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September 2012 NORTH TEXAS STAR STORYTELLER & RAMBLER Page 2

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North TexasStarOUTDOORS ALONG THE BRAZOS

THE SAGA OFROBERT SIMPSON NEIGHBORS

CHASING OUR TALES

The Sears Catalog . . .

Don Price

Jim Dillard

Sue Seibert

Wynelle Catlin

3

10

6

22

THE FROMANS OF PARKER COUNTYRandall Scott14

S b 2012 NORTHTEXAS STAR STORYTELLER & RAMBLER P 3


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A Glimpse of ParadiseBy D on Pr ice

It was about the year of 1958, and I was 28 years old. Mytwo friends were younger but also in their 20s. We had onething we really enjoyed doing, and that was trekking over

and through the landscape of undeveloped Palo Pinto County.You can't visualize you can't even imagine how remote

some parts of it were, about 54 years ago.As I remember we three were drinking coffee at a cafe in

town. My younger friend said his family owned some landnear the foothills of Clayton Mountain, about a mile or so westof Santo. With an elevation of some 1,250 feet above sea level,

Clayton Mountain's height would allow us a vista of the unde-

veloped rolling hills of the Palo Pinto.You could see Clayton Mountain on the north side of old

Highway 80 as you were driving near Gordon. In fact, it ranfrom nearly Santo almost to Gordon, some 6 miles, offering apanoramic view of virgin terrain.

It was high enough to give us a 360-degree vista of the land-scape below, and just the thought of this excited us. My friendsaid it was remote on top, and he didn't know for sure if any-one was even living on top of the mountain, a relatively flatplateau covering a mile or so.

And while we were drinking coffee at that cafe in MineralWells, we agreed to get an early start, to arrive at or near thebase of Clayton Mountain the next morning. We didn't take any

Continued on page 4

Outdoors Along the Brazos

Palo Pinto County photos by Libby Cluett

September 2012 NORTHTEXAS STAR STORYTELLER & RAMBLER Page 4


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Continued from page 3

chances; I recall we might have spent thenight in sleeping bags for an early start.

The third member of our party said hewould do the cooking to see to it that wewere winding up a hearty breakfast of

bacon and eggs and grits, to finish with athird cup of golden coffee at sunrise. I soonfound out that one's campfire cookingtastes better than Coleman's.

(This third member of our party, theone who cooked the bacon and eggs, had toleave just as we started our trek in the foot-hills; he was called away on business, sothere were only two of us to scale andexplore Clayton Mountain that day.)

I would like to emphasize I had nocamera; it was so long ago, well, my mem-ory of certain flashbacks is not as vivid as itwould have been a mere dozen years ago.

But the golden coffee at a sunrise camp-fire, the intended flavor of freedom theadventure and excitement and what itmeant to us only happens to friends onceor twice in a lifetime.

Brief notes of the Clayton Mountaintrek in 1958 and today's reflections:

It's perfectly OK if some like the coun-try clubs and Cadillacs, the fancy furs andfrills, operas and cocktails, the eleganceand plumes, the style of the day and theambience that goes with it. You have aright to choose, to seek out this lifestyle.

And it's OK for others to prefer a trea-dle Singer and calico, a .22 target for plink-ing, sound casings for the family pickup,plenty of firewood and a few stout cedarposts; preferring a warm day spent downon the creek with pole and line, a skinnydip in the spring, a big Sunday dinner withthe extended family (nary a cellphone todistract you or you'll have missed UncleJim's punchline), a right-new-pair of cover-alls and a big rocking chair by the fire-place... new plumbing maybe, well, maybe.

You can choose an elegant lifestyle oryou can prefer a simple lifestyle. ClaytonMountain was a pioneer's hardship in 1958but beautiful in it's natural environment.

Some of us prefer a campfire and blackcoffee, our crooked-stem pipes and a river-bend, people and cabins old, not fly-by-

nighters.As I stated earlier in this letter, three of

us took a day's journey once from Santonorthwest; one dropped out early and thisleft two of us.

The trip was via foot express, and wewent through and in and out, parts of all

types of country. You can just imagine howrough it gets 100 yards off FM 4 north ofSanto clean to the top... over ClaytonMountain, through valleys, across flats.Beddo Mountain Road and ClaytonMountain Road were super highways,autobahns, compared to Model T andwagon roads. We were looking for rugged-ness, for hardship, and I think we found it.

As I've already said, our base camp was

a spot a mile or so west of Santo. After agood night's sleep under a starry sky, nes-tled in warm sleeping bags, we arose justas the morning's orange wafer peeped at usat treeline to chase the shadows away.

After a second helping of bacon, eggsand grits, we were ready to journey to thepromised land unexplored land to usland we'd only seen on a district engineer'smap.

We started northwest through a creekbed, crooked and rocky, up and over a bar-ren-looking mountain that refused to growthe usual native plants, nothing except cat-claws and cactus, an occasional yuccaplant.

Reaching the top of this plateau weencountered old fields, yielding

needle grass, a sign of worn-out soil; theland looked tired, overworked from theplow and the drought of the fifties. Yet thelandscape was beautiful in its starkness.

Then we reached a dense growth ofunderbrush and post oaks, blackjack, somelive oak, a place that looked as if it'd never

felt the pain of a dozer's blade.With large sandstone boulders persis-tently in our way, we slowly edged down arelatively steep mountain, making oursojourn a challenge. We finally reached avalley floor.

No houses, no corrals, no car tracks, nocarbon footprints except our own; only thetracks of the sly bobcat, the curious rac-coon, the wily fox could be seen.

We were still traveling in a generalnorthwesterly direction and had failed tonotice it was almost high noon.

Time to build a fire, perk some coffeewith alkali tank water, munch a sandwhichand a candy bar, then lean back in theshade of an oak to watch the buzzards sail.

I dozed off for a moment and awokewith a start, not wanting to miss out on oneminute, observing all I could of this lonelybut beautiful landscape.

My companion was looking at a scar ona distant mountainside. It was in ourplanned route, so we went there to ponderover what seemed to be a forgotten wagonroad.

