Great Plains Studies, Center for
Date of this Version
Fall 2011
Citation
Great Plains Quarterly 31:4 (Fall 2011).
Abstract
In The Johnson-Sims Feud, Bill O'Neal describes how interactions soured between two West Texas families due, in part, to an unfortunate marriage. Joining numerous scholars who have traced the presence of violence in frontier areas, O'Neal contends that the bad blood between the Johnsons and the Simses escalated into a feuding state that lasted for decades.
The work begins in the late 1870s with the arrival of early settlers "Billy" Johnson and Dave Sims, two men determined to "create cattle empires in the rugged vastness of West Texas." Embracing the intricacies of ranching life, they both met with great success and raised large families in the neighboring counties of Kent and Scurry. Out of these connections came the 1905 marriage of Ed Sims and Gladys Johnson, which ended in divorce and the public murder of Ed by Gladys and her brother.
Comments
Copyright © 2011 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska.