Lon Oden - Early Life

Early Life

He was born Alonzo Van Oden and called "Lon", in Tilden, Texas, in McMullen County. At the time, Tilden was called Dogtown, and previously it had been called Rio Frio, because it is located on the Frio River. It was later changed to the name Colfax, but eventually settled on the name of Tilden, after Samuel Tilden, a presidential candidate. Lon Oden was born into a family with an exciting past.

His father, Aaron Van Buren Oden, of Swedish descent, had served several times as a Texas Ranger before fathering Lon Oden. Four months after Lon Oden's birth, Aaron Oden, accompanied by rancher George Hindes, encountered Julian Gonzales, a noted horse thief from Starr County, Texas. They came into contact with him between the towns of Presidio and Los Ojuelos, on the Rio Grande. In the ensuing gunfight that followed, Aaron Oden killed Gonzales, but was himself shot and killed by Gonzales. Hindes, lacking proper tools, buried Aaron Oden where he died, then had the task of informing Aaron's 19 year old wife, Mary Jane Walker Oden, of her husbands death. Mary Jane Oden was now left to raise their son with no father.

Lon Oden's grandfather, Mary Jane Oden's father, Joe Walker, had initially raised his family in Shelby County, Texas, but was forced to leave after he killed two men during the Regulator-Moderator War. They eventually settled in Atascosa County, where they became some of its earliest settlers. It was there that Mary Jane Walker married Aaron Van Oden. Mary Jane Oden, however, did not last long after her husbands death. She died on August 31, 1864, only a year after her husband. Her father Joe recorded in his journal that she died of a broken heart, out of grief.

This left Lon Oden to be raised by his grandparents, and both the Walker family and the Oden family shared in this task. His grandmother Oden taught him in the classics of her native Sweden. She also educated him in poetry and the arts. From the Walker side, he learned the arts of shooting, and the skills necessary to survive in a harsh land. His grandfather, Joe Walker, had a total of nineteen children, but due to the circumstances surrounding Lon Oden's becoming an orphan at the age of 1 year, Joe Walker took special interest in the child and his upbringing. When Lon was only 2 years old, Joseph Walker gave him 150 head of cattle, registering them with the "ODN" brand.

Lon Oden's uncles, Tom and James, were but teenagers when their sister died. Coming from the Walker family, which was noted for being rugged and tough, they were outdoorsmen, cowboys, and from the enormous amount of time he spent with them, Lon Oden learned the trade of cattle, and how to work them and wrangle them. During this time, he often saw his family battle against raiding Comanche, who would raid the ranch for horse or cattle. On Christmas Eve, 1868, his cousin William "Buck" Taylor was gunned down and killed, in a shooting which many attribute to have been the start of the Sutton-Taylor feud The Walker family was tied to the Taylor's due to James Walker having married Sophronia Taylor, the widow of Martin Taylor. Lon Oden's uncle Tom Walker became a somewhat well known gunman, who had several brushes with the law due to shootings he was involved in. He eventually drifted to Seven Rivers, New Mexico, and took part in the Lincoln County War as a member of the Seven Rivers Warriors gang. He was killed in a gunfight on November 23, 1879. This was the life and family in which Lon Oden was raised.