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 2
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Later, the same day, and near the same place, Robert Brotherton, a young man recently from St. Louis county, Missouri, unexpectedly rode among the same party of In- dians, thinking they were friendly Tonkawas. Losing his gun in the struggle to free himself, he put spurs to his horse and escaped with a painful arrow wound in the back.
Reaching the settlement, Brotherton gave the alarm. "When this news was received," says Kuykendall, "about a dozen of the settlers led by my uncle, Robert Kuykendall, went in pursuit of the Indians. The Tonkawas were at that time camped near his house, and the settlers thought it prudent to take their chief (Carita) with them to insure the good behavior of his people during the absence of the party, whose families would be unprotected until their re- turn.
Upon arriving near the mouth of Skull Creek, the par-
* The manner in which the land was prepared was simple. The cane was burned off and holes made in the ground with handspikes, where the corn was planted. The land being very rich, a good yield was obtained in this manner. "Dewees Letter from Texas," Page 39.
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ty halted in order to spy out the Indians, and some time af- ter dark, they heard them in a thicket pounding briar root. Locating the enemy, the settlers dismounted, secur- ed their horses, and awaited the coming day." By the morn- ing twilight they were enabled to find a small path which led into the thicket and to the camp of the Indians, "and as silently as possible," says one of the party,"we crawled in- to a thicket about ten steps behind the camp. Placing our- selves about four or five steps apart, in a sort of semi-circle, and completely cutting off their retreat from the swamps." As the first Indian arose, the signal for action was given. The surprise was complete. The settlers rushed on the camp and delivered a deadly fire. Nine or ten warriors were killed on the spot; ten more were slain in their wild attempt to retreat; two escaped badly wound- ed. The encampment was destroyed, and the settlers re- turned home without further incident. This was a severe blow to the Caranchuas, and it caused them to leave the settlement for a time and to use more stealth and precau- tion in their depredations.
During the fall and winter of 1823-24 Austin's colony was in a very feeble condition. The empresario Austin, re- counting the trials and privations of his colonists at this early period, says, "They were totally destitute of bread and salt ; coffee, sugar, etc., were remembered and hoped for at some future day. There was no other dependence for subsistence but the wild game, such as buffalo, bear, deer, turkeys and wild horses, (mustangs). The Indians rendered it quite dangerous ranging the country for buffalo; bear were very poor and scarce, owing to failure in mast, and poor venison, it is well known, is the least nutritious of all the meat kind. 'The mustang horses, however, were fat and very abundant, and it is estimated that at least one hundred of these were eaten the two first years.
"The Caranchua Indians were very hostile on the coast; the Waccs and Tehuacanies were equally so in the interior, and committed constant depredations. Parties of Tonkawas, Lipans, Beedies and others were intermingled
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with the settlers; they were beggarly and insolent, and were only restrained the first two years by presents, forbearance and policy; there was not force enough to awe them. One imprudent step with these Indians would have destroyed the settlement, and the settlers deserve as much for their forbearance during the years 1822 and 1823, as for their for- titude."
"In 1824, the strength of the settlement justified a change of policy, and a party of Tonkawas were tried and whipped in the presence of their chiefs for horse stealing."
Thus the empresario Austin himself has given us a brief, but vivid picture of what must have been the difficul- ties, privations and dangers which had to be borne and overcome during the first years of his colony. Austin him- self was absent from his colony for several months, being very unexpectedly called to the city of Mexico, to secure ratification of his colonization contract by the new, revolu- tionary formed, government of Iturbide. The Indians were more or less troublesome and threatening; provisions were scarce, "store bought," clothing was an almost unknown luxury, and many privations, as well as real sufferings, were experienced. To give the reader a better knowledge of the deplorable conditions and gloomy prospects existing in the infant colony at that period, we extract briefly from letters and narratives of some of the early settlers :-
Colorado River, Coahuila, and Texas. December 1, 1823.
