Elm Creek Raid

The Big Raid in Young County During

October of 1864

Harmonson Ranch Historical Marker

Marker Title: Harmonson Ranch

Address: US 380, E of Newcastle
City: Newcastle
Year Marker Erected: 1982
Marker Location: From Newcastle, take US 380 about 5 miles east.
Marker Text: Kentucky native Peter Harmonson (1797-1865) came
to Texas in 1845 as a settler in the Peters Colony. The following year
he helped form Denton County, where he served as the first sheriff. In
1854 he brought his family here and established a ranch near this site
known as Harmonson Rancho. An organizer of Young County, he
served as its first chief justice. He died from a wound received in an
Indian raid on the Elm Creek community. In 1869, after it was sold,
his ranch site and his son Z.J. "Jack" Harmonson figured in a skirmish
between Indians and local cattlemen.

Indian Raid on Elm Creek, C.S.A. Historical Marker

Marker Title: Indian Raid on Elm Creek, C.S.A

Address: US 380, W of Newcastle
City: Newcastle
Year Marker Erected: 1964
Marker Location: From Newcastle, take US 380 West about 8 mi.
Marker Text: Indian troubles continually plagued the Texas frontier
in the Civil War, with great loss in lives and property. One of the most
serious raids occurred near here on Oct. 13, 1864, at Fitzpatrick
Ranch. Comanches killed seven ranch people and five Confederate
soldiers. Six women and children were kidnapped. 10,000 cattle were
stolen. Brit Johnson, Negro slave who that day lost his whole family,
later "joined" the Comanches, got their confidence, and freed his
people. Later Indians punished him with mutilation and death.

To describe a gigantic Indian raid, when a large number of

blood-thirsty warriors break into smaller bands and each
division simultaneously depredated upon a frontier
community, in many respects, is not unlike attempting to
describe a huge circus having five or six rings showing at the
same time. Too, another complication arises from the fact that
each individual naturally views an occurrence of this kind
directly from his or her own angle. But we shall attempt to
give a logical presentation of this raid, which shook the entire
frontier, and one of the largest ever made in West Texas.
During the latter days of 1864 the people were suffering from
the effects of a long and bitter war. Furthermore the year
brought one of the most devastating draughts ever witnessed in
West Texas. And Indian depredations had made life miserable.
So the despondent citizens were already living in despair.

Following these prevailing conditions, October 13th, 1864, the

wild hordes of the plains made one of the worst onslaughts that
ever occurred along the West Texas frontier.

The savages made one of their first appearances when they

assaulted Peter Harmison and son, Perry, who only about three
weeks previously narrowly escaped death when Will R.
Peveler and State Cox received their mortal wounds. Harmison
and his son hastily retreated into the thick timber. But a
surprising large number of savages soon had them surrounded.

After these pioneer citizens made a stand, Perry crawled to the

edge of the brush, and with his six-shooting rifle, took
particular aim at the brass buttons on the army shirt of a certain
Indian, who assumed the role of leader or chief. When
Harmison fired this Indian fell dead from his steed. The proof
of Perry's good marksmanship was discovered three days later
when the place of burial of this particular Indian was found.
After this chieftain fell, the other savages withdrew. But took
Peter Harmison's horse, six-shooter, which was buckled to his
saddle, and a new jeans coat, Mrs. Harmison had recently
made. The horse had been wounded before the Judge and his
son reached the timber. Consequently, when Mr. Harmison
stepped from his saddle, his steed ran away with his coat and
pistol. Judge Harmison, however held to his double-barrel gun.

During this episode, an Indian about sixty yards away fired at

Peter Harmison, who was the first Chief Justice, or County
Judge, of Young County. The ball struck the barrel of his gun,
and then passed through his hand. It was this Indian that
afforded the splendid target for Perry Harmison. After the
Indians were gone, Peter Harmison and his son, Perry,
mounted the latter's horse, and hurried to Fort Murray.

By this time it was discovered, not only at Fort Murray, but

elsewhere that a large number of Indians, variously estimated
from 300 to 1000 in number, were storming and destroying the
Young County settlement, particularly along Elm creek. The
citizens dispatched runners to the various ranches, and in a
short time, the settlements of the western part of Young
County were ablaze with excitement. The large number of
hostile Indians, in many instances, caused the hysterical
pioneers to leave their homes and seek shelter among the cliffs
and in the timber. It was not a question of whipping the
Indians or driving them away, but a struggle for existence.

