The Matagorda County Tribune. (Bay City, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, June 12, 1914 Page: 8 of 16
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Matagorda County Area Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Matagorda County Museum & Bay City Public Library.
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KN RAIDS IN TEXAS
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“Six of the Indians Made a Rush for the Door”
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EXAS RANGERS WHO CROSSED RIO GRANDE
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Hie case of Qemente Vergara has recalled an
Hmce in which Texas Rangers did cross the
Hican border and exterminate a party of In-
His they were pursuing. Captain Thomas Rabb,
■noted Indian fighter, was in command of the
Bxans. He related the story as follows:
■Tn July, 1858, I was out on a scout after In-
■ins and to recover any stock they might have
mien, when I struck their trail and followed it
■ th my force of fifty-one men. We reached the
Ijxas bank of the Rio Grande close behind the
■ diaris.
I “We stopped on the Texas bank; they pulled
I) on the Mexican bank and cursed us in Span-
|h and dared us to come over after them. It
las the third time that I had chased Indians to
texico and had stopped on the Texas boundary
Ecause I might cause international complica-
lons by crossing over. This time I was so in-
fensed by the abuse of the Indians that I de-
krmined to cross over after them and get them,
rhe Indians had crossed the river about twenty-
live miles above old Piedras Negras, opposite
Eagle Pass.
“We waited until midnight before we crossed,
vly entire command swam their horses over the
iver, while I rode ahead with two companions
md reconnoitered. We found all the Indians
isleep. They had posted nt> pickets, being con-
By St Jk Jk
ASHLEY EVANS
H| WHEN
Hunt of the lives of
K of Texas must of
■ely made up of a
Hiardships, their en-
Hmd often of their
■ Indians. In telling
||e writer has so far
■ "•incidents as involve
■^ duals rather than a
l^.as told of the exper-
than the battles be-
H Indians and whites,
■give the present gen-
H> knowledge of the in-
Hnd intimate home life
■ lived scattered at long
Bid. This enables us to
I the conditions under
I lived and labored than
Fj fierce battles that were
’tween large bands of In-
bodies of volunteer sol-
■ T
0s
' 1
ls a
Hndians fnpm the plains
Hiid through the section of
Hw embraces Cooke, Collin,
■nd Lamar counties. This
■lumbered several hundred
Ht reached Grayson county
Hveral bands and each band
■separate raids in different
•general rendezvous for the
■a point on Red river north
■boro now stands. After the
H would make a raid for a
■ to a hundred miles, each one
■the general rendezvous bring-
H had captured. A number of
■Idren and many horses were
Hs brought in.
■id been in the country but a
B word of its depredations was
■rt Inglish with an appeal for
■out the invaders. Within two
flerable number of volunteers
[1 at the fort and placed them-
the command of General *John
idbriver county. The men came
Hr service and each man brought
Hssary provisions, which consisted
Hof a little salt, coffee and corn
Htever else these men had to eat
■with their rifles.
Horning of the third day after the
Hied Fort Inglish General Dyer and
Hers set out for the rendezvous of
Hs on Red river. The line of march
Kt due west for thirty miles, and
■is to turn north to the river and to
■i.p that stream. Scouts were sent
■' with instructions to examine the
Hosely for a distance of ten miles on
■ of the line of march, and if any, In-
Bre discovered word was to be brought
■once.
I the soldiers left Foft Inglish Colonel
■mpson was placed in charge, with
Imen and boys large enough to bear
[0 defend the women and children in
Bence in which four men
■n which two of them met
I of Indians whom a body
I the time seeking to pun-
[pc>ies committed against
be near the fort on the west would be dis-
covered by the scouts and driven on before
the soldiers. Therefore he felt no uneasiness
for the men and women left in his care.
So general was this feeling of security that
on the morning after the departure of Gen-
eral Dyer and his men, four of those left to
guard the fort decided to take a wagon and
go to their homes twelve miles west of the
fort to secure hogs that had been left behind
when they had rushed to the fort for protec-
tion a few days before.
