a retired senior District Judge.