Either the same Indians or a different division from those that

assaulted Peter Harmison and his son, appeared at the
Fitzpatrick Ranch, which was about nine miles west of the
present town of Newcastle. At the time, Mrs. Elizabeth
(Carter) Fitzpatrick; her son, Joe Carter; her widowed
daughter, Mrs. Susan Durgan, and her two little girls, Lottie
and Milie Durgan, four and six years old respectively; and
Negro Brit's Johnson's wife, Mary Johnson, and their two
small boys and girl, were at the Fitzpatrick ranch.

Here, again the mysterious, red-headed man made his

appearance. When Mrs. Susan Durgan picked up a gun, this
red-headed man told her to put it down, or she would be shot.
She refused and was killed. Two Indians caught one of Negro
Brit's boys named Jim, and each seemed to want him. But
when neither Indian relinquished the boy to the other, he was
knocked in the head and killed. So Mrs. Susan Durgan and
Negro Brit's boy now lay dead on the ground. Mrs. Elizabeth
Fitzpatrick and her son, Joe Carter, her two surviving children
were made Indian captives. But Mrs. Elizabeth Fitzpatrick
refused to go with the Indians. When she did, the mysterious
red-headed man informed her that she must go or be killed.
She then consented to go with the Indians.

About the time, or shortly after the Indians left the Fitzpatrick
Ranch, these same savages, or a different band, went east a
short distance, here from a high ridge, they could see Joel
Myers, hunting a yoke of steers. In a short time he was
surrounded by the savages, killed, scalped and stripped. His
death occurred not far from the mouth of Elm creek.

The Indians then returned to the Fitzpatrick ranch, and after

stealing everything that apparently suited their fancy, made a
dash for other frontier homes.

With their plunder and white captives, the Indians went to the
Hamby Ranch, where Tom Hamby and his son, P.K. Hamby,
and T.J. Wilson, together with their families, made their home.
But these frontier citizens were already aware of the
approaching savages. So when the Indians arrived at their
home it was deserted.

Tom Hamby, and son, P.K. Hamby, and T.J. (Dock) Wilson,
hid their families about 250 yards southwest of the houses, in a
rock cave. These heroic frontiersmen then mounted their
steeds, and hurried to the home of Wm. Bragg and warned the
families there to leave their home and hide in the rocks, as
their families had been hidden. From Wm. Bragg's home, they
swiftly rode to the ranch of H.G. Williams, and then hurried to
the home of Geo. Bragg to warn them the Comanches were
coming, and crushing everything in their path. And here at the
George Bragg Ranch, where three or four families had "forted
up," occurred the hardest fighting.

When Tom and P.K. Hamby, and T.J. (Dock) Wilson, reached
the Bragg ranch, the members of the various families were
thrown in the same house. The following people were then
present: Tom Hamby and son, P.K. Hamby, T.J. (Dock)
Wilson, Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Bragg, Mrs. Mason Brag, Mrs.
Mart Bragg, Billy, Margaret and Sabil Bragg, who were small
children; also Eliza and -- Bragg (Colored), and a negro
woman named Frank.

In a short time, many Indians surrounded the house, which was

constructed in accordance with frontier fashion, out of pickets,
in the ground. Here was fought one of the most desperate
fights ever fought on the West Texas frontier. The women and
children were ordered under the bed. The very few male
frontiersmen defended as best they could, the little picket
pioneer cabin, which was stormed by approximately two
hundred savages, hideously decorated for war. T.J. Wilson
received a mortal wound early in the fight, and said, "Bragg, I
am a dead man."

Before they could place him on the bed, life had left him, and
he numbered among the immortals.

Shortly afterwards, Geo. Bragg received an arrow wound in

the chest, and Tom Hamby, two wounds in the shoulder, so
close together they could have been covered with a silver
dollar. Then with one man killed, and two severely wounded,
Thornton Hamby was the only one left to do the fighting. It
now began to appear the occupants of this little frontier home
were doomed to die.

About this time, a very huge Indian seized a mattock, lying in

the yard, and began to dig up the pickets of the little frontier
cabin, just at the point where the women and children were
concealed under the bed. P.K. Hamby's attention was called to
the maneuvers of this hideously painted savage. So Hamby lay
on the bed, pushed the point of his pistol through the opening
between two pickets, at a point only a few feet from the
Indian's head, and when he fired, the huge Indian was instantly
killed. This caused his companions to be more cautious.

