Vol 05 No. 05 - February 1928

James Bowie, a Texas Hero

AMONG the early Texas heroes the name of James Bowie shines as a bright star, and his memory will abide with the people of this state as long as time shall last. James Bowie was a, native of Georgia, but in 1802 he removed with his family to Chattahoula Parish, Louisiana. Here Rezin P. Bowie manufactured the celebrated knife which bears his name, and presented one to his brother, James, to be used in hunting. The length of the original knife was nine and a quarter inches; its width was one and a half inches, with a single edge and a straight blade. James Bowie had a quarrel on hand, and had once been waylaid and shot. He was expecting another attack, and his brother gave him the knife to be used in case of necessity. Without any formal challenge, the two parties met on a sand bar in the Mississippi river, on the 10th of September, 1827…

Characters: James Bowie, John Bowie, Rezin P. Bowie, Norris Wright, Vice-Governor Verimendi, Austin, Fannin, Houston, Travis, Lieutenant Governor Robinson, Governor Smith, Santa Anna, David Buchanan, Mr. Hamm, Mathew Doyle, Thomas McCaslin, Robert Armstrong, James Corriell, Ben Milam

Locations: Galveston, Alexandria, Saltillo, San Antonio, San Saba, Nacogdoches, San Felipe, Tampico, Goliad, Matamoras, Rio Grande, Guadalupe River, Alamo, Bexar, San Pedro Springs, Pecan Bayou, Brownwood, North Concho, Llano River, Comanche Creek, Mason County, Rock Springs Ranch, Mason And Menard Road, Calf Creek, San Jacinto, McCulloch County, Lost Mine, Bowie Mine, Almagres Mine, Honey Creek

The Big Indian Council at Fort Chadbourne 

by E.L. Deaton

I will now come to the council. It would open in the morning. You could see them coming by the hundreds. They would fill the fort full, but none but the chiefs or great men were allowed to enter the council house. Propositions were made by our government to settle the Indians on the Brazos river near Fort Belknap, and after a parley of three or four weeks some of the tribes agreed to it, but the treaty did not last long, as the future will disclose. The Comanche chief, Yellow Wolf, never did agree to go on the reservation. I heard him make several speeches in favor of his people. He said it was impossible to make white men of Indians; said you had as well try to make a dog out of a wolf; and…

Characters: Cherokee Indians, Lipan Indians, Yellow Wolf, Stephens, Barnes,

Locations: Fort Chadbourne, Oak Creek, Brazos River, Fort Belknap, Red River, Grayson County, Austin, San Antonio, Rio Grande, Cooke County

TEXAS "LOST TRIBE."

Brief sketch of the sad demise and current (in 1927) conditions of the Alabama Indians, Texas' lost tribe. This peace loving tribe of Texas became isolated in their village in the Big Thicket, a woods 15 miles east of Livingston, Polk county. As of the writing of this volume, the tribe numbered only about 250, and had lived for almost a century in one village. They have little or no connection with the outside world, never have married outside the tribe, speak their own language, a tongue which but one white man has mastered, and never permit their women to speak to white men. Their history has a tinge of mystery and romance about it. Account tells of event where this strange tribe was reported brushing up on their ancient ceremonies for the installation of a successor to Chief John Scott, their last leader, who died in 1912.

Survivor of Sam Bass Gang Seeking To Return

By Frank Sweeney

SOMEWHERE out in rugged New Mexico lives a man who has been a fugitive from the state of Texas for almost a half century. For forty-nine years he has lived in the shadow of a murder indictment And now after all these years he wants to come back to Texas to stage a comeback.

He is Frank Jackson, sole surviving member of the Sam Bass gang. Jackson is living under an alias. The law does not know where he is, nor does the law know what name he is living under. The only man that actually knows of his whereabouts and under what name he is living is Eugene Manlove Rhodes, a Western novelist of national reputation who is sponsoring the move to bring Jackson out of hiding.

There is a man in Abilene, a friend of Jackson in the days of yore, who believes in him and who is ready and eager to "go to bat" for him to prove his innocence.

He is T. M. Willis, pioneer, and former city judge...