Dear Friend: Since I last wrote, our sufferings have been very great for want of provisions. On account of dry weather our crops were very poor, and are now entirely spent. The game has left this section of the country, and we are now very much pressed for food. There have been a great many new settlers come on this fall, and those who have not been accustomed to hunting in the woods for sup- port, are obliged to suffer. Were it not for a few boys who have no families, their wives and children would suffer much more than they now do; in fact, I fear some of them would starve. Those of us who have no families of our own
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reside with some of the families of the settlement. We re- main here, notwithstanding the scarcity of provisions, to as- sist in protecting the settlement. We are obliged to go out in the morning , a party of us, to hunt food, leaving a part of the men at home to guard the settlement from In- dians, who are very hostile to us. Indeed, we dare not go cut and hunt except in companies, as we are obliged to keep on a lookcut, lest the savages fall upon us; and one cannot hunt and watch too. Game is now so scarce that we often hunt all day for a dee" cr a turkey, and return at night empty handed. It would make your heart sick to see the poor little half naked children, who have nothing to eat during the day, watch for the return of the hunters at night. As soon as they catch the first glimpse of us they ea- gerly run to meet us, and learn if we have been successful in our hunt. If the hunters return with a deer or turkey, the children are almost wild with delight; while on the other hand, they suddenly stop in their course, their counte- nances fall, the deep, bitter tears well up in their eyes and roll down their pale cheeks.
'Tis truly heart-rending to see us return home after a hard days hunt without any game, knowing, as we do, that the women and children are entirely without food, and can have nothing until we find it in our hunt. No one can know our sufferings, or even imagine our feelings, un- less they have been in similar situations. And to render our situation the more dreadful, our sufferings the more acute, we are often obliged to get the women of the differ- ent settlements together, and make a kind of fort to protect them from the merciless savages. It is surprising to see how bravely the delicate females bear up under their suffer- ings, without a murmur or complaint. 'Tis only by their looks they show their feelings. When we seem the least discouraged, they cheer us with kind words and looks, and strive to appear cheerful and happy. They do more when we are worried out with toil and fatigue they take our guns in their hands and assist us in standing guard.
"Our prospects for the winter look very gloomy. If the
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Indians attack us, I scarcely know what we shall do; but I hope for the best, and trust that we shall be provided for in some way. Were it not for the Tonkawa Indians, a small tribe who are friendly ty us and supply us with dress- ed deerskins, we should be almost entirely destitute of cloth- ing. Once in a great while we are able to obtain a small piece of unbleached domestic, or a bit of calico, at the ex- orbitant price of seventy-five cents a yard, from some one passing through the country; but this is very seldom. The common dress of men and children is made of buckskin, and even the women are often forced to wear the same.
Your affectionate friend, W. B. Dewees."
Captain Jesse Burnham in his "Reminiscences," after telling of his enfeebled condition from sickness, and that "we got out of bread" and had no food for two days, says :
"At last I heard one of my children say, 'I am so hun- gry.' I was too feeble to hunt, but I got up and began to fix my gun slowly. I didn't feel as though I could walk, but I started on my first hunt. I had not gone far when I saw two deer, a fawn and its mother. I shot the fawn first, knowing the doe would not run far, then I shot and killed her. 'O ho,' I said, 'two deer in one day, and my first hunt!' I took the fawn to camp to my hungry chil- dren and took William, my oldest boy, and a horse after the doe. My wife had dressed a skin and made William a shirt, but it lacked one sleeve, so she dressed the fawn skin that day and made the other sleeve."
"We were still out of bread, and it had been nine months since we had seen any. A man from lower down the country came up and told me lie had corn that he had plant- ed with a stick-there were no plows or hoes in the colony. I gave him a horse for twenty bushels and went twenty-six miles after it with two horses, and brought eight bushels back. I walked and led my horse. I had prepared a mor- tar* before I left home to beat it in, and a sieve made of
* Many of the first emigrants to Austin's Colony had not even a hard mill, and for a
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deer skin stretched over a hoop and with holes punched in it. We would have to be very saving, of course, and were allowed only one piece of bread around.
"About this time my oldest daughter's dress wore out before we could get any cotton to spin, and she wore a dress of dressed buckskin. I had pants and a hunting shirt made of deerskin. My wife colored the skin brown and fringed the hunting shirt, and it was considered the nicest suit in the colony."
Horatio Chrisman, the famous surveyor and early In- dian fighter of Austin's colony, says: "All these emi- grants suffered for want of provisions. We had about eight acres of conn which if not worked immediately, was certain to be lost. I could not stop the plow to hunt. I took no sustenance save a few stinted drinks of buttermilk My until after I finished plowing over the eight acres. plow animal was an old, slow, blind mule." A few weeks afterward, Mr. Chrisman learned that James Whitesides- whose residence was on the east side of the Brazos-had gone to the United States on business, and that his family, consisting of his wife and two little boys, had little or nothing to eat but lettuce. Sending out his excellent hunt- er, Martin Varner, he secured a very large buck, which he threw across his horse and carried to Mrs. Whitesides, a dis- tance of twenty miles. "Aunt Betsey," says Chrisman, "never forgot this favor."