In cases of extreme emergency, it so often happens that the

occurrence of some miraculous thing turns the tide and saves
the day. It so happened, while this fight was furiously raging.
Lt. N. Carson, and fourteen men, were having a very desperate
battle with another division of the Indians, some distance
away, and the report of their guns together with the exciting
noise of the screaming savages, decoyed most of the
barbarians from the Bragg ranch. Nevertheless, according to
reports, several savages remained, and the Geo. Bragg Ranch
was stormed until late in the evening.

The action of Lt. N. Carson and his men is vividly disclosed by

the following reports which the author found among old
Confederate records, and so far as we know, have never before
been published.

Headquarters Border Regiment,

Gainesville, Tex., Oct. 20, 1864.

Colonel: Inclosed please find a letter from Lieutenant

Carson, reporting the late Indian raid on the Brazos,
sixteen miles above Fort Belknap. I learn from one of
the men who was in the fight that the Indians struck the
settlement six miles below their camps and killed
several families. The Indians attacked five men in a
house, but left when they heard the firing of the guns of
Lt. Carson's men, who were then attacking the main
body. He also stated they discovered a white man in
their front. The Indians left in a northwest direction.
The courier states that about 200 or 300 men followed
their trail, though the Indians were one day ahead of
the foremost party and I am fearful they are too far
behind to overtake them as the Indians are well
mounted. They will, no doubt, strike at some other
point.

I am, Colonel, most respectfully, your obedient servant,

JAMES BOURLAND,
Colonel, Commanding Border Regiment."

"Fort Belknap, October 16th, 1864.

Colonel: The Indians came into the settlements

on Elm on the 13th. I was camped thirteen
miles west of Belknap. Fields and J. Jones
charged two Indians and cut them off from their
horses, and judging from their maneuvers there
were more Indians near. J. Jones came two
miles to camp to get assistance. I took fourteen
men and started in pursuit, leaving six men in
camp. When I reached a high point I discovered
the two, and ran them one mile and a half into
Elm Flats, where I discovered a large body of
some 300, formed in a semi-circle and almost
concealed within fifty yards of me.

While I was forming my men in line the Indians

were advancing and firing on me. I ordered my
men to fall back some 100 yards to gain a better
position, in slow order, to save the men that
were on weak horses, fighting them from one
position to another until five of my brave men
were killed. I received two flesh wounds. We
killed some seven or eight Indians, and saw a
number fall. The retreat was continued some
one-quarter of a mile to McCoy's house, where
two women were taken behind the men, and I
gathered my men and horses that were at camp
and crossed over to Ft. Murray, one mile and a
half. The Indians followed in hot pursuit, came
up to McCoy's house, destroyed and carried off
everything that was in it, then advanced on the
camp, which was a half mile from the house.
They took all the tents, blankets, and clothing
that were left in camp, breaking up and
 destroying all the vessels belonging to the
company, the boys saving but little of their
clothing, and the most of them are now entirely
destitute, having nothing left them, except what
is on their backs. The names of the men killed
are: J. Jones, Private Henry Snodgrass, Robert
Neathrey, J.G. Walker, and Erastus Blue. These
men fell fighting bravely, disputing, inch by
inch, until shot from their horses, and yielded
only with their lives. Samuel Brison's horse was
shot from under him and lost. Henry McGuire's
horse was wounded. J. Wallis', George
Wimberly's, and my horse were slightly
wounded. J. Buckingham was thrown from his
horse, but made his escape to Fort Murray.
Fields was shot through his pantaloons with an
arrow across the thigh, grazing the skin. My
men were cool, and acted with unexampled
bravery As far as I have been able to gain
information, there has been eleven citizens
killed, seven women and children carried off,
eleven houses robbed. It is estimated that there
were 350 or 450 on the raid. Mr. Peveler, a
citizen of Fort Murray, got on the top of his
house with his spy-glass, counted 250 passing
over the flats and by our horses. The Indians
captured two of my mules. They were some
one-half mile from camp and had no time to get
them.

Yours respectfully,
N. CARSON
Second Lieut., Commanding Company D,
Border Regiment."

