USA > Texas > Border wars of Texas; being an authentic and popular account, in chronological order, of the long and bitter conflict waged between savage Indian tribes and the pioneer settlers of Texas > Part 13
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31
158
BORDER WARS OF TEXAS.
after the battle of San Jacinto, and to their base of opera- tions on the head waters of the Arkansas.
To follow these two unfortunate daughters in their mul- tiplied sorrows and tribulations; to tell of the hellish tor- tures endured and fiendish treatment experienced - all the while weeping and agonizing over the fate of their innocent little children-beggars belief, and would cause bitter and burning tears to well up thick and fast. Better, a thousand times better, that they had shared the fate of their husbands and fathers on that fatal April day, and that their bodies had been left to devouring vultures and coyotes, and their bones to bleach on the lonely prairies of Southwest Texas. Reader! We will draw the veil of silence.
** * * *
On the outgoing trip, while camped near Red River, Col. Holland Coffee, founder of Coffee's Trading House, near where Denison now stands, on Red River, visited the In- dian camp, and made every effort possible to rescue by pur- chase the two poor women-offering their captors any amount of goods or money; but without avail. The tender- hearted and noble man, it is said, wept bitterly over his dis- appointment. Col. Coffee was a brave and good man, and a valuable pioneer of Northeast Texas, and it is sad to re- flect that he died at the hands of an assassin a few years later.
Finally, in June, 1837, Mrs. Harris was ransomed by American traders, acting under instructions from William Donaho, a philanthropic Santa Fe merchant. At the same time they tried to buy Mrs. Horn, but without success. A little later, however, Sept. 19, 1837, she was purchased at San Miguel, N. M., by a Mexican acting for Donaho. But in a few days a grasping and heartless merchant of the place, disgracing the fair name of Hill, set up a claim that he had furnished goods for her release and that he should have her as a servant. He obtained a judgment in his favor from the alcalde, and kept her in brutal slavery for a short while-allowing her barely sufficient food to sustain life.
159
BORDER WARS OF TEXAS.
Hearing of her pitiable condition, a Mr. Smith, who lived at the mines, some distance away, sent an armed party, who brought her to his house, where his family tenderly cared for her. She was now soon conveyed from Taos, N. M., to Independence, Mo., by Messrs. Workman and Row- land, in 1838, and in October of that year became for some time, a guest of Mr. David Workman and family at New Franklin.
In the autumn of 1837, Mr. Donaho escorted Mrs. Plum- mer (one of the captives taken at Parker's Fort in 1836), and Mrs. Harris to Missouri. He left Mrs. Harris with his mother-in-law, Mrs. Lucy Dodson, in Pulaski county, Mo., took Mrs. Plummer to her relatives in Texas; and then in 1838, returned to Santa Fe. Mrs. Horn was ransomed dur- ing his absence, which accounted for his not being present to take charge of her when she was released by the Indians. He went to Taos to see her, but learned that she had re- cently departed for Missouri with Workman and Rowland, and several other persons bound for Independence. During the year Mr. Donaho wound up his business at Santa Fe and went to Missouri, where he resided until 1839, when he located at Clarksville, Texas, which was thereafter his home until the time of his death. Some of his descendants are still residing there and in Red River county. When he came back to Missouri, Mrs. Horn went to see him, learned who it was that had restored her to freedom, and thanked him with words such as only a poor captive could utter- simple words but sweeter to have than all the incense that has ever floated upward from golden censers. Neither she nor Mrs. Harris lived long after their restoration to civilization.
Mrs. Horn published a small pamphlet giving an account of her life up to the time she was recovered from the In- dians. But one copy of this rare pamphlet is known to be in existence.
Some of the experiences that she details are such as to
160
BORDER WARS OF TEXAS.
dry whatever tears one might be disposed to shed over the fate of the Indian.
A single incident will suffice to indicate the rest.
On one occasion, while crossing a ford, her little son Joseph, slipped from the back of the mule into the water. An Indian, enraged at the accident, struck him with a lance, inflicting a severe wound, and knocking him into the water, none of the other Indians interfering. The child swam to the bank, "bleeding like a slaughtered animal." Mrs. Horn upbraided the Indian for his conduct. He made the boy travel on foot and drive a mule for the rest of the day, and at night called Mrs. Horn to him and gave her an unmerciful beating with the whip.
She says: "When the savage monster was done whip- ping me, he took his knife and literally sawed the hair from my head. It was quite long, and when he had com- pleted the operation, he tied it to his own as an ornament. At this time we had tasted no food for two days, and in hearing of the moans of my starving children, bound as on every night, mothers may judge, if they can, of my repose. The next day a wild horse was killed and we were allowed to partake of the flesh.
