Cut and Shoot: The Tall Tale & Boxer Roy Harris

Cut and Shoot may have the most famous town name in Texas, and behind it is a story locals love to tell. As legend has it, around 1912 the town's only church nearly came to blows over a dispute — versions differ on whether it was the design of a new steeple, who should be allowed to preach, or a tangle of land claims. In the tension, a small boy is said to have blurted that he was scared and was going to 'cut around the corner and shoot through the bushes in a minute!' The phrase stuck, and the community had its name. Decades later Cut and Shoot produced a genuine national celebrity: heavyweight boxer Roy Harris, who in August 1958 got a title shot against world champion Floyd Patterson, going down fighting in the twelfth round and putting his tiny hometown on the map — Sports Illustrated called it the most celebrated little community of the year. This drive threads the tall tale, the boxer, and the piney-woods country around them. Treat the naming legend as the beloved folklore it is; the boxing history is a matter of record.