USA > Texas > History of the German element in Texas from 1820-1850, and historical sketches of the German Texas singers' league and Houston turnverein from 1853-1913, 1st ed > Part 7
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The proper policy would have been to send the immi- grants in small numbers, to buy from ten to 20,000 acres of lands every 30 miles apart and there establish settle- ments as relay stations, and thus advance gradually from the coast to the proposed colony in the Fisher and Miller grant. This would have insured success, provided, of course, that the financial affairs in Germany were con- ducted on a sound business basis. As it was, there were only the two settlements, New Braunfels and Freder- icksburg, on the entire distance of more than 250 miles from the coast to the grant, New Braunfels being 150 miles from Indianola, and Fredericksburg 75 miles fur- ther, with no intermediate resting places.
Robert Penninger's "Festival Edition" for the celebra- tion of the fiftieth anniversary of Fredericksburg (May, 1896), contains a detailed and interesting account of the founding of this German colony in the Western wilder- ness of Texas, from which we quote the following: "In the middle of December, 1845, Commissioner General von Meusebach sent out from New Braunfels an expedition of 36 men under the command of Lieutenant and Sur- veyor Bene, with instructions to establish a wagon road from New Braunfels to the north banks of the Peder- nales, where he had bought land for a new settlement.
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This expedition was well equipped with wagons, provis- ions, weapons, instruments and tools, and besides Lieu- tenant Bene, two engineers, Gross and Murcheson, accom- panied it. They arrived at their point of destination after a march of three weeks, and at once began the construc- tion of a block house, which was only partly finished, when they were forced to return to New Braunfels for lack of supplies.
On April 24, 1846, the first body of colonists started for the new settlement in 20 heavy ox-carts and some Mexi- can two-wheeled vehicles, amid the cheers of their coun- trymen, who remained at New Braunfels. When they ap- proached the Pedernales they were met by a number of Indians from the tribe of the Delawares, who, fortunately, were friendly disposed and the colonists passed the In- dian camp unmolested.
Friday, May 8, the weary immigrants reached the place where the surveying party had begun the erection of the first house of the new colony in an opening of the virgin forest of gigantic trees and dense coppice. The new set- tlement, named Fredericksburg, in honor of Prince Fred- erick of Prussia, a member of the Adelsverein, was platted by Surveyor Wilke, the fearless pioneers began the con- struction of their new homes, their number being constant- ly increased by the arrival of new immigrants, and soon Fredericksburg had 1000 busy and industrious inhabitants. Through gifts and considerate treatment they succeeded in establishing and maintaining friendly relations with the Indians who were quite numerous, and, like New Braunfels. Fredericksburg suffered very little from In- dian depredations. It would have been an easy matter for the Indians of the Llano and San Saba territory to destroy Fredericksburg, as well as the settlements of Betina, Castell and Leiningen, that were established in 1847, but all the Indians had great respect for von Meuse- bach, whom they called "El Sol Colorado," from his flow-
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ing beard, and the German Indian Agent Emil Krieswitz was very prudent and circumspect in his dealings with the different Indian tribes and secured the friendship of their chiefs for the German pioneers.
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CHAPTER XVII. Arrival of More Than Five Thousand German Immigrants in 1845-46.
With hardly any funds on hand whatever and with thousands of immigrants to be taken care of on their way to Texas, von Meusebach was not in an enviable position. A man with less sense of duty would have resigned at once, while a man with less energy and resourcefulness than Meusebach would have been in a hopeless embar- rassment. But fortunately Meusebach was equal to the emergency. He knew that the immigrants trusted the Adelsverein implicitly and now he bent all his energies to take care of the coming flood of immigrants in the best manner possible. He went to Galveston to see after their disembarkation and further transportation, first to Carls- hafen (Indianola) and thence to New Braunfels.
From October, 1845, to April, 1846, there arrived at Gal- veston 5247 immigrants in 36 ships, 24 of which came from Bremen and 12 from Antwerp. They all, after disembark- ing, had to be brought by small schooners to Lavaca Bay, and, as most of the immigrants had very heavy and often bulky baggage, and provisions for four months had also to be transferred from the vessels to Carlshafen, this was quite a difficult task, but nothing in comparison with the strenuous exertions to be made for the transportation from Indianola to New Braunfels.