Characters: Frank Jackson, Sam Bass, Eugene Manlove Rhodes, T. W. Willis, Joe And Jim Murphy, Henry Underwood, Seibe Barnes, Arkansas Johnson, George Smith

Locations: Abilene, Denton, Wise County, Salt Fork, Hickory Creek, Pilot Knob, Round Rock

Raids by Indians Recalled

Account details an experience in Erath County in 1872, where white settlers gave the Indians a dose of their own medecine in an effort to bring their butchery and brutality to an end. Among them was a youth of 19, D. Cantrell who was working for the Flat Top Ranch owned by R. K. Wiley.

"They were in a terrible shape by the time I saw them. The Indians had made a practice of butchering their white victims and the whites gave them a dose of their own medicine. They were literally hacked to pieces. I saw one man cut the squaw's finger off to get a ring…"

Characters: D. Cantrell, R. K. Wiley

Locations: Erath County, Flat Top Ranch, Bluffdale

The Laughing Hero of Goliad

At the instant the sun rose in a sky of extraordinary brilliancy, and a million flower caps flung their rich odors abroad over the green prairie, as an offering to the lord of light, when the mandate of "halt," was given by one of Santa Anna's aides, and two columns of prisoners were broken up and scattered over the plain in small, hollow squares, encircled on every side by Mexican infantry and troops of horses, with loaded muskets and drawn swords. And then a momentary pause, awful in its stillness, and disturbed only by an occasional shriek of terror, and the most timid among the captives realized the impending storm of fire and extinction of life's last hope.

And then the infernal work of wholesale murder was begun, and a scene ensued such as scarcely might be matched in the very annals of hell itself. The roar of musketry burst in successful peals, like appalling claps of thunder, but could not utterly drown the prayers of the living, the screams of the wounded, and the more terrible groans of the dying!

Characters: Santa Anna, Col. O ‘ Neil, Col. Fannin,

Locations: Goliad

Wanted to Destroy Dodge City

By John M. Saathoff

I left Medina county February 28, 1883, with a herd of 600 horses belonging to Ed Kaufman. Our crew consisted of seven men, Mr. Kaufman, boss, Oscar de Montel, myself and four colored men. We had trouble from start to finish, and plenty of it…

While I was at Dodge City two cowboys from our outfit shot up the town. The police were afraid to arrest them, but as the boys rode out of town a deputy marshall shot and killed one of them. He fell dead on the bridge. The other cowboy returned to our camp and reported the death of his comrade, and the cowboys decided they would go back and burn up Dodge City. About 75 men got ready to carry this out…

Characters: John M. Saathoff, Ed Kaufman, Oscar De Montel, Captain John T. Lytle, Joe Bucks

Locations: Medina County, Bandera County, Brady, Coleman City, Griffin, Pease River, Red River, Doan’s Store, Dodge City, Washita River, Beaver River

Uncle Curd Cox

By N. G. Ozment

IN THE FALL of 1855, a Tennessee youth bade his loved ones goodbye and turned his face toward the great Southwest. This youth was Curd Cox, son of Henry and Elizabeth Cox of Knox County, Tennessee. As the young man mounted the wagon and drove away he did not know that there awaited him in the far-away adventures through which not one in a thousand safely pass.

After a long and perilous journey, young Cox landed in what is now the lower edge of Llano County, in the Crownover neighborhood. He arrived three days before Christmas, 1855. This was the year before this county was created, and settlements were few and separated by miles of hills and vales. At that time there was a settlement some twenty miles northeast of the Crownover settlement, then known as the Fowler settlement. This neighborhood was in the lower part of Burnet County. It was one of the oldest settlements in this section of the State, as these-settlers, Josiah and Levi Fowler and Dr. P. M. Yett, came from Tenessee and settled there in 1846. Six years later Burnet County was created. Shortly after the coming of the above settlers, Wiley Fowler, a cousin of Josiah and Levi, cast his lot with them. This is the Cox family story and EXCELLENT EARLY BURNET COUNTY HISTORY.

