CHAPTER XXIX.

First Schools and Teachers of Thorp Spring and Vicinity-Murchison, Dixon and Howell Families-Incidents of War Times, Illustrating the Daring Character of the Women-Other Facts Concerning Attack on the Caddos.

Where in the preceding chapter it is said there were no schools west of the Brazos, it should have been, that there were but few, for, indeed it appears there were several short terms taught at Thorp Spring and in the Lambert neighborhood. Among these early teachers were Mrs. Olive Wright, wife of a Methodist preacher. She taught three short terms at Thorp Spring; and Lafayette Halford also taught after her, in the double log house built here by Mr. Joe Arrington, and which building, now boarded over and long since known as the Matheney place, is still standing; and is now occupied by Mr. Wells. A Mr. Stokes also taught during the war at the Formwalt place; and Nick Fain near Lambert's place, where Granbury now stands. Just after the war Capt. J.M. Murchison settled at Thorp Spring, but prior to his coming from Fort Worth, his wife taught school. Mrs. Murchison and Mrs. Howell, wife of A.T. Howell, were daughters of Mr. Dixon. These families all settled about Thorp Spring a few years after the war and were long residents here. Dixon died here some years ago and Murchison and Howell have moved to the west, where they still live. They all contributed largely in their good influences to the material and moral well-being of this community. Murchison having been merchant and postmaster for many years, it is said that during a period when the regular mail line did not embrace Thorp Spring, he voluntarily assumed the arduous task of personally carrying the mail from Granbury, and often made the trip of three miles on foot.

But, reverting to the earlier period of the war; it was said heretofore that the women and boys became soldiers in spirit, but facts are more potent than conclusions, and illustrating this conclusion, Mrs. Louisa Garland and Mrs. Nancy Thorp, often in visiting sick neighbors, with their guns and pistols in hand or upon the horns of their saddles, went alone, or with some other lady, sometimes at night during the dangerous seasons of moonlight. On one of these occasions Mrs. Thorp, the very day following a known raid of Indians upon Stroud creek, in company with another lady, rode four or five miles up the creek to the Helms neighborhood to visit and aid a sick lady. Arriving, they found some of the neighbors rallied at the place and armed for mutual defense. On another occasion, Mr. J.B. Hightower, who resided in Erath county, came to the Spring to escort a daughter, then attending school there, to their home, and the two, riding through the prairie toward the head waters of Stroud and Robinson creeks, encountered a party of Indians, who endeavored to circle around them and cut off their retreat, but the daughter, not less expert and bold than her father, kept her horse by his side as they sped swiftly on and left the pursuing enemy far behind. Again, shortly after that most dangerous period prior to the war, when the Caddo Indians of the reservation, galled by the chastisement their tribe had received from Capt. Peter Garland near Golconda, were raiding upon and murdering people to the west of us; Mr. Thornton, whose wife was a daughter of Capt. Garland, decided not to flee with the many others from his home on Barton's creek; but, backed by his brave wife, they determined to risk their lives in defense of their home. And it was but a short time till the courage of both was put to the test, for a party of Indians intercepting Thornton a short distance from his house, he took refuge in a thicket where they scarcely dared to venture on him. After exhausting their cunning to induce him to come out, one of them precipitated his horse directly upon him and fired, severely wounding him, and he in turn wounded the Indian, whose party then left him. Then calling his wife, who, finding him bleeding profusely, stayed the blood as best she could, and immediately mounted her horse and sped away several miles for the nearest aid. And during this trying period of danger by such heroism proving herself worthy the father whose conduct had recently incurred the revengeful spirit of the Indians.

Here it is proper that I state more explicitly the facts showing that Capt. Garland had just reason for his attack upon these reservation Indians of the Caddo tribe, since the impression has to some extent obtained that in my relation of this affair in a former chapter too much color of blame was directed toward his conduct. In that relation many circumstances were shown to indicate that Capt. Garland and his men were aroused by strong reasons for suspicioning these Indians of foul and heinious crimes, which, however, did not subsequently prove to be justly imputable to them. Since writing that chapter upon the facts then before me, I have come in possession of a published account by Col. R.B. Barry, as told in Mr. Wilbarger's book of Indian depredations, wherein, after relating the horrible details of an Indian raid, when Mrs. Woods, Mrs. Lemley and the two Misses Lemley had been captured, the two first murdered and all attrociously abused, all of which occurred close to where Garland then lived, and the two rescued women taken destitute to his house for attention, Col. Barry proceeds to state that, "whenever such raiding parties of Indians were followed it was invariably observed that after a time the trail divided, and that a part of the Indians had gone off in the direction of the reservations; and, finding many of our horses on the reservations, we were led to believe that at least a portion of the reserve Indians were concerned in the raids made upon the settlements by the wild Indians." Following this, he proceeds to show the facts of citizens attacking and killing reservation Indians in the very act of stealing their horses. In addition to this testimony, it is shown by those in position to know that Capt. Garland had actually found his own stolen horses in the possession of the Indians, both prior to his attack and at the time it occurred. So that in this, there were two sides to the question as to whether or not Garland was primarily responsible for the serious state of affairs which followed his attack upon the Caddo camp heretofore alluded to. There are yet surviving, many contemporaries of those times, who upon their own observations are disposed to accept the one side or the other according to their bias. Garland was honored and trusted by the people who knew him best, and were personally cognizant of all the events.

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