Through Meusebach's efforts the immigrants were brought from Galveston to Indianola as speedily as pos- sible and housed in tents and barracks, while he was searching the country for teams to transport the several thousand people to New Braunfels and Fredericksburg. After many unsuccessful efforts he finally made a con- tract with Torrey Brothers of Houston, in March, 1846,
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for the transportation of the immigrants from Indianola to New Braunfels, who in the meantime had been sub- jected to great sufferings and diseases. The winter . of 1845-46 in Texas unfortunately was exceedingly severe and wet, rain falling almost continuously for months. Many of the immigrants being badly housed and poorly nourished, contracted fever and several hundred of them died at Indianola during the winter. The suffering was in- tense and everybody hailed with joy the announcement made in March, that relief could be expected daily and that the march to the colony would soon begin. Shortly after that 100 teams arrived and the first wagon train started for the interior. Then the war between the United States and Mexico broke out (May, 1846), the American com- manders utilizing all available horses in Texas; the United States Government paid more for teams than Meusebach could afford, Torrey & Co. repudiated their contract and the immigrants were left to their own resources. Five
hundred enlisted with the American army, while the others started on the road, trying to reach New Braunfels the best way they could. This proved disastrous to many, more than 200 perishing on the way from exposure, hunger and exhaustion; the bleached bones of the dead everywhere marked the road of death the unfortunate people had taken, while those who arrived at New Braunfels and later at Fredericksburg carried with them germs of disease that soon developed into a frightful epidemic, in which more than 1000 died.
The conditions at New Braunfels and Fredericksburg soon became exasperating. Most of the colonists were dissatisfied and restless, because they felt that they were imposed upon by the association, and when the deadly disease began to spread and the stipulated daily rations of the "Verein" were no longer distributed regularly. the affairs bordered almost on anarchy. Von Meusebach was threatened with bodily harm and he had to employ all his
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powers of persuasiveness to quiet the excited men and women, promising them with great eloquence that in the near future everything would be well and that the col- onists would soon sit under their own fig trees on their own land in the colonial possessions. Thus he skilfully abated the storm and comparative order was restored, al- though many of the colonists, believing that the end of their existence was near, indulged in senseless dissipa- tions and wild revelries, refusing to work under any con- sideration. The outlook was gloomy with every indica- tion that both colonies of the Adelsverein were doomed to speedy extinction. While the scurvy epidemic was at its height, men and women became bereft of reason, all family ties were broken and the wretched people tried to forget their misery by dancing, carousing and drinking. Dr. Koester, the only physician at New Braunfels, was pow- erless against the attacks of the disease, which only spent its force after one-third of the inhabitants had fallen vic- tims to its deadly grip (Dr. Frederic Kapp says two-thirds, A. Soergel, who was one of the immigrants at New Braun- fels, says one-third, while von Meusebach asserts that "the total did not much overrun 800 or 850").
During most of this ill-fated period Meusebach was prac- tically without funds for the support of the colonists. He sent urgent reports to the directory in Germany for the immediate forwarding of money, but his requests were not heeded. Then he went to the farm Nassau and bought from the rich planters on the Brazos provisions of any kind on credit; he tried to raise money in Houston and New Orleans, but failed, the banker of the Adelsverein at the latter place refusing to advance funds for the reason that he had no confidence whatever in an enterprise that was begun and carried on with such a stupendous lack of business ability. Returning to Galveston, Meusebach stated the precarious condition of the finances to the Verein's agent, Klaener, who had to admit that he also
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was in a predicament to such an extent that he had been forced to hypothecate his store with all its contents. Then Meusebach resorted to the last expediency-publicity. He advised Klaener to send a correct report of the miserable conditions as they actually existed, to some reputed news- paper in Germany, requesting publication of the article. Klaener followed Meusebach's advise and sent a full state- ment of the affairs of the Adelsverein in Texas to Mayor Schmidt of Bremen, requesting publication. This was done and had the desired effect. Several of the govern- ments took notice of the accusations made in the article and demanded an explanation from the directorate of the Adelsverein, which resulted in the opening of a credit of $60,000 to von Meusebach. Count Castell was very indig- nant over the action taken by his agent, Klaener, but the tenseness of the situation was relieved. On June 10, 1846, Castell addressed the following letter to Commissioner General von Meusebach :
"The letter of Mr. Klaener, addressed to the Mayor of Bremen, Mr. Schmidt, and published in the papers, has made the worst impression. It has been communicated to the governments, who now call for an explanation. It states that sickness and death prevail at Indianola and New Braunfels, and that the company does not come up to its promise to remove the immigrants upwards. We would have risked everything if we could not say that we have acted immediately, as soon as we heard how matters stood."
