Vol 18 No. 02 - November 1940

J. M. Adams Was In Many Indian Fights

A. J. Sowell

Among those who came to Texas at an early day when the country was wild and full of hostile Indians, none made a better record as brave men and Indian lighters that the Adams brothers, Cood, William, Henry, Dave and James M. Adams, the subject of this sketch. James M. Adams settled in San Antonio in 1849. This is his story, and of the many Indian battles he participated in.

Mentions: Chalk Bluff in Nueces Canyon * Henry Robinson, another noted Indian fighter * Capt. Henry E. McClintoch * Calvin S. Turner * Daley Snyder and J. Snyder * Capt. Henry Skillman * Louis Oge * a contractor named Butterfield * William C. Adams * Medina City * Sam Wallace * Lieutenant Johnson * Paint Creek

How Buffalo Bayou Was Named

By W. C. Moore

Excellent account by Mr. Moore who was in Harris county, Houston when Buffalo Bayou was a smooth and placid stream and its waters were only disturbed by the swift turning paddles of the steamboats as they plowed their way to and fro between Galveston and Houston, laden with freight and passengers and for intermediate points. There was also the "chug, chug," of the tug boats that had barges in tow loaded with compress cotton down stream and empty barges coming up stream. He offers a vivid account of the wild days on the Bayou.

Mentions: Magnolia Park * William Brady and John T. Brady * Long Reach * the present Anderson-Clayton warehouse * Brady Brothers * Bradyville * Constitution Bend * Mr. J. R. Cheek * the Magnolia Park Land Company * the Allen Brothers * J. K. Allen * A. C. Allen

Major J. M. Hunter Saw Frontier Service

By A. .J. Sowell

This sketch of one of the foremost frontiersmen of Texas, James M. Hunter, notable Indian fighter who further served as county judge of Mason county, and later moved to Edwards county and served as county judge there for twelve years. This is his story.

Further Mentions: Mrs. Erv Hamilton * Miss Phillippine Keller * Fredericksburg * Mrs. Emma Grandstaff, Mrs. Annie Boyd * John Hunter, Will Hunter * Miss Ollie Hunter * Laura Hamilton * Rocksprings * Gov. Bob Taylor, of Tennessee * Major Robert Neighbors * the Peters Colony Company * the Clear Fork and tributaries of the Main Brazos and Wichita country * William M. Rust, William Tom, Frank Biler, and Bud Grinage * Major Calvert * Jack Hays * Joe Bledsoe, John Hubbard * Dr. Baker * H. E. McCulloch * George Giddings * D. C. Giddings * Big Foot Wallace * Tom Rife * Howard's Wells * Joe Ney * the Seco * Dead Man's Hole * Van Horn's well * Captain Skillman * Eagle Springs * Louis Dickens * Sul Ross * Radzminski * Fort Arbuckle * Col. John S. Ford * A ranger named John Benson * Capt. Henry Davis * House Mountain * Guadalupe Valley * John B Hood, Robert E. Lee, Fitzhugh Lee, E. Kirby Smith, Oakes, and Thomas. Robe

Recollections Of Old Texas Days

By Noah Smithwick

The author, who established a home on a farm in the lower end of Webber's prairie in 1839, describes early events around what became Webberville.

Mentions: "Dr." John F. Webber * the Dutys * Joseph Duty * William Duty, Matthew Duty, George Duty and Richard Duty * Alexander Hamilton, William Hamilton, James Hamilton and John Hamilton * Dan Shelf, James Dodd, the, Joseph Manor * James Manor * Dr. Anderson * Mrs. Scott * Mrs. Hopkins * Colonel Knight * Billy Hornsby * Edward Blakey and Elijah Ingram * Bartlett Simms

The Republics In Texas

By J. M. Woods, San Antonio Texas

Texans, for the most part, in thinking of the fascinating story of government in Texas, the transition from the monarchical rule of the kings and queens of old Spain and France to our existence under the glorious Stars and Stripes of America, overlook much of the glamour, the intrigue, the wild spirit of adventure which resulted in the organization of our first stable government. Here is the story of the various "Republics" that mark Texas' glorious history.

