Moving to Weslaco

My dad told me this story about moving the family from the Killeen area to Weslaco. TomPa and the older boys had made train trips to the valley area to locate the new homestead. I am assuming they knew their Killeen area  property was being purchased by the federal government for the construction of Fort Hood. They found the property and bought the land and the house that was on it. Sometime later, they packed all their belongings and drove to their new home.

To their surprise there was a family living in it! TomPa explained that he was the rightful owner, but the family refused to leave, saying they were paying rent to the Sheriff.

TomPa had his family unload from the truck and he told them to wait in the front yard. He took the truck and a revolver to town to “meet with” the Sheriff.  Sometime later that day, TomPa and the Sheriff returned and the Sheriff explained to the resident family that indeed the Blackwells owned the property and they had to leave immediately.

Tommy Blackwell