Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas Page: 128 of 894
762 p., [172] leaves of plates : ill., ports. ; 30 cm.View a full description of this book.
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116
INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
he found that the whole settlement had forted there
as a means of protection. The news had also been
conveyed to what was known as the Elmore settlement,
on the head of Fish creek, about six miles
east of Wallace's; also to what was known as the
Potter settlement, some four miles southeast from
Elmore's, and a fleet courier had also carried the
news to Gainesville. During the night of the 22d,
the few families in that settlement gathered at the
residence of James Elmore, and the few families
that composed the settlement around Capt. C.
Potter's were also gathered in there before daylight
of the morning of the 23d. Many of these families
were simply women and children, the husbands and
fathers being in the Confederate army, and the few
men in the county were armed with the poorest
class of firearms, all the best guns having been
given to those who joined the Confederate army.
When Capt. Twitty heard the news of the raid,
which reached him at Gainesville, in the early part
of the night of the 22d of December, he immediately
dispatched about twenty-five men from
Capt. S. P. C. Patton's Company, to the scene of
the raid. These men, after a hard ride, reached
Capt. Wallace's a short time before daylight on
the morning of the 23d. Capt. Rowland, who was
not expecting reinforcements, and taking these
men for the enemy, came near firing upon them
before the mistake was discovered. But the
Indians, confident in their superior numbers, determined
to do more devilment before leaving and early
next morning, recrossed Red river and went in
below Capt. Wallace's. At sunrise they were scampering
over the prairies, stealing horses, shooting
cattle, and burning houses. They soon came to
the Elmore place and their number was so unprecedentedly
large, that they struck terror to the
hearts of the men and women crowded in the house,
and they at once fled to the woods, scattering in
every direction. Some were killed, others were
chased for miles-but most of them made their
escape, though they lay in the woods all that day
and the following night. Many thrilling incidents
could be related of this flight. Among others, a
Mr. Dawson, when the stampede began from
the house, seized a babe about six months old,
but not his own. When he reached a spot where
he thought he could safely hide, the child began to
cry and would not be comforted. Dawson could
see the Indians coming in his direction and knew
that they must soon hear the screams of the child,
if they had not already done so. So he ran deeper
into the woods, seeking the most inaccessible
places. The Indians continued to follow and the
child to cry, as poor Dawson thought louder thanever. In utter despair of ever making his escape
with the babe, he laid it down in a deep dry branch
and covered it with leaves. The little thing went
to sleep in a moment. Dawson thus made his
escape and when the Indians left he went back,
got the babe and carried it to its almost frenzied
mother. After the people left Elmore's house the
Indians plundered it, took what they wanted and
set fire to it. The people forted up at Capt.
Potter's, soon saw the flames at Elmore's house
and knew that the Indians were coming on in their
direction. About a mile and a half south of Capt.
Potter lived the families of Ephraim Clark and
Harrison Lander. These families, contrary to
their usual custom, failed to go to Capt. Potter's,
as their neighbors had done when they received
the report of the raid. When the people at Potter's
saw Elmore's house burning they knew that
it was too late to get Clark's and Lander's families
to Potter's. Hence they concluded that it was
best to go to Clark's -or Lander's, as they lived
very near together. About the time they left
Potter's house, James McNabb, who had left
Potter's early that morning to go to his home
a mile away to look after his stock, came flying
back, hotly pursued by a squad of Indians who
were in advance of the main body. McNabb made
a narrow escape. Before he dismounted the
Indians surrounded the house and tried to cut him
off from his horse, but he made his escape by
making his horse jump the fence. The people
forted at Capt. Potter's, as well as his own family,
made a hasty retreat to Lander's house going by
Clark's and getting his family. Many of the children
were taken from bed and without being
dressed were hurried into a wagon and driven
rapidly away. They had not reached Lander's
house before they saw the flames bursting from
the roof of Capt. Potter's house. Mr. Lander's
house was situated on a prairie knoll near a very
high and precipitous bluff. Here the affrighted
women and children were gathered in the house,
while four men and three boys, with poor and
uncertain guns in their hands, stood in the yard
and about the outhouses ready to protect as best
they could all that was dear to them. Soon the
Indians came in sight and a sight it was. They
came not in a body but in squads and strings.
They had bedecked their horses with the bed
clothing, sheets, quilts, counterpanes, table-cloths,
ladies wearing apparel, etc.
The women gathered in the house were frantic.
It was supposed that all had been killed at Elmore's
as the house had been seen to burn. It was known
that they had as much or more fighting force at
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Brown, John Henry. Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas, book, 1880~; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth6725/m1/128/?rotate=270: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.