The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 60, July 1956 - April, 1957 Page: 504
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:
Southwestern Historical Quarterly
fallen and carried him out of firing range. As soon as the Indians
retreated, Captain Harvey had his men fall in to see whether any
had been killed or wounded. Three were missing. One of the men
was found to have crossed the river, while the other two men were
so badly frightened that they cleared the scene of action and
became lost. They tried to return to camp but met the retreat-
ing Indians who chased them across the Colorado River. The
two scared surveyors hid all day in a deep gulch and were nearly
famished for water. They never found the surveying party but
after eight days finally reached a settlement near the present city
of Austin.
A rather remarkable escape from a marauding band of Indians
was made by W. P. Brashear in Lavaca County in 1839.0 He was
a man who never took precautions against danger and yet was
always calm and cool when danger struck. Brashear had gone to
Lavaca County for the purpose of locating lands and while in
that vicinity boarded with a Mr. Henseley who lived on the fringe
of a settlement. Although Brashear was warned not to go out
alone because the area was frequently visited by Indians, he
would often go alone and unarmed to examine lands as far as
twenty miles from the settlement. One morning Brashear was on
a tract of land he wished to examine and was busy at work tracing
a line with a pocket compass. As he turned a point of post oak
timber, he discovered about twenty Comanche Indians nearly a
quarter of a mile distant mounted upon their mustang ponies.
The Indians soon spotted the surveyor, gave the familiar war
whoop and went after him yelling and whooping like so many
devils. Brashear later said that although he was unarmed he was
not frightened because he was confident "Get Out," his horse,
could easily outrun the Indians. He had traveled less than a mile
toward the settlement when he found that the Indians were gain-
ing on him. Brashear knew Boggy Creek could be crossed only at
a few points, and he struck the creek 700 yards below a crossing
and soon he was hidden from view by a line of timber along the
creek. His movements could not be seen by the Indians as he
made the ford, crossed it, and rode down the creek until he was
about opposite the place where the Indians had lost sight of him.
6Ibid., 1oy7.504
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 Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 60, July 1956 - April, 1957, periodical, 1957; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101163/m1/544/: accessed April 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.