Indian wars and pioneers of Texas, Vol. I, Part 9

Author: Brown, John Henry, 1820-1895
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Austin : L.E. Daniel]
Number of Pages: 922

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There were scarcely anything more than paths, and few of them, through that section. Augustine had some idea as to courses, and speedily deter- mined on a policy. With his little brother he pro- ceeded to the little settlement in the vicinity of

INDLIN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.

where Hallettsville is, but found that every one had retreated. They then followed the Lavaea down about thirty-five miles to where their older sister, the wife of Capt. John MeHlenry, and a few others lived - but found that all had been gone some time. They then took the old Atascosita road from Goliad which crossed the Colorado a few miles below where Columbia is. Near the Colo- rado, almost starved to death, they fell in with some Mexican scouts and were conducted to the camp of the Mexican general, Adrian Woll, a Frenchman, who could speak English and to whom they narrated their sad story. Woll received them kindly and had all needful care taken of them. In a few days the boys were taken by a Frenchman named Auguste, a traitor to Texas, to his place on Cummins' creek, where he had collected a lot of negroes and a great many cattle belonging to the retreating citizens, from which he was supplying Gen. Woll with beef at enormous prices. ' The 21st of April passed and San Jacinto was won. Very soon the Mexicans began preparations for retreat. Auguste, mounting Augustine Douglas on a fine horse, sent him down to learn when Woll could start. In the meantime a party of Texians, headed by Alison York, who had heard of Auguste's thieving den, hurried forward to chastise him before he could leave the country with his booty. He punished them severely, all who could fleeing into the bottom and thence to Woll's eamp. When York's party opened fire, little Thadeus Douglas,

not understanding the cause, fled down the road and in about a mile met his brother returning from Woll's eamp on Auguste's fine horse. With equal prudence and financial skill they determined to save both themselves and the horse. Thadeus mount- ing behind, they started at double quiek for the Brazos. They had not traveled many miles, how- ever, when they met the gallant Capt. Henry W. Karnes, at the head of some cavalry, from whom they learned for the first time, of the victory of San Jacinto, and that they yet would see their only sur- viving sister and brother-in-law, Capt. and Mrs. McHenry. In writing of this incident in De Bow's Review of December, 1853, eighteen years after its occurrence, I used this language : -

"These boys, thus rendered objects of sym- pathy, formed a link in the legends of the old Texians, and still reside on the Lavaca, mueh re- .spected for their courage and moral deportment."

It is a still greater pleasure to say now that they ever after bore honorable characters. One of the brothers died some years ago, and the other in 1889. The noble old patriot in three revolu- tions - Mexico in 1820, South America in 1822, and Texas in 1835 - preceded by gallant conduct at New Orleans in 1815, when only sixteen years old - the honest, brave and ever true son of Erin's isle, Capt. John McHenry, died in 1885, leaving a memory sweetly embalmed in many thousand hearts.

Erath's Fight, January 7, 1837.

Among the brave and useful men on the Brazos frontier from 1835 till that frontier receded far up the river, conspicuously appears the name of the venerable Capt. George B. Erath. He was born in Austria. His first services were in Col. John H. Moore's expedition for the relief of Capt. Robert M. Coleman, to the Tehuacano Hill country. in July, 1835. Though green from the land of the Hapsburgs, he won a character for daring courage in his first engagement, leading in the charge and gaining the soubriquet of " The Flying Dutchman." Ilis second experience was on the field of San Ja- cinto, April 21, 1836. In the summer of that year he located at Nashville, at the falls of the Brazos, and ever after resided in that vicinity and MeLeu-

nan county. As surveyor and ranger for ten years or more he had many adventures and was in many skirmishes and engagements with the Indians. He served in the Congress of the Republic, and after- wards in the one or the other house of the Legisla- ture, at intervals, till 1865.

HIis third engagement as a soldier occurred on the 7th of January, 1837, on Elin creek, in Milam County. At that time Lieut. Curtis com- manded a small company of illy equipped rangers at a little fort at the three forks of Little river, in Bell County, subsisting chiefly on wild meat and honey. Erath, as a lieutenant, was first there and erected several cabins, but on the arrival of Curtis he became the ranking officer.

INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.

