USA > Texas > Indian wars and pioneers of Texas, Vol. I > Part 4
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" The surrounding country was an open prairie, interspersed with a few trees, rocks, and broken land. The trail which we came on lay to
the east of our encampment. After taking the precaution to prepare our spot for defense, by cut- ting a road inside the thicket of buslies, ten feet from the outer edge all around, and clearing the prickly-pears from amongst the bushes, we hobbled our horses and placed sentinels for the night. We were now distant six miles from the old fort above mentioned, which was built by the Spaniards in 1752, for the purpose of protecting them while working the silver mines, which are a mile distant. A few years after, it was attacked by the Comanche Indians and every soul put to death. Since that time it has never been occupied. Within the fort is a church, which, bad we reached before night, it was our intention to have occupied to defend ourselves against the Indians. The fort surrounds about one acre of land under a twelve- feet stone wall.
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" Nothing occurred during the night, and we lost no time in the morning in making preparations for continuing our journey to the fort ; and when in the act of starting, we discovered the Indians on our trail to the east, about two hundred yards dis- tant, and a footman about fifty yards ahead of the main body, with his face to the ground, tracking. The cry of ' Indians ' was given, and ' All hands to arms.' We dismounted, and both saddle and pack- horses were made fast to the trees. As soon as they found we had discovered them, they gave the war whoop, halted and commeneed stripping, pre- paratory to action. A number of mounted Indians were reconnoitering the ground; among them we discovered a few Caddo Indians, by the cut of their hair, who had always previously been friendly to Americans.
" Their number being so far greater than ours (one hundred and sixty-four to eleven), it was agreed that Rezin P. Bowie should be sent out to talk with them, and endeavor to compromise with them rather than attempt a fight. He accordingly started, with David Buchanan in company, and walked up to within about forty yards of where they had halted, and requested them in their own tongue to send forward their chief, as he wanted to talk with him. Their answer was, " how-de-do ? how-de-do?" in English, and a discharge of twelve Shots at us, one of which broke Buchanan's leg. Bowie returned their salutation with the contents of a double barreled gun and a pistol. He then took Buchanan on his shoulder, and started back to the encampment. They then opened a heavy fire upon us, which wounded Buchanan in two more places slightly, and pierced Bowie's hunting shirt in sev- eral places without doing him any injury. When they found their shot failed to bring Bowie down,
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eight Indians on foot took after him with their tomahawks, and when close upon him were dis- covered by his party, who rushed out with their ritles and brought down four of them - the other four retreating back to the main body. We then returned to our position, and all was still for about tive minutes.
" We then discovered a hill to the northeast at the distance of sixty yards, red with Indians who opened a heavy fire upon us with loud yells, their chief, on horseback, urging them in a loud and andible voice to the charge, walking his horse per- fectly composed. When we first discovered him, our guns were all empty, with the exception of Mr. Hamm's. James Bowie cried out, Who is loaded?' Mr. Hamm observed, 'I am.' He was then told to shoot that Indian on horseback. He did so, and broke his leg and killed his horse. We now discovered him hopping around his horse on one leg, with his shield on his arm to keep off the balls. By this time four of our party being re- loaded, fired at the same instant, and all the balls took effect through the shield. He fell and was immediately surrounded by six or eight of his tribe, who picked him up and bore him off. Several of these were shot by our party. The whole party then retreated back of the hill, out of sight, with the exception of a few Indians who were running abont from tree to tree, out of gun-shot. '
" They now covered the hill a second time, bringing up their bowmen, who had not been in action before, and commenced a heavy fire with balls and arrows, which we returned by a well directed aim with our rifles. At this instant, another chief appeared on horseback, near the spot where the last one fell. The same question of who was loaded, was asked ; the answer was nobody ; when little Charles, the mulatto servant, came run- ning up with Buchanan's rifle, which had not been discharged since he was wounded, and handed it to James Bowie, who instantly fired and brought him down from his horse. He was surrounded by six or eight of his tribe, as was the last. and borne off under our fire. During the time we were engaged in defending ourselves from the Indians on the bill, some fifteen or twenty of the Caddo tribe had succeeded in getting under the bank of the creek in our rear at about forty yards distance, and opened a heavy fire upon us, which wounded Matthew Doyle, the ball entering the left breast and passing out of the back. As soon as he cried out he was wounded, Thomas M'Caslin hastened to the spot where he fell, and observed, . Where is the Indian that shot Doyle?' He was told by a more experienced hand not to venture there, as, from
the report of their guns, they must be riflemen. At that instant they discovered an Indian, and while in the act of raising his piece, M'Caslin was shot through the center of the body and expired. Robert Armstrong exclaimed, 'D-n the Indian that shot M'Caslin! Where is he? ' He was told not to venture there, as they must be riflemen ; but, on discovering an Indian, and while bringing his gun np, he was fired at, and part of the stock of his gun cut off, and the ball lodged against the barrel. During this time our enemies had formed a complete circle around us, occupying the points of rocks, scattering trees and bushes. The firing then became general from all quarters.
