Scott Cooley

Scott Cooley (1845 – June 1876) was an Old West Texas Ranger and later outlaw, best known for his association with gunman Johnny Ringo.

Cooley was born in Texas, and was unofficially adopted as a boy and raised by rancher Tim Williamson. As a child, Tim Williamson and his wife nursed Cooley through a serious illness when he contracted Typhoid, and Cooley treated the couple with the utmost respect. He joined the Texas Rangers as a young man. He was well respected as a lawman, and even feared due to his relentless pursuit of outlaws. However, on May 13, 1875, Tim Williamson was falsely arrested in Mason County, Texas for cattle rustling by Deputy Sheriff John Worley (sometimes spelled John Worhle). While Williamson was being escorted to jail by Worley, an angry mob of German cattle ranchers jerked him aside and shot him to death. This event marked the beginning of what would be called the Mason County War, known also as the "Hoodoo War".

When Cooley received the news at the Texas Ranger camp where his Ranger Company was based, he broke into uncontrollable crying, which quickly turned to anger. Cooley blamed Worley for Williamson's death, believing that he was in cahoots with the Germans, as Worley was of German descent. However, he waited for indictments to be passed down from the court against those responsible for Williamson's death, but when none came, he took matters into his own hands. Cooley went to Worley's home, where Worley was working on his well with a helper. Cooley shot and killed Worley on sight. He then scalped him, and displayed the scalp as a prize to the Germans. Cooley then killed German cattleman Carl Bader. By that time gunman Johnny Ringo had joined Cooley, along with several others. Two of Ringo's friends, Moses Baird and George Gladden, were ambushed shortly thereafter by a posse led by Sheriff John Clark, during which Baird was killed and Gladden seriously wounded. That posse included Peter Bader, brother to Cooley's second victim, Carl Bader.

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