Two of these parties, William Dority and
Andrew Thomas, were men, while the other
two, Andrew Dority and William McCarty,
were but good sized boys. They made an
early start, and by noon had reached their
homes, secured their hogs and loaded them
in the wagons. Then they drove a short
distance to Bois d’Arc. creek and stop-
ped for dinner. They unhitched their horses
from the wagons, built a fire and prepared to
cook their dinner and then to rest an hour
before starting home.
A deserted cabin stood, within fifty yards
of where they stopped their wagons, and some
sense of danger caused Andrew Thomas to
go up to the cabin when he started to cook
dinner. He built a fire outside the cabin, but
near the door. Then he sliced meat for. din-
ner from the ham of a deer they had killed
that morning, and began to broil it over the
fire.
While he was doing this the McCarty boy
had taken his horses and led them to the
creek a hundred yards away to let them
drink. The other man and boy were still
at the wagons.
Suddenly the war whoop of a dozen In-
dians was heard on the creek near where Mc-
Carty had gone with the horses. The men at
the wagon and Thomas cooking dinner knew
well enough what this meant, so they at once
lushed for the cabin and got within it by
the time the Indians appeared.
There was no door shutter to the cabin,
and as the door was wide and in the middle
of the wall, the opening gave a good view of
those within to the Indians outside. Seeing
‘You are a ----
nearly half a million dollars in the preserva-
tion and adornment of the famous canton-
ment of Washington and his soldiers, and the
national government is just completing an
imposing arch in memory of Washington
and the American army at a cost of $100,000.
Close by the Gulph road, over which passed
the bloody feet of the ragged Continentals
in their march to their cheerless camp upon
the bleak hills above Valley creek and the
Schuylkill, rises a granite arch such as im-
perial Rome reared in honor of her conquer-
ing hosts. It proclaims the triumphs of those
patriots who by their patient endurance won
a nation’s independence and made the hills
and dales of Valley Forge sacred ground to
the American people.
EASTER CHURCH MUSIC IN DALLAS.
All of the churches in Dallas made elaborate
preparation for their Easter music and all re-
ports verify the successful rendition of the re-
spective programmes. Of the large number of
churches in Dallas there are at least twenty-
seven that have pipe organs, ranging in cost
from $3,000 to $10,000, ' The organ in the Scot-
tish Rite cathedral is undoubtedly the most ex-
pensive and modern of any instrument in the
entire South.
There are four motion picture theaters in Dal-
las that have organs which cost thousands of
dollars. After the completion of the new mu-
nicipal building an immense pipe organ will be
installed, the gift of Danas citizens.
In a recent issue of the Musician, published in
New York by John C. Freund, an unsurpassed
writer on musical subjects, the following state-
ment -was made: “The American people spent
more than $600,000,000 last year on music. Of
course this includes the money spent for all
kinds of music and musical instruments.”
Mr. Freund secured his statistics from the
most reliable sources of each state in the union
and particularly the United States government
and they are as authentic as could be compiled
l^and yet Mr. Freund says this almost unthink-
able fi^^Mf$6ao-noo.goo^is very conservative.
fli
1
Valley Forge a Beautiful Park.
Valley Forge, once Lie neglected spot
where intrenchments 1 -y hidden beneath im-
penetrable thickets or were leveled by the
passing plow, he. become a beautiful park
with miles of broad boulevards marking tlie
-^ine of the American earthworks.
H The state ofTVnn^iHjiia has expendH
u
til
have been chief in command of the Seminoles.
Osceola is accredited by history as having been
the chief then, but was in reality only second in
command. When General Andrew Jackson’s
forces had the Seminoles- surrounded in the
Everglades of Florida Osceola was the one who
wanted to surrender and did so, but this big
footed Indian refused to yield. Instead, with
forty-two of his followers he cut his way through
the soldiers surrounding them and escaped.
“After many hardships and several encounters
with whites he finally reached Texas and joined
the Comanches, who made him one of their
chiefs, and he was at the head of this party I
had trailed across the Rio Grande. He had com-
mitted many depredations, after each one of
which he had managed to escape over into Mex-
ico.
“He had long white hair, of which he was
very proud. It shone in the sun like a stream of
flowing silver as it shimmered over his bronze
shoulders.