"During the same day the Indians amused themselves by throwing the two boys into a stream, time and again as fast as they swam out, until the children were partially unconscious and unable to stand. Their bodies were bad- ly bruised and water came from their stomachs in gurgles. Little Joseph's wounded face was swollen almost beyond recognition."
What became of the children was never known. They disappeared in the devouring darkness, like characters of Victor Hugo in Les Miserables, and baffled fancy seeks to follow them in vain.
MURDER OF DOUGLAS AND DAUGHERTY FAMILIES.
Among other belated settlers who were hastily impro- vising means of conveyance with which to join in the wild
2
3
4
1. BEN MC CULLOCH
2. HENRY MC CULLOCH
3. COL. JOHN C. HAYS, "JACK" 4. "JACK" HAYS AS A REGULAR IN 1840
---
*
2
I
3
4
1. ISAAC PARKER.
3. CYNTHIA ANN PARKER.
2. I. D. PARKER
4. QUANAH PARKER
161
BORDER WARS OF TEXAS.
flight-"the runaway scrape"-across Texas in advance of the Mexican army of invasion, in March, 1836, were two Irish families, John Douglas, wife and children, and .... Daugherty, a widower with three children-the parents, na- tives of Ireland, but more recently of Cambria county, Pennsylvania, where their children were born, and from whence they had removed to Texas, in 1832, settling to- gether in a somewhat isolated section, on Douglas or Clark Creek, some twelve miles from the present site of Halletts- ville, in Lavaca county.
Ere they had completed sleds on which to transport their household effects, most of the families in that section had already left for the east. Ready to start on the morn- ing of March 4th, Augustine and Thaddeus Douglas, aged respectively fifteen and thirteen, were sent out in the range for the oxen designed to draw the sleds. Returning in the afternoon, and when near home, they were horrified to behold the cabins in flames and surrounded by a band of painted warriors, whose yells, mingled with agonizing death screams, told only too plainly of the massacre that was in progress. Unarmed and helpless, the two boys could only seek their own safety, which they did by hiding in a dense thicket, where they remained till night. Under cover of darkness, they cautiously approached the spot-once a home of life and happiness, now a scene of death and multiplied grief. A brief examination revealed to them the awful, shocking tragedy-the home and effects in smouldering ruins; their father, mother, sister and little brother; Mr. Daugherty, his son and two daughters, all dead, scalped, mu- tilated and lying naked in the yard-eight souls thus brutal- ly snatched from earth. "Imagination," says John Henry Brown, "especially when assured that those two boys were noted for gentle and affectionate natures, as personally known to the writer for a number of years, may depict the forlorn angusih piercing their young hearts. It was a scene over which angels weep."
The two boys, having some idea as to course, now set out with bleeding hearts for the little settlement in the vi-
162
BORDER WARS OF TEXAS.
cinity of what is now Hallettsville, but finding all had re- treated, continued down the Lavaca some thirty-five miles further, to where their older sister, the wife of Capt. John McHenry, and a few others lived, but found that they too, had left. Thus nonplussed, fatigued and almost famished, the heart-broken youths plodded their way along the old Atascosa road, and when near the crossing on the Colo- rado River, they were picked up by some Mexican scouts and carried in to General Adrian Woll's camp, where they related their sad story. The boys were treated kindly and were soon placed in the care of one Auguste, a French- man, and a traitor to Texas, and who had, with a band of confederates, mostly negroes, "rounded up" the cattle of re- treating citizens, and rendezvousing on Cummings Creek, was supplying Woll's army with beef at exorbitant prices. Here they remained, virtually as captives, till after the battle of San Jacinto, and the retreat of the Mexican army.
Again quoting Brown's narrative: "Auguste, mount- ing Augustine Douglas on a fine horse, sent him down to learn when Woll could start. In the mean- time a party of Texans, headed by Allison York, who had heard of Auguste's thieving den, hurried forward to chastise him before he could leave the country with his booty. He punished them severely, all who could, fleeing into the bottom, and thence to Woll's camp. When York's party opened fire, little Thaddeus Douglas, not understand- ing the cause, fled down the road, and in about a mile met his brother returning from Woll's camp on Auguste's fine horse. With equal prudence and financial skill, they deter- mined to save both themselves and the horse. Thaddeus mounting behind, they started at double quick for the Braz- os. They had not traveled many miles, however, when they met the gallant Capt. Henry W. Karnes, at the head of some cavalry, from whom they learned for the first time, of the victory of San Jacinto, and that they yet would see their only surviving sister and brother-in-law, Mrs. and Capt. McHenry. In writing of this incident in De Bow's
163
BORDER WARS OF TEXAS.
