The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 12, July 1908 - April, 1909 Page: 66
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Southwestern Historical Quarterly and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Texas State Historical Association.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Texas Historical Association, Quarterly.
them." He threw his hands on his gun, and said, "Young man,
I don't want to hurt you, but if you lead those horses off, I'll kill
you." Just at that moment Bailey jabbed his pistol against him
and said, "If you move your hand to raise that gun, you are a
dead man." By this time I was in my saddle, riding off. I rode
about a hundred yards, stopped and turned my horses' heads
towards them, then I drew my gun, and told the old man not to
move, if he did I would kill him. I told Bailey to come on, and
I held my gun on the old man until Bailey got to me, then the
old man and his family moved on, and Bailey and I rode on
together. When we reported these two horses, and the circum-
stances of pressing, the cabinet gave us a bill of sale to them dur-
ing our stay in the army.
I think it was the next day that Captain Wiley came from Gal-
veston with two pieces of cannon, called the "twin sisters." We
asked the authorities to let us go with Captain Wiley, and join
Houston's army. They agreed to let us go, and the next day we
took up the line of march, arriving at Houston's army the follow-
ing afternoon. They were then at what was known as Groce's
Retreat. It was about two o'clock in the afternoon when we ar-
rived, and nearly all the army had crossed to the east side of the
river.
We looked around for the Nacogdoches company, and after find-
ing them, we joined them. While we were telling our adventures,
a man came up, who seemed very much excited; he carried an old
flint lock rifle, and inquired if there was a blacksmith in the
army. He said he had just got into camp, and his gun would not
stand cocked. A mischevious looking fellow said, "Yes, sir, you
see that tent down yonder; the blacksmith is there." It was Gen-
eral Houston's tent, the only one in camp. The man went, and
there sat General Houston. The man said to him, "I want you
to fix my gun; the lock is out of order, it won't stand cocked."
"Very well," said Houston, "set her down here, and call in one
hour and she will be ready." Houston knew at once that some one
had sent this fellow to him just to have a little fun. So as soon
as the man left, he took the lock off, cleaned it and put it back..
The news spread all over the army, and after a while a man told
the owner of the gun that he had taken his gun to General Hous-
ton, and that he heard that Houston intended having him shot for
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 12, July 1908 - April, 1909, periodical, 1909; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101048/m1/74/?rotate=270: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.