“I had determined that this Indian should be
my antagqnist. I soon located him by his feet
and at once attacked him. I was armed with a
pair of old-time Colt’s cap and ball six-shooting
revolvers. With one of them I shot him through
the temple. He fell dead at my feet,
“I knew that my crossing over into Mexico
after these Indians was a very ticklish affair.
After I had accomplished my purpose I got back
on the Texas side and hurried on down to Eagle
Pass. I got there before the affair had been re-
ported and I went across into Piedras Negras
with my interpreter, carrying with me a dupli-
cate report of what I had done.
“When I called on the commandante the al-
calde of the place was with him. I knew neither
^^ihem had heard of the fight, because the first
H^he commandante asked me was how I was
■kn in my quest after Indians. To it I
■d was not getting on at all, because
■^thern so hard that they alwavs
■teico. He then asked me why
Bhr the river into Mexico after
Hbad refrained from doing so
HtaCthe Mexican^gBeu^
Hhn.e that
Hns betweeH
■mdante rerJHj
see by this that you
Yes, sir,’ I replied.
Whereupon he exclaimed :
of a captain!’
“I agreed with him and said, ‘Yes, sir.’
“Then he laughed merrily and said to me:
‘This is all right this time, but I don’t want you
to make it a habit of going over into Mexico.’
“I told him of. my visit to the commandante
and the alcalde and said I thought the extermina-
tion of the band of Indians was well worth the
risk I had taken. Everything having come out
all right I told the governor that I hoped that
he was not offended with me or my company’s
actions in the matter. He told me he was not
offended, but, on the contrary, he was well
. pleased, but instructed me not to again cross the
Rio Grande without permission.”—New York
Sun.
that they had the men trapped, the Indians
surrounded the cabin and from their van-
tage points behind trees and stumps nearby
f they began to shoot arrows into the doorway
and through the cracks between the logs.. The
two Doritys fired their rifles at the Indians,
but in doing so exposed themselves in such
a way that they fell before the arrows of the
Indians. The elder Dority was killed by an
arrow that pierced his left side and through
his body. The younger Dority was shot
through the elbow and crippled for life, but
not entirely disabled for the time.
Seeing the two men fall to the floor, six of
the Indians made a rush for the door. Thom-
as, who was crouched in a corner of the room,
had not fired his rifle but had reserved his
fire until he could be sure of making it count.
Besides his rifle he held in his hand a heavy
green hickory stick that he had been using
as a fire poker in cooking dinner.
Seeing the Indians rushing toward the
house he sprang to one side of the door, tak-
ing care to keep his body shielded behind the
wall. He called to young Dority, whom he
saw was only hurt, to take his place just be-
hind him and to follow him wherever he went.
In a second of time Thomas had formed in
his mind a plan of defense. Standing beside
the door, with that heavy hickory fire stick
uplifted, he awaited the coming Indians, who
doubtless thought all the defenders in the
cabin either dead or helpless: As the first
Indian started to enter the doorway, Thomas
felled him dead by a blow on the head. By
the time he could raise his stick again a sec-
ond Indian’s head appeared in the doorway,
and again the stick descended and the In-
dian fell. Incredible as it may seem, five
Indians were felled dead or stunned by that
stick in Thomas’s hand. Not a sound had
come from the cabin save the heavy thud of
that stick as it came down on the heads of
the Indians.
There was something so uncanny to the
Indians in seeing one after another of their
number fall as dead and yet hear no sound
of rifle or evidence of life within the cabin,
that the others turned and ran as fast away
from the cabin as. they had only a minute
before ran toward it.
Seeing them fleeing, Thomas and Dority
ident they would not be molested. The surprise
vas so complete that not more than seven or
iight of them ever reached their horses and 1
loubt R more than two or three of them got
There were not more than forty-five In-
dians in this party and we killed forty-tfwo of
-hem. -1
"Their leader was a noted chi
very old man. His age at the till
be 140 years. He could not haj
kop years at the lowest calculi
known as ‘Big Foot’ on accounw
kis pedal extremities. His fe«
|Big Foot’ Wallace were abq^B
Wallace told me that he ha^H
Indian’s trail and had plajH
Ihe Indian’s track and tb.H
Wallace was never able
[it him.
