USA > Texas > Wise County > Pioneer history of Wise County; from red men to railroads-twenty years of intrepid history > Part 11
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These were joined en route by Capt. Earheart and a company of men recruited from Western Wise and Jack Counties.
Late in the afternoon of Sunday, April 3, the command had reached the Wichita in the Panhandle, having struck the trail of the fleeing deserters before leaving Wise County. The desert- ing force was mounted on fine horses which were kept refreshed and well fed on the abundant grass of the route traveled. Upon the other hand the pursuing forces were mounted on inferior stock, John Wasson being astride a mule.
At the foot of a high ridge which separated them from the Wichita River, the command came upon the ashes of fresh camp fires, and thinking themselves well up with the enemy, decided to pause for the night and rest in camp. Supper was prepared, and later the horses staked out and early beds sought. The next morning preparations for an early start were made and a detail went out to bring in the horses. It was before daybreak, and all was calm and serene in the balmy spring air. Presently the clear, musical note of a bugle sounded from the slope of the ridge next the river. The men after the horses hastily returned and reported the occurrence. "My God," said one, "I wouldn't have felt any worse if I had heard Gabriel's horn blow."
The entire camp grew animated at once and a consultation followed. The fact of their being in the immediate vicinity of the enemy was not doubted; that the two forces had slept through the night with only the ridge between them was plainly evident.
At sunrise, three of the force, said to be Col. Pickett, Lieut. White and Private Cates, crawled to the top of the ridge and peered forth, and their beliefs of the nearness of the enemy were confirmed. A large camp had been pitched in true military style at the foot of the ridge in a draw. The horses were still grazing at a short distance from the camp, and preparations for breakfast were under way; fires were glowing and there were no
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signs evident that those of the camp dreamed that a large body of pursuers lay over the ridge ready to charge and capture them.
The presence of the fresh camp fires on the other side of the ridge were now accounted for. The deserters had first struck camp there, but discovering water in the Wichita beyond, had moved closer to it. The scouts returned from the top of the ridge and reported their observations, and advised a plan of action.
Col. Diamond, superior in command, was hesitant in making the attack, and advised postponement until a more opportune moment. Col: Pickett then asked and gained permission to carry out the designs he had formed for the surprise and capture of the enemy's camp, after which he called for volunteers. From the many who responded 24 men were chosen. Milton Shoe- maker was placed in the center of the file, and the ascent towards the top of the hill was begun. From this point whip and spur were put to the horses and a swift descent, accompanied by much shouting and yelling, was made on the camp below. Imme- diately there was great consternation among the surprised and astounded deserters who sprang for their rifles, and began firing.
To the right and left of the camp swept the charging forces, and in the twinkling of an eye the camp was denuded of its horses which were circled and driven back over the ridge. In the charge Milton Shoemaker's horse was shot from under him, and he quickly mounted one of the enemy's. By this time Col. Diamond and the remainder of the troops had come up, and the camp of the enemy was surrounded on three sides, with Lieut. White in command of Col. Pickett's company on the north. The deserters, with horses gone, saw their desperate condition, and presented a white flag, the signal of surrender. Col. Dia- mond went among them and was immediately threatened with death if the horses were not returned. The white flag had been a ruse. Col. Pickett followed Diamond and was met with much flourishing of revolvers and threats. A long parley followed in which the deserters were convinced of the uselessness of defense, whereupon they surrendered. They began burning powder and throwing weapons in the water, after which they were mounted
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and marched back to the settlements. Col. Diamond conveyed a part of them away and Col. Pickett took the remainder to the Confederate post at Buffalo Springs, leaving them in charge of Confederate officers.
None remained long in captivity for all gained their liberty with the surrender of Lee, which followed soon after this occur- rence.
CHAPTER VIII. CHANGES IN COUNTY ADMINISTRATIONS AT THE END OF THE WAR.
