USA > Texas > Johnson County > A memorial and biographical history of Johnson and Hill counties, Texas : containing the early history of this important section of the great state of Texas together with glimpses of its future prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens of the present time, and full-page portraits of some of the most eminent men of this section > Part 8
USA > Texas > Hill County > A memorial and biographical history of Johnson and Hill counties, Texas : containing the early history of this important section of the great state of Texas together with glimpses of its future prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens of the present time, and full-page portraits of some of the most eminent men of this section > Part 8
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"many horses running to battle," while the short of horses and the grunt of cattle and buffalo formed a combination of sounds that were not altogether in harmony, nor calculated to inspire courage either in man or beast, for but few horses would stand in their pathway, especially of the buffalo; and it was well, for the bison of the plains never turned his course for anything, animate or inanimate, over or through which he could pass, neither branch nor creek. In illustration of their habits we will give an instance. A herd of buffalo was discovered in a valley nvar a creek, and a number of men deter- mined to have a chase and kill some of them; ro they went out, some taking positions at the upper end of the valley, while others ranged themselves on each side; still others went below to bring on the engagement, which they did. The buffalo fled up the valley and the men in the rear following. When they came to the men stationed at the upper end of the valley, in the path they supposed the buffalo would take, but which they did not, they found one of the watchers Fitting on the ground at the root of a tree, with arms and legs around the tree, who asked as they came up whether the buffalo had gone, and if they had, that he would come down! Pretty badly scared, when he could not tell whether he was up the tree or not! The langh was on the man for many years afterward, and he was frequently asked to go buffalo-hunting!
On another occasion a party of men went out on a buffalo hunt, and, coming upon a large herd, were making preparations for the
slaughter; but the animals, seenting their enemy, stampeded. One man happened to be in their pathway, and as his horse would not stand before them, he ran off. There was a medium-sized branch in front of the fleeing horseman, and for this he made, hoping to cross and run up stream before the buffalo reached it; but in going down the bank the horse fell and the rider tumbled off. Before he could recover, the frightened herd came dashing toward where he lay, and he expected every moment to be trampled to death by a thousand hoofs; but the buffalo, as is their eustom, jump all small streams. This they did, and the man lay secure as the entire herd passed over him in the air. One fail- ure of the beasts to make the leap would have been instant death. He tried to pray, but could not think of anything to say, he was so badly scared.
Another source of amusement practiced by the carly settlers was the catching of mus- tangs. There were three methods: The first was to ambush them, being well mounted and equipped with a good lariat made of raw- hide or horse-hair, and then dash upon them, throwing the noose of the rope over their heads, or under a foot; but this method, ex- cept to the best experts with the lasso, rarely resulted in anything better than the eatching of a colt or some old, worn-down animal. Occasionally a stallion was caught, as he elung to the rear of the troop and acted as herder or driver. But the lassoist often paid dearly for his cateh, and was glad enough to get away even with the loss of his lariat. Another method was for a number of men
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" many horses running to battle," while the sort of horses and the grunt of eattle and buffalo formed a combination of sounds that were not altogether in harmony, nor ealeulated to inspire courage either in man or beast, for but few horses would stand in their pathway, especially of the buffalo; and it was well, for the bison of the plains never turned his course for anything, animate or inanimate, over or through which he could pass, neither branch nor ereek. In illustration of their habits we will give an instance. A herd of buffalo was discovered in a valley mar a ereek, and a number of men deter- mined to have a chase and kill some of them; ro they went out, some taking positions at the upper end of the valley, while others ranged themselves on each side; still others went below to bring on the engagement, which they did. The buffalo fled up the valley and the men in the rear following. When they came to the men stationed at the upper end of the valley, in the path they supposed the buffalo would take, but which they did not, they found one of the watchers sitting on the ground at the root of a tree, with arms and legs around the tree, who asked as they came up whether the buffalo had gone, and if they had, that he would come down! Pretty badly scared, when he could not tell whether he was up the tree or not! The laugh was on the man for many years afterward, and he was frequently asked to go buffalo-hunting!
