The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 60, July 1956 - April, 1957 Page: 362
616 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
brought up the rear. Howling like wolves, the Comanches stam-
peded along with the caballado with the Texans in hot pursuit.
Some fifteen Indians had been killed and a number of horses and
mules captured with saddles and baggage before the retreat. At
the end of the ensuing running fight of from twelve to fifteen
miles the number of Indian casualties rose to between sixty and
eighty. Of the four captives the Comanches had taken at Linnville,
Mrs. Crosby was killed and the other three were rescued, although
Mrs. Watts and the negro woman had been wounded.6
The overwhelming defeat that Whitfield Chalk and his com-
rades inflicted on the Comanches at Plum Creek was productive
of a number of far-reaching results. In relation to the Indians, the
magnitude of their losses had a definite restraining influence, and
they ceased to go into the settlements in great numbers, instead
confining their operation to small marauding parties. In relation
to Chalk, the Plum Creek Fight was one of the several steps that
led him up the stairway of Texas history to a permanent position
in the story of the development of the state in its early formative
period. At Plum Creek Chalk met and proved himself to many of
the men whom he was to meet again in the service of the Republic
and later as a servant of the state.
The partial alleviation of the Indian threat was welcomed, but
many complicated problems still faced the struggling Republic.
Among the most pressing considerations was Mexico's continuing
refusal to recognize the independence of her former northeastern
possessions. From March to September, 1842, the Mexicans in-
tensified their campaign to subdue the Texas Republic, hoping in
the end to plant their banner once more on the banks of the
Sabine. Poverty of both the Republic and the citizenry pre-
cluded seriously needed frontier protection. All forces had been
disbanded except for a small group of spies under Jack Hays,
stationed at San Antonio on the extreme western frontier. Fol-
lowing other outrages came the Rafael Vasquez raid on San An-
tonio on March 5, 1842. Six months later occurred General
Adrian Woll's onslaught on the town. Hays's expressmen spread
the alarm, and by September 16, five days after Woll had launched
'6Walter P. Webb, The Texas Rangers (Boston, 1935), 60-62; John Henry Brown,
Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas (Austin, n.d.), 78-82; Morrell, Flowers and
Fruits from the Wilderness, 124-131.362
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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/m1/391/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.