USA > Texas > Montague County > History of Montague County > Part 3
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The Indians were now going in the direction of Nathan Long's home. Mr. Long had been away from home on business. On this day he was returning home when overtaken by the Indians. He was un- armed, so could make no resistance. He made a desperate effort to escape by running his horse at full speed, hoping to reach home and protect him- self and family. The Indians, divining his purpose, circled about him and cut off his approach to the house. They killed and scalped him. He was found by the neighbors next day and buried at the Elm Creek graveyard.
It was the custom among the settlers, when they
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learned of the presence of Indians in the country, to send an "Indian runner" to warn the people. This was some brave white man, and it was not un- usual for the settlers to hear these words as the runner paused for an instant on his fleetfooted horse : "Get your firearms and ammunition ready- the Indians are coming down the creek, killing and burning as they come." On he went, like the wind, to warn others. On the above occasion George Ma- son was warning the people, reaching the Long home just ahead of the Indians. Had he not done so, Mrs. Long and her children would have been killed or captured. She, together with her son and daughter, fled to the home of Mr. Wilbur, about one-half mile away, and escaped. The Indians vis- ited their home and finding no one about, proceeded to a rent house on the same farm occupied by Chunky Joe Wilson and his children. Mrs. Long, in her flight with her own children, took time to go by and get the Wilson children and brought them with her. Had it not been for this, they would have been killed or captured. Finding no one at home here, the Indians contented themselevs with setting fire to the house and passed on, on their mission of slaughter and destruction. Miss Alice Wilson, the eldest daughter, had gone to church at Forrest- burg that day and returned shortly after the Indians left to find her home in ashes.
On the same raid recounted above this same band
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of Indians crossed into Cooke County, about two miles from the Montague County line. It was a clear, bright morning, such as nature often permits her Texas children to enjoy, even in the month of January. On this particular morning Mrs. Shegog, whose home was on Clear Creek, in the Roston neighborhood, was at home alone, with the exception of her baby, the two Menasco children and a little negro boy. We can imagine the children at play in the sunshine, while the good housewife, with a smile in her eye and snatches of song on her lips, is attending to her simple household duties. The baby laughs and crows, as only a dear little baby can. Everything looks peaceful and serene. Sud- denly, without warning, the fiendish savages, with their dreaded war whoop, attack this lonely fron- tier home. They killed Mrs. Shegog's poor little baby in the most brutal manner in spite of the en- treaties of the grief-stricken, terror-stricken mother. They then took Mrs. Shegog, the two Menasco chil- dren and the negro boy captive, and again started on their way. Mr. Menasco, Mrs. Shegog's father, had heard of the coming of the Indians, and was on his way to protect his daughter and grandchildren, when he, too, was killed by this same band.
As has been said before, it was a nice warm day, but with the sudden change peculiar to our Texas climate, it became bitterly cold toward night, and by midnight one of the worst blizzards known to this
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section was raging. It began sleeting and snowing, and the wind swept with terrific force across the bleak, open prairie.
The Indians were now traveling in the direction of Gainesville, in Cooke County. The Indians them- selves were beginning to suffer from the cold. When within one mile of Gainesville, thinking Mrs. Shegog was frozen to death, the Indians threw her off on the ground and left her, as they supposed, dead. A large buffalo robe fell with her, and in this the poor, half frozen woman managed to wrap herself and laid on the bleak, open prairie until morning. At dawn she heard the chickens crowing, and made her way to the sound. It proved to be the home of Sam Dause. They gladly gave her food and shelter until an opportunity presented itself for her to return home. She did not know the fate of the children who were captured with her. It being night, and she, half unconscious from exposure to the bitter cold, did not see the Indians when they threw the little bodies on the prairie. They had frozen to death. Their fate was left to conjecture, until the following spring, when a party of cowboys, among them Mr. Charlie Grant, of near Forrestburg, dis- covered the remains of the children on the prairie.
