The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 55, July 1951 - April, 1952 Page: 484

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

elics of Possible Jldial battlee i Wood
Cou ty, exas
ALBERT WOLDERT
N the southeastern part of present Wood County, Texas,
evidence has been found of a possible raid, or battle, which
might have taken place in the late eighteenth century be-
tween Spanish forces and East Texas Indians.
Evidence of this encounter was brought to light by a resident
of Tyler, Texas, who, as a member of a hunting party in 1887,
camped near a large spring in Wood County several miles south-
east of Hainesville and northwest of Bromley. During the trip
several men from near-by farms brought into camp many differ-
ent types of relics, which they had plowed up at a depth of six
inches. These objects included tomahawks; pieces of copper, iron
knives, and hatchets; Indian beads; arrowheads; lead balls about
one-half inch in diameter; sixteen badly-rusted fragments of flint-
lock musket barrels;1 an undated silver coin about the size of a
quarter with the head of a woman on one side and the words
"Sacra Madre" on the reverse; and a copper cross, 3x4x1/ inches,
on which "Holy Mother" in Spanish was also inscribed.
The number of relics of various kinds brought into camp by
the farmers was so great that the men in the hunting party
concluded that a rather large Indian battle may have occurred
there in early times.
The land on which these relics were discovered is located
about eight and one-half miles east of Mineola, about five miles
north of the Sabine River, and three miles southeast of Haines-
ville. Until 186o this land was a virgin forest covered with red
oak, pin oak, hickory, and sweet gum some two or three feet in
diameter. There seemed to be no evidence that this timberland
had previously been cleared or cultivated.
The relics were found scattered over an area about two miles
wide. The first discovery, consisting predominately of arrow-
'The musket fragments, arrowheads, and other relics are now in possession of
Frank Haines, the son of C. H. Haines on whose property they were found.

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