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 A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD 
 
 HEEl-FLY TIME 
 IN TEXAS 
 
 Written by 
 JOHN WARREN HUNTER 
 
 Price 50 Cents 
 
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 PUBLISHED BY FRONTIER TIMES, BANDERA, TEXAS. 
 
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HEEL-FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD 
 
 As a prelude to this most interesting story, it is but proper that a brief his- 
 tory be given of Ihe life of its author, Jolin Warren Hunter. He was born in 
 Rogersville, Alabama, August 10, 1846, and died at San Angelo, Texas, January 
 12, 1915. His mother died when he was an infant, and his father married the 
 second time, and came to Texas when the subject of this sketch was barely 
 ten years old, settling in Hopkins county, near Sulphur Bluff. He had one own 
 brother. Rev. J. N. Hunter, for many years a minister in the Methodist church, 
 and now living at Dallas; and one half brother, Rev. W. E. Hunter, a Baptist 
 minister, who lives at Jourdanton, Texas, at this writing; two half sisters, Mrs. 
 Newt Lyle of Roaring Springs, Texas, and Mrs. John Castleberry of Booneville, 
 Arkansas. 
 
 When John Warren Hunter was fifteen j^ears old the country was plunged 
 into the Civil War, the North against the South. His older brother, James 
 Hunter, enlisted in the Confederate service and rode with Forest through the 
 entire war. But John Hunter was not old enough to enlist; his father was 
 true Southern to the core, and often boasted that he had one son in the ranks and 
 in another year he would have another fighting for the Confederate cause. But 
 ere the year passed things happened that dampened the ardor of the young man 
 and caused him to resolve to never lift a musket against the old flag. Living in 
 the neighborhood of his father's home was a man named Howard who was 
 greatly admired by the b y, John Hunter. Howard was a perfect gentleman, 
 and often gave boys of the community good advice, and was loved by every 
 boy for miles around; in fact he was a real friend to boys. This man Howard 
 was at heart a Union man, although he kept his own counsel and did not talk 
 frepl.y of his sentiments. But be that as it may, he was waited upon by a 
 committee of Southern sympathizers and hung because he did not espouse the 
 Southern cause. The hanging of this friend caused John Hunter to deter- 
 mine to avoid enlistment or conscription, so he accordingly secured employment 
 with a cotton train hauling cotton to Brownsville, and, as a teamster, he set 
 out for the Mexican border, where he spent the remaining years of the war, 
 and it was here that he passed through the thrilling events depicted in the 
 story given herewith. 
 
 After the war he returned to Hopkins county and found his father and step- 
 mother both dead, and his brothers and sisters scattered. He went to Ten- 
 nessee and there married his cousin, Miss Mary Ann Calhoun, a school teacher, 
 and they moved to Arkansas, where he engaged in farming, M'hile his wife 
 taught school. Now it must be remembered that John Hunter had been depriv- 
 ed of schooling during his early years. He had learned to read, but had never 
 gone to school. After the war he decided he ought to have an education and 
 accordingly entered McKenzie College atClarksville, but his restlessness soon 
 got the upper hand and he left the college after two or three months' attend- 
 ance. When he farmed one year in Arkansas and ma-de a crop failure he M'as 
 greatly discouraged, and was ready to come back to Texas, where he knew he 
 could get a job on a ranch, for he was an expert rider and could throw the 
 lariat as well as any good hand. But his wife's school was not out and he had to 
 bide his time about returning to the Lone Star State. Finally his wife suggest- 
 ed that he ought lo teach a writing school to help raise the necessary funds to 
 move to Texas, but as he was no penman, could hardly write his own name, in 
 fact, he was not inclined to the suggestion, but she was insistenrt and eventual- 
 ly persuaded him to "practice" writing from some old lesson charts she had 
 used when she went to school in Tennessee. After several weeks strenuous 
 "practice" he became quite an adept in making "flourishes" and with growing ^ i 
 confidence in his ability to wield the pen, he went over inl^) an, adjoinijjg 4eigh- , 'M 
 borhood and opened a ten day's writing achool, which was so iaucceasful that he'_^' '' 
 
HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 heard my father, who was loyal to the 
 TTnion, say that th3 war then being: wag:- 
 ed would continue ■with increasinsr fury 
 until the younjr manhood of the South 
 would be sacrificed in camp and field, 
 and that in all likelihood, before the 
 close of another year, the Confederate 
 authorities Avould be forced to adopt the 
 course persued by Napoleon during the 
 last years of his wonderful career, and 
 by means of conscript law force every 
 able-bodied male inhabitant from 16 
 years of asre to 60. into the Confederate 
 army. Although mj^ father had owned 
 slaves and Avas every inch a Southern 
 man he was opposed to the war. and vot- 
 ed the TTnion ticket when the secession el- 
 ection was ordered, but T had no nestroes 
 to lose, did not consider that I had lost 
 or was about to lose any country and to 
 make a long story short, I lit out for 
 Mexico. 
 
 After a series of adventures and ar- 
 rests. T crossed the Rio Grande in Janu- 
 ary. 186!^. sroing to Matamoras which is 
 on the Mexican side of the river, opposite 
 Brownsville and about one mile distant, 
 who. like myself, had tied from Texas to 
 avoid the conscript law. and during my 
 stay along the south of the Rio Grande 
 new arrivals from the Texas side were 
 weekly, almost daily occurrence. Being 
 unusTially apt in picking up words and 
 learning language, in the course of a 
 year T had acquired a sufficient know- 
 ledge of Spanish to talk on any ordinary 
 topic. Brown.sville was occupied by the 
 Confederate forces imder General Bee, 
 who hid the place until November of that 
 year, when they stampeded and left on 
 the approach of the Federals under Gen- 
 eral Banks. 
 
 During the summer of 1863 large num- 
 bers of the refugees — "renegades" they 
 were called by the Confeder^ates — gath- 
 ered in Matamoras, and being in a for- 
 eign country, in a strange land and 
 among strange people whose language 
 they did not understand, as a natural 
 consequence they became clannish, and 
 having secured large quarters covering 
 nearly half a block they lived together 
 on the co-operative plan. The American 
 consul, Mr. Pierce, came often to our 
 quarters and held out glowing induce- 
 ments to those who wanted to go north. 
 Free passage across the Gulf and a large 
 and tempting bounty was offered to 
 those who would enlist in the Federal 
 army at New Qrleans, and free transpor- 
 Uii^R t& aB£ poifit withm the Federal 
 
 lines to those who chose to remain non- 
 combatants. I begged the men to re- 
 fuse service in the Federal army. "Boys 
 if you can't fight for the South, don't 
 fight against it." But my exhortation 
 had little efifect, and hundreds accepted 
 the offered bounty, went to New Orleans 
 and joined the army. 
 
 Shortly after my arrival in Matamor- 
 as I became acquainted with a gentleman 
 whom I will call Mr. Cox. athough that 
 was not his right name. Before the war 
 he was a well-to-do farmer and lived on 
 the Colorado river about four miles from 
 Columbus. Texas. He was a great ad- 
 mirer of Sam Houston, and like Houston 
 and thousands of other patriotic Texans 
 looked upon secession as the rankest 
 treason and that it would overwhelm the 
 South M'ith untold misfortune and dis- 
 aster. He was a plain, outspoken man, 
 and on account of his adhesion to TTnion 
 principles he was forced to flee the ven- 
 geance of his enemies — former frinds— 
 and seek refusre in Mexico, his family 
 remaining in Colorado. 
 
 In the early part of February. 1864. 
 l\Ir. Cox came to me and said that back 
 home on the Colorado he had a span of 
 large mules and that if I would venture 
 that far into Texas, get those mules, and 
 bring them to him in Matamoras, he 
 would give me two hundred dollars in 
 gold. He woidd furnish me a good 
 hor.se and saddle and pay all expenses. 
 He was running a hack line in the city, 
 doing a general transfer business and 
 stood in great need of the mules. A good 
 mule at that time was worth $300 to 
 $350 and there was none in the market. 
 "Well but what about the 'Heel 
 Flies' Mr. Cox?" said T. "The woods are 
 full of those pesky Home Guards, and I 
 wouldn't like to be caught." 
 
 He assured me that my knowlede of 
 Spanish Avould enable me to pass as a 
 Mexican ; that hundreds of Mexicans 
 were on the road with ox and mule teams 
 hauling cotton from Alleyton to Browns- 
 ville — Allej'ton then being at the termi- 
 nus of Harisburg, Colorado & Buffalo 
 Bayou railroad and only three miles from 
 Columbus — and that dressed out in a 
 Mexican suit, I would have no trouble in 
 deceiving the Heel Flies and getting out 
 with the mules. He would give me a 
 letter to his wife and also a sum of money 
 to deliver to her and the letter he would 
 conceal so that no one would find it, how- 
 ever diligent they might search. With 
 route I could easily find food, shelter aud 
 
HEEL FLT TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 friendship, anrl that my expenses woulrl 
 be nominal. 
 
 I studied over the matter for a few 
 days and beinj? young and inexperienced 
 and having a desir^.' for adventure, wliere 
 there Avas no prospect of fighting, I de- 
 cided to accept the offer and so reported 
 to Mr. Cox, and three days hiter I crossed 
 the Rio Grande, clandestinely, some five 
 miles above Brownsville, and began the 
 long, and at limes, lone.some journey to 
 Columbus. Mr. Cox had provided for 
 me a splendid Spanish horse, a good tra- 
 veler, easy gaits, lithe, fleet and exceed- 
 ingly strong. lie had also furnished me 
 with a good saddle, quirt and Spanish 
 blanket, besides a suit of clothing after 
 the Mexican pattern, that when donned, 
 gave me every ap])earance of being a 
 "piiro Mejicano," except the light hair, 
 blue eyes and fair complection. I wore 
 this Mexican costume without misgiving, 
 being fully convinced that I eould de- 
 ceive any conscript officer who could not 
 speak Spanish better than I. 
 
 I came into tlie main road at Sal Col- 
 orado, or Arroyo Colorado and pursued 
 the main route to King's ranch, 125 
 miles from Brownsville. As. Brownsville 
 was the only port open to Confederacy 
 the road was lined with trains of cotton 
 wagons, and I had no trouble in obtain- 
 ing food from these Mexican trains. At 
 King's ranch I met a company of mount- 
 ed troops, one of whom asked me about 
 water on the route, while another ban- 
 tered me to swap horses, but I answered 
 in Spanish by which they were made to 
 believe that I was an ignorant Mexican 
 who couldn't talk English. 
 