When the Indians had only been raiding a short time on Elm,
one large division of the savages came in contact with Henry
Wooten, whom they successfully cut away from Lt. Carson
and his men, shortly before they were surrounded. Accounts
differ concerning the given name of Mr. Wooten. In one
instance he was called William, in another George, and in a
third instance, he was referred to as Henry Wooten, and we are
inclined to believe that the last name was correct.
Nevertheless, Mr. Wooten started out to Belknap alone, and
was pursued by a large number of savages who succeeded in
killing his horse. When the Indians were dangerously close,
Wooten, would draw his gun, and this, in each instance, caused
the savages to fall back; when they did, Wooten advanced
farther. During the exciting chase he lost his hat, so the
savages scalped his horse, which had been killed and took the
pony's ears, and Wooten's hat, and put each on the point of a
spear, which they defiantly displayed in the presence of Hen.
Wooten, who continued to make his retreat as rapidly as
possible. Finally he was followed by only two savages. When
this citizen waded through the water, about waist deep, in Elm
creek, the two remaining Indians declined to cross, and they,
too, turned back and joined the main division. Although he
was then no longer pursued, Mr. Wooten hurried to the home
of Rolland Johnson, and told them of the wild raid being made
by the raging red men. Finally he reached old Fort Belknap
and conveyed the news to the post. But some were inclined to
discredit his statement. Nevertheless, Mr. Wooten was almost
exhausted, his flesh torn by brush and brier, and his retreating
trail almost blazed with bits of his clothing.

After Lt. Carson and his men reached Fort Murray, the citizens
began immediately to be prepared as well as possible, for they
expected the Indians to storm the citizens' fort sometime
during the day.

France Peveler, Lewis Peveler, Champ Farris, Cole Dunken,

Will Farris, and possibly one or two others left the plaza and
hurried about one-half mile north for the purpose of bringing
home some horses, but they were too late. A squad of savages
were seen about three-fourths of a mile away, driving
approximately forty head of stolen horses.

F.M. Peveler and Perry Harmison climbed on top of one of the

cabins at Fort Murray and from here, they watched the
maneuvers of the Indians through a telescope, during most of
the evening. They counted 372 Indians in the distance, and no
doubt there were many others that could not be seen.

An attack was expected at any moment, and the older men

ordered that each and every vessel be filled with water, and as
many bullets moulded as possible, and other necessary
precautions taken, so that the citizens would be prepared in
event they were besieged by the enemy. Consequently,
everybody, young and old, went to work, and every precaution
was taken to prevent a repetition of another massacre similar to
that of Parker's fort in Limestone County, during 1836.

Mrs. McCoy had already been brought to the fort by Lt.

Carson and his men. But while watching the Indians through a
telescope, F.M. Peveler said to Perry Harmison that he could
see the Indians killing James McCoy and his son, Miles.
Considerable anxiety had been felt about them for some time.
They agreed not to mention the fact to Mrs. McCoy, who was
already in the fort. James McCoy and his son, who were
massacred where Lt. Carson and his men were assaulted, were
after rails to build a corral.

Several houses, vacated by the citizens, were robbed and

wrecked by the thieving hordes of the plains, who loaded their
plunder on pack horses. As the Indians moved across the
western prairie, they presented a dreadful, yet spectacular
scene.

At Fort Murray it was suggested that runners be sent to Fort

Belknap for reinforcements. F.M. Peveler, who lived at the
citizens fort, volunteered to go, and asked that he be furnished
a companion. As a consequence, Fields, one of the rangers,
stated that he would go. It was now late in the evening. The
spies reported several fires burning in the distance, and an
attack on the post was expected at daybreak of the following
morning. There were only thirty-two able-bodied men at Fort
Murray to fight such overwhelming numbers of savages. So
F.M. Peveler and his companion hurried on to Fort Belknap for
reinforcements. Every precaution was made to avoid the
savages, nevertheless, they passed close to where Lt. Carson
and his command came near being wiped out of existence.
During their night ride, when their horses shied, they saw the
form of some individual, which no doubt, was slain by the
savages, for he was dead and stripped of clothing. When they
reached Ft. Belknap, it was reported that Joel Myers was
missing, and it was later disclosed the individual they passed
proved to be Mr. Myers.