On another occasion a party of men went out on a buffalo hunt, and, coming upon a large herd, were making preparations for the
slaughter; but the animals, seenting their enemy, stampeded. One man happened to be in their pathway, and as his horse would not stand before them, he ran off. There was a medium-sized branch in front of the fleeing horseman, and for this he made, hoping to cross and run up stream before the buffalo reached it; but in going down the bank the horse fell and the rider tumbled off. Before he could recover, the frightened herd came dashing toward where he lay, and he expected every moment to be trampled to death by a thousand hoofs; but the buffalo, as is their custom, jump all small streams. This they did, and the man lay secure as the entire herd passed over him in the air. One fail- ure of the beasts to make the leap would have been instant death. He tried to pray, but could not think of anything to say, he was so badly seared.
Another source of amusement practiced by the carly settlers was the catching of inus- tangs. There were three methods: The first was to ambush them, being well mounted and equipped with a good lariat made of raw- hide or horse-hair, and then dash upon them, throwing the noose of the rope over their heads, or under a foot; but this method, ex- cept to the best experts with the lasso, rarely resulted in anything better than the eatching of a colt or some old, worn-down animal. Occasionally a stallion was caught, as he elung to the rear of the troop and acted as herder or driver. But the lassoist often paid dearly for his catch, and was glad enough to get away even with the loss of his lariat. Another method was for a number of men
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with a stick and then get the stiek away be- fore the hog eould strike it with his tusks. Other animals were and might well be afraid of them.
Wild turkey also were abundant in the timbers in pioneer times.
INDIANS.
I. W. Wilbarger, in his large work en- titled " Indian Depredations in Texas," enumerates about 240 raids, many of them in the region near Johnson and Hill counties, but not one of them ever touched this terri- tory. Within the bounds of these two counties the Indians never had, within the memory of the white man, any permanent villages. The Caddos, a weak tribe, had a sihall village in Hill county, and the Waco Indians once had a camp at Elm Hill on the Brazos river. This region was simply an open hunting ground for the various tribes in the vicinity north and west. There was nothing remarkable in the habits and enstoms of these Indians other than what is familiar to Texans. Most of them were clad in buck- skins and buffalo robes. Probably the best- known tribes visiting this section of Texas were the Shawnees, Iron eyes, Tehuacanas, Tonkawas, Kiekapoos, Bedais and Anadareoes, besides the Caddoes and Waeoes already men- tioned. They were all friendly. Occasionally a roving band of Cherokees and Comanches arrived here, the latter being well-known as hostile.
To suppress Indian invasions the Govern- ment of the United States built and sustained Forts Worth and Graham, the latter being on
the east side of the Brazos river on the west- ern border of Hill county, ereeted probably between 1840 and 1850. The Indians invad- ing this section always had horses and guns, and they came generally for the purpose of stealing horses, etc., during the night-timo. They were gradually driven out of the count- try by the United States forees.
The old "Santa Fe trail," portions of which are yet visible, ran through Jolison county, north of Caddo Peak and out toward Bon- nard's Peak on the Brazos, and probably on to the Duffan mountain in Erath county or to Comanche Peak.
There is a tradition that a band of Mexicans at one time were carrying a quantity of money on the gull, when pirates were pursu- ing them, and to elude them they started from Louisiana by land westward through Texas, having horses on each side of them. The robbers finally overtook them here in Johnson county or near it and killed thein all, but did not obtain their money. The story goes that it was buried at some point between the Cross Timbers and the Brazos river. Messrs. R. II. AJair, the present county surveyor, and G. R. Edgar, who set- tled on Noland's river, near the Three Forks, in 1851, both dreamed twice concerning the joeality of this buried treasure, and the points where they respectively located it were not over 200 yards apart! Many searches have been made for this money, but up to this time in vain, as far as the public knows. It is but natural to presume that if any one should find a quantity of money in seeret he would ever afterward keep it to himself, and
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the publie never know whether the treasure had beon fonnd or not.