Continued on page 7




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6/24


By Sue Se ibert

Recently I was sent a photograph ofWilliam J. Hale, who was a Texas Ranger inPalo Pinto County during the Indian wars.Sadly, I have not been able to discover muchabout Mr. Hale. The photo was taken in

June of 1927 in Palo Pinto. Like my great-grandfather, Bob Routh, who was also aTexas Ranger, he probably met with otherretired Rangers for a photo in the county seatof the county he protected. This, so far as isknown, is the only photo existing of Hale.

Hale was under the command of Capt.W.C. McAdams, who also served in ourarea, and they are both listed in the RangersPension Registry.

William J. Hale served in severalskirmishes with Indians during his tenure asa Texas Ranger in Palo Pinto County, and hegave an interesting account of paintings ona group of larger cedar trees in the county.According to his statement, there was aplace near Turkey Creek known as PaintedCamp. The name was derived from the factthat hundreds of paintings adorned cedartrees in the vicinity. The trees ranged from8 to 24 inches in diameter and covered anarea of about 4 acres. The painted trees werescattered among other trees. The paintingswere on the smooth inner bark of the tree,secured by peeling away the outer bark. Theywere 4- to 5-feet above the ground and werevaried from 4 to 12 inches in length. In somecases the designs formed a band completelyencircling the tree.

Hale said he saw the paintings many

times in those early days and that they werein various bright colors, with red and bluethe most common. The designs were quiteintricate, he said, but the painted trees soonwere cut down.

The source of this information wasPicture Writing of Texas Indians by A.T.

Jackson, University of Texas Publication,March 1, 1938, transcribed by K. Torp.

I found a little more information from aquery sent to me in 1997 by Eddie L. Wells:

My grandfather, William A. Spencer,alias Champ Means, in his application fora pension from the Texas Rangers statedthat he was a member of the Palo Pinto

County Rangers, 1873-1874. Is there anyinformation out there specically about PaloPinto County Rangers? W.C. McAdams wasthe commanding ofcer. Spencer/Meansstates that he served with Wash Hullum,

Joe Schoolcraft, William J. Hale, Jim Owens,Matthew Lambert and Long Billy Nichols.He knew John Pollard, Sam and Bill Ward,

John (Bud) Matthews and Bill Doggett. Hesaid that he worked on the Narborough(not sure about the spelling) Ranch, 15 or 20miles from Cisco, Texas. He worked on theHittson Ranch. Where was that? He was alsoin Throckmorton County at the Old StoneRanch where he worked for Martin Hoover.He also lived in Strawn, Eastland County. Allof this took place around 1869-1876 before hewent to Denton County and married. Fromthere he moved to Granbury, Hood County,until 1884 when he returned to Palo PintoCounty. He lived there until 1889. He wasknown as Champ Means from 1869 to 1876,

but when he returned to Palo Pinto Countyhe went by his real name, William A. Spenceror Bill Spencer.

On Ancestry.com I believe I havediscovered that Hale was married toElizabeth Lizzie Chick who was born onMay 12, 1856. They were married Aug. 1,1873, in Palo Pinto County.

On further investigation, I believeElizabeth Chick was born in Illinois to JamesHenry, 1833-1909, and Dorcas Jane JeanieGreenwell Chick, 1835-1918, and that Lizziehad siblings, Mary and Robert. Also living intheir home in Palo Pinto County in 1860 were

Jane Burrus and Coleman Burrus who were

Continued on page 8

Chasing Our TalesWilliam J. Hale, Palo Pinto County Texas Ranger



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I don't see for the life of mehow the old settlers could haveclimbed this steep wagon roadeven with the help of the strain-ing 20-mule Borax team.

With perhaps angryComanches and Kiowas in pur-suit, the frontiersmen really hadno choice; the slash in the steephillside looked almost vertical;at the time of the chase perhapsthey never even noticed.

We finally came upon a two-story ranch house; the screendoor was missing, also the frontdoor, and the windows werebroken. Newspapers coveredthe walls and were shredded, itlooked like, by rats.

The large calendar on thewall was out-of-date by a cou-ple of decades. I might be mis-taken about the timeframe, but

it wasn't current; possibly itcould have run concurrentlywith John Steinbeck's Grapes ofWrath.

Rural folk back then had atough time making ends meet;some just moved on, leaving a

sizeable clearing of tired landwith nothing but weeds andneedlegrass and a few twisteddead mesquites.

The house seemed to fit thesurroundings, gone and forgot-ten, haunted in appearancewith nary a sign of the weather-beaten boards never havingreceived the kiss of a wet paint

brush, nary a sign of curioustwo-legged creatures either. Wefelt as if we were intruding.

It could have been built byan Eastern dude with a lot ofambition and a fat pocketbook;he might have discovered in acouple of years that the country

was not as easy to tame as aVirginia tobacco plantation.

We traveled on, seeking theoverlook we'd been searchingfor in the first place; soon wewere in sight of our journey'send, a magnificent panorama of

undeveloped country, a remotelandscape without roads, hous-es, even barbed wire, no utilitypoles or hardly man-made ofanything, only nature. You

could even make out thetreeline of the meandering PaloPinto Creek...

I don't think you'll be able torecognize the place today, notfrom the way this letterdescribes it. Clayton Mountain

is partially developed; this planstarted out several years ago.When it's gone, it's gone. PaloPinto County has a beauty allits own. 2



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over 10 years older than the Chick children.Lizzie died in Palo Pinto County on Jan. 15,1915.

With more investigation, I discovered

that William Hales middle name wasJennings and that he went by Uncle Billy.

William and Lizzie had children with thefollowing names, James Walter, 1875-1948,Mary Jane, 1878-1887, Ida May Dink, 1880-1971, Susan Ivey, 1882-1938, Robert AndrewBob. 1884-1947, Katie, 1886-1976, CharlesWesley, 1888-1967, and Marion Garret Bud,1891-1985.

James Walter married Amanda ElizabethHill. Dink married Lon Mason. Susanmarried a man named Whisten, andBud married Fleida Brewer.

Now all this tells us a lot aboutthe Chick family, but not much aboutUncle Billy Hale. So, Im askingyou, dear reader, to report to me ifyou know anything about this man

who helped tame Palo Pinto County.Where was he born? Who were hisparents? What was he trade? Whatelse did he do in his life? Thanks inadvance!

