By L. W. Payne, Jr.
The following legend was written up at my suggestion by Mr. Tom
Gambrell of Lockhart. He says that it is well known in the neighborhood
of Lockhart, and that he has followed accurately the account as given
by the two oldest inhabitants of Lockhart.
The last trouble that the early settlers in Caldwell County had with
the Indians was just before the great war between the states. At that
time about twenty of the savages suddenly swept down from the north,
plundering and devastating where they would. They had with them a wagon
into which they put stolen valuables, and by the time they got to
Lockhart it was pretty well filled with silver in various forms. Here
they seized a white woman, and then turned to follow along the eastern
bank of Clear Fork Creek, which runs directly south about two miles
west of town.
The whites hastily united to pursue the Indians and soon were close
upon them, for the marauders could not flee very fast with their
wagon-load of silver. As soon as they saw their peril, they unhitched
the horses, emptied the silver into the creek, left their wagon on the
bank, and continued their flight with the woman still their captive.
The white men passed the wagon and continued the chase. Nearer and
nearer they drew on the Indians, who had now turned southwest and were
approaching the steep hills and treacherous valleys that surround Round
Top Mountain, some eight miles southwest of Lockhart. Here the Indians
used to build their fires to call together their warriors. The whites
were within half a mile of the redskins when the latter, beating their
horses furiously and riding at full speed, entered this almost
impenetrable region. The Indian who was carrying the woman in front of
him realized that his horse was overburdened and that he himself would
certainly be caught unless he lightened the load. Consequently he
knocked the woman in the head with his tomahawk, threw her off, and
entered the border of the thicket at increased speed. When the whites
reached the woman, she was dead. They pursued the brutes a little
farther, but soon found out that the Indians were the better runners
among the underbrush, and gave up the chase.
On returning, the men took up the corpse and carried it close to town,
where they buried it. Many years later, the Prairie Lea-Lockhart road
was laid out. The grave, neatly arched with stones, lies close by the
roadway, and can be seen by any one who will go from Lockhart about a
mile and a half down that road.
Owing to the death of the captive woman and to the near approach of
night, the whites did not search for the silver that evening. But next
day they went to the creek and looked for the booty. They found none,
but carried away the wagon. Since then others have sought in vain for
the treasure. The creek has been dredged and seined, and its bottom
gouged, but no silver has been found. Some say that the Indians
returned that night and recovered it. Others believe that it has sunk
into the boggy mire of the creek bottom.
However this may be, the grave is still a visible evidence of the
essential truth of the legend. A number of the pursuers of the Indians
said that they saw the silver tumble into the water. And the two
surviving pursuers, recognized as reliable and honorable men, insist
that the whole story is based on fact.