The Men Who War the Star: The Story of the Texas Rangers (53 page)

  9: Confederate Frontier

1. Long,
   Memoirs of Robert E. Lee,
   85–87; Smith,
   Frontier Defense,
   19; Barry,
   Buck Barry,
   132; Twiggs to Col. Samuel Cooper, AG USA, November 28, 1859, U.S. Congress,
   Difficulties on Southwestern Frontier,
   73–74.
   
2. Holden,
   Lambshead,
   86; “some white men . . . ,” Barry,
   Buck Barry,
   120–23; Davis,
   The Texas Rangers,
   43.
   
3. Smith,
   Frontier Defense,
   21–22.
   
4. Darrow, “Recollections of the Twiggs Surrender,” 33; Smith,
   Frontier Defense,
   22–23; Barry,
   Buck Barry,
   126–27; An Act to provide for the protection of the Frontier of the State of Texas, February 7, 1861,
   Laws of the Eighth Legislature,
   10; An Act Making an appropriation to pay for supplies furnished the troops now on the frontier, February 8, 1861,
   Laws of the Eighth Legislature,
   1. Henry McCulloch commanded six different companies of Rangers between 1846 and 1851, gaining a reputation as an Indian fighter along the Nueces Strip and in the Hill Country of west-central Texas. See Brown,
   History of Texas,
   2:356–59.
   
5. Report of Bvt. Maj. Gen. D. E. Twiggs, February 19, 1861,
   Official Records of
   the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion
   (hereinafter cited as
   OR
   ), 1:1:503ff.; Darrow, “Recollections of the Twiggs Surrender,” 34.
   
6. Long,
   Memoirs of Robert E. Lee,
   87–88; Darrow, “Recollections of the Twiggs Surrender,” 36.
   
7. Barry,
   Buck Barry,
   126–27. By a “majority” vote, Barry apparently believed that the convention was expressing a popular mandate. It is academic, however, because when the referendum was held, most Texas counties voted overwhelmingly to secede, the opposition being mainly in the pro-Union German settlements.
   
8. Headquarters, Camp Cooper, Texas, Orders No. 12, February 16, 1861,
   OR
   1:1:541–42.
   
9. Carpenter to Commanding Officer of the State Troops of Texas, February 18, 1861; Dalrymple to Carpenter, February 18, 1861; Carpenter to Dalrymple, February 19, 1861, all ibid., 542–43.
   
10. Barry,
    Buck Barry,
    127–28; “seized by an armed force . . . ,” Col. C. A. Waite, commander DT, to Lt. Col. E. D. Townsend, AAG US, May 25, 1861,
    OR,
    1:1:552–53.
    
11. Davis,
    The Texas Rangers,
    43–44. Terry’s Texas Rangers are mentioned in many works on the Civil War. One of the most notable is
    Terry Texas Ranger Trilogy,
    a compilation of reminiscences by three veterans of the unit, published by State House Press in Austin.
    
12. Smith,
    Frontier Defense,
    xii–xiii, 169.
    
13. Walker to Benjamin McCulloch, March 4, 1861,
    OR,
    1:1:609–10; Henry McCulloch to Barry, March 27, 1861, Barry,
    Buck Barry,
    128–29.
    
14. Clark to Davis, April 4, 1861,
    OR,
    1:1:621; Walker to John Hemphill, April 11, 1861, ibid., 621–22; Smith,
    Frontier Defense,
    28–30.
    
15. Headquarters, Troops in Texas, General Orders No. 8, May 24, 1861,
    OR,
    1:1:574–75; Williams,
    Texas’Last Frontier,
    50–51; Noah Cox to Clark, May 7, 1861, TAGR.
    
16. Barry,
    Buck Barry,
    130–31.
    
17. Ibid., 131–38.
    
18. Mooney,
    Calendar History,
    176, 311.
    
19. Ibid., 176–77; “Our people . . . carried war . . . ,” quoted in Robinson,
    The Indian
    Trial,
    34; Lubbock to Ford, September 18, 1863, Winfrey and Day,
    Texas Indian
    Papers,
    4:77.
    
