Juice and Apple

Atop a hill in the farthest reaches of the vast plains of the Texas panhandle lies one of the most storied of its day, and least-known cemeteries of the Old West. It holds the bodies of the victims of one of the bloodiest and most adrenaline-filled gunfights in history, better known at the time than the shootout at the OK corral. 

An argument over a woman, and the bragging of the man who won her over, led to “The Big Fight”. It ended with 4 dead, 2 severely wounded, and just as many lucky to get away with holes in their coats or hats, narrowly escaping the same fate. It lasted over 15 minutes while the shootout at the OK corral took a minute, maybe 2. This was the fodder of dime novels for decades.

That is just one story at Boot Hill, named as such because the people there died with their boots on. There are 27 people buried there and each has a story that is uniquely their own.

The first interred there died over a duck, and alongside gunfighters, there is “The Dutchman” killed by “The Catfish Kid.” Catfish is buried in the cemetery at Huntsville prison, but he was in The Big Fight. He only lived by feigning a gunshot, choking, and rolling on the ground. By doing so he was able to get up and run away.

There are unknown graves in a row, a woman and 2 children stacked triple due to a smallpox outbreak, a suicide with no record but a grave, and “Big Jim” Benson who was struck by lightning. There are many other colorful names there as well. 

To get buried up there was an undertaking. It wasn’t easy to have a service up there and it was a gift, an amazing place from which they viewed the world eternally. Juice and Apple are two of those many stories on that hill.

Tascosa was a town that lit like a match. It burned bright and left as quickly as it came. It was one of the original 3 towns in the Panhandle of Texas. Billy the Kid legitimately went there before he killed 21 men in Lincoln County, New Mexico. Ruben Juice probably served him dinner every night he was there, an easy assumption considering there was one place to eat. Apple Axe was his helper, and probably prepped everything for him, she did everything else he needed help with. 

We know they existed by the markers on their graves and one line that survived in Oldham County historical logs. It lists their names and dates of deaths. The notes say that Juice “up and died.” and Apple “went with him.” That's it.