USA > Texas > Montague County > History of Montague County > Part 6
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The mother shuddered as she thought of the many dangers that could have overtaken her boy, and prayed a prayer of thanksgiving for his safe return.
FATE OF KEENAN AND PASCHAL FAMILIES, WINTER OF 1870.
Keenan's Branch, two and one-half miles south- west of Forrestburg, near the Little Berry White
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place, is a spot of historic interest to the pioneer settlers of Montague County. It was here the Keen- an family lived, in their modest log cabin. Mrs. Paschal and her children made their home with them. With the thrift and economy characteristic of the pioneer they managed to provide the neces- saries of life for the family. Mr. Keenan, after much deliberation as to the danger of making a trip in such troublous Indian times, decided to make a jour- ney to Arkansas for apples to sell. He knew he could realize a good profit from his sales, as few, if any, apples were grown in Montague County at this time. Most unfortunately Mr. Keenan was blind, and because of this affliction he was always accompanied by one of his daughters. He prepared to make this journey in an ox wagon. He was not molested in any way, making the journey there and back in perfect safety; but upon his return, the first news he learned was the report of the terrible death of his wife and children. It happened in this way :
It was at the close of a winter's day. Mrs. Keen- an had done the chores for the night, while Mrs. Paschal prepared the supper for the family. After partaking of their meagre meal the women and children gathered about the fireside, the children laughing and talking, as children will. Mrs. Keenan and Mrs. Paschal talked for some time of the work of spinning and weaving they had accomplished that
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day. Occasionally there was an anxious note in Mrs. Keenan's voice as she spoke of the possible dangers that might overtake her blind husband and daugh- ter on their trip. Finally the children became sleepy and were tucked into bed, and Mrs. Paschal remarked that she was so tired she believed she would retire. But industrious Mrs. Keenan sat up knitting long after the others were sound asleep. She was possessed by a feeling of uneasiness. Her nervousness increased as she remembered that it was the time of the moon for the dreaded Indians to make their usual raids into the county. She listened intently-alert to every little noise-but she could hear nothing save the sound of an ox bell worn by oxen grazing on the grass near by, and the tinkle of the cow bells on her own cows in a lot close to the house. Finally even these noises ceased. The quiet stillness reassured her, and she, too, re- tired. Scarcely had she done so, and before she had time to go to sleep, the door, which was only fast- ened with a rope, was opened and an Indian thrust in his head. The noise aroused Mrs. Paschal and she began to scream loudly. The Indians, for there were more than one, beat her with a club and thrust a lance into her body, and otherwise mutilated her.
Mrs. Paschal and all of her children except two were killed outright. Mrs. Keenan was shot with an arrow before she could get out of bed. The Indians also scalped her. A baby and a little girl three
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years old were in bed with their mother, Mrs. Pas- chal. The girl was struck in the breast with a lance and left for dead. She afterwards recovered, but still carries the scar from the Indian's blow. She is now Mrs. Sweeten Williams of Denton Creek.
It is supposed that the Indians failed to see the baby, as it was left unharmed. In the excitement following the coming of the Indians little Ben Pas- chal slipped out of the door and ran down a string of fence, lying down in hiding until all the noise ceased, when he ventured to return to the house. Here he found a sight that would chill any heart. Poor, suffering Mrs. Keenan called him to her, and in tender tones advised him what to do. "Keep a close watch, my child, and if you see the Indians returning take your wounded little sister and the baby and crawl under the puncheon floor. No mat- ter what happens, do not make a sound. Just let them finish killing me, then they will leave, and you will be spared."
The next morning she sent him to a neighbor's by the name of Ben Hodges, to tell him of their hor- rible plight. Before he got back a party of men passed that way and becoming suspicious of the general appearance of things proceeded to the house. They had found the ground covered with feathers. They suspected that it was the work of Indians, as it was their custom to rip open the beds and scatter the feathers in order to get the cloth.
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Upon entering the house they found the dead bodies of the occupants lying about, and Mrs. Keen- an in a half fainting condition. She was suffering intensely from her wounds. Mrs. Keenan and also the dead bodies were removed to the home of Mr. Roberts to be prepared for burial. However, Mrs. Keenan lived twelve days after she was scalped, suffering the most intense agony. Her constant prayer was that she might live to see her husband once more. But her prayer was not granted. She died before he returned.