The next morning after the capture and escape of Mrs. Shegog, the Indians again crossed over into Montague County. When about two miles from Forrestburg they killed four persons and captured
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two. Tom Fitzpatrick and his wife, Alice, were living near Forrestburg, on what is now known as the Ben Steadham place. They had two little girls and a baby boy. A runner, who had heard of the presence of this band of Indians in the country, went to warn the Fitzpatrick family of their danger. Mr. Fitzpatrick took his family and started at once for the home of Arthur Parkhill, a neighbor of theirs. He placed his wife and children on a horse, while he walked by their side. Arthur Parkhill, when he heard the Indians were coming, hurried to tell' the Fitzpatricks about it that they might come to his home, where they could all be together for bet- ter protection from the Indians. He met them on the way and was returning with them when the little party of friends was surprised by the Indians. The Indians killed and scalped Mr. Parkhill and Mr. Fitzpatrick on the spot. This left the half distracted mother entirely unprotected and with three children on the horse with her. With all a mother's love she clung desperately to her little ones, and urged the horse forward with all of her might. The Indians were riding good horses and followed close behind her. "On, on, good horse," she cries. She reaches the gate of the picketed en- closure surrounding the Parkhill home. She takes fresh courage-safety lies so near. But, alas ! before she could dismount and get inside the enclosure the Indians caught her. They killed and scalped her,
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killed the little baby and captured the two little girls. Nothing was learned of the fate of the two little girls for a long time. Finally they were found among the Indians of Western Kansas. Mr. Bud Morris of Montague assisted in the identification of the children. He had a lengthy correspondence with Colonel Leavenworth in regard to the matter. In the end Congress appropriated ten thousand dol- lars for their education and maintenance. Thus ended one of the bloodiest, most disastrous raids ever made in Montague County. The Indians passed out of the county, crossing Red River into the In- dian Territory.
CAPTURE OF THE MCELROY CHILDREN.
In the summer of 1868, Mr. Levi Perryman, a pioneer citizen and former sheriff of this county, was living with his family on what was known as the Foster Morris place. In June Mr. Perryman had been away on an eight-day cow hunt and barely escaped coming in contact with a band of Indians on his return home. There had been a light shower of rain the day of his return, and when he arrived home his wife told him that the rain had blown down his oats. He walked out to see what damage had been done, and while out there he saw his wife walk across the gallery with a gun and a pistol in
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HISTORY OF MONTAGUE COUNTY.
her hands. The dogs were barking furiously, and he thought that Indians might be near the house. As he was hastening toward the house he was met by a little negro boy, who was frightened almost to death. His eyes were rolling as he said, "Massa Levi, Miss Josie said the Indians were killing Mr. McElroy's folks. Can't you hear them screaming?"
He hurried on to where his wife stood and asked her what was the matter. She replied, "The Indians are killing Mr. McElroy's folks. Can't you hear them screaming ?"
Mr. Perryman ordered the negro to bring him a fresh horse. His wife asked him what he was going to do. When he told her he was going to the as- sistance of their neighbors she began to cry, fear- ing he would be killed by the Indians. But he went, anyway. He was riding a splendid horse, and soon reached the McElroy home. Mr. and Mrs. McElroy were in the front yard, screaming, "Oh, the Indians have stolen my children; my little children are gone, and we will never see them again." Their grief was terrible. Mr. Perryman asked which way the In- dians went. They pointed out the way, and he was gone like a bird on the wing. The Indians had gone north, to where the "Stony Point" school house now stands. When Mr. Perryman reached this place he caught sight of the Indians in the distance. The children saw Mr. Perryman and recognized him. The children said afterwards that when they saw Mr.
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HISTORY OF MONTAGUE COUNTY.
Perryman they felt that they would be saved. But Mr. Perryman took the wrong trail and failed to rescue them. Instead, he followed the trail the In- dians had made that morning. When he discov- ered his mistake it was too late to follow them further; so he decided to go on down Willa Walla Valley, and warn the people that the Indians were in the country.
The McElroy children were out gathering dew- berries with a grown-up young man by the name of John Lackey, when they were attacked by the In- dians.
