The Frontierado Holiday is fast approaching and will be marked Friday August 2nd this year. Frontierado is about the myth of the old west, not the grinding reality. Balladeer's Blog has covered a lot of Range Wars of the old west, and a few Mormon Wars, but this time I'll present some politically oriented gunplay.
JAYBIRD VS WOODPECKER WAR (1888-1889) - First off, let's make sure to distinguish between JayHAWKS and JayBIRDS. Jayhawks were the anti-slavery forces in Bleeding Kansas during the 1850s. Jaybirds were in 1880s Texas and were the racist white Democrat forces trying to expel the mixed black and white Woodpeckers who had gained power from Republicans during Reconstruction after the Civil War.
NOTE: An old song about Woodpeckers and Jaybirds had provided the names of the two factions. Democrats seized upon the name Jaybirds, which left Republicans with the name Woodpeckers.
Fort Bend County in Texas was the site of the Jaybird-Woodpecker War. As election day approached, tensions grew so high that exchanges of gunfire as well as violent beatings had broken out.
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