Welcome to The John Coffee Hays Club “Virtuti, HonorEM, Traditio”
“Crowd them, powder-burn them boys!”
Welcome to The John Coffee Hays Club “Virtuti, HonorEM, Traditio”
“Crowd them, powder-burn them boys!”
About Us
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Contact The John Coffee Hays Club
Jack Hays - One Tough Hombre
John Coffee Hays was an American icon who lived by, respected and honored the heritage of the American firearm.
We have organized a club through which we, as free men, may unite: to address the responsibilities we have to defend, protect and promote our shared American heritage, American culture and The American Way.
To educate the members and the public at large as to what The American Way has contributed, contributes in the present and will further contribute to the security of free men and the promotion of ordered freedom as defined by Natural Law and the Greco-Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Hebraic-Christian deposit of social capital here in the United States of America – the crowning glory and zenith of milenia of Western Civilization.
Russell Kirk wrote the five most important cities in the history of Western Civilization are Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London and Philadelphia. We do not dispute this.
However, Russell Kirk should have spent more time West of the Mississippi! The great Western cities of Santa Fe, San Angelo, Pecos, Amarillo, Durango, Dodge City, Cheyenne, Kanab, Tombstone, Prescott, Billings, Cody, Jackson Hole, Elko, Virginia City, Lone Pine, and the twin pearls of the Pacific: San Francisco and Oakland – may have broadened Russell Kirk’s horizons. From the wilderness of Yellowstone in the north to the Grand Canyon in the south to the Grand Tetons, Monument Valley and Yosemite of the Great American West we champion the frontier legacy and posterity of both the modern west and the Old West.
We advocate and support the timeless truths of the Natural Law, the triumphs of Western Civilization and the supremacy of The American Way.
This organization promotes our American heritage generally, the cultural legacy of the American West more distinctively and the patrimony and ideals of northern California specifically.
The mission of The John Coffee Hays Club is “Defending The Republic.”
Our motto is “Virtuti, Honor, Traditio” which translates from the Latin into Virtue, Honor, Tradition.
Jack Hays - One Tough Hombre
Contact The John Coffee Hays Club
Jack Hays - One Tough Hombre
John Coffee "Jack" Hays
(January 28, 1817 – April 21, 1883)
was a captain in the
and a military officer of the
Hays served in several armed conflicts from 1836–1848, including against the Comanche people in Texas and during The Mexican-American War.
Jack Hays was born at Little Cedar Lick, Wilson County, Tennessee. His father Harmon A. Hays fought in the War of 1812, naming his son for a relative by marriage, Colonel John Coffee.
In 1836, at the age of 19, Jack Hays migrated to the Republic of Texas, where Sam Houston
appointed him as a member of a company of Texas Rangers because he knew the Hays family from his Tennessee years. Jack met with Houston and delivered a letter of recommendation from then-
President Andrew Jackson
his great uncle.
Jack rode with an Apache Chief named Flacco who led the charge into every battle with him. The duo led and inspired the Rangers. In 1840 Tonkawa Chief Placido and 13 scouts joined with the Rangers to track down a large Comanche war party,culminating at the
Battle of Plum Creek. Later, Hays commanded the force against the invasion from Mexico of 1842.
During the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), Hays commanded the
First Regiment of Texas Rangers at the
Battle of Monterrey, established six companies along the northern and western frontier of Texas.
He then commanded the Second Regiment of Texas Rangers in Winfield Scott's
Later, while fighting under
General. Joseph Lane, who was defending the American line of communications with Vera Cruz, Hays defeated superior numbers of Mexican cavalry at the Affair at Galaxara Pass and Mexican guerillas in the Skirmish at Matamoros and the Action of Sequalteplan.
Jack was the first to use the Navy Colt Patterson five shot revolver. He expedited Samuel Walker to meet with Samuel Colt which led to the design of the legendary Colt Walker six shot revolver used in the old west.
The Comanche had great admiration for Hays. Upon the birth of Hays' first son in California, Chief Buffalo Hump sent the Hays family a gift, a golden spoon engraved "Buffalo Hump Jr."
Later on, Hays joined the migration to California, leading a party of Forty Niners from New York that traveled in wagons to California from Texas, pioneering a shortcut on Cooke's Wagon Road that saved a long journey to the south. That improved route became known as the Tucson Cutoff.
Hays was elected sheriff of San Francisco County in 1850, and later became active in politics. In 1853, he was appointed US surveyor-general for California.
One of the earliest residents of the city of Oakland, Ca. he amassed a considerable fortune through real estate and ranching enterprises.
In 1860, while in Virginia City, Nevada, on business, he heard the news of the First Battle of Pyramid Lake. He commanded a force of volunteer soldiers at the Second Battle of Pyramid Lake.
Jack Hays died in California on April 21, 1883, and his remains were interred at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland.
Contact The John Coffee Hays Club
Contact The John Coffee Hays Club
Contact The John Coffee Hays Club
Support our mission.
Our Guest Speaker - Tom Correa - Publisher of the American Cowboy Chronicles
Our Founding Meeting was held on
October 20. 2018 at
Dr. Hanson Speech - Our Founding Dinner
This was our kickoff fundraiser - and it was a rousing success.
Highly respected western intellect
Dr. Victor Davis Hanson
was our keynote speaker.
Please visit these important links
San Francisco's First Elected Sheriff
Texas State Historical Association
American Cowboy Chronicles
We Are Proud to Endorse
We Are Proud to Endorse - Tom Correa's American Cowboy Chronicles
Great website by a great western historian
Legends of the American West
Jack Hays
Preserving the American West
In a tribute to the first elected Sheriff of San Francisco and the celebrated Texas Ranger “Captain Jack” – we have chosen the name of John Coffee Hays to honor his memory and thus the name which our organization calls itself is: The John Coffee Hays Club.
John Coffee Hays was a trailblazer. In Texas and California - John Coffee Hays left a legacy of winning the West and securing FREEDOM.
John Coffee Hays proudly secured the freedoms we have today with the American firearm. Whether using the Walker Colt against Comanche and Apache Indians, the Sharps rifle against the Mexican Army, the Navy Colt against Texas and California outlaws or deploying the regiment of the Virginia City Rifles against the Paiute Indians at the Second Battle of Pyramid Lake – John Coffee Hays was an American who lived by, respected and honored the heritage of the American firearm.
We have organized a club through which we, as free men, may unite: to address the responsibilities we have to defend, protect and promote our shared American heritage, American culture and The American Way. To educate the members and the public at large as to what The American Way has contributed, contributes in the present and will further contribute to the security of free men and the promotion of ordered freedom as defined by Natural Law and the Greco-Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Hebraic-Christian deposit of social capital here in the United States of America – the crowning glory and zenith of millenia of Western Civilization.
An American Icon
John Coffee Hays is an American icon, a true symbol of the American frontier.
HIs last battle with the Commanche is chronicled here
http://www.texasescapes.com/JefferyRobenalt/Paint-Rock-Last-Comanche-Fight-of-Jack-Hays.htm
His final battle is detailed here -
The Second Battle of Pyramid Lake