CHAPTER VIII.

Pioneers Continued-Peter Garland-Night Attack on the Caddos-Rescue Gap-A "Fresh from the States"

Peter Garland was an early settler of energy and spirit identified with many of the important events anterior to and after the organization of Hood county. He first settled upon Barton creek, and it was he who organized and led the assault upon the Caddos near Golconda (Palo Pinto) in 1859. This unfortunate affair, to which allusion has already been made in Chapter III, was of such wide and baleful results upon the frontier settlements as to cause a considerable retrograde movement of those settled far west of the Brazos upon that stream, and thereby giving to the territory of which Hood was composed a citizenship originally designed for the farther west. And fidelity to my subject admits of the following account of it, as given by Mr. D.H. Eddleman:

A man named Lavender, on Buck creek, reported among the whites that he had been deliberately shot at by Caddo Indians camped on Sunday creek, and so aroused the whites that John Middleton of "Middleton Point" organized and led an assaulting party against the camp of the Caddos, but before bringing on the attack, a parley was had and upon the Indians denying the charge of having fired upon Lavender, it was agreed that they should remove their camp from the settlement in peace, which stipulation they complied with by moving to the vicinity of Golconda. Meanwhile Garland having organized his post at Stephenville soon got upon the trail of the departing Caddos, and not being advised of the foregoing stipulations, and finding remnants of female apparal, with perhaps other evidences along the trail from which they concluded that the Indians had committed murder and other depredations against white women, their camp being located, the night assault was planned, resulting in the killing of all the Indians in the camp, save perhaps two squaws and as many children. John Stephens of the attacking party was also killed. Subsequent investigation seems to have fully exonerated the Indians from the crimes imputed to them, but it is quite probable that feelings of hostility had gradually been growing up for some time between some of the white settlers who had suffered depredations upon their stock and the Caddos, which required but slight circumstances added as fuel to that fire which brought forth such fury upon the almost defenseless Caddos, while peacefully sleeping on that fatal night. The revengeful spirit of the Indian was now aroused throughout the Caddo tribe, the war paint put on, murder, raping and consternation carried into the white settlements indiscriminately. In the retrograde movement Garland settled on Stroud's creek about a mile above Thorp Spring, and seems always to have been a caring fighter and bitter foe of the Indians, inspired by a deep seated hatred of the race. He was engaged in other fights and pursuits of them, one of which germane to my text, occurred about the close of the civil war, at what is known as "Indian Gap," or sometimes called "Rescue Gap," from the circumstance of this fight. This is a pass in the mountainous region of Palo Pinto county through which the Indians in their depredations into the settlements made their entry and exit, and to which the whites on being apprised of their presence would hasten in the hope of cutting them off with their booty. On the occasion referred to a considerable band of Indians having stolen into the settlements, crossed to the east of the Brazos, and among other depredations murdered Jim Savage, a recently returned ex-Confederate and his wife, residing on Spring creek in Parker county, took his two children, a boy and a girl, captives. Meanwhile the whites discovering the presence of the Indians, repaired to the "Gap" in time to intercept them. Among this party were Garland, Jeff Scott, Uncle Billy Powell and probably other Hood County men. The Indians coming up after some fighting, the two small captive children availing themselves of an opportunity afforded during the fighting, clambered upon a prominent rock, and the eldest, some ten or twelve years old, made signals to the whites, by which they were discovered to be white children, a rush was made to the spot and the children rescued.

Peter Garland lived for many years an honored citizen of Hood county, holding the office of County Treasurer for several years after the organization of the county. He was a man of stout physical appearance, and had been so put upon the alert by his encounters with the Indians that few persons in this section knew so well as he the topography of the country. He could travel for many miles by the light of the stars with more accuracy than most men by that of the noonday sun. He was a "rough ashler" of frontier citizenship. Illustrative of his plain and direct methods of making himself understood I relate the following incident: Late one evening in March 1871, a young man of seedy aspect appeared on the public square in Granbury and introduced himself into a crowd of officials in front of the old log court house, Garland being one of the number. The young man being questioned, it was learned that he was a "fresh" from Kentucky, and desired to locate for the purpose of taking up the study and practice of law. He was kindly advised to consult Capt. Milwee, an old lawyer, and Garland proposed, as he lived near Milwee's and was soon going home, to escort him there, which proposition was acceptable, and the young man awaiting Garland's convenience was strolling off from the court house, when Garland hailed him to go, by calling out, "'Squire! 'Squire!" but no response coming, he readily took in the situation and yelled, "I say you man, with the ragged pants on," instantly the "fresh" young man recognized that it was himself that was being called and then for the first time learned that in Texas lawyers were called "Esquire," that distinction which in Kentucky was only conceded to Justices of the Peace.

2000 HOOD COUNTY TEXAS HISTORICAL DOCUMENT TRANSCRIPTION TEAM