Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1860-12-12
An Appeal
To the citizens OF Texas by the
People Of the FIoatieI.

feJpie OF the fIoatieT.
BTsiksFrn snd Eslioe- Gtissss,-
The hearliess sayages fronihe North aud
Northwest, in large maranding hands, are
pouring iR upon Us-slanghtering the eli-
Iens OF our state, sparing neither age, sea, or
condition, They are robhing and plunder-
ing as OF our properiyi harning our hous-
esi sealplng our defeneeless wives and in
noeent ehildren-oiheIs, they carry away
into captivity. We have ready hands aud
willing hearts, bat our feet are tied, and
oE spirits broken, because We have not the
H,saas of self defense. Our property is
gomez and our substance has passed into
the hands OF murderers, thieves aud viii
lains, the enemies OF our race and o. you,
the citizens OF the entire State, without dis
crlulination Of party, or profession, We
make this, our APPEAL. and humbly in
! woke your aid, aud heseeeh you Ia come To
b our assistance, We know Of mo-, other quar-
ter TO which we may 60, With amy degree Of
certainty for relief, but to you
We will not say thai our Government
TW not protect our ''persons aud property
from the ruthless grasp Of "PuBllc EN-
I ENVY hut We ell say, in Gods truth, IL
has no. done Il, Though We have responded
TO the calls of our Government, in full sat
isiaclioR vi every demand made upon MS,
paying oar Taxes, aud laboring for the pub
lie, 60 al IA common, as other good and 10y
al citizens of our State have done, yet
the "iied Man the hearlless and gIailess
savage with impunily aud without ohslrne-
ton, like the whitening and deadly Nam-
pire, settles down upon rs, blasting our
hopes, manning our prospects, and sapplng
away the life blood of our people,
What must, or what cdR We do? Can u
man stand ON the threshold of his habita-
tion, day and night, without repose, with
his r"a l., HE head, a"d r~.sa Lse.~ifs e.a
children against his stealihy and cunning
enemy? No. Nature gives away, he sinks
from exhaustion then his enemy falls upon,
aud blols him out forever, In illustration
of this; need we point You To the sickening
waste, now smoking fresh in human gore
through Jack, Parker Palo Pinto and other
counties On the Frontier. Need We point
you To the cold aud ghnslly forms Of Mr..
White, Mr.. Brown, Mrs. Sherman, Mrs.
Gage, and those inohending little children,
and others who are now lying here promis-
cuously scattered around us, buried and
unburied. Need We point you TO the bleed
ing wounds of these yet surviving and groan-
ing monuments Of rapinc and murder, now
lying before MS. Need we show you the
track of those who have been abducted and
torn away from us, and OF whom we can
give You no information. Need we rciter-
ate In your hearing the hcart-rcnding mar
ratives disclosed by Mrs. Sherman, who,
thank God, survived long enough with the
sense God gave her, to tell much Of the bru-
, tai and ficndish treatment she received nj
their hands. Do you see ffiy-hvc Red De-
f mons seize upon her trembling form, drag
her away into an open prairie, and abuse
, her person with damning violence, too re-
voting to be known in n Christian world
, Now one winds her beautiful and flowing
) hair, around his left hand, with his right
inserts the scalping knife, entirely around
+ her head, just above the ears, places his
= right foot upon the neck of her Frustrated
= body, and while the suffering and innocent
| woman, shrcks and cries for mercy, he
: tears away the covering of nature, leaving
= the skull-bone bare! See that nude and
| bleeding form groaning and struggling, to
crawl in the mud and cold rain, TO n hole
f for water to drink, when her friends found
c her. Need we review in your memory, the
diving words of the daughters Of Mrs. Land
i man a beautiful and sprightly child, Twelve
n years of age, who recognized Capt IL. A.
Hammer, when lie approached her immedi.
n ately after the horrd tragedy; she liked
Y her ewes upon him, raised her little hands
and grasped his, and with feeble voice, said
n "Oh! Capt. Hammer, yrotect me. lhei
It placing her hand upon her lacerated ant
heaving breast, said: Here. the Indians
y shot me FIVE tines pulled out the arrow.
l. MYSELF! Again, she said, 'oh how it die
pain my heart to see them kill my mothel
If and my poor little brothers and sisters !!
j. Those soul stirring scenes, we say, and I'M
If MANY othora of like character we conit
point to, will fully demonstrate the fact
It that man cannot always hold arms be
IS tween himself and danger.
e We would not in spirit of Boosting, re
l. mind you of the history Of the people o
this Frontier, but we may ask you, if W
A.. have not driven your savage foe from bctor
IS YOUR face, and out of your sight? HAY
le not civilization and prosperity reared he
l. towering domes high in the footsteps O
these pioneers? Have not school-room
k and churches sprung up, as by magic, II
II rear of the onward march of this frontier
d Have not these people cut down the forest
c. cultivated the earth, enhanced the value o
II your lands, made marketsfor your industry
and security and peace for your children
c. Have VIC not stood between you and thes
&c sayages periling our lives against then
o. whilst you have had peaceful times, and b.
he your honest industry have grown rich =
T., And must we still bear up, or shall we CIV
$. way. and let these barbarians come dow
rs upon you?
ut There must be Frontier at some point
n To the North, and Northwest of us, lies
tie belt of country from fifty to one hundre
miles in width once settled by an enterprls
- ing and industrious people, but who nav
t. been compelled to recede from the overpow
IS ering savage and have fallen back at eac
Il step, letting them in nearer to you, an
st when and where shall this retro-misratlo
a. cease?
Fellow-citizens the time was during tn
lc existence of the nationality of the gloriou
j. alone Star Republic" that blow stricke
ID one citizen of that Government, was but til
s. t,csin of war in all The bugle blast wa
a. sounded her bold and daring patriots tle
IN to arms, the fire of patriotism gleame
IN from every eye, inspiring the hearts Of
tn to strike for home and ours Have the fire
w of that day been extinguished? Have tn
hearts of the people grown cold and sordit
&c and are we doomed by an inevitable fatal
1t, ty, from imbecility, and wait to DC Gu
ed down in our tracks by an insolent Zoe, wh
he have, rs vet been unchecked, except by IN
to citizen soldiers of this Frontier? we hop
IL not, and we make the appeal to each an
re ALI, the interior and Southern portion {
he our State, and ask YOU will you SEND U
SOME MEN, AND MUNITIONS of WAR
i'll We know where our enemy is quartere'
o. and with your assistance we will follow hi
I'M into his mountain fastness, and there de;
he with him as the God of Justice shall enabl
us.
he We might make direct personal appea
tie to many bold and chivalrous spirits, Who'll
he We know, but we refrain, believing, as W
er do. that each and all will aid to the extei
of their ability.