Vicki Betts,
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Wm. Thomas Scott (1811–1887) of Scottsville, Harrison Co TX. To me, he sounds like a good candidate to be the the gent seeking cattle in the Palo Pinto Co TX area accompanied by 45 cowboys hands. Even though he had a rather drastic financial reversal between 1860 and 1870 census ($31,000/$248,202 compared with $3,000/$1200), he is still much better off than his neighbors.
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Very few men can organize a group of 45 mounted men to venture 250 miles - one way, esp. in the winter of 1864-1865. I have studied 240 militia listing of North Texas, and believe me, others tried and failied to organize groups of men. The best predictor of who will raise a militia is net worth; and if he made money once, neighbors have confidence that he will again increase his net worth. Also, his neighbors needed food ... the wild game was probably pretty low by the winter of 1864-65.
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Winter of 1864-65. Maybe his Scott family would know more about his activities during the 1864-1865 winter.
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Patti, prochette@Juno.com
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