Following General Lee's surrender a large Federal force, under command of General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston and pro- ceeded forthwith to occupy the posts at Austin and San Antonio and the garrisons on the frontier. Proclamations were soon issued suspending civil and military authority in Texas and granting slaves their freedom. At about the same time Lincoln's successor in the presidential office, Andrew Johnson, issued an amnesty proclamation which prescribed the conditions and the oath under which the right of suffrage would be exercised. Andrew J. Hamilton, a Texan, received the appointment as provisional governor, assuming office July 25, 1865. It fell to the latter's lot to reconstruct the government in Texas, no small part of which was to suspend all county administrations tenured by Southern sym- pathizers and officials and appoint in their places those whose views and prior actions harmonized with the northern or federal government.
Beginning with this first suspension in Wise County a long series followed at irregular intervals. For upwards of a period of ten years a conflict progressed between the civil and military arms of the state of Texas, each striving to retain a hold on the government. First one and then the other would gain the supremacy and power, corresponding to which there would be a suspension and re-appointment of county officials throughout the state.
No positive record has been kept of these changes in this county, and no memory has been able to recall the alterations, so frequently did they occur.
The first suspension occurred in 1865 in conformance to Gov- ernor Hamilton's command. A list taken from the Secretary of State's department at Austin gives the following names of citizens as having been appointed to the respective Wise County offices set out below :
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PIONEER HISTORY OF WISE COUNTY.
Isaac Plumlee, Chief Justice, appointed Sept. 15, 1865. Benj. Shrives, Clerk of Dist. Court, appointed Sept. 15, 1865. Granger Salmon, Clerk County Court, appointed Sept. 15, 1865. David Anes, Sheriff, appointed Sept. 15, 1865.
Wm. Tyler, Assessor and Collector, appointed Sept. 15, 1865. C. B. Ball, Treasurer, appointed Sept. 15, 1865.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 1, Stephen Gose, Ed. C. Jones.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 3, Wm. Rice, L. L. Ward.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 4, Westly Higgins.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 6, John Thompson. Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. S, Wm. Waters.
Reference to the list of succeeding county officials in the fore- part of the book will reveal the names of the officials who were displaced to make way for the above. It is stated that Isaac Plumlee only nominally held the office of Chief Justice, the authorized official being "Long" Walker, who for some reason or other never occupied the place. On the above list of what might be termed Republican appointees will be noticed one or two names who were known to be strongly Southern in sympathy. This is explained as the result of harmonious action prevailing between the local and better elements, who, opposed though they were on the great general issues of the war, were united in the smaller matters involving the affairs of Wise County. Such Southerners as belonged to the administration were members by virtue of their eligibility and good character.
The list above given is the result of a clandestine meeting attended by prominent representatives of both views-moving spirits in the county-who came together on the heels of the in- formation that removals and reappointments would occur, to decide on a set of county officers which would be satisfactory to both sides.
This meeting, held in back end of a store room at Decatur, shows the harmonious relations that existed here at that time between the leading spirits of the northern and southern views.
After having decided on the names of the prospective admin- istration, the list was conveyed to Austin where Governor Ham- ilton was easily induced to make the appointments.
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CHANGES IN COUNTY ADMINISTRATION AT END OF WAR. 145
The memory of the living pioneers is clear and decisive as regards the above related facts, but as to the changes which followed in succession, beginning with the removal of the last named set of officers very little can be recalled.
In the general elections held for the selection of delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1866 the autocratie power and rigid restrictions as regards the right of suffrage were revealed. A system of registration was set up in every county which granted a voting certificate to every person who had not in any form or fashion taken part in the war as a loyalist to the Confederate cause. This practically eliminated the entire voting population of the several counties and threw the machinery of the govern- ment entirely within the autocratic control of the representa- tives of the Federal power. Very few in Wise County could take the oath of amnesty which was necessary to the right of suffrage.
