Vol 08 No. 12 - September 1931

On the cover – Kit Carson

Kit Carson, The Mighty Hunter And Trapper

J. Marvin Hunter. An excerpt: Christopher Carson, otherwise known as "Kit" Carson, was born in Kentucky, on December 24, 1809. His parents moved to Missouri when he was a year old, and when he reached the age of sixteen years, his father, a good man, being determined that his son Kit should not lead a roving life, such as he himself had led, he apprenticed the growing

Christopher to a harness-maker. But the master could make no harness strong enough to hitch spirit of Kit Carson to a trade. The restless love of freedom and appetite for adventure which belonged to the father, were intensified in the son, and in 1826 he broke away from the restraint by joining a party whose journey took them eight hundred miles across the plains to Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Though young, and destitute of the neccessary equipment, not even owning a gun, nor being able, by the utmost exertions as teamster and guide, to do more than earn the food he ate, his purpose was made up to be a hunter and trapper. In April', 1829, he was selected as a member of a party of forty men, under the leadership of Ewing Young, organized at Taos, New Mexico, for the double purpose of chastising a tribe of Indians, who had been on the war-path and driven a party of Young trappers out of the country, and also for pursuing the lucrative occupation of trapping beaver. The real purpose of the

expedition was carefully concealed from the Mexican authorities, and after a brisk and secret advance, they came suddenly upon, the band of Navajo braves which had massacred their friends. A sudden onslaught was made and fifteen Indians fell from their horses; the remainder fled in all directions.

When the party reached the Sacramento river they found abundant signs of beover, and selected a location for camp. This region proved a splendid field for operations and great was their success.

One night, when unsuspicious of danger, the camp lost sixty of their horses, which were driven off by a party of redskins. Carson was ordered to pick a dozen companions and with the remaining thirteen horses give chase. After a break-neck ride of a hundred miles toward the mountains they came upon the savages, who were sitting around their camp-fires feasting upon six of the horses, which they had killed for that purpose. The trappers charged the camp with a yell, killing eight savages, while the rest escaped. When Carson returned with all the horses except the six which had been killed, he was voted hero. Yet he was only twenty years old, and this was his first expedition. Here it was, too, that he laid the foundation of his fame as a hunter, in which regard he afterward acquired a reputation unequaled by any man in the Rocky Mountains.

Further Mentions: Snake River * Shoshone Falls * Arrapahoes * Cheyennes * Comanches * Lieut. John C. Fremont * General Kearney * that interpid pioneer, Colonal Bent, the founder of Bent's Fort * Charles Scheurich *

More About Bill Longley

T. U. Taylor. Bill Longley was one of the most accomplished gunslingers in the West. He was bold and ruthless in his dealings. T. U. Taylor recollects, in this account certain incidents in the life of Longley that occurred around a small community known as "Evergreen", (from the presence of an old, massive tree – photo included) on a branch of the Yegua Creek, Lee county before it was cut off from Burleson. He mentions: The day that Bill Longley shot up the circus * The day that Bill used two sixshooters and emptied twelve bullets inside a circle six inches in diameter across the road * The day when Bill Longley made his first killing of an impudent negro * The day that Bill Longley galloped down the Camino Real and put five bullets in one tree. * Eye- witness account of the hanging of Longley * Old photo and testimony of that day, by Mr. Hamilton Poe, one of the 50 guards that escorted Longley to the gallows. The story also includes two excellent letters written by Longley himself from prison, detailing the "religion" he now espoused.

An excerpt: But, at last, I am trying to concentrate my thoughts upon. the great mystery of my unknown future. But Oh'! what strange thoughts pass through my mind ! I sometimes ask myself these questions : Is this world or this life only a dream? Is there nothing beyond the grave? Will, all, then, be a universal blank, without a single prize? Oh! certainly not! Most undoubtedly there is a future. But, is it a future of happiness? Or, will it be an eternal punishment? No ministers ever came near me, and I have never read the Bible a great deal, for I have spent my life, from a fifteen-year-old boy, in the wildest parts of the country, and in company with the most * * * * men, on earth. But with all, there has always been a spark of Christianity in my heart, and it has kept me from committing many evil deeds which I would have committed had I been void of that feeling. I have done enough, however, to ruin me; at least in this world, but I hope not in the world to come. Now, Captain, I believe I could die a Christian if people would quit tantalizing me. It does seem that everybody glories in making me feel as miserable as possible, especially the newspapers of the country. I don't think I deserve to be abused as much, for I have never killed a man for money. It is true I have killed several men, but I always thought at the time that I had a good cause for doing so.