A man arriving at the fort reported a fresh " foot " Indian trail twelve miles east and bearing towards the settlements below. It was agreed that Erath should pursue them. He started on the morning of the 6th with thirteen men and boys, nearly half being on foot. Three of the number were volunteers for the trip, and eleven were sol- diers, viz. : Lishley (a stranger), Robert Childers (now living at Temple) and Frank Childers, his boy-brother, volunteers; the soldiers were Lieut. Erath, Sergt. MeLochlan, Lee R. Davis, David Clark, Empson Thompson, Jack Gross, Jack Houston, and four boys, viz. : Lewis Moore, Morris Moore, John Folks and Green McCoy, a boy from Gonzales. They traveled twenty- three miles east, striking the trail and finding thatit was made by about a hundred Indians on foot. At night they heard the Indians, who were encamped in the bottom, on the bank of Elm creek, eight miles west of the present town of Cameron, in Milam County. They remained quiet till nearly day- light, then, after securing their horses, cautiously approached along ravines and the bed of the creek .till they secured a position under the bank within twenty-five yards of the yet unsuspecting savages, who very soon began to move about and kindle their fires. When it was sufficiently light each man and boy took deliberate aim and about ten Indians tumbled over. With revolvers (then unknown), they could easily have routed the whole band. But each one had to reload by the old process. During the interval the Indians seized their guns, there not being a bow among them, and, realizing the small number of their assailants, jumped behind trees and fought furiously. Some of them entered the ereek below to enfilade Erath's position, and this compelled a retreat to the opposite bank, in accom- plishing which David Clark was killed and Frank Childers wounded. Erath continued to retreat by

alternation, one half of the men covering the retreat of the other half for thirty or forty yards at a time, so that half of the guns were alternately loaded and fired. The bottom favored this plan till they reached their horses at the edge of the prairie. On the way, Frank Childers, finding his life ebbing, reached a secluded spot on one side, sat down by a tree against which his gun rested, and there expired, but was not discovered by the enemy, who, instead of continuing the fight, returned to their camp and began a dismal howl over their own dead.

There were numerous narrow escapes, balls cut- ting the clothes of nearly every man. One broke MeLochlan's ramrod, another the lock of his gun, a third bursted his powder horn, a fourth passed through his eoat and a fifth through the handker- chief worn as a turban on his head. At that time the families of Neil McLennan and his sons-in-law were living eight miles distant. The men were ab- sent, and, but for this attack of the bold ". Flying Dutehman," the women and children would have fallen easy victims to the savages. A month later one of McLennan's young negroes was carried into captivity by them. David Clark was past middle age and was a son of Capt. Christopher Clark, of near Troy, Lincoln County, Missouri, known to the writer of these sketches from his infancy .. Green McCoy was a maternal nephew of Clark and a paternal nephew of Jesse MeCoy, who fell in the Alamo. The Childers brothers were maternal uncles of George W. Tyler, the first child born (in 1854) in Coryell County. Capt. Erath, Robert Childers and Lewis Moore, of McLennan County, are the only survivors of this episode of nearly fifty-two years ago. Of the whole party, men and boys, every one through life bore a good character. They were in truth of the " salt of the earth " and " pillars of strength " on the frontier.

The Surveyors' Fight in Navarro County, in October, 1838.

At this date the long sinee abandoned village of " Old " Franklin, situated in the post oaks between where Bryan and Calvert now stand, was the extreme outside settlement, omitting a few families in the Brazos valley, in the vicinity of Marlin, and was the county seat of the original Robertson County, with its immense unsettled territory,

including the west half of Dallas County and terri- tory north and west of it. It was a rendezvous for both surveying parties and volunteers on expe- ditions against the Indians. Its male population was much larger than the female, and embraced a number of men of more or less note for intelligence and courage. Among these were Dr. George W.

INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.

Hill, long a senator and once in President Houston's Cabinet, for whom Hill County was named; Capt. Eli Chandler, a brave frontiersman; E. L. R Wheelock, Cavitt Armstrong, the father of the Cavitt family of later times, and others.

There was a great desire on the part of both dis- charged soldiers and other citizens who had just re- ceived bounty and head-right certificates for land to have them located and the land surveyed. In the early summer of 1838, near Richland creek, twelve or fourteen miles southerly from Corsicana, three men belonging to a surveying party were surprised and killed. Their names were Barry, Holland, and William F. Sparks, a land locator from Nacog- doches. The remainder of the party, too weak for defense against the number of the savages, cau- tiously and successfully eluded them and returned home.

