Texas Tidbits: Santa Robs Bank, MeetsTexas Justice

"Santa" spent Christmas, 1927 Here***

This is one of the most unusual Christmas-time stories you have ever heard or will hear in your entire life. It's not a feelgood, family type of story, far from it. This is the story about the hanging of Santa Claus! I ain't typin' with a stutter and your ears ain't flappin'. You read that right. The hanging of Santa Claus. Of course, we're not referring to the real St. Nick, but we are referring to a rotten, no good, egg suckin' old polecat impersonating the jolly old elf. The article I'll be quoting from is a bit long, so for brevity's sake, I'll excerpt parts of it and then insert a final link so when you have a few minutes you can scoot on over to the article's source and read it there.

The year was 1927. It was the day before Christmas Eve in Cisco, Texas.The most joyful time of the year was about to explode into a hail of gunfire, shattering the quiet of the Yuletide season. Santa Claus would be the focus of attention, but not for the reasons you'd expect. On this day, Santa was being sought as a bank robber and killer. Santa's actions resulted in one of the most bizzare and intense manhunts in Texas Hisory.

You see, on December 23, 1927, Santa was dressed in his Christmas finest, walking down the main street in Cisco, greeting and patting children on the head as he ambled down the street, until he got to the First National Bank. Santa entered the bank, soon to be followed by three armed men. "Once inside, Santa received a pleasant greeting of "Hello, Santa," from the cashier. Santa did not respond, but walked to a desk in the middle of the lobby, the one where bank customers wrote out their deposit slips. A few customers were already at the teller's window making their deposits. The cashier again called out, "Hello, Santa." Again, no response.

Right about at this point, a young man entered the Bank, pointed a pistol at the cashier, and snarled, "Hands up!!"

A second bandit entered. He was also brandishing a gun. A third armed man entered. Santa Claus pushed through the swinging door, past the cashier's desk, went into the cashier's cage, opened a drawer under the counter, and removed a pistol from that location, stuffing it under his red Santa suit. Now there were four armed men, including Santa Claus." Thanks to Texasescapes.com

What the heck? Santa Claus a bank robber? I'm afraid it's true. There's a lot more to this story, which has been described by Boyce House as "the most spectacular crime in the history of the Southwest ... surpassing any in which Billy the Kid or the James boys had ever figured." Now that's saying something.

Read the entire version of this most unlikely of Christmas tales at Texas Escapes. It's certainly worth your time, because it's the kind of story with the kind of ending that could only happen in Texas in 1927.


(image from rootsweb.com)