USA > Texas > A Twentieth century history of southwest Texas, Volume I > Part 33
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April 14. 1878, a band of Indians, Mexicans and perhaps one or two Americans, from the state of Coahuila crossed the Rio Grande near the foot of Apache Hill in Webb county, about 45 miles north of the city of Laredo and Fort McIntosh. After killing two cow herders em- ployed by Prospero and Justo Guerra of Webb county, they passed down the main road and the same day shot and killed at his home Jorge Gar- cia, a well known ranchman. Coming within fourteen miles of Laredo, they then changed their course to the northeast, and passed by the ranch of Dr. Henry Spohn, where they stole a number of horses for mounts. While still in Webb county the raiders concentrated their forces, until they numbered between thirty and forty. With no forces strong enough to oppose, the marauders roamed at will over the country, plundering homes and ranches and killing without show of mercy. They passed
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old Fort Ewell, an abandoned post, followed the Nueces into La Salle county, and then into McMullen county. Three days after crossing the Rio Grande they arrived at William H. Steele's ranch in the latter coun- ty: the members of the party well armed with rifles and pistols and bows and arrows, and driving a large number of stolen horses. At Steele's ranch they performed their most murderous work. John Steele was slain, Richard and George Taylor, aged eight and twelve years, re- spectively, were murdered and their bodies terribly mutilated; also Mar- tin Martinez and Florentine Leo were killed and Venturo Rodriguez dangerously wounded.
From Fort Ewell the main course of the raiders was about south- east, to the Toribio rancho in Duval county. In this vicinity they killed Vicente Robeldo, the chief shepherd of T. W. Gillette, and wounded Thomas Tunega. Here changing their course, they came to Rancho Solidad, in Duval county, only thirty miles from San Diego, where a company of U. S. Cavalry was then located. At Solidad three persons were killed, and later at Charco Escondido rancho another victim was John Jordan, son of Captain Richard Jordan, the owner of the rancho. Ten miles further on Margarito Rodriguez was mortally wounded.
From here the raiders began their return, and in small parties swept across the country, capturing horses and plundering all the habitations in the way. On the 19th they were again in Webb county, united and preparing to cross the Rio Grande. Here they were overtaken by Frank Gravis, who headed a small force of citizens from Duval county and intermediate points. Gravis charged valiantly. The prompt and daring reception which the Indians gave him frightened his Mexican allies and they retired. He continued the skirmish, but a reinforcement to the raiders compelled him to withdraw to the timber to prevent being sur- rounded and cut off. The raiders did not continue to follow, but pressed in hot haste to the Rio Grande, strewing the trail with the clothing previously plundered on the route. On the night of that day they crossed the Rio Grande, twenty-five miles south of Laredo, at the Rancho Dolores, driving a hundred stolen horses and leaving part of the plunder which they were unable to transport on the north side of the river. No move- ment was made by the soldiers from Fort McIntosh till late the follow- ing day, when the raiders were safely escaped into Mexico, leaving a record of over twenty dead and wounded, besides the great damage done to the entire country through robbery and terror caused the inhabitants.
A letter written by General Doubleday and published in the San Antonio Daily Herald, Feb. 6, 1878, reviews the Mexican question, and, while not treating all the points involved without evident bias, at the same time affords many comments and opinions that were probably shared by many people at the time.
As I resided two years in Mexico during the Mexican war, and traveled over the greater portion of that country as United States Commissioner in 1852 and 1853, and as I have been stationed at four different periods of my army life on the Texas frontier, I have learned something of the habits and feelings which characterize the residents on both sides of the line.
Misapprehensions Corrected.
It seems to me there is a good deal of misapprehension in the public mind in
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regard to the state of affairs on the border. It is generally supposed that the Texans constantly raid into Mexico by way of retaliation for Mexican incursions into Texas; but this is a mistake. Although Texas adjoins Mexico geograph- ically. the settled portion of the two countries is in reality separated by a sand (lesert, the greater part of which is almost destitute of water and is a hundred miles wide. It may be considered as commencing in the billows on the sea coast and extending away up to the staked plains in Northwestern Texas. It is true there is a small belt of fertile country along the Rio Grande, but the insecurity of life and property is so great that no Texan can live there without military protection.