I am going to ask more of you. Irecently received this e-mail, and ifyou have information, please let meknow, and contact the correspondent

listed below:

Hello. My name is Cecil Green,and Im looking for informationregarding some of my familymembers who lived in Mineral Wellsyears ago. The folks at the Indexnewspaper gave me your e-mailaddress because they did not haveany issues of the newspaper from the

years Im interested in. Unfortunately

for me, neither the Mineral Wells library northe Weatherford library had many old copiesof the Index on microlm either.

So Im grasping at straws and lookingfor whatever help I can nd. I realize you donot have back copies of the newspapers, butperhaps you have some ideas that point me

in good direction.

Heres some of the details of my familysearch:

1) My great-grandfather was WilliamAlfred Barber. He moved to Mineral Wellsabout 1919-1920 with two of his children.His other daughter was my grandmotherWillie Barber Green, who had also moved to

Mineral Wells with her husband LyonellGreen and their children sometime

either before or at the same time as mygreat-grandfather. (My grandfatherdied in Mineral Wells in 1948, and mygrandmother died here in 1974). I lost mygreat-grandfathers trail before the 1930census (apparently not in Mineral Wells bythat time), but I located his burial site atElmwood Cemetery with a date of death of

Aug. 14, 1931. I would especially like to nda copy of his obituary, because there are nofamily records that indicate who his parentswere, nor where or how he died.

2) My grandmothers sister was EvaS. Barber born about 1901. From theinformation I have, she was married toClarence Edward Murphy about 1922 andwas living in Mineral Wells in 1930. Clarence

died on March 15, 1936, and is also buried inElmwood, but there are no details available

that indicate what happened toEva, nor where she is buried. I washoping that Clarences obituarywould have some mention of hiswife, but that time period is alsomissing from the Index les.

I have spent some time

looking through the availablerecords at the city cemetery ofce,and they have been helpful there,

but if you have any other ideaswhere to nd detailed informationfor my searches, I would appreciateany advice you can offer.

Thanks for reading all of mywritten woes, and thanks for your

help.

Cecil A. GreenP.O. Box 1232Lampasas, TX 76550email: [email protected]

Well, thats about all I have foryou at this time. Hope to hear fromsome of you soon. 2



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p g



10/24

By J im Di l la rd

(This is part three in a series of articles on thelife of Robert Simpson Neighbors, a soldier in theArmy of the Republic of Texas, prisoner of war,Texas Ranger, legislator and Indian agent for the

Republic of Texas and the United States.)

Robert Neighbors continuedhis journeys and visits to meetwith Indians in the wilds ofthe Texas frontier during 1848.

Clashes continued between Texas Rangersand volunteer militia units that patrolledthe region in pursuit of marauding bandsof Indians that continued to kill settlers and

steal livestock.

Peaceful groups of Indians were oftenmistaken by these units for those actuallyresponsible for depredations. These clashesoften compromised Neighbors efforts toperform his role as Indian agent and promotepeace. Rumors spread by Seminole andKickapoo Indians then residing in Mexicothat the whites intended to drive all Indians

from Texas further complicated his mission.

During April 1848, while en routeto Torreys Trading House, Neighbors

encountered Lipan Indian Chief Chiquito,who had kept his tribe far to the west after

being attacked by Texas Ranger CaptainBezaelle W. Armstrong in August of thepreceding year. The Lipans had joined forceswith the Apaches and remained in the PecosRiver country of West Texas. After visitingwith Neighbors and receiving assurancesthat no other attacks would be made, theyproceeded to the trading house whereNeighbors presented him with gifts. In aneffort to calm fears of other Indian tribes overclashes with Texas Ranger units, Neighborsset out to visit the Wichita Indians on theupper Brazos. This time he would be escorted

by Capt. Shapley Prince Ross and 30 TexasRangers for protection.

In present Palo Pinto County Neighborsvisited in the camp of Caddo ChiefHad-a-bar, located on the west

bank of the Brazos River at themouth of Caddo Creek (nearpresent Possum Kingdom StatePark). He told Neighbors he hadlived at that location for 21 years.North of this village were othervillages of Wichita and TawacanoIndians. Just across the river fromthe Caddo village was the Keechivillage located on present Bone

Bend, now under the watersof Possum Kingdom Lake.The Waco Indian villagewas located 8 miles furtherup the Brazos on the eastside of the river at themouth of Waco Creek inWaco Bend in presentsoutheastern YoungCounty. Since the

Brazos River wasooding and foodsupplies runningshort, Neighbors

directed Captain Ross to send 25 of theRangers home under the charge of AlpheusD. Neal.

After a week the water level nally fell,allowing Neighbors and his small party tocross over to the Waco village of Chief WhiteFeather. The chief surprisingly hailed themwith a Masonic sign and invited them to enterthe village. A council was held in one of thevillages large circular grass houses whereNeighbors chastised them for allowing theirwarriors to continue stealing horses. ChiefAh-ha-dots response was that it was difcultto stop his warriors from doing somethingthey had done all their lives and it wouldtake time for that to change. Eighteen stolenhorses were turned over to Neighbors afterthe council.

Following their council meeting a feastof cornmeal dumplings was presented toNeighbors and his men. During the meala white man named Miller appeared at

the camp with the intention of sellingwhiskey to the Indians. Neighborsadmonished him and advised him of the

illegality of his enterprise, threateningto hang him if he was still in campthe following morning; he vanished

during the night. On Neighbors

return trip in the vicinity of presentWeatherford, he ran into a party of

four Cherokee Indians who wereon a trip to the Indian villages to

trade whiskey for horses. Thewhiskey was conscated and

poured on the ground.

Neighbors next tripto visit Indians on the

Texas frontier was madeduring the fall of 1848

Continued on page 11

The Saga of Robert Simpson Neighbors part 3



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when he traveled with CaptainRoss and a unit of 50 Rangerstoward the Double MountainFork of the Brazos River locatedapproximately 300 miles tothe west. He had learned from

Comanche Chief Old Owl thatother Comanche bands underSanta Anna and Buffalo Humpwere camped in that region. Theywere known to be responsiblefor stealing horses from theTexas Ranger companies of Capt.Samuel Highsmith and Capt.H.E. McCulloch, an act thathad been blamed on the Lipan

Indians. Old Owl accompaniedNeighbors and Ross on the trip.