“This old Indian i‘H
prominent part in th^B
THE HUNTED TURNED HUNTER
ran out of the cabin toward their horses, but
the animals had taken fright at the yelling
of the Indians and had run away. Thomas,
seeing that the horses were gone, told Dority
to keep in front of him and run as fast as
he could toward the shelter of the creek bot-
tom, while he would stay close behind and
keep the Indians off as long as he could
with his rifle.
As soon as the Indians saw the two men
emerge from the house their courage revived
somewhat and they started in pursuit. But
Thomas and Dority had two hundred vards
the start of them, and Thomas carried a load-
ed rifle, while they had no weapons but their
bows and arrows. With these weapons the
Indians shot at the fleeing men, but did not
hit either of them.
When they would begin to press too closely
Thomas would stop and raise his rifle to
shoot. Every Indian would at once drop into
the grass or hide behind a tree. Then Thom-
as would run on.
To show the metal he was made of Thomas
afterward told how the boy Dority, though
wounded, unarmed and practically helpless
to aid, would refuse to continue his flight
for safety when Thomas would stop also, de-
claring that if the Indians killed Thomas
they would have to kill him also before he
would desert a companion.
After following them for half a mile the
Indians saw Thomas and Dority entdr a dense
thicket. Fearing to follow them into the
thicket they abandoned the chase and turned
back to their companions at the cabin.
Thomas and Dority hid in the thicket for a •
time expecting the Indians to follow. Seeing
nothing of them and hearing no sound to
denote their presence, the two men slipped
on down the creek a few miles and then stop-
ped that some attention might be given Dori-
ty ’s wound, which was bleeding profuselv
and becoming very painful. Thomas dressed
the wound and bound it up as best he could.
The journey home was then resumed and
they travelled as rapidly as Dority’s woutb!
would permit* Thomas walked by his side
much of the time and half carried him along.
They reached the fort just at night in an
almost exhausted condition, and there told
their story.
The next morning Colonel Simpson took
six men and a wagon and went back after the
bodies of the murdered man and boy. They
found that the Indians had shot the McCarty
boy with ten arrows, and with their toma-
hawks had cut off his head.1 They probably
killed him before he was cognizant of their
presence, for his tracks in the soft earth
showed that he had fallen on the bank, of the
creek out of which his horses were drinking.
After returning to the cabin the Indians
had dragged the body of the elder Dority out
of doors, scalped it and cut it to pieces. They
had also taken away their companions whom
Dority had killed or crippled with his hickory
fire stick. He said he felt sure from the way
the blows sounded and the way they fell that
he had crushed the skulls of the first two he
struck.
The bodies of Dority and McCarty were
taken back to Fort Inglish and buried, and .
are now mingled with the dust of the place
they helped make habitable for a prosperous
and happy citizenship.
“ ‘You cross over. I will not only approve of
your doing so, but I will recommend to the
president of Mexico to approve of it also.’
“The alcalde of Piedras Negras said the same
thing. Then I sprung my report on them. After
they had heard and considered it both indorsed
their approval on it and forwarded one copy, of it
by courier to the president of the republic of
Mexico. I waited for the return of the courier
with the president’s reply to the message sent by
fhe alcalde and the commandante. Much to my
delight when it came the president of Mexico had
indorsed on it his approval. I did not leave the
vicinity of Eagle Pass until I received it. Then
I hastened to make my report to Governor Run-
nels of Texas.
“Governor Runnels was a very plain and
blunt spoken man. When I handed him my re-
port he read it over veby carefully before he said
anything. After he had finished reading it he
said:
“‘I see by this that you are a captain?’
the fort. It was thought that none of the
Indians had come as far east as the fort, and
Colonel Simpson felt sure that any who might
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Smith, Carey. The Matagorda County Tribune. (Bay City, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, June 12, 1914, newspaper, June 12, 1914; Bay City, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1299678/m1/8/?rotate=270: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Matagorda County Museum & Bay City Public Library.