Vol 15 No. 01 - October 1937

Mr. And Mrs. John Riggs Killed By Indians

By J. Marvin Hunter

Account of an Indian raid in Bell county in the spring of 1859. The Indians murdered Mr. and Mrs. John Riggs and a Mr. Pierce, and captured a boy, Dave Elms, and two little girls, Rhoda and Rebecca Riggs, but these escaped. It is a sad and brutal story.

Mentions: Captain B. F. Gholson * Evant, Texas * the northwestern part of Bell county, near Sugar Loaf Mountain * Mr. Gholson, who lived about six miles from where the murders occurred * Mr. Pierce, Mr. Riggs, Mr. Elms, and a few others lived in the new settlement near Sugar Loaf Mountain * Ambrose Lee whose home was also in the little settlement * A. M. Woods * man, whose name was Peevy * Captain Dameron * Thomas Riggs came to Bandera county from Riggsville, Arkansas, with a man by the name of Clark * the Wilson Clark place * Riggs settled on Cypress Creek, some twelve or fifteen miles southeast of Bandera * married a man named Benton

When The Jury Came To The West

Mabelle Eppard Martin

In 1849, just after Uncle Sam had added a new addition, known as New Mexico and California, to his charming but rambling country home, Socorro was a peaceful Mexican village, its adobe houses reflecting the sun of the upper Rio Grande Valley. Between it and the American settlements of Texas, the Comanche, ruled and were more than willing to dispute every foot of the territory. But the Americans, "Hell bent for California," to the gold mines, had made trails through, and by 1851 Socorro had been transformed. This is the story.

Mentions: Riggs family * Willcox * Miss Rhoda Riggs, well-to-do ranch woman * San Elizario, six miles distant * Edward C. Clark * Judge Berthold * William Craig, Marcus Butler and John Wade * Alexander Young * Mrs. A. L. Mansfield, of Bandera * Lewis Strickland of El Dorado, California * Mrs. William Edwards * Mrs E. A. Lea, of San Francisco * Mary Kidder Rak * Mrs. Sallie Reynolds Matthews

When Mackenzie Swept The Plains

Although Fort Concho was among the last of the chain of forts established to protect early Texans from Indian forays (it dates from December 4, 1867), it served as the head-quarters for one of the most brilliant Indian fighters Texas army annals know. And from its historic parade ground there wound, one summer day in 1875, one of the largest expeditions West Texas has seen, before or since, to explore the then unknown Staked Plains region.

The Indian fighter-who did more to rid Texas of the troublesome Comarches and other tribesmen than any other man-was Brevet Brigadier General Ranald Slidell Mackenzie. When the California gold rush of 1849 attracted attention to West Texas as a low transcontinental route, some attempt was made to hold the Indians that infested the country in check. But the raiding habits of uncounted centuries were not to be lightly set aside. The Civil War saw the withdrawal of Federal troops from these frontier posts, saw also the draining of man power from Texas itself. And by the close of that conflict in 1865, the Indians had things pretty much their own way in the then little known confines of the western portion of the Lone Star State.

The situation called for drastic measures and General Mackenzie because of his Civil War record, drew the assignment. It was plenty tough, not only because of the Indians, but because of hunger, thirst and exhaustion. These made operations exceptionally difficult. Here is the story.

Mentions: Colonel M. L. Crimmins * Lt. Col. W. R. Shafter * Captain Randolph Marcy * Catfish Creek * Ft. Concho * Fort Chadbourne * Fort McKavett * Fort Mason * Assistant Surgeons W. M. Notson and W. F. Buchanan * the Shafter expedition

Burnet County Hills Reveal Hidden Treasures

By Mary Johnson Posey

Historical account of the quaint old town of Burnet, Hamilton Valley and regions thereabout.

Mentions: the quaint old town of Burnet * Hamilton Valley * Granite Mountain * Charles A. Culberson, Joseph Weldon Bailey, James L. Slayden, Captain T. E. Hammond, Dayton Moses * Albert Sidney Johnston * Adam Rankin Johnson * Charles A Culberson * R. E. Johnson * Lake Buchanan * Niggerhead Mountain * The Inks Dam * Some four miles south of Burnet is Holland Springs * Billy McGill * the Brownlee ranch right on Highway 66 * the T, P,&L, * Walter Gann * Mrs. J. A. Matthews of Albany, Texas * Sallie Reynolds Matthews * Captain E. E. Townsend, of Alpine

A Yacht Voyage To The New World

By Mrs. Houstoun.

Lengthy, detailed and thrilling account of voyage that was made by this intrepid young woman in September, 1843, on the schooner yacht Dolphin from England to the then struggling Republic of Texas. (Continued from Last Month)

Pioneer Engineering In Texas

By T. U. Taylor

Account discusses engineering practices in early Texas. Topics mentioned are: A. Irrigation Engineering. B. Water Power Engineering. C. Early Highway Engineering. D. Water Supply Engineering. E. Sanitary Engineering. F. Railroad Engineering. Offers some especially detailed and excellent historical accounts of the earliest railroad development in Texas.