The lot of these first pioneers was indeed a hard and rugged one, but in common, and they were ever ready to assist and protect each other at their own discomfort, and often at the risk of their lives.
During the summer Capt. Chrisman was without a shirt, and wore a buckskin hunting shirt instead. Toward au- tumn he learned that Col. Jared Groce had some goods. He therefore visited the colonel to replenish his wardrobe.
long time their only means of manufacturing meal was by pounding the corn with a wooden pestle in a motar made in a log or stump. The first saw and grist mill propelled by water, was erected on Mill Creek, by the Cummings family. It went into operation in the year 1826. One or two horse mills had been erected a short time before .- Kuykendall's Re- miniscences.
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He bought a few yards of coarse brown "Holland," from which he had a Mrs. Byrd to make him two shirts-"the best I ever wore, as they lasted three years." But we are digressing.
HORSE THIEVES.
Another sort of annoyance to the struggling colonists, and one that for a while threatened to be more serious than Indian troubles, was a clan of Mexican and American rob- bers and horse thieves that infested the colony about this time-some of them erstwhile denizens of the "Neutral Grounds," where they held undisputed sway and found a safe retreat. Others, "men who had fled from justice in the United States, and come to the colony with the hope of committing their depredations with greater impunity."- Yoakum's Texas, Vol. 1, page 228.
"During the same summer," (1823), says Kuykendall in his Reminiscences, "A Frenchman and two Mexicans, all residents of Louisiana, returning from the Rio Grande with a small cavalcade, passed through our neighborhood and crossed the Brazos at the La Bahia road. As they passed by the residence of Martin Varner, (near the present town of Independence), they stole his most valuable horse. Our Alcalde, Joseph H. Bell, ordered me to raise a few men and pursue the thieves. The men who went with me were Martin Varner, Samuel Kennedy, James Nelson, Oliver Jones and George Robinson. About midnight of the day we started, we arrived at the creek much swollen by a recent rain. Dark as it was, we swam this stream, and about an hour before day, on the waters of the Trinity, we came up- on the camp; and at daylight captured the theives, and re- covered Varner's and ten or eleven other horses. The cul- prits were tried by the local authorties and sentenced to receive thirty-nine lashes, which sentence was duly execut- ed; after which the Frenchman was released, it appearing that he was only accessory to the theft. "The principal was now carried before Alcalde Bell for further proceedings;
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again whipped, and released on the east side of the Brazos, with orders to depart the Colony."*
Colonel Austin, as civil and military commandant, now adopted more drastic measures, determined to rid his colony of the scourge. An opportunity soon offered to carry out his plan. "A still greater outrage" continues Kuykendall, "was perpetrated this summer by another party of Mexi- cans from the border of Louisiana. They were enroute to the Rio Grande, and finding a small party of Mexicans on Skull Oreek, with a cavalcade which they were driving east, the Louisianans camped with them. The ensuing night they fell upon their Rio Grande brethren, and after murdering two or three and dispersing the rest, took possession of the cavallada. Carrasco, the owner of the horses, though wound- ed, escaped to the settlement on the Colorado; whereupon uncle Robert Kuykendall with a few men, started in pursuit of the theives. It was soon discovered they had separated into two parties (having divided the horses), one of which had crossed the Colorado a short distance below the La Bahia road, and the other many miles above it. The latter party, after crossing the river, fell into and followed the San Antonio road and escaped to Louisiana, but the former was pursued and overtaken on the west bank of the Brazos, at the Cooshatte crossing. Two of them were killed and their heads stuck on poles at the roadside. The horses were also taken and restored to their owner. After this example, the 'border ruffians' ceased their depredations within the bounds of Austin's Colony."
However, the Tonkawas, ever professing friendship for the whites, could not restrain their propensity for stealing, and committed numerous petty depredations.
"Toward the latter part of this summer," says Kuyken- dall, "a party of Tonkawas stole a horse from my father and several from Mr. Wheat. Father, Thomas Boat- wright, my brother Barzillai and myself, pursued the thieves.