Early in October of the same year William F. Henderson, for many years since an estimable citizen of Corsicana, fitted out a surveying party to locate lands in what is now the southwest por- tion of Navarro County. He and his assistant each had a compass. The entire party consisted of twenty-four men and one boy, and was under the command of Capt. Neill.

The party arrived on the field of their labors and encamped at a spring or water hole about two mile northwest of what after that expedition was and ever since has been known as Battle creek.

Here they met with a large body of Indians, chiefly Kickapoos, but embracing some of several tribes, who were encamped in the vicinity, killing buffalo. They professed friendship, but mani- fested decided opposition to having the lands sur- veyed, assuring the party that if they persisted the Comanches and Ionies would kill them. But it was believed their design was only to frighten them away. After a day or two a trial of the compasses was made, when it was found one of the needles had lost its magnetism and would not work. William M. Love, afterward a well-known citizen of Navarro County, and a Mr. Jackson were sent back to Franklin for a magnet to recharge the needle, thus reducing the party to twenty- three. Early on the following morning Henderson ran a line for a mile or so, more or less Indians following and intently watching the manipulation of the compass, one of them remarking: "It is God's eye." The party, after a satisfactory trial, returned to camp for breakfast, and after that was over, returned to, and were about resuming their work, when from a ravine, about forty yards dis- tant, they were fired upon by about fifty Indians. The men, led by Capt. Neill, at once charged upon

them, but in doing so, discovered about a hundred warriors rushing to aid those in the ravine from the timber behind them. At the same time about the same number of mounted Indians charged them from the prairie in their rear. Neill retreated under heavy fire to the head of a branch in the prairie with banks four or five feet high. There was some brush and a few trees ; but seventy-five yards below them was another cluster, of which the enemy took possession. This was between 9 and 10 o'clock a. m., and there the besieged were held under a fluctuating fire until midnight. Every one who exposed himself to view was killed or wounded. Euelid M. Cox for an hour stood behind a lone tree on the bank doing much execu- tion, but was finally shot through the spine, upon which Walter P. Lane, afterwards a distinguished Brigadier-general in the Confederate army, jumped upon the bank and dragged him into the ravine, in which he died soon afterwards. A man named Davis, from San Augustine, having a fine horse, attempted to escape through the line of Indians strung in a circle around the little band, but he was killed in sight of his comrades. A band of mounted Indians, not participating in the fight, collected on an elevation just out of gunshot, and repeatedly called out, " Come to Kickapoo! Kick- apoo good Indian! " and by gesticulations mani- fested friendship, in which our men placed no possible confidence; but among them was Mr. Spikes, a feeble old man of eighty-two years, who said his days were few at best, and as he could not see to shoot he would test their sincerity. He mounted and rode up to them and was mercilessly butchered. Night brought no relief or cessation of the attack, and a number of our men were dead in the ravine. The moon shone brightly until midnight. But when it sank below the horizon, the survivors determined to make an effort to reach the timber on a brushy branch leading into a creek heavily covered with thickets and trees, and dis- tant hardly half a mile. Three horses yet lived, and on these the wounded were placed, and the fiery ordeal began. The enemy pressed on the rear and both flanks. The wounded were speedily shot from their horses. Capt. Neill was wounded and immediately lifted on one of the horses, but both fell an instant later. A hundred yards from the brush Walter P. Lane was shot in the leg, below the knee, shattering, but not breaking the bone. Ile entered the brush with Henderson and Burton. Mr. William Smith entered at another place alone, and Mr. Violet at still a different place, terribly wounded, and at the same instant another man escaped in like manner. Once under

INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEX.IS.

cover, in the dark, each lone man, and the group of three, felt the necessity of perfect silence. Each stealthily aud cautiously moved as he or they thought best, and the fate of neither became known to the other until all had reached the settle- ments. Smith, severely wounded, traveled by night and lay secreted by day till he reached the settlements on the Brazos, distant over forty miles.