WILLIAM PRESTON LONGLEY.

LONGLEY'S OWN ACCOUNT OF HIS TRIAL

Here we read his descriptions of the scenes in the court and his conclusions as to the results of his trial. It is a lengthy letter offering much detail and insight into his "personality"

Further Mentions: the murder of a man named Anderson * S. R. Kenada, of Burton, Texas * Sheppard * Jim Brown *

Inspector Owen F. Lindsey

Octavia F. Rogan. Includes photo of Mr. and 'Mrs. Owen F. Lindsey Owen F. Lindsey was early reared on a ranch at DoubleMountain-Fork of the Brazos River near Roby. Young Lindsey was brought up on the San Saba home place of 25,000 acres of open range amid the bellowing of cattle, the roping of ponies, and the jingling of spurs. In his leisure time he chased jack rabbits in and out of the corrals, shot prairie dogs, and listened to the stories of the men who had been up the trail. He learned to ride a horse when four years old, and for the next quarter of a century the horse was his constant companion. He speaks of many interesting events of frontier life in the region. Owen F. Lindsey was born February 16, 1879, on a ranch in San Saba county near Regency in the well known Hanna Valley near Goldthwaite and Brownwood, and twenty-one miles north of San Saba. His father, James Hiram Lindsey, came to Texas from Mississippi with his father, leaving the home place, according to the log now in possession of Owen F. Lindsey, on November 3, 1859, and reaching San Saba county on Christmas Day. The grandfather was killed in an Indian fight a number of years later in Texas. Immigration Inspector Lindsey's mother, Catharine Hanna Lindsey, the daughter of a Methodist circuit rider, died when the son was a baby. The son inherited Grandfather Hanna's religion.

Further Mentions: Dr. W. W. Edwards of San Saba * Miss Nina Edwards, daughter of the late. Mrs. Lindsey * the old R. D. Winn ranch on the head draws of the West Nueces and Dry Devil's River, eighteen miles west of Rocksprings. * the Snap Bean ranch, bordered on the west by the J. D. Pepper ranch, on the south by the Bacon ranch, and on the north by, the J. M. Benskin ranch. One section of the Snap Bean. ranch is the geographical center of Edwards county and contains on a rolling divide the highest point in the country* Major Hinds * E. W. Smith * school at Richland Springs * Anson, Texas, in Jones county * Spur Treadwell * P. Charley * Mr. James B. Bryan *

McCoys Hold Family Reunion

Roy Vickers, Menard, Texas. Mentions reunion gathered to honor the memory of Captain Hugh McCoy and his descendants. Captain Hugh McCoy was born in Mississippi in the year 1831, came to Texas and settled in Burnet county in 1852 at a time when the Indians were freely roaming the hills of that section seeking to kill and to scalp every white man they could find. Captain McCoy with his comrades fought the fight that helped to bring Texas to a state of civilization where peace of home and happiness of individuals might be enjoyed. He reared a large family of children whose names and ages are given in this story.

Some of the names mentioned are: W. R. McCoy, age 81, Burnet county * Mrs. S. J. Riggs, age 78, Burnet * A. L. McCoy, age 75, San Saba. T. W. McCoy, age 73, Menard. A. F. McCoy, age 71, Brady * J. R. McCoy, age 68, Chinook, * W. H. McCoy, age 66, Burnet. D. J. McCoy, age 63 * M. J. McCoy, age 60, Rule, Haskell * Mrs. L. L. Stewart, age 58, Richland * Anderson Riggs, age 92, Lake Victor * Mrs. Sarah Jinkins, age 90, Burnet county * G. C. Briggs, age 89, Burnet county * F. M. Farquhar, age 82, Burnet county * Mrs. J. W. Roundtree, age 75, Burnet county * R. M. Farquhar, age 65, Burnet county *

EX-RANGERS CHOOSE OFFICERS

Mentions: Christoval * President A. B. Coffee, Austin; captain, George Black, Comanche; first lieutenant, John T. Pope, Austin ; second lieutenant, C. M. Grady, Brownwood ; secretary for life, Ruby Green Smith, Odessa ; color bearer, A. L. McCoy, San Saba; captain for life, L. T. Arnold, Rising Star *

Who Killed This Man?