When Ft. Belknap was reached, similar precautions had been

taken by the citizens there, to withstand an expected attack of
the savages. But Ft. Belknap was considerably more isolated
from the camp of the Comanches and their allied tribes.
Nevertheless a high state of excitement prevailed at the post,
for Mr. Wooten and one or two others had already reported the
presence of the Indians. Most of the rangers were away, so
there were only twenty-five men at Ft. Belknap and as a
consequence, reinforcements for Ft. Murray were not
available. A.C. (Chess) Tackett was then dispatched to Veale's
Station in Parker County. Veale's Station was reached in
record time. But young Tackett rode down six horses before he
reached his destination. Again no reinforcements were found,
so the news was conveyed to Major Quale and his command,
who were stationed at Decatur.

Major Quale, in record time, dispatched 280 men to the rescue

of the citizens in the western part of Young County. But when
these troops were within fifteen miles of their destination, they
learned the Indians had already gone.

During the memorable day of October 13, a runner was also

sent from the Geo. Bragg ranch to Ft. Belknap for Dr. W.H.
Robinson, the surgeon at the post. Dr. Robinson, however, felt
it unsafe to venture out until the succeeding day. But when he
reached the Bragg ranch, the arrow-point imbedded in Geo.
Bragg's back was quickly removed and the patient recovered.

The many fires discovered late in the evening of October 13,

were later found about six miles from Ft. Murray, and from
authentic sources, we are told that approximately 700 bon-fires
were built by the savages. Mrs. Fitzpatrick, who was carried
away into captivity, and present when these fires were built,
later said it was done by the savages as a strategic move to
cause the citizens to think they were still near.

And according to the further statement of Mrs. Fitzpatrick, for

three days and nights the Indians rode without stopping,
towards the northwestern wilds, and toward their homes
somewhere on the headwaters of the Canadian, Cimarron and
Arkansas Rivers.

During this gigantic raid, eighteen people were killed and

captured, and several others wounded; five rangers; Mrs.
Susan Durgan, Joel Myers, Dock Wilson, James McCoy and
son, Miles, and Negro Brit's boy, were known to have been
killed. Mrs. Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, and son, Joe Carter; Mary
Johnson, wife of Negro Brit Johnson, and her two children;
Lottie and Millie Durgan, daughters of Mrs. Susan Durgan;
were carried into captivity. After traveling many miles, little
Joe Carter became sick while the savages were running from
their shadows; and to avoid any delay, the poor little fellow
was killed, and his body thrown away.

The news of this raid rapidly spread from ranch to ranch,

village to village, and in a short time, it was known all over the
northern frontier. Drouthy conditions prevailed in Texas at that
time, and since this raid occurred during the dark days of the
Civil War, its shocking effect was felt for many miles. As a
consequence, many of the early frontiersmen bagged their few
belongings, and started toward the east. This and other raids
had a dynamic effect in decreasing the early population. The
Census of western counties, readily discloses that in many
instances, the population, during 1860, was considerably
greater than in 1870.

Mrs. Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, her two granddaughters, Lottie and

Millie Durgan, Mary Johnson, wife of Negro Brit Johnson, and
their two children, were taken by the Indians somewhere on
the headwaters of the Canadian, Cimarron, Arkansas and Red
Rivers. Due to the heroic efforts of David White and Negro
Brit Johnson, these people were finally returned to the frontier,
but the details of their adventure will not be given at this time,
for the story is related elsewhere.

But let us remember, and picture the heroic deeds of T.J.

Wilson, Tom Hamby, P.K. Hamby, those patriotic and
unselfish pioneers, who hid their families about 250 yards
from their home, then dashed away to notify the various
families the Indians were coming, and assisted them to hide in
the cliffs, crags and thick timber. Had it not been for the
thoughtfulness of these heroic men, no doubt, it would be
necessary to relate an entirely different story. For many more
women and children would have been murdered, and carried
into captivity. No doubt, too, several men, whose lives were
saved, would have been killed; and too, the Indians may have
extended their foray further into the settlements. But this
daring ride, not only necessitated these heroic frontiersmen
abandoning their families during such critical hours, but also
cost the life of T.J. (Dock) Wilson, and caused Tom Hamby to
be seriously wounded. To them and others, today, a monument
should be erected in Young County, and the author's pro rata
part of the necessary fund is waiting.