The unnamed man, slightly wounded, escaped eastwardly and succeeded, after mueh suffering, in reaching the settlements. Henderson, Lane and Burton found lodgment in a deep ravine lead- ing to the creek. Lane became so weak from the loss of blood that Henderson tore up his shirt to stanch and bandage the wound, and succeeded in the effort. Passing down some distance, they heard the Indians in porsnit, and ascended the bank and lay in brush with their guns cocked. The pursners passed within three or four feet but failed to discover them. About an hour before day they reached the creek and traveled down to a muddy pool of water. On a log they crawled onto a little island densely matted with brush, under which they lay concealed all day. They repeatedly heard the Indians, but remained undis- covered. When night came as an angel of mercy, throwing its mantle over them, they emerged from their hiding place ; but when Lane rose up, the agony from his splintered leg was so great that he swooned. On recovering consciousness he found that Burton, probably considering his condition hopeless, was urging Henderson to abandon him; but that great-hearted son of Tennessee spurned the suggestion. The idea inspired Lane with indignation and the courage of desperation. In words more emphatic than mild he told Burton to go, and declared for himself that he could, and with the help of God and William F. Henderson, would make the trip. By the zigzag route they traveled it was about thirty miles to Tehuacano springs. They traveled, as a matter of course, Very slowly, and chiefly by night, Lane hobbling un one leg, supported by Henderson. For two days and nights after leaving their covert they had ueither food nor drink. Their sufferings were great and their clothing torn into rags. On the third day, being the fourth from their first assault by the enemy, they reached the springs named, where three Kickapoos were found with their families. At first they appeared distant and sus- picions, and demanded of them where and how they came to be in such condition. Henderson ¡ tomptly answered that their party, from which They had become separated, had been attacked by ( matches and Ionies, and that they, in their dis-

tress, had been hoping to fall in with some friendly Kickapoos. This diplomacy, however remote from the truth, had the desired effect. One of the red men thereupon lighted his pipe, took a few whiffs, and passed it to Henderson, saying, " Smoke! Kickapoo good Indian!" All smoked. Provis- ions were offered, and the women bathed, dressed and bandaged Lane's leg. Henderson then offered his rifle to one of them if he would allow Lane to ride his horse into Franklin. After some hesita- tion he assented, and they started on; but during the next day, below Parker's abandoned fort, hearing a gunshot not far off (which proved to belong to another party of Kickapoos, but were not seen), the Indian became uneasy and left them, taking both his pony and the rifle. It should be stated that Lane's gun had been left where they began their march, at the little island, simply because of his inability to carry it; hence Bur- ton's gun was now their last remaining weapon. But now, after the departure of the Indian, they were gladdened by meeting Love and Jackson, returning with the magnet, ignorant, of course, of the terrible calamity that had fallen upon their comrades. Lane was mounted on one of their horses, and they hurried on to Franklin, arriving there without further adventure.

A party was speedily organized at Franklin to go to the seene and bury the dead. On their way ont at Tehuacano springs, by the merest accident, they came upon Mr. Violet in a most pitiable and perishing condition. His thigh had been broken, and for six days, without food or water, excepting uncooked grasshoppers, he had crawled on his hands and knees, over grass and rocks and through brush, about twenty-five miles, in an air line, but much more, in fact, by his serpentine wanderings in a section with which he was unacquainted. His arrival at the springs was a providential interposi- tion, but for which, accompanied by that of the relief party, his doom would have been speedy and inevitable. Two men were detailed to escort him back to Franklin, to friends, to gentle nursing, and finally to restoration of health, all of which were repaid by his conduct as a good citizen in after life.

The company continued on to the battle-ground. collected and buried the remains of the seventeen victims of savage fury, near a lone tree.

It may well be conceived that heroic courage and setion were displayed by this little party of twenty- three, encircled by at least three hundred Indians - not wild Comanches with bows and arrows, but the far more formidable Kickapoos and kindred asso- ciates, armed with rifles. It was ascertained after-

INDLIN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.

wards that they had sustained a loss in killed equal to double the number of the Texians, besides many wounded. It was believed that Euclid M. Cox, before receiving his death wound, killed eight or ten.

The Surveyors' Fight ranks, in stubborn courage and earnage, with the bloodiest in our history - with Bowie's San Saba fight in 1831, Bird's victory and death in Bell County in 1839, and Hays' mountain fight in 1844, and others illustrating sim- ilar courage and destructiveness.

THE SLAIN.

