The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 55, July 1951 - April, 1952 Page: 361
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The Seminole-Negro Scouts, 1870-z881
abandonment of many of the frontier posts during the Civil War.
Even after the re-occupation of these forts the raids continued.
Parties of Indians would stealthily cross the Rio Grande on foot,
conceal themselves, and wait for the full moon to give them light
enough for their operations, which consisted principally of round-
ing up horses and cattle and driving them across the river but
which readily included murder and arson if the opportunity
presented itself. The officers commanding posts on the border
were rarely able to detect or intercept these thieves and mur-
derers either in their comings or goings, so skillful were they in
concealing their tracks.9 Scouts were desperately needed, but a
few Tonkawa and renegade Lipans were the only ones available.
The Seminole Negroes at Nacimiento in the meantime were
becoming discontented with Mexico and wanted to return to the
Indian Territory. Major Zenas R. Bliss of the 25th United States
Cavalry (colored), commanding at Fort Duncan, authorized
Captain Frank W. Perry to visit Nacimiento and invite the Sem-
inole Negroes to return to the United States to serve as scouts.
The Seminole's understanding of the agreement finally arrived
at between Captain Perry and John Kibbitts, which the Negroes
call "de treaty" or sometimes "de treatment," was that it pro-
vided that the government would pay the able-bodied men's
expenses to the United States and would furnish them pay,
provisions for their families, and grants of land in return for
their services as scouts.10 If the agreement was ever reduced to
writing, it has long since disappeared.
9Numerous similarly-named government documents of this general period, as
well as of the pre-Civil War period, deal with Indian depredations on the Texas
frontier. One of the most informative is "Texas Frontier Troubles," House Report,
45th Cong., 2d Sess., III, No. 701, especially pp. 31-35. Others are: "Depredations
on the Frontiers of Texas," House Executive Documents, 42d Cong., 3d Sess., VII,
No. 39; ibid., 43d Cong., 1st Sess., XVII, No. 257. Still others will be cited in
connection with activities of the Seminole scouts in thwarting or punishing these
raids. J. Frank Dobie, Tongues of the Monte (New York, 1935), PP. 243-246,
graphically epitomizes the Comanche raids.
1oDeposition No. 545, John Kibbets, in "Depredations on the Frontiers of Texas,"
House Executive Documents, 43d Cong., Ist Sess., XVII, No. 257, p. 22; "Texas
Frontier Troubles," House Report, 45th Cong., 2d Sess., III, No. 701o, p. 224; Cap-
tain J. D. De Gress, Fort Duncan, to Brevet Brigadier General H. Clay Wood,
assistant adjutant general, dated March 17, 1870 (MS., Adjutant General's Office,
488M, War Department, National Archives, Washington, D. C.); F. H. French,
second lieutenant, 19th Infantry, Fort Clark, to Adjutant General, Department of
Texas, San Antonio, dated May 23, 1883 (MS., Seminole File 1882-11398, Indian361
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 55, July 1951 - April, 1952, periodical, 1952; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101139/m1/435/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.