" Finding our situation too much exposed among the trees, we were obliged to leave it, and take to the thickets. The first thing necessary was to dislodge the riflemen from under the bank of the creek, who were within point-blank shot. This we soon snc-, ceeded in, by shooting the most of them through the head, as we had the advantage of seeing thein when they could not see us.
"The road we had cut around the thicket the night previous, gave us now an advantageous situ- ation over that of our enemies, and we had a fair view of them in the prairie, while we were com- pletely hid. We baffled their shots by moving six or eight feet the moment we had fired, as their only mark was the smoke of our guns. They would put twenty balls within the size of a pocket handkerchief, where they had seen the smoke. In this manner we fought them two hours, and had one man wounded, James Coryell, who was shot through the arm, and the ball lodged in the side, first cut- ting away a bush which prevented it from penetrat- ing deeper than the size of it.
" They now discovered that we were not to be dislodged from the thicket, and the uncertainty of killing us at a random shot; they suffering very much from the fire of our rifles, which brought a half a dozen down at every round. They now determined to resort to stratagem, by putting fire to the dry grass in the prairie, for the double pur- pose of routing us from our position, and under cover of the smoke, to carry away their dead and wounded, which lay near us. The wind was now blowing from the west, they placed the fire in that quarter, where it burnt down all the grass to the creek, and bore off to the right, and leaving around onr position a space of about five acres that was untouched by fire. Under cover of this smoke they succeeded in carrying off a portion of their dead and wounded. In the meantime, our party were engaged in scraping away the dry grass and leaves from our wounded men and baggage to prevent the
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fire from passing over it; and likewise, in pulling up rocks and bushes to answer the purpose of a breastwork.
" They now discovered they had failed in routing us by the fire, as they had anticipated. They then re-occupied the points of rocks and trees in the prairie, and commenced another attack. The firing continued for some time when the wind suddenly shifted to the north, and blew very hard. We now discovered our dangerous situation, should the Indians succeed in putting fire to the small spot which we occupied, and kept a strict watch all around. The two servant boys were employed in scraping away dry grass and leaves from around the baggage, and pulling up rocks and placing them around the wounded men. The remainder of the party were warmly engaged with the enemy. The point from which the wind now blew being favora- ble to fire our position, one of the Indians succeeded in erawling down the creek and putting fire to the grass that had not yet been burnt; but before he could retreat back to his party, was killed by Robert Armstrong.
" At this time we saw no hopes of escape, as the fire was coming down rapidly before the wind, flaming ten feet high, and directly for the spot we occupied. What was to be done? We must either be burned up alive, or driven into the prairie among the savages. This encouraged the Indians ; and to make it more awful, their shouts and yells rent the air, they at the same time firing upon us about twenty shots a minute. As soon as the smoke hid us from their view, we collected together and held a consultation as to what was best to be done. Our first impression was. that they might charge us under cover of the smoke, as we could make but one effectual fire, the sparks were flying about so thiekly that no man eould open his powder horn without running the risk of being blown up. However, we finally came to a determination had they charged us to give them one fire, place our backs together, and draw our kuives and night them as long as any one of us was left alive. The next question was, should they not charge us, and we retain our position. we must be turned up. It was then decided that each man should take care of himself as best he could, until the fire arrived at the ring around our baggage and wounded men, and there it should be smothered with buffalo robes, bear skins. deer skins. and blankets, which, after a great deal of exertion. we succeeded in doing.
