After the verdicts were handed down for each de-
fendant for the murder of Dave Allison, the July, 1923 issue of The Cattleman reported: “The District Court of the Seventy-second Judicial District of Texas gave an answer to Tom Ross and Milt Good which should strike home to the lawless element of the Southwest that they cannot murder when their right to steal cattle without impunity is denied by the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association through its brand inspectors.” Ross, sentenced to 35 years, and Good, 26 years,
received their answers loud and clear. Trials for the murder of Inspector H.L. Roberson
were moved yet again, due to high publicity, to Abilene. After equally publicized and widely reported trials
in Abilene, Ross and Good were also found guilty of the murder of Inspector Roberson. Ross was sentenced to 20 years, and Good, 25. All sentences were to be served consecutively, resulting in punishments that amounted to life sentences.
Good and Ross escape After serving only a few years in prison, with no
hope for release, in November of 1925 Ross and Good successfully escaped from the penitentiary at Hunts- ville. Rewards were offered by the State of Texas for their capture and return to prison. In Milt Good’s book, Twelve Years in a Texas Prison,
he described going to Antlers, Okla., in June of 1926 while still a fugitive, to hunt and fi sh with his broth- er. One day, while he was hunting, the sheriff and 4 deputies appeared out of nowhere and captured him. “I had been betrayed by the man I was hunting with,” Good wrote. In October of 1927, Milt Good attempted a second prison break, but failed.
Inspector Dave Allison’s expense book is on display at the Cattle Raisers Museum.
Tom Ross was actually an alias of Hill Loftis. It was
believed that Loftis changed his name to Tom Ross due to his criminal past which, ironically, caught up with him again. After Ross’ escape from prison, he took on a second alias, Charles Gannon. In February of 1929, almost 6 years after he murdered Inspectors Allison and Roberson, and 3 and a half years after es- caping from prison, Tom Ross worked under the alias Charles Gannon as a ranch foreman in Montana. After Ross was criticized for his work by another cowboy, Ralph Hayward, Ross shot and killed Hayward, went to his room and shot himself. On Jan. 20, 1935, Miriam A. “Ma” Ferguson granted
Milt Good a full and complete pardon. Ma Ferguson pardoned almost 4,000 inmates during her time as governor to save money for the State during the Great Depression. Good was released from prison after serv- ing only 12 years for the murders of Inspectors Allison and Roberson. Ironically, in 1941, Good returned to prison for theft. Reading through old newspaper articles, old books
and The Cattleman archives confi rms that very little has changed in our society and in the way the Asso- ciation and its special rangers have conducted busi- ness since the 1923 murders of Allison and Roberson. TSCRA special rangers continue to serve members
This set of spurs belonged to Dave Allison. Photo courtesy of the Cattle Raisers Museum.
tscra.org
in much the same way — on horseback, checking brands, building cases, making contacts, testifying before grand juries, and working together with part- ners and fellow lawmen. The push between good and evil continues, but law and order wins when good people like Allison, Roberson and Mattie stand up against evil.
December 2016 The Cattleman 87
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