Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-09-06
THE REUNION.
An Enjoyable Day with the Old
Soldiers and Pioneers.
Gen. Mccullough and Governor ThrOck-
morton Give Some Interesting Rem
iniscenceS of the Early Days
in Texas.
An Eloquent and Interesting Address on the
Late War, Its Causes and Effects.
Notes About the Grounds.

The skies were blue and gray yester-
! day, and not much of the blue was seen,
either, for the gray overspread it most Of
! the time. Not an ideal day for reunion
in the groves by any means, for from the
! time the rain commenced falling in the
morning to nightfan it seemed almost
every moment that the next would bring
q shower
| But to those who had faith it was
| pleasant day after all, for not q drop fell
| after the time had arrived for the open
| ing of the ceremonies on the grounds,
and what had previously descended
| served to cool the atmosphere and still
did not wet the ground enough to make
mud.
The attendance in the morning was
quite slim, but the later cars brought
many more people, and by the middle OF
the afternoon there was large crowd
present.
THE PIONEERS MEET.
The morning hours were devoted to the
meeting of the Texas pioneers. They
| met under the small arbOr Capt. w
G. Veal was called TO the chair, and
Hon George G.. PendIetou of Bell county
was made secretary.
Capt Veal made few remarks con-
corning the value of such an organization
IN preserving to history the scenes and
incidents of early times in Texas.
Gen. Henry f. Mccullough was then
called for, and responded IN a speech,
the plain and simple style Of which, no
less than the subject matter, rendered it
peculiarly interesting and touching.
He said he scarcely felt justified in ap-
pearing as q Texas pioneer. He had
been in Texas fifty-twO years, but there
were many men yet living who had come
before he did. He could not forget how
when he came here a boy and homeless,
those who had preceded him took him to
their homes and their hearts rs though
he had always been one Of them. The
men welcomed him at the gate and the
women welcomed him at the threshold.
There were not many people in Texas
when he came. but he thought they were
the best people he ever found in his life.
| He loved the old people of Texas, and he
loved their offspring whom he met here.
TIE MIER EXPEDITION.
Gen. Mccullough proceeded to describe
a number OF fights and expeditions of the
early days, in many of which he had
borne part. He was not at San JacintO,
he said but his brother was, and he felt
therefore that he was a sort of step
brother to the survivors of that glorious
battle. He had been present when zoe
sturdy Texans had whipped 1900 MeXi-
cans and he had helped organize an ex-
petition tc invade Mexico. With an
army of 500 men they started
on the expedition. 4 more poorly
equipped srmy never set out for
conquest Gen HemphiH was elected
quarter master and what TatiOns do you
suppose he issued? Beef and
beef Only-nOt mOuthful of
bread There was one tent in the army.
1t belonged to Gen. HemphilI. IN few
DAYS after starting 81 rain came up,
and they had TO take the tent for
cOmmissary to protect their ammuni-
ton. There was not a wagon III the
whole army, and the extra ammunition
had to be packed on horses. This
strangely equipped army moved out,
went into Mexico, captured two towns,
and came back without suffering a
defeat. Unfortunately some Of the men
strayed of into the Mier expedition,
were captured and met disaster and
death.
THE PLUM CREEK FIGHT.
''Teu about the Plum Creek fight, -
called somebody from the audience.
"'Now you want me to talk about
myself, - said Gen. Mccullough.
''That's what we want.
''WelI, it 5 more about my wife, so I
don t mind, for she is one of the nOblest
women God ever made. For more than
forty-nine years we have lived together,
and | love her more and admire her more
than when we first began.
He said that the Indians had come out
in unusual force and had sacked 81 sea-
port town. force of men was organ
lied to drive them out. The commander
thought his force strong enough to fol-
low the redskins and keep them from do
ing much harm, but not strong enough
to fight them. He and his brother Ben
and others thought they ought to fight,
and so raised force to attack the In
dams. He was under obligation to stay
and guard the family Of the
young lady to whom he was en-
gagged, and whom he was
lust about to marry. The wedding was
to come of about the time he knew the
fight would take place, and so he asked
the young lady to agree TO postpone
ment Of the marriage and allow him 20
go to the fight She agreed on cOndi-
ton he should bring her the scalp of an
Indian whom he slew himself.
Suppose l fail?'' he asked.
81 won't say she replied, "that
l wouldn't have you, but 1 do say 1
don t want you.
He went to the fight. Four Of them
killed five Indians, he would not say
who killed two. He told his brother
he wanted a scalp and why he wanted it.
He got of his horse to scalp an
Indian took hold of his hair, drew his
knife and tried to lift the scalp. To
save his life he could not cut the dead
mans skin. He cut of a lock Of his hair,
took it to his sweetheart, told her the
whole story, and she accepted it and
him.
OLD THROCK.
At the conclusion of Gen. McCoI-
lough's speech Capt. Veal made a few