Can we imagine the breathless anxiety of the mothers and

children of Wm. Bragg's family, H.D. Williams family,
Rolland Johnson's family, and others, as they lay concealed in
 the cliffs and thick timber during these trying hours, when
hundreds of blood thirsty warriors were marching nearby. In
some instances they were afraid a baby would cry or a dog
bark, and disclose to the Indians their place of concealment.

Another thing of interest. H.D. Williams of Newcastle, today

has a peace medal, approximately three inches in diameter,
which his brother found after the Bragg ranch fight, and which
was no doubt, dropped from the neck of a savage. On one side,
this medal presents the picture of President James Monroe. On
the reverse side, this token of peace presents a friendly
handshake, and a cross of a tomahawk and peace-pipe. The
complete history of this peace medal, of course, no one knows,
but it is similar to others issued about that time. This particular
medal bears the date of 1817. It reads, "James Monroe,
President of the U.S.A., A.D. 1817." On the reverse side we
find the words "Peace" and "Friendship" But it apparently does
not disclose any information about any peace treaty made with
the Indians during that year. The government records and
reports disclose, however, that during 1817 the U. S. made
treaties of peace with the Cherokee, Wyandot, Seneca,
Shawnee, Delaware, Ottawa and Chippewas and other tribes.

Note: Before writing this section, the author personally

interviewed: M.M. (France) Peveler mentioned in this section,
Henry Williams and Mann Johnson, then boys about eight
years of age, and who with their mothers, hid in thick timber.

The above story is from the book, The West Texas Frontier, by Joseph
Carroll McConnell.

Elm Creek Raid-Second Story

…“The Indians had ripped open Mrs. Fitzpatrick’s feather bed

and pillows and emptied the feathers out on the ground. ‘A
strong north wind blew them southward into the timber and
foliage where they seemed to cover an acre or more, resembled
snow in the midst of the green, and would have been very
attractive had it not been for the sad sight at the house and the
thought of the unfortunate inmates. The same thing had
happened at Mr. Hamby’s about half a mile farther up the
creek.”

Goodnight arrived at the Hamby house, finding the Indians had

taken everything except their clothes, he gave them a blanket.
Hamby hid his family in a cliff and took his son to warn the
Williams’, who had already hidden in the brush. They then
rushed on to Bragg’s house.

…‘At the Bragg Ranch they made a fight,’ said Goodnight,

‘and I don’t think such a fight was ever made before or since.
The Bragg house was an jacal-the timbers being set on end,
daubed with mud between and covered with dirt-probably
sixteen by twenty feet. Bragg had two marred sons besides his
own family. Doc Wilson and wife were also there; in all four
women and some children who lay under the beds on the dirt
floor.

‘Old man Hamby took the only window in the house, and the
others took care of the door. In front of the house was a small
stockade of post-oak logs, and in front of the door, close to the
stiles over the stockade, stood an oak tree. An Indian got
behind it early in the fight, killed Wilson and severely
wounded old man Bragg.

‘Hamby told me he tried to get a shot at the Indian for some

time. Finally some Indians went down to the barn and got a
pick and mattock, commenced to dig out the pickets which
formed the house. Knowing they could not protect themselves
if the Indians got another opening, young Hamby told old man
Bragg to get on the bed, punch the mud out of the cracks in the
side wall and fire down at random among them. Bragg had
been shot in the breast and replied that he was dying, but
luckily the arrow had struck a rib and followed it around to his
back, where it was taken out next morning. Hamby
bullyragged Bragg until he made the effort, and when he fired
he hit an Indian right in the eye.

‘It seemed to have created quite a commotion among the

diggers, and the Indian behind the tree leaned out to see around
the corner. Hamby, who had been watching him closely, shot
him with a double-barrel gun. He fell across the stile, and from
appearances the shot had almost cut him in two, as the steps
were a mass of blood when I got there, though the Indian had
been dragged away.

‘Old man Hamby received several wounds in his arms and a

slight cut on his breast, as it was necessary to expose himself a
little in order to get good aim at the Indians. He must have
done some splendid shooting, as the ground in a semicircle
around the window was smeared with blood. Of course the
 Indians took away all their dead except the one of the stile,
which they could not get, and it will never be known how
many were killed, but their loss must have been considerable.
A day or two later some of us followed the trail about forty
miles, and we found several who had died of wounds.’

The above story is from the book, Charles Goodnight-Cowman &

Plainsman, by J. Evetts Haley.