Colonels B. J. Chambers and Thomas Smith, with others, were in 1841 surveying in the neighborhood of Alvarado when, one evening as they were about to camp, they discovered a band of Indians on a high hill on the prairie a mile and a half distant. The campers were considerably agitated in regard to their safety The Indians gave a sign supposed to be friendly. Colonel Smith, a noted Indian fighter, sug- gested that one of the party be appointed to go out and meet the savages; and he being appointed went out and met a messenger from them and soon returned with the information that they were friendly Indians. This of course was only a seare, but it was about as serious as any Indian experience we can learn of in this region, except the following in- stanec, related by a writer in the Galveston News of October 1, 1879:
" Twenty years ago I was introduced into the wilderness where Cleburne now stands, and was introduced in a very lively manner, being chased through that section by old José Maria's band of semi-civilized Indians, all of whom were stone-blind drunk. I was then . green From the States,' had a top buggy -- possibly the only one in the State at that time -- and undertook to pass through this wilderness accompanied only by a negro boy. The buggy horse was covered with a brilliant red fly-net, which color was the most fascinat- ing to the savage eye. Jose Maria and his vil- lainous-looking followers eaught sight of it from an eminenee in the rear of us, from which we had but a half hour before de-
scended, happy in the belief that we were traveling through peaceful pastures and that the red man was not frequent in these parts. Ile and his forty or fifty braves made for us, and the first I knew of it was announced by the fact that my negro boy, who generally lagged behind, darted past me with his faco as white as alabaster and the picture of utter goneness, and was speechless. Before I knew the real cause I tried to rally him, thinking he had suddenly turned crazy. Ilis only re- sponse was a pointing movement of his arm toward the rear of us. At this I turned my head rearward and I - well, I felt my heart sinking within, experieneing sensations simi- lar to those of a greenhorn on taking his first raw oyster. There is no other way of telling what I felt or what I thought when the dis- tance closed faster and faster between those bloody ' Injuns' and me,-not us, for the negro flew before me like the wind.
"To ent this story short I will state that I came to the sage conclusion that there would be no use trying to get away from the red devils by running any farther than I had (about a mile); so I called a halt and began to collect any senses, which were much in need of ' mobilization.' In a few minutes I was completely surrounded by as ugly a pack of human hounds as ever existed anywhere. Excepting the aboriginal clout, the Indians were all naked. Their faces were daubed over with red and yellow ochre, with huge brass rings pendent from their ears and noses, long, black, coarse hair, parted in the middle and hanging unkempt about their shoulders and backs, and all armed with rifles and bows
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and arrows. On being surrounded I was shivering with fear like an aspen leaf, but almost instantly I felt relieved when I dis- covered the Indians riveting their eyes on the red fly-net; and, summoning courage enongh to speak, I saluted them, in Spanish, with . Good morning.' At this old Jose responded in a deep, guttural tone, . Yes.'
" Recalling the fact that I had two bottles of whisky in the buggy I made haste to haul them out, and, holding them up with the remark, . Good whisky,' I drew their atten- tion from the fly-net. Ilanding one of the bottles to Jose and the other to another one of the outre crew, I reined up my horse to move on, when the old chief stopped me, as he said, 'to drink and dance to my good health.' I said to them, ' All right,' and, 'On with the dance.' Those infernal rascals kept me waiting in the big open prairie two mortal
hours, and at the conclusion of the jamboree insisted on my presenting old Jose with the red tly-net. At this I shrugged my shoulders, a la Frenchman, as though I were loth to part with the fly-net; yet in truth I would have given them horse and buggy and fly-net,- and the negro boy if he had not run away, -- to get clear of them. However, I gave to Jose the fly-net, and thanking me he said, ' You tink me wild Injun and you run like de devil. Me good friend. Live at trading- house wid Charlie Barnard.' And then the whole pack of them broke into an exernei- ating howl, which they meant for laughing; and for the first time the fact dawned upon me that I was ' sold' by a drunken party of friendly Indians!"
This Charles Barnard, who married a Mexican lady, is still living, on the Brazos, near the western border of Johnson county.
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ILLSTORY OF JOHNSON
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JOHNSON COUNTY.
EARLY SETTLERS.
IIE first settler of Johnson county was Samnel Myers, whose sketch is given elsewhere in this voluno.
As westward our empire has ever taken its way, the eastern part of Johnson county was first settled. S. J. Chapman wrote at Grand View, July 22, 1876, the following reminis- cences concerning the early settlement of the southeastern portion of the county:
" The first settlements in this precinct were made in 1852, by D. Smith and W. Meadows, six milesa little north of east of Grand View, on Chambers' ereek. During the next year or two L. Goen, J. S. Morrow, Philip Walker, T. Smith, the Kennards, Ross, Whitmire, Kirt- ley, Queen, Seurlock, and perhaps a few others came in and began to form settlements. In 1856 it is believed there were not to ex. eced twenty families, all told, in the limits of Grand View precinct, and not a farm worth the name.