*"At first" says Yoaknm, "they were pursued, the property reclaimed, and the rob- bers whipped and turned loose, but this only seemed to exasperate and cause them to add murder to robbery, in order to prevent detection."
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At the infant town of San Filipe, then containing but two or three log cabins, we were joined by Austin and a few others, who went with us to Fort Bend, where we were join- ed by a few more men, making our force thirty strong. On approaching the Tonkawa camp, Carita, the chief, met the party, professing regrets that five of his young men had stolen the horses; that the animals would be restored and the thieves punished. Delivering the horses, the old chief pointed out the five men who had committed the theft, each of whom was sentenced to receive fifty lashes, and have one half of his head shaved. The sentence was fully carried out on four, one being excused for sickness, Chief Carita inflicting one half, and Capt. Kuykendall the other half of the lashes."
At this time there were two divisions of this tribe; the other encampment being on the Colorado under Chief Sandia. The combined number of warriors "did not much exceed one hundred-it certainly did not reach one hundred and fif- ty."*
With the return of spring, favorable seasons and a fair yield of crops, came mew life and renewed hopes for the struggling colonists. "New comers" were locating at dif- ferent points, and a more prosperous and peaceful condition prevailed in the Colony. But the settlers were not long left undisturbed. The Caranchuas soon renewed hostilities. In June of this year, a party of Caranchuas halted near the camp of Capt. Robert Kuykendall, on Peach Creek, a few miles below Eagle Lake, killing some of his stock and shoot- ing at his little ten year old son, who escaped and rode for assistance. Kuykendall, with his wife and smaller children secreted themselves in a thicket. Capt. Ingram and a dozen neighbors soon came to their relief. The settlers followed the trail of the retreating Indians, which wound for sever- al miles through a dense cane brake. When the pursuers arrived at the Colorado River, they espied the Indians on the opposite bank, where they were drying meat. "Spur-
* Kuykendall's Reminiscences.
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ring their horses to a gallop, they plunged into the river in the face of the enemy, who saluted them with a swarm of arrows, and fled to the adjacent cane brake. In the camp Alexander Jackson stooped to pick up a buffalo robe, when a 'cloth yard' arrow was driven through his elbow. At the moment, a companion, John V. Clark, saw the In- dian who had shot Jackson, in the cane brake, with his bow raised to shoot again. Clark quickly aimed and fired, the Indian falling dead, the rifle ball cutting his wrist in two, and penetrating his breast. The Indians being secure in their cane brake retreat, the settlers deemed it prudent to give up further pursuit."
THE FAMOUS CANOE FIGHT.
About this time Capt. White, an old trader who lived at La Bahia, and owned a small boat, had an adventure with the Caranchuas. Embarking at Port Lavaca his vessel, loaded with salt to exchange for corn, he steered up the Colorado to what is called "Old Landing," two miles from its mouth, where he landed, leaving his boat in charge of two or three Mexicans, and went up to the settlement in search of corn. A party of Caranchuas were encamped near the landing, and professing friendship for White and his Mexican companion, requested him to visit them on his return, as they wished to trade for corn. Going up Peach Creek to the Kincheloe settlement, White found corn in ex- change for his salt-the corn to be delivered to his boat, and the salt received there. Meantime the settlers were inform- ed of the situation, and a runner sent sixty miles above for Capt. Jesse Burnam, who hastily collected a company of twen- ty-five and marched on the Indians. We quote Burnam's own account: "White was to inform the Indians of his return, by making a camp fire. He gave the signal just at day- light. I left twelve of my men at the boat, for fear the In- dians might come from a different direction, while I took the other half and went down the river, to the Indians' landing place. About half an hour by sun, the Indians came
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rowing up the river, very slowly and cautiously, as though they expected danger. The river banks were low, but with sufficient brush to conceal us. Just as they were landing, I fired on them, my signal shot killing one In- dian, and in less than five minutes we had killed eight. The other two swam off with the canoe, which they kept between them and us, but finally one of them, raising his head to guide the canoe, received a mortal shot. I returned home without the loss of a man."*
DISASTROUS FIGHT IN THE CANE BRAKE.