The Constitutional Convention met and adopted a constitution conformable to the requirements of the United States and referred the same to a vote of the people, the election to take place on June 4. All Southerners being disfranchised, only Republicans and northern sympathizers participated. The constitution was adopted. James W. Throckmorton was elected governor in the election for State and county officers, which occurred in unison with the constitutional election. A conflict then occurred bo- tween President Johnson and the General Congress, due to which many duly elected Southern governors were removed, Governor Throckmorton among them.
General Sheridan now took charge and a military form of government was instituted. The iron hand of the autocrat began to be felt everywhere in Texas and Louisiana, over which states General Sheridan reigned. The registration laws were tightened and strengthened and more rigidly enforced.
In this way the trend of affairs grew gradually worse until 1869, the very worst was inaugurated with the election of Edmund J. Davis, the high-handed despot, as governor.
The writer has already trangressed the proprieties of this record in the narration of the above loosely joined facts, but an impression of the rigorous restrictions which were put in opera- tion here could hardly be conveyed without giving some hint of 10
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PIONEER HISTORY OF WISE COUNTY.
their source. No further allusion will be made to the general situation behind the local, other than to say that Davis was swept out of office by Coke's great election in the latter seven- ties. But before retiring, he (Davis) caused Texas to more resemble a kingdom struggling in the grip of despotism than a land where individual freedom is regarded as an inalienable and inviolable principle.
Wise County only bore a part of the extreme measures of . spoliation ; her position on the frontier protecting her from the evils and indignities practised on the more populated counties nearer to the seat of power.
But in numerous infamous ways she was made to feel that alien hands were steering the helm of state. The first of these came in the notice to suspend her government and other notices came in the many removals and disturbances that followed.
The people accepted these decrees philosophically and dis- played coolness and deliberation in joining with the local Repub- licans in the endeavor to elevate safe men to office.
The iniquitous registration system itself, which virtually had the effect of robbing the people of their government and placing it in the hands of foreign power, was sufficient cause alone to remind the people that a terrible chaos existed in their govern- mental affairs.
On the other hand they as a presumably free people were made to endure the presence of a husky squad of soldiers sent to Decatur from Ft. Richardson ostensibly to enforce order at the polls, but really as a guard to guarantee that negroes were allowed to vote.
Should harmony not have prevailed between the citizens and the men elevated to the county offices, a greater disagreement and further trouble would have ensued, but fortunately these men represented the best class of citizenship to be found in their party; they were friends and neighbors and their official acts usually sought the highest interests of the county. The objec- tionable feature about the situation was the frequency of changes and disruptions and the incidental necessity of readaptations to the rapidly alternating conditions. There could be no settled attitudes under a state so fluctuating in character; one set of
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CHANGES IN COUNTY ADMINISTRATION AT END OF WAR.
officials would retain office say for six months, another for a shorter or longer space, but no assurance existed that any set would remain for any definite time. Clearly in the face of so chaotic a state of politics the people were harrassed and hard pressed.
On the whole it was a time of intimidation and humiliation for that noble body of men and women who had spent their lives in shaping the county from the wilds of barbarism and enduring the great privations and hardships incident to that stupenduous ac- complishment. To be then told to keep hands off was a fate more bitter and intolerable than any hardship heretofore encountered.
But the hardy common sense of the people came to the res- cue and extricated them from their difficulties. With much wisdom and fortitude they temporized with the evils of the hour, patiently awaiting the day when they would receive their own back into possession.
With great wisdom and courage, the surging impulses to action through retaliatory measures, were restrained and kept in abey- anee until the election of Governor Coke delivered them from their tyrannies and restored to them their old rights and liberties.
CHAPTER IX.
DEMONSTRATION OF THE UNION LEAGUE.
One other warlike demonstration was to be played out before the antagonisms of war died away. This was directly provoked by the Peace Party trials and hangings, together with certain grievances held by members of another order, the Union League, against certain citizens and officials mostly residing at Decatur.
