Dac Crossley's Western Blog

End of the Indian Troubles in Texas

What was wrong with those whiney Texans? What Indian problems? Weren’t the Kiowas and Comanches tucked away in their reservation across the Red River in Oklahoma? They’d signed the Medicine Lodge Treaty, hadn’t they? The Quaker Indian agents said they were behaving. Well, they left the Reservation to hunt buffalo sometimes. The US Army maintained a line of forts. What was the problem?

William Tecumseh Sherman, Commanding General of the Army, thought the Texans were exaggerating. He decided to inspect the Army forts. He left San Antonio with a small escort of Buffalo Soldiers. They traveled safely from fort to fort. No Indians were seen. So, he asked, what’s the problem?

In mid-May Sherman’s party left Fort Belknap headed west, a quiet morning trip. He didn’t know that he was watched by a party of 100 or so Kiowas led by Chief Satanta. The medicine man Sky Walter advised Santana to hold off and wait for a better target. The next day the Kiowas attacked a wagon train, tortured and killed the teamsters and made off with their goods and mules, headed back to the safety of the Reservation. One teamster escaped and made it to Sherman’s party.

A wake-up call for Sherman. Back at the Reservation, Satanta boasted openly about his deeds. Sherman confronted him and had the Indian and his cohorts arrested (by the Buffalo Soldiers) and sent to Texas to stand trial in a civil court. The Quaker agents were replaced.

Sherman adopted a new strategy for frontier defense. The Medicine Lodge treaty wasn’t working. He started military tactics against the Indians. A few years later, Colonel Ranald MacKenzie defeated the last Comanche band (under Quanah Parker) in the Texas Panhandle.

Larry C. and I enjoyed several Sunday outings in MacKenzie Park, there in Lubbock’s Yellow House Canyon with whatever dates we could manage. I didn’t know the history at that time. Settlement of the Panhandle came fast, once the Indian’s fangs were pulled.

Dac Crossley
August 21, 2018

“Only the educated are free.” – Epictetus.

Those Pesky Redskins!

At the outset of the Civil War, Indian attacks on Texas settlers had been on the wane. The US Government had established a line of forts, north to south, just short of the 100th meridian. Comanches and Kiowas had been moved to reservations in Oklahoma. Comanche Indians continued to hold forth on the South Plains and the rest of the panhandle.

Government troops quit those forts after Texas seceded from the Union. Some forts surrendered formally to newly-formed Confederate commands. Others simply packed up and marched away, leaving their fort abandoned. And in one fort the soldiers turned their coats and became Confederates.

The Confederacy lacked the manpower to occupy the line of forts, and Indian raids soon resumed in the Hill Country. Isolated ranches became targets. Companies of Texas Rangers were authorized but they made little difference. Since the forts couldn’t all be manned, a plan of rotations was developed. Companies would march on a regular schedule between forts, one after the other. The Indians, of course, soon realized what was happening and simply avoided the Rangers.

Part of the problem was management of the Indian reservations across the Red River in Oklahoma. Those were safe bases for Kiowas and Comanches, and were supervised by the ever-gentle Quaker agents. Raiders were never punished for their deeds.

After the War ended, Government troops began to re-occupy their old forts, but Indian raids continued in central and west Texas. Settler’s complaints reached President Grant; he dismissed them. Union soldiers were needed to police the Texas coastal plains, he said. It was not until Sherman – but that’s another story. Stay tuned. To be continued.

Dac Crossley
August 17, 2018. Happy birthday, Greg B.

“Technological progress is like an ax in the hands of a pathological criminal.” – Albert Einstein.

Old Leathercoat

That’s what the Indians called him because of the dark brown jacket he wore. During the Civil War James Throckmorton served the State of Texas very well. He opposed succession and was one of eight legislators to vote against leaving the Union. Yet when the Civil War began he immediately enlisted. He organized defenses on the frontier, oversaw manning of the forts and, as Confederate Indian Commissioner, negotiated with Indian tribes across the Red River.

Throckmorton was also an advisor to Sam Houston, who sat out the War. The Lincoln government contacted Houston and suggested that he develop armed resistance in Texas, with Lincoln’s support. Throckmorton advised against such a venture, and Houston agreed with him.

He was an important influence in Texas, during the chaotic period following the Civil War. Throckmorton was elected Governor of Texas in 1866 and worked to restore social and economic stability in the State. He clashed with Union General Charles Griffin who was in charge of the Texas sub-district. Griffin was displeased at the slow progress in Texas. Throckmorton did not support the Radical Republicans, so Griffin had him removed from office. Texas was undr military control.

Following the General Amnesty Act of 1872, Throckmorton was elected to Congress where he lobbied for education and expansion of railroads.