Max Coleman, Lubbock, Texas. Account of panhandle range wars and the strange murder of a Mr. Jarrott from Stephensville, Texas. Jarrott had filed on land in the range of what was then the NUN Ranch. At the time of filing, which was done at Lubbock, he had trouble with a party known as Painthorse Hamilton. This was in regard to some land to which Painthorse said he was entitled. Painthorse made several threats, but there was no actual conflict between the two men. Yet, Mr. Jarrott was found murdered at a place known as the Twin Sisters, where there were two windmills, fifteen miles southwest of Lubbock. He had been shot to death, and the wolves had severely gnawed and mangled his body. Hanging in one of the windmill towers was the harness. His wagon stood near by, and the horses were hobbled, grazing on the prairie. This was the first murder in this entire section of the country. This is the account.

Further Mentions: the then unorganized county of Hockley, with probably not more than half a dozen houses within it * a party named John Doyle * J. D. Caldwell, veteran store keeper of Lubbock * Barrett Penny, then sheriff of Lubbock county * a party named Glazier * M. G. Abernathy of Lubbock * the noted Swastiska Ranch * the Jarrott Realty Company of Lubbock * an outlaw and professional killer by the name of Jim Miller * Gib Abernathy *

TRACE FOUNDATION OF SALT LAKE CITY TO OLD NEWSPAPER

The only known copies of the first newspaper to be printed in Jackson county, the Evening and Morning Star, a Mormon publication printed in Independence, have been discovered in a New York book shop, says an article in a recent issue of the Kansas City Star. They were offered for sale for $1,000. This now virtually unknown Mormon paper exerted a tremendous influence on the history of the county. This is the account.

Veteran Who Knew Jim Bridger At Fort Kearny

A. B. Ostrander. Mr Ostrander describes his growing relationship with the great trapper, frontiersman and mountain man, and personal reflections as to his character.

The Mescalero Apaches

By Colonel M. L. Crimmins. Among all the Indians of the frontier, the Mescalero Apaches were arguably the most fierce and caused the most trouble for the pioneer settlement of the West. It was largely due to the activity of Colonel Benjamin H. Grierson that Victorio and his band were killed, and temporary peace brought southwestern Texas and southern New Mexico. This band was responsible for two-thirds of the Indian depredations in southwestern Texas and southern New Mexico during which 400 lives were lost.

This is a lengthy, detailed and authoritative account of this fierce tribe and the events that led up to their final days.

Further Mentions: Bosque Redondo agency near Fort Sumner, N. M. on the Pecos River in what is now Guadalupe county * Captain Chambers McKibben 15th U. S. Infantry * La Paz, a Mescalero sub-chief * General John Pope's * to W. D. Crothers the agent of the Mescaleros * Captain E. G. Fechet * Fort Stanton * the Oscura Mountains, New Mexico * Victorio's Warm Spring Apaches on the Ojo Caliente Reservation * San Marcial and Fort Craig * Agent John P. Clum of the San Carlos Agency. Geronimo, a Chiricahua chief * Ojo Caliente * Hot Springs, Palomas, Fort Bayard and Silver City * Lake Quemado * Lieutenant John L. Bullis * Captain S. B. M. Young, * S. A. Russell * Fort Stanton * Captain P. L. Lee * Fort Quitman * Victorio * the railroad stations at El Moro, La Junta and Las Animas * Pinto Creek near Fort Clark, Texas * Lieutenant Win. H. Beek of the 10th Cavalry * Lieutenant Bullis * Captain A. B. Wells of the 8th Cavalry * Lieutenant Andrew Geddes, 25th U. S. Infantry * the Pecos to Howard's Creek the scene of a fierce fight of the Detachment A. C. F. G. and H. of the 8th Infantry * Las Moras Creek near Fort Clark * Richland Creek * Fort Stanton Reservation * F. C. Godfrey * Lieutenant John McMartin, 25 U. S. Infantry * S. A. Russell * Forts Concho, (now at San Angelo,) Davis, Stockton, and Griffin, under the command of Colonel Benjamin H. Grierson, 10th U. S. Cavalry * Subposts were established at New Spring, at Pina Blanca, Seven Springs, Five Springs, and Eagle Springs, sub-posts at Forts Stockton, Davis and Concho. These sub-posts were garrisoned by the 24th and 25th Infantry, and the 10th Cavalry all colored soldiers * Colonel Grierson, 10th Cavalry * the White Sand Hills * Pecos Falls * the Black River * Captain Thomas C. Lebo * Penasco * Shake Hand Springs, about forty miles south of the Penasco * Clouderoft, New Mexico * the Big Bend, near Presidio del Norte * Coyetan Garcia * Silver Springs two miles northeast of Elk Springs, twenty-five, miles east of Cloudcroft * General Grierson * General Hatch * Nautilla, a friend of the agent Russell * Caballero * Captain Charles Steelhammer * 2nd Lieut. Charles B. Gatewood, 6th Cavalry * Chenati Mountains * Fort Davis * Faver's ranch, Mayers Springs and Camp Shafter * Colonel W. R. Shafter, 1st Infantry * General Edward O. C. Ord * General Trevino * Carrizal * Eagle Springs, Texas * Lieutenant S. C. Mills * Viego Pass * Ojo del Pino * Colonel Valle * Captain Chas. D. Viele * Lieutenant Finley * Captain Nicholas Nolan * Lieutenant S. R. Calliday of the 10th Cavalry * Van Horn * Sierra Diablo Mountains, between Sierra Blanca and the new El Paso-Carlsbad road * Bass canyon * the Van Horn Mountains * Lieutenant Chas. G. Ayres and C. and E. Company of the 10th Cavalry * Crevensteins wagon-train guarded by Captain John C. Gilmores Company "H" of the 24th Infantry * Captain Lewis H. Carpenter * Captain Wm. B. Kennedy of the 10th Cavalry * Bowen's Springs, two miles southwest of Guadalupe Peak * Sulphur Spring, 24 miles west of Guadalupe Peak * Thos. C. Lebo * John Moleswort * Brevet Major General James J. Byrne, U. S. Volunteers * Charles Berger * Lake Guzman 65 miles southwest of Juarez * the Candeleria Mountains * Colonel Joaquin Terrazas * Captain Leopoldo Parker, 4th U. S. Cavalry * Lieutenant J. A. Maney of the 15th Infantry * Colonel George W. Baylor * the famous Captain James Gillett * Tres Castillos Mountains, 40 miles below El Paso * Mauricio * Colonel George P. Buell 15th Infantry * General Thomas F. Davis, Harts Mill * Col. Charles W. Taylor * George Grigs * J. J. Longwell * C. C. Rister