 I crossed the Nueces at San Patricio, 
 where I camped with a Mexican cotton 
 train. Close by was an ox train from my 
 owni country in North Texas, and I re- 
 cognized two of the teamsters as old 
 neighbors to mj^ father. One came in- 
 to camp and tried to trade for my pistol. 
 He had a Mexican who belonged in the 
 train and who spoke English, to inter- 
 pret for him when he found I could not 
 (would not) speak English. I had never 
 heard a M'ord from home since the hour 
 I left and here were two men, only a few 
 months out from the dear old home ! I 
 wanted to ask them about the kind old 
 father at home, the little brother and 
 sister, and the neighbor boys, who had 
 gone to war, who had been killed, who 
 had come home with wounds — but I dar- 
 ed not say a word ; I must not make my- 
 self known; they were Confederates; 
 
 one had assisted in the hanging of the 
 three Howards and two Hembys — Union 
 men — at Oxford's bridge, near Charles- 
 ton, and as they did not recognize me, I 
 could not afford to betray my identity. 
 However these two men, with others of 
 their train abandoned the Confederacy 
 when they reached Brown.sville and skip- 
 ped into Mexico,. I met them the fol- 
 lowing summer, and recalled our meet- 
 ing at San Patricio. 
 
 I crossed the San Antonio river at 
 Goliad. Here I encountered the Heel 
 Plies and here my troubles began. I 
 had not proceeded half way across the 
 public square when I was surrounded by 
 about twenty boys and one or two old 
 men, who informed me that I was under 
 arrest and must give an account of my- 
 self. A few of them had mastered a 
 few words of Spanish and as I couldn't 
 (wouldn't) talk English, they could not 
 understand me, and I wouldn't under- 
 stand them. They took hold of my bri- 
 dle and with drawn pistols led me to the 
 commandant's oifice. This commandant 
 was the enrolling officer, and a dapper 
 little bunch of hair and bluster. I soon 
 learned that he had no love for the d— d 
 greasers. He had lived among them all 
 his life at San Antonio and Goliad, and 
 he eould distinguish a Mexican from an 
 American during the hours of the dark- 
 est night. He could smell a greaser 
 anywhere and I didn't look like a Mexi- 
 can to him. He thought he had seen me 
 before, and believed that I belonged to 
 that gang that lived over on the Medio. 
 He called on a member of his company to 
 interpret me but the fellow had to con- 
 fess ne couldn't understand me. Final- 
 ly this little captain told his orderly to 
 go round to some place in town and ask 
 Miss Annie luman to come to his otiice. 
 Miss Inman was a tine Spanish scholar 
 and she could tell mighty quick whether 
 this young fellow was a XVlexiean. When 
 the orderly came back he informed Cap- 
 tain Hair and Bluster that Miss Inman 
 had gone out home but would be back 
 the next morning. I was then ordered 
 to the guard house. A man, or rather 
 a boy, came and took my horse away 
 while another squad marched me off to 
 the earcel, the Captain taking charge of 
 my pistol, saddle and blanket. In the 
 guard house I found 12 or 15, about 
 interpret me but the fellow had to con- 
 could converse with; with Americans I 
 dared not speak. Prom the Mexicans 1 
 learned that nearly- all theise Americans 
 
6 
 
 PIEEL FLY TIME IX TEXAS 
 
 and two or three of the Mexicans had 
 been rounded up by the Heel Flies as de- 
 serters or as subjects to conscription. I 
 was further told tha.t these con.sci-ipts 
 would be sent under guard to Galvestoji 
 Island and put to work on fortifications. 
 Wlien I was first u.s-hered into the pre- 
 .senee of this delectable company, a loud 
 mouthed Mexican began to question me, 
 and when 1 told him 1 was a Mexican he 
 bawled out: "Puc ereo que estais Ameri- 
 cano!" (I believe you are an American) 
 I could have throttled the scoundrel, but 
 I supi)ressed my wrath and soon engag- 
 ed in conversation. He was under ar- 
 rest charged with the theft of a saddle 
 from a mule train that had camped near 
 town, and as the property had been 
 found in his possession, and as he had 
 no witnesses to prove that he had 
 bought it, the outlook was rather gloomy 
 He told me lie lived on the river ixdow 
 (ioliad and had been raised just across 
 the river at old La Bahia. I asked him 
 if he knew Mr. Inman. He said he knew 
 a Mr." Inman who lived below town on 
 the river. He said he was a good man — 
 muy buen liombre. "He is a strong 
 Union man," said he, "and is now being 
 held in jail a: Gonzales on account of his 
 Union sentiments," 1 questioned him 
 with regard to Miss Inman. "Miss Annie 
 Inman is his daugbter, " said the Mexi- 
 can. "She speaks Spanish like a native 
 and is well liked b)' the Mexican people." 
 
 I felt relieved when I received this 
 information. If the father lay in prison 
 because he was loyal to the Union, surely 
 his daughter would befriend me. If 1 
 could only communicate with her before 
 being arraigned before the little captain 
 all would be right. Un this score 1 felt 
 easy. But the Captain had my saddle, 
 on which was my quirt. iN'ow, if he got 
 to nosing around and take a notion to 
 tear oiJen that quirt handle! 
 
 When the guard called for me the 
 next morning I gave my loud moutheit 
 friend a dollar and in return r., i>ed 
 his fulsome protestations of everlasting 
 friendship. His name he said was i)())i 
 Jose Pampelino. More anon. 
 
 I was taken before his august poi -.po- 
 sity, the little captain, about 9 o'cloclc 
 and found a young lady, whom I took to 
 be Miss Inman, in v/aitia'^. The cap 
 tain was engaged wth another case and 
 with a wave of his haml motioned me ;o 
 a seat near the young laiiy whom I en- 
 gaged in conversation. I drew from 
 her the fact that tier fatifer was a Union 
 
 man and was at that moment held as 
 such in jail in Gonzales, the sentiment in 
 Goliad county being so strong against 
 him as to necessitate his removal to Gon- 
 zales. I then openly declared to her my 
 true identity and appealed to her to help 
 me out of this extremity. I told her I 
 had "refugeed" to Mexico and that I 
 was then on my way passing incognito 
 to Columbus, on urgent business, and 
 wouldn't she help me? She assured me 
 that she would do all she could in my be- 
 half, and when my turn came the little 
 captain had many questions to propotind 
 through his fair interpreter. Miss In- 
 man. I told him my name was Juan 
 Montero de Garcia and that I was tin 
 jniro Mejicano ; that my home was in Ma- 
 tamoras; that my people, the Garcias 
 were wealthy and prominent and that I 
 was going to Columbus to relieve my 
 brother who owned and had charge of a 
 large mule train, hauling cotton for the 
 Confederate government to Brownsville. 
 The brother had fallen sick and the 
 father had sent me to his relief. Miss 
 Inraan interpreted mj- positive state- 
 ment and then explained to the captain 
 that there could be no doubt as to the 
 truth of my story and that I was a full- 
 blood, natural born Mexican, and I was 
 released ! My horse, saddle, pistol, blan- 
 ket — everything was restored to me and 
 the little captain — now all smiles and 
 eondecension tendered the Senor Garcia 
 the most profuse apoligies for having 
 been compelled to detain him, and he 
 hoped he would pardon and forget the 
 seeming indignities he had suffered. It 
 was one of the most unfortunate exigen- 
 cies of the war, etc. 
 
 I never met a more worthy patriotic 
 girl than Miss Inman. Before taking 
 leave of her, she told me where she lived 
 on the river and asked me to visit the 
 family home on my return, advising me 
 to avoid Goliad in the future. I took 
 her advice. 
 
 With a light heart I resumed my 
 journey, little dreaming of the perils that 
 awaited me. 
 
 It was mj' intention to follow the Col- 
 umbus road via HalletsTille in Lavaca 
 county, but a few miles out from Goliad 
 I met a Mexican mule train loaded with 
 cotton and from the "amo" or "boss" 
 I larned that a company of Home Guards 
 was stationed at Halletsville and they 
 allowed no one to pass without a most 
 rigid scrutiny and not wishing to run 
 the risk of another Goliad episode, I 
 
HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 changed mj' route, crossed the Guada- 
 lupe below Clinton, the Lavaca at Wal- 
 lace's Mill, and reached Columbus with- 
 out further mishap. 
 
 When the Civil War had advanced to 
 a certain stage and the Confederate 
 armies had become weakened by losses 
 from sickness and desertions, in order to. 
 recruit the depleted ranks, resort was 
 had to the conscript system wliich re- 
 quired everj' able bodied male between 
 limit was extended so as to include all 
 under 60 years — to go into service. There 
 the ages of l(j to 4.>, — and later the age 
 were certain exemptions such as minis- 
 ters of the gospel actively engaged in 
 their calling, phj'sicians, millers and 
 many others. Also, the man who owned 
 or controlled twenty negroes capable of 
 doing field work was exempt. As a re- 
 sult of these legal exemptions, it has 
 been said .that never in all our history 
 has Texas had so many preachers and 
 doctors as during the last two years of 
 the war. 
 
 In order to enforce this conscript 
 law law effectively, an enrolling ofticer 
 law effectively, an enrolling ofticer 
 to assist this ofticer, a Home Guard was 
 organized in each county. This Home 
 Guard was usually made up of boys un- 
 der or about 1(5 years of age, and old 
 men whose age and decrepitude rendered 
 them unfit for the regular service in the 
 army. These guaj-cls Avere expected to 
 as.sist in the collection of tithes levied by 
 the government on corn, wool, cotton, 
 and other products and above all to aid 
 the conscript ofticer to hunt down and 
 arrest every man subject to military ser- 
 vice. They were expected to seeii out 
 and catch deserters, to do guard duty, 
 and other tosks too numerous to mention. 
 It may be said that the old men who be- 
 longed to these comijanies were nearly 
 always laid up witli rheumatism, or 
 other ailments, real or feigned, and were 
 seldom on duty, thus leaving tne burden 
 of service to rest on these embryo heroes 
 of rustic cliivalry. These lads were 
 commanded generally by older men who 
 were, for some cause or another, exempt 
 from the regular service, but the subor- 
 dinate officers from captain down, were 
 usually beardless youths. In order that 
 home and neighborly ties might not in- 
 trude to obstruct their line of duty, these 
 companies were changed from county to 
 county, the company organized in one 
 county being transferred to another 
 county and visa versa, so that no favors 
 
 might be shown those subject to con- 
 scription. 
 
 These rawhide soldiers soon became 
 a terror to the people among whom 
 they were thrown. They respected no 
 age, nor sex, nor conditions. If they 
 purchased an article and the vender re- 
 fused the worthless Confederate money, 
 he was denounced as a traitor, a Union- 
 ist, the article appropriated and the own- 
 er tlireatened with arrest. Returning 
 soldiers, on furlough because of disabl- 
 ing wounds, received in battle, were held 
 up by these arrogant stripplings on the 
 highway, their papers demanded and ex- 
 amined, and if they chanced to be well 
 mounted and carried valuable arms, a 
 flaw was found in their papers; these had 
 to be sent to Houston or Austin for fur- 
 ther scrutiny, while the unfortunate sol- 
 diers who had passed through the car- 
 nage of battle at the front had to remain 
 in the guard house until their papers 
 came back — unless willing to part with 
 horse, arms, or a moity of cash, in the 
 event of which he was allowed to escape. 
 