"Our first settlers were generally stock- raisers. In 1860 it is believed that 1,500 aeres would cover the entire amount of land in cultivation, and perhaps the same amount
will approximate the acreage actually in cul . tivation in 1866, from the fact that the war arrested all improvements for nearly six years. Then, if my figures are correct, there was not much over 1,500 acres in cultivation ten years ago in this precinct.
" A partial report of the agricultural com- mittee of the Grand View Grange will show what has been done within the last ten years, in the west portion of the precinct: 59 farms, averaging 87 acres to the farm, ranging from 20 to 346 acres, devoted to the following crops: corn, 2,265 acres; cotton, 1,865 acres; wheat, 372 acres; oats, 363 acres; barley, 12 acres; rye, 3 acres; millet, 23 acres; sorghum, 60 acres; sweet potatoes, 71 acres; cornfield peas, separate from other erops, 20 acres; peanuts, 1 aere; Irish potatoes, garden vege- tables, etc., over 100 acres; grand total 5,134 acres. With few exceptions the crops are now well cultivated and were never finer."
J. R. Mckinsey wrote at Caddo, in 1876, to the Cleburne Chronicle, the following items:
" During the month of May, 1853, I visited the northern portion of this county, it being the territory of Ellis county. Having
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gone up the Clear fork of Trinity river a few miles above Fort Worth in Tarrant county, I then turned across toward Caddo Jak. Very few houses were to be seen, the country having a wild, romantie and wilder- neza-like appearance. Antelope, deer, wolves and mustang ponies were the most to interest one as he passed from one section to another.
" I found a few settlers on Village creek, Amme of whom had been living there twelve months or more. No improvements had been made worth mentioning. I was at this time stopping temporarily in Dallas county, and was out on this trip to select me a place for a permanent home. The country looking bo lonely and wilderness-like, and I being a total stranger to it and to the few people I met, I became discouraged, went back to Dal- las county and contented myself with buying a small tract of land there. Not being satis- tied at length with my situation, I purchased a Peters colony roadright certificate in view of going West to select a piece of land and locating upon it. Meeting with William Balch, who resided at what is now Alvarado, and he learning my desire to get a new situ- ation, he gave me a strong solicitation to visit his section of the country and select a settle- ment there.
" In the month of January or February, 1>54, I did as he requested. He was per- fretly delighted with that section of the country. Messrs. Balch and James and J. Robinson were abont all the settlers at or near the site of the present Alvarado. Colo- nel Samnel Myers resided some three miles north of Mr. Batch; and in passing from one
of their residences to the other but one house intervened, that of David Myers.
" Messrs. Baleh and Myers appeared anx- ions that I should get a location near them. They rode with me, pointing out such tracts as they believed were vacant lands, and I left my certificate with them, with instructions where to have it laid when the district sur- veyor came again into their neighborhood.
" About this time much interest began to be taken in regard to the vacant domain of Texas, and the surveyors and wily landsharks took a deeper interest in their own welfare than they did for others, and I failed to get my certificate located on any of that rich domain. I am not to be understood as een- suring either Mr. Balch or Mr. Myers as being the cause of my failure.
" Being still dissatisfied with my location in Dallas county, I set out in company with one of my neighbors to look still higher np the Clear fork than I did during the first trip. Going up to a point opposite the head of Long ereek, in what is now Parker county, I and my companion returned south, crossing the divide between Clear fork and the Bra- zos river, continuing my course south, skirt- ing the timbers on the ereeks running into the Brazos, passing Long ereek, and arriving at or near what is now known as Ruecker's creek. Then night came on and we were compelled to camp out. We were not pre- pared for this, as we expected to find some one living out there from whom we could beg a night's lodging. Not so, for the country was wild, dreary and desolate. We spent a very uncomfortable night under the shelter
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of a lonely post-oak standing near what is now the residence of Mrs. Holford, daughter of the lamented David Crockett. I was at that lonely spot a few years ago and recog- mized the tree under which we had bivouacked from two letters that I had inscribed upon it with my pocket-knife when I arose from my wet couch early in the morning. It had rained during the greater part of the night, and still continued to rain down almost in torrents. We felt ourselves in a peculiar situation, in a strange country, and knew not where to get shelter or refreshments. Not a foot-print of a white man could we discover save one,-a log cabin which had been re- cently raised to the square; but no one was about or near it. This was afterward oeeu- pied by John Parker. At this time there were no settlements on the Brazos higher up than Charles Barnard's, in Johnson county.
