CHAPTER XXVIII.

Perils of the Women and Boys During the War-Their Daring Spirit-With Gideon Mills and Others the Cow Boys Dash into a Party of Indians and Rescue Horses-Incidents about Thorp Spring-Guarding Soldiers-Dawes-Wylie Clark and Boys-Cow Boys at Double Mountain Gap.

Our frontier, during the war period, with its many perils from the stealthy invasions of Indian bands who came into some one or more of the settlements along the creek valleys at each light moon and drove away the horses, was especially favorable to the development of a hardy and daring set of cow boys from the youths who, not being old enough for the regular army service, were left as the main stay and defense of the mother, home and property. Col. R.B. Barry and his noted battallion [sic], during a part of this period, were pursuing the savages far to the northwest but the time came when he and his men were ordered to the east for the regular service, leaving the frontier very greatly exposed to Indian raids. There were no schools to the west of the Brazos to attend, and these boys, many of whose fathers were in the Confederate army, were called into service to guard against Indians, and well did they appreciate and perform such duties. Among the many of this class I mention the Formwalt boys, the Thorp boys, Jno. and Wm. Clark, Jno. Cross and Jno. Middleton. Becoming inured to the perils and alarms incident to their situation, this class of youngsters became both bold and expert in running down the Indian parties when overtaken in their dastardly thefts. And so too, some, thus afforded the unbridled liberties of such a life at this impressive age, developed in subsequent years, into lawless spirits.

About 1862 a band of Indians came into the settlements on Paluxy and were making their escape with many horses stolen from Gideon Mills, and others who, with Ben Tinnin, John Piercy, John Cross, John Middleton and others, hastily pursued, overtaking them near the head-waters of Kickapoo, and it is said the young and reckless cow boys of the party charged so boldly upon the Indians that they were forced to release all the horses, save those they rode, and screening themselves by the timber into which they entered, thus made their escape. The Indians escaped upon some of the stolen horses, leaving their own in lieu, which were claimed and given over to the owners who had lost their own.

At Thorp Spring, when there lived only about five families, including Maj. Formwalt's, the most remote, and Thorp's, the most centrally situated, the women and children of the neighborhood, during the light moon, would regularly every evening just before night-fall, be seen assembling at Thorp's home, each with a pillow or some other bedding, to spend the night together; usually P. Thorp took his post at the stable where the horses were penned, armed to defend his property, while some young man would remain at the house as a guard for the women and children. The other men and boys remaining at their homes to guard against the theft of their horses and the burning of their homes by the Indians. And many were the alarms, some false, some real, which these boys experienced in these duties, thus calling into exercise their acutest senses of watchfulness, caution and courage. When the Indians would get among a bunch of horses if there was one wearing a bell and they could not manage to catch it at once and take off the bell, they would kill it.

While the very women and boys of the frontier, thus imperiled and inured to hardships and alarms, became, in spirit, soldiers, the truth of history impels us to record that there sometimes were found men who, while they bore arms and wore uniforms, seemed to possess none of the courage and enterprise of the true soldier. Thus it is said of one commander, who had been stationed on the frontier for protection against the Indians; that he took up his quarters at a comparatively safe position some fifty or sixty miles within the extreme outline of the frontier settlements; and that when he did venture to sally forth into more exposed regions, he soon returned, saying he would not take his soldiers where the Indians could come upon them and kill them all. Some ladies living far to the west of his most extended expeditions, and whose husbands and sons were away in the regular service, hearing of this, sent him word that he could come out and place his men in camp and they would guard them and see the Indians should not hurt one of them.

Many of the people settled in our territory early in its history, who were active and good citizens, have moved away and been from us so long, that sometimes very worthy names are overlooked. Of such were Jno. J. Dawes, mentioned in a previous chapter, and Wiley Clark, whose boys were active and bold spirits. The first named had settled on Stroud's creek, perhaps as early as 1854, where he lived, engaged principally in stock raising, till he entered the C.S.A. in Maj. Formwalt's company, removing his family during the war to east Texas, but upon its close, settled on the east side of the Brazos, just above the mouth of Long creek. Both Mr. Dawes and Mr. Clark were widely known and highly esteemed for their public spirit and active influence in the affairs of their time here.

A short time after the beginning of the war a party of some eight or ten Indians came down from Paluxy, nearly to Barnard's mill, and passing out along the divide between Paluxy and the head of Robinson creek at the "point of timbers." Their presence being discovered, soon a party, consisting of Wyley, John and Bill Clark, some of the Arringtons, Powells and a Mr. Chambers, with others, were in their saddles, and away to the double mountain gap in Palo Pinto to intercept them and recover the stolen horses, of which they had a considerable number, and chastise them. Upon arriving at this noted point in the night, they discovered from the bunch of horses they found that the Indians were already there and in camp, but, except the horses, no other sign of their whereabouts appeared. It was thereupon agreed that they would deploy and cautiously search about for the sleeping enemy, no one to utter a word till they were found; finally, Chambers coming suddenly upon them, hallooed out, "Here they are, boys!" which immediately awoke them and brought their fire upon him, shooting off one of his fingers, and they fled into the brush and escaped. But the boys recovered all the horses and returned home.

2000 HOOD COUNTY TEXAS HISTORICAL DOCUMENT TRANSCRIPTION TEAM