A TOUGH EAST TEXAN

Even though he has been dead more than 150 years, Wood County folks still talk about pioneer Martin Varner's toughness, especially the way he met his maker.

Born in 1787, Varner came to Texas in the early 1800s and was one of the founders of Jonesboro on the Red River, the Texas gateway for such notables as Sam Houston and Davy Crockett.

In 1816, Varner found himself in a pitched battle with the Osage Indians on the Red River near what is now Denison. He was wounded, but recovered, and in the 1820s joined Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred Colony, settling on a land grant near West Columbia, where he built a log cabin.

Here, Varner and Henry Walters started dabbling in whiskey making and in 1829 they sent a bottle to Austin, who credited them with making the first ardent spirits in Texas.

Varner then began soldiering, participating in the Battle of Velasco in 1832 and at the Battle of San Jacinto four years later. For his San Jacinto service, he was given 640 acres of land in Wood County, where he and his family settled in 1841, becoming the county's first white settlers.

Varner's decision to settle in Wood County proved to be fatal four years later.

In 1844, while living in a log cabin near the Redland community, Varner got into a dispute over a debt with a neighbor, Simon Gonzales, a Mexican carpenter.

Gonzales rode up to the Varner home, the two men began a heated discussion, and Gonzales pulled a pistol and shot Varner in the back. Varner whipped out a Bowie knife and began slashing away at Gonzales. When Varner's son, Stephen, 18, rushed to his father's side, Gonzales shot and killed him instantly.

Hearing the screams of the Varners, a family slave known as Joe forcibly freed the older Varner from Gonzales' clutches and subdued the attacker. As Joe held down Gonzales, Varner cut the tendons in Gonzales' legs.

Gonzales pleaded with Varner to kill him quickly, but Varner refused, reasoning that a quick death would not be commensurate with the crime he had committed.

Gonzales was thrown into a hog pen where the animals began to chew on his body. When he finally died the next morning, his remains were hauled to a remote part of his own farm and buried in a shallow grave.

Varner died from his gunshot wound three days after the fight. He and Stephen were buried side by side on a hilltop overlooking their home. His wife, Elizabeth Inglish Varner, was buried beside them when she passed away in 1851.

Most Texans remember Varner for another reason other than the way he died.