Thursday, March 10, 2016

Tex Watson's College Yearbook from North Texas State

After high school, Charles Watson briefly attended North Texas State University.

Will You Die For Me Pg 18-19:
Denton,  Texas, was  only fifty miles  from  Copeville, but it meant being on my own. North Texas  State University  was  attended  mainly by  people  with  country Texas backgrounds  a  lot  like  mine,  but  it  was away from  home. It was September,  1964,  and I was  going to be Joe  College. My  parents  expected great things from me after all, hadn't I graduated from Farmersville High with honors?
But just like everything else, he screwed it up:
Part of  the  fraternity  initiation was a scavenger hunt.  It was more than  a game;  your  being pledged depended  on  getting every item  on  the  list.  And PKA tradition  made  it clear  that there  was more  than one acceptable  way to pick up  what you needed. My partner  and I  had to find,  among other things,  four typewriters.  Through  the  beer-soaked  fog that  traditionally  surrounded  events like  this,  I  remembered the typing class at Farmersville High  School,  with  row on row of  battered Royals. Getting them was easy — break the glass,  open the  door,  giggle  a lot,  and shush  each  other  boozily. It seemed extremely funny. The next day,  with  a throbbing hangover,  four  typewriters, and  the certainty of  being caught,  it seemed extremely stupid.

Rather  than have them  find  out  from  someone else, I  went  to my parents  myself. They took it hard, and as we  drove into McKinney, the  county seat, to talk to a lawyer,  I fumed to myself  that they couldn't have been any more upset if  I'd committed murder.

He did stay enrolled long enough to get his photo into the 1965 Yearbook. Here is an actual copy owned by blog reader Logan:




Thanks, Logan!






39 comments:

Unknown said...

Charlie [Jesus Christ] has forgiven Tex for his sins. He will be Charlie's [Jesus Christ] right hand man in heaven.

Fiddy 8 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fiddy 8 said...

It's a slippery slope. Tex starts out stealing typewriters, and the next thing he knows he is slaughtering movie stars.

Matt said...

Yes, I say it over and over. Stealing typewriters is a gateway crime.


Robert Hendrickson said...

Tomorrow night ABC TV is doing a special on prescription "pain killers" and the "hard" drugs epidemic sweeping America. What makes this so relevant to TEX is, HE and Susan were doing the "taboo" drugs, condemned by Manson.

In 1968 my (rebel) anthropology professor actually made an official "lesson" predicting that the American medicine cabinet would become the Family shrine. At the time, he called it the ALTER of the "Nacirema" tribe and absolutely NO-body in the class understood what he was talking about.

One Charles Manson also made several predictions, which at the time, NO-body understood what HE was talking about - BUT since, I have witnessed SOME to become TRUE.

Of course, only the DEVIL can predict BAD things - the GOOD things are left up to the other guy.

HellzBellz said...

Yeah @ Matt, they should be punished with the Death-Penalty's , for makin sure those petty criminals/cons never become major criminals, mass murderers/murderesses and so on......

orwhut said...

Watson number three, Gail Watson, is more pleasant to look at.

Matt said...

I wonder if they lowered Babe Watts' dose of Thorazine?





Matt said...

Found her. Looks like the dosage is still about the same.

Anonymous said...


Jeezus Matt! I just ate, for chrissakes!


Young Babe Watts looks a little like Country Sue Bartell, imo.

Anonymous said...


Now is one of those times when I wish I hadn't given up Steven Parent jokes for Lent.



(*cough* *cough* - 3rd square to the right of Tex)

AustinAnn74 said...

Did Floyd the barber maintain his flattop?

Farflung said...

Early on Tex wanted to belong so desperately that he was willing to break the law, and violate others in order to achieve that goal.

Farmersville is so small (pop: 3000), one would think talking to the school administration, and preemptively offering restitution would have been feasable. Nope, get a lawyer. That would have been a bit strange for rural, 60's, USA.

For such a backwater, mouth breathing, "country folk" school, there were sure a lot of Breck girls in attendance.

Matt said...

Breck actually still exists as a brand, but I never see it advertised.

Robert Hendrickson said...

Let me SEE: IF Tex had "taken" a typewriter from the Tate house - the "massacre" motive would have been re-written. BUT then "Who or what is Charlie" ? Just another ranch hand ?

Farflung said...

As usual with these stories there are leaps of logic, anachronisms, and lashings of BS.

Sooooo, a "Scavenger Hunt" had four (4) typewriters, and the best solution was a bunch of battered and beaten machines, a drunken(?)100 mile round trip away from the establishment of higher learning. Well OK then.

If one was to think back to the mid 60's, they would likely make a typewriter analogous to a laptop computer today. That is as far as portable, high value technology goes. After all, at that same time my grandparents didn't have TV or running water (cistern and hand pump) in rural Texas. Perhaps this perspective may better illuminate just what this harmless, frat prank truly embodied. Or not.

Patty is Dead said...

Off topic...tabloids are claiming today that Star is pregnant by Charlie via in vitro fertilization...lpao...

Logan said...

Thanks for posting this Matt! It really made my day to see this on the blog. I think it's so cool to finally contribute something y'all might find interesting!
Before I transferred to San Marcos, I went to UNT for about the same amount of time that Tex did. His old apartment is right near the square, sandwiched between the campus and a bunch of shoddily built, new & criminally overpriced student apartments. I'll have to take some pictures next time I go back to Denton to visit friends, but it's pretty easy to find photos of his old place online.
My dear friend gave me this yearbook several years ago. Her father actually lives in Farmersville to this day, and I've been out there to her dad's place a few times, seen the old high school etc. Very pretty part of Texas IMO but there's not much going on there. I've never made the short drive to Copeville to see Tex's old house and his dad's general store, but I probably should before I die.

