USA > Texas > Wise County > Pioneer history of Wise County; from red men to railroads-twenty years of intrepid history > Part 13
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The deplorable elimax came within view of the home of a neighbor named Jones. Mrs. Jones stepped into the yard and viewed a scene which froze her to the spot. Three giant, red clemons were bearing down upon a defenseless girl fleeing for her life. Two treacherous arms were thrust forward, two gun reports rent the air, and Sallie Bowman reeled in her saddle and rolled to the ground, dead. Two bullets were in her baek, fired at such close range as to set fire to her elothing. Two of the Indians kept on after the horse, which, within a few yards, would have reached home. The fine bunch of horses which had been so faithfully guarded by the young girl were taken into captivity. Sallie Bowman lies buried in Deep Creek Cemetery, her grave marked with a monument contributed in late years by the citizens of Deep Creek.
DEATH OF JJAKE MOFFUT AND ESCAPE OF ALONZO DILL.
No narrower escape from death in the days of Indian dangers are recorded than that of Alonzo Dill, descendant of pioneer days, now a citizen of Decatur.
In 1865 Mr. Dill lived with his father in the vicinity of old
DEATH OF JAKE MOFFUT AND ESCAPE OF ALONZO DILL. 167
Prairie Point, now the town of Rhome. One of his duties was to look after the horses and at the time of the following occurrence he was riding at some distance from his home beyond West Fork in the wake of a herd of horses. Casually looking up he was sur- prised to see himself being flanked by a band of about 15 Indians. His only thought was to get beyond the range of danger as rapidly as possible. Turning, he started for the river which he had to cross, his destination being home, which stood about three quarters of a mile away.
With a blood-curdling yell the savages sprang forward on his trail. It was one of the most intensely serious moments of Dill's life. The Indians had had the advantage of a close start; he was in their midst before their proximity was discovered. But now in the flight for safety he urged his horse forward with all the energy and persuasion he possessed. Arrows were flying all about him, some of them lodging in dangerous places. Coming to the river bank he virtually threw his horse down this, but as he went over, a deadly concentration of arrows burnt the air about him. Only a short interval elapsed between his crossing the river and that of his murderous pursuers. The long streteh ahead beyond the river now gave the Indians a clear sweep at him and up they rode furiously.
Within three hundred yards of the house Dill's opportunity of escape hung low in the seale of chances. But at this point the Indians came to an abrupt halt and seemed to want to turn tail and run. The cause of their perturbation was outlined in the yard of the home to which Dill was desperately fleeing. Dill's grim father stood there with the polished barrel of a Winchester rifle glinting in the sunlight, calmly waiting for a shot. The cowardly Indians retreated, but in an endeavor to waste the ammunition of the defender of the home they made several false charges, all of which proved futile of their aim. Their eunning taeties were known and no ammunition was wasted upon them. Finally they withdrew. Dill reached home with an arrow sticking in his hat, another in the pommel of his saddle, and still another in the back part of his saddle. Examining the point where he crossed the river six arrows were found sticking in a nearby tree.
The Indians proceeded down the river and within a half-hour
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after the above occurrence intercepted a man named Jake Moffut at the old Tulley crossing and murdered and scalped him.
Further down the country, on Indian Creek, two.men by the names of Smith and Wright were traveling in a northeast direc- tion going from Weatherford to Denton. The Indians came upon these and a desperate battle ensued, in which Wright lost his life and Smith received an arrow in his face which he was com- pelled to carry until he had reached Denton and assistance could be obtained in taking the poisonous weapon from the wound.
After perpetrating these fiendish crimes and terrorizing the entire country until the whole people were in a border state of panie the red-devils changed the course of their progress and returned to their safe reservations.
THE EXTERMINATION OF THE RUSSELL FAMILY.
The extermination of the Russell family in August, 1868, at their home on Martin's Prairie, about three miles southwest of Chico, is pointed to as one of the most atrocious massacres over committed on the frontier.
Mrs. Polly Russell was a widow with four children. The youngest was a boy about ten years of age, the next a boy of seventeen, the third, Martha Russell, a girl in her teens, and lastly, Bean Russell, a young man.
