Archive for the 'Frontier Texas' Category

The Comanche Indian Reservation

abilenet August 29th, 2008

The Texas legislature passed a law on February 6, 1854, that established the Brazos Indian Reservationqv for the Caddos, Wacos, and other Indians, and also provided four square leagues of land, or 18,576 acres, for a Comanche reserve to be located at Camp Cooper on the Clear Fork of the Brazos in Throckmorton County. In compliance with the treaty of August 30, 1855, about 450 of the Penateka or southern Comanches settled on the reservation and were to be taught farming. The location had good hunting and water and had been selected by Maj. Robert S. Neighbors. The principal Indian village, established in a bend of the river, consisted of several hundred Indians and their chief, Ketumsee, who lived there with his wives and many children.

Until the arrival of troops of the Second United States Cavalry, the Comanches were restive and difficult to control, but thereafter they acceded to the suggestion of Indian agent John R. Baylor to begin their farming effort. Baylor sent a farmer and laborer to assist them, and the first crops were planted-corn, melons, beans, peas, pumpkins, and other vegetables. The Comanches cultivated the crops remarkably well, but extreme drought kept them from producing all they needed.

A number of other factors prevented the Comanche reservation from being as successful as the one on the Brazos: the Kickapoos and northern Comanche bands raided the settlements, and the reservation Indians received the blame; the Penateka band itself was divided, Chief Sanaco leading away from the reservation a larger group than that which remained under Chief Ketumsee; the reservation was too near the old Comanche trails to Mexico and to the west, and loiterers and troublemakers intruded from those trails; the reservation Indians left the reservation on hunting expeditions or to join marauding bands; unprincipled traders sold whiskey to the Comanches; the Indians were inadequately protected by federal troops, largely infantry untrained in Indian warfare; state troops were slow to intervene when federal aid was insufficient; and white settlers were hostile to the Indians.

On March 29, 1858, therefore, Major Neighbors recommended the abandonment of the Comanche reservation (as well as the Brazos reservation) and removal of the Indians to Indian Territory. Orders for their complete removal were issued on June 11, 1859. The two groups were consolidated at the Red River, and on September 1 Neighbors delivered them to agency officials in Indian Territory.


This article is the work of and used by permission of Don Frazier.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:

George D. Harmon, “The United States Indian Policy in Texas, 1845-1860,” Mississippi Valley Historical Review 17 (1930).
Lena Clara Koch, “The Federal Indian Policy in Texas, 1845-1860,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 28 (January, April 1925).
Kenneth F. Neighbours, Indian Exodus: Texas Indian Affairs, 1835-1859 (San Antonio: Nortex, 1973).
Virginia Pink Noël, The United States Indian Reservations in Texas, 1854-1859 (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1924).

The Tonkawa Indians of Texas

abilenet August 22nd, 2008

The Tonkawa Indians were actually a group of independent bands, the Tonkawas proper, the Mayeyes, and a number of smaller groups that may have included the Cava, Cantona, Emet, Sana, Toho, and Tohaha Indians. The remnants of these tribes united in the early eighteenth century in the region of Central Texas. The Yojaune Indians, who were actually a Wichita tribe, were absorbed by the Tonkawas in the second half of the eighteenth century. The name Tonkawa is a Waco term meaning “they all stay together.” Traditionally, the Tonkawas have been regarded as an old Texas tribe, but new evidence suggests that the Tonkawas migrated from the high plains as late as the seventeenth century. In addition, the Tonkawas proper might have been only a small element of the fragmented tribes that migrated to Texas.

Continue Reading »

Prehistory of West Texas

abilenet August 15th, 2008

Changes in Texas vegetation during the past 30,000 years offer us clues about climatic changes, about the animals that once lived here, and about the hardships the earliest Texans, the Paleo-Indians, had to face in their daily quest for food and shelter.

The years 30,000-22,500 B.C. were an interlude between two major glacial periods in North America. During this time conditions in Texas were stable and favorable. Pollen records from deposits in West Texas reveal that at first most of the area north and west of Austin was covered by a large prairie and few trees. Grasses dominated the land, and pine, juniper, Douglas fir, and spruce trees were restricted mostly to the higher elevations of the Guadalupe, Davis, and Chisos ranges. The probable climate of West Texas in this period was cooler and wetter than today, with fewer temperature extremes. Pollen evidence suggests that minor climatic fluctuations occurred. These are reflected in the fossil record by cyclical increases and decreases in the proportion of tree pollen when compared to pollen from other plants. Some cycles lasted several thousand years and suggest that at times large islands of pine and juniper invaded the grasslands. The prairie grasses remained dominant in West Texas for this entire period, however, and provided grazing for many species of now-extinct animals.

Continue Reading »

Transportation in Early West Texas - The Butterfield Overland Mail Route

abilenet August 8th, 2008

In 1857 a congressional act authorized the establishment of a mail contract to convey letters twice weekly, in both directions, between St. Louis, Missouri, and Memphis, Tennessee, in the east and San Francisco, California, in the west. The act also stipulated that four-horse coaches suitable for carrying passengers would carry the mail. A final requirement was that the trip should take no more than twenty-five days. John Butterfield and Associates won the contract, agreeing to compensation of $600,000 per year, plus receipts for passengers and express.

