German-Texan Heritage Society, The Journal, Volume 32, Number 3, Fall 2010 Page: 175
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: German-Texan Heritage Society Publications and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the German-Texan Heritage Society.
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night while it was moonlight, and thus, by forced riding my horse, which was an excellent one, I could be in Fred
icksburg by noon of the next day.
In a very agitated state, I hurried to Governor Murrah and asked him to give me a letter of safe conduct to ta
with me to the commanding officer of the Border Battalion. Murrah firmly advised me against undertaking the t
alone. I should delay until the detachment, which had to wait here a few days, returned again to the frontier, a
accompany them. He informed me that lately the Indians had repeatedly created trouble some twenty to twenty-f
miles this side of Fredericksburg and that he himself would send no more dispatch riders between the border and 1
capitol without military escort. I still stood firm upon my resolution to set out that afternoon and when he saw t]
there was no alternative he gave me the written safe conduct, the original of which lies before me now, and reads:
Executive Department, Austin, Texas
February 27, 1864
Mr. Julius Schuetze, a respected citizen of the city of Austin, is traveling to Fredericksburg and vicinity, wh
his brother, Louis Schuetze, may recently have been murdered: He is for that reason entitled to protection and h
on the part of all civil and military troops and I request such troops to render him every possible protection and
he may require. Major James M. Hunter is herewith ordered to give him all necessary assistance so that he can si
cessfully conclude his investigation.
P. Murrah, Governor
In addition the Governor supplied me with a Confederate officer's coat, believing that it could, in some possi]
way afford me a measure of protection.
I soon took leave from all loved ones and around the third hour of the afternoon I rode through the Colora
River toward the West. I rode a splendid six year old horse which Alfred Smith had sold to me for $150.00 in gol
year before, on condition that, in case he wished to buy him back again he would have the right of purchase for 1
same price. I was armed with a Sharp's breech loader carbine and a Colt revolver. A small light meal was in my s(
dle pocket and a military cloak buckled on behind the saddle. Light footed as a deer, my fresh lively steed trot
along. I readily calculated that at six miles an hour, which I could make with ease, I would be in Fredericksburg
eight o'clock the next morning.
It was a warm sultry afternoon as I rode through the ford of the Colorado at the upper part of the city. Y
scarcely had I reached the first high western plain than I noticed in the north the well known streak of bluish bla
cloud bank which spread toward the south with great speed. Soon the effects of the coming storm were quite perc
tible and I knew that before long I had to do battle with an icy "blue" norther.
With unbelievable velocity the norther approached. I was scarcely six miles out of Austin when the first l
blast struck me with hard raindrops from the right. I took little notice of the weather, for I had made it throu
worse. As a freighter twelve years before, I had traveled through the fabled prairies of southwestern Texas in 1
dead of winter. I hurried forward, defiant of the wet, cold, and storm. and in full manhood. What was a "lit
weather" to me. Yet, after only an hour the rain had changed to sleet, my hands and feet were numbed with cold a
I suspected that when night came it surely would worsen.
It had become dark when, twelve miles from the city I became aware of a house on the left side of the road. t
til then the way had led through wooded country. From there on it went over only a few wooded hills until well-ni
Grape Creek. I reflected a moment. If I set out on this road over which I must travel, then no more houses existedit for a distance of forty miles. A good spirit whispered in my ear: "No farther this night!"
I rode to the house and inquired about a night's lodging for myself and my horse, for which I would willingly
responsible. I had hit upon the right man and the right house. George Hessner! This earth cannot produce a bra,
more gallant German gentleman than he. It was his hospitable roof I had found. He lives to this day, still enjoys
good health and hopefully will yet live long, prosperous and contented years. To his welcomed hospitality I owe
life, for if I had ridden farther on that night, of certainty I would have perished.
(To be continued)
Texas Vorwarts. June 11, 1866.
Around midnight a fearsome snow storm blew in, with lightening and thunder and swept through the woo
almost like a tornado. It tore branches from the trees and shortly the house itself heaved. Next morning the sky wa
entirely clear yet it was bitter cold; the earth was covered with snow and ice; everything was hard frozen. We w
snow bound.
The next morning my good host, to whom I had imparted the tragic reason for my journey, was up lon
before day. He had fed my horse and prepared breakfast for he understood my urgent need for haste. Just as th
first rays of the morning sun touched the summit of the hills, I took leave of the hospitable farm and struck out t
ward the west.er-
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German-Texan Heritage Society. German-Texan Heritage Society, The Journal, Volume 32, Number 3, Fall 2010, periodical, Autumn 2010; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1507480/m1/23/?q=waco+tornado: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting German-Texan Heritage Society.