On Oct. 8, 1848, theyencountered Chief Ketumshe, awar captain of Chief Santa Anna,on Hubbard Creek in presentStephens County. He escortedthe group to the camps of SantaAnna and Buffalo Hump located

on the Clear Fork of the Brazoswhere they were welcomed.During this meeting Neighborstried to resolve problems relatedto recent clashes betweenthese bands of Comanches andRangers units stationed alongroutes between San Antonioand the Rio Grande which theComanches used to make raids

into Mexico.

Other visits with Indiansto resolve problems betweenIndians, Rangers and whitesettlers and determine partiesresponsible for various attackskept Neighbors busy for theremainder of 1848. He set up ameeting with the Comanches

and Lipans in San Antonio toresolve conicts between thosetwo tribes but the Lipans failedto appear.

Another meeting was heldbetween Neighbors, U.S. ArmyMajor Ripley A. Arnold, ChiefChiquito of the Lipans, andTonkawa chiefs Placido andCampo at Torreys TradingHouse to determine who wasresponsible for the recent killingof a German man on YorkCreek in DeWitt County. At theencouragement of Chief Placido,two of his Tonkawa warriorsadmitted to the crime. WhenArnold demanded Placido andCampo be held responsible, thetwo chiefs ed, but not beforestealing 21 horses from settlers in

the area. They eventually turnedthemselves in but no punitiveaction was taken against them.

During late December 1848,U.S. Gen. William Jenkins Worth,who had been instrumental inleading United States forcesduring the recently concludedMexican War (1846-1848,)

arrived in Texas to assumeduties over the Departmentof Texas. In a correspondencewith Commissioner of IndianAffairs W. Medill, GeneralWorth acknowledged Neighborsas being indispensablynecessary to preserve thequiet of the border, who shallfaithfully represent the General

Government in its civil capacity,and from a careful examinationof his correspondence, I feelstrongly that Major Neighbors isprecisely the man for the place I

beg your prompt considerationin this matter, and if you agreewith me, in the estimate of theMajors tness to endeavor tosecure his appointment.

Indian affairs in Texas during




12/24


1849 were administered by the UnitedStates War Department and Neighbors andGeneral Worth developed a good workingrelationship concerning Indian affairs inTexas. Worth relied on Neighbors vastknowledge of Indians in Texas before any

forces were put in the eld against them andrequested frequent reports from him on thestate of Indian affairs.

During the winter of 1849 he askedNeighbors to estimate of the numberof Indians in Texas. Based on the bestinformation he had at the time. Neighborsestimated that there were 20,000 Comancheswith 4,000 warriors; 1,500 Kiowa with 300

warriors, 500 Lipans with 100 warriors,1,400 Caddos, Ionies and Anadarko with280 warriors; 300 Keechies with 60 warriors;1,000 Wichitas, Wacos, and Tawacanoswith 200 warriors, 650 Tonkawas with 130warriors; 650 Delaware and Shawnees with130 warriors, 50 Creeks with 10 warriors,25 Cherokees with 5 warriors; for a totalof 29,575 souls with an estimated 5,915warriors.

In February 1849 groups of the agrariantribes visited Neighbors at Torreys TradingHouse for advice on where they shouldsettle for the following year. These Indiansincluded Caddos, Ionies, Anadarkos, Wacos,Keechies, Tawacanos, Cherokees, Creeks,Shawnees and Delawares. Neighborsrecommend they settle on the Brazos Rivernear Comanche Peak at De Cordovas Bend.

At Neighbors suggestion, George Barnard,who had bought out Torreys interest in thetrading house on Tehuacana Creek south ofpresent Waco, agreed to establish a branchtrading house near the Indians just below DeCordovas Bend on the left (east) bank of theriver.

Gen. Worth received orders in early1849 from Secretary of War William L.

Marcy in Washington, D.C., to open upcommunications with the West by exploringa wagon route from San Antonio to Santa Feand establishing a fort in the vicinity of El

Paso. With the discovery of gold in Californiaand lucrative trade potential in Santa Fe, ithad become imperative that a reliable routeand road be established for moving militaryunits, emigrants, gold seekers and commercewest.

On Feb. 9, 1849, General Worth sent Lt.

William H. C. Whiting and Lt. William F.Smith to nd a suitable route to El Paso.Their initial route, which went throughFredericksburg to the Pecos River and thenthrough the Davis Mountains to Presidioand up the Rio Grande to El Paso, provedto be too difcult and impractical. On theirreturn trip they traveled back down the RioGrande for 100 miles and thenturned east toward the Pecos

River and on to the DevilsRiver before turning southto its junction with the RioGrande. From there theyestablished a southernroute back to San Antonio

by way of Fort Clarknear presentBrackettville,Texas.

While Whitingand Smith wereexploring a new routewest to El Paso, merchantsin Austin raised funds tosend well known formerTexas Ranger and publisherof the Texas Democrat JohnSalmon (RIP) Ford west

to also locate a route fora suitable road. GeneralWorth recommended thatsupervising Indian agentof Texas Maj. Robert S.Neighbors be sent alongto represent military andfederal interest in the venture.

Besides understanding the necessity

of a road being established from theGulf Coast to the West Coast,Neighbors agreed to theproposition knowing the

route would cross Indian hunting groundsin that vast unmapped region and it would

be important that the Indians understood theintentions of the government as it movedtroops through the region. This wouldprove to be a daunting task forNeighbors but one he willinglyaccepted. His rapport




13/24


with many of the Indians in thatregion would prove instrumentalto the success of the expedition.

The expedition left Austin onMarch 2, 1849, and traveled north

toward Torreys Trading Housenear present Waco. The region

between Austin and the tradinghouse was sparsely settled atthat time. They found the formerranger camp of Shapley P. Ross onthe Bosque River and were guidedfrom there to the trading house byDelaware Indian scout John Harry.Additional preparations were

made at the trading house for theexpedition. Alpheus D. Neal andD.C. (Doc) Sullivan, neighbors ofCaptain Ross who lived on theBrazos River near present Waco,were enlisted to accompany theexpedition.