Joe F. Box, Rufus Roberts, Bart and Wash Trailer rode all one day trying to get material with which to make Mrs. Keenan's coffin, but did not succeed in getting it. At last they were forced to carry planks, which were sixteen feet in length, from an old va- cant house on the John Harviff place. They took the planks from the floor and carried them on horse- back three and one-half miles, to the home of Mr. Singletary, where the coffin was made. Mr. Single- tary worked all night on the coffin, the men going back and forth for the lumber.
Mr. Joe Box, who was carrying a sixteen-foot plank, was riding a Spanish pony. It became fright- ened and ran away with him. In the darkness he became separated from his companions and it was with difficulty that he found them again. He was afraid to call them for fear of attracting the In- dians. He finally reached Mr. Singletary's, still car-
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rying the plank that he had started out with. The coffin was ready by the next morning and Mrs. Keenan was buried in the family graveyard near her home. The house in which Mrs. Keenan and the Paschals were attacked by the Indians was made of hewn logs, was about sixteen feet square, had only one door and one window. This window had no glass panes, but closed with a wooden shut- ter. Moccasin tracks were found near this window, and it was supposed that the Indians watched through the partly open board shutter until the women and children retired.
The Indians had a large drove of horses with them, and succeeded in making their way out of the county without being overtaken. There is little or nothing left to remind one of this sad tragedy. Today, if you should visit that portion of Montague County, you would find cultivated fields and homes of peace and plenty, where neighbors go to and fro without fear, and little children play in the sunshine and gather wild flowers in the wood's with no thought of danger. Schools and churches are dotted here and there, for wherever the white man builds his home, evidences of culture and progress mark his footsteps.
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EASTER SUNDAY, 1871.
A family by the name of Johnson lived on the Mc- Farland place on Denton Creek. They had two sons, Will and Arch. Arch was a bright little fel- low, very much liked in the neighborhood. One of the neighbors, Mr. Fred Broadstreet, who lived on Dry Valley, had made Arch a present of a pig. He had been wanting to go after it for some time, and persuaded his mother to allow him to go on Easter Sunday. His older brother, Will, was to accompany him, and their mother insisted that they return home early. She bade them good bye with many misgiv- ings, for she was always in dread of the Indians.
They reached the Broadstreet home in safety, and soon started to return to their own home. Little Arch was carrying the pig in a sack. He was very proud of his possession, and as he trudged along by his brother's side his whole conversation was about the pig. They had not gone far until they were confronted by three mounted Indians, heav- ily armed. Will drew his gun, at the same time saying, "If you don't let me alone I will shoot you." He told Arch they would catch him if he didn't drop the pig. But from fear, or some unexplained reason, he still clung to the pig. One of the cruel, heartless Indians deliberately took aim at the little fellow, killing him instantly. They then turned and
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fled from the neighborhood without doing further harm to the settlement.
STORY OF BEALE AND MAXEY FAMILIES.
In the summer of 1872 several families were liv- ing together at John Stroud's for protection from the Indians. This was known as the "Stroud Settle- ment," and was about five miles southeast of Mon- tague, at the head of Denton Creek. These families were living in camps and other shelters until they could build houses. Some of them had picket fences around their camps. The families living here were that of Jonathan Stroud, Tom Savage, Will Davis, Jet Davis, Jess Maxey, Joe Maxey and Mr. Beale.
Measles broke out in the company, and nearly all of the smaller children and some of the grown up people died from this disease, which was in a most violent form.
Jess Maxey had been freighting and as a conse- quence had not been at home in some time. When he returned to find the large number of deaths that had resulted from the epidemic of measles he be- came very much alarmed for fear his three children would be stricken with the dread disease. He and his father and the Beale family moved at once to the old Rice place, about one-half mile distant, hoping by this that their children would escape the
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malady. It meant, however, that they were only to meet a worse fate.