Of the twenty-three men in the fight seventcen were killed, viz. : Euclid M. Cox, Thomas Barton, Samuel Allen, - Ingraham, - Davis, J. Hard, Asa T. Mitchell, J. Neal or Neill, William Tremier, - Spikes, J. Bullock, N. Barker, A. Houston, P. M. Jones, James Jones, David Clark, and one whose name is not remembered.

Those who escaped were William F. Henderson, Walter P. Lane, wounded as described, and Bur- ton, who eseaped together ; Violet, wounded as de- scribed ; William Smith, severely wounded in the shoulder; and the man slightly wounded, who escaped towards the east - 6. Messrs. Love and Jackson, though not in the fight, justly deserve to be classed with the party, as they were on hazard- ons duty and performed it well, besides relieving Lanc and then participating in the iuterment of the dead.

In the year 1885, John P. and Rev. Fred Cox, sons of Euclid, at their own cost, erected, under the shadow of that lone tree, a handsome and befit- ting monument, on which is carved the names of .all who were slain and all who escaped, excepting

that one of each class whose names are missing. The tree and monument, inclosed by a neat fence, one mile west of Dawson, Narvarro County, are in plain view of the Texas aud St. Louis railroad.

NOTE. This William Smith, prior to this dis- astrous contest, but at what preeise date cannot be stated, but believed to have been in the winter of 1837-8, lived in the Brazos bottom. The Indians became so bad that he determined to move, and for that purpose placed his effects in his wagon in his yard, but before starting his house was at- taeked. He barred his door and through craeks between the logs fired whenever he could, nearly always striking an Indian, but all his reserve ammunition had been placed in the wagon and the supply in his pouch was nearly exhausted, when Mrs. Smith opened the door, rushed to the wagon, seeured the powder and lead and rushed back. Balls and arrows whizzed all about her but she escaped with slight wounds and immediately began moulding bullets. She thought not of herself but of her little children. Honored forever be the pioneer mothers of Texas and thrice honored be such as Mrs. Smith. It was my pleasure after- wards, personally, to know her and some of her children, and to serve on the Southwestern frontier with her fearless husband, an honest Christian man. One of their sons was the late Prof. Smith of Salado College, a son worthy of such parents. Mr. Smith crippled so many of his assailants that they retired, leaving him master of the situation, when he removed farther into the settlements. There is one fact in connection with this affair that, as a TEXIAN, I blush to state. There was an able-bodied man in Mr. Smith's house all the time who slunk away as the veriest craven, taking refuge under the bed, while the heroic father and mother "fought the good fight and kept the faith." I have not his name and if it were known to me would not publish it. as it may be borne by others of heroic hearts, and injustiee might be done ; besides, the subsequent life of that man must have been a continuing torture.

Karnes' Fight on the Arroyo Seco, August 10, 1838.

From the beginning of 1837, to his death in August, 1840, Henry W. Karnes, a citizen of San Antonio, stood as a pillar of strength and wall of defense to the Southwestern frontier. He was ever ready to meet danger, and often commanded small bodies of volunteers in search or pursuit of hostile Indians. He had numerous skirmishes and minor encounters with them and was almost invariably successful.

In the summer of 1838, in command of twenty- one fearless volunteers, while halting on the Arroyo " Seco, west of the Medina, and on the 10th day of August, he was suddenly and furiously assailed by two hundred mounted Comanches ; but, ever alert and prepared for danger, in the twinkling of an eye his horses were secured and his men stationed in their front, somewhat protected by a ravine and chaparral, and tired in alternate platoons, by which

INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.

one-third of their guns were always loaded to meet the attack at close quarters. Their aim was deadly and warriors were rapidly tumbled to the ground. Yet, knowing they were ten to one against the Texians, the Comanches were not willing to give up the contest till over twenty of their number lay dead, and doubtless as many more were wounded. Col. Karnes, in his intense and unselfish desire to both save and encourage his men, greatly exposed himself and was severely wounded, this being the only casualty to his party, though nearly all his horses were more or less wounded. It was a gal- lant and successful defense against immense odds, and served to cement more closely the already

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Indian wars and pioneers of Texas, Vol. I, Part 9

Author: Brown, John Henry, 1820-1895 Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Austin : L.E. Daniel] Number of Pages: 922

Author: Brown, John Henry, 1820-1895
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Austin : L.E. Daniel]
Number of Pages: 922