 The Home Guards were armed with 
 such weapons of destruction as the coun- 
 try could afford. Hunting or squirrel 
 ritles of ancient pattern, single barrel 
 shotguns, i^epper-box ijistols, an occa- 
 sional iiintieia, and six-sliooters compos- 
 ed the armament. When a returmng 
 soldier on a furlough or discharge was 
 found with a six-sUooter, it was taken as 
 a lorced loan. Tlie owner was informed 
 that wUile off duty he had no use for a 
 six-stiooter ; that tliey needed it, since 
 tney were in active service for their 
 country, and that when he got ready to 
 start back to the army he could have his 
 pistol. Of course he heard no more of 
 ills gun. 
 
 bucU was the high-handed, outra- 
 geous conduct 01 the -tioiue Guards, not 
 only in a lew sections Out throughout 
 tue state genei-aiiy, tnat iney obtained 
 tne sobriquet oi " " iieei-j;? lies on account 
 01 lae similarity oi tneir course to the 
 tortuous procliiiviue.s of a pesiiterous in- 
 sect so well known to cattlemen all over 
 'iexas. i\o class of men, or rather strip- 
 plings, in ,our great state has ever been 
 the recipient of more righteous contempt 
 heaped upon them by patriotic men and 
 women of Texas than these Home 
 Guards, many of whom may be seen to- 
 day wearing the badge reserved for bat- 
 tle-scarred heroes at ex-Confederates' 
 Keunions, and it is stated on good au- 
 thority that some are drawing a Confed- 
 
HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 erate veteran's pnsipn from the state and 
 swear loudest because the stipend is not 
 larjjer. 
 
 At the time of which I write, all the 
 Confederate jiorts were blockaded by the 
 Federals and the towns along the Rio 
 Or.ande afforded tlie only open outlet for 
 cotton. Brownsville, the most impor- 
 tant of these, had been held by the Feder- 
 als durinoc . the winter of '63, but these 
 were being withdrawn to engage in the 
 Red River campaign, and Brownsville 
 once more became the great cotton ship- 
 ]iing point, and highways leading from 
 all points of the state became lined with 
 mule trains laden with cotton for the 
 Rio Grande. Freight rates were high 
 and a vast luimber of Mexicans, who liv- 
 ed in Mexico, engaged in the transporta- 
 tion of the stajile from interior points in 
 Texas. Alley ton, three miles east of 
 Columbus, Colorado county, was the ter- 
 minus of the railroad then leading out 
 from llarrisburg on Buffalo Bayou below 
 Houston, and thousands of bales were 
 sliipped by rail to this point, loaded on 
 wagons, and hauled through Brownsville, 
 a distance of over 300 miles. 
 
 As near as I can remember, Columbus 
 at that time was a town of some 400 or 
 GOO inhabitants. It was, as now, sit i- 
 ated on the west bank of the Colorado 
 river in a beautiful plain, which extend- 
 ed back to a low range of hills running 
 parallel with the river valey. 
 
 The Halletsville road, by which I ap- 
 proaclied, having come into that high- 
 way a few miles out, descended into this 
 plain about a mile southwest of town and 
 pursued a northeast course. Here and 
 there in this open plain were scattered 
 stately live oak trees, the grass was get- 
 ting green and several large trains were 
 encamped, waiting to be loaded with cot- 
 ton, as this was the best camping place 
 to be found anywhere nearer AUeyton. 
 
 I had no trouble in locating a train 
 encampment whereat to make my head- 
 quarters. Hospitality is a leading trait 
 of the Mexican's religion; the stranger 
 is never turned away from his gate, and 
 he will divide his last scrap of tortilla 
 and spend his only centavo for the hun- 
 gry guest. It was near sundown when 
 I unsaddled at the camp of Senor Ne- 
 enoe Garcia, the owner of a larg« mule 
 train waiting for a shipment of cotton 
 from Houston. I received the custo- 
 mary welcome at this train and after 
 supper I took Senor Garcia aside and un- 
 der strict coivfide^©- ^yplai^ed my mis- 
 
 sion — told him all — and asked permis- 
 .sion to remain about his camp for a few 
 days and that in case of trouble I hoped 
 he would help me out to an extent where- 
 in he would not become culpably involv- 
 ed. Although a citizen of Mexico — his 
 home being near JTatamoras — Senor Gar- 
 cia was in close .sympathy with the 
 Unionist cause. He cherished a bitter 
 feeling against the Confederates on ac- 
 count of the murder of a nephew the 
 summer before. He said this nephew 
 lived on the Texas side and was eon- 
 scripted into the army and, while sta- 
 tioned at Brownsville, became violently 
 insane and was placed in the guard house 
 where, during one of his paroxysms, he 
 was bayoneted to death by the guards. 
 
 Senor Garcia told me that I was wel- 
 come at his camj); could stay as long as 
 I desired, and that in so far as lay in hiji 
 power he would protect me and render 
 any needed as.sistance ; that while I was 
 an American by birth, yet, I was a Mexi- 
 can by adoption and this being the case, 
 if questioned he could say I was "un 
 puro Mejicano" — a pure Mexican. He 
 also warned me against the Home 
 Guards. He said a company of some 
 forty or fifty men had their headquar- 
 ters in Columbus and that more or less 
 arrests were made every day, and that 
 owing to my fair complexion it would be 
 a miracle if I escaped the attention of 
 the Heel Flies. That night I slept well, 
 realizing that I was in the tents of my 
 friends. I learned that Senor Garcia 's 
 train had been there in camp three days 
 and would probably be there a week 
 longer waiting for the cargo of cotton. 
 
 The next mornirg I joined a group of 
 Mexican teamsters and strolled aroiind 
 town. In dress and manner I would 
 have passed anywhere as a Mexican and, 
 although considerably bronzed from ex- 
 posure to sun and wind, I was in a state 
 of uneasiness lest my nationality be dis- 
 covered by mj' sharp-eyed countrymen. 
 We passed the quarters, a low frame 
 building, where the Heel Flies were sta- 
 tioned and I took care to count all in 
 sight — twenty-two only, and only five or 
 six of these were men who seemed to be 
 over twenty-five or thirty years old. The 
 rest were mere boys, swaggering young 
 bullies. We had occasion to pass these 
 quarters several times during the day 
 and I noticed that we were closely 
 watched by the gallant soldiers. Late 
 that evening four of them, well mounted, 
 rode out to our camp aud after riding 
 
HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 around the train with eyes alert, halted 
 before a group and asked for the wagon 
 master. The camp cook, who spoke 
 English indifferently and acted as in- 
 terpreter for the train men, was called 
 forward and informed our visitors that 
 Senor Garcia had gone over to AUeyton 
 that afternoon and had not returned. 
 They next asked if all who were in the 
 train were Mexicans, and the cook 
 promptly replied "Yes, alle Messican; 
 no gotta nobody but Messican in dees 
 train," Looking straight at me one of 
 them said: "You are not a Mexican." 
 A.ssuming an air of the utmost indiffer- 
 ence (which required a great effort) I 
 turned to the interpreter with the in- 
 quiry, "Que dice?" The cook blandly 
 assured them that I was a Mexican and 
 couldn't understand a word of English, 
 after which they rode awaj^ greatly to 
 my relief. 
 
 The day following we made our usual 
 rounds about town and vLsited the only 
 grogshop in the place. They called 
 these dispensaries of liquor, "groceries" 
 in those days, and in this particular shop 
 a one-legged man sold over the bar the 
 most villainous decoction of liquid dam- 
 nation I have ever tasted. A number 
 of Heel Flies were loafing about the 
 place, some of whom were drinking and 
 these were noisy and boastful, and I 
 heard one of them mention the vile stuff 
 the one-legged man was dealing out as 
 "Pine-Top Whiskey." It was two-bits 
 a drink, specie, and if there was ever a 
 concoction that would make a rabbit spit 
 in a bull dog's eye, slap his ears, and 
 dare him to mortal combat, that "Pine- 
 Top Whiskey" was certainly the real ar- 
 ticle. 
 
 Nearbj' this "grocery," on another 
 street was what I took to be the office of 
 conscript, or enrolling officer. I have no 
 means of knowing just wh^t rank he 
 held, but he was a .small man with a red 
 face, pock-marked, and sported a big 
 mustache. Every time I passed his of- 
 fice he seemed to be pretty busy. He 
 kept a couple of orderlies and there was 
 a small crowd about his place most of 
 the time. To my sorrow I learned more 
 about that office later on. 
 
 M}^ horse liaving become thoroughly 
 rested from the fatigue of my journey, 
 on the third day after my arrival, I de- 
 cided to visit Mrs. Cox and find out some- 
 thing about those mules and the pro- 
 pects of getting them out of the country. 
 Before leaving Mexico, Mr. Cox had giv- 
 
 en me clear and explicit directions as to • 
 how I should proceed from Columbus in 
 order to reach his farm, hence I had no 
 need to make inquiry, even had I been 
 at Liberty to do so. During my two 
 days' stay at Columbus I had not been 
 idle. I had carefully noted everything 
 of a military nature worthy of notice. 
 The arms, accoutrements, dress, horses — 
 everything pertaining to these unwar- 
 like young bragadocios — had been stu- 
 died and I decided that I had not much 
 to fear at their hands, yet I resolved to 
 maintain the utmost caution and vigil- 
 ance. 
 
 As before stated, the Cox farm was 
 about four miles below Columbus on the 
 Colorado. Shortly after dark I left the 
 Mexican camp an soon found myself at 
 the goal of my hopes. When within 
 a short distance of the residence, I con- 
 cealed my horse in a grove and stealthily 
 I made my way to a point near the house. 
 I heard voices at the house and soon dis- 
 covered that a party of merry-makers 
 had possssion of the home and were hil- 
 ariously celebrating — probably the re- 
 turn of some soldier boy from east of the 
 Mississippi. I found concealment in 
 the shrubbery, sufficiently near the 
 house to enable me to hear the conversa- 
 tion and the songs rendered by merry 
 voices. They sang "The Contraband," 
 "Girl with the Home-Spun Derss," and 
 other popular songs of that war period. 
 I remember yet a couple of stanzas of a 
 song, .sung with a spirit that night by 
 three or four male voices. They ran 
 something like this: 
 
 Old Honest Abe, you are obeyed 
 
 For military glory; 
 An arrant fool, a party tool, 
 
 A traitor and a tory. 
 "You are a boss, a mighty 'hoss' 
 
 A-snorting in the stable ; 
 A racer too, a kang'Oroo, 
 
 But whip us if you're able. 
 