The expedition, whichconsisted of Neighbors, John S.

Ford, A.D. Neal, Doc Sullivan,Capt. Jim Shaw, a Delawareinterpreter, Joe Ellis and TomCoshattee, Shawnees, PatrickGoin, a Choctaw, and John Harry,a Delaware, left Torreys TradingHouse on March 23, 1849, andtraveled west. A small band ofComanches also traveled with thegroup. They arrived at the camp

of Comanche Chief Old Owl onthe headwaters of the Leon Riveron the fourth day. At this campChief Buffalo Hump was givengifts and employed to guide themon the rest of their journey. Theyreached the camps of Comanchechiefs Shanaco and Yellow Knifeon the Colorado River about 140miles above Austin on April 2.

At a council meeting withthese Comanches it was decided

that Buffalo Hump would notbe allowed to accompany theexpedition further becauseMexicans in the vicinity of ElPaso had vowed to kill him if hereturned to that area. AnotherComanche guide by the nameof Guadalupe or Tall Tree was

hired for the trip. The journeyresumed across Bradys Creekto the headwaters of the ConchoRiver. On April 15, 1849, betweenthe Concho River and CastleMountain (in present UptonCounty) a strong blizzard of sleetand snow struck the expedition,causing much misery to the ill-prepared men. They crossed

the Pecos River at HorseheadCrossing on April 17 and hit theRio Grande River on April 25.

The weary group eventuallyreached the small settlement ofEl Paso on May 2, 1849, afteran arduous trek through theDavis Mountains and up the RioGrande. Neighbors reported

the route taken on the last 100miles of the trip was unsuitedfor a road and looked for analternative route on his returntrip to Austin. On May 6, 1849,the return trip led by a Mexicanguide named Zambrano

began. He guided them ona more northerly course byway of the Heuco Tanks and

below Guadalupe Peak to thePecos River over a route thatpreviously had been used byMexican Army units traveling

between El Paso and thePecos. Neighbors returned toFredericksburg on May 31, 1849,and reached San Antonio on

June 8.

Neighbors outbound triphad taken 23 days of actualtravel and 21 to return. In his

report to Gen. Henry S. Harney,who had replaced General Worthafter his death from cholera onMay 17, 1849, Neighbors gave afavorable report on his northernroute. Survey parties weresent out to further survey bothNeighbors and Whitings routes,

which would become known asthe Southern and Northern routes.The northern route was soon putto use by emigrants heading westand by the Buttereld OverlandMail stages traveling between theConcho River and El Paso. Todaymodern highways and railroadsrun along the same routes laidout by Neighbors and Whiting on

these expeditions. Neighbors andFord estimated the distance fromAustin to El Paso along their routeto be 598 miles, which is the samedistance on modern road maps.

No sooner had Neighborsreturned from this trip west than

orders were received to

proceed to Washington, D.C.,to begin work on a satisfactoryIndian policy for Texas. There hehoped to have the opportunityto promote many of his ideason providing a long range planfor the Indians on the Texasfrontier that would enable

them to become self-sustainingmembers of society. However,political events and party rivalriesat the nations capitol wouldtemporarily suspend Neighborsefforts on behalf of Indians inTexas and launch him on anotherassignment that would eventuallylead to settling the issue of thewestern boundary of Texas. (to be

continued)

(Sources: Robert SimpsonNeighbors and the Texas Frontier1836-1859 by Kenneth F.Neighbours; Rip Fords Texas by

John Salmon Ford; The Handbookof Texas Online; and other Internetsources.)



14/24

By Randal l Sc ott

John M. Froman once said that land wasthe most valuable commodity in the world.When news of land free for the takingreached John, his Kentucky neighbors werealready packing for their trip to Texas.

Texas won her independence from Mexicoin 1836 and a sovereign nation neededcitizens. They came by the thousands whenTexas approved the Preemption Law. Itrequired only one clear and simple provision:Settlers can patent 320 acres if they resideon and cultivate uninhabited land for threeyears.

He lost his chance for land when his rstwife died unexpectedly, but she left Johnwith a beautiful girl, Eliza Ann. Free landenticed him again when Texas joined theUnion in 1845, but John couldnt endangerhis precious little 2-year-old on such a longand arduous journey. Louisa Jane Stiverswas 16 years old when she married John onthe 18th of December, 1848. The following

year, their son, Alcibiades Sid Froman, wasborn just outside the town of Madisonvillein Hopkins County, Ky., on the 21st ofNovember, 1849.

The original Alcibiades (pronounced, Al-See-Bee-A-Dees) was a legendary militarygeneral in ancient Greece and became an

Athenian war hero by defeating theSpartans in 410 BC. What looked

good on paper was a tongue-twister for most folks, sothey just called him, Biddy.

Johns chance cameagain at a church socialwhen his neighbors,James and Mary Tinsley

and Isaac and MariamHeadley, invited them

on a wagon train journey to Texas set to leavein mid-June of 1853. Timing couldnt have

been better for them now that their 10-year-old Eliza could watch over a 4-year-oldBiddy. John and Louisa signed their last deedof sale to relinquish their Kentucky holdingsand with excited anticipation they packedtheir wagon. John cleaned and loaded hismatching pair of Colt Paterson .36-caliber

ve-shooter revolvers he called his, TexasPatersons, but he also brought along histrusty Eneld black-powder rie for squirrelsand such.

Froman family stories arent clear howLouisa died on the wagon train or whereshe was buried, only that she was a victimof some unknown tragedy. Substantiated

by Texas land deeds and tax records, Louisa

didnt make it to Texas where only John isrecorded. Collectively, wagon train memberstargeted a specic destination for settlementin the western portion of Tarrant County. (Inlater years, Parker County would incorporatethis same area.) The location had itsadvantages and disadvantages, which wouldsufce to say it was a paradise occupied

by savage Indians. Plagues of drought,scorching heat,and insect

infestation could be foundanywhere and most certainlythese irritants werent unique

to Texas. But, ComancheIndians were.