Characters: Curd Cox, Henry Cox, Elizabeth Cox, Josiah Fowler, Levi Fowler, Dr. P. M. Yett, Wiley Fowler, George Hardin, Cynthia Hardin, Captain Hardeman, John Crownover, Joe Smith, Mr. Cassiner, Col. Allen, Wash Jones, Leon Garza, Eli Shelly, Robert Barden, Lawrence Chapman, Tom Shelley, William Deniston

Locations: Knox County, Llano County, Crownover, Burnet County, Concho River, Twin Mountains, Pecos River, Horsehead Crossing, San Saba River, Kickapoo Springs, Harrisburg, Milligen’s Bend, Mansfield, Pleasant Hill, Bandera Pass, San Antonio

Early Days On Texas Cattle Trails

By Cora Melton Cross. 

TEXAS was in her swaddling clothes and the "49" gold rush to California was at its height when Jonathan M. Doak joined the caravan marching "Westward Ho!" It was a far cry, and a farther distance, reckoned by the mode of travel those days, from Madison, Miss., to the broad stretches of Texas prairie. But the call of the great outdoors had come and the lure of horn and hoof with the open range, was paramount; for it was raising. cattle, not panning pay dirt, that Jonathan Doak purposed and Texas, not California, was the objective point. Weeks of travel in a prairie schooner with household goods and family alike bundled in for the journey, finally ended for the time being in Gonzales County, where two years later we find that same Jonathan Doak recording the D. O. K brand marking his Texas longhorns on the range.

Six years later trekking again fevered his blood, nor did it cool until with family and live stock he landed in Atascosa County and established ranch headquarters, And it was there, surrounded by an atmosphere of danger adventure, hardship, the lure of yellow gold and a constantly increasing murmuring of a Northern market for Texas cattle, that John Doak Jr. was born. He is the subject of this story.

Characters: Jonathan M. Doak, Jim Lowe, John Smith, Jim Currie, Red Jim Harrison, John Dawson, Dick Marshall, Watson Peacock, Jim Mansfield, Burl Musgraves, L. A. Franks, Bob Turner, Babe Willis, R. E. Chapman, John F. Camp, John Abney, W. W. Simonds, Dan Franks, Roger Gillis

Locations: Gonzales County, Atascosa County, Frio River, Dog Town, Tilden, Ouichita River, Pleasanton, Fort Sill, Dodge City, Great Bend, Cotulla, Cibolo Creek, Boneyard Ranch, Pecos County, Dryden, Terrell County, Del Rio, Lampasas, Devils River

My First Buffalo Hunt

By M. L. Johnson

I arrived at the John Hittson ranch on the head of Battle Creek, in Callahan county, early in September, 1867, without losing my scalp, although I was chased by a small band of Kiowa Indians through Iron Ore Gap, a few miles west of the town of Palo Pinto in Palo Pinto county on my way out to the ranch from Ft. Worth.

Hittson and his men were out on "a roundup" when I arrived, but W. D. Clark and his son John, were at the ranch, or rather branding pens. on my arrival, and I began to feel a trifle better after my lonely ride of 175 miles.

Buffalo were almost as plentiful as cattle at that time, all over that country, so I and John Clark decided to make a round up of buffalo the next day. It would astonish people of this-day and time to see the kind of firearms we intended to use in that buffalo hunt. Mine was an old fashioned cap and ball Colts six shooter, an old pistol that had been used during the Civil War that had just closed-I don't know how many men it had already killed…

Characters: W. D. Clark, John Clark, M. L. Johnson, Jane Lacava

Locations: John Hittson Ranch, Battle Creek, Callahan County, Iron Ore Gap, Palo Pinto County, Fort Worth

Pioneer School Teacher Amassed A Fortune

By E. Garrett

"THAT romance often walks disguised is well proven in the recent discoveries concerning the life of an Austin woman, who, a year and a half after her death startled the routine world with secrets that -have lain buried in private documents among her possessions. It is not the romance of a great love or of perilous adventure, but that which exhilarates the spirits of all who conquest for the world's goods; it is the romance of a fortune which was secretly amassed-a fortune which rested in the city of Austin for years and was known only to a very few.

The after-climax to the life of this woman, Mrs. Elizabeth Williams, who died less than two years ago, is potently expressed in the fact that $2,800 were found carelessly scattered among the papers in her living room; checks for hundreds of dollars lay in the pigeonholes of her desk; currency, gold and silver mingled with causal letters and memoranda. And among these notes was a pass book showing a balance of …" This is her amazing story.