20. Loving to Lubbock, undated (1862), Winfrey and Day,
    Texas Indian Papers,
    4:67–68.
    
21. Smith,
    Frontier Defense,
    41–43.
    
22. Ibid., 44–45.
    
23. Quoted in Haley,
    Charles Goodnight,
    69.
    
24. Ibid., 69–82.
    
25. Brig. Gen. R. M. Gano and Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Terry to Magruder, August 12, 1863,
    OR,
    1:26:2:159–60; Lubbock to J. S. Ford, commandant of conscripts, September 18, 1863, Winfrey and Day,
    Texas Indian Papers,
    4:77.
    
26. Holden,
    Lambshead,
    93; Proclamation by the Governor (March 26, 1864), Winfrey and Day,
    Texas Indian Papers,
    4:80–81.
    
27. Ledbetter,
    Fort Belknap,
    109–10.
    
28. Hamby, “An Indian Raid in Young County,” Elm Creek Raid Statements; Carson to Col. James Bourland, October 16, 1864,
    OR,
    1:41:1:885–86. This onslaught, generally called the Elm Creek Raid or Young County Raid, was the basis of Matt Braun’s 1972 novel
    Black Fox,
    which was made into a television miniseries with Christopher Reeve in 1995. It was Reeve’s last acting performance before his near-fatal riding accident.
    
29. Henry Williams to Laura V. Hamner, March 11, 1921, Elm Creek Raid Statements; Ledbetter,
    Fort Belknap,
    111–18; Carson to Col. James Bourland, October 16, 1864,
    OR,
    1:41:1:886; Barry,
    Buck Barry,
    179.
    
30. Barry,
    Buck Barry,
    178–79; Haley,
    Charles Goodnight,
    116–19.
    
31. Smith,
    Frontier Defense,
    168–69. Interestingly enough, the Dove Creek fight involved not the Plains tribes but the Midwestern Kickapoos, en route from their ancient homeland to Mexico in the face of unyielding white pressure. When overtaken by the Texans, the Kickapoos sent a delegation under a flag of truce to demonstrate their peaceful intentions, but the whites attacked anyway and were badly mauled by the well-armed, disciplined Indians.
    

  10: Reconstruction

1. Rister, “Documents,” 9:18–19.
   
2. Metz,
   John Wesley Hardin,
   93–94; Ramsdell,
   Reconstruction in Texas,
   67.
   
3. Sheridan,
   Personal Memoirs,
   2:229–32; Fehrenbach,
   Lone Star,
   402.
   
4. Petition from Lampasas County to J. W. Throckmorton, July 15, 1866, in Winfrey and Day,
   Texas Indian Papers,
   4:95–96; various letters, ibid., 97–107.
   
5. AnActtoprovidefortheprotectionof theFrontierof theStateof Texas, September 21, 1866, Texas Legislature,
   General Laws of the State of Texas—1866,
   10–12.
   
6. Fehrenbach,
   Lone Star,
   402–3, 408; Webb,
   Texas Rangers,
   219; Nelson, “Rebirth, Growth, and Expansion of the Texas Militia,” 1–2; Davis,
   Texas Rangers,
   46; Gard,
   Sam Bass,
   31. No doubt ad hoc Ranger companies continued to function without formal state sanction; a section of the Texas Adjutant General’s Files designated “Ranger Reminiscences” contains an account by William B. Roberts, who said he served in a company commanded by his brother, Capt. Alexander Roberts, that scouted in the Hill Country west of Austin in 1868 and 1869. Unfortunately, William Roberts wrote his recollections in April 1937, almost seventy years after the events he described. Consequently, many of the details are confused, and the reader is hard put to ascertain the veracity of the account.
   
7. Richardson,
   Texas,
   211–12; Fehrenbach,
   Lone Star,
   416. The Laredo citizens’ meeting is discussed in a letter from Davis to Governor Elisha M. Pease, March 13, 1854, in Winfrey and Day,
   Texas Indian Papers,
   5:159–63. Davis’s problems as governor were aggravated because his own integrity did not always extend to his appointees. In 1872, Adjutant General James Davidson absconded with $37,454.67 of state money (see Nelson, “Rebirth, Growth, and Expansion of the Texas Militia,” 4–5). It also should be noted that although Reconstruction formally ended in Texas on April 16, 1870, when civil government officially was restored, Radical Reconstructionist rule continued until the end of the Davis administration in January 1874.
   
8. Webb,
   Texas Rangers,
   221; Richardson,
   Texas,
   213; Gard,
   Frontier Justice,
   224. The overall concept and performance of the Texas State Police is reevaluated in Baenziger, “The Texas State Police During Reconstruction.”
   
