The Scouting Expeditions of McCulloch's Texas Rangers; or, the Summer and Fall Campaign of the Army of the United States in Mexico--1846; including Skirmishes with the Mexicans, and an accurate detail of the Storming of Monterey; also the Daring Scouts at Buena Vista together with anecdotes, incidents, descriptions of country, and sketches of the lives of the celebrated partisan chiefs, Hays, McCulloch, and Walker. Page: 69
251 p. : ill. ; 20 cm.View a full description of this book.
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A RIDE IN THE CHAPARRAL. 69
within a few miles of the mouth of the St. Juan, to some extent
down the Rio Grande. It is the only point not subject to overflow
anywhere near the head of navigation. The town site is a high
bluff, only three miles from Coniargo by land; and, since the
destruction of the latter place by the flood, bids fair to become one
of the most important points for the Mexican trade on the whole
Texian frontier. The land is very rich and fertile; and, taking
all its advantages into consideration, it is undoubtedly one of the
most eligible points for a city that the valley of the Rio Grande
can boast.
At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, we started with our guide on the
trail which led off from the rancho in a northerly direction. The
sign was plainly visible, and that a large party of savages were
banded together, on a marauding expedition, was evident enough,
even to those among us most unpractised in wood craft. The
guide, poor fellow, was extremely fearful, and took particular pains
not to place himself too far in advance of the command. And
right good cause had he to be so, for a more unmerciful set of demons,
than the Comanches, never scoured the border-side. It is
their custom never to take a man prisoner, and should one be so
unfortunate as to fall into their hands, his fate is sealed for ever.
No chance for escape is left him-death, immediate, terrible, and
certain, is his inevitable doom. It was only with much persuasion,
and tempting offers of reward, that our guide could be prevailed
upon, in the first place, to pilot us through the chaparral;
and when it is remembered that he was mounted on a miserable
jaded mule, and was compelled to ride back alone to the rancho,
running the risk of being cut off by the Indians at every step he
took upon the homeward track, it is not to be wondered at, that he
felt, and manifested extreme reluctance in undertaking this profitable
but perilous service. Onward we pushed, however, our captain
riding directly in his rear, and the whole command following
as fast as possible in single file.
The chaparral was so dense, that it was only with great difficulty
we could force our way through, and at the same time follow
the half-obliterated trail. Our lacerated and bleeding hands,
faces and legs, gave us a scratching of what we would have to
suffer before the termination of this scout. Sticking into our flesh
and torturing us most horribly, we bore beautiful specimens of that
most prickly of all thorny plants, called by botanists the cactus,
but better known to us as the omnipresent, and infernal prickly
pear. How the half-clad savages ever rode through that country,
with the rapidity they did, was always to us a wonder and a
bmarvel
About nightfall, we pitched our camp upon the border/ of a
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Reid, Samuel C., Jr. The Scouting Expeditions of McCulloch's Texas Rangers; or, the Summer and Fall Campaign of the Army of the United States in Mexico--1846; including Skirmishes with the Mexicans, and an accurate detail of the Storming of Monterey; also the Daring Scouts at Buena Vista together with anecdotes, incidents, descriptions of country, and sketches of the lives of the celebrated partisan chiefs, Hays, McCulloch, and Walker., book, 1859; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth38096/m1/73/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Austin History Center, Austin Public Library.