History
Origins[]
Tex Morgan was born in the town of Mesquite, Texas during the days of the American Frontier. As he grew up he became a crack-shot with a pistol. Also during his childhood he befriended a local Native American named Lobo. As he grew older, his mother did not wish Tex to grow up in such a lawless land. She wanted him to get a proper education and so she moved him up north, away from his father. When he reached adulthood his mother fell ill and on her deathbed he promised her that he would never carry a gun. While he was up north, Tex's father was murdered by Blackie Malkin, who sought to obtain his ranch. Lobo fled into the woods.
Informed that his father had died of natural causes, Tex returned to Mesquite to find that his father's ranch was "willed" over to Malkin before his death. Tex then found his uncle William Brady shot and nursed him to health. Tex was informed by Brady that his father was really murdered by Malkin. Seeking revenge Morgan took his father's guns and shot Malkin dead. With no proof, Morgan was arrested and locked in prison. However, those sympathetic to Tex's plight contacted Lobo who returned from the forest and helped spring his friend from jail. Suspecting that Lawyer Davis was responsible for the doctored will, Tex confronted and gunned the man down, finding his father's real will that entitled him to the land. However, Tex was still a wanted outlaw and fled into the range.
Riding into Horsehead Junction, Tex and Lobo soon found that there was a reward on Tex's head for the killings he did back home. They also learned that the locals of the area were trying to capture a Palomino Stallion that had been stealing mares from the local ranches. Tex managed to track down the stallion and was able to tame it as his own, naming it Lightning and giving Lobo one of its mares, whom Lobo named Cloud. Soon, Tex and Lobo were called to the Governor of Texas who offered Tex the opportunity to have the charges against him dropped if he became a secret US Marshall if he could shut down Squint Johnson's counterfeiting ring in Horsehead Junction. Tex takes the job and he and Lobo uncovered that the money was being smuggled up from Mexico inside false horns that were put on the heads of herds of oxen. In completing his mission, all charges against Tex were dropped and he was allowed to act as a travelling US marshal across the range.[1]
US Marshall[]
In his first recorded action as a US Marshall, Tex and Lobo rode into an Arizona town where Tex decided to get a glass of milk from the local saloon. There he was harassed by local Whip Coady and refused service by the saloon owner. Tex's superior gun skills convinced them otherwise, and Tex forced Whip to paint a sign outside the saloon offering free milk to those who offered it, at Whip's own expense.[1] While riding in the Painted Desert, Tex and Lobo were informed of a plot by local named Grasson to steal the cattle from widow Brown, preventing a major sale at nearby Fort Benson to pay her mortgage. Not only do Tex and Lobo prevent the theft of cattle, but with the aid of the soldiers at Fort Benson gun down Grasson and his gang.[2] Riding into Bitters Creek, Tex and Lobo got in the middle of a dispute between the Nesters (squatters who would gain land rights if they lived on unclaimed land for over a year) and Grat Danvers who was trying to drive them out of the area. Tex and Lobo prevented the locals from being pressured into voting Grat as the new sheriff. When Grat shot the old sheriff, Tex gunned him down. On their way to the town of Tombstone, Arizona, Tex and Lobo learn their friend Tim Doland was shot and killed by three men who stole his gold. The pair then tracked the outlaws to a nearby ghost town and killed them and recovered the stolen gold. The pair next came to the aid of Dusty Dugan who was framed for murdering the local sheriff by Blackie Manners. Tex and Lobo exposed Blackie, who had murdered the sheriff in order to get Dusty's fiancée Nan to turn over her Double Z ranch to him.[3]
Tex Morgan and Lobo next came to the aid of area ranchers who were being terrorized by a wild Pinto Stallion named Killer who was stealing mares. Tex and Lobo tracked down the stallion, but Tex was knocked off his horse. Before Killer could trample Tex to death, Lightning got in the middle and beat the wild horse to death.[4] In another town, Tex Morgan participates in a local rodeo to win a $1000 purse for Susan Burns, the crippled granddaughter of retired Arizona Burns when his grandson is injured by Ace Stevens who wanted to win the money by any means. When Stevens lost to Tex, and tried to shoot the hero, Tex was faster at the draw.[5] Riding into Clear Creek, Tex and Lobo learned of the disappearances of locals near a ghost town called White Man's End and go to investigate. There they are captured by some outlaws who are tricking an insane miner named Franklin into finding his lost gold. Tex and Lobo break free, gunning down the outlaws and sending Franklin fleeing into the mine in a panic and falling down a shaft to his death.[6]
Tex and Lobo next came to the aid of Nancy Davis who was being stalked all across the range by duelist Colonel Daniel Prescott who sought to force Nancy to marry him and killed her previous lover in a duel. Tex went up against Prescott in a duel and won, shooting Prescott dead. They next saved the town of Red Creek Run from Frank Thomas and his marauding gang, then prevented Red-Dog Jackson from starving the local Native population by over-hunting the local buffalo herds.[7]