The Peace Party affair had intensified the spirit of hate and opposition between the Federal and Confederate elements in this section, especially in Wise and Cook Counties. Prior to this occurrence there had existed between the opposing forces a passive relationship into which no violent feeling had entered; and doubtless this desirable condition would have endured had not the convictions and hangings aroused the resentment of those who held political views similar to the Peace Party victims. But this sensational occurrence had added fire to the smoldering embers and heightened the bad feeling between the Confederates who, by reason of their superior numbers, had held undisturbed sway, and the northern inclined, of which there was but a sprinkling in the county.
When the war came to an end bringing with it the supremacy of the Union cause, the local representatives of the latter in turn became dominant. It was then that the Confederate people were placed on the defensive, which was an attitude little liked by them. This fact alone deepened the widening gulf between the two factions.
At this juncture the feeling between the two contending forces had reached an acute and dangerous stage. There were not wanting evidences that a silent, but as yet, undemonstrated loathing mutually existed, and that any untoward incident was potent to create a crisis.
The people of Confederate sympathies charged numerous misdemeanors against some of the individuals of the other side, one of these being horse-stealing: it was claimed that horses were
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DEMONSTRATION OF THE UNION LEAGUE.
stolen from the settlers and sold to the Federal armies, which practice, coupled with a small system of espionage, were well remembered by the Southerners who, in the face of such recollec- tion, held a grudge against the faction that countenanced such members and practices.
Lined up with what was known as the Union League, an order purpoting to endorse Northern views, was a motley array of individuals made up of the dregs of society, " bushwhackers," deserters and various other sorts who came out on the winning side at the close of the war. On the other hand there were known to be good and honest men belonging to the order who were perhaps over-zealous to see that, so long as the Republican power was supreme, things generally should be conducted according to Republican principles. These respectable men should not be confused with the criminal class who perhaps engrafted themselves onto the order in question.
Numbered in the platform of grievances of the Union League were grudges borne against the Confederate District Tax Collector who had sold, under the hammer, much property, the taxes on which would not be paid by the unionist owners. This class in Wise County gained recruits from over the large districts of counties in which War Tax Collector Charles D. Cates had jurisdiction. These all concentrated their designs for revenge on Wise County, which was the home of the collecting officer. Again, speaking generally of this northern order, it is in line to say that there were few members of it who did not bear some private grievance against the heretofore dominant element in Wise County. Out of all of which there grew a state of affairs in the county that bordered closely upon ambuscade war. The more lawless members of this mysterious organization were subtel and sly of action, and by keeping a system of espionage and petty warfare upon those on whom their spite rested, managed to keep a state of strife and uneasiness thoroughly alive in the county.
All those officers who took part in the hanging and trial of the Peace members were subjected to many harrassments and were made the objects of dangerous threats and on numerous occasions
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PIONEER HISTORY OF WISE COUNTY.
were waylaid and fired upon. It was a time of great anxiety for the mothers and sisters of these officials who included the whole body of the local militia and court officers among their numbers. Readers must be advised again that only the ignorant and criminal element were responsible for this mean warfare, the better class contenting themselves with higher measures of retaliation.
Coming together in secret confines in western Wise County, all these disaffectionists resolved themselves into an organization, and styled same the Union League. That particular section offered special advantages for a secret conclave of this kind. Few settlements had been made there and small opposition or observation would be encountered. The opposing faction- the Confederates-against whom their plans would be waged, resided in the eastern part of the county and at the distant county seat.
Following shortly after this organization a small but rather weak demonstration was made against the town of Decatur. The clan rode in a body to the town, for what purpose was.not apparent, and finding it by chance pretty well occupied with sturdy, defiant looking settlers, turned tail and rode away. But sometime afterwards they returned with reinforcements. On the second occasion the people surrounding Decatur had gained beforehand knowledge of their prospective visit and proceeded to make preparations for their entertainment. There was only a small body of men to defend the town, but to a man they were courageous and ready for the encounter. The most of them had seen hard service in the war and Indian campaigns, which, added to the many harassments endured at the hands of the meaner element of the specious and hated Union League, had rendered them eager for an opportunity to vent their feelings.