Review of December, 1853, eighteen years after its occur- rence, I used this language:
'These boys, thus rendered objects of sympathy, formed a link in the legends of the old Texans, and still reside on the Lavaca, much respected for their courage and moral de- portment.'
"This was said thirty-four years ago. It is a still greater pleasure to say now that they ever after bore hon- orable characters and were both living a short time since, as I think their sister is; but the noble old patriot in three revolutions-Mexico in 1820, South America in 1822, and Texas in 1835-preceded by gallant conduct at New Orleans in 1815, when only sixteen years old-the honest, brave and ever true son of Erin's Isle, Capt. John McHenry, died a few years ago, leaving a memory sweetly embalmed in many thousand hearts."
PIONEER TIMES IN ROBERTSON'S COLONY - TRIALS OF THE FIRST SETTLERS ABOUT THE "THREE FORKS" OF LITTLE RIVER.
During the latter half of 1835, and throughout 1836, the Indians-Tehuacanas, Wacos and Comanches-if not combin- ing, vied with each other, as it were, in the frequency of their depredations and deviltry, being exceedingly hostile to wards the settlers of Robertson's Colony, especially to those more exposed about the Falls of the Brazos, Nash- ville, about the 'Three Forks of Little River, and on the San Gabriel.
"In the month of February, 1836," says De Cordo- va, "a company of rangers were stationed as high up the country as the Waco village, * * but, from the scarcity of provisions and the difficulty of conveying the small quan- tity of the necessaries of life, (and few indeed were they that these efficient frontier soldiers required), they were forced to fall back to the "Falls"; and, notwithstanding all these exertions, during the months of April, May and June, innumerable were the acts of cruelty, and immense were the
164
BORDER WARS OF TEXAS.
depredations, committed by the savages. And, in conse- quence of the poverty of the government, these rangers were disbanded, and for a time the magnificent region of country between the Colorado and the Brazos was deserted by the white man. But, as the settlers had for a time deserted this region of country, and as there was no fur- ther inducement for the savages to steal, they, too, retired to their villages on the Brazos, as they deemed themselves more secure higher up the country, where they could enjoy and revel in the fruits of their predatory excursions, unmo- lested."
For two or three years after the introduction of its first settlers in the early 30's, Robertson's Colony received but few accessions. However, the beauty and fertility of that section soon attracted the attenion of home-seekers, and from about 1834-'5 they commenced to arrive and to locate on the more desirable, but also more exposed, sec- tions, especially in and around Nashville, the capital of the colony, near the mouth of Little River and along that stream as high up as the "Three Forks." Among other fam- ilies were the McLennans, Davidsons, Crouch, the Childers brothers, Rileys and Taylors; special mention of which has already been or will be made.
Following the return from the army and the "runaway scrape," after the victory at San Jacinto, April 21, most of these settlers repaired to their abandoned homes and claims.
"During the previous winter," says Brown, "each head of a family and one or two single men had cleared about forty acres of ground on his own land, and had planted corn before the retreat. To cultivate this corn and thus have bread, was the incentive to an early return."
Temporarily, the families of most of those who returned to cultivate their crops, remained, for safety, in the town of Nashville, then the highest up settlement and refuge on that frontier.
165
BORDER WARS OF TEXAS.
KILLING OF CROUCH AND DAVIDSON.
Thus matters stood till about the first week in June, when two messengers, John Beal and Jack Hopson, arrived at the "Three Forks" from Nashville, bringing the sad news of Parker's Fort massacre, on the 19th of the previous month; advising these toiling men of their great peril and urging them to leave at once, as numerous parties of hos- tile Indians were traversing the country and were in that vicinity. Heeding this advice, immediate preparations were made to retreat in a body to Nashville.
The entire party consisted of Capt. Gouldsby Childress, wife, four sons, Robert, Frank and two small boys, two grown, and one eight year old daughter; Rhoads (an old gentleman living with the family), Ezekiel Robertson, Or- ville T. Tyler, Rev. Jasper Crouch, Dr. Robert Davidson, .. Shackelford, the two messengers, Beal and Hopson- in all seventeen souls, of whom but ten were really able to bear arms. Their only vehicle was a wagon to be drawn by a single pair of oxem-they had some horses but not enough to mount the entire party.
Starting on the third day of June, their first day's jour- ney brought them to the cabins of Henry Walker, James (Camel Back) Smith and Monroe, on Walkers Creek, about eight miles east of the present town of Cameron, in Milam county ; and where they camped for the night. The three last named families not being ready, the original party left on their journey early the following morning, hoping to reach Nashville by the close, or in the night, of that day. But they were doomed to disappointment-some alas! never to reach their destination and loved ones.