" Our thicket being so much burued and searched. that it afforded us little or no shelter, we all got into the ring that was around our wounded men
and baggage, and commenced building our breast- work higher, with the loose rocks from the inside, aud dirt dug up with our knives and sticks. During this last fire, the Indians had succeeded in removing all their killed and wounded which lay near us. It was now sundown, and we had been warmly engaged with the Indians since sunrise, a period of thirteen hours; and they seeing us still alive and ready for fight, drew off at a distance of three hundred yards, and encamped for the night with their dead and wounded. Our party now commenced to work in raising our fortification higher, and succeeded in getting it breast high by 10 p. m. We now filled all our vessels and skins with water, expecting another attack the next morning. We could dis- tinctly hear the Indians, nearly all night, crying over their dead, which is their custom; and at daylight, they shot a wounded chief - it being also a custom to shoot any of their tribe that are mortally wounded. They, after that, set out with their dead and wounded to a mountain about a mile distant, where they deposited their dead in a cave on the side of it. At eight in the morning, two of the party went out from the fortification to the encampment, where the Indians had lain the night previous, and counted forty-eight bloody spots on the grass where the Indians had been lying. As near as we could judge, their loss must have been forty killed and thirty wounded. [We after- wards learned from the Comanche Indians that their loss was eighty-two killed and wounded. ]
" Finding ourselves much cut up, having one man killed, and three wounded - five horses killed, and three wounded - we recommenced strength- ening our little fort, and continued our labors until 1 p. m., when the arrival of thirteen Indians drew us into the fort again. As soon as they discovered we were still there and ready for action and well fortified they put off. We, after that, remained in our fort eight days, recruiting our wounded men and horses, at the expiration of which time, being all in pretty good order, we set out on our return to San Antonio de Bexar. We left our fort at dark. and traveled all night and until afternoon of the next day, when we picked out an advantageous spot and fortified ourselves, ex- pecting the Indians would, when recruited, follow our trail; but, however, we saw no more of them. " David Buchanan's wounded leg here mortified. and having no surgical instruments, or medicine of any kind. not even a dose of salts, we boiled some hve oak bark very strong, and thickened it with wounded charcoal and Indian meal, made a poul- tice of it, and tied it around his leg. over which we
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sewed a buffalo skin, and traveled along five days without looking at it : when it was opened, it was in a fair way for healing, which it finally did, and the mortified parts all dropped off, and his leg now is as well as it ever was. There was none
of the party but had his skin cut in several places, and numerous shot holes through his clothes.
" On the twelfth day we arrived in good order, with our wounded men and horses, at San Antonio de Bexar."
The Scalping of Wilbarger and Death of Christian and Strother, in 1833.
In the year 1828, Josiah Wilbarger, recently married to a daughter of Leman Barker, of Lin- coln County, Mo., arrived at Matagorda, Texas. The writer of this, then in his eighth year, knew him intimately. The Wilbarger family adjoining the farm of my parents, lived on a thousand arpents of the richest land, one mile east of the present village of Ashley, Pike County, Missouri, sixteen miles from the Mississippi river and seventy-five miles above St. Louis. In the autumn of 1826, Capt. Henry S. Brown, father of the writer, tem- porarily returned home from Texas, after having spent two years in that then terra incognita and Northern Mexico. His descriptions of the country deeply impressed young Wilbarger, as well as a large number of persons in the adjoining county of Lincoln, whose names subsequently shed luster on the pioneer life of Texas. The remainder of the Wilbarger family, or rather two brothers and three sisters of their number, eame to Texas in 1837. Josiah spent a year in Matagorda, another in Col- orado County, and in 1831 settled on his headright league, ten miles above Bastrop on the Colorado, with his wife, child and two transient young men. He was temporarily the outside settler, but soon others located along the river below and two or three above, the elder Reuben Hornsby becoming the vater sentinel, and so remaining for a number of year -. Mr. Wilbarger located various lands for other parties in that section, it being in Austin's second grant above the old San Antonio and Nacog- doches road, which crossed at Bastrop.