Characters: Mrs. Elizabeth Williams, Hezekiah G. Williams, John Hancack, W. L. Robards, Jos. Bledsoe, F. R. Peck, C. H. West, R. M. Elgin, John Ireland, Ed Burleson, Jasper Wooldridge, J. A. Houghton, John E. Shelton, W. A. Johnson, Annie Lockett, Mrs. Shelton, John Johnson

Locations: Austin, Johnson Institute, Galveston, Georgetown, San Antonio

UNEASY STRUTS THE GHOST.

Account of the controversy that has raged with varying intensity as to whether John Wilkes Booth actually was killed and if not, who was the victim of Sergeant Corbett's pistol? If Booth escaped as has been alleged, and died a suicide in Oklahoma under the name of David E. George, who, then was the man who paid with his life for Booth's tremendous folly?

A Real Cowboy’s Experience

By M. L. Johnson

The Indians had been so troublesome in West Texas that John Hittson, and his son, Jesse, concluded to move their entire stock of cattle and horses up to Deer Trail, Colorado. At that time their cattle were scattered over six or eight counties; Coleman, Callahan and Runnels counties being the hot-bed for depredations and their home ranches were located in these counties.

About July 1st, 1872, we were ordered to roundup everything we could find in Runnels county. We started out from the main ranch on Battle Creek, Callahan county, and moved southward rounding up cattle as we went, standing guard at night to hold the cattle and horses. On the 10th of July we had rounded up about 700 head of cattle and drove them into the pens at old Picketville on the Colorado River, near where Ballinger now stands. This was the only pens in that county at this time, and we enjoyed an all-night's sleep for the first time since leaving Battle Creek-never dreaming of what was going on around us that night…

Characters: John Hittson, Jesse Hittson, Jim Wilson, Ben Wilson, Bill Cockrell, Joe Smith, Ed Emerson, Frank Emerson, Charley Esslinger

Locations: Coleman County, Callahan County, Runnels County, Battle Creek, Picketville, Colorado River, Ballinger, Hardwick, El Paso, Austin

Uncle Ben Dragoo Has Colorful History

THE SUBJECT of this sketch is Benjamin Crawford Dragoo who was born in Washington County, Illinois, December 9, 1835. He came with his parents to Texas when he was three years old. His father first settled on Blossom Prairie in Red River county and a year later moved to what is now Titus County, four miles from where Mount Pleasant now stands. Shortly after locating at this place, the Indians became so troublesome that the father moved his family to Fort Sherman where the people had erected a block house and palisades for protection.

Mr. Dragoo says that when a small boy, he often played with Cynthia Ann Parker and lived only eight miles away when the Indians attacked the Fort, murdering the Parker family and carrying Cynthia Ann into captivity.

Relating some of the experiences which he underwent as a Ranger, Mr Dragoo says…

Characters: Benjamin Crawford, Cynthia Ann Parker, John R. Baylor, Captain Sul Ross, F. M. Cassidy, Mrs. Dan Gephardt,

Locations: Dragoo, Washington County, Blossom Prairie, Red River County, Titus County, Mount Pleasant, Fort Sherman, Cottonwood Creek, Belknap, Waco, Fort Griffin, Llano, Parker County, Pease River, Kimble County, Little Saline, Christoval, Yates,

