A lesson on knife fights and Colts in Texas history.
"At one time, Williamson was commissioned by the president of the Republic of Texas to go to a distantcounty to hold a term of court. As was so often the case in nineteenth-century Texas, the county was divided into factions that spent most of the time cutting each other's throats. No courts had been held for years. The citizens had recently convened a meeting in which they adopted a resolution stating that no court should be held (afraid no doubt, of the numerous indictments for murder that would be forthcoming). When Judge Williamson took the bench, a lawyer rose up and read the resolution. When asked by the judge to cite authority for such a resolution, the lawyer pulled a Bowie knife, laid it on the table, and said, "This is the statute which governs in such cases."
Judge Williamson, quick as lightning, drew his long pistol and, in an unmistakable tone, replied, "And this is the constitution which overrides the statute.” The court was held without conflict between the "statute" and the "constitution.""