Of course, drinkingwater was a necessity thatonly tributaries of owingstreams and rivers could

provide. To illustrate this


The Fromans of Parker CountyA family story of violence, triumph and tragedy



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SEPTEMBER 5, 1854Alabama-born Reuben Vaughan, often referred to as the first permanentsettler in Palo Pinto County, moves his family to the Keechi Valley. Hewas a farmer and stockman who maintained friendly relations with theNative Americans of the area. He died in 1900.

SEPTEMBER 25, 1867Palo Pinto County trail driver Oliver Loving of Goodnight-Lovingfame, dies of gangrene at Ft. Sumner, NM. Loving, half of a pioneeringTexas cattle-drive partnership, was wounded near the Pecos River in askirmish with hostile Indians. Before he died his partner, Charles Good-night, promised he would not be buried in a strange land but back homein Texas. True to his word, following a temporary burial at Ft. Sumner,Goodnight had his partner's body exhumed and delivered it by wagonback to Weatherford, Texas, for permanent burial in Greenwood Cem-etery on March 4, 1868.

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Continued from page 14 Clerk Mr Chambers for ling with the


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fact, survey maps of the 1850s depictingwestern Tarrant County charted only asparsely numbered few had settled along the

banks of three major tributaries; Silver Creek,Marys Creek, and the Clear Fork of theTrinity River. All other lands were, as of yet,vacant and unclaimed acreage.

On the last leg of their journey, John ,Eliza, and Biddy followed the wagon train 22miles west of a military fort called Fort Worthto reach their destination on the Clear Forkof the Trinity River. Following the riverbankdownstream a short distance southeast, Johnsteered his wagon team of oxen througha green meadow where Squaw Creek fedinto the Clear Fork. It was a beautifulspot that was readymade for a homesteadconveniently located on the river within sightof Fort Belknap Road.

Take the road east for a days ride onhorseback towards civilization and FortWorth for spices, canned goods, and allrelated dry-goods found in a typical generalstore. The small community of Weatherfordwas 9 miles to the west, Palo Pinto another31 miles, and still further west, throughdangerous Indian territory, was Fort Belknap,a four-day ride of about 71 miles.

The fear of living in wild Indian countryhad John rapidly building a small cabinfor protection. That rst year, surroundingsettlements had a few encounters withmarauding Comanche Indians when hisnext-door neighbor, Isaac Headley, lostthree horses to the raiders. John felt itd

be safe enough to send Eliza to a ladiesnishing school in Waxahachie where theywould provide her with a proper educationand delicate renement young ladiesshould have. Without incident, she bravelycommuted by stagecoach to-and-fromschool, which left John and Biddy to fend forthemselves.

Deputy surveyor A.M. Keen, of theRobertson Land District, surveyed theirproperty for the rst step in the patent

process. When Keen completed his survey,John took pen in hand to write his petition asfollows:

I, John M Froman, do solemnly swear

that on or about the 1st day of September,1853 I settled upon land which I believedto be vacant and inappropriated [sic] andclaim 320 acres under the Preemption Law asfollows in Tarrant County on the Clear Forkof Trinity and better described by his mapand eld notes. (signed) John M Froman andwitnessed by A.M. Keen and assistant R.L.Dillard on the 24th day of April 1854.

Attaching the survey document to theeld notes together with his petition, Johnsubmitted them to the Tarrant County

Clerk, Mr. Chambers, for ling with thestate in Austin. Acquiring land was easy,

but keeping it was a dangerous pursuit in alawless territory on the frontier. During theseviolent times there were no law enforcementofcials, which left men to their ownpersonal protection guarding their familiesand defending their property rights.

The Fort Belknap Road brought travelersto his front door, where usually, the Fromanseagerly welcomed good friends, neighborsand a few strangers. But, John learned thatsome of these strangers were unsavoryscoundrels with whom he and his TexasPattersons had no choice but resort to deadlyviolence when dealing with them.

On one occasion, a stranger knocked attheir door. Alone, and without her mother sguidance, a 12-year-old Eliza put aside herapron and cooking utensils to invite a Mr.

John Lawrie into the Froman residence.She entertained her dinner guest whileshe went about cooking the family meal.Late that evening, John and Biddy broughthome their good friend and neighbor, JamesTinsley. James was circulating a petition for

John to sign that, if approved, would forma new county government. Lawrie recordedthe petition drive and his pleasant dinningexperience in his personal diary datedWednesday, Jan. 3, 1855.

His diary was later published in the book,Lawries Trip To Northeast Texas 1854-1855. By the efforts of dedicated men like

James Tinsley, Isaac Headley, John Froman,Isaac Parker and some 225 settlers whosigned the petition, Parker County wascreated in December of 1855.

On another occasion, the stranger at thedoor wasnt so pleasant and the resultingscufe ended in a shooting. Details areunknown of this incident, however, Johnwas indicted for murder and, to this day,the Froman family doesnt know who Johnallegedly killed. The infamous attorney, John

Jay Good, routinely traveled the Fort Belknap


Biddy Jean Erwin McMurry carried the namesake

of her father, Biddy LaFayette Erwin and her

great-grandfather, Alcibiades (Biddy) Froman.

She Lived in Mineral Wells and worked at the

Goodyear store until her retirement. She died July

22, 2010. Courtesy photo



17/24


Continued from page 16 simultaneously One group splintered off alienation from the community especially


18/24


Road astride his trusty stead, Roderick, whileengaged in his professional duty to deliberatecivil and criminal cases. Hed befriended theFromans when he often stayed overnight orshared a meal at their home and Good agreedto defend John for a fee of $175.

The drought years of 1856 droppedstreams and rivers to such dangerously lowlevels that a person could walk across theTrinity, Brazos, Lampasas, Leon, Concho, andColorado rivers with dry feet. The hydraulicforces of these owing rivers had oncepowered the mills that sawed timber into

board lumber, grounded wheat into ourand corn into cornmeal. But now, these mills

lay dormant. It forced settlers to grind theirgrain by hand, and added to that burden,John had timber ready for the sawmill withno place to cut it. Foundation stones were inplace and lumber was all that he needed tostart his new house. Month after month hedwaited patiently for rainfall and rivers torise when he heard about a steam-poweredsawmill in Cora. It was decided he and Biddywould drive two wagons 97 miles southwest

to a small village called Cora in ComancheCounty where he could saw his lumber.