In a few days the Indians added another terrible deed to the history of their fiendish cruelties in Montague County, and the Beale and Maxey families were the victims. Mr. Beale and Mr. Maxey went to Montague on business, leaving Mr. Maxey's aged father as a protection for the women and children. Mr. Maxey, with his two grandchildren, a small boy and girl, and two of the Beale children were at the wood pile. The good old man was chopping wood while the children were playing together and gathering the chips. A band of Indians slipped up on them, taking them unawares. The women dis- covered the presence of the Indians first, and Mrs. Beale called frantically to them to come into the house. The little ones seeing the Indians became so badly frightened they ran to the corner of the fence and huddled up close together. They were imme- diately captured by the Indians. They killed the two Beale children on the spot with a gun, but their mother was not sure of it at this time. Mrs. Maxey was standing in the door with her baby in her arms, calling to the children, when an Indian fired at her. The shot struck the baby in the head, killing it in- stantly. The same bullet penetrated her arm. The women, when they saw they could not save their children, ran in and closed the front door. Mrs. Beale was slightly wounded by a bullet that was
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fired through the door. After this the women ran out the back door and on into the woods, where they remained in hiding until the return of their husbands, late that afternoon. The poor wounded mother carried the dead baby with her, and all day the two grief-stricken, terror-stricken women lay there, beset by a thousand fears.
When their husbands returned and they went back to the house, to add to their horror and grief, they found the poor old father lying dead in the yard and the two little Beale children, who had so lately been busy at play, all unconscious of dan- ger, lying dead near the wood pile.
The two Maxey children had been captured and taken away, the bereaved parents being left to im- agine their fate.
Three years had passed away and still the sad- dened parents had heard no news of their children, in spite of all their efforts to find some trace of them.
One day Mr. Bob Savage, one of our oldest set- tlers, who lives on Denton Creek, was in Montague and overheard some people talking about a little boy they had heard about in Fort Sill whom the Indians had stolen. The description of the child reminded Mr. Savage so much of Volley Maxey that he questioned the people closely. As he listened to their story he became more and more convinced that the child was Mr. Jess Maxey's son. He im-
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mediately went to the father and mother and told them about it. Their hopes ran high. The father at once began negotiations, through the government, and succeeded in getting back his long lost son. Imagine the joy of these parents at once more be- holding their boy. (Many times has Mrs. Maxey been heard to say she could never express her grat- itude toward Mr. Savage for being the means of the little son's being restored to her.) Mrs. Maxey never met Mr. Savage after this without shedding tears of joy. Long years have passed; the whole lives of Mr. Maxey and his wife have been saddened by the fate of their little daughter. She was a beautiful child, with winning manner. Volley said he never really knew what became of his little sister. She had been sick, and the journey soon tired her weakened little body. She was crying, and he said the Indians took her out in a thicket by the roadside, and he believed they killed her, as that was the last time he ever saw her. Where they threw her little body the wind sighs mournfully through the thicket; the birds she loved so well sing a refrain in the boughs near by, and the ground round about is carpeted with the flowers her little fingers had once delighted to gather.
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CHARGING VICTORIA PEAK, SUMMER OF 1870.
On a calm summer day in 1870, about one hun- dred and fifty Indians charged the fort, at what is commonly known as Queen's Peak, against thirteen men. No one in the fort was hurt but a Dutchman, who was hiding up a chimney, was badly fright- ened. Two unknown men, who were with a party headed for Kansas with a herd of cattle, left the herd and started to the fort to ask some information. They rode right into the Indians, who had been storming the fort, and both men were slain. Some of the men from the fort were out with a herd of cattle, but fortunately they did not come in con- tact with the Indians. Two negroes on their way to the fort were killed on this same day by the In- dians. The Indians called negroes buffalo soldiers, because of their color and because of their kinky hair. On this same day Boone Kilgore, a boy 12 years of age, was herding cattle alone, when he saw the Indians approaching. The Indians appreciated a good rider, and often a small boy owed his life to the fact that he was an expert horseman. They delighted to capture a boy who understood riding, because he would be useful to them in breaking wild horses. They would often take great pains to train a boy of this kind in all the Indian sports, and make him of service to them. As a rule they treated a captive of this kind fairly well.