Mentions: Lieutenant Callahan, the gallant ranger for whom Callahan County was named  Mr. Ransom Hoover and wife were attacked  His home was situated on Cowhouse creek  the Carter boys  Partridge creek  In the summer of 1865 the Indians made a raid down through Comanche and into Hamilton county, and gathered up a large bunch of horses They passed out some two and a half miles west of Hamilton county, and upon Bear creek they came upon two white men…  a Mr. Green  Cox and Hollis, and lived on Duffau creek, in Erath county  In the fall of 1863, Henry Fuller, Patillo Fuller, Henry Brewer, Dock Lovel and Cal Deaton went to Indian creek, eight miles from their home, on a hog hunt. A young man by the name of Ship Tabor was to meet them that night at camp. He started early in the evening, and about an hour by the sun was in the neighborhood of where he expected to find them. He saw smoke issuing from a ravine near a liveoak tree, where he supposed the hog hunters were located. He rode on, not thinking of danger. When within a few yards of the ravine…  George Ferguson's home on Honey creek  Widow Reed's home  Lem Reed  Tabor  Uncle Henry Fuller  where the town of Carlton now stands  Callahan, county  Lem Reed  The Baird Star  the "Judy" ranch  Brown county'  George Gentry  Fuqua  Jonathan Keith  Dublin  Rich Coffey  Mullens, Riley Cross, Sam Gholson  Kin Elkins, John Elkins, Moseley  Connells, Baughs, Roberts  a ranch on Resley's creek  Capt. John Raborn O'Neal  Jack Wright  Stockley  Capt. W. J. Maltby, Capt. Mr. O'Neal  Jim Milligan  Sergeant Sackett  Arrington, Lieut Foster  Lee Hall, M. Murray

Locations: Hamilton County, Comanche County, Warren’s Creek, Cow House Creek, Partridge Creek, Bear Creek, Duffau Creek, Erath County, South Lampasas, Indian Creek, Honey Creek, Carlton, Dublin, Stockley Ranch, Resley’s Creek

Some Old Fort Griffin History

Characters: Mrs. Henry Herron, Lieut. Col. Samuel D. Sturgis, Maj. Adna R. Chaffee, El Caney, Col. Samuel P. Heintzelman, Gen. Buell, Gen. Albert Sidney Johnson, Capt. Theodore Schwan

Locations: Fort Griffin, Clear Fork Of The Brazos, Shackelford County, Albany, Camp Wilson, Maxwell’s Ranch, Camp Cooper, Fort Belknap, Shiloh, Foil Creek, Throckmorton

Welcome Chandler’s Lost Heir
By W. C. Stewart

Reading like a page from a novel of a generation ago is the effort being made by a friend to have the "lost" heir to the Welcome Chandler estate present, a claim for money paid to the old pioneer for Indian depredations in the early days here.

Chandler, who died in 1870 was paid a generous sum of money by the United States, government for, horses lost in Indian raids. When he died Mrs. Charles Hardy, a daughter, was made administrator of his estate.

Death carried away the other heirs to the estate and left John G. Cross of Kansas City, Churchill L. Scott, Brownwood barber, a distant relative and friends of Cross have for some time tried to encourage Cross to claim the money due him. For some reason Cross has never done this, it is said…

Characters: Welcome Williams Chandler, Mrs. Charles Hardy, John G. Cross, Churchill L. Scott, Sam Houston Chandler, Sarah Brown, Billy Brown, H. G. Lucas

Locations: Brownwood, Kansas City, Clear Creek, Pecan Bayou, Williamson County

Hunting the Buffalo

By William A. Simonds

'At first sight of him, every feeling of sympathy vanishes,' declared that writer. 'No man who has not experienced it can understand with what keen relish one inflicts the death wound and with what profound contentment of mind he beholds its fall. ‘The cows’ he added, 'are much smaller and of a gentler appearance as becomes their sex. Against the bulls we waged unrelenting war. Thousands of them might be slaughtered without causing any detriment to the species.'

Characters: Francis Parkman, Henry Chatillon, R. Sorel

Locations: Platte River, Fort Laramie, St. Louis, South Fork, Denver, Salt Lake, Black Hills

Some names mentioned in this volume:

