Scott Cooley, who was born in Texas around 1845, spent his early years as an honorable man, and in fact served as a Texas Ranger. When he met Johnny Ringo, all those years of being a good man ended. Cooley got involved in the Mason County War, and that was where he met Ringo.
Cooley’s life wasn’t an easy one. He was orphaned as a young boy, when Native Americans killed his parents. While he was truly alone, he was unofficially adopted and raised by a rancher named Tim Williamson and his wife, who nursed him through Typhoid as a child. Cooley grew up to have a great deal of respect for the couple, which would later come into play at the eruption of the Mason County War.
When Cooley joined the Texas Rangers, as a young man, he served in Captain Cicero R Perry’s Company D. He quickly earned recognition for his relentless pursuit of outlaws. He was considered very dedicated and loyal. Then, in an odd move, Cooley resigned in 1875. He then took up farming and ranching near Maynardville, Texas. During this time, he and his benefactor, Tim Williamson, made two cattle drives to Kansas.
On May 13, 1875, Cooley’s life completely changed, when Deputy Sheriff John Worley arrested Tim Williamson on the suspicion of cattle rustling. It was the last straw. While Worley escorted Williamson to jail, an angry mob of German cattlemen abducted the prisoner and shot him to death. Thus began the Mason County War in Texas, which pitted the German cattlemen against the native-born Texans. Cooley blamed Worley for Williamson’s death, as he believed Worley had colluded with the German ambushers. He waited for the ambushers to be 
arrested but took matters into his own hands when no indictments were made against them.
Cooley recruited several men to help him get his revenge, including John and Mose Beard, George Gladden, and Johnny Ringo. Then, the gang went out to avenge Tim Williamson’s death. Cooley and his “posse” went to Worley’s home, where he found the deputy working on his well with an assistant, who had been lowered over the side. Cooley shot Worley dead, and the well worker who was clinging to the rope, fell to the bottom of the well. To complete his revenge, Cooley scalped Worley, and proudly displayed his prize to the Germans. The gang went on to kill Peter Bader, who was believed to have been Williamson’s actual killer. They then tracked down another man named Daniel Hoerster, murdering him. Hoerster was suspected of having been part of the ambush group.
The actions of revenge were not going to be overlooked by the Germans, who retaliated. A posse led by Sheriff John Clark ambushed Mose Beard and George Gladden, killing Beard and seriously wounding Gladden. The sheriff’s posse included Charles Bader, brother to Cooley’s second victim, Peter Bader, who was after his own revenge. Not to be outdone, Cooley and his allies began to kill a number of the ambushers. This was to retaliate by the hanging of two of Cooley’s confederates. The killing continued back and forth for the next 
several months. The Texas Rangers were friends of Cooley’s, so they didn’t do much about it.
Scott Cooley and Johnny Ringo were arrested by Sheriff A J Strickland in December 1875. With the help of friends, they later escaped from the Lampasas County, Texas jail. Cooley later escaped from a posse at the Llano River. It was believed that he fled to Blanco County. There he lived with friends and died a short time later of brain fever. Only a few minor gunmen were ever charged for the revenge killings, but one was Johnny Ringo. He was acquitted. He would turn up later in Tombstone, Arizona, to tangle with the likes of Wyatt Earp.
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