Nat Barrett

Nat Barrett. . , Born on the Grapevine Prairie in 1861, Nat left home at 16 to work the big Open Range ranches of South Texas. A young man of good character, he quickly became a Top Hand Cowboy and was invited to join the big cattle drives up the Chisholm Trail to Dodge City Kansas. Nat toughened up under the harsh conditions of making the long cattle drive many times through extreme weather conditions, uncertain Indian Territory and just a light bedroll between him and the ground. However, he worked hard and saved his money for his dream ranch. Then abruptly, the cattle drives stopped, replaced by the railroads taking the cattle directly to Chicago. Nat was out of work and soon had to depend on his savings., It was now 1890 and Nat had heard that the Cotton Belt train from St. Louis was carrying the biggest cash box ever to the biggest cattle, horse and mule auction in the Fort Worth Stockyards. Now, he knew that the train would have to stop in Grapevine to take on water for the steam locomotive and that they would unload passengers and freight. Nat was bitter against the railroads for putting him out of work and costing him his savings for his ranch. He thought that if he could just snatch that $60,000 cash box while the train was stopped and all the commotion of people getting off and the train crew taking on water and freight and such, he could do it without anyone getting hurt. He would then slip away, buy his big ranch and never step on the wrong side of the law again.