On that fatal June morning, and when about three miles from Walker's, enroute via the Smith crossing of Little River-"Davidson and Crouch about three hundred, Captain Childress about one hundred, yards ahead, and two or three men perhaps two hundred yards behind, driving some cattle"-a party of perhaps two hundred mounted and painted Comanche warriors dashed upon them. Chil-
166
BORDER WARS OF TEXAS.
1
dress, calling to Davidson and Crouch, regained his wagon, and hasty preparations were made for defense. Keeping well out of rifle range, the Indians commenced encircling the apparently doomed party, at the same moment discov- ering Davidson and Crouch, who had failed to join their comrades, a large party attacked them. Being poorly mount- ed, the two unfortunate men made a bold stand and a brave fight, killing one or two of the enemy, but were soon overpowered and both slain, scalped and mutilated. "Then followed," says Brown, "great excitement among the In- dians, apparently quarreling over the disposiion of the scalps and effects of the two murdered men. This enabled the main party to reach a grove of timber about four hun- dred yards distant, where they turned the oxen loose and only sought to save their lives."
At this critical moment, and just as the savages were re- turning en masse to renew the attack, the two young men, Beal and Hopson, seized with panic, succeeded in making their escape.
Again the Indians circled around, yelling, firing and maneuvering to "draw a fire from the little band," but they presented a bold front and reserved their charges. Shack- elford, who could speak the Comanche tongue, challenged them to charge at closer quarters, but believing the brave little party well armed and determined, the wily Coman- ches kept aloof and eventually gave up the attack, mov- ing off to the west. In close order the beseiged now re- treated, changing their course to "the raft," four or five miles distant on Little River, on which they crossed, swim- ming their horses, secured a favorable camp for the night, and arrived at Nashville early next day .*
*"During the next day," says John Henry Brown, "Smith, Monroe and Walker, with their families, arrived. Immediately on leaving the other party, the Indians had attacked the three families in Walker's house and kept up a fire all day without wounding either of the defenders, who fired deliberately through port-holes whenever opportunity offered. While not assured of killing a single Indian, they were perfectly certain of having wound- ·ed a considerable number. As night came on the Indians retired, and as soon as satisfied of their departure, the three families left for Nashville, and arrived without further mo- lestation."-"Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas," p, 44.
. 167
BORDER WARS OF TEXAS.
Robertson's Colony played a most prominent part in the settlement and development of Texas-its outer set- tlements truly constituting the advance guards of civiliza- tion, but the growth of the colony during its first years was slow and of uncertain permanency. In 1833, there were only five persons settled within its limits above the Yegua, west of the Brazos. In 1834, the town of Viesca at the Falls of the Brazos, was laid off by Ster- ling C. Robertson, its name being afterwards changed to Fort Milam. Nearby was Fort Sullivan, afterwards called, "Bucksnort." Early in 1835 considerable additions were made to the colony-small settlements commencing on Pond Creek and on Little River. Tenoxtitlan, first as a noted crossing of the old San Antonio and Nacogdoches road, then as an important Mexican military garrison, and in the '30's, as a colonial hamlet, was some twenty miles below Nashville on the Brazos. The place is now defunct and al- most forgotten.
Nashville, as the capital of the colony, and about central with reference to the colony limits, was situated on a most lovely and eligible site, a beautiful prairie plains on the south bank, overlooking the Brazos, about two miles below the mouth of Little River, and five miles northwest from the present town of Hearne, in Milam county-The Interna- tional and Great Northern railroad bridge spanning the river a few hundred yards below the site of this now dead town. A number of bold springs gushed forth from the bluff, "the landscape o'er" was most picturesque, and it is no wonder that settlers were attracted, and would want to locate in and around this beautiful, once colonial capital. Its exact incipiency is not known, but certain it is that the empresario Robertson viewed the site in the middle '20's, he and his partner, Alex S. Thompson, were there in 1831-the latter locating with his family, and doubtless erected the first cabin. But very few residents were there in the early 30's. A few settlers came as early as 1834, and early in 1835, and more in the summer and fall of this latter year. The town was regularly laid out in the fall of 1835 by
168
BORDER WARS OF TEXAS.
Gen. Thos, J. Chambers, who had previously located an eleven league grant, covering the site. This grant was long in litigation, during the days of the Republic, but it is not remembered how the suit was finally settled. At no period of its existence, according to the memory of Frank Brown, was the place very populous-perhaps not over 15 or 20 permanent resident families-"There were many comers and goers from time to time."