 To me the hours seemed long and 
 weary, and I suppose it was jiast the 
 hour of midnight when the crowd broke 
 away and left. I waited until all be- 
 came still and quiet. A light gleamed 
 from a window and I knew that some- 
 one, probably the lady whom I wished to 
 see was yet astir. I realized that the 
 crucial moment had ari-ived, although I 
 was burdened with many fears and mis- 
 givings. I knew not how many revelers 
 remained; there niight be several of the 
 
10 
 
 HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 Home Guards in the house to spend the 
 night, and in the act of approaching the 
 mistress of the house I might run up 
 against a "Heel-Fly." But at length 
 I decided to hazard everything in an ef- 
 fort, and stepping lightly on the porch, 
 I rapped softly at the front door. A 
 femine voice within said: 'Who is that?' 
 ' ' Is that you, Mrs.- Cox ? " I askd. ' ' Yes 
 who are you and what do you want?" 
 came the reply in low soft tones. "I 
 am a stranger, Madam, from Mexico, and 
 have letters from your husband for you." 
 In an instant the door was opened and 
 the lady asked me to come in and be 
 seated. I declined, prefering to remain 
 voice, inaudi])le to any who might chance 
 under cover of darkness, and in a low 
 to be within, I told her of my disguise, 
 my mission, and who sent me, and then 
 gave her my quirt and told her to rip 
 upon the handle and she would find a let- 
 ter from her husband concealed therein, 
 yhe insisted on my remaining until morn- 
 ing, assuring me that she thought I 
 would be safe under her roof. When I 
 mentioned the Heel Flies she laughed and 
 said there would be Mttle danger from 
 that source, and gave me the startling in- 
 formation that her son was lieutenant 
 in the company of Home Guards station- 
 ed in town; that he had accompanied a 
 young lady home from the party that 
 night, and she was expecting iiis return 
 at any moment. She assured me that 
 he- would not give me away, but would 
 befriend and protect me as far as he 
 could. I told Her that her husband had 
 advised me not to sleep uuder any roof 
 alter liaving crossed the Wan Antonio 
 river and tnat, with the exception of one 
 niglit spent m the guard house at Goliad, 
 1 nad oDserved his admonition and that 
 unaer no circumstances would I consent 
 to sleep in tUe liouse where there were 
 licel i'lies under tfle same roof and that 
 1 woulu go back io camp, but would wan 
 on tue oucsicie until sue had read her 
 liubund's letter. 1 then withdrew to my 
 liuiaig place where i had been but a few 
 iiiomvais wnen 1 heard the clatter of 
 horses' feet and I drew the conclusion 
 that her son was returning, and if he 
 sluHild prove obstreperous I might soon 
 be in the hands of the Heel Flies. 
 
 The horseman came to the gate, dis- 
 mounted, threw his saddle on the fence, 
 led his horse around to a lot, and entered 
 the house from the rear. I then went to 
 his saddle and examined it, but found no 
 arms. From the fence I drew near the 
 
 house and for one time in my life did 
 some "eavesdropping." I could hear 
 the lady's voice as if reasoning or plead- 
 ing, and could hear a male voice, but 
 could not understand what either was 
 saying. After some little time the lady 
 came out into the yard and said: "Come 
 on in, you are, safe." I made no reply. 
 Her son 'then came out and she said, as 
 if speaking to him: "I do wonder if he 
 is gone!" After a pause she called 
 again, "Young man, come on in, you are 
 perfectly safe; don't be afraid." Moved 
 by this assurance I emerged from the 
 darkness and went in, they, mother and 
 son, leading the way into a room where 
 a flickering lamp— an old saucer filled 
 with grease into which a twisted rag was 
 submerged, forming a wick — cast a sick- 
 ly light over the surroundings. I did 
 not fancy the young lieutenant's looks. 
 I soon sized him up to be a spoilt boy, a 
 sour-natured chap, and not to be trusted, 
 although he seemed quite affable and of- 
 fered me a chair, but I noticed that he 
 was careful to place his own chair be- 
 tween me and the door, where a shot-gun 
 sat against the wall in easj- reach. This 
 riled me and I thought the best policy 
 then and there would be to put on a bold 
 front and be plain at the outset and I 
 said to the lady: "Madam, I suppose you 
 have read Mr. Cox's letter by this time 
 and you surely know that I am not play- 
 ing false. You have assured me of your 
 l^rotection, and on that assurance I have 
 placed myself in your power to some ex- 
 tent, but I don't tike the looks of things 
 here and you, young man, don't you dare 
 to reach tor that gun. i learn that you 
 belong to the Heel 1^'lies up in town but 
 3'our mother has told me that j'ou are 
 all right and 1 hope it is that way. Your 
 father employed me to come here and I 
 am working lor your interests, and there 
 must be no misunderstanding. As you 
 see, 1 am prepared to take care of myself 
 1 Isnow that at a word you can have ail 
 your Heel J^ly comjjany after me, but i 
 want to tell you that it will be a bad day 
 for some of you before you ever get me 
 in your guard house." Of course this 
 was in the nature of a "bluff" and I 
 learned later that I had been too hasty 
 and formed the wrong opinion of the 
 young man. 
 
 The mother explained by saying that 
 the feeling had been so strong against 
 her husband on account of his being a 
 Union man, that her son was compelled 
 
HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 11 
 
 to join the Home Guards to save their 
 property from confiscation, and that, 
 while his sentiments were like those of 
 his parent, to all appearances he had to 
 be a "good Confederate." The young 
 man confirmed all she said and told me 
 that he would shield me from all danger, 
 and that I could rely implicitly on his 
 word. When this point was settled the 
 conversation turned to the subject of 
 my errand. The lady informed me that 
 the two mules, in charge of a younger 
 son and a neighbor, had been started the 
 day before to Fort Bend county on the 
 Brazos for corn for the horses belonging 
 to the Home Guards and they would not 
 be back under four or five days. All the 
 difficulties of the situation, pro and con, 
 were discussed, and it was agreed that I 
 should remain incognito about the Mexi- 
 can encampments near town, until the 
 fifth day, which fell on a Friday, at 
 which time during the night I was to re- 
 turn to the Cox home and if the mules 
 had arrived, final arrangements were to 
 be made for my departure. When this 
 was settled upon, the mother withdrew 
 to an adjacent room to prepare a lunch- 
 eon and this gave the young man a 
 chance to talk. He told me a great 
 deal about the Heel Flies and their de- 
 vilment; the tyranny of the conscript of- 
 ficers, and the hardships of the people. 
 He showed that those who refused to vol- 
 unteer and were arrested were sent un- 
 der a strong guard to Galveston Lsland 
 where they were compelled to drill sev- 
 eraal hours each day with heavy artillery 
 and that, owing to exposure, bad wuter 
 and poor rations, the mortality was fear- 
 ful. He further stated that his com- 
 pany, then at Columbus, had been sta- 
 tioned at Hallettsville and that a com- 
 pany from Victoria, in which there were 
 a number of Mexicans, was expected to 
 reach Columbus soon and his company 
 would be sent to Victoria. During the 
 day, he said, he had to be with his com- 
 pany, but very often he had to leave to 
 spend the night with his mother at home. 
 He had seen me in town -and his suspi- 
 cions had been aroused as to my being a 
 real Mexican; others had become suspi- 
 cious and he had advised me to stay out 
 of town. He further informed me that 
 these Home Guards were serving almost 
 ■without pay since Confederate money 
 was worthless, and that on this account, 
 the temptation to steal rob and take 
 bribes, was almost irresistable. No one 
 wanted to go into the army and those 
 
 who could get away were going to Mexi^ 
 
 CO. 
 
 I enjoyed .a well served post-midnight 
 supper with that hospitable mother and 
 son, and, although urgently solicited to 
 remain until morning, and given every 
 assurance of safety, I resolutely declin- 
 ed; bade them goodbye, and a short 
 while before dawn I reached Senor Gar- 
 cia 's camp on the outskirts of Columbus. 
 
 The morning after my visit to the Cox 
 home Senor Garcia called me aside and 
 informed me that he was sorely afraid 
 that I was going to get into trouble and 
 that my presence in his camp might in- 
 volve him. He said those "Soldados" 
 as he was pleased to call them, were 
 watching me and that he believed his 
 camp was under continual espionage. 
 The evening before, and while returning 
 from AUeyton and passing through town 
 he had been held up by a brace of the 
 Heel Flies who seemed to be in wait for 
 him. He was taken before an otficial 
 whom he took to be a colonel, or some 
 other functionary, who put him under 
 some sort of an oath and quizzed him 
 closely to know if any American, soldier 
 or citizen, had been stopping at his 
 camp at any time since ins coming to 
 Columbus. The examination, he said, 
 was conducted through an interpreter 
 who didn't know enough Spanish to ask 
 for bread. He told them no Americans 
 had been about his camp except a few 
 citizens who had brought eggs and but- 
 ter to sell, a few teamsters inquiring for 
 their stock, and a few of the Jlome 
 (iuards. He told me he did not regard 
 the oath they admiiiistered as binuing 
 and as he could not understand tUe in- 
 terpreter's blundering rendition, and be- 
 sides be wasn t sworn on tUe cross nor 
 on tUe gospels, and furthermore, tUe man 
 wno aumimstered tne oaiU was ""uu 
 iiereje, a Ueretice. Tlie senor was a 
 aevout Catnoiic. i assured him that i 
 Had no desire, whatever, to cause him 
 trouoie, mat i had no lears for my own 
 saiety, out if it was nis wish i would go 
 
 elsewhere and seek shelter, a course 
 which I very much disliked as a change 
 
 to another encampment would tend to 
 confirm the suspicions of the authorities 
 and force me to leave sooner than I ex- 
 pected. He told me he wanted me to 
 remain, but insi-ste^ that I use more cau- 
 tion and stay away from town, which I 
 promised to do. 
 
 Later in the day the senor came to 
 me and expressed some doubt as to my 
 
12 
 
 HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 ability to get away with those mules. 
 "What if, mule like, they should beconje 
 stubborn and refuse to lead? I would 
 have to neck them together and, and 
 Avhat if they should refuse to be driven? 
 He told me of a young man who, owing 
 to some misunderstanding, had been dis- 
 charged from another mule train and 
 M'as anxious to return to Mexico but did 
 not care to go alone. I told him to 
 send for the Mexican, and when he came 
 it did not take \is long to close a deal. I 
 found him to be a comely young man of 
 ready address, prepossessing appearance, 
 and far above the average in intelligence, • 
 and he impressed me as Senor Garcia 
 had said, as a man who could be trusted 
 with entire confidence. His father at 
 one time had been a merchant in Corpus 
 Christi, where the lad learned to speak 
 Engli.sh; later he moved to Oaxaca, Mex- 
 ico, where, ou the breaking out of the 
 War of the Intervention, 18C1, the 
 young man enlisted in the Liberal army. 
 At the siege and capture of Puebla by 
 the French in May, 18(58, he was taken 
 jirisoner, later escaped near Vera Cruz, 
 and with others, boarded a vessel and 
 landed at Bagdad at the mouth of the 
 llio Grande, where he joined a mule 
 train as teamster and later accrSinpanied 
 the train to Columbus. The name of that 
 young Mexican was Ciriaco- Lopez, and I 
 must say that on that day began a 
 friendship between the writer and that 
 young man that has existed to the pre- 
 sent day — a friendship that the lapse of 
 time has cemented by renewed tokens of 
 affectionate regard, covering a period 
 of more than 4(j years. 
 