Regarding this credit von Meusebach says: "The letter of advice of this credit of $60,000 from the banker in Ger- many was dated July 14, 1846; the letter of advice of our New Orleans banker for the same amount was dated Aug- ust 17, and arrived at New Braunfels on the seventh of September, 1846. If the same amount had been sent one year before. on September, 1845, when the money was due, or over due, probably the most, if not all of the incon-
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veniences, troubles and misfortunes would have been avoided."
Nothing could arraign the Adelsverein more severely than this simple statement.
Many of the immigrants, coming in 1846, heard on board of the emigrant vessels of the piteous conditions of the colonists at New Braunfels, and those who had sufficient means for self support rather sacrificed their contract with the Adelsverein, than risking their lives in the infested colony of the Verein. Some, like J. Frederick, remained in Galveston; others, among them the families of Bering and Cabanis, came to Houston, while some went to In- dustry, Cat Spring and LaGrange. Of these early pio- neers some are still among us at this writing, namely, Messrs. August and Conrad Bering, Hermann Rudolf Cabanis and his two sisters, Mrs. Emma Harde, widow of the late Louis Harde, and Mrs. Agnes Schmidt, widow of August Schmidt, formerly of Houston, but lately of Brooklyn, N. Y., where he died last November at the pa- triarchal age of 83 years.
CHAPTER XVIII. Last Effort of the Adelsverein in Colonization.
It has been demonstrated in the preceding chapters that up to the close of the year 1846 none of the immigrants had yet reached the promised land of the Adelsverein. No white man had yet put his foot on the ground of this new Canaan, and the Comanches were still in undisputed and un- disturbed possession of it. In the last months of 1846 a "Doctor" Schubert, who had been appointed colonial direc- tor at Fredericksburg through recommendation of H. F. Fisher, had organized an expedition for reconnoitering the unknown territory of the grant, expecting to win the laurels of being the first explorer of that country. He bravely ad- vanced to the banks of the Llano River, but although he had a self-constructed, formidable looking cannon with his army of invasion, he did not dare to cross the river; and, without firing a shot, he returned to Fredericksburg, thus imitating the historic king who marched up the hill with 20,000 men, and then marched down again.
To von Meusebach the courageous explorer then made a report that access to the colonial grant was impossible, be- cause the country beyond the Llano River was filled with hostile and savage Indians. Such a report, although spuri- ous and unfounded, von Meusebach could not permit to go abroad unchallenged, and he, therefore, determined at once to go personally to the grant and make some ar- rangements with the Indians, satisfactory to both parties. It may seem strange that this was not done prior to 1847, but we must not forget that von Meusebach, since his ar- rival in Texas in April, 1845, had been confronted with the herculean task of providing provisions, transportation and. lodgings for thousands of colonists with almost no funds on hand, and had to travel constantly between Galves-
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ton, Houston, Nassau, Indianola, New Orleans and New Braunfels to collect sufficient means to keep the immi- grants, intrusted to his care, from starvation. In the meantime, von Meusebach had opened a road to the Peder- nales River, and in May, 1846, had founded Fredericks- burg, as the second relay station to reach the grant.
Now he set out in January, 1847, with three wagons, an interpreter and only 45 men toward the Llano River, which he crossed at the mouth of Beaver Creek, and thus entered as the first the lands of the Fisher and Miller land concession. With this expedition went Dr. Ferdinand Roemer, a geologist from Bonn, Rhenish-Prussia, who later published a meritorious scientific work on the "Cre- tacious formation of the Mountains of West Texas," (Bonn, 1852), and another book, "Texas," containing a detailed history of the early German immigration to Texas (Bonn, 1849).