9. Salmon to Newcomb, June 25, 1870, with subsequent postscript, Winfrey and Day,
   Texas Indian Papers,
   4:316–17. In stating no persons were killed, Salmon was referring to that particular raid because, in a report to Newcomb dated June 23, 1870, he noted that since spring 1865, twelve persons had been killed by Indians, and five captured in Wise County. The Indians were invariably identified as Kiowas and Comanches. Ibid., 4:314–17.
   
10. W. E. Jones to Davis, July 20, 1870, ibid., 4:324–25.
    
11. An Act to Provide for the Protection of the Frontier, June 13, 1870,
    General Laws
    of the Twelfth Legislature,
    5–8; Robinson,
    The Indian Trial,
    48-49; Davis,
    Texas
    Rangers,
    46.
    
12. Sowell,
    Rangers and Pioneers,
    235.
    
13. Eckhart, “Texas Ranger’s Badge,” 48–49. Some vintage photographs show aging Rangers wearing “reunion” badges issued to commemorate reunions of early Rangers.
    
14. Timmons,
    El Paso,
    107–9; Day, “El Paso’s Texas Rangers,” 156.
    
15. Day, “El Paso’s Texas Rangers,” 156; Certification of Indian Wrongs by Gregorio García, Winfrey and Day,
    Texas Indian Papers,
    4:90; List of Animals Stolen by Apaches in San Eluario [
    sic
    ], ibid., 91–92; List of Animals Stolen by Apache in El Paso County, ibid., 92–93.
    
16. Sansom to Davidson, November 26, 1870, TAGF. Sansom commanded one of the ad hoc companies called up by Governor Pease during the raids on the western settlements in 1856.
    
17. Heineman to Falcon, December 30, 1870, TAGF.
    
18. Sowell,
    Rangers and Pioneers,
    233ff.
    
19. Ibid., 270.
    
20. The Henry rifle was a highly efficient heavy-caliber, lever-action magazine rifle that preceded the familiar Winchester. “Needle gun” probably indicated the .50-caliber breech-loading Springfield military rifle, generally called “needle gun” because the long barrel and slender forestock gave it the general shape of a sewing needle. The term was also applied to its successor, the Model 1873 Springfield, caliber .45–70.
    
21. Lt. A. C. Hill to Davidson, February 9, 1871, TAGF.
    
22. Hill to Davidson, February 9, 1871, ibid.; Carter,
    On the Border with Mackenzie,
    51.
    
23. Hill to Davidson, February 9, 1871, TAGF; Robinson,
    The Indian Trial,
    52; So-well,
    Rangers and Pioneers,
    271–75.
    
24. Sowell,
    Rangers and Pioneers,
    270–71.
    
25. Ibid., 270; Sowell,
    Texas Indian Fighters,
    701.
    
26. Cox to Davidson, October 4, 1870, TAGF.
    
27. Cox to Davidson, November 3, 1870, ibid.
    
28. Cox to Davidson, November 22, 1870, ibid.
    
29. Hill to Davis, May 17, 1871, and J. Cicero Jenkinsto Davis, June 4, 1871, both ibid.
    
30. Sherman departed Fort Griffin before the return of two scouting expeditions from the post, one Ranger and one military. Had he waited, he might have learned the seriousness of the problem sooner without having to be convinced by a subsequent massacre. See Robinson,
    The Indian Trial,
    59.
    
31. The complete story of the raid, the trial and conviction of the chiefs, and their effect on the frontier is found in Robinson,
    The Indian Trial.
    
32. The 1873 election and its aftermath are discussed in Moneyhon, “Edmund J. Davis in the Coke-Davis Election Dispute of 1874.”
    

  11: The Frontier Battalion

1. Prassel,
   Western Peace Officer,
   155; Davis,
   Texas Rangers,
   49–50; Webb,
   Texas
   Rangers,
   307–9; King, “Texas Ranger Service,” 345; An Act to provide for the protection of the Frontier of the State of Texas against the invasion of hostile Indians, Mexicans, or other marauding or thieving parties, April 10, 1874, Texas Legislature,
   General Laws of the State of Texas, 1874,
   88.
   
