Her brother owned land adjacent to the west. He had used the pasture previously and apparently was not quite ready to give up possession.
After the purchase transaction was complete, Harry took several mules and left them in the pasture. Several times they `strayed,' and Harry had to round them up and re-pen them.
Thinking the brother of the former owner had been letting the mules out and after a few `round-ups,' Harry once again penned the mules, padlocked the gate and, taking a rifle, hid behind a hill to see what would happen. He didn't want to make any accusations without proof.
Sure enough, the Thompson brother appeared and set about to let the mules loose.
Harry was confident he was a good enough shot that he could hit the padlock while Thompson was fiddling with it. But, using his better judgment, he refrained and instead went to the courthouse in Fullerton to file charges.
Thompson admitted his guilt. The legal action apparently convinced him the land belonged to Hennings and there were no further problems.
* * * *
When the land was purchased, a padlocked granary and several feedbunks were there. After a time, Harry broke the padlock to check on the granary and found a shotgun inside. When no attempt was made to recover the gun, Harry finally took it home and eventually passed it on to his son-in-law, Gerald Parks.
Thompson apparently did eventually pick up the feedbunks and moved the granary off the place, though that probably should have remained.