Mentions: de Pinado * the expedition of Narvaez * La Salle * Dr. Julia Kathryn Garrett * Father Miguel Hidalgo Castillo * Jose Bernardo Guiterrez de Lara * Jose Menchaca * Miguel Menchaca * Augustus Magee, Samuel Kemper * La Bohia (Goliad) * Jose Manuel Herrera, Xavier Mina, Comodore Aury * L. Derieux * Jean Lafitte * Dr. James Long * Hayden Edwards * The Republic of Fredonia * Nacogdoches * the Convention, the Council, the Central Committee, the Consultation and the Government Ad-Interim

Heroines Of The Hills

By T. U. Taylor, Austin, Texas

This account offers some rich and rare early BURNET COUNTY TEXAS history and genealogy.

Mentions: Burnet county was created out of Milam county, March 13, 1848, a few days after Gillespie county had been created on February 3, 1848 * Logan Vandever, Sam Holland, Peter Kerr, and William P. McGill * Hamilton * Oatmeal Creek * Scott * Horne * George Joy * J. D. Bradley * Fort Croghan * Mentions surnames of early settlers: Ater, Barton, Beal, Bittios, Block, Bradley, Breazeale, Brooks Broson, Burnham, Cates, Gavin, Chesser, Coon, Corder, Corker, Cox, Covington, Crownover, Dixon, Dorbandt, Epeecy,, Eubanks, Fergueson, M. A. Freed, Ford, Fowler, Francis, Fry, Greer, Hall, Harocy, Heine, Hibler, Hill, Hubbard, Jackson, Jennings, Johnson, Jones, Joy, Karonough, Kelly, Kerr, Kincaid, Kincheloe, Lacy, La Forge, Launch, Lewis, McCartney, McCarty, McCoy, McFarland, Magell, Malone, Moore, Morrison, O'Horr, Pamkey, Proctor, Reed, Rice, Roundtree, Russell, Scott, Shelly, Shilling, Slaughter, Smith, Smithwick, Steart, Taylor, Thomas, Turner, Vandever, Vaughn, Whitman, Williams, Witherspoon, Woodard, Woods, Yett * Mary (Scott) Holland * George Holland * Judge John Scott * Captain Christian Dorbandt * Miss Anna Perkins * Mrs. Emma Schnabel * J. A. Gross * E. N. Schnabel * Mrs. Josephine Johnson * the Hamilton Valley * Adam R. Johnson * Dr. T. J. Johnson and Julia Spensor Rankin * Bedford Forrest * Josephine Eastland * Sparta, Tennessee * Betty Josephine * W. H. Badger * Robert Eastland * Ruby Brooks * S. E. Guthrie * Mary Reeves * S. H. Humphries * Josephine Johnson * the Oakwood cemetery * Adam Johnson * Mrs. Amelia Barr * a Virginia family by the name of Pittser * Honey creek at the foot of Packsaddle Mountain * the Whitlock and Dancer families * Mrs. W. H. Badger * Oran Milo Roberts * O. M. Roberts * Orange * Jefferson * Tenaha country * Marble Falls * Cincinatus * the old Mormon Mill * The Mormons in Burnet * Lyman Wight * colony at Zodiac in Gillespie County * Col. Norton Moses * Uncle Joe Cannon * Ann Ealy Johnson * Johnson City * Ealy Johnson Moses * Letitia Dalton of Llano county * Laura Moses * David C. Reed of Austin * Clara Starr Moses * Archibald Brown McGill * Carter Norton Moses * Ada Moses * Francis Randolph Moerke * Keith Moses, married Thomas Owen Key * Samuel Moses, married Maud LaFrenz * Egbert Moses * Amzy L. Moses * Bell Fourche, South' Dakota * Samuel Moses * Lucy Ann Lewis * Kerr family * William Moses * Inez Moses * the Sheffield family * Dayton Moses * Daisy Fisher * Rhoades Fisher of Austin * Jessie Fisher * Andrew Moses * Uncle Joe Cannon * Strickling * the A. & M. College of Texas * Fannin county * Mr. Kirkland * Tom Taylor * school in Bonham * Charley Hallsell * General Adam Johnson

Travel Was Slow Forty Years Ago

By J. Marvin Hunter

Author recounts eventful but slow trip from Mason to Sonora, Texas in 1900. It is quite an interesting story and offers some excellent early history of Sonora, TX as well.