Three weeks later, John and Biddy eachdrove a wagon into Comanche Countyto cut down their timber at a place calledPecan Bayou. Theyd contracted with alocal rancher, Jesse Reed, to stable oxen theywerent using until the return trip home.Then, traveling the trail southwest from

Reeds farm, they made a cold camp on thebanks of Mercer Creek near a communitycalled Newburg. Father and son workedtogether as a good team swinging their axesto cut timber and enjoying each otherscompany. Theyd formed a close and loving

bond to ll the cavernous void that was oncetheir beloved wife and mother, Louisa. Herloss was an unbearable heartache, but Johnand Biddy shared enough in their sorrow to

endure it.

On March 3, 1857, three different groupsof Indians attacked Comanche County

simultaneously. One group splintered offin a southeasterly direction to brutally killand scalp Gid Foreman only a mile fromthe Froman camp. A passerby on horsebackwarned them of the attack insisting the two

join him and, together, theyd ee for safetyin Cora. John and Biddy refused, but it madethem think of Louisa, and how easily they

could lose another family loved one. Withthat in mind, both father and son vowedto protect one another by making a pact tonever let the other out of their sight noteven for a minute.

All these killings rattled Johns nerves,urging him to quickly cut his lumber andmake a hasty retreat. He was worried thathe couldnt protect Biddy, but one thought

comforted him, that his dear Eliza wassafe at her nishing school in Waxahachie.That next day in Cora, John caught thedetails about this man, Gid Foreman, whodmade a particularly enticing trophy for theComanche who took his scalp of bright redhair.

Unbeknownst to John, his dream ofowning land in Texas had become a reality

on March 7, 1857. Back home in Weatherford,Parker County Clerk J.H. Prince nally gotaround to recording Johns deed that day.In his absence, his friends Isaac Headleyand Lingly Lewis both testied as witnessesunder oath that hed lived on his land formore than three years. The clerk submittedhis deed to Austin in the nal step ofthe process that would patent his land.Everything was going well and seemed to be

working in Johns favor.

But 1857 had started out bad forComanche County settlers unable to growcrops in a devastating drought, and tocompound their stress settlers lived in terrornever knowing when the next Indian attackwould kill their families and livestock or

burn down their homes and barns. Folksaround Cora were understandably panicked

and only trusted the neighbors they knew,keeping their distance from everyone else. Itbecame clear they were strangers in a foreignland and John and Biddy could sense their

alienation from the community especiallyJesse Reed.

At the time John needed all of his oxen,one jumped the fence and escaped from

Jesses farm, but Jesse said hed nd andreturn Johns ox. When asked if hed begunhis search, John saw a look of anxiety and

fear in Jesses eyes, the kind of terriedlook pilgrims get when Indians go on thewarpath. Evidently, Jesse was afraid of anIndian attack if he ventured too far fromhome while looking for an ox he didnt own.

So, to ease tensions, John asked if he coulduse Jesses ox to replace his and Jesse heartilyagreed. That next day, Jesse followed themto Pecan Bayou in search of Johns missing

ox while John and Biddy loaded timber. Anargument arose between the men over thetime and use of Jesses ox and, in response,he angrily reneged on their deal by seizingthe reins and starting home with his ox intow.

John stopped him, took back the ox, andreminded Jesse that by his own admission,it was his responsibility. Furthermore,

the ox was lost under his care when Jessewas contracted to stable all of Johns oxen.Incensed by the ordeal, Jesse angrily shoutedhis ultimatum that he would return with menand guns. And, so he did.

His father, Asa Reed, and brother-in-law, John Taylor, collected their weapons,and now that they were an armed gangsought out in pursuit of John looking for

his whereabouts. Having covered severalmiles, they briey stayed at the Chandlerfarm where they proclaimed their intentionsto the Chandler family. When the gangstopped to rest that evening at the home ofCounty Commissioner Jesse Mercer, Mercerembroiled himself in the ordeal and joinedthem.

Frank Collier saw John pass by his

house and directed the gang to the Fromancampsite on Mercers Creek, about one and-




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a-half miles from the commissioners house.When the gang arrived in camp, tempersared into another argument, but this timeit was three against one. Jesse initiated aviolent confrontation when he drew hissix-shooter and aggressively spewed verbalassaults at John with threats of bodily harm.All the while, Commissioner Mercer beggedthe men to lay down their weapons andsettle their dispute peacefully. But, Jesserefused and only increased his antagonisticabuse of John.

The story continues as transcribed from anewspaper account in the Galveston WeeklyNews:

John Taylor, in the meanwhile,was trying to wrest the pistol out of JesseReeds hand. Jesse being much the stoutest,succeeded in ring; - the ball entering under

John Fromans chin, passing rst under theskin and out of the right side of the neck.A scufe ensued between the parties, Johnimmediately wrested the pistol out of Jesseshand and instantly wheeled and red at AsaReed, but missed him, - and then turning

immediately, red at John Taylor, the ballpassing through his thigh. Jesse, by thistime, had picked up Johns rie and redagain, the ball passing through the left arm,

just below the point of the shoulder andentering the body. His death followed, andthus ended this terrible affray.

John M. Froman died on the 15th ofMarch, 1857, at 39 years of age. Tragically,

his 8-year-old son, Biddy, saw it all, havingnever taken his eyes off of John, not even fora minute, but could do nothing to save him.

Jesse Mercer, John Taylor, Asa Reed andJesse Reed were indicted on murder chargesand tried before a justices court. Mercerwas acquitted and later discharged whilethe remaining three were released from jailawaiting trial. Jesse failed to appear beforethe court resulting in a warrant issued for

his arrest and he remained at large for morethan three years.

Now orphaned, Eliza lived full time at

her school in Waxahachie and Biddy wentback to Parker County where he livedalternately between the Tinsleys and othertimes with his new guardian, Isaac Headley.Attorney-at-law John Jay Good sued theFroman family estate for $175 and in an1859 Texas Supreme Court case, Headleyv. Good, Good was awarded his fee. Onthe 5th of April 1860, John received hisland grant posthumously when Gov. SamHouston signed his petition to patent 320acres of land.