The first meeting between von Meusebach and the In- dians occurred a few days after he had entered their ter- ritory, at a place where the United States later established Fort Mason and where the city of Mason now stands. There the first council was held between von Meusebach and the Comanche Chief, Ketemoszy, in which the latter promised to arrange a meeting of the "White Chief" with the great chiefs of the Comanches a few days later on the banks of the San Saba River. This council took place as arranged and lasted several days. Von Meusebach here had an opportunity to display his courage and presence of mind. When he and his companions approached the Comanches, their chief demanded that as a token of good faith the "white brothers" should discharge their firearms. Without hesitating a moment, Meusebach fired his rifle in the air and his followers did the same. Then the Co- manches, who were all armed with heavy American rifles, fired their arms likewise in the air, and thus a sound feeling of mutual confidence was established from the
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outset. At this meeting von Meusebach laid before the Indian chiefs his plans, and finally the agreement was reached that the council of peace between himself and all the chiefs of the Comanches should be held at the next full moon on the banks of the lower San Saba River. A more detailed account of this momentous meeting will be contained in a succeeding chapter.
While Meusebach was conferring with the Comanches at the council mentioned above, Major Neighbors arrived, dispatched as a courier by Governor Henderson, to urge Meusebach to recross the Llano, as the Comanches had been instigated to hostilities against the Americans by the Mexicans. Meusebach refused to return before his mission was accomplished and engaged Major Neighbors, who had been an Indian agent for the Lipans under the Republic of Texas, to remain with him during his stay in the Indian country. As agreed upon, the council of peace was held at the next full moon on the San Saba River, about 25 miles from its confluence with the Colorado River. A treaty was made with the head chiefs of the Comanches, Buffalo Hump, Santa Anna and Mopechucope, and their warriors, by which the Comanches agreed neither to disturb the surveyors of the Adelsverein nor molest any of the colonists, while Meusebach promised them $3000 worth of presents.
Thus the land was at last opened to colonization, and soon the settlements of Castell, Leiningen, Meerholz and Bettina were established. Bettina, named after the well known authoress, Bettina von Arnim, was the product of an enterprise of 40 college and university men who had formed the so-called "Society of Forty" at Darmstadt in 1847, for the purpose of establishing in Texas, removed from the turmoil of the world, a colony on strictly communistic principles, as an example for the ideal state of the future. These idealists soon experienced the difference between the roseate theories of communistic principles of the uto-
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pian order and the practical execution of these promising plans on the prairie lands of Texas. The life of a Texas pioneer was quite different from what these university men had imagined and the Ciceronian "otium cum digni- tate procul negotiis" ("rest with dignity far from business troubles") did not materialize. Disillusioned, but not disheartened, they left their "buen retiro" one by one, and their abandoned log cabins were in turn occupied by Ger- man farmers, who successfully tilled the ground and be- came prosperous, where the scientific men had failed.
Among the founders of Bettina were some notable men, Gustav Schleicher, later a prominent Congressman; Ja- cob Kuechler, commissioner of the General Land Office from 1869-1875; Dr. Ferdinand Herff, for a long time the acknowledged foremost physician in Texas, who died on March 18, 1912, in San Antonio at the advanced age of 91 years, and Herman Spies, the last commissioner general of the Adelsverein. Dr. William Hermes of LaGrange was the youngest member of this party of pioneers, be- ing only 18 years old when he first came to Texas in 1847. In 1851 he returned to Germany for the purpose of study- ing medicine and, after having finished his studies, came back to Texas. He is now, at the ripe old age of 85 years, the only surviving member of these venturous spirits.
While none of the four settlements mentioned above, except Bettina and Castell, were actually on lands belong- ing to the Fisher and Miller grant, they were very close to it, and the nearest points to the grant ever reached by the colonization project of the Adelsverein. In the course of time three of the settlements were abandoned for va- rious reasons and only Castell, in Llano County, a village of about 200 inhabitants, has survived.
CHAPTER XIX.
Expedition of von Meusebach to the Comanche Territory and His Treaty With the Indians.