A "Bonanza" for Robbers.
On the northern border of the desert referred to, near the Nueces river, there is excellent pasturage. A few Texan farmers have settled there. They live at considerable distance from each other and raise enormous herds of cattle. One of these gentlemen, Mr. King, had on his place 60,000 head of cattle, and 15,000 horses and mules. These farmers are the bonanza of Mexican robbers and plunderers. They are preyed on incessantly by marauding bands, and this state of things has been going on for the last twenty-five years. The stock raisers live in an isolated way and are unable to defend themselves. They rely entirely upon United States troops, but our forces in that vicinity have always been very inade- quate, and the line to be guarded very long. We have had very little cavalry, and the infantry stationed at posts along the Rio Grande cannot, from the nature of things, be very effective in pursuing mounted raiders.
Texans do Not Retaliate.
The Texans would have nothing whatever to gain by crossing the Rio Grande. The mud huts and reed houses on the other side present nothing very attractive to a covetous man; nothing, at all events, to compensate for the trou- ble and expense of marching one hundred and fifty miles across a sandy desert. An expedition of any size would at once, be stopped by the United States troops on the border, in obedience to the requirements of international law. Petty raids would accomplish nothing, for the Mexicans do not live apart, as we do, but in ranchos containing fifty or more people. The appearance of raiders from our side of the line would at once cause the rural police to send out expresses in all directions to assemble the militia, and an overpowering force would be brought against the Texan invaders. In cases where petty depredations have been at- tempted by our frontiersmen who live at Rio Grande City. Laredo, and Eagle Pass, the Texan authorities have been prompt to punish the parties, for it is neither the interest nor the policy of our small communities there to provoke re- taliation from the Mexicans.
Alien Residents.
As Brownsville contains about ten thousand inhabitants and is on our side of the river, it is generally supposed that it is full of our people, but the fact is that nine-tenths of its population are Mexicans. I do not believe there are four hundred persons there who can speak any other language than Spanish, and a large portion of these are Europeans-principally Germans. The Mexicans who reside on our side have no sympathy with us or our government. All their af- filiations are with their own race on the other side. In case of a raid, we cannot rely upon their assistance or their sympathy. They have not even learned or at- tempted to learn our language.
Claims and Counter-Claims.
It is not a very pleasant sight for one of our farmers to stand on the bank of the river and see a hundred head of cattle belonging to him grazing on the other side, and to be told that as it is a foreign country nothing can be done ex- cept to make out a claim for damages and send it to Washington, where it may not be acted upon for twenty years. In the meantime the Mexicans propose to talk us out of these claims. If that fails, they intend to offset them by counter- claims for damages committed by wild Apache Indians some thirty years ago, and some petty depredations of a later date. It is true we were all under the im- pression that these claims for Indian incursions were abrogated by the treaty of
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Gadsden's purchase, but the Mexicans now insist that this prohibitory clause takes effect only from the date of the treaty, and that all claims prior to that are still valid. The attempt of certain Texans who captured the Mexican town of Piedras Negras, opposite Eagle Pass, about the time our rebellion commenced, for the purpose of seizing and selling some Mexican negroes who were there, was a genuine raid by our citizens. It was undoubtedly a great outrage, and one for which our government should be held responsible. As the houses of that little town were built of mud and weeds, with thatched roofs, and as the furni- ture was made out of hewn timber, I suppose about $600.00 would be a fair estimate for the injury done on that occasion. I heard, four or five years ago, that claims amounting to twelve millions of dollars had already been sworn to, and that more were constantly coming in. We might as well realize at once that in the way of swearing we cannot begin to contend with our neighbors across the way. They can outclaim and outswear us to an unlimited extent. If they can get rid of the responsibility for Cortina's raids in that way, they will consider it a Providential dispensation.
Indian Marauders.
The Kickapoos and some other tribes of Indians who are hostile to us, and who have resided in Mexico for many years, have been in the habit of frequently crossing the line and committing depredations and horrible atrocities on our side. The Mexicans have always sheltered those Indians, and have been in the habit of buying their plunder at a mere nominal rate. It is not surprising. therefore, that General Mackenzie, Lieutenant-Colonel Shafter, our indomitable fighting friend, Lieutenant Bullis, and the state troops recently sent down by the Governor of Texas should occasionally have crossed the line for the purpose of attacking these savages and repelling incursions ; but these had a national object, and can in no sense be considered as raids-that is, as plundering expeditions.
