Caprock Chronicles: Murders at the Gaines Hotel: Part Two: Investigations and Tragedy
Editor's Note: Caprock Chronicles is edited by Texas Tech University Librarian Emeritus, Jack Becker. He can be reached at jack.becker@ttu.edu. Today’s article about the murders of two cattle inspectors is the second of a three-part series by frequent contributor Chuck Lanehart, Lubbock attorney and award-winning Western history writer. In Part One, the life of legendary Texas lawman Dave Allison was examined.
In 1921, 60-year-old legendary lawman Dave Allison was an inspector for the Texas and Southwest Cattle Raisers Association (The Association), stationed at Post, Garza County. To men, who lived in the area, would soon be the focus of Dave’s talents as a livestock theft investigator.
One of the men, Hillary Loftis, was born in 1872 in Mississippi and moved to Texas at age 13 to live with relatives in Lamar County. He was stocky, 5’9” tall and 160 pounds, with an oddly-shaped head, dark bushy hair and black eyes “that could pierce though a man like cold steel.” Known as “Hill,” he drifted about the Texas cattle country, working on and off for the Waggoner Ranch in Wilbarger County. Loftis learned the role of stockman so well he later was called “one of the best ranchmen produced in the Southwest.”
A fine ranchman perhaps, but the art of cattle rustling was not lost on young Loftis. By 1895, he was involved with an outlaw gang that allegedly robbed and pistol-whipped a clerk at the Waggoner company store, leaving the clerk near death, then robbed another store and the post office at Ronda, Texas, making off with cash and merchandise valued at $700.
Loftis fled west to Hobbs, New Mexico, and assumed a new identify - Tom Ross. Ross seemed to settle down and married Trixie Hardin. There was an unsuccessful attempt to arrest him by the Martin County Sheriff and a Texas Ranger, but after a shootout with the fugitive, the lawmen gave up the chase. The Wilbarger County charges were eventually dismissed, but Loftis/Ross’ problems with the law were just beginning.
The second man investigated by Dave Allison was Milton Good, born in 1889 near Tularosa, NM. Good moved with his family to Texas as a youngster. His father was a notorious cattle thief and his uncle was known as a man killer. “Milt”—short and stout, with brown hair and hazel eyes—became a well-known rodeo competitor, named the 1920 World Champion Steer Roper in Shreveport, Louisiana. He triumphantly returned to Texas and began cattle ranching near Brownfield, raised a family of eight children, and continued roping steers—sometimes even his own.
Association inspector Dave Allison got word Good was moving a sizeable herd of cattle with questionable brands. Joined by fellow Association inspector Horace “Hod” Roberson, Dave chased down the herd. There were violent threats, but no gunfire, and the lawmen seized 516 head of stolen cattle, soon returned to their rightful owners. Good was charged with cattle theft in Hockley, Lynn and Terry Counties, and he was furious.
Meanwhile, Tom Ross, who said “I was born to steal, and I don’t know any other way,” was the subject of a cattle theft investigation by Inspector Roberson, with Dave’s assistance. A Gaines County grand jury was scheduled to consider charges against Ross—and he too was furious.
Dave and Hod were summoned to Seminole, the Gaines County seat, to testify before the grand jury beginning April 2, 1923. Dave arrived alone, and Hod brought his wife Martha. They registered at the Gaines Hotel and settled in, on Easter Sunday, April 1. Meanwhile, Ross and Good, the angry suspects in Association investigations, hatched a deadly conspiracy. They paired up, lurking just outside of town.
The Gaines Hotel was perhaps the only suitable lodging in the small town of Seminole. Many participants in the grand jury proceedings who lived in other parts of the far-flung judicial district also checked in to the hotel: District Attorney Gordon McGuire of Lamesa, Tom Ross’ lawyer George Lockhart of Tahoka and others. They joined Dave, Hod and Martha for dinner at the hotel, along with several local citizens, including Sheriff Frank Britton.
After dinner, Martha retired upstairs to read in her room. The men gathered around a table in the tiny lobby for smoking and conversation. About 8 p.m., Sheriff Britton spotted a long gun poking through the door, but there was no time to react. Suddenly, BLAM! The deafening shotgun blast tore through Association man Hod’s head. Immediately, a second blast hit Dave, piercing his heart. As the others scattered like a covey of quail, Ross and Good brazenly entered the room, emptying their .45 semi-automatic pistols on Dave and Hod. The Association men were dead.
Martha heard the commotion, hurried downstairs and rushed to her husband’s lifeless body. She grabbed Hod’s revolver and ran to the doorway, firing away at the fleeing gunmen as they made their escape in a convertible. Both were wounded by Martha’s volley. In need of medical attention, the outlaws surrendered to Sheriff Britton, giving up a semi-automatic shotgun, two .30-30 Winchesters and two Colt .45 semi-automatic pistols.
A day after the shooting, the Gaines County grand jury indicted the pair for murder. On April 3, the judge on his own initiative changed the venue, moving the cases to Lubbock for trial.
The book, “Fearless Dave Allison” by Bob Alexander, was a source for this article. In next week’s Sunday A-J, the story of the murder trials of Tom Ross and Milt Good will be chronicled.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Caprock Chronicles: Murders at the Gaines Hotel: Part Two: Investigations and Tragedy