In August, 1833. accompanied by four others, viz., Christian a surveyor, Strother, Standifer and Haynie, Mr. Wilbarger left on a land-locating expedition, above where Austin now is. Arriving on the ground and on the eve of beginning work. an Indian was discovered on a neighboring ridge, watching their movements. Wilbarger, after vainly
beckoning to him to approach, rode toward him, manifesting . friendship, but the Indian, pointing toward a smoke rising from a cedar brake at the base of a hill, in plain view, indicated a desire for his visitor to go to camp and galloped away. The party, after a short pursuit, became satisfied there was a considerable body of Indians, hostile in feel- ing, and determined at once to return to the settle- ment. They started in, intending to go directly to Hornsby's place, but they stopped at a spring on the way to take lunch, to which Wilbarger objected, being quite sure the Indians would pursue them, while the others thought otherwise. Very soon, however, about sixty savages suddenly charged, fired and fell back under the protection of brush. Strother fell dead and Christian apparently so. Wilbarger's horse broke away and fled. He fol- lowed a short distance, but failed to recover him. Hastening back, he found the other two men mounted and ready to flee, and discovered that Chris- tian, though helpless, was not dead. He implored the two mounted men to stay with him in the ra- vine, and endeavor to save Christian. Just then the Indians renewed the fire at long range and strack Wilbarger in the hip. He then asked to be taken behind one of the men, but seeing the enemy approaching, they fled at full speed, leaving him to his fate. The Indians, one having mounted Christian's horse, encircled him on all sides. He had seized the guns of the fallen men and thus with these partly protected by a tree just as he was taking deliberate aim at the mounted warrior, a ball entered his neck, paralyzing him, so that he fell to the ground and was at once at the mercy of the wretches. Though perfectly helpless and appar- ently dead, he was conscious of all that transpired. A knife was passed entirely around his head and the scalp torn off. While suffering no pain, he ever asserted that neither a storm in the forest nor
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the roar of artillery could have sounded more terrible to a sound man than did this scalping pro- cess to him. The shrieks and exultant yells of the brutes were indescribable.
Christian's life ebbed away, all three were stripped and scalped ; the savages retired and Wil- barger lay in a dreamy state of semi-consciousness, visions flitting through his mind bordering on the marvelous and the supernatural.
The loss of blood finally aroused him and be realized several wounds unknown to him before. He crawled to a limpid stream close by and sub- merged his body in it both to quench a burning thirst and stop the flow of blood, and succeeded in both ; but in an hour or two became greatly chilled and crawled out, but was so weak he fell into a sound sleep - for how long he knew not - on awakening from which he found his wounds covered with those disgusting insects, " blow flies." Occasionally refreshing himself in the pool, the hours sped and night came. He had realized that the escaped men would spread the news and as soon as the few settlers below could colleet, relief might come. After dark and many efforts he was able to rise and stand -then to stagger along - and resolved to make an effort to reach the Hornsby place. He traveled about a quarter of a mile, utterly failed in strength and sank under a large tree, intensely suffering with cold. When morning came he was unable to move and his suffering, till the sun rose and warmed him, was intense. He became able to rise again, but not to walk. Ile affirmed that while reclining against the tree his sister, Margaret,* vividly appeared before him, saying, " Brother Josiah! you are too weak to go in by yourself ! Remain here and before the sun sets friends will take you in." She disappeared, going directly towards the settlement. He piteously called to ber : "Margaret, my sister, Margaret! stay with me till they come! " But she disappeared, and when relief did come he told them of the vision and believed till that time that it was a reality.
During the day -- that long and agonizing day - between periods of drowsy slumber, he would sit or stand, intensely gazing in the direction Margaret had taken.