Here the records were kept and the business of the colo- ny transacted, and later, as the capital of Milam Land Dis- trict, from 1837 to 1846, it became quite an important place -till Cameron finally rivaled, and became the permanent county seat of Milam county. It continued as a post-of- fice, at least till about the beginning of the Civil War.
CAPT. HILL'S FORTUNATE SCRAP.
Late in August Captain Hill, scouting with a small com- pany of rangers on the San Gabriel, discovered the trail of foot Indians, near the mouth of Brushy Creek, leading to- ward the lower country. After a rapid pursuit without halt or rest, of about twenty-four hours, the enemy-twenty Cad- des-were overtaken and a desperate fight ensued-the odds for a time in favor of the Indians, who had taken favor- able position in a dense thicket. In the end, however, sever- al of the red men were killed and wounded and the others routed in confusion, leaving their camp equipage-among other trophies a large number of scalps taken from white people of both sexes and all ages. By this timely action the sparse and unprotected settlers at a point in the post oaks between the Yegua and Little Rivers and in what is now Burleson county, was no doubt saved from a serious visita- tion.
MURDER AND CAPTURE OF THE MOLENNANS.
Prominent among the early frontier settlers of Texas, were the MeLennans, and one of the most tragic episodes
169
BORDER WARS OF TEXAS.
to be recorded, is the fate which befell one of these fami- lies.
Neil McLennan, Sr.,* was a native of the Highlands of Scot- land, born in the year 1777, and emigrated with a large family and relatives to America in 1802, settling in the state of North Carolina, where they remained till about 1820, "When, impelled by a brave,and adventurous spirit, in com- pany with one companion, he determined to explore the wilderness of Florida. Without a path or guide, they pene- trated and explored the dense forests of west Florida, trav- eling on foot, burdened with their guns, axes, provisions and blankets." To this, then terra incog., the McLennans soon removed, halting there until the year 1834, "when, having heard of the great and peculiar advantages of Texas, he, to- gether with his brothers, a few friends and their families, removed to that country." "They purchased a schooner at. Pensacola," continues a biographer, "loaded her with their worldly goods and navigated her themselves," arriving safe- ly at the mouth of the Brazos on January 14, 1835. Pro- ceeding up that river to a point in what is now Fort Bend county, they struck a snag, sinking the frail craft, but suc- ceeded in saving most of their household effects and pro- visions. Procuring oxen and improvising carts they slowly continued up country reaching Robertson's colony early in April-settling near the mouth of Pond Creek in what is now Falls county."
Misfortunes, it seems, beset these colonists almost from the very day they reached their destination-this "land of promise.""' Not satisfied with the Pond Creek country, one of the McLennan's, more venturesome than prudent, in the latter part of 1835 or early in 1836, loaded his effects, and
*"Neil McLennan," says Capt. Davidson, who as a boy, knew him at the village of Nashville, "was the soul of honor, and a most useful citizen-When a couple wanted toget married they would always send for "Squire" McLennan. Have seen him unite sevai al: couples-the occasion always being one of much frolic and feasting and one looked forward to with much anticipations of pleasure by those pioneer people of few and simple pastimes. I knew the McLennans well, and can truly say that among the early pioneers of Texas there: was not to be found a grander or nobler gentleman than Neil McLennan."-Davidson's Let -- ter-8-26-1907.
170
BORDER WARS OF TEXAS.
with his wife, two small boys, and an infant, removed to a more desirable location on the San Gabriel, at a point in what is now Williamson county. Arriving at this new home- place, it was found they were out of meat. Mr. McLennan, taking his gun and the oldest boy, went in search of game, leaving his wife and two other children, to "keep camp." Becoming lost, he did not return until dark, when he found the camp plundered and his loved ones gone. Indians had discovered the "new comers" and visited them, capturing the mother and her two children. In fiendish glee they stripped their captives of every vestage of apparel and tied them fast, while they plundered the camp. Breaking open a large trunk they found a "looking glass"-apparently a great curiosity to the Indians, who became very much ab- sorbed, performing many antics over and around the mir- ror. Taking advantage of this, and at a time when the In- dians were some little distance away, Mrs. McLennan un- tied herself and child, and taking her infant, quietly moved "off, moticning her little boy to follow. Reaching the San Gabriel bottom she found a sheltering rock under which she concealed herself and children. So absorbed were the Indians in plundering the camp and playing with the mys- terious glass, they did not miss their captives until late; a hurried search was made, but the hiding refugees fortunate- ly, escaped the vigilant observations, the Indians leaving as night came on.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.