Mentions: Bush Collins * Mr. Jobes * Rev. W. F. Gibbons * Menardville * Jobes' store * the village of Roosevelt * Mr. Black * Fort Territt * the North Llano * the Black ranch * the Devil's River News * Mike and Steve Murphy * Hagerland Bros & Co., and Mayer Bros. & Co. * Mrs. McDonald and Mrs. Traweek * Jim Swearingen, Mike O'Meara * The McDonald Hotel * Lewenthal had a drug store: T, D. Newell owned the waterworks * Fort McKavett * Ozona * San Angelo * W. B. Silliman * J. L. Davis, Lige Briant, Charley Adams, Froggy Morris, Billie Meyers, Sol and Max Mayer, Keyes Fawcett, John Ford, L. N. Brooks * Montie Mills, B. M. Halbert, George Allison, Sam Stokes, Felix VanderStucken, Jim and John Hagerlund, Jim Keene, Judge McGonigle, Jess Hill, Mike Murphy, Steve Murphy, Edgar Saunders, Ben Cusenberry, Bill Fields, J. M. G. Baugh, O. T. Word, Doc Word

Wrestling Camels Provided Frontier Sport

By J. Marvin Hunter

Back in the old days, of the frontier sports consisted mainly of horseracing, turkey shoots, gander-pullings, and sometimes footraces, but it remained for "camel-wrestling" to provide the unusual at some of the old army posts along the border in that period immediately preceding the war between the States. This thrilling and sometimes dangerous sport was introduced in Texas at old Camp Verde, the post where the camels were first placed when brought from Asia Minor in 1856. Camp Verde, twelve miles north of the present town of Bandera, and only two miles from the historic Bandera Pass, was selected as a permanent camp, where extensive experiments were undertaken by the government.

Further Mentions: the Tejon Ranch * President Pierce * Fort Tejon, near Bakersfield, California * Major Henry C. Wayne * Colonel Robert E. Lee * Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston * the Nowlins * Lieut. David D. Porter * Jim Edwards

"Old timers tell of frightened negroes and wildeyed Mexicans who chanced to see a stray camel suddenly raise up in the moonlight as they were passing along some lonely stretch of road. And others, "scairt plumb to death" who came unawares upon a browsing camel even in broad daylight. There were tales, too, of the enlisted men's hostility to the queer beasts; of the seasick sensation they suffered to ride them, and the stubborn soldier loyalty they showed at all times for the old army mule. One of the most thrilling stories, related by one who had lived at Camp Verde, was of an ill-natured camel named "Major," that killed seven good army mules, one after the other, by jumping on them and crushing their backs.. No prompt means of dealing with him could be obtained, under the red tape system of army regulation, so the soldiers fitted the punishment to the crime. They found 'Major' one day near a…"

First Indian Battle In Crosby County

By R. H. Nowlin

Account detailing the first fight between the Indians and the White Man in Crosby county Texas. The details of the battle are quoted from a photocopy of the report in the War Department, Washington, D. C., which was sent to the author by representative, George Mahon. It is dated Fort Richardson, Texas, October 15th, 1869.

Further Mentions: Fort Griffin * Fort Richardson * Tonkawa Indian Scouts under their chief "Simond," * Brevet Major J. M. Bacon * Double Mountain * Duck Creek * Fresh Water Fork of the Brazos * F. M. Boehm * the L7 Ranch * Mr. Hank Smith * Blanco Canyon * Mr. Bob Smith

The Story Of Whitfield Chalk

By Houston Wade

Account of the Chalk family line in Texas from the information of Mrs. Sarah Minna Chalk Hyman, who spent much time and effort in tracing the Chalk line back to its very first beginning. She made a trip to England in quest of authentic records preserved in the archives of London and elsewhere in the English islands. She had thoroughly gone into our own Colonial and Revolutionary records from earliest time of the period of 1776 and before. The account quotes directly from the records of Mrs. Hyman and contains old photo of Mr. And Mrs. Whitfield Chalk.