 I remained close in camp all day with 
 my new friend, Don Ciriaco, who gave 
 me a history of his career as a soldier, 
 and expressed his intention to rejoin the 
 Liberal army on his return to Mexico. 
 The next morning about 10 o'clock, I 
 noticed anAmerican boy lingering about 
 the camp, carrying a bridle on his arms 
 as if stock hunting He looked to be 
 about 11 years old. After loitering 
 around for some time and .seeing me 
 alone for a moment he timidly drew 
 near and in a tone of voice scarcely audi- 
 ble said: "Aren't you the gentleman 
 that saw my papa, Mr. Cox, in Matamor- 
 as?" "Yes, Bud," said I. "What is it 
 now?" "Well," said the lad, bright- 
 ening up, "I am Jim Cox. My mother 
 says for you to come tonight at 12 
 o'clock," and without another word, or 
 waiting for a reply, the boy was off. I 
 
 called to him as he moved away but he 
 only pointed in the direction of town, 
 which gesture I understood to mean 
 "heel fly" and he soon disappeared in 
 the direction of the river. 
 
 Here was another perplexity. Those 
 mules could not have returned from the 
 Brazos so soon, and why should the lady 
 summon me to her home at such an un- 
 reasonable hour? Could it be that her son 
 the gallant Lieutenant in a "Heel Ply" 
 company, C. S. A., had turned traitor to 
 his father's best interest? Evidently 
 there was villiany abroad somewhere. 
 I recalled the adage that a seci-et is safe 
 in only one bo.som. Here my secret was 
 known to four— myself, Mrs. Cox, her 
 two sons, and the Loixl only knows how 
 many others. I consulted Henor Garcia 
 but he was equally puzzled, and could 
 only forecast troublesome times ahead. 
 He was of the opinion that there was 
 treachery somewhere, and advised me to 
 take Ciriaco Avith me that night. I de- 
 cided to follow his counsel, and long be- 
 fore midnight we were in concealment 
 in a grove near the Cox home. I in- 
 structed Ciariaco not to tie out horses, 
 but to hold the reins in his hands and to 
 be on the alert for cei'tain signals agreed 
 upon in case of distress, and we also de- 
 cided on a place of rendezvous in the 
 event of a separation. We had no 
 means to determine the hour but liavidg 
 decided that it must be near 12 o'clock, 
 I stealthily ventured up to the house, 
 rapped on the door, and, Mrs. Cox ap- 
 peared. Her lieutenant son was absent 
 and she had much to tell me, and for 
 that reason she had sent her youngest 
 son that morning that I might come and 
 be warned of my danger, and hers. On 
 the night of the party a young lady, who 
 lived in town, had attended, and remain- 
 ed overnight. She thought she was 
 asleep In another room but she believed 
 
 now .she was awake and listening. At 
 any rate the "Heel-flies" were on mj' 
 trail and they were going to arrest me 
 as a deserter from Benivide's regiment, 
 then stationed along the Rio Grande. 
 Her son had posted her and instructed 
 lier to advit^e me to "make tracks." A ^ 
 squad of tho.se "Heel Plies" had taken 
 supper at her house that night. They 
 had two men whom they had arrested 
 in the river bottoms that evening and 
 were taking them to the guard hou.se in 
 Columbus where there were twenty-two 
 prisoners being held, most of whom were 
 to be taken to Harrisburg on the next 
 
HEEL FLY TIJIE IN TEXAS 
 
 13 
 
 train. She was greatly worried. She 
 wanted her husband to have those 
 mules; they were liable to be seized at 
 any hour; even now they were hauling 
 corn for the Heel Flies, but she saw no 
 chance for me to escape with them. I 
 must not wait another day; if I tarried 
 longer T would be arrested. She had 
 friends in Lavaca county, about twelve 
 miles from Halletsville, on the Lavaca 
 river. Tf I could go there and wait she 
 might be able to send the mules to me. 
 But she had no one to send except the 
 little bo3', Jimmie, and she could not 
 think of sending him so far alone. With 
 part of the money I had delivered to her, 
 sent by her husband, she could bribe 
 one of the Heel Fly officers to take the 
 mules as far as Lavaca, but she needed 
 every cent of the money and, besides, 
 the plan was fraught with too much 
 danger. Exposure meant the confisca- 
 tion of all she had left. I told her her 
 suggestions were to the point if she 
 could vouch for the honesty of her La- 
 vaca friends. I explained that I had 
 emploj'ed a reliable Mexican, who was 
 at that moment nearby, and that he 
 would take any chances to assist me. I 
 would start the next morning and go to 
 her friends on the Lavaca, while my 
 Mexican coiild wait around Columbus 
 Tuitil the mules came in from the Brazos. 
 She could notifj' him and when all was 
 in readiness, he, accompanied by her 
 son, Jimmie, could start with the mules 
 and by hard riding could cover the dis- 
 tance in one night. She suggested that 
 the Mexican could get through without 
 her son. I interposed the objection 
 that owing to existing prejudice again.st 
 the Mexicans he would likely be arrest- 
 ed if found traveling through the coun- 
 try with a fine span of mules, and I was 
 sure my man would not assume the risk. 
 I told her I had the utmost confidence 
 in him and was willing to trust him, and 
 that I saw no other means of escape 
 with those mules. She consented to the 
 arrangement, and in order of a full and 
 eom]irehensive understanding of the 
 program agreed upon might be had, I 
 went to the grove and had Ciriaco ac- 
 company me to the house and introduc- 
 ed him to the lady. After some conver- 
 sation with him, I could see that she was 
 favorably impressed and, like myself, 
 was willing to tru.st him. Every detail 
 of our plans were gone over and arrang- 
 ed in Ciriaco 's presence in order that he 
 might clearly understand the program 
 
 and to the execution of which he pledge!" 
 his faithful service. This being settled 
 upon, Mrs. Cox gave me directions as to 
 how to find her friends on the Lavaca 
 river. I was to go to A. B. McDonald 
 and tell him my business and who sent 
 me. Mr. McDonald, she said was an. 
 old pioneer Texan and an old time 
 friend to her husband and family. At 
 heart he was a Unionist, although he had 
 a son in Garland's regiment, then east 
 of the Mississippi, and a younger .son in 
 the Lavaca Home Guards, but he was a 
 true man and was never known to be- 
 tray a friend. Shoidd I fail to find Mr. 
 McDonald, then I was to go to Judge 
 Riley Tate, Tom Hogan or old Dr. Pon- 
 ton, all of whom were old Texans and 
 friends to Mr. Cox, and from either of 
 these men I would receive any aid I 
 might need. Ciriaco was directed to 
 follow the old Atascosa (corrupted into 
 "Tuseaseet") trail leading out in a 
 southwest course from Columbus, until 
 within ten miles of the Lavaca, then due 
 west until he came to the crossing at 
 Mayo's Mill, which was only four miles 
 from A. B. McDonald's. After crossing 
 tlie Lavaca they would come out in a 
 settlement where they could obtain in- 
 formation. Having reached an under- 
 standing, we arose to leave when Mrs. 
 Cox took from beneath a mattress the 
 identical quirt I had previously ileliver- 
 ed to her, and charged me to deliver it 
 back to her husband I rea liiy p]-o)u- 
 ised, and >vithf;tit further ceremony, 
 bade this nob' j lady goodbye, not know- 
 ing that I would ever see her again. 
 
 Next morning Ci.-iaco asMsted in my 
 preparations for departure. When 
 
 mounted I usually carried my pistol in 
 my morral where it was quite conven- 
 ient in case of neeti. On this particular 
 morning I placed my pistol in this mor- 
 ral and over it I placed a package con- 
 taining lunch, and one or two other 
 small articles, thus hiding the weapon 
 from view. My reasons for doing this 
 was 1o make it ai)pear that I was an un- 
 armed traveler. While making this pre- 
 paration, Criaeo asked me to aceomjjany 
 him to the M-agon train in which he had 
 served and ascertain when he could get 
 some money yet due him. If he could 
 get the wagon master to agree to pay 
 him on a certain day, then I would know 
 when to expect him on the Lavaca with 
 the mules. I consented and, after tak- 
 ing leave of the kind Senor Garcia, \Vc 
 rode away to the encampment which was 
 
14 
 
 HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 about 500 yards distant. As we mount- 
 ed I noticed an unusual number of 
 horses and mules about that train and 
 called Ciriaco's attention to the matter, 
 but he suggested that perhaps his form- 
 er boss was getting ready to load up. 
 There were 25 or 30 large wagons in 
 this train and, according to custom while 
 in camp, these wagons were corralled 
 for convenience and protection. While 
 approaching, we could not get a view of 
 this corrall, but as we came nearer I not- 
 iced several horses saddled near the en- 
 trance. This looked suspicious, but 
 Ciriaco scouted the idea of danger. We 
 rode through the "puerto" or gateway 
 of this corral to find ourselves covered 
 with more than a dozen guns and six- 
 shooters in the hands of as many "Heel- 
 flies," the most brigandish looking set 
 of boys I ever faced. "Throw \ip yer 
 hands, Mister Mexican-White-Man! 
 Hit's you we want. Been a-looking fer 
 ye right smart while. Got ye now!" I 
 asked Ciriaco to speak to those men and 
 find out what they wanted. T saw an 
 amused look about my Mexican's face 
 and was a little surprised at his coolness 
 when he said: "Thees Mexican don'ta 
 spek Ingles; he don'ta un'stan' what for 
 you wanta heem." "The hell you say," 
 snorted a lean, cadaverous long-hungry, 
 flourishing an old pepper-box pistol. 
 
 "If he can't talk 'Merican, we'll lai-n 
 'im. But he can spout it all right when 
 he wants to an' 'fore we git done with 
 him he'll bleat 'er out fast. Cap'n Baker 
 can spit the Mex'can lingo some hisself 
 and he'll soon find out if he is a greaser 
 or a Cajen." By this time they had 
 siezed my horse by the bridle, and with 
 their villianous guns held almo.st against 
 me, they mounted and marched me off 
 towards town. They made no effort to 
 search me for arms, and as we started, I 
 turned and called back to Ciriao: 
 "Hasta luego, Caballero! No ha riesgo, 
 ostos malditos no son peligrosos!" and 
 with a wave of the hand my man shouted 
 back: "Ojala, Compadre ! Ojala!" 
 
 As before stated, I had concealed my 
 justol in a morral which hung at my 
 saddle bow. I wore a close fitting or- 
 namented Mexican jacket, or round- 
 about, and in this garb it could be plain- 
 ly seen that I was unarmed. At no time 
 had I worn my pistol while in Coliuubus, 
 as I knew the cupidity of these "Heel- 
 flies" and not having seen me armed at 
 any time, I suppose uocouuts for the 
 
 fact that when arrested they made no 
 attempt to search me. 
 