Through favorable reports sent out by Austin, his colony continued to increase in population-giving a sem- blance of strength that would better enable him to cope with the Indians. The land office was opened, surveyors appoint- ed, and we are informed, about two hundred and fifty titles were issued to the original "300" settlers during this year .** While the colonists busied themselves se- lecting locations, surveying lands, and making improve- ments, tidings came that a small party of emigrants, emroute from the mouth of the Brazos, had been at- tacked and murdered by the exasperated Caranchuas. Col- onel Austin, to retaliate, and prevent a repetition of such outrages, in September, commissioned Capt. Randal Jones, with a company of twenty three men, to proceed down the Brazos in canoes, reconnoiter the coast as far as Matagorda Bay, and, if found, show no mercy to the party that massa- cred the emigrants, as well as any other hostiles. Landing at a favorable position, scouts were sent out to reconnoi- ter. We quote from Jones' Journal: "Convinced that the Indians were secretly preparing for an attack, two of the scouts were dispatched up the river for reinforcements. At Bailey's store, on the Brazos, they were joined by eight or
*Reminiscences of Capt. Jesse Burnam, in Texas Historical Quarterly-Vol. 5, pages 17 and 18.
* * 247 was the exact number of titles issued in 1824.
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ten colonists already collected to watch the maneuverings of about a dozen Indians who had visited that place for am- munition. At daybreak the following morning, an attack was made, a few Indians were killed, and their discomfitted companions routed."
In the meantime, directed by the loud wailing for their fallen comrades at Bailey's, Capt. Jones ascertained that some thirty Indians were encamped on the west bank of a small, sluggish tributary of the San Bernard-since call- ed Jones Creek.
Approaching under cover of night, within sixty yards of the encampment, the company halted, quickly prepared for action, and "when it was light enough to see their sights" made a furious attack. Although greatly surprised, the Indians quickly hid themselves in the reeds and tall marsh grass, where they fought with great desperation and advantage. Exposed to the deadly balls and arrows of the Indians, the whites finally retreated, with a loss of three of their number, Spencer, Bailey and Singer. The Indians, too, suffered severely, their dead being estimated at fifteen. A proportionate number were wounded on either side.
John Henry Brown says, "It was a clear repulse of the whites, whose leader, Capt. Jones, was an experienced soldier of approved courage. Such a result was lamentable at that period in the colony's existence."
The whites returned home, and the Indians retreated westward across the San Bernard. Greatly incensed, and somewhat emboldened, the Caranchuas now became more hostile and troublesome.'
AUSTIN LEADS EXPEDITION AGAINST CARANCHUAS.
As the confines of Austin's colony were extending in every direction, many outrages were perpetrated on the more venturesome and exposed settlers. Col. Austin, now
* During this year, Capt. Chrisman, while out surveying with small parties of "land locators," had several skirmishes and numerous adventures with ahe Caranchuas on the San Bernard River and Gulf Prairie.
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deeming his forces sufficiently strong, determined to chas- tise and expel the thieving and murderous Caranchuas from his colony. Accordingly, in July, he headed an expedi- tion of forty or fifty armed men from San Felipe. Cross- ing the Colorado mear Eagle Lake, and proceeding down the west side of the river to "Jennings Camp;" thence to the Lavaca below the mouth of the Nabadad; most of the route being through the prairie country. Pioneers were de- tailed to open roads through the dense thickets and cane brakes, bordering streams they crossed. But the Indians had warning of this expedition and fled from the colony- west, toward the San Antonio River.
Returning to the capital for fresh supplies and rein- forcements, Austin determined to pursue and deal these Indians a telling blow while they were united in their retreat.
This second expedition, of some ninety men, thirty of whom were negroes, the slaves of Col. Jared E. Groce, mounted, armed and commanded by him, left San Felipe in August; passing the Colorado at the Atascocito crossing, and following the Atascocito road to the Guadalupe River, near the present town of Victoria ;* thence marching in the direction of La Bahia, expecting to strike the Indians west of the San Antonio River, on either Espirita Santo or Aransas Bays. "But on the Manahuilla Creek, a few miles east of that town," says John Henry Brown, "he was met by the priest, Alcalde and citizens, who ap- peared as mediators for the Indians. The Caranchuas, afonetime nominally belonging to the Mission of La Bahia as converted Indians, now seeing danger approaching, pro- fessed penitence, and appealed to the priest and Alcalde to avert their threatened destruction. The result was a confer- ence and quasi-treaty, in which the Indians solemnly pledged themselves to never again come east of the San Antonio or Guadalupe Rivers. The colonists thereupon returned 'home. "
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