Elm Creek Raid-Third Story

From Comanches, The Destruction of a People, by T.R. Fehrenbach:

During 1864 there were fewer raids, but the Comanche war parties
increased in size, a sure sign of growing Amerindian boldness.

The Brazos frontier was not the only region affected. To the north, the
Cheyennes and their allies and the Kiowas and Comanches had taken
the warpath against the Colorado-Kansas settlements. The Santa Fe
Trail was paralyzed; stage stations were attacked and burnt out and
wagon trains massacred. This did great damage to Union military
communications in the West. It also halted immigration, which never
entirely ceased during the Civil War, as hundreds of whites were slain
on the Kansas-Colorado plains and the survivors flocked to the nearest
military outposts.

This situation, the great "outbreak" of 1864 on the southwestern

plains, became intolerable. The various territorial and army forces in
this country began organized campaigns against all Indians. When
these started, they had the effect of pushing many Comanches and
Kiowas south into Texas. In the early fall of 1864, some thousands of
Comanches and Kiowas camped along the Canadian River in the
Llano Estacado, and along the Red River south of the Wichitas.
Spoiling for war, they came under the influence of an ambitious leader
known as Little Buffalo.

Little Buffalo had carefully scouted the Brazos country on earlier

raids. He moved from camp to camp, holding council, telling the
Kiowas and Kiowa Apaches that the horse soldiers were gone, and
that the tejano Rangers were too few to matter. He held out the vision
of great victories, with immense spoil and prestige accruing to all
warriors who rode with him. By October 1864, he had gathered at
least seven hundred warriors; he crossed the Red into Texas with a
great band of approximately a thousand allied and associated
Amerindians. Large numbers joined from all the northern bands of
Comanches, and the famous war chief Aw-Soant-sai-mah (Aperian
Crow) led a powerful contingent of the Kiowas. Many horses were
assembled, for Little Buffalo had learned Buffalo Hump's hard lesson:
this was to be a heavy but a lightning blow, with a quick return from
the Brazos.

On October 13th Little Buffalo's horde crossed the Brazos about ten
miles above Fort Belknap, where Elm Creek poured into the river. The
Comanches and Kiowas swarmed up the creek bottoms, which were
inhabited by between fifty and sixty stubborn white frontier people.
The raiders, bold in their numbers, split and rode along both banks at
noon on a bright, crisp, beautiful day. The burning and killing began.

The Comanches came upon a settler and his son, who were looking in
the brush for strayed livestock. They killed, stripped, and mutilated
the man and boy. They then moved along the creek to the Fitzpatrick
ranch. Here there were three women and a number of children. The
men were away, gathering supplies at the Weatherford trading post.
As the Indians rode up, young Susan Durgan seized a gun and rushed
outside. She fired on the warriors, but they cut her down and stripped
her naked, mutilated her corpse and left it lying in the yard. They
captured the other women and children: Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, Mary
Johnson—the wife of Nigger Brit Johnson, a black man who was
legally a slave but treated as a free man on this frontier by an owner
who had inherited him—and three black and three white youngsters.
Two warriors quarreled over who had seized the oldest black child,
and settled the mater by killing the boy. The women, the two
surviving Negro children, young Joe Carter, aged twelve, and Lottie
and Millie Durgan, aged three and eighteen months, were carried off.

But now smoke was rising in the clear air, and the shots had been
heard. The Hamby men, one of whom was a wounded Confederate
veteran on recuperation leave, rushed their women and children into
hiding in a cave and mounted their horses to spread the alarm through
the valley. The Hambys raced along the stream, firing at pursuing
Comanches as they rushed from homestead to homestead. The
Williams family hid in the thick brush, guarded by a fifteen-year old
boy with a rifle. While Judge Williams' house was looted, the women
and children were not discovered.

The two Hamby men, with Tom (Doc) Wilson, rushed for the George
Bragg ranch house, which was a small but picketed and sodded cabin,
built to serve as a fort. As the three men abandoned their horses in the
ranch yard, Doc Wilson was struck in the heart by an arrow. He
staggered into the house, jerked the missile free, and died in a gush of
blood. George Bragg, five white women, a Negro girl, and a large
brood of children were in the house. The ranch was immediately
surrounded by a horde of howling warriors. As Thornton Hamby, the
Confederate soldier, later said half-humorously, he might have hid
under the bed—except that three families of refugees already had
preempted that dubious spot of safety. With young Hamby coolly
directing the defense, the whites prepared to stand off a siege.

