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CHAPTER
XVII.
The first party which now came in killed Johnson and his negro servant in
Comanche county and escaped. The next, a man living near the wesern end
of Duffau mounain in Erath county was out stock hunting between the mountain
and a high knob. In a ravine near by he discovered a band of Indians
making arrows in a dogwood thicket. He gave the alarm at once, and in a
very short time a force was raised and divided into two parties. A young man
named Caldwell and three others went to Matherell's Gap and the others to
where the Indians had been seen. The latter discovered the Indians, forced
them out and pursued them on the north side of the mountain and ran them
through the gap. The Indians came sooner than expected and Caldwell
reached the gap just in time to meet them and there the fight commenced.
Caldwell killed one there and the fight continued a short time and then the Indians
ran and a running fight was kept up for a short distance. The Indians
left none of their number behind except the one killed. From this Indian an
arm was taken, carried to the settlements, washed and proved to be that of a
white man. The Indians in their flight killed and stole horses as they went and
passed near my house. My son, Nathan, looking up some cows the next morning
found a bloody flour sack, Stair's mare killed and Ben Trimin't mare badly
wounded. The next day I went to Stephensville and meeting with a returning
party of citizens learned the inroad of the Indians. In 1860 four Indians came
Comanche county and escaped. The next, a man living near the western end
in and killed Jim Phillips on Puluxey, in Erath county. They took his two
horses, scalped Phillips and wore off his hat. Nathan Middleton rode out on
his mule the same evening near to where Phillips was killed and found a cow
and calf, and started to drive them home. The Indians were close by and saw
him but he did not see them. The cow ran across some brakes of a ravine that
ran ino Kickapoo creek to get into the timber. One Indian riding a very small
mule trying to cut Nathan Middleton off, ran down the bed of the ravine to its
mouth. Nathan finding he could not drive the cow in the timber, and not being
anxious to do so, as it was Sunday, left the cow and returned home thus
escaping the Indians.
J. W. White made arrangements to pursue the Indians, and came to my
house. We were to start on the trail early next morning, and the balance of
the men were to come to my house to go on with us, but no one came. We
two went on and trailed them to near the head of Stroud's creek, where two
beeves had been killed. They turned then on to Robertson creek and there we
were joined by Truitt and McKenzie, and we followed the trail to Kickapoo.
We lost the trail there and circled to find where they had crossed the river.
When we reached the river we turned up to Henry Maxwell's on the Weatherford
and Stephenville road. Maxwell had been out and discovered the trail a
few miles above his house. The trail was found running across the river.
White and Truitt swam the river and found one of Phillips' horses which they
brought back. We were told by James Upton, from across the river, before the
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