On the day of this terrible affair Mrs. Russell was helplessly surrounded by the three youngest children, Bean Russell, the young man, being employed at the government saw-mill on Sandy Creek, some miles distant to the cast. Although the ever imminent danger of Indian attack was realized and guarded against in the best possible ways, yet this family must carn its living from the soil and must perforce remain upon the exposed farm to achieve that worthy purpose, meanwhile trusting to a kindly providence for safety and protection.
Situated a short distance from the house was a dense cane patch and herein at some time in the forenoon, possibly before day, a large band of Indians, estimated at about sixty, had secreted themselves.
Later investigation of the patch revealed such quantities of
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THE EXTERMINATION OF THE RUSSELL FAMILY.
chewed cane as to indicate that the Indians had spied on the premises for many hours previous to the moment of their attack.
Imagine these cowardly demons leering forth from their coverts ready to spring forth upon this unprotected woman and children at the first instant of assurance that no man was on the place to intercept their fiendish designs. As they dodged about the cane one or more of them were seen by some member of the house- hold and Harvey Russell, the 17-year-old boy, opened fire on' them with a Winchester rifle. The number of exploded shells lying around proved that he had kept up a rapid fusilade for some time, a proceeding that tended to the rapid exhaustion of his ammunition. But the boy's brave stand was of no avail, for anon the savages were swarming about the house and yard, exclaiming and yelling hideously and executing all kinds of wierd gyrations after the true barbaric fashion.
The inmates of the home recoiled with rigid fear, turning wan, terror-struck faces upon their murderers. The hellish work was now begun and no sacred nor valuable article was left untouched. First the mother and the two boys were assassinated, the girl's life being spared, she to be held in captivity for ransom. The window frames and panes were wrecked, all articles of furniture broken up and the featherbeds ripped open and their contents scattered to the winds.
No description can convey the horror of the scene that met Bean Russell's gaze when he returned that evening at sun down from his day's labor at the mill. First he encountered his little brother, Jimmie Russell, dead in the yard where the hogs had bruised and gnashed the body. Across the threshold of the door he found the lacerated form of his mother, lying in pools of her own blood. Blood was scattered everywhere; small foot- prints of erimson, made by the little boy, covered the floor. But the sister and brother Harvey were not to be found. Sadly the young man closed the door on the desolated, wrecked and ruined home, and set his footsteps towards the mill. The following day he returned with a party of men to bury the dead. Upon further search Harvey Russell was found dead under the bed, but the sister was still missing. During the following ten days the young man was crazed with the desire to find his sister,
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feeling a certain sense of apprehension that she had been mur- dered and left on the way for the wolves to devour. A party of men from Decatur started on the trail with him in the direction which the Indians had departed. Reaching a point about three miles from home, a terrible and gruesome scene was encountered ; all that was mortal of Martha Russell now lay in a heap of bones and a disjointed frame from which the wild beasts had torn the flesh. Close at hand lay the bonnet which the girl had worn at the time of her capture. Evidently the Indians had accom- plished their fiendish purpose, following which they had killed the girl, an act closing the sad drama of the Russell family.
Leaving Russell's, the Indians departed in an easterly direction towards the home of another settler, Diek Couch. When some distance from the latter place they met little Dick Couch, who was returning from an errand to one of the families of the neighborhood. Little Diek took instant flight and the Indians gave hard chase. The boy reached home in the van of the Indians and slid under a wagon near the house just as an old chief reached down to seize him. So bent was the chief on his quest that his horse collided with the wagon, which brought from him a series of protesting grunts and exclamations. Doubtless he would have proceeded to capture the lad had not, at that instant, his attention been attracted to some warning signals coming from the direction of the yard. Looking up he saw old Diek Couch, known to be a dead shot, menacing him with a rifle. The old chief thought the better part of valor was to flee, which he instantly did. Couch saved his ammunition, which was a scarce article, but he would have stored some in a greasy savage had not the latter determined suddenly that his maraud- ing expedition was at an end.
After a few efforts to intimidate the Couch household, all of which proved of no avail, the cowardly murderers of defenseless women and children, and the braves who fought only from ambush, again departed in an easterly direction. They were next heard of as camped in J. D. White's field on Upper Catlett. Here they destroyed considerable corn and melons, whence they proceeded on into Denton County, where, after collecting
BIG RAID-KILLING OF JOHN BAILEY AND MRS. VICK. 171 a large number of horses they returned to their safe retreats in the Territory.
