An effort was made in 1873 to remove all the hostile Indians from Texas
to the Reservation in the Indian Territory. The removal was accomplished
but it was not easy to keep them there, and there were occasional raids
across the border and into the settlements. The exact date of the last
foray is not accessible at this writing, but it was made as far south as
Jack and Young counties, just west of Los Valley where James C. Loving
had a ranch and his residence. The foray was led by two Indian Chiefs,
Santanta and Big Tree. They fell upon a wagon train conveying supplies
to Fort Griffin which stood about fourteen miles northwest of the
present town of Albany. It was owned by Capt. Julian Feild, of this
city, and Henry Warren, of Weatherford. The train was destroyed; the
wagons burned; the mules and horses taken away and several men killed. A
wooden monument marks the place where the encounter took place. Troops
were dispatched after the savages and the two chiefs were captured. They
were tried for murder at Jacksboro and convicted and sentenced to death,
but the sentence was commuted by Edmund J. Davis, then Governor of
Texas, to confinement in the penitentiary for life. Santanta was
afterwards pardoned and at last accounts was still living on the
Reservation near Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
On August 16th, 1874, another raid was made into Texas, coming as far as
Veal's station about three miles west of the present town of Springtown,
where one man was killed. Two others were killed by the same raiders on
the Weatherford and Jacksboro road, about half way between the two
towns. This was the last appearance of hostile Indians in this part of
the State. There were other forays on the borders of New Mexico
subsequent to that time.