Logan said...

Also, doesn't "Babe Watts" just roll off the tongue? Such a good old-timey name.

Robert Hendrickson said...

YES FARFLUNG: But I actually remember the infamous "scavenger hunts" back in the day. Of course, YOU were supposed to knock on people's door and ASK for "things" NOT steal, which is even MORE revealing in this case. Then YOU have a "fraternity" which is merely a label for a middle-class WHITE gang and the whole idea of a game becomes a ha, ha CRIME.

I can also SEE Tex at the Family camp fire when it's HIS turn to tell a story and HE brings-up HIS typewriter incident. I can even SEE Charlie saying: "Hey gang how about WE have a scavenger hunt this coming Friday night." I can also hear Sadie say: "I wann'a be on Tex's team." AND KATIE says: "Me too."


HellzBellz said...

@ Patty.......And it is a TWIN !!!!
http://worldnewsdailyreport.com/charles-mansons-fiancee-finally-pregnant-with-twins-after-successful-in-vitro-fertilization/

Patty is Dead said...

What will they dream up next Hellz?

orwhut said...

I went to the web site and the zipper at the top said a Florida zoo employee had been killed while attempting to rape an alligator.

Fiddy 8 said...

Having my baby
The in vitro way of sayin' how much you love me
My test tube baby
Turkey baster way of sayin' what you're thinkin' of me

Matt said...

orwhut said...

...the zipper at the top said a Florida zoo employee had been killed while attempting to rape an alligator.


Must have been a frustrated Trump voter.



Robert Hendrickson said...

OH OH, Matt opened the political back door and left it unlocked.

Protestors, and maybe a riot at a Presidential Candidate's RALLY - it just doesn't get any better than that. With the REAL American chu chu TRAIN finally back on track, I can now SEE where the past forty + years since the Vietnam WAR were absolutely BORING.

In fact, maybe the 1960's were SOOO wild, crazy and entertaining that the Manson Family HAD to trash the old ways and push the envelope - just to be heard amongst ALL the total CHAOS.

SO welcome back Mr. Chaos, LET's Party !

BTW: All that "tough" talk about kick-ass on the Muslims, Mexicans, etc. - just look at ALL the job-seekers who want a JOB as President. They ALL avoided serving in the U.S. Military.

TEX got to do some REAl killing and HE avoided serving in the military. Bill Clinton got to
KILL a whole lot, including women and children, in WACO and HE avoided the U.S. military also.

Maybe these draft dodgers are the REAL Super psycho KILLERS and they got us ALL fooled.

Penny lane said...

Well root my left boot...i actually understand what Robert is on about...lol...i think my brain may have imploded..
but im also a tad terrified...

Matt said...

Penny I'm not sure what it says about me, but I always understand him.

Anonymous said...

Matt said...
Penny I'm not sure what it says about me, but I always understand him.

You would be great on Jeopardy.

orwhut said...

Matt said... orwhut said...

...the zipper at the top said a Florida zoo employee had been killed while attempting to rape an alligator.
Must have been a frustrated Trump voter.

Now I'm thinking about Arlo Guthrie being in jail with all those father rapers.

Robert Hendrickson said...

OK Matt and Penny - it's NOT fair for two people to "share" only one "decoder ring."

SEE if IT works on this question: What is the single MOST important / significant "word" to understand / comprehend in order for the common man to become financially successful in HIS lifetime ? CLUE: It has NOTHING to do with college.

BTW: Notice how the news photos of TRUMP are NOW turning to him giving MAD expressions?
That's exactly what the "news" did to Charles Manson and certain others. So WHO exactly do these specific photos have an effect on ? Sorry, I deleted the answer from the decoder ring program, BUT the right class in college and YOU may get it.

Anonymous said...

Tune in next week for the answer!
Same Bat Time, Same Bat channel!

Robert Hendrickson said...

ATTENTION Patty & ANN: The "Austin" film festival "SXSW" has the NEW Brotherhood of Eternal Love story "Orange Sunshine." Don't know if it already played, but you can check. ANN, it would be great if you could SEE it and report on the blog.

BTW: This is the festival Obama skipped Nancy Reagan's FRIDAY funeral to attend.

Penny lane said...

One word Robert..GREED..:)!

Patty is Dead said...

Ann please go see it!

Fiddy 8 said...

Ann, but don't wear your hijab.

News item today in Hollywood Reporter:

---------------------------------

SXSW faced some criticism on Saturday after Ibtihaj Muhammad, an attendee and member of the USA Fencing World Team, said she was forced to remove her hijab at registration.

Muhammad tweeted that she told a registration worker that she wore her head scarf for religious reasons, but he still insisted she remove it in order to take a photo for her ID badge. She was then given the wrong ID badge with a photo of another woman wearing a hijab.

The incident involved a volunteer at the event, who has since been removed, a SXSW spokesperson confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.

Muhammad was attending the event for her panel called "Sports as Currency of American Life."

"It is not our policy that a hijab or any religious head covering be removed in order to pick up a SXSW badge," SXSW said in the statement. "This was one volunteer who made an insensitive request and that person has been removed for the duration of the event. We are embarrassed by this and have apologized to Ibtihaj in person, and sincerely regret this incident."

--------------------------------------------

HellzBellz said...

@ Patty Says: ,,What will they dream up next Hellz?,,

Euuuhhh Star popping out a Brand New Family....in 1 go....

CrisPOA said...

Nice find Logan!
It's always interesting to see that some "family" members were really middle class WASPs.
Especially Watson, the monster.
Evilness and violence doesn't come with social and economic injustice as some people like to justify it, it just runs in humanity. And it will ever do.
Tex looks good in the picture. He was a handsome guy.
He sure would turn my head around.

Unknown said...

Whoever owns my husband's yearbook should give it to me.