THE BIG RAID IN WHICH JOHN BAILEY AND MRS. VICK WERE KILLED.
Mr. J. D. White has contributed an article to a local paper descriptive in part of the raid of October, 1868, which, if measured by the number of Indians engaged, the number of people killed and injured, and the number of stock captured and driven off, makes it one of the most extensive expeditions of plunder and pillage ever endured by Wise and Denton Counties.
Mr. White does not take up the narrative until the Indians in their progress through the country from west to east, had reached a point opposite to and north of his home on Catlett Creek, where their doings form the basis of his article. A few hours previous to the occurrence which Mr. White describes, and some time after the Indians had emerged into Wise County, they ascended a rise in the prairie overlooking the farm of Jim Ball in the north part of the county. The month was October, and John Bailey and Will Ball were in the field gathering corn. Upon the instant of their being seen by the large band of Indians, said to be about 200, the latter executed a bold charge down the hill towards the men. At the right moment as the Indians came up, Bailey opened fire and a chief toppled from his saddle dead, but the remaining Indians rushed on and killed Bailey and put their clutches on the young Ball boy, but he, by a vigorous wrench, freed himself and dashed toward the cow-lot with the Indians in hot pursuit. Reaching the lot fence, Ball defended himself behind it, the progress of the Indians being balked by another man, Will Clark, who, barricaded behind the fence, poured deadly fire through the cracks.
Shortly after this Mrs. Vick was murdered, her home lying in the vicinity of the route taken by the inhuman redskins.
The next few paragraphs are notes taken from Mr. White's narrative describing Mrs. Vick's death. Having occasion to journey a short distance up the creek west from his home, Mr. White had stopped under a grape vine to secure some fruit. While leisurely standing there, he heard a noise and looked
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PIONEER HISTORY OF WISE COUNTY.
around to see two redskins running a calf in his direction. Turn- ing his horse east and galloping up on a hill, he beheld the band of 200 Indians standing in " regular cavalry double line " about a quarter of a mile distant. At once he knew his position to be perilous and did not doubt having been seen, so he adopted a ruse that worked effectively. Waving his hat as if others were coming up behind him he slowly advanced towards the Indians, but all the while edging towards a point from which he could make the dash for home.
He was occupied in this strategie movement sufficiently long to enable him to observe the movements of the Indians. He had hardly begun the pseudo-attack when a full dressed Indian, apparently a chief, made a complete circuit of the band scream- ing out something which Mr. White little understood, stopping short about twenty yards in advance of the main line. Then three warriors, well mounted, left the main body and rode down the hill in the direction of Mrs. Viek's home, which was situated west from the scene under description. Presently Mr. White heard the sharp erack of a Winchester, followed immediately by a scream of distress. A few steps further of advance and Mr. White thought the psychological moment for his departure had arrived, and he turned and spurred his horse in the direction of his home and unprotected wife and children. Very soon he had the latter and the Sahnons, a neighboring family consisting of mother and son, safely secured across Catlett Creek.
As soon as it was safe to do so Mr. White and Granger Salmon rode over to Mr. Viek's house and found that the three Indians who had separated from the main band in sight of Mr. White, had stealthily advanced upon the Viek home and shot Mrs. Vick in the back while she was stooping over a washtub.
The next warlike demonstration of this terrorizing body of braves was on the hill which overlooked the home of Jackson J. Conelly. Here another ruse was adopted by the intimidated citizens, which doubtless saved them their lives and scalps. Mr. Conelly was the only man on the place at the time, but there were several women and children. A second weakness of the defensive resources existed in the fact that only one load of ammunition for the single gun of the place was possessed. But
BIG RAID-KILLING OF JOHN BAILEY AND MRS. VICK. 173
the Indians did not know this and they were ignorant that the yard full of menacing, swashbuckling men below were really women. But this was the exact truth. On realizing the danger of the situation, Mr. Conelly ordered all the women on the place in men's apparel, and to indicate their preparedness by brandishing hoes, broomhandles and sticks as if they were deadly weapons. The 200 Indians rode away, outwitted by the brain of one white man. By this time the news of the killings and of the presence of this unusually large number of Indians in the county had reached the little village of Decatur, and thrown its inhabitants into a furore of excitement and fear.