The women were directed to reload all the rifles and pistols. One
woman stood at Thornton Hamby's elbow and gave him great
assistance. As the Comanches rushed the cabin, trying to dig out the
pickets, he opened fire from the tiny gun ports that were a feature of
all west Texas ranch houses. The elder Hamby killed one Indian, but
he had suffered four wounds, and old George Bragg was not much
help. Young Hamby saved the whites as he emptied pistol after pistol
pressed into his hands by the desperate women who reloaded them at a
table. All afternoon, while some unseen warrior blew mournfully on a
captured army bugle, Hamby held the fort. He was wounded again;
then he killed Little Buffalo himself, who was directing the attack,
with a lucky shot. The Comanches withdrew, after a few parting shots
and a bugle blast.

Meanwhile, the Pevelers, Harmonsons, and other local clans had

assembled within the walls of Fort Murrah. The warriors who now
swarmed everywhere along Elm Creek were now frustrated by this
small stockade. They stayed beyond rifle range, rampaging up and
down the creek. France Peveler, who had a spy glass, saw warriors
gathered in the mesquite around two white men. He told his
companions that the Comanches were killing "old man McCoy and his
son right now." One of them told him to keep quiet. The McCoy
women had made it to the fort, and would be "mightily distressed" if
they knew that the Indians had their menfolk.

On this same afternoon, realizing that there was trouble. Lieutenant N.

Carson of Bourland's Border Regiment of militia rode toward Elm
Creek from Fort Belknap with fourteen men. He struck some three
hundred warriors. Five militiamen were killed at once, several others
wounded; the rest fled for their lives. A stand would have been futile
in any case. The militia did save several women on their mad dash to
safety at Fort Murrah. They came in riding double; some horses were
pin-cushioned with Comanche-Kiowa shafts.

That night, while the courageous Thornton Hamby left the Bragg
ranch under the cover of darkness and slipped through a screen of
warriors to reach the Fitzpatrick place and bury the corpses there, the
survivors in Fort Murrah prepared for what they believed would be a
dawn attack. They could see Indians moving constantly on the ridges,
and a great fire blazed up in the north as somewhere a house went up.
The settlers agreed that someone had to ride for help. The state
troopers (Carson's report maintained that they "acted with unexampled
bravery") absolutely refused to leave the fort, so two settlers, France
Peveler and a man named Fields, volunteered to go. They slipped past
the nervous outside picket, a boy of seventeen who had taken this
dangerous duty beyond the walls, and rode along the low ground, so
that the Indians would not "sky-light" them against the ridges. They
passed a nude white body in the dark, and a pitiable horse pinned to
the ground by a lance, still trembling in its agony. They dared not
stop; when they were clear, they galloped the full six miles to
Belknap.

All the militia was gone—out hunting Indians, someone said. But
among the people forted up at Belknap, a young boy, Chester Tackett,
volunteered to ride seventy-five miles to Veal's Station. Tackett
slipped away at one in the morning, and changing horses at every
white cabin he passed, arrived at Veal's Station, the closest white
settlement, at nine. But again there was not militia to be found.
Another volunteer raced on to Decatur, another thirty miles. Here, at
sundown, Major Quayle, commanding the local militia, heard the
news. Quayle pushed his men for sixty miles without halting, until,
when he was still some twenty miles from Elm Creek, he met a rider
who told him that the Indians had withdrawn. He rode after the
Comanches for about a hundred miles, because the raiders had taken
white women and children, but at last broke off pursuit.

This was a classic frontier Texas Comanche raid, different only in the
greater scope such raids were once again assuming. Eleven settlers
had been killed, eleven homes destroyed, seven women and children
carried off. The frontier people survived as they could, both by
heroism and flight. The militia, as always, arrived too late. The
Comanches an Kiowas had taken almost everything, and what they
could not carry or had no use for, they had destroyed. Flour sacks
were emptied, or mixed with sand, livestock was killed. That winter
was a hard one on Elm Creek.

J.W. Wilbarger, in his book Indian Depredations in Texas, provides

another description of the Elm Creek Raid:
The following version is from the book Frontier Defense in the Civil
War, by David Paul Smith:
 Forting Up

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