Editing Karnes City, Texas (section)

== History ==
In 1894, as a result of a [[special election]], the county seat was moved from [[Helena, Texas|Helena]] to Karnes City. Ten years earlier, Colonel William G. Butler (1831–1912) had blamed Helena and its corrupt mayor for the death of his son, Emmett, who was killed on December 26, 1884, by a stray bullet from a bar fight. Butler, a wealthy rancher, retaliated by arranging for the [[San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway]], which started construction in 1885, to bypass Helena.

The railway started operation in 1886. By 1890, with no rail line, Helena was at a disadvantage for serving the county's needs. In 1890, a group of businessmen purchased land on the rail line, {{convert|7|mi|0}} southwest of Helena, with the specific intent of building a new town to serve as the county seat.<ref name=TSHOnline>{{cite web |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hgk01 |title=KARNES CITY, TX |work=[[Texas State Historical Association]] |first1=Roberta M. |last1=Ziegler |first2=Robert H. |last2=Thonhoff |access-date=2018-08-14}}</ref> The new town, named for Colonel [[Henry Karnes|Henry Wax Karnes]] (1812–1840), veteran of the [[Texas Revolution]] and a leader of the [[Texas Ranger Division|Texas Rangers]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fka02 |title=KARNES, HENRY WAX |work=[[Texas State Historical Association]] |first=Thomas W. |last=Cutrer |access-date=2018-08-14}}</ref> was a viable settlement by 1894, when the county voted to move its seat from Helena. Karnes City continued to grow, while Helena faded into a [[ghost town]].

The story was fictionalized in the 1969 episode "The Oldest Law" of the television series ''[[Death Valley Days]]''. In the episode, [[Jim Davis (actor)|Jim Davis]] played the role of Colonel Butler, while [[Stacy Harris]] played Helena's mayor.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0957663/?ref_=tt_ep_nx |title=The Oldest Law on ''Death Valley Days'' |publisher=[[IMDb|Internet Movie Database]] |access-date=July 16, 2015}}</ref>