 As we started out from the train, one 
 of these tail-enders of Home Guard man- 
 hood tied a rope around mj' horse's neck 
 and boiind the other end to the horn of 
 his saddle and when his brave com- 
 panions mentioned the fact that such 
 proceedure was useless, as they had 
 their guns on me and a man on each 
 side, one holding my bridle and others in 
 rear and front, and that I could not pos- 
 sibly escape, he answered by saying: 
 "Can't be too keerful. They haint lo 
 tellin' 'bout these greasers, an' this 
 dandy lookin' feller might rattle his 
 hocks if he gits half a chance." And 
 then cam.e a wrangle as to who should 
 have my horse, one or two claiming that 
 this fellow had placed his rope on the 
 animal in order that he might have a 
 better chance. 
 
 A thousand thoughts oppressed me 
 as we rode toward town. Chagrin pos- 
 sessed me, in that T had deliberately 
 rode into a trap and had been caught 
 like a rat, and that, too. by a gang of 
 ragamuffins too contemptible for a pe- 
 lone dog to bark at ! Then came an op- 
 pressive sense of dread. They had 
 boasted that Captain Baker "could spit 
 the greaser lingo too." Evidently, 
 Captain Baker was the gentleman whom 
 I had sized up as being the provost mar- 
 shal, and what if he should prove to be 
 a better scholar than I? With these 
 thoughts and forebodings, Matamoras 
 never seemed so far and Galveston Is- 
 bnd so near on that cloudy morning at 
 Columbus, and the prospect of involun- 
 tary servitude as a soldier in the Con- 
 federate army became oppressively 
 glowing. 
 
 When we had reached Baker's office, 
 which was about a block and a half 
 from the building u.sed as barracks and 
 'n a northwest course from the public 
 souare, the office fronting north, my 
 captors remoA-ed the rope from my horse 
 and dismounted and as they did so. 
 Captain Baker came out. congratiilated 
 tliem on my cajiture and dismissed them, 
 leaving me in charge of a gander-eyed 
 chajj who seemed to be on duty at the 
 office door. From the conversation I 
 overheard, it seemed these fellows had 
 been out on a scout since the evening be- 
 fore, and hence their dismissal to quart- 
 ers when we arrived at the office. I 
 had dismounted with the rest and as 
 
HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 15 
 
 they rode off my new custodian, by 
 words and signs, ■directed me to hitch 
 my horse to a post which stood about 25 
 feet from the office door in the direction 
 of the court house square. I made note 
 of this and, in fact, all the surroundings 
 with an eye to escape. 
 
 Several loiterers had collected by this 
 time and it was interesting to hear their 
 rude comment, "He don't look like a 
 Mexican!" "He's a deserter trying to 
 get to Mexico!" "Captain Baker can 
 beat any Mexican talking Spanish and 
 he'll find out might.y quick what he is!" 
 These and other remarks went the round 
 and, in effect, were anything but en- 
 couraging. 
 
 The sentinel directed me into the au- 
 gu.st presence of Ceptain Baker. His of- 
 fice was a little box concern, about 14x 
 18 feet, with a door opening north on 
 the street and an open window, without 
 sash, on the right of the door. On a pine 
 table, at which his Highness sat, were a 
 lot of papers, an old sword and a villian- 
 ous looking Colt's pistol. I was offered 
 no seat The loiterers crowded into the 
 room and I was kept standing, waiting, 
 while the captain seemed to be busy 
 looking over some papers. Finally he 
 pushed them aside and fixing a steady 
 gaze upon me, as if trying to read my 
 thoughts, he said gruffly: "So you 
 claim to be a Mexican, eh?" With cool 
 assurance I replied: "No entiendo, 
 Senor, no hablo la idioma Ingles." (I do 
 not understand sir ; I do not speak En- 
 glish.) "You no understand, eh? You 
 vive in Mexico? Comy sammy?" (What 
 is your name?) These three ouestions, 
 fired almost simultaneously, revealed 
 the man I had to deal with and I coulJ 
 have shouted with laughter. Here was 
 the dreaded official who could "spit 
 Spanish" and could put a Mexican to 
 shame talking the "greaser lingo!" 
 "Comy sammy" for "como se llama," 
 was the key to his ignorance of the 
 Spani.sh language, and I felt secure on 
 that score. However, in his broken, 
 blundering way he proceeded with the 
 examination. He took down my name, 
 or rather the name I gave — Juan Mont- 
 ero de Garcia — and questioned me as to 
 my nationality. With a mixture of bad 
 English and Spanish he said my blue 
 eyes, fair skin and light hair betrayed 
 me, and that he did not believe I was a 
 Mexican. I told him that there were 
 many Mexicans who had complexions as 
 fair as any American ; that I had come 
 
 to Columbus on honorable business; that 
 I had made no attempt at concealment 
 but, as he well knew, I had appeared 
 daily on the streets with my companions 
 and that I had plenty of witnesses to 
 prove that I was "un puro Mejicano." 
 When I mentioned "testigos" (witnesses) 
 a new light seemed to . dawn on his 
 befuddled mind and, throwing down his 
 pen, he said: "All right go bring your 
 witnesses. You say your father is here, 
 bring him along too. (I had not told 
 him my father was there.) You may be 
 a Mexican but I don't believe it. And 
 see that your witnesses tell the truth. 
 You bring a lot of greasers in here to lie 
 for you and I'll have every one of you 
 shot. Do you understand me?" During 
 this "preliminary" a man was brought 
 into the room wearing a ball and chain 
 and guarded by two of the "Heel-fly" 
 lads. He was a brigandish-looking in- 
 dividual and T Avondered how these little 
 milksop soldiers ever managed to catch 
 him. He appeared to be a prisoner of 
 noteriety and the little room was soon 
 filled with a motley crowd of "Heel- 
 flies" and others, among whom I noticed 
 Lieutenant Cox. As I turned to push 
 my way through the crowd to the door 
 the captain said: "Lieutenant, this 
 Mexican has one hour to bring in his 
 witnesses. See that he has them here in 
 that time." Cox paused ju.st out.side 
 the door, while I proceeded to my horse 
 and was in the act of unhitching when 
 the man on guard at the door threw a 
 rusty old shot gun down on me and said : 
 "Let that ar horse alone; leave 'im right 
 whar he's a-standin'!" Lieut. Cox re- 
 peated the order and advanced to where 
 I was standing, swaggering, an swear- 
 ing but when close to me he said in an 
 under-tone: "Leave your horse; go 
 round the block — watch your chance." 
 Cox's movement attracted the attention 
 of the crowd on the ,,outside and with a 
 "Si, senor teniente; .ya me voy." I walk- 
 ed briskljr away. 
 
 I kept uji this brisk walk, not daring 
 to look back, until I reached the corner 
 of the block, where, instead of going on 
 in the direction of Senor Garcia "s camp, 
 I lurned south and .slackened my gait to 
 a slow walk. When I reached the next 
 corner I turned east, continuing as dir- 
 ected by Lieutenant Cox, around the 
 block. When I reached the street lead- 
 ing past the captain's office I saw that 
 every man on the outside had crowded 
 into th« door and the window, craning 
 
16 
 
 HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 their necks to see and hear what was go- 
 ing on within. They seemed oblivious 
 to everything outside that office ; even 
 the sentinel was not in sight, and I sup- 
 posed they had crowded him out of the 
 doorway The man with the ball and 
 chain evidently was on trial and the im- 
 ]iortance of his case had overshadowed 
 that of the man M'ho claimed to be a 
 Mexican. My horse stood as I had left 
 him at the hitching post, only a few 
 steps from the corner. I had been in- 
 structed by one having authority to 
 watch my chance. "Here it was, and I 
 took it. I mounted my horse and rode 
 slowlj^ away until I had turned the cor- 
 ner, out of view of those at the little of- 
 fice, and I was off. 
 
 While sauntering around that block 
 before securing my hoi'se, I surveyed 
 the surroundings and decided upon mj' 
 course. To the southwest and west for 
 quite a distance was the open plain, a 
 large portion of which was in full view 
 of the building occupied as barracks by 
 the "Heel-flies" and also the corral and 
 guard house where a sentinel stood 
 guard. It would not do to try to escape 
 across that open plain. Just below 
 town there was a large field extending 
 along the river to the edge of the village 
 and a road led out from town between 
 the field fence and the bank of the river. 
 In this field there was a depression, or 
 shallow slough, extending from the 
 northwest corner of the field, diagonally 
 in the direction of the '^outh boundary of 
 the enclosure, which latter I would gue^, 
 contained a hundred acres more or less. 
 When the river was swollen, its waters 
 backed up and cornered this .slough. I 
 had noted this field and the road leading 
 out and along the river bank, while loit- 
 ering in town a few days before, but I 
 had not traveled over it. 
 
 I chose the river route, aiming to 
 reach the wooded river bottoms below 
 the field. This route necessarily lead 
 me across the court house square, just 
 before turning into which, T saw a body 
 of eight or ten horsemen leaving the 
 square on another street and going in 
 the direction of the captain's office. 
 These appeared to be men — not boys, — 
 they were well mounted, ami one rode a 
 large- '.vhite hor.se. I turned aside and 
 waited several minutes for these men to 
 get out of sight, and by this act I lost 
 valuable time, whicli came near being 
 my undoing. In fact, it seems they had 
 reached the office before I got across the 
 
 square and evidently I had been seen 
 while trying to avoid them. At all 
 events, my sudden flight had doubtless 
 been discovered about the time they 
 rode up to the captain's office. To 
 avoid attracting notice. I rode in a trot 
 across the court no\\-,c squn'C and wh.^n 
 I turned into the old rofid leading down 
 the river I piit my Jiorsa ar a good speed 
 and had goi'c but a short distance when 
 to my utter cha:;'in, I found that a re- 
 cent rise in the Colorado had waiihed out 
 the bank up to the .."e v. The road had 
 come to the "jumping off" place. The 
 fence was of rails and "staked and rid- 
 ered." I rode up and tried to throw off 
 some of the rails; failing in the effort, I 
 had to dismount and finally succeeded 
 in tearing down the fence so that my 
 horse could leap over into the field. I 
 remounted and as my horse vaulted over 
 the fence, my morral became unfastened 
 and fell to the ground, causing another 
 moments delay while recovering it. All 
 this consumed time, and seconds were 
 mo.st precious just then. When I had 
 secured my morral I heard the sound of 
 liorses' feet and glancing back, lo and 
 behold, there came those -wicked "Heel- 
 flies!" There were four of them and 
 they were coming down the road at full 
 speed, not over 2'i() yards di.stant, and 
 wlien they saw that I had discovered 
 them, they 0])ened fire with their pistols 
 even at that great -distance, and began 
 yelling at me to halt and .surreder. 
 