Decatur during those years, was nothing more than a small head-quarters habitation for the various persons engaged in the cattle business. At the time of this raid the majority of the cattlemen were absent with cattle on a drive into Kansas. The women and children left behind at Decatur had been consigned to the care of Providence, and to the one or two merchants then keeping store there. One of the latter was Chas. D. Cates, who describes a great state of panic among the fear-stricken women at the time of this occurrence. Two hundred savages murdering and pillaging four miles north of town and momentarily expected to make an assault, was placing too high a premium upon the sum total of courage and fortitude. Mr. Cates, Capt. Ed. Blythe and one or two others calmed and soothed as much as possible, but the situation in truth was threatening. Late in the afternoon the courthouse was fortified with all the arms available so that a defense could be made against any night attack. On the other hand the women were advised to concentrate and spend the night, some in the court- house and others at Bishop's Tavern, a suggestion which met with their hearty approval, and in accordance with which they acted. A dreary night of anxiety and alarm was spent. From sunset to dawn guards swept the moonlit horizons with keen gaze, expecting at any moment that some point would become blackened by the armed band of terrorizing braves making an approach to the village. Women quaked in fear and children wailed in the darkness, but day dawned smiling and bright, and with it came peace and quiet. The dusky cloud of assassinators
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had passed on into Denton County leaving the harassed landscape of Wise County to lapse again into its tranquil state.
In Denton County several more murders were committed and a clash with an armed band of citizens ensued. Participants on both sides were killed but the Indians escaped to the territory taking with them 800 head of horses collected along the route through Denton and Wise Counties.
MASSACRE AND CAPTURE OF THE BABB FAMILY.
The murder and the capture of the members of the above- named family was an event of the greatest and most sensational proportions of the period of Indian attack, and has gained his- torical prominence in all the books which treat of the phase of Texas history of which this occurrence is a part.
The details surrounding the massacre and capture are as follows: In September, 1866, John Babb lived with his family on a ranch about twelve miles west of Decatur, between Bridge- port and Chico. Besides the parents there were four children, Margie, an infant ; Dot, a boy, eight or nine years old ; Cassabianca, a young girl, and Court, an older boy. Making her home with the family also was a Mrs. Roberts, a youthful widow of very fair features. On the day of the fateful occurrence all these were at home with the exception of the father, who was absent on duties in Arkansas, and Court, the oldest boy.
Before reaching the Babb home in the afternoon, the Indians had spent the forenoon in terrorizing the people of the route over which they had passed, which began in Wise County beyond and west of Bridgeport and terminated on the northwest border where they passed out after the Babb massacre. There were only a few Indians in the band, but their fatal accomplish- ments on this depredation substantiates the claim that a small body inflicted more frightful consequences than a larger and more unwieldy and slow-moving body. Soon after entering Wise County the savages met a negro teamster, and proceeded to make him their first victim. Further on they came across a man by the name of Armstrong, and gave him a wild chase for his life. Reaching the vicinity of the home of one of the
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MASSACRE AND CAPTURE OF THE BABB FAMILY.
Woodward brothers, they had an encounter with George Buchanan, and speared a girl, Lona Buchanan, while she was drawing water from a well, though she was not killed. Reach- ing Mr. Floyd's home, they came near capturing a boy while he was about some duty at the corn crib. He saved his life by . reaching the house ahead of his pursuers.
Two travelers from Decatur to Jaek County-Lee Dean and Ase Henson-reached the Sandy Creek crossing just as the Indians came upon the spot. The Indians charged immediately, and the men retraced their steps, post haste, to the point of departure.
On Thorn Prairie the Indians next encountered a party of cattlemen, among whom were Ben Blanton, Lansing Hunt and Glenn Halsell. The fight was postponed until the home of ' Dick Couch was reached. This place was in the vicinity of Thorn Prairie and was used as a place of retreat by the cowboys who expected assistance from another party of cowboys who were branding cattle in the Couch pen. In a very little while the Indians boldly assaulted the Couch premises and were repulsed. They were apparently bent on taking Blanton's horse, which they had seen was a very fine one. Old Dick Couch's long range rifle came again into service in these repeated charges by the redskins, keeping them at bay. While the men were barricaded in the house the Indians suddenly emerged afoot from a clump of timber and with great swiftness and much yelling and whooping drove the horses away from the corralls into captivity. At this juncture Ben Blanton stole away unnoticed and started to Decatur for re-inforcements.