They killed the man and captured the children. The father and mother, hearing the screams, ran out only to see the Indians disappearing in the distance with their two children, Nat and Dora Ellen. The Indians held the children captive on their reserva- tion for quite a while. Their parents, who were making every effort to find them, finally learned of their whereabouts and bought them back through the government.
INDIANS CHARGE ON MR. JACKSON'S HOME ON DENTON CREEK.
In the fall of 1868 the families of Mr. Jackson and Rile Willingham were living together for protection from the Indians. About 4 o'clock one afternoon the two men, accompanied by Mr. Jackson's little
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boy, went to the well, which was some distance from the house. To please the little fellow they allowed him to ride the horse, which they were taking with them to water. Hearing a noise they looked up to see a band of Indians approaching the house. The Indians had a large number of horses with them, which was afterwards learned they had stolen in Denton County. There was no time to waste in dis- cussing the situation if the men were to reach the house in time to protect their wives and children from being killed or captured by the Indians. They told the little boy to run the horse as fast as he could make him go, telling him if he hurried he could reach the house before the Indians and be saved. The two men, by cutting through a near way, reached the house first. Mr. Jackson saw an Indian aim at his little son as he came up on the horse. The frightened child was saved in an almost miraculous manner. He was running the horse with such speed that when he reached the fence sur- rounding the yard, the sudden stop threw the child over the horse's head into the yard. He ran into the house and was saved. The men hurriedly closed up both houses. Mr. Jackson had his family to get under the puncheon floor. He remained above, tell- ing them if he was killed for them to stay under the floor and not to come out until every noise had ceased. He thought in that way they might be saved, provided the Indians did not burn the house.
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From some cause the Indians decided not to molest the houses or their inmates, but contented them- selves by taking all their horses, killing their hogs, shooting their cattle and burning their wheat and oat stacks. After they had destroyed nearly every- thing of any value in sight they fired a few shots and went on their way with the stolen horses.
INDIANS SLAY LIEUTENANT VAN ROBERTS.
There is no prettier spot in the whole of Montague County than where the town of Forrestburg stands. The soil is of a white waxy nature, and the roads in and about the town are perfect. Groups of live oak dotted here and there lend an air of beauty to the little town, and are especially beautiful in winter when the snow falls upon them, for they are ever- green in nature and remain green throughout the year. Near the edge of the town a little stream winds in and out and many picturesque spots are to be found near by. The wild grape vine flour- ishes here, the dogwood and wild plum blossoms are to be found along its banks in the springtime. There is one place in Forrestburg that is noted the country over; that is the Moore Hotel. Traveling men drive miles after dark to reach it, when they could easily find stopping places on the way. Law- yers, doctors, merchants and the public in general
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have enjoyed the hospitality and good cheer which pervades this splendid home.
If you ever have the good fortune to spend a few days in this quiet little town it will be hard for you to realize that it was once the center of war activi- ties and Indian depredations. One Sunday in the fall of 1867 old Brother Descent, as he was famil- iarly called, was holding services at Forrestburg. Preaching services were few and far between, and the people were glad to attend them. A company of rangers stationed near Forrestburg, had taken ad- vantage of the opportunity to listen to the preach- ing of the Word of God. They had just returned from church, and were unsaddling their horses, when some men came up and announced that a band of Indians had just captured the company's horses. Alec Frasier, who was described as being a remark- ably handsome young fellow, jumped on his horse, without a saddle, and with gun in hand rushed out to where the Indians were and succeeded in getting all of the horses away from them except two of the finest ones. These the Indians were determined to keep. Young Frasier was riding a magnificent black horse. While he was rounding in the horses, Lieu- tenant Van Roberts ordered the rest of the company to resaddle their horses and start in pursuit of the Indians. They followed the Indians to (what is now) the business part of Forrestburg. At that time dense groups of live oaks were growing here
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and there in the street, making an excellent place from which to fight. The rangers caught up with the Indians at this point. When overtaken the In- dians dismounted and got ready for battle; this was something very unusual for them, for an Indian always preferred to remain on his horse when fight- ing.