In the preceding chapter brief mention was made of von Meusebach's expedition to the territory between the Colorado, Llano and San Saba Rivers, where the land of Fisher and Miller's grant was situated. This expedition, consisting of 45 men, including three American surveyors, well armed and provisioned, set out from Fredericksburg on January 22, 1847. One of the five Mexicans of the party, who had lived many years among the Comanches, having been kidnaped as a child, served as a guide and interpreter. The expedition under personal command of von Meusebach advanced slowly to the Llano River, reach- ing its banks on January 21. There a party of six Shawnee Indians was encountered, who were on one of their ex- tensive hunting expeditions. These Shawnees from Ark- ansas were semi-civilized and friendly. They understood English and von Meusebach succeeded in engaging three of them to accompany his expedition as hunters. Their engagement proved quite fortunate, as neither the German members of the exploring party, nor the Mexicans were successful in hunting the deer, bears or antelopes that were plentiful in the prairies and undergrowth, while the Shawnees now brought several of these animals to camp almost every day.
After crossing the Llano River on February 1 the party had entered the territory proper of the Comanches and had to advance very cautiously, always prepared to meet a sudden and unexpected attack by the Indians, who, as the Shawnees declared, were constantly following and watching von Meusebach and his little band, though in- visible to them. Great care had to be observed in the
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selection and preparing of the night camps, and it was . with some difficulty that a proper place could always be found, which provided shelter against the sharp north wind and at the same time protection against an Indian attack. When a suitable spot had been found the eight tents of the company were pitched in a semi-circle and the openings closed by the wagons, while from six to eight fires were kept burning all night in the enclosure, four men being constantly on guard duty. In the flickering light of the camp fires the different costumes, physiog- nomies and actions of the Mexicans, Indians, Germans and Americans presented a rather picturesque appearance. It was a motley crowd that had ventured into this unexplored country to prepare ways and means for its settlement, and it was also very doubtful if the Comanches would look upon the intrusion into their favorite hunting grounds in a friendly spirit.
On the morning of February 5 eight Comanches were seen riding toward the camp, carrying a white flag. The Mexican Lorenzo was sent by von Meusebach to meet them: Their leader, who said that he was Chief Kete- moszy, inquired solemnly after the chief of the pale faces, Von Meusebach then rode toward them and was informed that the Indians were a deputation of their tribe and wished to hear about the intentions of the white chief and his followers. If they had entered the land of the Co- manches with a friendly purpose, all would be well; if they had come to fight, the Indians were ready. Then von Meusebach told the Indians through a Shawnee interpreter that he and his people had nothing but friendly designs in coming to the Comanches' land. They had come from far across the great water and had built two cities in the neigh- borhood, where the Indians would be received with the same hospitality that he expected from them now. Kete- moszy answered that he would instantly inform the other Indian chiefs of what he had heard, and would call them
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to meet in council at the next full moon, when a solemn treaty of peace could be arranged. After Ketemoszy and his braves had been treated to an ample repast, of which they partook with evident relish and great appetite, the Indians left, promising to return on the next day, in order to escort von Meusebach and his party to their village. They were true to their promise, and on February 7 the village of the Comanches was reached, situated near the San Saba River, on the slope of a hill, from the summit of which a large white flag was waving a friendly wel- come.
Five hunderd Indian warriors, all on horseback, were drawn up in a long line in front of the wigwams with the squaws and children, also on horseback, on the left wing. Von Meusebach was requested to advance with only a few companions, which he did, being met midways between the two parties by as many Indians. After a ceremonious greeting and handshaking, preceded by the firing of all their rifles in the air, as a token of good faith, von Meuse- bach was invited to enter the village with his whole com- pany as guests of the red men. They remained there dur- ing the day, but for the night they prudently removed their camp to the opposite bank of the river under pretext of better grazing ground for their horses. Despite this ยท precaution three of their best horses had mysteriously disappeared during the night, and it required the greatest firmness on the part of von Meusebach to induce their hosts to "find" the strayed animals and return them to their rightful owners. He knew that if he did not insist on the return of the stolen horses, nothing would be safe from the thieving Indians and that the success and prob- ably the very existence of his expedition would be placed in jeopardy. Meusebach's determination made a strong impression upon the Comanches and had the desired effect. The horses were found and returned, and the Indians re- ceived some presents in acknowledgement of their diligent
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