Bryant Station

By Mrs. Jeff T. Kemp, Cameron, Texas. Includes photo of old Bryant home and phot of Mrs. Vera Ashcraft Pate, grandmother of Major Benjamin F. Bryant.

SELLER’S NOTE: THIS IS A LENGTHY ACCOUNT, FULL OF RARE AND DETAILED VERY EARLY MILAM COUNTY HISTORY AND GENEALOGY.

A beautiful prairie bluff, fronting on the north bank of Little River, near the west line of Milam county, was chosen by Benjamin F. Bryant, Texas pioneer, as the site for the Indian station which he established at the behest of Sam Houston, President of the Republic of Texas. The place in early records is referred to as Bryant's Ferry or Bryant's Fort for evident reasons. When this trading post was established, the Indian and the buffalo were seen daily in the vicinity. Howling wolves, wild cats, and 'More dangerous

animals were often encountered. Coon-skin, caps and rawhide moccasins were common articles of clothing, and branding irons, lariats, and mustangs were words often heard. Rawhide-bottomed chairs, corded bedsteads, and spinning wheels were familiar articles of furniture around the large cabin fireplaces, where skillets, pots, and kettles were used for cooking. Indian tribes were troublesome, threatening, beggarly, and insolent, and were restrained by presents, forbearance, and policy. The government had not force enough to awe them. General Houston had to use all of his ingenuity to avert catastrophe. Strong men were needed as Indian agents, and Benjamin F. Bryant possessed the qualification's necessary. His leadership in the San Jacinto campaign, and his dominant personality were well known to the president of the Texas Republic. In writing he commissioned Bryant to establish a trading post and station to keep back from the Capital at Washington on the Brazos the tribes that frequented this section. Upon receipt of this commission from Houston, this hardy pioneer struck out into the wilderness to attend to his assigned duties with the Indian wards of the Texas Republic and to chose for himself and family a new home. Bryant's Station in the early forties became a village of consequence This is the story of that historical event and the fort which bore his name.

