Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1846-06-05
FRAY CRISTOBAL.
NARRATIVE OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR IN
TEXAS.
BY PERCY b. ST. JOHN.

TEXAS.
BY PERCY b. ST. JOHN.
Before the war which, for MANY years I'll :
ed with desoIaiion and rapine the whole
of Texas, colonization was extending its
beneficial influence into the very heart Of
the country. The untiring energy and per.
severance of the Anglo. Saxon race we're
carrying the arts Of peace and civilization
into the wilds |; and in every district where
wood, water, and fertile land tempted the
adven,urer, arose farms and cultivated fields.
The savages, even the wild and wariAe Co.
manches, we're easily conciliated, and the
whole land was dot,ed-at vast distances one
from the other lit is irue--with smiling home
steads. The happy and noble results would
have ensued, none can doubt, had not the
trump Of war shaken the fabric of society,
and replaced the back settlements Of the con-
diiion of wild and unproduc,ive waste.
Andrew Pollock, a keniuckian land. own
er of no inconsiderable wealth, had been one
of the earliest coonists who determined, al
the instance of Moses Austin, the original
settler to make Texas his home. or pecu-
liar tastes, however, which led him to love
the solitude and sublimi,y of the woods and
the mighty prairies, where none but the pain
ted Indian is found to dwell. Pollock with
his family passed the onlermost borders of
civiliz alton, and erected his ten, some thirty
miles beyond San Antonio de Bexar, within
the district where the Arabs of the Ameri-
can desert, the Comanches.s hunted and
fought. His habitaiion presented, after two
years of care had been devoted to il, a most
pleasing sight. Andrew Pollock had select
ed as his abiding place the mouth of a valley,
where IA stream burst from its pent-up posi-
ton between craggy heights. To the north
and east spread vast plain, dotted with It's
lands and timber, while a thick grove in the
vicinity Of the dwelling showed that the wary
kentuckian was much alive TO the import.
ance of his proximity to wood as TO water
The dwelling and its appurte nanccs had been
erected with care and taste its size betoken-
ing that room had been provided for large
family, while a s,ockade proved that danger
was yet to be feared in that secluded spot
Numerous fields of corn, maize, and other
vegetable productions, were carefully fenced
10, while large herds ofcatte rOamed al will
over the plain, recalled at even by The sound
of the guardians voice and bell.
Early on The first sabbath morn in May,
1885, the whole family and the laborers
were congrega,ed on kind of lawn in front
Of The dwelling al breakfast. The family was
composed Of the father, mother Two sons, and
a daughter, HELEN Pollock, a charming girl,
who added TO the unsophis,ica,cdness of the
Wild the advantages Of an excellent educa.
ton. A dozen farm lahorers, and their wives,
with half as many black slaves. completed
the party, if we add solitary Icdian. who
stood leaning against an upright post little
way from the table. Fray Cris,obal was an
anomaly in his tribe. About two and TWEEN
~, gay, tall, and handsome, with features ut
lerly dis,inc, from his companions, though,
paint and exposure had done their worst this
young man commanded band of warriors,
who carried their arms into the ve,y heart OF
Mexico. His followers, about sixty in num-
Der, il was notorious, we're better accOuired
and better provided in every way than their
fellows, while, different from the usual Indi-
an practice, they yielded implicit obedience
TO their chief Between Pollock and Fray
Crisiobal, as he called himself. a friendship
had subsisted, ever since the farmers se,,le-
ment, which was invaluable 10 the white
man, who in the constant presence of his
Comanche friend at his farm, found his best
protection against injury.
'ItelI you, Fray Crs,oba',' SAID Andrew
Pollock. ION the present occasion you mus,
be mistaken. A Mexican army in full march
on Texas, and = regiment Of dragons about
to pass this way impossible =
Fray Cristobal has seen them. War has
begun, the Mexicans have thousands in the
field. and my friend will feel the frs, blow II
he is not wise, replied the other, calmly, but
sOf this remarkable tribe Of Indians their man.
ners, customs, and pecularitlsssn account will be
found 10 THE Enchanted Rock" little volume by
the author Of the above narrative.