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A whimsical ink and watercolor, a young boy in early 1900's western clothing is hiding in some bushes watching a dramatic heated confrontation between adults taking place inside and outside a modest community church, righteous indignation, angry faces, hotheaded blustering, fists raised, some holding papers, ladies in their Sunday best arms akimbo scowling and fingers pointed.
Cut and Shoot, Texas.
Today Cut and Shoot is a small incorporated city in eastern Montgomery County, Texas, located about 40 miles north of Houston, with a population of approximately 1,100 people. According to the Texas State Historical Association, the city gets its unusual name from a tense 1912 community gathering at a local church and schoolhouse. Families argued bitterly over land claims and who had the right to preach from the pulpit, causing tensions to rise to the point where men showed up armed with knives and shotguns. A nervous young boy at the scene reportedly shouted that he was going to "cut around the corner and shoot through the bushes" if a fight broke out. The phrase was so memorable that it was eventually adopted as the town's name. It was officially incorporated as a town in April 1969 and later transitioned its official status to a city in August 2006. It also gained brief fame in 1958 when local heavyweight boxer Roy Harris fought Floyd Patterson for the world title, and so much mail was addressed to him there, the U.S. Postal Service granted a franchise post office to the town.
Population statistics were not reported for the community until the mid-1970s, when the number of residents was 50. By 1980, the incorporated community reported a population of 809, had a new town hall, and supported a school and several businesses. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town had a total area of 2.7 sq mi (7.0 km2).
