Travis Morgan has a long and lean build that belies the strength hidden within. His face has developed a perpetual squint from so many years out in the weather. His hair is more silver than brown compared to his younger days and his moustache is also fading to gray. Travis' voice is deep but has a rasp from his former habit of hard drinking and his current habit of occasional smoking (Travis prefers cigars, and not cheap ones) over cigarettes.

Taciturn - Travis is usually quiet and seems to treat his words like they cost him money to speak. He is not verbose, but usually when he speaks, his dry quiet tone tends to fill up a room when he talks. He is not a storyteller, but will talk when he needs to make a point. He does not brag or bluff. If he tells you he is going to do something to you, you don't have to worry about "If"...only "when".

Travis does tend to talk a bit more in the company of his brother and those he considers a friend. For all his usual strict following the law and his intolerance for those who have a reputation for criminal behavior, people, including his brother, do not understand the friendship he has with the known gambler and ne'er-do-well, Chance Duquesne.

Employer Name: Self-employed

Position: Drifter, Bounty Hunter, Lawman

Details: Travis and his brother, Hunter, worked for a war crimes task force organized by General Harcourt Adams from 1870 - 1873. After that, using connections made during those years, he took on jobs in various towns that needed “cleaned up”.

Expert Horseman - gained from a lifetime in the saddle and 4 years of cavalry combat experience during the Civil War.

Competent Rifle Marksman - Can hit a man sized target at range, but don't expect him to call his shot.

Excellent Pistol Shot - Learned from his Ranger and Cavalry days. Fully capable of hitting a man on horseback from his own saddle at speed.

Travis learned to carry a shotgun during the War...a sawed off version for melees. Continued the practice after the war. Now carries a cut down double barrel coach gun for "Social Occasions"

Deadly with a Blade - Survived more than a few fights at blade range growing up, before firearms were very trustworthy. Still carries a bone handled Bowie he has trusted with his life for many years...before, during, and after the War. Carries a pair of push daggers after a run in with a wanted man down near Louisiana that nearly cost him his life.

A fugitive named Chance Duquesne surprised him with one and sliced him up pretty good before he escaped. They met again a short time later and ended up having to work together against some common enemies. Morgan allowed him to go in repayment for his help and the two have encountered each other randomly over the years as their paths crossed. Both men have developed a respect for each other and the fact that they do have a certain kind of honor.

Father: Graeme Hunter Morgan (living); Owner of Rancho de los Morganos, a small but profitable ranch in the Hill Country near San Antonio, Texas. Co-owner and manager of Corvino Vineyards.

Mother: Rafaela de Luca Morgan (living); Owner of Corvino Vineyards. Rafaela maintains the household on the ranch, but does not work the ranch much these days. Instead, she has worked to expand Corvino and get the label recognized.

Brother: Hunter Augustus Morgan (08/01/1839)

Sister: Juliette Alora Morgan (1842-1844)

Grandparents: Dominic de Luca (maternal grandfather, deceased 1864), Sophia de Luca (maternal grandmother, deceased)

PLAYED CONNECTIONS

Shade Thornton (1866 - Present; friend, lives in Kalispell)

Chance Duquesne (Gambler, Occasional Criminal. Acquaintance and friend)

Prior to the 1800s: The Morgans immigrated from the Orkney Islands in Scotland to the American colonies in 1744, before the 1745 Jacobite uprising. Several members of the clan settled in the mountains around present-day Cherokee, North Carolina. Over time, some of the Morgans married into the Cherokee tribe and were scattered during the forced removal of the Cherokee from their homelands (1831-1850).

October 1835 to April 1836: Jason and Graeme Morgan answered the call for volunteers and joined the Army of Texas during the summer of 1835. Both men were hungry for adventure and the allure of generous land grants led them away from their North Carolina home. The war ended on April 21, 1836 at the Battle of San Jacinto. As promised, Graeme and Jason were given land near San Antonio, an area perfect for ranching. They soon established Rancho de los Morganos and sent for their mother who declined to make the journey.

1836 - 1837: Graeme, the younger of the two brothers settled happily to ranching. Jason, far more adventurous and quickly bored with ranch life, joined the Texas Rangers. Not long after settling in San Antonio, the Morgans met their neighbors, the de Lucas. Dominic de Luca was an Italian immigrant with a thriving vineyard. Corvino (Raven) Vineyards produced high-end, high-priced wines. The old man was quite pleased to have two eligible bachelors as neighbors since his daughter, Rafaela, had refused all offers of marriage. The Morgan brothers took one look at the stunning Rafaela and both fell in love with her.

While Jason was away on assignment with the Texas Rangers, Rafaela accepted Graeme’s marriage proposal. He tried to get in touch with Jason to no avail. In the spring of 1837, Gray and Rafaela were wed.

