The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1874-08-15

q
Hug, llo said, IN pfcgcicc Of the writer,
"Ucncrm Huston, lldp u no way Ia
fight indians they ufr fUDlinR VIII
us. They are running III NIL their old
men, women, children aud pnck nnl-
mnl- order n charge aud wo can XIII
hundreds and recover our wO men ~
The reply Ut Houston was substnn-
tinlly In these words; "All right, Ben
II charge II ~ Men, mount your hOr-
scs Charge - eco distinctly sounded
In q stentOrinn voice.
Then commenced Il running fight Of
| fifteen miles. All order was speedily
abandoned and groups of men pursued
and fought groups Of Indians. In
numerous cases sharp and bloody
contests occurred between u few on
each side aud in the grand
melee many heroic actions were
performed The Indians abandoned
all their immense booty and only fought
for life. They scattered in all direc-
| tons and were followed accordingly.
The grand feathercd chief having been
killed early in the action, the second
, or builal0-horned chief remained. He
wore IL cap of the bullhlo's head, sur
mounted with dressed horns of the
same animal and had been conspicu.
Gus throughout the action. 1t was the
privilege of the writer, several miles
from the commencement of the action,
to kill that distinguished chief in II
running contest, in the presence
of Adam Iumwalt and Ben Duncan,
two old citizens of Gonzales. Soon af-
ter the butialo-horned cap was deposit
ed in the museum of Cincinnati by the
Hon. John Hayes, and for thirty-four
years, understand, it has remained
there with an inscription something
like this soap of an Indian chief,
killed by Texas boy ut the battle of
Plum creek, August II, 1870"
The triumph of the Texans was per-
fect-the defeat of the grand associa-
ton of Indians, under Mexican pa
tronage, was equally perfect. But for
the mistake of General Huston, in or
dering halt, half the Indians would
have been killed. AS it was, their loss
in life was heavy-in spoils, all they
had. They murdered Mrs Crosby dur
ing the fight, and badly wounded Mrs.
Watts and her negro woman, but we
recovered them and the negro boy.
Mrs. Watts (now Mrs. FretwelD yet
lives in Lavaca, Texas.
OF the prominent men in that fight,
General Huston, General Burlcson,
Colonel Caldwell, Captain Sweitzer,
Captain Bird, Ben McCulloch, Monroe
Hardeman, Captains Word and Bird,
Lieutenant Addison, White, and most
of the officers, and doubtless most of
the men, are dead.
A thousand or more men were close
by, rushing forward, when the battle
occurred, but failed to get up in time.
The most prominent of these We're the
brave old Colonel John III. Moore and
his men, of Fayette, who joined us IN
the afternoon, OH our return to the
battle ground.
Hundreds of incidents are omitted,
illustrative of details and individual
prowess. 1t would be unjust, however,
not to say that the Tanchua chief,
Hdcido, won the admiration of every
one by his reckless daring. While dis
mounted and the skirmishing was go
ing on--HucidO and his braves (hav-
ing come with Burleson on foot
mounted milk white horse from
which a Comanche had been shot, and,
knowing the difficulty of our dis
tinguishing him from the wild
Indians, tied q white rag to
his naked arm, and then dashed
through our hollow square, eX-
hibiting the rag, and eXclaiming
from right to left, in Spanish, "Me
friend! me Placido!" and thence
darted into the midst of the enemy,
flying arrows hither and thither, till
he was enveloped by the enemy, and
only rescued by the daring of poor
Reed, of Bastrop, the McCulloch BROTH
ers, Arch Gibson, Dewitt and a few
others. In so doing, Reed was shot
through the right side by an arrow,
which passed through his body from
nipple to shoulder blade, causing his
death ten years later.
In conclusion, the writer and full
many an old Texan drops tear to
the memory of the brave and true
hearted chief, Pldcido, who, from
his childhood, was the faithful
friend of the Americans of Texas,
and for his fidelity to us was
basely murdered by the wild tribes at
Fort Cobb during the late war; He
was six feet two inches high, hand
somely formed, of majestic bearing, u
master in Workmanship, the soul of
untutored honor, ashamed of the vices
of his tribe, and favorite with every
honest white man who personally
knew him. A Drawer man never
walked the soil of Texas-and his
principles of justice would be honored
by the wisest law-givers the world has
ever seen. A county in Texas should
vet commemorate his virtues by bear
ing his name. HOnored be his memo
ry in the breast of every Texas child.
Omitting much of interest, the forego-
ing is at the service of the Dallas
HERALD.
p. Son reviewing the foregoing,
we find three omissions which may he
justly complained of by men o- their
friends, whose merits would forbid in
territorial neglect.
First-With McCulloch and his dar-
ing few mentioned, should have been
mentioned the brave and heroic Al
rey S. Miller, still of Gonzales county,
one of the only two who miraculously
escaped in 1912 from Dawson's massa-
ere.
Second-That Colonel Henry Jones,
now of Navarro (whose son, Major
John b. Jones, now commands our
frontier troops, was colonel in the
service, only second TO Rurleson IN the
right wing, and won the applause of
all by his gallantry.
| Third-That about the hour of the
contest east of Victoria, DIR. Ball, a
gallant gentleman just from Ken
lucky, was killed by the Indians on the
Texana and Victoria road, while his
companion, John S. Menefee, was
wounded seven times by arrows and
escaped, He still has the seven arrows
at his home In Jackson county. They,
with Mr.. NALL, were out Oh a scout
from the company of Captain Clark
l.. Owens, near by, and NALL was the
only one who escaped unhurt. The
scene of these events was on the care
noso" creek, now the boundary line Of
Jackson and Victoria counties,
Dallas, August, 1874; &.
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