After capturing the horses the Indians departed. A few hours later Blanton returned to Couch's with the Decatur posse, and the departing trail of the Indians was taken up and followed, Halsell, Blanton and others going along. Sheriff Bob Cates, by chance on duty in the vicinity at the time, also joined the posse in pursuit of the Indians.
The trail led straight towards the Babb home, and three miles of traveling brought the party to this place. All was silent about the house, but the evidences of plunder and pillage were everywhere visible. Apparently the ruin of the Russell family
.
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had been duplicated. The feathers from the beds scattered about the yard resembled snow. The household effects had been piled in a heap and burned. The men looked into the house and a piti- ful seene met their gaze. Mrs. Babb lay with her throat cut from car to car; the blood had streamed out over the body, and the infant child, in its efforts to imbibe nourishment, had dyed itself in the crimson stain. The other members of the family were nowhere to be found and the logical conclusion was that they had been taken captive.
The men were beside themselves with anger and the desire of revenge. The child was transferred to the home of a neigh- bor, the Andersons, and the trail of the Indians again taken up. Far out on the Wichitas the jaded horses gave out and the party was forced to return, not having made preparations for an ex- tended journey. The cunning, fiendish, quick-striking savages had perpetrated their hellish work and escaped with a swiftness that made pursuit almost a foolish undertaking.
The details of that which occurred when the Indians bore down on the Babb home were learned later from Mrs. Roberts who was taken into captivity. The two children, Dot and Bank (Cassabianca) were found in the yard and immediately taken in charge. At the sight of the Indians, Mrs. Roberts had sought safety in the loft above the room: Mrs. Babb had ro- mained to make a heroic fight for her children, during which the gaping death wound in her throat was inflicted. At the striking of this blow, Mrs. Roberts had screamed, which revealed her whereabouts to the Indians, who immediately laid their strong hands upon her. After sacking the house, Mrs. Roberts and the two children were put upon horses and carried away. Mrs. Roberts' very attractive features no doubt actuated the Indians with the idea of retaining rather than killing and leaving her behind.
Arriving in the vicinity of Red River, Mrs. Roberts made an unsuccessful attempt at escape which separated her from the Babb children; her recapture was accomplished by a second band of Indians. The Babb children remained with the Indians about a year, when, through the ageney of the celebrated negro,
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Britt, they were purchased upon the payment of a large number of horses.
In Mr. Hilory Bedford's volume, "Texas Indian Troubles". Colonel George Pickett, of Wise County, one of the first on the scene after the murder of the Babb family, tells of Mrs. Roberts' experiences and final escape from the Indians as follows: "The beauty of this young woman had, no doubt, saved her life. At the massaere the Indians had stolen one of Babb's fine race- horses, and upon him the widow was placed and led away to the Indian Territory. Twenty miles beyond Red River they stopped and arranged for this accomplished young woman to marry their chief two moons later. So they placed her in charge, to be kept during that period. Under this guard she was sepa- rated from the main eamp. One night when the moon was full- orbed to shine all night, and no clouds to obscure its brilliancy, she saw that Babb's fine race-horse had been staked out near her tent. When the old squaw was sound asleep, she slipped away to the horse, and, placing a rope around his nose for a bridle, sprang astride his back and galloped away unnoticed. After a twenty-mile ride she reached Red River and, to her dismay, observed that its waters were very high. By the light of the moon she could see the drift logs and trash floating down the stream, and with fear gazed upon the turbulent water. The horse pressed forward, impatient of being held in check, and desirous, it seemed, of crossing to the other side. She con- templated death as the most probable result if she undertook the task, but remembered that hesitation meant worse than death, for she would be compelled to marry that dusky demon The rein slackened and in plunged horse and rider. Time passed slowly to her as the waters rolled and tumbled about, and the fast drifting logs passed on either side, but the horse was one of great power and nerve, and finally reached the other bank in safety. Rising on the Texas side from what had seemed like a watery grave, they were safe from the hand of the cruel foe. Out they sped through the river bottom and up across the hills to a large prairie. Fatigued by the ride and exeite- ment of the journey, she stopped her noble horse and tied hin to a small tree, and lay down to take a much needed rest, just 12
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