Lieutenant Roberts ordered his men to dismount, too. When the lieutenant and young Frasier dis- mounted the other rangers ran and left them. Sev- eral of the men were shot in the back by the In- dians and afterwards died. The lieutenant said to his men: "For heaven's sake, boys, don't leave us like this." But they went on, anyway. This left Frasier and Roberts to battle with the Indians alone. They fought until their ammunition was exhausted. When they saw they could do no more, the lieu- tenant said : "Alec, we must get away from here." At the words Alec jumped on his powerful black , horse, while Lieutenant Roberts attempted to mount his. The horse was a high spirited blue roan. He was already excited from hearing so many shots fired, and to add to his excitement an Indian kept waving a blanket in his face to frighten him. Every time the lieutenant would try to mount the Indian would wave the blanket, while another Indian would shoot him with an arrow. He tried to mount again and again. The last time he tried to get on, his horse jerked loose and ran off, leaving him on the
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ground. An Indian tried to jump on him, but he quickly got up, and with Bowie knife in hand ran the Indian until he fell. He arose and ran him three times, flourishing his Bowie knife as he ran. The last time he fell he was so weak from the loss of blood he couldn't get up, and the Indian scalped him alive. When an Indian scalped a white man who had exhibited great signs of bravery he only scalped a spot on the top of his head about the size of a . dollar. Lieutenant Roberts was scalped in this way. This was evidence that the Indians regarded him as a brave man. Frasier ran for "Hegler's Store," which at this time was vacant. He took refuge here, expecting every moment that the Indians would surround him. They shot his hat off as he ran, and the next day the boys picked up eighteen arrows that the Indians had shot at him, none of them tak- ing effect. After waiting for some time for the lieu- tenant to come he ventured forth with the hope of assisting him in some way. A strange quietness was all about. The sound of battle had ceased and the Indians had fled. Going to the spot he found his friend lying face downward-dead-his blood stain- ing the grass on which he lay. Every opportunity after this his men would gather at this spot to pay a silent tribute to his bravery. For had it not been for the bravery of the two men the settlement might have suffered heavily at the hands of the Indian band. Today he is sleeping in the graveyard near
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John McGee's. Often have the children been told of the bravery of Lieutenant Roberts and Alec Fra- sier.
The father of Lieutenant Roberts lived near Rob- erts' Spring, just a few miles from where the lieu- tenant was slain. The Indians, after killing him, went to this spring. Just before they reached there the three younger brothers of the lieutenant had been sent there to get water for the family use. They had an old five-gallon churn in which to get the water. They had dipped it nearly half full when the band of Indians surprised them. The boys ran as fast as possible, reaching home in a few minutes. In his excitement and fright, Rufus, the youngest boy, held on to the churn, carrying it with him in his flight. When they reached the house all three of the boys tried to talk at once. Rufus was still holding tight to the churn. His mother kept saying, "Rufus, put down that churn." But the boy was so badly frightened he just kept walking up and down the room, all the time holding the churn half filled with water, and saying, "I tell you we saw the In- dians, mother; they like to have caught us, too. I tell you they did." At last they had to take the churn away from him by main force. His older brothers teased him about it a great deal afterwards, but he declared he was so badly frightened he didn't realize that he was holding the churn. Mr. Roberts and his son, George, took their guns and hurried to
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the spring and found the Indians were still there. Mr. Roberts shot one of the Indians, but as he was tied to his horse he did not fall off. This frightened the other Indians, and they fled, taking the wounded Indian with them. Soon after they returned to the house Captain Toddy and a company of rangers dashed up to the gate. The captain told Mr. Rob- erts that he had sad news for him; that the Indians had slain his son that day.
This was indeed sad news for the father and mother. The company of rangers pursued the. In- dians until they lost their trail, returning to quar- ters at Camp Brushy, two miles east of Forrestburg.
ANOTHER INDIAN RAID.