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Boone Kilgore was an expert horseman, which the Indians at once discovered, and they determined to capture him alive. Boone was riding a splendid horse, and being familiar with the crossings and trails the courageous little fellow would have made his escape, but the Indians circled around him and cut off his only hope of escape. They came nearer and nearer, and finally an Indian drew near enough to deal him a terrific blow on the head, knocking him off his horse. They captured him and the horse and went on their way. His father witnessed the whole scene from a distance and was so overcome with grief and rage it was with difficulty that his friends restrained him from following the band alone. Finally they convinced him that their small number would amount to nothing against such great odds. The Indians kept Boone for two or three months at Fort Sill. His father hearing of this went there, and with the help of the government bought his son back.
INDIAN MASQUERADES AS WOMAN.
It was customary in early days for the women to have what was called "the wash place." This was usually near some spring, as close to the house as possible. Some, not having washboards, laid their garments on a rude bench and "battled" them.
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That is, they had a smooth paddle and beat them. When the washing process was finished the clothes were spread out on the bushes near by to dry. It was on a certain day in the winter of 1867 that a lone Indian, going by a woman's "wash place," saw the clothes drying on the bushes. A bright thought entered his cunning, treacherous brain. He would put on the woman's dress and bonnet and by that means he would be enabled to make his way through the country to the band from which he had strayed away, without harm to himself. Or, better still, it might permit him the fiendish pleasure of walking up on some unprotected woman and her children and killing them before they had time to suspect his identity. Filled with this thought, he sallied bravely forth, dressed in woman's garb. He had his bow and arrow with him, only half concealed by the folds of the dress he was wearing. He might have carried out his plans, but John McDaniel hap- pened to be coming that way and caught a glimpse of his face, and saw the bow and arrow he was carrying. He quickly stepped back into the brush, unseen by the Indian. He waited until he passed by, then sprang out and clutched him from behind. Although hampered by the dress and taken by sur- prise the Indian fought desperately and a mighty struggle ensued. Mr. McDaniel was armed with a butcher knife, which the Indian, with all his strength, endeavored to pull through his hand, but
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the hardy frontierman's strength was more than a match for him and he finally slew the Indian with the butcher knife. He scalped him and tacked the scalp, together with the bow and quiver, on a board, and hung the board in his smoke house. Shortly after this a band of Indians passed that way, and it was always thought saw the scalp of this Indian. Such a sight always made them, if possible, more bloodthirsty than ever.
INDIANS ATTACK LEE HOME ON WHITE'S PRAIRIE.
In 1872 the Lee family was living on what was known as the "Old Pickett Ranch," on the borders of Montague and Jack Counties. The good old man was sitting just inside the door one day, reading his Bible. As he meditated upon the word of God, and of the great comfort he received from reading this sacred book, thoughts of Indian dangers faded from his mind. While he was thus engaged a band of Indians stealthily surrounded the house and left no way for escape. Their first act was to murder Mr. Lee, then killed and scalped his wife and one daughter. The Indians took the two smaller girls and one little boy away with them as captives. The children were afterwards bought back by friends and relatives.
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HISTORY OF MONTAGUE COUNTY.
On their way home from the reservation they stopped and spent the night with Mrs. Chesley Mar- lett, a pioneer mother of this county.
"SATANTA" AND "BIG TREE."
Satanta was a Kiowa Indian chief who was held in much dread by the white settlers. He is described as being of tall and commanding appearance; every inch the typical Indian warrior. In the various councils in which he sat Satanta's eloquence gained for him the sobriquet of "The Orator of the Plains." He was one of the original signers of the "Medi- cine Lodge Treaty" of 1867, by which his tribe con- sented to go on a reservation. Big Tree was an- other Kiowa Indian chief, who figured conspicuously in different raids made by the Indians upon the white people. In the spring of 1871 a large band of Indians, led by Chief Satanta, Chief Big Tree and Chief Satance attacked a government train en route from Jacksboro to Fort Griffin, in Shackleford County, to deliver flour to the United States troops stationed there. The expedition was in charge of Captain Julian Field of Mansfield, Tarrant County. This train of wagons was said to have been drawn by thirty-six strong mules. When within a few miles of where the town of Graham, in Young County, now stands the train was attacked by this
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band of Kiowa Indians. It is told that all of the drivers but two were slain and the wagons burned. The Indians took the mules with them to the reser- vation near Fort Sill. This incident, while it did not occur in Montague County, was near enough to strike terror to the hearts of the women and chil- dren, some of the men who were slain having friends in this county.