 July 21,1838: Rafaela gave birth to the first of their two sons, William Travis Morgan. A few days later, Jason returned and learned of his brother’s marriage. At first, Jason was very angry and hurt, but after seeing his new nephew and how much Graeme loved Rafaela, he was mollified. Although he would never marry himself, Jason became a loving and doting uncle to his two nephews.

August 1, 1839: On August 1, 1839, Rafaela Morgan gave birth to her second child. She and Graeme named him Hunter after his father’s mother’s family and Augustus for his birth month. There would be other pregnancies but most ended in miscarriages.

1840:

In March of 1840, just as Hunter was turning six years old, relations with the Comanche took a turn for the worse. A meeting was held in San Antonio between Texas officials and Comanche chiefs. The meeting was held under a flag of truce with a goal of negotiating the release of thirteen hostages, mainly women and children. The captives had been taken during the previous ten years under Mexican rule. The commissioners were outraged over perceived lies being told by the Comanche chiefs. Soldiers surrounded the Council House. The chiefs tried to escape and were killed by the Texas. Fierce fighting ensued between the Texans and the Comanches. Six Texans and thirty-three Comanches died in the fighting.

As expected, the Comanches were furious over the killing of their chiefs under a flag of truce. Hundreds of their warriors approached San Antonio but remained beyond the range of the Texans’ rifles. The Comanches suddenly retreated and it was believed the crisis was over. When they got back to their camps, the Comanche killed many of the Anglo prisoners they were planning on exchanging.

In August of 1840, Comanche warriors raided the heart of eastern Texas. Hundreds of Texans were killed and homes burned. After reaching the Gulf of Mexico, the Comanche began a slow retreat north. This gave the Texans time to organize. A militia, with the aid of Tonkawa scouts, ambushed the main body of the retreating Comanche at the Battle of Plum Creek at Lockhart, Texas. Fortunately, the Morgan’s ranch was not in the direct path of the raids and was spared.

May 3, 1842: Juliette Morgan born.

December 12, 1844: Death of sister, Juliette, from an unknown fever.

1845 to 1850

In 1845, Texas became the 28th state when it was annexed by the United States. Very little changed on Rancho de los Morganos. The spread continued to enjoy modest profits. There was some concern as raids by bands of Comancheros increased, but Graeme saw no reason to hire more men. Travis' life up to this point had been fairly uneventful. He spent much of his time tagging after his older brother, doing his chores and working with grandfather at the vineyard. He enjoyed learning the ins-and-outs of running a ranch, but his true passion was the winery. His grandfather, Dominic de Luca, often told him and his parents that Hunter had a natural palette for the wines. He literally began learning the art of winemaking as a toddler. Despite loving the vineyard and wine in general, Hunter, even as he grew older, never developed a tremendous love or even liking of alcohol in general.

Now assigned to the Texas Rangers’ San Antonio Division, Jason was a frequent visitor to the ranch. The family attended Mass together and Hunter’s uncle was often present for family gatherings and dinners. When his work did not demand his presence, Jason spent time with his nephews, teaching them about weapons, tracking men and animals - a skill that the ranch’s Tonkawa employees also augmented - and generally how to take care of themselves, to rely on each other and their own abilities to survive.

In between all of these activities was school. Rafaela insisted that her sons be well educated. They attended a nearby mission school and few evenings passed that she did not sit and read with them. Graeme would also sit with them, talk about current events in the state and around the country, and share his newspaper with them.

1851 to 1856

Life continued with Hunter dividing his time between dogging his beloved uncle’s footsteps, spending time at the vineyard, and his chores on the ranch. With both boys old enough to travel on their own, they were required to attend classes four days a week at the mission school on the outskirts of San Antonio. During the shorter winter days, they lived at their uncle’s villa in town. On Fridays, they made the ride back to the ranch.

1855 to 1861

Travis joined the Rangers ahead of his brother. Uncle Jason knew that Travis had a very dangerous streak in him and worked on making him not be the young man he was heading toward as he was growing older.

1861 to 1865: Civil War

On February 1, 1861, the state of Texas seceded from the United States of America. It joined the Confederate States on March 2, 1861.

Over the strenuous objections of their parents, their grandfather, and their uncle, Hunter and Travis chose to join the fight. In August of 1861, they enlisted in the 8th Texas Cavalry under the command of Colonel Benjamin Franklin Terry. The "Terry Rangers" as they became known, distinguished themselves in several battles during the Civil War. During their fours years of service, Terry's Texas Rangers fought in approximately two-hundred-seventy-five engagements in seven states.

The regiment earned a reputation that ranked it among the most effective mounted regiments in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. ~ Wikipedia

Both Hunter and Travis distinguished themselves with the 8th. Their commanding officers quickly learned that the pair worked better together than when separated despite a tendency to squabble and even resort to scuffling.