Mentions: The name Chalk most likely is of pure Saxon origin and men of this name may have fought with Harold, the last of the Saxon kings, at the decisive battle of Hastings * Sir Richard Chalk * Richard III. * King Charles I. * Ducal Coronet * Semper Virtute Vigo * Chalk Farm * William Chalk, the grandfather of Whitfield Chalk * Captain Tatum * Howell Tatum * Colonel Thomas Chalk * Peggy Askew * Anne Askew * Colonel Green * Caleb St. Clair * Michael Cronican * Captain Charles Keller Reese * Harmony Lodge No. 6, of Galveston * Harmony No. 6, A. F. & A. M., * Thomas Jefferson Green * the Yocum family * Peter Menard Maxwell * Captain Martin P. Chalk of McAllen Texas * Captain M. B. Chalk * William W. and Mary W. Chalk * John Wesley Chalk * William Roscoe Chalk * Ira Ellis and Josiah Chalk * Milam County * J. G. Pierson * Edward Burleson * Woll Invasion * Dr. Alex Dienst of Temple * Captain J. G. W. Pierson * Peter Menard Maxwell * Jesse Yocum * Thomas Jefferson Green * Captain James Keller Reese * George Bernhard Erath * George W. Bonnell * Hicks * Thomas Oldham * Lockhart's house * C. W. Hill * the old Double File Crossing of the San Gabriel River * Miss Mary Fleming * John W Chalk * Mary M Chalk * William T Chalk * George W. Tyler * Ferguson Mill * Ira Chalk * Ira Ellis Chalk * William Roscoe Chalk * The Chalk mill * James E. Ferguson * Hon. A. Bledsoe * Perote Castle * James M Chalk.; Mattie E Chalk.; Katie N Chalk.; Jeff D Chalk.; Jack Chalk * was Miss Phoebe Fleming, a sister to the wife of Whitfield Chalk * Kempner

THE EDITOR'S BOX

Mentions: Mrs. Dayton Moses * Major Rhoads Fisher * S. Rhoads Fisher * Harry B. Moses of Waco * Tad Moses * Captain Martin Moses * Mrs. F. A. Kemmeries * Mrs. J. R. Hunn, Boyd, Texas * Miss Janet Moses * Mrs. Frank Hughes * Mrs. Andrew Moses * Felix Newcomer * Mrs. Sam Frazier * Sam E. McKnight * Sutton county * Carrizo Springs * Southwest Cattle Raisers' Association * Mrs. Della Coffman McKnight * Dr. J. B. McKnight * Tom McKnight * ranch of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Paradowski, Ingram Texas * One of the early settlers of Bandera county was J. F. Weldon * the John James estate * Mrs. L. N. Coffey * Miss May Weldon * Laurence White * McKenzie College * a man named Estill * Black Jack Grove, now Cumby * Miss Julia Estill of Fredericksburg * Ellen Elizabeth Wiley * Bonneville AK * Spring Creek, in Gillespie county * Peter's Prairie, in Mason county * Menardville and Fort McKavett, in Menard county * Mr. and Mrs. Percy Faires * J. M. Mills * George W. Saunders * the Buena Vista Ranch near Boerne * Gus A. Duerler

A GREAT FLOOD

Brief account by Mrs H. F. Renken describing a great flood which swept down the Medina river in 1870, with a wall of water fully 20 feet high that came down almost without warning, and drowned several people.

Further Mentions: Captain John Burrell * Castroville * Devine * Mrs. Mary Richardson * Joe Burrell * Mrs. Martha Haby * Mr. Tom Boyle of Bandera * Armand Rochlae * Phillip Wingenroth * Mrs. Dora Neill Raymond * Sweet Briar College * Judge Henry Hart Neill * Mrs. Isham Keith * McDowell Colony