In anticipation of the second visit an empty log house near the square was turned into a garrison where arms and ammunition were stored. Other places, better than all others, the courthouse, were well fortified. Notices were then sent to all the settlers advising them to be ready.
The day for the expected assault arrived, and with it the con-
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DEMONSTRATION OF THE UNION LEAGUE.
centration of settlers at the town. Shortly after 'noon a large body of mounted men were seen to emerge onto the prairie from the timber west of town. They were in disarrayed form, but soon came to a halt, and probably in accordance with some pre-arranged plan, arranged themselves into column formation with two abreast, in which order they defiled into town and onto the square. To the tune of " We'll Hang Jeff Davis on a Sour Apple Tree," the invaders marched around the square, and when arrived at the south entry of the courthouse, came to a stand- still. Two or three of their number then alighted, and mounting · the stairs crawled through the hatchway to the flag which fluttered there in the breezes and tore it from its place. They then ran up another flag which they had brought along, and returned to their companions below.
Following this intimidating aet, the invaders broke ranks and deployed themselves about town seeking the parties upon whom they would avenge themselves. Robert G. Cates, the sheriff who had tied the death knots on the Peace Party vietims, was soon corralled, and one big, burly westerner had cornered his brother, Charles Cates, the tax collector. Some fortunate occurrence knocked aside the rope which was intended for the neck of the ex-sheriff and the non-tax-paying brother was staid off by a show of preparedness.
During all this time the little band of settlers were measuring up the visitors. To their temporary consternation they beheld 200 well-armed enemy, whereas there existed only about 35 of their own number. Courageous as they were, they found themselves heavily outnumbered, and while they had no thought of weakening, still were in grave doubts as to the issue. From all appearance it seemed that the League would successfully carry the day. Foreed acquiescence in this view had the effect of intensifying the fury of the settlers, who had for so many weeks been humiliated and intimidated by this same band now collected in such formidable numbers. Their desperation knew no bounds and they were ready to hazard the slimmest chance to defend their names and honor.
On the southeast corner of the square stood two store buildings
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PIONEER HISTORY OF WISE COUNTY.
with an unoccupied lot between, and back of these some yards, to . the south, stood the log garrison in which the settlers had placed their arms. Just off the plank walk, on the square immediately in front of the empty lot, stood a wagon, and it was while the settlers were despairingly reviewing their beleagured situation that an unexpected occurrence took place from the wagon. Quite without preliminary notice a man had lifted himself to this wagon and began to harangue the crowd with a humorous speech. The speaker was Joe Henry Martin, one of the living pioneers, who was venting his spirits? in an aimless and dis- cursive speech, the keynote of which was fun and good humor.
The crowd, invaders and all, gradually drifted towards the sound of the speaker's voice, until the whole of the transient population was enjoying the merry ·entertainment. In order to escape the intense rays of the July sun, the crowd had defiled into the empty lot where the shades of the buildings cooled, while the orator proceeded.
Suddenly the scene changed from one of humor to real and deadly tragedy. Armed and ready squads of steely-eyed and determined men stood at both the entrance and the exit of the lot in which the insulting invaders were hemmed.
The entrapped men saw at a glance that the settlers, for it was they who manned the escapes, meant fatal execution should a move on their part be made. Never did eyes reveal more terrible earnestness nor readier intent to visit retribution than did those of the little body of settlers. The invaders sat unmoved and quiet, perhaps paralyzed by the sudden surprise with which they were taken.
Ex-Confederate Capt. Charles Thompson, as brave a man as is ever given birth, called to their leader to come out. When he came Capt. Thompson pointedly told him that his men were in a position, where if they batted their eyes contrary to wishes, " more d -- men would be killed in a minute than a wagon could haul away in a day," thereupon advising them to depart.
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