Returning to Texas at the end of the war was something of a jolt for both young men. Their beloved home state, like most of the South, had not weathered the war well. The war had also taken its toll on Ranchos de los Morganos and the Corvino Vineyard. After one of many raids by marauding Union soldiers, Dominic de Luca had died of a heart attack leaving his beloved vines to go fallow. The ranch had suffered major setbacks as well. Much of its livestock had been killed or run off leaving Graeme and Rafaela to scrape out a living as best as they could. Still, a majority of their Tonkawa employees refused to leave and they fared somewhat better than others in the area.

Although it was a shadow of its former self, the Texas Rangers were still operating as a state-wide law enforcement agency. The reception from Uncle Jason was a bit cool at first, but that did not last. He was too happy to have both of his nephews home alive, well and with all of their body parts intact. They once again resumed their positions as Texas Rangers. In their spare time, they helped Graeme and Rafaela get the ranch and vineyard back on its feet.

1866 to 1870

Angry returning veterans seized state property and Texas went through a period of extensive violence and disorder. Most outrages took place in northern Texas and were committed by outlaws who had their headquarters in the Indian Territory and plundered and murdered without distinction of party. The outlawry was not restricted to north Texas, the Hill Country around San Antonio experienced its fair share of raiders. Many of these gangs were comprised of disenfranchised land owners and soldiers from both sides of the war.

In 1866, while lounging just outside the Rangers’ headquarters in San Antonio, Hunter took note of a young man riding out of town at quite a clip. Something about him flagged a memory and he went inside to dig through the wanted flyers, eventually find the one he wanted. The man’s name was listed as Shade Thornton. He was wanted as a member of Cutler’s Raiders, an outlaw gang that had terrorized much of Texas. By the time that Hunter tracked down Travis and they got their gear assembled, Thornton had quite a head start on them. Both men agreed that they did not want to be spotted tracking him in the hopes he would lead them to the gang’s hideout.

However, their quarry proved far more elusive than they anticipated and led them a merry chase. They finally cornered him in a rocky arroyo near the small town of Paradise, some forty miles away from San Antonio. A gunfight left Hunter wounded and Shade Thornton trapped with no way out except past the two of them. After nearly three days, Shade surrendered having finally been convinced that the Morgans were not outlaws themselves out for loot. During the long ride back to San Antonio, Hunter and Travis learned that Shade Thornton was not the hardened criminal one would expect from someone riding with an outfit like Cutler’s Raiders.

By the time they had locked Shade Thornton in a cell, neither man had much stomach for what would happen to him after his trial. After talking it over with their uncle and after Jason talked to Thornton, a plan was put into action. Jase Morgan worked out a deal with the judge and prosecutor. Shade would be allowed to escape. In return, he would bring them information on Cutler and his outlaws, facilitating their capture. For that, he would be given a full pardon, legally acquitted of all crimes to date. Shade accepted the deal.

It was a risky operation, but in the end all of the gang were found and brought to justice. Afterward, Hunter and Travis talked their uncle into offering Thornton a job with the Rangers. Shade declined the offer with a counter-offer. He suggested that he keep doing what he had been doing. Embedding himself with various outlaw gangs and feeding information to the Rangers. Jason was a bit reluctant to put the young man in such a dangerous situation. Still, Thornton had proved himself adept at living the lie and obviously still felt a need to atone for past deeds. He finally accepted and Shade Thornton became an undercover operative for Jason’s division.

Late in 1869, during a bank robbery in San Antonio, Jason Morgan was shot and killed. By the time that Hunter and Travis had tracked down his killer, word had gone out that the Texas Rangers was being dissolved and replaced by the Union run Texas State Police. Both men decided that they could not remain in the new organization. They retired to the family business with plans to try and settle down and help their parents full-time. After years of living on the edge, neither brother settled into ranch life easily.

In early 1870, they returned to the ranch after driving a herd to the market to find a tall, gray-haired Union General having tea with their parents. The man introduced himself as General Harcourt Adams. His drawl placed him as a Southerner which proved to be the case. They learned that the man was from Tennessee and had, with great sorrow, chosen to serve his country instead of his state of birth. Now, he was charged with creating a task force to track down the worst of the war criminals from both sides of the conflict. After reviewing hundreds of service records, he had chosen a small unit of ten men. He was there to offer Travis and Hunter the last two positions. The downside was that they would have to put on the Union uniform in between assignments.

After debating the offer for several days, Hunter and Travis reported to General Adams’ new unit where they received their first assignment.

1871 to 1875

For the next few years, Hunter and Travis worked for Adams. They tracked down several notorious war criminals and, along the way, gained a reputation as men that could be counted on to help clean up towns. This was a job they continued on with even after the war crimes task force was disbanded. Their reputation as troubleshooters that could be counted on to back up lawmen and help end a town’s lawlessness increased. In between jobs, they would return to the ranch and spend time with their parents.

Arrival in Kalispell pending.