The border troubles ceased with the border : and without being com- pleted, the narrative also ceases. As soon as civilization pushed its way into the Nueces-Rio Grande country and became firmly established, the crimes that had for thirty years characterized the region became less and less frequent, and the exciting days of the frontier were past, though the wounds and losses recorded during their passage have not yet passed from the memories of hundreds of living men in Texas.
The agencies that gave the greatest impetus to this transformation were described in the Austin Statesman, in January, 1878, and that ar- ticle, half prophecy and half sound advice, is worth quoting :
Again and again has the Statesman insisted that the owners of the Interna- tional Road should have this great highway extended across Mexico, connecting with a branch road from El Paso down the valley of the Rio Grande to meet the International at Austin or San Antonio. The scheme is at last put on foot, and a proposition will be presented to Congress involving the extension of the Inter- national from Jefferson to Pine Bluff and Forrest City on the Memphis and Little Rock road. For these purposes Congress is asked to guarantee the payment of four per cent. interest on $12,000.000 of the bonds of the International and Great Northern Railway. Huntington proposes to extend his California and Galveston road to El Paso, and the rest of the work necessary to the connection of the south with California is to be accomplished, as suggested by the owners of the International Road. A guarantee of four per cent. for forty years on twelve millions of bonds, it is claimed. will produce final enduring peace with Mexico. And it is further asserted that such a consummation will abolish the "border," the sona libre. the greaser, and the cattle thief and robbers, whether white, red or bronzed. It substitutes civilization, industry, art, the schoolmaster and preach- er for highwaymen and makes West Texas the paradise of the herdsmen. The building of such a road is so necessary and so beneficent in its results that it at once seems probable that the scheme may be accepted as a substitute for all the
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plans proposed for the approval of Congress and of the country. It accom- plishes all that Scott pretended he would do and infinitely more. If the bill to be presented to Congress be enacted, embodying the purposes above defined, it will be recognized as a concession to the intelligent opinions of a newspaper upon international matters involving the aggrandizement of the United States and the advancement of a sister republic. The doctrine of Mr. Monroe may yet be real- ized through the arts of peace and not of war.
The International and Great Northern Railroad was built directly across the border country, reaching Laredo about 1881. The Mexican National soon met it, joining the northern border of Mexico with the inland cities and the seat of government. The Texas-Mexican line pushed inland from the gulf, traversing the grazing tracts over which the raiders of 1878 had spread desolation. It is obvious that the build- ing of these roads meant the introduction of an entirely new order of things ; meant village centers, a stable population, agricultural develop- ment, and all the improvements that the Statesman foresaw would come. The border days were gone; ruffianism yielded to earnest industry, and from that time began the working of the wonders that have called the attention of the world to Southwest Texas.
SAMUEL VAUGHN EDWARDS. In the life of the gentleman named above we have a career replete with the romance and dangers of fron- tier life in the seventies and eighties, when the country was the scene of wild life and outlawry and human life was lightly held. And, in spite of the many fascinations of unrestrained license, we see the young man passing safely through the many temptations and becoming one of the most highly respected residents of the great state of Texas, well- to-do as regards the goods of this world and called to many positions. of trust and responsibility.
Samuel V. Edwards was born near the present town of Stephenville, Erath county, Texas, in April of 1859, his parents being Samuel V. and Elizabeth (Salmon) Edwards, both Texas born. His father was one of the first settlers of Waco and later was probably the first actual settler of Erath county, he being the first to locate on a survey made by Mr. Erath, after whom the county was named. Erath county, as is well known, was the hot-bed of some of the worst Indian troubles in the history of Texas. It was in the midst of frontier life of this character that the subject of this review, Samuel V. Edwards, was born and reared until his tenth year. It seems strange and somewhat remarkable that a boy of this tender age should leave home and as it were "raise him- self" and at the same time ever amount to anything, but such seems to have been the case in this instance.
