INDIAN TROUBLES—MY FIRST VENTURE IN BUSINESS.
This bold raid of these Indians stirred up General Tarrant and he
determined to raise about five hundred volunteers in the frontier
counties, to break up a big Indian camp, under a celebrated chief,
Buffalo Hump, that was known to exist on the North Canadian, and for
this purpose he canvassed the frontier counties and had no trouble in
having volunteers sign to go out on the expedition. He fixed the time of
departure from Fort Belknap on the fourth day of July, which was most
unfortunate, as the time of his canvass was in the early part of May,
when during the long interim the Indians had been quiet, and had made no
raids into the settlements. The volunteers who subscribed had lost
interest in the matter and would not go.
I was one of twenty who subscribed to go from Ellis County, and believe
I was the only one that ever started. About this time Colonel Patton had
arranged to start on another surveying expedition, in conjunction with a
party of surveyors, in charge of Gid Rucker, who had a contract for
running the center line of a twenty-mile reserve, granted by the State
to the Memphis & El Paso Railroad Company. This center line was run on
the thirty-second parallel. Colonel Patton went along to locate land
certificates, of which he had a great many, and was anxious to see the
country up on Hubbard’s Creek in Young County. Hubbard’s Creek is a
tributary of the Clear Fork of the Brazos.
When we reached Weatherford we found General Tarrant very sick, not
expected to live, and he died a few days afterwards, which, of course,
broke up the expedition for which I had enlisted. Colonel Patton then
induced the railroad company’s surveyors to make me a proposition and
pay me two dollars per day to simply go along as company, they being
anxious to have a sufficient crowd to overawe any attack Indians might
contemplate.
After reaching the eightieth milepost, Colonel Patton had them run down
ten miles to the southern boundary of the reserve, which was done, and a
most magnificent country developed. It seems Colonel Patton had
requested Mr. Rucker to get a sketch of that section of the country from
the General Land Office at Austin, and gave him money to pay for such
sketch, and when he asked for this sketch Rucker told him that they told
him at the Land Office that the whole country was vacant; that there had
been no surveys recorded in that section. Colonel Patton then struck out
alone, riding around and, after a few hours’ investigation, became
disgusted, having found quite a number of rock piles and blazed trees,
indicating that the country was not vacant and had been well surveyed
over by others.
Colonel Patton then told me that he was going back home, his whole trip
was a failure, that he wouldn’t stay with a crowd that had deceived him
so grossly. He planned to go back by himself, but I told him he should
not do so—if he was going back I would go with him. The whole party
started back to the center line, where we quit work. It was now late at
night, the moon shining brightly, and we were about ten miles away from
water, which we needed for our horses, before we could go into camp.
After riding over the high, rolling prairie on this beautiful night,
some seven or eight miles, coming over a ridge we discovered a few camp
fires in the bottom of Hubbard’s Creek, which, of course, were thought
to be Indian fires by our party. After consultation, we decided to make
a charge on them and scatter them. For this purpose we drew up in line,
having altogether about twenty men, and moved on them cautiously. When
within a few hundred yards of the bottoms, we were halted by a vidette
picket, who from his brogue, proved to be an Irishman. This indicated to
our party that the camp was of United States troops, and not Indians.
On arriving in camp we found Major Van Dorn with a troop of cavalry, on
his way from Fort Phantom Hill to Camp Cooper. The major, of course, was
glad to have us camp with him. During the night, Mr. Rucker learned that
Colonel Patton intended going straight for the settlements, without
company except myself. Major Van Dorn sent for Colonel Patton and begged
him to go to Camp Cooper with him, where he would no doubt find company
from there to Fort Belknap, and then again from Fort Belknap to
Weatherford, all of which were dangerous routes for one or two men to
travel alone, on account of Indians, but Colonel Patton wouldn’t listen
to such advice, claiming the Indians would never bother him and he would
have no trouble in getting back to the settlements with me.
The next morning we struck out in a straight line for the settlements,
all alone, without taking any provisions, as the old man was mad with
Rucker and would not ask for them, nor accept any when they were
offered.
This ride to the settlements proved one of the most trying the old
gentleman had ever been subjected to. It was, likewise, for me. We were
without water for a day and a half, when we struck running water in the
North Fork of Palo Pinto, and the second evening, late, we found a small
cornfield, about three or four acres, with a board shed and a pile of
ashes, indicating that this corn was made by some parties who had camped
there and finally abandoned on account of Indian depredations. We then
found a well-beaten path from this, leading in the direction we were
traveling. About six or eight miles from there we found a house, the
home of a frontier settler, with a wife and two children. All were much
rejoiced at seeing us and insisted on our staying a week, which, of
course, we had to decline and left the next morning, on our way home to
Waxahachie, which was reached in due time. This ended my frontier
visitation, determined never to go outside of the settlements again,
which I never did.
Soon after reaching Waxahachie, I was induced to accept a position with
a Mr. Leander Cannon at Hempstead, Austin County, who was then
conducting the largest mercantile business in that section of the State.
After serving about a year in the dry goods and clothing department, I
was induced by Mr. Cannon to take charge of his books, which I did for
about six or eight months, when he decided to sell out and offered me
his business, giving me all the time I needed to pay for it, if I would
enter into copartnership with one J. W. Fosgard, his former bookkeeper,
who was an educated, college man, from Sweden. Fosgard was very
egotistic and overbearing and I knew we could never get along,
therefore, I declined Mr. Cannon’s generous offer. He sold out to
Fosgard alone.
A short time after, I had an invitation to join R. P. Faddis in the
purchase of the business of Young & Bush, who, at the time, had a better
stock of goods than Cannon and made us a very attractive offer, giving
us all the time we wanted to pay them. This offer we accepted,
constituting the firm of Faddis & Graber. Faddis was the bookkeeper of
Young & Bush, and was a very popular man with the trade, which was
largely composed of the leading and richest planters in that section of
the Brazos country, and we soon built up a profitable business, though
unfortunately, for us, our country soon became involved in sectional
troubles, which prevented our restocking our reduced stock of goods and
finally culminated in secession and war.
War Record