The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 31, July 1927 - April, 1928 Page: 116

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE GERMAN SETTLERS
AND THE INDIANS IN TEXAS, 1844-1860
R. L. BIESELE
This paper will be confined to an account of the relations between
the German settlers and the Indians in the counties of Comal,
Gillespie, Kendall, Llano, and Mason. The contact of the Indians
with the counties of Austin, Washington, Fayette, Colorado, De-
Witt, Lavaca, Lee, and Gonzales is distinctly a relationship with
the Anglo-American settlers. The subject of Indian defense came
up for consideration by the provisional government of Texas in
1835 when "a motion was introduced on December 17, to establish
a special company of ten men to range on the headwaters of
Cummings and Rabb Creeks whenever necessary for the protection
of that part of the country. It was referred to the Committee on
Military Affairs, which reported on December 18 that 'the corps
of rangers already created, is sufficient for the protection of the
country, which the said resolution contemplates.' " Such a com-
pany would have given protection to the few German settlers on
the Mill Creek around Industry, founded by Ernst and Fordtran
in 1831, and at Cat Spring, a settlement made by Robert Kleberg
in 1834. The Texas government, however, as noted, considered
that ample protection for that neighborhood existed. Among the
papers in the Texas Archives there are some accounts of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs with Mr. F. Dieterich of Washington
on the Brazos, but they constitute no relations between the German
settlers and the Indians.?
The first of the Germans to feel that there would be an Indian
problem in connection with the colonization work of the Adels-
verein, or Society of German Noblemen, was Prince Carl of Solms-
Braunfels, its commissioner-general.3 In his first report to the
%Muckleroy, Anna, "The Indian Policy of the Republic of Texas," in
THE SOUTHWESTERN HISTORICAL QUARTERLY, XXV, 255-256. Miss Muck-
leroy cites Gammel, Laws of Texas, I, 676, 678-679.
2Texas Archives, Texas State Library, Republic of Texas Indian Affairs,
1845-1860. The six accounts in the list total $260.59 and date from
January 24 to June 22, 1845. They deal with articles which Dieterich
furnished to the Indian Bureau.
'The Adelsverein, or Society of German Noblemen, was organized at
Biebrich on the Rhine, April 20, 1842. It set ,itself the task of guiding

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