Further Mentions: the Acequias, the Alamo, San Fernando, San Jose, Concepcion and Espada * the old Winslow Mill on the Clear Fork of the Trinity, two miles above the Tarrant county line * In 1853 John James, Chas. de Montell and J. H. Herndon built a sawmill at Bandera and later a grist mill * the Polish Colony which came to Bandera in 1855 * F. H. Schladeor * the Schladoer Mill * the H. & T. C. Railroad * Old Jefferson had for a decade been the commercial center of gravity of Texas * Weatherford, Texas * Cleburne, made the county seat of Johnson county in 1867 * Old Camp Henderson * the Harrisburg Railroad and Trading Company * Brazos and Colorado Railroad Company * the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railroad * the Columbus, San Antonio and Rio Grande Railroad * the G. H. & S. A. Railroad * the Galveston & Red River Railroad * Houston & Texas Central Railroad * The Washington County Railroad Company * the H. & T. C. Railroad * The Houston Tap Railroad * Pierce Junction * Houston Tap & Brazoria Railroad * the I. & G. N. * the Texas & New Orleans * the Sabine & Galveston Bay Railroad & Lumber' Company * the Southern Pacific Railroad system * the Henderson & Burkville Railroad * H. & B. R. K. * the old East Texas Railroad * G. H. & E * H. T. & B,. * T. & N. O. * Sabine and East Texas Railroad Company * Paul Mccomb's Recollections * the San Antonio & Gulf Railroad * S. P. Railroad system * Cuero * Stockdale * S. A. & Mexican Gulf Railroad * Vicksburg & El Paso Railroad * V. S. & P. Railroad at Waskom * the T. & I. Railroad * Memphis, El Paso & Pacific Railroad * the T. & P. Railroad * B. B. B. & Co * H. & T. C * G. H. & H., * H. T. & B * T. & N. O * S. A. & M. G., * M. E. P. & P * R. M. Cocasins * W. J. Crooker, S. H. Lee * Taylor's Bayou * Frank Kellogg * Lee and Crooker * John Henry Kirby * Douglas Rock * Louis Guerringer * Miss Douggie Rock * the G. H. & S. A. Railroad in San Antonio * Major James Converse * J. H. Burnett & Company of Galveston * Mr. Jacob Larmour * Mr. Joseph Kuechler * W. H. Abrams * Major B. S. Wathen * W. C. Walsh * the H. & T. C. Railroad * Bryan, Calvert, Bremond, Kosse, Groesbeck

Perpetuate The Trail Drivers' Organization

Mentions: W. T. Jackman, San Marcos, Texas * Mr. Conrad L. Wirth * Honorable Wendell Mayes * H. W. Morelock * J. E. Casner * Roy McCullom

Muzzle-Loadings

Mentions: Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Dwyer and sons, Jack and Billy Dwyer * James Grieves, Isaac G. Roberts, William R. Jones, Benjamin C. Ross, Chas. B. Hardesty, Alfred I. Moore, John A. Robb, C. C. Eggerton, Jr., John B. Mathiot, Edward V. Ward, William S. Browning, John C. Blackburn, Robert M. Proud. * Levi Fahnestock * Miss Emily C. Beavens * Mrs. Kirby Smith of Houston * M. Freeman, at Carnerville, Georgia * Captain W. W. Collier of San Antonio * Captain E. E. Townsend of Alpine * Caddo Cameron * Adolph Huffmeyer, of San Antonio * Hobart Huson * Miss May Weldon * Marcus T. C. Gould * James J. Casey * the Butterick Company * Spindletop oil field * Mr. and Mrs. Frank Mangold who ranch near Bandera *

Hendrick Arnold, Negro, A Texas Patriot

By J. Marvin Hunter

Mentions: Catherine Arnold * Mr. Houston Wade * Hendrick Arnold * Deaf Smith, J. W. Smith, and Hendrick Arnold * General Burlesau * La Bania * Benjamin R. Milam * Greenbury Logan * Colonel Frank W. Johnson * F. W. Johnson

Let's Know Texas And Texans

BY Will H. Mayes

Mentions: Rebecca J. Fisher * Johnsen and Mary Barbour Gilliland * Rev. Orceneth Fisher * Reutersville College * Annie Fellows Johnston * Pendleton's Ferry on Sabine River * Colbert's Ferry, on Red River * Herman Lehmann's captivity * Lockridge's Bluff, Navarro county * Samuel B. McMahan * Rev. J. P. Stevenson * Jared E. Groce * The Hasanai Confederacy * the present towns of Mexia and Groesbeck * the H, & T. C. railroad