Drew MacFarlane (1860-) was an American rancher who founded MacFarlane's Ranch in Hennigan's Stead, Texas in 1881. He was the father of Bonnie MacFarlane and six sons, all but one of whom died young.
Biography[]
Drew MacFarlane was born in Tennessee in 1860, and he settled in Hennigan's Stead, Texas in 1881, founding MacFarlane's Ranch in rural Pecos County. For ten years, he and other white settlers fought the Native Americans over the unsettled region, and he had to deal with outlaws, drought, smallpox, terrible winters, cholera, and several other calamities which were common during the Wild West era. He went on to father six sons and one daughter: Hank in 1881, Owen in 1882, Gus in 1883, Ethan and Bonnie in 1884, and Cole and Patrick in unknown years. Hank died at the age of twelve from tuberculosis in 1893, Owen died at the age of fourteen from chronic diarrhea in 1896, Cole died from a gunshot wound to the head in 1899, Ethan died at the age of nineteen after being kicked in the head by a bull in 1903, and Gus was killed in a bar fight in 1905 at the age of 22. Patrick went on to abandon the family to become a banker in New York City, while Bonnie - Drew's last remaining child - took care of the ranch for her ailing father. In 1911, his daughter took in the badly wounded outlaw and BOI associate John Marston after he was shot and left for dead by Bill Williamson's gang at Fort Mercer, and, while the gruff Drew MacFarlane told Marston that he was a brave man and would be welcome to stay at his ranch, he expressed his dislike for the government, his distrust of special agents, and his distaste for East Coast civilization. Drew later grew angry at John when his daughter was kidnapped by Williamson's gang, only for Marston to rescue her, regain Drew MacFarlane's trust and respect, and eventually meet him one last time when he bought cattle from the MacFarlanes later that year.