The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1902-12-26
A TEXAS "REMINISCENCES.
The Story Of the Siege OF Flat Top
Mountain Told by Ranger

Mountain Told by Ranger.
Correspondence OF the Globe Democrat
Tho Globe. Democrats correspondent took .
n blackboard ut stamford. Joucs county,
which is the northwestern IcVas terminus
Of tho Texas Central railroad, and drove
to lfiat Ton mcuutaiu, distance Of twcuir <
miles, through pasture which inclos,
under one fcucc 10000 acres cf grazing
lond Fiat Top IS ono of thousands at !
huttes scattered irrcgularly in that region
FROM MS pinnacle one can SEQ rs far MS
vision can rcnch " rs nov . land ~ farm /
crs and stock BisciH, but when the writer I
was there, between twenty and thirty |
years ago, It was land Of death and DAD /
IN 1915 the year or tho Custer commity.l
on the Little Big Horn, being then Tcxas /
Ranger. the Globe Democrat correspondent I
halted at Flat Top With squad of eight !
Rangers Fly some strange means tho GO |
manches aud Apaches lust hevond the |
| IeSas border had learned of the incident
Of tho Little Uc Horn, and. clated Wlth
Inv success of tho Nicuv tho Southern say
hEts were bent upon massacre. Reynolds, |
sergeant. called Mage was IN com.
mahi, Standing ON the peak Of the butte
he saw through his telescope string Of
warriors, 700 in number, moving rapidly /
toward the site now occupied by stamford
where dugous ahcltered the family of Il
punalo hunter we must save them
! Reynolds said and I'm less than five minutes
! seven men we're trottipg toward tho nj
Yancing line nf CumInchcs The eighth
man was gallopinE southwnrd TO secure ro
Dhorcemcnts. The wife md children or
4 the hunter were taken up behind tho Rauc
ers, and 10y a rapid march a rugged hiIocb
/ WAS reached Just I'm time The Rangers
/ were armed with carbines and revolvers
/ ana Mrs. Carr, the wife of the hunter had
a longrange buffalo gun, left at home by
/ hef husband who started week before TO
/ trap beaver on the upper forks OF the
/ Colorado. The Comanches were allowed to
rae WITHIN close range. when volley IN
horsed five Of their number aud disclosed
J our position. SURPRISED and doubt badly
[ frightened, they rotreated I'm confusion
. our horses which VIC had abandoned were
caught by our foes. BY the number OF
horses they ascertaiued our strength, eN-
ccpt that Mrs. Carr was not figured In
/ their calculations, and the warriors began
preparations for a siege We had a few
pounds Of ierked buffalo meat and little
. bread. Water was NJ first a grave consd-
GRAFTON, and we felt the more concerned be
! cause OF the TACT that the children were
already crying from thirst. After dark we
FOUND a small spring at the foot Of our
natural fortress, and we soon filed our can
teens Ihe food supply was placed in
Mrs Cnrr's hands, and She proved a Vivian,
dlere worthy of the trust. We ascertained
alterWard thaJ during the thirty six hours
of the siege she ate nothing, dividing her
share between her little ones and leaving
all the rest for the men.
To cut the story short the Comsncbes
haue desperate efforts to rush our fortress
each time retiring with loss Mrs Carr
staying big buck with bullet from her
hcAVy carblne our courier returned M sun
SET on the second day of the siege, accom-
panied by Mr.. Carr and thirty cowboys
from a Coleman county ranch After
D. nercc batie the reinforcing men broke
through the Gordon Of savages aud entered
our fortress, bringing plenty Of food am
munition and water The next day the
Comanches raised the Siege and dcngrtpd
toward the Double mountain fork Of the
of tlnHr
entcen To number, being In hurry to get
away because. as we afterward learned
Major John b. Jones. the commander in
chief Of the ranger force or Texas. was
approaching the scene from the Panhandle
! with three troops OF his noted Indian hgbt.
crs, following the trail of the raiding red
I mon.
r The youngest Of the Carr children died
during the siege of Group. 'rhrcc NJ our
s garrison were wounded by the bullets Of
@ our foes having been incautious In their
S efforts to obtain advantageous shots One
. OF the three, John Ward. died We buried
o. the child and the ranger In the same grave.
service
On his recent visit 10 Jones county. after
( | leaving Flat Top, tho correspondent NJ the
) Globe Democrat drove To the butte. where,
( more than n quarter ~ a century ago Ne
+ successfully hattled against savaGcs who so
q grcntly cutnumbered rs, Tho grave "
John Ward and little Lucy Carr can stu
he discerncd by the inscription n bears,
i, roughly cut with tomahawk on mo sand.
q stone monument we placed az the head of
" the double grave. II is rugged stone honey
!, combed ~ lchen grown, weighing two
h. tons or more. II took our combined force
w. 10 turn it over. An the tomahavks we
'; smooth surfGce for the cpiteph, which
~ reads;
,, Here lies John Ward a ranger and
~ Lucy Carr, in whose defense he
~ died Soft rest tho prairie turf
le npon the breasts Of the ranger and