HELENA, TEXAS

'Helena, Texas' is a Texas ghost town located approximately 70 miles southeast of San Antonio. Once the seat of Karnes County, Helena was once known as the self-proclaimed "toughest town on earth" in the mid-1800s. It was also the birthplace of the Helena Duel in which the left hands of two opponents are tied together with buckskin and each fighter is given a knife with a three-inch blade. The weapon was too short to reach a vital organ or cause a single fatal stab. After the combatants were whirled around a few times, they slashed away at each other until one bled to death from the accumulation of cuts and stabs. Crowds of blood thirsty spectators viewed this gory, gruesome spectacle and even bet on the outcome.
Helena is now a ghost town, allegedly thanks to one father's grief over the town that killed his son. William G. Butler, a wealthy rancher, arranged for the railroad to be built 7 miles away from Helena and the town quickly died. William's son was killed by a stray bullet from a bar fight.

Contents

External Links

External Links

★ Handbook of Texas Online

★ Karnes County, Texas