" We left onr camp in gloomy dismay. We remembered crossing a road or trail the evening before, and we thought if we could find it either end of it would take us to some place. The rain still came down upon ns, but we jogged along on the trail, without knowing where it would lead us to or the direction we were traveling. All on a sudden we came in view of a house in a low valley near a braneli or ereek. It was the most gloomy and desolate looking place I ever saw. Two very large leopard cats near by seemed as indifferent and bold at our appearance as if they were masters of the situation. I be- came very much disheartened when I discov- ered the building to be an old waste eabin. It was known to me afterward as a station
house for soldiers on the Belknap trail lead- ing from Belknap to Fort Graham, and the creek or branch is called ' Station Branch ' to this day.
" Wo passed the station house and con- tinned on the trail, the rain still spattering down upon us. It was dark, gloomy and foggy. We thought our sitnation a hard one. After a long time it began to elear. The rain ceasing and the fog disappearing, we dis- covered Caddo peak and the Brushy monnds. We turned off abruptly from the trail and made directly for the peak. When we first discovered it we were abont opposite the Sugar Loaf on George's creek. Noland's river lay between us and the peak, and when we came to it it was booming full. We had traveled up it for some distance in order to find a suitable crossing, and crossed over just above the cottonwood grove near where 'Squire Edgar now lives. We hastened on in the direction of the peak and soon discovered a newly built house. We quiekened our pace and soon arrived at the house seen in the distance. We inquired of the good lady if we could get something to eat, and were an- swered as the weary traveler loves to be. We alighted, rested a few moments and then sat down and partook of a meal that a king, with as keen an appetite as ours, would not have complained of.
" After dining I took a good look at the country that lay in full view. We were then at the place afterward known as Gathings Point. I thought then, as I think now, that from this point a man can get as lovely a view of landscape as can be seen almost any-
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where in the world. That view won my affections to Johnson county, and from that time on until now my interests in the pros- perity and welfare of this county have been enlisted and unabated.
" This second trip was made in the month of May, 1854. I soon made arrangements und had my certificate located and a house erected, -- the first house built west of Rock creek in this neighborhood. I moved my family from Dallas to this county in Septem- ber following. There were then only two or three houses on the Fort Worth and Fort Graham road between Fort Worth and Buf- falo creek."
The following items are from the memory of Major E. M. Heath, of Cleburne:
On December 21, 1852, when he settled in the county, there was nothing like a town in the county. The first postoffice established in the county was at the residence of David Mitchell, about three and one-half miles east of the present site of Alvarado.
Alvarado, the first town, was laid out in the winter of 1853-'54, by William Baleh and James D. Janes. The name was suggested by A. H. Onstott, afterward the first sheriff of the county, in memory of a Mexican town of that name. The first store in the new town was built by Stephen D. Bright and F. L. Kirtley, they being the first merchants. They bought their goods in Houston and hauled them to the county by ox teams. They failed not long afterward and Major Ilcath was their assignee. An inventory of their effects is given among the early records of the county. The second merchant in the
place was James D. Janes, who began busi- in the winter of 1853-'54 also. As soon as the town of Alvarado was located, the post- office was moved from Mr. Mitchell's resi- dence to it, and afterward continued there.
The following named persons, each the head of a family, resided in the county when Major IIeath settled here: Samuel Myers, David Mitchell, Abraham Futhey, James Evans, William Carter, James Coldiron, A. II. Onstott, William Baleh, John Balch, B. J. Stocks, W. L. Combes, James Billingsley, Samuel Billingsley, Jonathan Billingsley, W. C. Billingsley, William Billingsley, Nathan Billingsley, Jolin Billingsley, John R. Bil- lingsley, Milton Stout, David Myers, J. J. Mills, and S. B. Kirkham.
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