The month of March, 1867, is said by old settlers to have been one of the coldest periods ever known in this country. The "blue northers" for which this portion of Texas is noted, raged with unceasing fury, and thousands of cattle perished. The snow remained on the ground for more than twenty days. About the twenty-first of March, in this same year, a small band of Indians came into the county on foot. Their first act was to go to the home of Mr. Jimmy Waller, on Dye Creek. It was night when they reached there. Mr. Waller ran a sorghum mill and made molasses on shares for the entire
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neighborhood. His mill was near the bank of Dye Creek, so that he could obtain plenty of water. It happened at this time that he had on hand several barrels of molasses. The Indians were afraid to at- tack the house, and contented themselves with pull- ing the stoppers out of the barrels that held the sorghum, letting the contents run into the creek. It was jokingly said that Dye Creek ran with sor- ghum for a week afterwards.
The Indians then went on down Clear Creek to the home of John Carter, where they stole two horses from the stable, rounded up a bunch of prairie horses, mounted them and rode north across Elm Creek. On this same day Dan Brunson and John Short had started to Gainesville to mill, in a wagon drawn by slow moving oxen. Now, going to mill was no small matter in those days. The only mill in the country was an old-fashioned tread wheel mill, run by oxen. Besides the danger of being attacked by the Indians going and coming, they were likely to be detained there a week before their turn at the mill would come, as it was run on the plan of "first come, first served." The men had to take bedding and provisions with them when they went, not knowing how long they would have to wait.
Mr. Brunson and Mr. Short had not journeyed far until they were overtaken by the mail carrier. This "mail rider," as he was commonly called, was just
HISTORY OF MONTAGUE COUNTY. 49
a mere boy, but he carried the mail to and from Montague to Gainesville, across the bleak, open prairie, a courageous thing for a boy to do in those dangerous Indian times. In those days the majority of the people thought they were doing extremely well if they received mail every two or three weeks. What a contrast with today, for now the rural mail carrier passes their homes each day, except Sunday, to distribute the letters, magazines, papers and packages, and if anything happens that he cannot come, which seldom is the case, the people along his route are very much disappointed.
Let us return to our story. The three men were traveling slowly along when they were overtaken by Captain Brunson, the father of Dan Brunson. He had heard of the presence of the band of Indians in the country and feared they would come upon the men unawares. So he had come to warn them of the possible danger. They stopped and Dan Brun- son borrowed the mail carrier's horse and went back to the head of Elm to get weapons with which to defend themselves in the event of their meeting the Indians. He rode like the wind, and when he had almost reached the wagon, on his return, he saw what he supposed to be the men he had left there, but instead he rode right into a band of Indians, who had surrounded the wagons. He called to the men. They had run into the brush at the approach
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of the Indians, and could hear him calling, but were afraid to answer him.
Mr. Brunson wheeled his horse about and rode back with all speed to the head of Elm. To his great surprise the Indians did not offer to follow him, although they saw him plainly. Instead, the Indians poured out all their corn and wheat and took their bedding, sacks and provisions. Mr. Brun- son succeeded in getting up a party of men to as- sist in fighting the Indians. When they returned to the wagon, to their surprise, they met another party of men from Clear Creek, who were on the trail of the Indians. The Indians were now in sight, going north towards Red River. Mr. Charley Grant and others followed them to the brakes of Red River. One of the Indians went up on a mound to spy upon the movements of the white men. He saw some of the men turn back, but failed to see the others com- ing on, so after he reported, the Indians sat down to eat their dinner, as they supposed, in perfect safety. The white men surprised them, while they were grouped about eating, and would have killed a number, if not all, of them had not Henry Baine's gun gone off accidentally, giving the alarm. The In- dians immediately gave fight, charging the men on foot. They wounded five horses. Three of them afterwards died. The fight began about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and continued until after dark. Not a white man was wounded. But there was evidence
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of some of the Indians being killed and wounded. In the thickest of the fray Kit King's horse ran under a tree and knocked him off. His horse ran toward the Indians. When the Indians saw him fall they thought they had killed him, and they gave their unearthly war whoop, and gobbled like tur- keys. The men said Mr. King thought he was shot, too, at first, but when he found he was unhurt he made a dash for his horse. He succeeded in getting it back, and also one of the Indians' horses for Dan Brunson to ride, as his horse had been wounded in the battle, and was unable to carry him. After this the Indians withdrew and the white men re- turned to their homes.
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