"Mr. and Mrs. Bryant were typical Texas pioneers. They represented the everyday citizen and soldier who gave historic and glorious color to those primitive days when Texas was in the making. It is this average citizen of a country that adds stability to a government. It is always and everywhere the everyday man on whom the country can rely to fight her battles in times of war and pay her taxes in times of peace. Mr. Bryant wore neither the titles nor the tinsels of a king, but on his brow glistened the beads of honest toil, nobler jewels than a monarch ever wore. In his veins flowed not the blue blood of royalty, but his every heartbeat answered to the rich, red blood of the pioneer spirit that prompted him to plant here the seed of Saxon civilization, which has ripened into the glorious land we call the Commonwealth of Texas. Mr. Bryant must have been that typical pioneer Texan that prompted Van Dyke, in his ode to Texas, to say

"There came to Texas Men of mark from old Missouri, Men of daring from South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia; Men of many States and races, Bringing wives and children with them, Followed up the wooded valleys, Spread across the rolling prairies, Building homes and reaping harvests. Rude the toil that tried their patience, Fierce the fights that proved their courage, Rough the stone and tough the timber, Out of which they built their order Yet they never failed nor faltered, And the instinct of their swarming Made them one and kept them working, Till their toil was crowned with triumph, And the country of the Tejas was the fertile land of Texas."

Further Mentions: George B. Erath, Henry Katterhorn and Guy Stokes, chain carriers * Sterling C. Robertson's Colony * A daughter, Mrs. Amanda Fetterly, who lived in Bartlett * the Marlin and Morgan families who lived near the present town of Marlin * The noted chief, Jose Maria * a signal defeat near Little River, known as `Bird's Victory.' * Mrs. C. H. Slone, a great granddaughter of Colonel Bryant, whose address is Rule, Texas * John Connore * A. W. Moore * Some of those who had homes in Bryant Station were the families of Bryant, Hale, Sypert, Reid, Blankenship, Murray, Cook, Clark, Rice * James Anderson postmaster * Jordan .P. Arnold postmaster * William C. Sypert * John McCoy postmaster * James Sharp * Henry B. Cook * William K. Bond * name of office changed to Blackland * Charles N. Roberts * In March, 1862, Captain G. R. Freeman's Confederate Company was organized at Bryant Station with the following officers: Captain, G. R. Freeman ; 1st Lieutenant, Lon, Walker; 2nd Lieut., Piper White; 3rd Lieut. John. Harris; Sergeant, Willis Mangum and Corporal, Tom Carpenter * At Hempstead this company was mustered into Confederate service as, Company D., Colonel D. C. Gidding's Regiment * General H. P. Hale had a large store at Bryant Station after the Civil War * A young school teacher, Emerson M. Scarbrough * Mr. Scarbrough was the senior member of the E. M. Scarbrough & Sons, one of the largest department stores in Texas * Buckholts * Mrs. Vera Ashcraft Pate * the Lake Grove Indian Mission * Mrs. Vera Asheraft Pate * Governor Pat Neff * Roxana Price * L. W. Kemp * Richard Ellis *

Early History Of San Luis Pass

Mrs. T. A. Humphries. At the southeastern tip of Brazoria county, and almost surrounded by the waters of West Bay, San Luis Pass and the Gulf there lies a lonely peninsula which apparently is a spot accursed; a locality where, to one of an impressionable nature, there comes a feeling of insecurity, while the air seems filled with the hovering of a brooding, ominous presence. The history of this locality, as well as the west end of Galveston Island, consists almost entirely of a successive narrative of physical suffering and thwarted ambitions. With distressing frequency its shore has been raked by the relentless fury of tropical hurricanes. Many times has its coast been lined with the pitiful remains of the victims of the Gulf.

One of the earliest tragedies connected with the neighborhood of the San Luis peninsula occurred in 1823, when a number of settlers arrived on Galveston Island from Illinois. They brought household goods and many fine cattle and enthusiastically set about establishing their homes, but in the fall of the same year, a storm swept across the island, drowning the settlers and all of their stock.

Vanished as completely as the fabled Atlantis, is the once thriving City of San Luis, of which there exists today not a trace and scarcely a memory…

Further Mentions: a company of Philadelphia land speculators sold lots on the west end of Galveston Island and on the mainland across San Luis Pass * two newspapers, the San Luis Advocate and the Times * The first cotton compress in, Texas was set up on the wharf at San Luis by a Mr. Brown * The most authentic information concerning this vanished city may be obtained from twenty-two copies of the Advocate which are preserved in the Texas University Library. The life of this popular newspaper was coincident with that of the town. It was printed by Mr. S. J. Durnett, at the corner of Market and Liberty streets, in San Luis * Drs. Richardson and Smith * Mr. B. F. Neal of the Galveston News * In 1836, the Follet family, originally from Boston, came to Texas from New Orleans and settled on the mainland near San Luis Pass * Alexander Follet * In 1841, Mr. Bradbury Follet built at San Luis Pass, the first steamboat ever constructed in Texas * Mr. Hansbury * A. Burr.