Butterfield began his Southern Overland Mail operation on September 15, 1858. By necessity, this route wound its way through West Texas. Moving from the two eastern termini (St. Louis and Memphis), the routes converged into one at Fort Smith, Arkansas. The distance between Fort Smith and San Francisco on this route totaled 2,795 miles—probably the longest route for horse-drawn conveyances in the history of the United States. The route crossed into Texas from the Indian Territory at Sherman. From there it moved west to Gainesville, Jacksboro, Fort Belknap, and Clear Fork Station. Other prominent West Texas stops included Fort Phantom Hill (just north of present-day Abilene in Jones County), Mountain Pass (in the western part of present-day Taylor County), Fort Chadbourne, Carlsbad, Pope’s Camp, Hueco Tanks, and Franklin (present-day El Paso).

The Butterfield Route proved quite beneficial to settlement in West Texas. Community leaders all along the route clamored to have the line stop in their town. They believed that with communication and transportation would come progress, law, and safety on the frontier. By early 1859, these communities got their wish. Butterfield made Sherman a distribution point and Texas settlements therefore gained postal service.

The Butterfield Line used Concord coaches, which had room for five or six passengers, although more could be crowded in. Passengers desiring a one-way trip from Memphis or St. Louis to San Francisco could expect to pay an average of $200. The trip was quite uncomfortable, and as the coaches went through large stretches of Indian country, the journey was also dangerous. The owners encouraged passengers to travel armed in case of a hostile attack. If a passenger decided to lay over at a stop, he would lose his seat, and might have to wait as long as a month before another one came available. Nevertheless, in the two and a half years of its operation, the Butterfield Overland Mail line never suffered an Indian attack, nor did it ever miss its twenty-five day travel deadline.

The Butterfield Overland Mail service in Texas stopped in March 1861, when they amended the contract to modify the route northward. The early promise of steady transportation and communication in West Texas came to an end, and with the Civil War and the Indian Wars, it would be decades more before those goals could be achieved.


This article is the work of and used by permission from Don Frazier.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Conkling, Roscoe P. and Margaret B. The Butterfield Overland Mail, 1857-1869. 3 vols. Glendale, California: Clark, 1947.
Hafen, LeRoy R. Overland Mail, 1849-1869. Cleveland: Clark, 1926.
Ormsby, Waterman L. The Butterfield Overland Mail. San Marino, California: Huntington Library, 1942; rpt. 1955).
Richardson, Rupert N. “Some Details of the Southern Overland Mail.” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 29 (July 1925).
Williams, J. W. “The Butterfield Overland Mail Road across Texas.” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 61 (July 1957).
Williams, J. W. “The Marcy and Butterfield Trails across Texas.” M.A. thesis, Hardin-Simmons University, 1938.

 Interview with Sharon Spinks, Author of Law on the Last Frontier

abilenet May 20th, 2008

I recently had the privilege to assist in an interview with Sharon Spinks, the author of a book about her grand-father-in-law, Arthur Hill, titled, Law on the Last Frontier.  The interviewer, “Texana Review” owner and moderator Ed Blackburn, talks with Sharon about why she wrote this book, the stories in the book and, of course, Arthur Hill.  Join us for this enlightening interview with Sharon Spinks, Ed Blackburn and yours truly behind the camera.

See this podcast at http://texanareview.typepad.com/posts/2008/05/sharon-spinks-t.html

 

Buffalo Days, Stories from J. Wright Mooar. Chapter 1 - The Sharps Rifle

abilenet August 4th, 2007

The Sharps Rifle was a series of rifles designed by Christian Sharp and manufactured by the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company of Hartford CT beginning in 1850.    Listen to a story about the rifle as told by J. Wright Mooar, Buffalo Hunter.
Thanks to Robert Pace for his use of the material from his book, “Buffalo Days, Stories from J. Wright Mooar.”  Music is provided by Joseph Firecrow is entitled, “Morning Star Rise.”  Mr. Firecrow’s music can be found at music.podshow.com.

 
icon for podpress  The Sharps Rifle by J. Wright Mooar [6:16m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Buffalo Days, Stories from J. Wright Mooar. Introduction and Prologue

abilenet July 23rd, 2007

J. Wright Mooar was a famed buffalo hunter who later told his stories to a friend.  These stories were printed in a now unpublished magazine and have been collected into a book by Robert Pace of McMurry University.  Join us as we read the Introduction and Prologue from this book edited by Robert Pace entitled, “Buffalo Days, Stories from J. Wright Mooar.”  This is the first in a series of readings from the book.

 
icon for podpress  Buffalo Days Intro and Prologue [9:32m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Fort Phantom Hill Part 3 of 3

abilenet April 3rd, 2007

In this final episode, part 3 of 3, we will complete our conversation with Don Frazier, professor of History at McMurry University and the Executive Director of the McWhiney Foundation, on the history of Fort Phantom Hill, Texas.  This episode also include a poem by Larry Chitenden about Fort Phantom Hill.

 
icon for podpress  Fort Phantom Hill Part 3 Audio [10:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Fort Phantom Hill Part 2 of 3

abilenet March 21st, 2007

After the initial military occupation and withdrawal, Fort Phantom Hill was used by a number of groups for different purposes.  In this episode, part 2 of 3, we will continue our conversation with Don Frazier, professor of History at McMurry University and the Executive Director of the McWhiney Foundation, on the history of Fort Phantom Hill.

 
icon for podpress  Fort Phantom Hill Part 2 Audio [12:32m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Fort Phantom Hill Part 1 of 3

abilenet March 7th, 2007

I wanted to know more about Fort Phantom Hill, this small corner of West Texas, so I sat down with Don Frazier, professor of History at McMurry University here in Abilene, Texas and the Executive Director of the McWhiney Foundation, to find out more about this intriguing area of West Texas and to find out if the ghost stories are indeed true.

 
icon for podpress  Fort Phantom Hill Part 1 Audio [15:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download