Deborah Hall
Saloons, red-light districts, and gunfights were the main lures for Tascosa, Texas, in the 1800s. That is, however, until a young, petite, blue-eyed, saloon girl named Frenchy brought something new to town… love.
Tascosa was the first town to form in the West Texas Panhandle. Elisabeth Mcgraw was the alleged name of the pretty saloon girl who would soon catch the eye of an Irish gambler, Mickey McCormick. The girl didn’t talk about her past, but the people called her Frenchy because she could speak french and she was from Baton Rouge. According to the Texas State Historical Association, Frenchy was believed to also be of Irish descent. She was a runaway who made her money in saloons and dance halls in Dodge City and St. Louis before she made her way to Texas.
Photo: Julian Bivins Museum via Mike Pacino
While McCormick was gambling in Mobeetie, he noticed that he had good luck when Frenchy was at his table. McCormick had set up a livery-stable operation in Tascosa, and he asked Frenchy to return with him. Frenchy became the belle of Tacosa. She and McCormick were married in 1880.
In 1887, the railroad bypassed Tascosa, a twist of fate that would ultimately turn the community into a ghost town. McCormick lost his business and took Frenchy to Adascosa Creek, where they lived in an adobe house. Their love for one another remained strong and obtained the historical status of a romantic folktale.
Photo: Julian Bivins Museum via Mike Pacino
In 1912, McCormick died and was buried near the house in Casimero Romero Cemetery. Frenchy continued to live in what was left of Tascosa, refusing to leave her beloved husband’s grave. She lived alone for 27 years with the hope that the town would one day revive. She only agreed to move on under one condition, that she’d be moved back when she died to be buried next to her husband.
Frenchy died in 1941, and she was buried next to McCormick. Frenchy is still idealized as the last girl of the Golden West. She never got to see the town revive. However, when the town’s new residents arrived, Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch, they heard about Frenchy’s story, and made a headstone for her and placed it on her grave.