Mr. Edwards' life has been a most remarkable one, replete for a number of years with thrilling events of the cow camp, the long trail to the north, the running down of cattle thieves and desperadoes, face to face battles with bands of outlaws, all of which constituted the every- clay life of the ranger, the sheriff and the cattle detective, all of which he was for a number of years. To hear him recall the incidents of the days when the Texas border was overrun with desperadoes is far more interesting and thrilling than any romance that has been weaved into latter day fiction.
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Leaving home at the tender age of ten years, the lad walked all the way from Fort Worth to San Antonio, with the intention of going to Mexico, this being in the spring of 1870. At San Antonio he met up with a cow outfit and traveled with them to the place where they were to make their headquarters, about seventy miles south of San An- tonio, in what is now La Salle county, and about where is now the town of Millet. In those days the country was absolutely wild and desolate ; such a thing as a fence was of course unknown; the country was all open, populated principally with roaming bands of wild cattle, wild mustang horses, deer, antelope and other wild animals. The outfit es- tablished a cow camp at the place mentioned and the boy decided to stay with them, getting into the saddle at that early age and beginning life as a cowboy. For some years he lived this sort of life, out over the great open ranges of Texas and up to Kansas and Nebraska on the trails to the north. He was constantly exposed to hardships and dangers and he became so inured to all kinds of weather, as well as to danger from human foes, that all this became as second nature to him. From his early practice with a six-shooter he had become a fine shot, and in later years with his Winchester his fame as a man who never missed. his mark never left him. He also got the reputation of being absolutely unafraid, which quality, in addition to a cool head, good judgment and sure aim, was the means of getting his appointment, by the military de- partment of the state of Texas, as a special agent, or secret agent, in the State Ranger service, his appointment occurring in 1879. In this capacity he went out after criminals and either got them or lured them into positions where they could be surrounded and captured by the Rangers. Cattle stealing was in those days the principal offense against the law, although stage robbing, train robbing and murdering had plenty of devotees, particularly among the bad men who came to this section from all parts of the country in the years following the war. The Texas border seemed to be a sort of an asylum for them, as here when hard pressed they could easily escape into Mexico, where, on account of there being no extradition treaty at the time, they were safe. After two years as a secret agent, young Edwards entered the regular Ranger service, in 1881, in Company F, under Capt. Joe Sheley, now a prominent stock- man of San Antonio. Still later than this he was appointed as special secret agent for the Texas State Cattle Raisers' Association, at its first meeting in Beeville, this appointment resulting from his thorough knowl- edge of the cattle brands. He knew the brand of every bunch of cattle south of San Antonio and became an expert in detecting cases where the brands were "blotched" and changed. He represented the Cattle Raisers' Association, as secret service man, most efficiently for about four years.
During all these years Mr. Edwards continued to make his head- quarters in LaSalle county, establishing his home there, where he lived until August, 1898, when he removed to Laredo, which has since been his home. In LaSalle county he held important offices for a number of years, as hide and animal inspector, deputy-sheriff and sheriff. After coming to Laredo, he was appointed, in 1899, as mounted inspector of customs for the United States Customs Service at Laredo. He now has
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a fine home in Laredo and is also in the cattle business, in which line he has been interested ever since 1882, previously to that date merely work- ing for wages. His ranch is located seven miles east of Laredo and is a well-equipped one.
As a ranger and sheriff Mr. Edwards has met and measured ac- curacy of aim with some of the most noted characters known to border history, and has received several wounds, one of them in a fight with a gang in LaSalle county, in which fight Capt. Charles Mckinney, the sheriff, was killed. His reminiscences of men whose names are famous in frontier history include the James boys, the Youngers, Sam. Bass, Joel Collins, California Jack, J. J. Hawk, Ben. Thompson, King Fisher, Alfred Allee, who was killed by the city marshal of Laredo, and many others. As a ranger and sheriff, Mr. Edwards has captured or helped to capture more desperadoes than any other officer south of San Antonio.
That Mr. Edwards, in his early career, youthful and away from home, in a wild country and without restraint, did not become fascinated by the lure of outlaws and become one of them, he himself attributes to the good advice and counsel of his friends, of more mature years, Capt. Joe Sheley and Capt. Chas. Mckinney, both of whom were ranger cap- tains and fearless men, but of the most sterling character. He also at- tributes some of his success to the late Col. Lane, of San Antonio, a noted lawyer, who took a liking to the lad and often backed him when he was a poor boy.
