illphated
“The Stand at Dustwater Ridge”
By Illphated
Out in the scorched Texas flats, where the horizon melted into sky, there stood a woman named Mae Delaney.
Mae wasn’t the kind to back down. She wasn’t the kind to look for trouble either, but when trouble came knocking, she’d meet it with boots planted and eyes steady. Folks in Dustwater called her Iron Mae—not because she was cold, but because she was unbending.
That summer, the railroad men rolled in with their polished boots and silk-lined vests, flashing contracts and talking fast. They promised progress, offered payoffs, but all Mae heard was the end of her land.
“Sign here, Miss Delaney,” they’d said, laying papers down like vultures dropping feathers.
Mae took one look at the paper, then another at the land she loved—the brittle mesquite trees, the cattle trails worn down by generations, and the small white cross marking her father’s grave under the ridge.
“No,” she said. Simple as that. Her voice didn’t crack. Her hands didn’t shake.
The men laughed. Called her stubborn. Called her foolish. They said a woman alone had no chance against contracts and courtrooms.
But Mae didn’t believe in backing down just because you’re outnumbered.
The next morning, she saddled her mare Bluebell, holstered her father’s Colt, and rode into town. Dustwater’s main street was lined with folks whispering behind handkerchiefs, watching the showdown unfold like some scene from a pulp novel.
Mae didn’t flinch. She rode straight up to the courthouse steps, where the railroad men waited with their legal papers.
“I ain’t selling my land,” she told them, voice like a cracked whip. “Not for silver, not for gold, and sure as hell not for your promises.”
“Miss Delaney,” one of them said, smirking, “this ain’t the old west anymore.”
Mae adjusted her hat, eyes sharp under the brim.
“Mister,” she replied, “where I stand, it still is.”
The town remembered that day for a long time. Mae Delaney didn’t just keep her land—she kept her dignity. She taught Dustwater that sometimes standing alone is stronger than standing with the crowd.
Because out in the west, under those endless skies, there’s one truth you can carve into stone:
You don’t trade what’s right for what’s easy.
Not now. Not ever.
#ILLPHATED
#LoneStarLegacy
#StandForWhatYouBelieveIn