Not many hours before the attack recorded hap- pened, General W. T. Sherman marched along the same route, on a tour of inspection of the forts along the frontier, and narrowly escaped coming in con- tact with this same band of Indians. He was ac- companied as far as Red River by Mr. Bud Morris of Montague. When night came on Mr. Morris camped on this side of the river and General Sher- man crossed over to the opposite bank. The river rose in the night, and as there was no ferry Mr. Morris had to abandon his trip to Fort Sill, General Sherman going on. General Sherman, in the mean- time, had heard of the massacre of the government train. His indignation was aroused and he deter- mined to make a thorough investigation, and sent General McKinzie to the scene of the killing to ob- tain the facts in the case. The frontier had not had sufficient protection from the Indians, and a number of Jacksboro citizens decided that this would be an opportune time to lay before the general the sit- uation as it actually was. He was much impressed
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by what they told him. The result was when General Sherman arrived at Fort Sill he immediately began a search for the guilty parties. From the Indian agent he learned the names of the tribes who had participated in the killing of the teamsters. The Indians were overheard boasting of what they had done. As soon as he had sufficient proof of their guilt General Sherman ordered the arrest of Chief Big Tree, Chief Satance and Chief Satanta. A fight with these Indians was narrowly averted. When Satance was arrested he rushed toward one of the officers, flourishing a Bowie knife. Satance was in- stantly killed and Big Tree and Satanta were taken to Jacksboro for trial. They were tried, convicted and sentenced to be hanged, but their sentences were afterwards commuted to life imprisonment.
After these Indian chiefs had been taken to the penitentiary, to serve their terms, a treaty was en- tered into by the Government and the Indian tribes living on the Ft. Sill reservation. The Government of Texas also signed this treaty. The treaty pro- vided that every Indian was to be placed on parole and must surely answer roll call every morning- and if they violated this parole they would im- mediately be taken as prisoners by the government authorities and carried to Florida. This treaty was the means of restoring confidence and courage along the entire frontier; as time went on the settlers found their confidence was not misplaced, for only
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a few raids occurred after this. After the treaty between the government and the Indian tribes, Gov- ernor Davis pardoned Chief Satanca and Chief Big Tree on condition that they return to their reserva- tion and cease to molest the white people. This they readily agreed to do. It is said they had not been back on their reservation two weeks before old Chief Satanta went on the warpath again. He was arrested and sent back to the penitentiary at Huntsville. Mr. Bud Morris, of Montague, was visiting there and called on Satanta. Mr. Morris described him as being the most magnificent speci- men of physical manhood he had ever seen. He talked with the chief for quite a while. Satanta asked him if he thought the authorities would ever let him out of prison again. Mr. Morris replied that he didn't think they ever would allow him his liberty again. Soon after this Satanta com- mitted suicide by throwing himself from a balcony of the penitentiary. After all his wickedness it is sad to think how his wild, untrained nature must have longed intensely for the companionship of his people, for the freedom of the chase and for the pure air of the rolling prairies. Rather than be deprived of these pleasures he decided to journey to the "Happy Hunting Ground" of his Fathers. Big Tree, the Kiowa Indian chief, who was par- doned with Satanta, did not violate his parole. He was more easily subdued. Perhaps he was as anx-
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ious to wreak vengeance upon the white people as Chief Satanta, but thoughts of the rigid prison discipline to which he had been subjected and the dread of dreary confinement within the prison walls caused him to become submissive, outwardly at least, to the white man's law. Big Tree afterwards became a Christian, and has led a quiet peaceable life from that time on. In 1912 he was still living. His home was in Mountain View, Oklahoma. He is described as a very large man, who weighs nearly four hundred pounds.
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