Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas Page: 49 of 894
762 p., [172] leaves of plates : ill., ports. ; 30 cm.View a full description of this book.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
41
them some miles away, and thus enabled th4
women and children to ride. The few peopl
around, though but returned to their desertei
homes after the victory of San Jacinto, shared all
they had of food and clothing with them. Plummer,
after six days of wanderings, joined the
party the same day. In due time the members of
the party located temporarily as best suited the
respective families. A party from Fort Houston
went up and buried the dead.
The experienced frontiersman of later days will
be struck with the apparent lack of leadership or
organization among the settlers. Had they existed,
combined with proper signals, there can be little
doubt but that the Indians would have been held
at bay.
THE CAPTIVES.
Mrs. Kellogg fell into the hands of the Keechis,
from whom, six months after her capture, she was
purchased by some Delawares, who carried her
into Nacogdoches and delivered her to Gen. Houston,
who paid them $150.00, the amount they had
paid and all they asked. On the way thence to
Fort Houston, escorted by J. W. Parker and
others, a hostile Indian was slightly wounded and
temporarily disabled by a Mr. Smith. Mrs. Kellogg
instantly recognized him as the savage who
had scalped the patriarch, Elder John Parker,
whereupon, without judge, jury or court-martial,
or even dallying with Judge Lynch, he was involuntarily
hastened on to the happy hunting-ground
of his fathers.
Mrs. Rachel Plummer, after a brutal captivity,
through the agency of some Mexican Santa Fe
traders, was ransomed by a noble-hearted American
merchant of that place, Mr. William Donoho.
She was purchased in the Rocky Mountains so far
north of Santa Fe that seventeen days were consumed
in reaching that place. She was at once
made a member of her benefactor's family, after
a captivity of one and a half years. She, ere long,
accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Donoho to Independence,
Missouri, and in due time embraced her
brother-in-law, Nixon, and by him was escorted
back to her people. On the 19th of February,
1888, she reached her father's house, exactly
twenty-one months from her capture. She had
never seen her infant son, James P., since soon
after their capture, and knew nothing of his fate.
She wrote, or dictated an account of her sufferings
and observations among the savages, and died on
the 19th of February, 1839. About six months
after her capture she gave-birth to a child, but it
was cruelly murderedin her presence. As remarke
able coincidences it may be stated that she was born
e on the 19th, married on the 19th, captured on the
19th, released on the 19th, reached Independence
1 on the 19th, arrived at home on the 19tb,
and died on the 19th of the month. Her
child, James Pratt Plummer, was ransomed and
f taken to Fort Gibson late in 1842, and reached
home in February, in 1843, in charge of his grandfather.
He became a respected citizen of Anderson
County. This still left in captivity Cynthia
Ann and John Parker, who, as subsequently
learned, were held by separate bands. John grew
to manhood and became a warrior. In a raid into
Mexico he captured a Mexican girl and made her
his wife. Afterwards he was seized with small-pox.
His tribe fled in dismay, taking his wife and leaving
him alone to die; but she escaped from them and
returned to nurse him. He recovered and in disgust
quit the Indians to go and live with his wife's
people, which he did, and when the civil war broke
out, he joined a Mexican company in the Confederate
service. He, however, refused to leave the
soil of Texas and would, under no circumstance,
cross the Sabine into Louisiana. He was still living
across the Rio Grande a few years ago, but up
to that time had never visited any of his Texas
cousins.
RECOVERY OF CYNTHIA A-E PARKER.
From May 19th, 1836, to December 18th, 1860,
was twenty-four years and seven months. Add to
this nine years, her age when captured, and, at the
latter date Cynthia Ann Parker was in her thirtyfourth
year. During that quarter of a century no
reliable tidings had ever been received of her.
She had long been given up as dead or irretrievably
lost to civilization. As a prelude to her
reclamation, a few other important events may be
narrated.
When, in 1858, Major Earl Van Dorn, United
States dragoons, was about leaving Fort Belknap
on his famous campaign against the hostile tribes,
Lawrence Sullivan Ross (the Gen. "Sul" Ross,
a household favorite throughout Texas to-day),
then a frontier Texas youth of eighteen, bad just
returned for vacation from college. He raised and
took command of 135 friendly Waco, Tebusacano
Toncahua and Caddo Indians and tendered their
services to Van Dorn, which were gladly accepted.
He was sent in advance to " spy out the land," the
troops and supply trains following. Reaching the
Wichita mountains, Ros sent a confidential Waoo
and Tehuacano to the Wichita vllage, 75 miles east
of the Washita river, hoping to learn where the
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This book can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Related Items
Other items on this site that are directly related to the current book.
Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas (Book)
A history of pioneers in Texas and their confrontations with local American Indians.
Relationship to this item: (Has Format)
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Book.
Brown, John Henry. Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas, book, 1880~; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth6725/m1/49/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.