The Farmers’ Alliance, also known as the Grand State Farmers’ Alliance of Texas, was initially organized in Lampasas County, Texas, in 1875, but quickly spread to many regions throughout Texas. Its mission was to fight against horse thieves, Indian and Mexican bandits, and land sharks. Though steeped in violent history and acts, the Alliance was mainly a nonviolent movement for agrarian reform in both the political and economic sectors of life in Texas. Gillespie County started its own branch with farmer Fred C. Striegler acting as business agent.
Sources: Smith, Ralph. The Farmer's Alliance in Texas, 1875-1900: A Revolt against Bourbon and Bourgeois Democracy. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 3 (Jan., 1945), pp. 346-369.
Brown, Richard Maxwell. Strain of violence: historical studies of American violence and vigilantism. Oxford University Press US, 1975.
From the guide to the Gillespie County Alliance Minutes, 1886-1896, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)