The two men who fled gave the alarm at Hornsby's, and runners were sent below for aid. which could not be expected before the next day ; and here occurs one of those incidents which. however remarkable, unless a whole family and several other persons of unquestionable integrity
were themselves falsifiers, is true, and so held by all the early settlers of the Colorado. During the night in which Wilbarger lay under the tree, not- withstanding the two men asserted positively that they saw Wilbarger, Christian and Strother killed, Mrs. Hornsby, one of the best of women and regarded as the mother of the new colony, about midnight, sprang from bed, aroused all the house and said: " Wilbarger is not dead! He sits against a large tree and is scalped! I saw him and know it is so! " Those present reassured and remonstrated, even ridiculed her dream, and all again retired. But about three o'clock, she again sprang from the bed, under intense excitement, repeated her former statement and added : " I saw him again! As sure as God lives Josiah Wilbarger is alive, scalped and under a large tree by himself ! I saw him as plainly as I now see you who are present ! If you are not cowards go at onee or he will die ! " " But," said one of the escaped men. " Mrs. Hornsby, I saw fifty Indians around his body and it is impossible for him to be alive."
" I care not what you saw," replied the seem- ingly inspired old mother, " I saw as plainly as you could have seen, and I know he is alive! Go to him at once." Her husband suggested that if the inen all left before help came from below she would be in danger. " Never mind me! I can take to the dogwood thicket and save myself! Go, I tell you, to poor Wilbarger! "
The few men present determined to await till morning the arrival of succor from below, but Mrs. Hornsby refused to retire again, and busied herself cooking till sunrise, so as to avoid any delay when aid should come. When the men came in the morning, she repeated to them in the most earnest manner her dual vision, urged them to eat quickly and hasten forward and, as they were leaving, took from her bed a strong sheet, handed it to thema and said: " Take this, you will have to bring him on a litter; he cannot sit on a horse." The men left and after long search found and buried the bodies of Christian and Strother.
Wilbarger spent the day in' alternate watching and dozing till, late in the evening, completely ex- hausted, having crawled to a stump from which a more extended view was obtained, he was sinking into a despairing slumber, when the rumbling of horses' feet fell upon his ear. He arose and now beheld his deliverers. When, after quite a search, they discovered the ghastly object - a mass of blood - they involuntarily batted, seeing which he beckoned and finally called : " Come on, friends ; it is Wilbarger." They came up, even then hesi- tating, for he was distigured beyond recognition.
* This sister was Mrs. Margaret Clifton, who had dhd the day before at Florissant, St. Louis County, Missouri.
GEN. EDWARD BURLESON.
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He begged for water! water! which was promptly furnished. He was wrapped in the sheet, placed on Mr. Hornsby's horse and that gentleman, mounting behind, hell him in his arms, and thus, slowly, he was borne to the house, to be embraced with a mother's warmth by her who had seen him in the vision.
The great loss of blood prevented febrile ten- dencies, and, under good nursing, Mr. Wilbarger recovered his usual health; but the scalp having taken with it the inner membrane, followed by two days' exposure to the sun, never healed, The dome of the skull remained bare, only protected by arti- ficial covering. For eleven years he enjoyed health, prospered and accumulated a handsome estate. At the end of that time the skull rapidly
decayed, exposed the brain, brought on delirium, and in a few weeks, just before the assurance of annexation and in the twelfth year from his calamity, his soul went to join that of his waiting sister Margaret in that abode " where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest." Recalling the days of childhood, when the writer often sat upon his lap and received many evidences of his kindly nature, it is a pleasure to state that in 1858 he enjoyed and embraced the opportunity of honoring his memory by naming the county of Wilbarger jointly for him and his brother Matthias, a surveyor.
John Wilbarger, one of the sons of Josiah, while a ranger, was killed by Indians in the Nueces country, in 1847.
4
Events in 1833 and 1835-Campaigns of Oldham, Coleman, John H. Moore, Williamson, Burleson, Coheen - Fate of Canoma - Choctaw Tom - The Toncahuas.
In the year 1833, a stranger from the United States, named Reed, spent several days at Tenox- titlan, Falls of the Brazos, now in the lower part of . in for the purpose of making a treaty and of recov- Falls County. There were at that time seven friendly Toncahua Indians at the place, with whom Reed made an exchange of horses. The Indians concluded they had been cheated and pretended to leave ; but scereted themselves and, on the second day afterwards, lying in ambush, they killed Reed as he was leaving the vicinity on his return to the United States, and made prize of his Horse and baggage.
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