In the town of Seven Mile, Tex and Lobo were hired by a Pony Express worker named Peters to stop robbers from robbing the mail deliveries. In rounding up the outlaws, they discovered that Peters was their leader.[8] While riding through Clear Creek, Tex and Lobo got caught in the middle of a range war between cattleman Jack Daniels and sheep herder Bob Miller, and helped the locals put a stop to the bloodshed. In the town of Mineral Wells, near the Ute Reservation, Lobo is accused of a series of robberies. Tex comes to his rescue and the pair reveal that the local sheriff was posing as a Native American in order to get away with his thefts. In Grey Wolf Valley, Tex and Lobo learn that local rancher Mal Rogell was offering cattle runners free graze land. However, the a pack of wolves attacked every rancher who grazed their cattle there, forcing them to sell their surviving cattle to Rogell at a discounted price. While tracking down the wolves to destroy them, Tex and Lobo uncover that Rogell had trained them to attack the cattle. Penned in with them, Tex was saved by Lobo who revealed an ability to communicate with wolves and had the feral beasts turn on their masters. After Rogell and his associates were dead, Tex and Lobo exterminated the wolves.[9] Tex and Lobo were next ordered by the governor to travel to the town of Mud-Creek where they were to apprehend an outlaw mastermind named Big Head and his accomplice the Masked Rider who had stolen a shipment of Springfield Rifles. With a posse they wiped out the gang of outlaws and exposed the Masked Rider to be Baxter, the purchasing agent responsible for the sale of the rifles.[10]
In Hangtown, Tex and Lobo put a stop to the Vulture and his gang of outlaws. After the pair were framed for a coach robbery carried out by Madeline Drake and her lover Harvey. Lobo escaped while Tex was sentenced to hang. Freeing Tex, the pair tracked down and captured Madeline and Harvey and forced them to make a confession, clearing their names. Taking some time off in New Mexico, a gold prospector friend of Tex's discovered a long lost Spanish exploration ship and its treasure of gold doubloons. When the prospector is killed by the Calico Kid, Tex and Lobo tracked them down through a sandstorm to the Spanish ship and wiped them out, leaving the ship and it's remaining gold to be lost in the swirling sand.[11] The pair were next hired to help stop an outlaw gang of train robbers led by Leslie Krug. Krug evaded capture and disguised himself as a murdered merchant and attempted to flee into Mexico, until he was apprehended by Tex and Lobo.[12] Taking another vacation, Tex and Lobo ride to Baja, California to visit Tex's friend Don Juan. When they arrived they discovered that Don was murdered and soon found themselves in the middle of a murder mystery that was picking off Juan's last surviving relatives. Tex and Lobo eventually exposed the killer as Don's lawyer Samuel Summers who made the mistake of fleeing into a tigers cage and was mauled to death. The duo were next went on the trail of three men who robbed a bank in Sioux Falls. The pair tracked the outlaws to widow Simpson's dude ranch in Cherry Creek Valley, posing as tenderfoots long enough to nab their men. Shortly thereafter, Tex and Lobo assist a gold prospector named Shorty defend his gold prospect from Curly Martin.[13]
Morgan and Lobo later came to the aid of a nearby Blackfoot Reservation who were being blamed for a series of robberies in the area, exposing the local sheriff and his posse as posing as Native Americans to commit their crimes. The duo were next sent up to Canada to track down stolen jewels exposing that log camp owner Rose Talmage was responsible for the theft.[14] Returning to the United States, Tex and Lobo rode into Choctaw Creek where they stumble into a war between the local sheriff and Tord Stevens and his gang, the pair help the sheriff wipe out Stevens and his crew.[15] Later in Rimrock Valley, they found the town plagued by Zombies raised from the dead by Carl Tuesday and help liberate the town by killing Tuesday before he could take it over with his horde of the undead. With Tuesday dead his legion of the dead returned to their final rest.[16]
In Powder Valley, Tex Morgan and Lobo prevented the Crow tribe from going on the rampage when they were being forced off their land by some outlaws trying to take stake in their gold rich land. The pair were next hired by the Silver City cattlemen's association to take down a cattle rustling ring, finding their operation run by the local sheriff out of an abandoned silver mine.[17] When businessman King Jack was preventing cattle ranchers from bringing their herds across Bloody River to sell in town, Tex and Lobo assisted Nancy Wilson in getting her herd across, killing Jack in the process.[18]
Red Hawkins[]
For reasons unknown, Tex and Lobo began operating under the assumed aliases of Red Hawkins and Little Feather. Coming across a wild white stallion the two made a bet that Little Feather could not capture the wild mare. Little Feather lost the bet, but only because he decided not to capture the creature when he found that she had children to look after.[19] Working solo for the first time in years, Red Hawkins next prevented a range war between cattlemen and sheepherders that were being manipulated by Russ Winters, who sought to control the water in the region and make a hefty profit.[20] Hawkins later exposed some rustlers who work for a rich rancher.[21]
Tex Morgan/Red Hawkins has not been seen since, his adventures becoming legend and his fate lost to history.Paraphernalia
Weapons
Transportation
Notes
- The Tex Morgan character was phased out of regular western titles by Timely/Atlas in 1950. However, leftover stories found the character renamed "Red Hawkins", the Red Hawkins stories were clearly Tex Morgan stories but the character names were changed and Tex's trademark yellow shirt was coloured red.
See Also
- 21 appearance(s) of Tex Morgan (Earth-616)
- 10 image(s) of Tex Morgan (Earth-616)
- 2 victim(s) killed by Tex Morgan (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tex Morgan #1
- ↑ Wild Western #3
- ↑ Tex Morgan #2
- ↑ Blaze Carson #2
- ↑ Wild Western #4
- ↑ Kid Colt Outlaw #3
- ↑ Tex Morgan #3
- ↑ Blaze Carson #3
- ↑ Tex Morgan #4
- ↑ Wild Western #6
- ↑ Tex Morgan #5
- ↑ Wild Western #7
- ↑ Tex Morgan #6
- ↑ Tex Morgan #7
- ↑ Wild Western #9
- ↑ Tex Morgan #8
- ↑ Tex Morgan #9
- ↑ Wild Western #11
- ↑ Apache Kid #53
- ↑ Wild Western #13
- ↑ Wild Western #14