Col Allen; Robert Armstrong; Capt Arrington; Robert Barden; Seibe Barnes; Finis L. Bates; Joe Bledsoe; Col Bonnell; John Wilks Booth; James Bowie; ; John Bowie; Rezin P. Bowie; ; Henry Brewer; Billy Brown; Miss Sarah Brown; David Buchanan; Joe Bucks; Gen Buell; Ed Bureleson; Chief Butcher; Lt Callahan; John F. Camp; El Caney; D. Cantrell; Lem Carlton; F. M. Cassidy; Thessalian Centaur; Maj Adna R. Chaffee; Mrs Frances Chamberlain; James Aaron Chamberlain; Houston Chandler; Sam Chandler; Tabitha Elizabeth Hughes Chandler; Welcome Chandler; Welcome Williams Chandler; Lawrence Chapman; R. E. Chapman; Henry Chatillon; John Clark; W. D. Clark; Nixon Clay; Bill Cockrell; Coffey; Mrs Ellen Brackett Cooley; Mrs Emily King; Sgt; Boston Corbett; James Corriell; Corriell; Curd Cox; Elizabeth Cox; Henry Cox; Cross Cox; John G. Cox; Louis Cox; Riley Cox; John Crownover; Jim Currie; Capt Dalrymple; Davis; John Dawson; Cal Deaton; E. L. Deaton; William Deniston; S. W. Denson; John Jr Doak; Jonathan M. Doak; Cov Dobie; Matthew Doyle; Ben Dragoo; Benjamin Crawford Dragoo; Jim Dragoo; R. M. Elgin; John Elkins; Kin Elkins; Ed Emerson; Frank Emerson; Charley Esllinger; George Ferguson; Lt Foster; Josiah Fowler; Levi Fowler; Wiley Fowler; Dan Franks; L. A. Franks; Henry Fuller; Patillo Fuller; George Fuqua; E. Garrett; Leon Garza; George Gentry; David E. George; Mrs Dan Gephardt; S. S. Gholson; Sam Gholson; Col W. E. Gilliland; Roger Gillis; Robert Ginsburg; Miss Hybernia Grace; Gen Charles Griffin; Capt Lee Hall; John Hancack; Capt Hardeman; Cynthia Harden; George Harden; Rob Harden; Mrs Charles Hardy; Jim Harrison; Jim (Red Jim) Harrison; Col Samuel P. Heintzelman; Henry Herron; Mrs Henry Herron; Jesse Hittson; John Hittson; J. A. Houghton; William Hugh; John R. Hutte; John Ireland; Andrew Jackson; Bill Jackson; F. Jackson; ; Gen Albert Sidney Johnson; "Arkansas" Johnson; Gen John Johnson; M. L. Johnson; W. A. Johnson; Rev Jolly; "Wash" Jones; Ed Kaufman; Jonathan Keith; Mrs O. B. King; Sarah Smith Miss King; Jane Lacava; W. J. Layland; Jennie Miss Layton; Lehmann; Pres Lincoln; Mrs Annie Lockett; Dock Lovel; Jim Lowe; H. G. Lucas; Capt John T. Lytle; Leo E. Mahoney; Capt W. J. Maltby; B. E. Mann; Jim Mansfield; Marcy; Dick Marshall; G. W. Matteson; Thomas McCaslin; W. McKandles; Milam; Jim Milligan; Oscar de Montel; Joe Murphy; M. Murray; Burl Musgraves; Fren L. Napier; Col Neil; Mrs J. M. Olivarri; John Raborn O'Neal; Col O'Neil; N. G. Ozment; Francis Parkman; Watson Peacock; F. R. Peck; Mrs Lucille Redmond; Lem Reed; Eugene Manlove Rhodes; R. N. Richardson; C. C. Rister; W. L. Robards; Emmett Roberts; Lt-Gov Robinson; John M. Saathoff; Sgt Sackett; Capt Theodore Schwan; Churchill Scott; Churchill L. Scott; John Chief Scott; Cov Shaw; Eli Shelly; Tom Shelly; John E. Shelton; R. E. Sherrill; W. W. Simonds; William A. Simonds; George Clinton L. Smith; Gov. Smith; Jim Smith; Joe Smith; John Smith; John (Little John) Smith; Thad W. Smith; R. Sorel; Dr Charles Allen Steward; W. C. Stewart; Col Samuel D Sturgis; Frank Sweeney; Ship Tabor; Chief Tresmanos; Tresmanos; Bob Turner; C. H. West; R. K. Wiley; Mrs Elizabeth Williams; Hezekiah G. Williams; Babe Willis; T. M. Willis; Ben Wilson; James Andrew Wilson; Jim Wilson; Jasper Wooldridge; Jack Wright; Norris Wright; Chief Xolic; Chief Yellow Wolf; Dr P. M. Yett; Yelvington