Mr. Edwards was married in Cotulla, LaSalle county, to Miss Jen- nie Huff, a native of Missouri, and they have two children, Lane and Lee Edwards.
CAPTAIN JAMES S. McNEEL, making his home in San Antonio, is a prominent stockman of the southwest. He was born October 21st, 1849, near Brazoria, in Brazoria county, Texas. The family was es- tablished in this state by the grandfather, who was a member of the original Stephen Austin colony, and was the first American settler in Brazoria county. The grandfather came to this state from Kentucky, and with General Sam Houston and others took a prominent part in the warfare that was carried on in the Texas revolution.
The father, Colonel John Shelby McNeel, was born in 1818, in what is now Jasper county, Texas, but which at that time was included in the Mexican territory in that section known as the "red lands." He also became a soldier of distinction in the southwest. He organized and was unanimously elected captain of the first and only company of soldiers from Brazoria county to fight in the Mexican war, throughout which he served with credit. Prior to his service in the war he had been a prominent Indian fighter, being associated with Captain Jack Hays, General Baylor and other well known soldiers in the history of Texas. Like other representatives of the McNeel family he was a large slaveholder and planter, with extensive interests in the southwest. Mr. McNeel wedded Miss Laura A. Montgomery, a daughter of Major James S. Montgomery, one of the largest planters on the Caney river in Colorado county, and was also prominent in military life during the Mexican war, being associated with General Houston. The death of Mr. McNeel occurred in 1852, while his wife passed away in 1855.
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James S. McNeel was only a year old when he was taken by his parents to a plantation on the Caney river in Colorado county, near Eagle Lake. He was but three years of age at the time of his father's death, and was only six years old when he was left an orphan. He was left in comfortable financial circumstances, however, and his grandfather gave to him the best educational facilities that could be obtained in those early days. He pursued his studies in the schools of Yorktown, Gonzales and San Antonio, attending school in the latter city in 1867, when it contained less than twelve thousand inhabitants, these being mostly Mexicans. He made the journey to school from his home on horseback. In 1868 he left school and made a trip over the old Chisholm trail with a cattle outfit to Abilene, Kansas, that being the second year of the Chisholm trail and also of Abilene's existence as a cattle town. The following year, in 1869, Mr. McNeel went with a party on a pros- pecting tour to Mexico, making the overland journey.
Returning to Texas, Mr. McNeel was married in 1870 to Miss Emma Flowers, a representative of a pioneer family of Lavaca county. Following his marriage he took up his abode on a plantation on the Caney river in Colorado county, whence, after a brief period, he re- moved to McLennan county, near Waco, where he conducted agricult- ural pursuits for about four years. He then returned to Colorado county, having inherited a part of his grandfather's estate, while in 1876 he removed to Live Oak county, near the Nueces county line, which was then a frontier district of the southwest. In the latter county he engaged in the cattle business, conducting the same for about five years. It was only about three months after his arrival in Nueces county that Mr. McNeel was appointed deputy sheriff, and during a long period he was prominent in official circles, becoming one of the most successful criminal officers of this state.
In order that he might give his children the benefit of good school advantages, Mr. McNeel removed with his family in the early '8os to Pearsall, in Frio county. Here he was appointed deputy United States marshal under John T. Rankin, and later he became a mounted inspector of customs under Captain Charles F. Bailey, of the Laredo district. Up to this time the stockmen of Southwestern Texas had suffered greatly through the loss of their cattle and horses by thieves who continually infested the country in those days. The settlers raised a fund and ap- pointed Mr. McNeel as the organizer of a company of trained men to operate against these depredations which were being made by this rough element.' He organized a company of ten and on one occasion they followed a band of thieves into Mississippi, where within four days they captured eight carloads of stolen horses. Mr. McNeel was paid gener- ously for his services in this connection but he felt that the ranger service of the state was better able to meet such obligations than the cattlemen, so in the latter 'Sos he was appointed captain of rangers by the state and organized a company, the expense of this being met bv the legislature. The company was organized at San Antonio and Cap- tain McNeel established his headquarters at Alice, this being the cen- ter of his operations, which he continued until 1893. He at first had fifteen men but during the Garza revolution the company was increased
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