Meanwhile, Jesse continued to hide fromthe law and in 1860, three years after Johnsmurder, the new Comanche County district

judge recused himself from the case due toa conict of interest. He was the originalcounselor on behalf of the state, whichprompted a change of venue to BrownCounty. By then, the Reeds decided theirluck had run out and the entire family ranfrom justice when they ed from ComancheCounty, never to be seen again.

In 1862, Eliza married William Brownand they lived on a cattle ranch outsideColorado City, Texas, where they had onegirl named Bettie. In 1869, Biddy marriedCassie Yeary and they had six girls Louisa,Minnie, Maude, Annie, Rose and Tessie all of whom were proudly raised on theirgrandfather John Fromans land grantin Parker County. The men accused ofmurdering John Froman Jesse Reed, JohnTaylor and Asa Reed along with the entireReed clan were listed in the 1870 censusof San Bernardino County, Calif. Those who

run from the law are sometimes innocentof the crimes theyre accused of, but thenagain, some of them are guilty.

On Nov. 27, 1891, Biddy fought withhis neighbor, Will Rivers, in an altercationthat had very eerie similarities with hisfather. This time, instead of oxen, it wasdogs where Biddy accused Rivers of killinghis dogs with poison baits. Like his father,

Biddy died at the end of a gun barrel in anargument over animals. Unlike his father,we know Biddy was buried in the WillowSprings Cemetery. To this day, no one knows

where John is buried.

******

Note to the reader: It took me years ofresearch to nd my great-great-great-grandfather

John Fromans original land grant. Its locatedapproximately 9 miles east of Weatherford inwhat is today Willow Park, where Interstate20 crosses the southern boundary and on thenorthern portion was Trinity Meadows RaceTrack. A small portion of John Fromans originalland surveyed in Parker County abstractnumber 471 is priced to sell for more than $1million dollars per acre. John was right, land ISthe most valuable commodity in the world.

Consultants:(1) Evelyn Broumley-Parker County

historian,(2) Margaret Waring-Comanche County

historian,(3) Bob Erwin-great-great-grandson of John

M. Froman,(4) Sherry Froman-Froman family

genealogist,(5) Sheriff Jim Wilson-historical small-arms

expert.

References:(1) A Note on Lawries Trip to Northeast

Texas, 1854-1855 , by Fred R. Cotten. TheSouthwestern Historical Quarterly Vol. 56, No.1 (Jul., 1952).

(2) View From The Old Oak Tree (A DecadeOn The Texas Frontier 1854-1863), by FreddaDavis Jones Xlibris Publishing Co. 2009.

(3) Galveston Weekly News (Galveston,

Texas), Vol. 14, No. 4, Ed. 1, Tuesday edition,newspaper, April 14, 1857.

(4) Texas State Supreme Court Headley v.Good Austin Session 1859.

Randall Scott, author of The Tinner, is amember of the Western Writers of America andWestern Literature Association. You can ndRandall on the Internet at http://Randall-Scott.com.



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By Wyne l le Ca i t l in

Oh, how I looked forward to themailman bringing a new SearsRoebuck catalog!

It was our wish book and it came twice ayear in the spring and in the fall.

I could spend hours wishing for one ofthe pretty frilly dresses to wear instead ofhaving to wear ones my cousins had outgrownor that Mama made from printed our sacks.

My underwear was made from sugar sacksthat she couldnt quite get the red lettering

bleached out of. If my dress ipped up,Sugarland, Texas, was very visible.

Mostly, all we did was wish from the SearsRoebuck catalog, because it was the midst ofThe Depression and we didnt have money foranything except essentials.

All printed material, all paper, was valued.And used again and again. Sometimes I got

to have the old issue of Sears Roebuck for myvery own. From it, I cut out the models forpaper dolls. And I cut out extra dresses andcoats and mittens to make clothing for mydolls.

A cardboard box was made into a housefor the dolls. I cut out all kinds of appliancesand curtains and bedspreads to furnish thehouse. And cars were made from the covers of

The Sears catalog . . .

ahhh!

the catalog, which was from heavier, strongerpaper. A pleat in the middle and both endsturned up and I had a sedan which seated veor six.

Cars were special. We didnt have one,though Daddy had a pickup truck, and later alarger truck when he began hauling cattle and

hogs to the stockyards in Fort Worth for otherpeople.

Paper and boxes were used in many ways.The Sears Roebuck catalog would sometimesend up in the outdoor toilet. It wasnt very soft

but it did the job.Sometimes Mama would make a doorstop

by carefully turning the corners of each pagedown midway. Quite colorful. Standing on itsend, it would keep a heavy door from banging

shut.Pages from the catalog could be cut into

strips and the ends pasted together to formloops to make colorful chains for decoratingat Christmas. Tinfoil was saved for decoratingpurposes, too.

Newspapers were rare. Grandmother gotCappers Farmer, but Im not sure whether itwas a newspaper or a magazine.

In the log cabin home where Mama was

born and spent her childhood, newspaperswere saved and used to paper the walls.Mama went to sleep each night beside apicture of Dapper Dan, a race horse champion.

We treated all printed material with

great care. We didnt get the pages of booksborrowed from the school library dirty. Andwe never ever turned the corner of a pagedown.

Mama saved part of her egg money andsubscribed to a monthly magazine, whichshe read cover to cover as she sat beside the

buttermilk churn, working the paddle upand down. For me, she subscribed to WeeWisdom, a childrens magazine published byUnity Church for one hundred years. I stillremember some of the stories.

All cardboard cartons were saved andused again and again. I had one for a dollhouse and a shoe box for treasures. Out ofseason clothes were stored in boxes, as well as

blankets and other seasonal items.

When we took prepared food for familygatherings, the food was carried in a cartonand the empty platters and plates brought

back home in it.Childhood habits are hard to unlearn and I

still value and take good care of books.I have trouble tossing a book, even the

trashiest paperback!The deliveries to our store come in

cardboard cartons and I break them down and

take them to recycle every week. But I wishthere was some way they could be used againand again as they were in my childhood.

And I would dearly love to get a SearsRoebuck catalog!


Sh


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