and, with Roberts, pursued the mob to the south edge of town where they were hanging the prisoners from a large post oak. By the time the posse reached the mob, Lige and Pete Backus and Abe Wiggins were dead, but they managed to save Tom Turley while Charley Johnson escaped. This was the beginning activity of the vigilance committee, or Hoodoos, who used ambushes and midnight hangings to get rid of the thieves and outlaws who had been holding a "carnival of lawlessness in Mason County". Reign of terror intensifies Tom Gamel learned he was the target of the vigilance committee on March 25, prompting him to gather his friends and proceed into town in an effort to confront the threat, but Sheriff Clark immediately left. Gamel's group left after a couple of days but returned when Clark returned with 62 men, all Germans, and both groups agreed to peace with "no more mobs or hanging". However, in May, Deputy Wohrle arrested the "prominent and popular American" Tim Williamson, after Dan Hoerster revoked his year-old bond for stealing a yearling. Williamson worked for Charley Lehmberg in Loyal Valley, known for paying five dollars a head for unbranded cattle. Wohrle and Williamson were confronted a short distance from the ranch by a dozen men led by German rancher Peter Bader, who shot Williamson dead. This murder increased the tension between the American and German factions enormously, especially after a grand jury on May 12 failed to indict those responsible. Cooley's actions Among those now involved was Scott Cooley, an orphan raised by the Williamson family who vowed "he would get the men who did it". Cooley had been carried off by Indians after they killed his parents, but later raised by the Williamsons. Cooley served in Texas Rangers Company D under Captain Perry before taking up farming near Menardville. After Williamson's murder, Cooley came to Mason, learning as much as he could about the circumstances and the names of those involved. His first act of revenge occurred on August 10, when Cooley shot Worhle in the back of the head while he helped Doc Charley Harcourt dig a well, taking Worhle's scalp as would an Indian. Cooley formed a gang whose members included George Gladden, John and Mose Beard and Johnny Ringo. Gladden and Mose Beard were ambushed south of Mason by sixty men led by Peter Bader, Dan Hoerster