2. King, “Texas Ranger Service,” 345.
   
3. Ibid.; Davis,
   Texas Rangers,
   49–50.
   
4. Gillett,
   Six Years,
   19–20.
   
5. Roberts,
   Rangers and Sovereignty,
   34; Gillett,
   Six Years,
   25.
   
6. An Act to provide for the protection of the Frontier of the State of Texas against the invasion of hostile Indians, Mexicans, or other marauding or thieving parties, April 10, 1874, Texas Legislature,
   General Laws of the State of Texas, 1874,
   84–89; Adjutant General’s Office, General Order No. 2, May 6, 1874, TAGF; Gillett,
   Six Years,
   17–18.
   
7. Roberts,
   Rangers and Sovereignty,
   16.
   
8. Webb,
   Texas Rangers,
   309, 312.
   
9. Ibid., 310–11.
   
10. Jones to Steele, August 9, 1874, TAGF.
    
11. Jones to Steele, September 14, 1874, ibid.
    
12. Jones to Steele, December 1, 1874, TAGR.
    
13. Roberts,
    A Woman’s Reminiscences,
    11.
    
14. McConnell,
    Five Years a Cavalryman,
    296.
    
15. Roberts,
    A Woman’s Reminiscences,
    13–15; Prassel,
    Western Peace Officer,
    157.
    
16. Frontier Battalion, Exhibit “D,” undated, TAGF.
    
17. Roberts,
    Rangers and Sovereignty,
    77.
    
18. Ellington, “When Cattle Trails Were Highways,” 13–14.
    
19. An Act to provide for the protection of the Frontier of the State of Texas against the invasion of hostile Indians, Mexicans, or other marauding or thieving parties, April 10, 1874, Texas Legislature,
    General Laws of the State of Texas, 1874,
    86; Headquarters Company E, Frontier Battalion, Petition, July 31, 1874, TAGF.
    
20. The definitive history of the Red River War is James L. Haley’s
    The Buffalo War.
    It is also discussed in Nye,
    Carbine and Lance,
    and Robinson,
    The Indian Trial.
    
21. “Loss [
    sic
    ] Valley Fight,” 100–1; Jones to Steele, July 14, 1874, TAGF; McIntire,
    Early Days in Texas,
    126–27n1; Robinson,
    The Indian Trial,
    165–66. The Kiowa version of the fight and the events leading to it are in Nye,
    Carbine and Lance,
    102ff. W. S. Nye, who was stationed at Fort Sill in the 1920s and 1930s, interviewed many Kiowa warriors who had participated in raids into Texas, preserving their accounts for posterity.
    
22. The white (or often pearl-gray) hat was not simply a cliché. The light color reflects heat, lessening the possibility of sunstroke during the long Texas summers. Even now, many working cowboys prefer light shirts and hats.
    
23. “Loss Valley Fight,” 100–2; Jones to Steele, July 14, 1874, TAGF; Nye,
    Carbine
    and Lance,
    195–96; Z. T. Wattles to editor,
    Observer,
    August 22, 1874, undated newspaper clipping, TAGF. In his report to Adjutant General Steele, Jones said the Indians were joined by a second band of warriors, bringing their total to at least a hundred. The Kiowa accounts to Nye do not mention a second band.
    
24. Nye,
    Carbine and Lance,
    197; “Loss Valley Fight,” 102.
    
25. Nye,
    Carbine and Lance,
    197–200; “Loss Valley Fight,” 102–3; Jones to Steele, July 14, 1874, TAGF.
    
26. Jones to Steele, July 23, 1874, TAGF.
    
27. Gillett,
    Six Years,
    18.
    
28. Jones to Steele, December 1, 1874, TAGR.
    
29. Sonnichsen,
    I’ll Die Before I’ll Run,
    9; Hendricks,
    The Bad Man of the West,
    19–20.
    
30. Webb,
    Texas Rangers,
    326; Roberts,
    Rangers and Sovereignty,
    87ff.; Douglas,
    Famous Texas Feuds,
    147–50.
    
31. Douglas,
    Famous Texas Feuds,
    152–53; Gillett,
    Six Years,
    48–49.
    
32. Webb,
    Texas Rangers,
    325; Gillett,
    Six Years,
    49; Jones to Steele, September 28, 1875, TAGF.
    
33. Gillett,
    Six Years,
    49–50.
    
34. Webb,
    Texas Rangers,
    327–28; Douglas,
    Famous Texas Feuds,
    159–60.