 The recent rise in the Colorado had 
 filled the slough, or draw, in the field 
 with water which now stands in places, 
 although the waters of the river had 
 subsided. The draw remained a slough 
 of mud and slime and had the appearance 
 of an imfathomable bog, Init as I was 
 hemmed and cornered 1 must cro.ss it or 
 be eaptui-ed. It was my only means of 
 escape and I was fully determined not 
 to be caught again by those tatterdema- 
 leons. My resolve wa.s formed on the 
 instant and putting spurs to mj' horse, 
 he was .soon lo Jiis flank in mutl and 
 slime. My valiant pursurers were still 
 blazing away at me and as their bullets 
 did not knock any miid or water in my 
 face, I wondered if they were only fir- 
 ing into the air merely to make a noise 
 and to keep up the excitement. The 
 width of this bog could not have exceed- 
 ed forty feet and it was only after a 
 most desperate struggle that my horse 
 reached the opposite side where the 
 ground was firm. 
 
HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 17 
 
 When onee across the swag, horse 
 and rider covered with mud, I tiirsed to 
 see how my pursuers were progressini;. 
 They had reached the gap I had made 
 in the fence and one of the rascals had 
 dismounted to throw off a rail or two. 
 When I saw this, I felt greatly relieved. 
 My horse had leaped through that g-T 
 with all the ease and when I saw that, in 
 order to get their iiags over, they liad to 
 throw off more rails, I knew liiat such 
 an outfit could never catch me. In 
 truth, I became amused at the thought 
 and like little wanton boys in the sport 
 of playing "base," I was ready to give 
 them a dare." 
 
 In order to escape any stray bullets 
 which might accidently hit me, I gallop- 
 ed oif a short distance in the direction of 
 the west string of the field fence which 
 bordered on the ojien plain below and 
 southwest of town. Here I halted,, 
 turned and faced the gallinipper quar- 
 tette to see if they hadn't any more 
 sen';e than to ride out in that mud hole. 
 When they saw this movement they halt- 
 ed near the edge of that bog and with a 
 profusion of great oaths ordered me to 
 recross and surrender, else they would 
 come over and get me, and in less than 
 no time I would be in h — 1. I turned 
 my horse as if to light out, seeing which, 
 the four bravos dashed like ducks into 
 that bog. I stood to see the fun, and to 
 witness the struggles of those poor boys 
 and their beasts would have been pitiful 
 under other circumstances, yet, I was 
 so amused and elated over their discom- 
 fiture that I shouted with merriment. It 
 was a ■ sight long to be remembered. 
 Three of the poor nage, became hopeless- 
 ly bogged and the antics of those three 
 defenders of their country, while flound- 
 ering around in that slime and mud, was 
 a sight to make a sphinx roar with 
 laughter. The ludicrous phase of the 
 situation caused me to forget all caution, 
 which came near proving my ruin. Only 
 one horse and rider made it across to 
 solid ground and seeing their sad plight 
 I was seized with foolish impulse to cap- 
 ture tlie whole squad. With drawn pistol 
 and a whoop I bore down on the young 
 chap who had reached dry ground and 
 ordered him to surrender, and in so do- 
 ing I employed about as plain English as 
 he had ever been accustomed to hearing 
 
 while chasing Union men out of the coun- 
 try or guarding them in prisons. The 
 poor fellow seemed frightened half to 
 death, and throwing up his muddy 
 hands, exclaimed: "For the Lawd's 
 sake, Mi.ster, don't shoot! You wouldn't 
 shoot an unarmed man, would J'e!" 
 "You lie," shouted I. "Where's that 
 pistol j'ou were firing at me awhile 
 ago? Throw it down or I'll blow out your 
 infernal lights!" "Mister, I swear I 
 haint got no pistol. I drapped hit in that 
 mud hole. I haint a thing to shoot 
 with," said he. "I have a notion to kill 
 all you scoundrels; you have tried to 
 kill me," said I, addressing the fou. One 
 of them, all of whom' Avere crawling 
 back to dry land opposite, said: "We 
 warn't tryin' to kill ye, Mister, we wuz 
 ,iust a shootin' to see ye run!" I coitld 
 have killed each of the four, but had no 
 desire to injure them. In truth I pitied, 
 i-ather than censured, those poor mis- 
 guided boys. 
 
 All this occurred in much less time 
 than is required to relate it, and duijing 
 that brief time a graver danger con- 
 fronted me. While bandying with those 
 slime-besmeared boys at the slough, I 
 chanced to look in the direction of town 
 and saw a body of horsemen coming 
 down the west string of the field on the 
 outside, and under whip as if to cut me 
 off and catch me, and one of these was 
 mounted on a large white horse, evident- 
 ly the one I had r.oticed before crossing 
 the public square. I wheeled my horse 
 and sped for the fence — the west string 
 —and without dismounting, threw off a 
 few rails and my horse cleared it with 
 apparent ease. When these approach- 
 ing horsemen saw me make a break from 
 the slough, they raised a yell, increased 
 their speed, and began to shoot. I did 
 not take time to count them, but I would 
 have guessed there were at least fifteen 
 and probably twenty. They did not all 
 o]ien fire until I had passed over the 
 fence, by which time they were near 
 enough to make their bullets whiz un- 
 pleasantly close. 
 
 Before mS lay the open plain to the 
 foot of the ridge southwest of town and 
 \\here the Ilalletsville road left the plain 
 was bare of timber growth, the prairie 
 extending to the crest of this ridge 
 where a dense undergrowth set in, and 
 
 Magaz 
 
 THIS STORY APPEARED IN FRONTIER TIMES, a monthly ^-si 
 zine devoted to Frontier History, published at Bandera, Texas. '^ 4' 
 
 ^::. 
 
18 
 
 HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 extended westward several miles. The 
 race for life and liberty was now on, an^ 
 the brush over the ridge was the goal. I 
 had a fairh' good start. I knew the 
 metal and endurance of my horse and 
 with the possible exception of the large, 
 wliite horse, who was now leading the 
 rest, I felt confident that I could out- 
 strip them and escape. I did not believe 
 they would shoot to disable my horse. 
 They wanted him more than they cared 
 for the rider. Looking hack, when half 
 wa.y • across the plain, I saw the white 
 horse still in the lead and gaining on me, 
 while three others were close at his 
 heels. At the same time I saw several 
 horsemen pouring out of town and I 
 wondered if every Heel-fly in the coim- 
 try had joined in the chase. It was prov- 
 ing a test of speed between the white 
 horse and the animal I rode, and before 
 two-thirds of the distance (about a mile, 
 had been covered, I found that the 
 space was lengthening between pursuer 
 and pursued. When I reached the crest 
 of the hill where the chapart 1 set in, I 
 turned to face the enemy. The man on 
 the white horse and three others had 
 reached the incline and had started up 
 the ascent. A hasty glance showed a 
 straggling string of horsemen— all en- 
 listed in the chase. I waved my hat, 
 gave a cheer and offered those nearest 
 me a very profane remark in good- clear 
 plain English, turned the crest of the 
 ridge and took to the brush, safe, sound 
 and free. - 
 
 As before stated, the timber extended 
 from the crown of this ridge, which ran 
 parallel with the river valle,y several 
 miles. This forest was a thick growth 
 of Black Jack and other species of tim- 
 ber peculiar to South Texas, and after 
 having ridden a few miles at a gait as 
 fast as the undergrowth would perlnit, 
 I slackened my rein and allowed my 
 horse to recover to some extent from the 
 effects of the chase. I felt that I was 
 safe, for the reason that nothing but a 
 bloodhound could follow my^trail in that 
 wilderness. I bore off in a southwester- 
 ly course and about ten miles out from 
 Columbus I struck the old Atascosito 
 trail, which I followed the remainder of 
 the day. During the preceding twen- 
 ty-four hours a high wind had been 
 blowing out of the east, and about 1 
 o'clock that evening rain set in and con- 
 tinued in a steady downpour until mid- 
 night. This rain, driven by a cold east 
 wiud, ohiUed me through and caused in- 
 
 tense suffering. Late in the evening, as 
 I approached the Navidad river, I saw 
 through the sheets of falling rain a cabin 
 in the distance and decided to seek 
 shelter there for the night. It seemed to 
 be a lonely habitation, with no other set- 
 tlements near, and was directly on the 
 bank overlooking the Navidad, which 
 was considerably swollen and still ris- 
 ing from the day'.? flood of rain. The 
 storm was too fierce for me to think of 
 lying out under a tree all night, and I 
 would risk the sheltering roof of that 
 lonely cabin. A lady came to the door 
 when I rode up and in a quick, hearty 
 response to my request for a night's 
 shelter said: "Why yes, get down and 
 come right in out of the rain. We have 
 not much room and our fare is very 
 humble, but you are welcome." I dis- 
 mounted and her little son, a manly lad, 
 took my horse saying: "You are wet 
 and cold; go in to the fire. I will take 
 care of your horse." As I stepped on 
 the little cabin porch the lady met me 
 at the door as if to reassure me, said: "I 
 live alone here Avith my three little chil- 
 dren, and we are very poor, but I want 
 you to feel as welcome as if you were 
 under your father's roof." Cheering 
 words ! Words that every stranger and 
 wayfarer heard on entering the cabin 
 homes during the earlier days in Texas! 
 A glowing fire burned in the little cabin 
 fire-place and while seated before it and 
 answering questions, I began to survey 
 the suroundings. There was no fence 
 about the premises, and through a small 
 window near where I sat I saw the boy 
 lead my horse into a little clap-board 
 barn shed about thirty steps north of 
 of the cabin, and remove my saddle, 
 which he hung on a peg. I saw him 
 take my pistol from the morral, examine 
 it with boyish curiosity and sight it at 
 some object, replace it carefully, and 
 start to the house. The lady comment- 
 ed on my costume and asked where I 
 lived. I told her my home was former- 
 ly in Hopkins county but I was now liv- 
 ing in Mexico. She asked me why I 
 was not in the army and I told her I 
 was a Unionist and had gone to Mexico 
 to avoid the conscript law, and that ur- 
 gent business had taken me to Columbus 
 and that the Heel Flies had chased me 
 out and I was now on my way back to 
 Mexico. "My husband is in Mexico," 
 said she, "if yet living. He is a Union 
 man and had to flee for his life. We have 
 not heard from him itt a great whil«." 
 
HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 19 
 
 Scarcely had she 5>aid this when one of 
 her little girls said: "Look mother, 
 yonder comes some men!" We rushed 
 to the door and saw three horsemen 
 coming at a run, from the same direc- 
 tion I had come, and one of them rode a 
 big white horse ! They were those in- 
 fernal heel-flies, and I felt myself 
 treed again! "Madam," I said," "those 
 are Heel Flies. I escaped from them 
 this morning ; I would rather die than 
 be taken Can you help me out of this?" 
 "This way, quick! Can you swim?" she 
 asked. "Swim? Yes I can swim the 
 Atlantic." "Here get out through the 
 back way. Swim the river, it's not wide. 
 Get into the bush on the other side and 
 you'll be safe. Quick!" I made a break 
 for the back door, passed out, and hit 
 the water with a spla.sh that might have 
 been, heard above t heroar of elements. 
 Te current was not very swift and I soon 
 reached the opposite bank and with some 
 difficulty scrambled up through the mud 
 and I thought of the poor fellows I had 
 led into the bog that morning. I found 
 mj'self in a forest of wild peach trees. 
 an evergreen indigenous to that region, 
 with a dense growth of underbrush. It 
 was now night and the darkness was 
 soon impenetrable. I found a perch on 
 a log and gave myself over to medita- 
 tion. I was a blankety blin'i fool for 
 having engaged in such an entorprise. I 
 coveted gold and the prospect oi' getting 
 it was gone glimmering, 'f was lured on 
 by the spirit of adventure. T had about 
 all I wanted in that line, and I s\vore 
 that if I got out i^f th.'it scrape with .'.ii 
 unbroken hide, I would never be caught 
 again in the Heel Ply range. What a 
 fool I was to put up at that house ! Far 
 better to have camped under a tree, 
 stood in the rain all night and held my 
 horse by the bridle. But I must stop at 
 a house to be chased out like a coyote by 
 the infernal Heel-fles, and now they had 
 my horse, my saddle and my pistol ! Oh 
 fool for leaving that pistol in the morral! 
 They were at that moment quartered at 
 the house not 100 miles away and were 
 watching for my return to that barn 
 shed. At dawn they would be abroad 
 heating the brush and searching every 
 nook in that narrow river bottom. They 
 woidd scour the country round, and my 
 capture was inevitable! Even if I should 
 escape they would have my horse, sad- 
 dle and pistol These I could afford to 
 lose, but there was my quirt. It would 
 fall — had already, fallen — iiitq their 
 
 liands, and should curiosity lead them to 
 remove the leather covering from the 
 tube (handle) they would find Mrs. 
 Cox's letter to her husband, and she 
 would be ruined ! Already she avus 
 under the ban of su.spicion; her husband 
 had been run out of the country for be- 
 ing a Union man loyal to his flag, and 
 now a refugee in Mexico. The revela- 
 tions of this letter would lead to the con- 
 fiscation of all her property and she, 
 witli her children, would be turned 
 adrift, homeless. The surroundings 
 made me desperate. If I only had my 
 gun T would recross and shoot it out with 
 those Ileel-flie.s, and recover my horse at 
 all hazards. Here I was, sitting on a 
 log in the rain, cold, wet and hungry, 
 while some of the scoundrels were oc- 
 cupying a warm bed where, but for them 
 I might have been sleeping in peace. To 
 add to the gloom a bevy of owls set up a 
 wild, wierd chorus in the trees overhead. 
 It must have been n'ear the midnight 
 hour, when ghosts are said to go abroad 
 and satjTS dance along the glebe. The 
 rain ceased and a cold wind came doAvn 
 out of the north, an but for the moan of 
 this norther among the trees, the chorus 
 of the owls and the low "voice of many 
 waters" as they swept along in the now 
 swollen torrent, the stillness would have 
 been unbroken. 
 
 I resolved to make one more effort. 
 I was yet free, and to remain free I must 
 recover my horse. I put into the river, 
 which was now bank full. I had be- 
 come so chilled and benumbed that the 
 water seemed warm and gave me relief. 
 When I reached the opposite bank I re- 
 moved my shoes and, with cat-like tread, 
 slowly approached the barn shed. I 
 had secured a piece of driftwood to be 
 used as a club, and expected to encount- 
 er a Heel-fly at any moment. As I en- 
 tered the shed my horse gave a low 
 whinney of recognition! 
 
 Groping my way >n darkness I found 
 my sadlle where I had seen the boy place 
 it, my pistol was in the morral undis- 
 turbed, and my quirt was where I had 
 left it, at the horn of my saddle! What 
 could all this mean? Could it be possible 
 that those ra scale, were in the house 
 asleep waiting for daylight to catch me? 
 My fir.st impulse was to saddle my horse, 
 lead him some distance up the river, tie 
 him in a thicket, then go back and look 
 for the enemy's horses and if found to 
 get off with them, but I gave up this 
 idea and decided to fijffet locate their 
 
20 
 
 HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 stock. I searched carefully about the 
 premises and found no horses, and there 
 were no saddles on the little porch nior 
 about the barnshed. ftoing to the south 
 end of the house, 1 discovered a ray of 
 light beaming through a small crack in 
 the wall of the shed room. Stealthily 
 drawing near, I peeped through the 
 aperture and saw the lady seated by the 
 dining table, mending a garment by the 
 dim light of a grease lamp. The fire 
 burned low in the rude chimney place 
 and the .stillness was broken only by the 
 wind which blew out of the north. By 
 this light I located the doorway of the 
 shed-room ami at this door I rappeil 
 lightly Wit'-out a word, the lady bound- 
 ed to the door, tl-rew it open and said : 
 "Come right in! Ailen't you nearly 
 frozen? Where in the name o' sense 
 Vave you been? I have been nearly 
 frantic. I feared you had drowned 
 while trying to swim that swollen 
 stream." I felt annoyed at her loud 
 voice ; if the heel fles chanced to be 
 asleep in the adjoining room her chatter 
 would wake them and T might have to 
 take to high water again, and, shivering 
 with cold, I cut her oif by stammering 
 out: "Wh — whe — where 's the He — Heel 
 — heel flies?" At this she dropped the 
 poker with which she was stirring the 
 smouldering embers, straightened up and 
 almost screamed with laughter. "Heel 
 flies!" she fairly shouted. Then another 
 paroxysm of laughter. Recovering, 
 she repeated with emphasis and merri- 
 ment in her voice: "Heel-flies? Why 
 there ha.sn't been a heel fly" on this place 
 for more than a week and I dare say 
 there is none nearer than Columbus.You 
 don't hear of heel fles stirring out in 
 such weather as this. Oh, you poor 
 silly boy!" and this was followed by an- 
 other outburst of laughter. But I was 
 relieved and I did not care how much 
 she laughed at me. I felt real sheep- 
 ish at having been so easily scared off 
 in that storm and I was anxious for an 
 explanation. 
 
 With intervals of merriment over my 
 plight, the lady added more fuel to the 
 little fire and soon a roaring fire was 
 blazing on the hearth. Changing her 
 tone to a more serious one, she said: 
 "Now sit over here and get warm. I 
 am sorry I have no dry clothes to give 
 you; sit here, and while your clothes are 
 drying by the fire I will prepare you 
 something to eat. Poor boy! I know 
 j^ou are hungry 1" 
 
 Forty-eight years have spend by 
 .since that memorable night and never 
 at feast or carnival have I enjoyed a 
 better meal than that served by the 
 noble good woman on that stormy night 
 in the then wilds of the Navidad. Dried 
 beef and coarse com pone was the menu. 
 It was all she had to serve and it came 
 with a Texas mother's blessing, and ap- 
 petite gave relish to the humble fare. 
 While partaking of this repast, the lady, 
 whose name was Mrs. Davis, gave an ac- 
 count of the causes that led to my scare 
 and stampede. She stated: 
 
 "Those men you saw were not Heel 
 Flies. In fact they, too, were running 
 from the Home Guards. One of them 
 is my brother and lives three miles be- 
 low here on the river. My brother and 
 one of those who came with him yester- 
 day evening were conscripted about a 
 year ago and detailed to drive teams in 
 Johnson & Rhine's cotton trains. They 
 made one trip with one of these ox 
 trains to Brownsville and came near go- 
 ing over into Mexico, but finally decided 
 to stay awhile longer with (the train. 
 This train wintered at Sweet Home over 
 in Lavaca and about a month ago these 
 two boys, with others, received orders 
 to report for duty at headquarters in 
 Houston. This they knew meant hard 
 service in the army and they resolved to 
 %o to Mexico. They left the cotton train 
 at Sweet Home and instead of going to 
 Houston they came home, and before 
 they could get ready to leave for Mexi- 
 co they were reported as deserters and 
 were given a world of trolible by the 
 heel fles and were finally captured about 
 a week ago and taken to the guard house 
 in Columbus. Thej- were to be taken to 
 Ilai-risburg tomorrow — I mean today, as 
 it is now past midnight and the begin- 
 ning of another day — but this morning — 
 I mean yesterday morning — the men held 
 in the guard house made a break and 
 all got away, and the three men you 
 saw tonight were among the number 
 that had escaped and were making for 
 home and the brush on the Navidad. My 
 brother. Wilej' Clampit is his name, came 
 by with others to let me know about his 
 escape and some other private matters, 
 and while here they told me about the 
 stampede of th^ prisoners. They didn't 
 tarrj' long enough to give all the parti- 
 culars, but I gathered this much : It 
 seems that the heel flies had arrested a 
 deserter from Benevides' regiment at 
 Baucho Davis on the Rio Oraoide. Ha 
 
HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 21 
 
 had been dodging around town and was 
 being harbored by Mexicans camped at 
 Columbus and was badly wanted. At 
 last he was arrested by a bunch of heel 
 flies and brought to town, where he 
 made a break to get away. Every heel 
 fly in the place except two, who were on 
 duty at the guard house, mounted and 
 took after the deserter, and when last 
 seen they were closing in on the poor 
 fellow and they doubtless caught him. 
 One of the prisoners, seeing that about 
 all the heel flies had .ioined in the chase, 
 said 'Bo.vs, noM''s our time!' and made 
 a break. They overpowered the guard 
 siezed all of the arms and ammunition to 
 be had and rushing to the corral they 
 found only eight o-.- ten horses, and some 
 with and others without saddles, mount- 
 ed these horses and got into the Colorado 
 bottom above town. My brother and 
 Mr. Gollihar and Jake Hamersley, the 
 three that gave you such a scare last 
 night, secured mounths and struck for 
 the Navidad, and—" "Which one rode 
 the big gray horse?" said I. "That was 
 Charley Gollihar." 
 
 In reply to my inquiry as to what 
 these men were going to do she said 
 the.y would have to leave and try to 
 make their way into Mexico. She said 
 her husband was somewheee in Mexico, 
 he having been forced to leave or take 
 up arms against the ijld flag, and that 
 since the night he left, over two years 
 before, she had not heard a word from 
 him. She was almost whoU.v depend- 
 ent on her father, who was old and poor 
 and unable to render much assistance. 
 I told her of my going to Mexico in or- 
 der to keep out of the army, my mission 
 to Columbus, and that I was the suppos- 
 ed deserter the heel-flies chased out of 
 Columbus, and that I was on my way 
 back to Matamoras and if her brother 
 and friends wanted to join me I knew 
 the road and could take them through ; 
 that with a half a dozen determined men 
 I could clear the road of any gang of 
 heel flies we might encounter. "Make 
 them run oflt' and leave their arms and 
 horses, swim rivers, hide in the brush 
 and keep company with the owls!" said 
 she, with a laugh that betokened incred- 
 ulity as well as merriment, and I was 
 abashed by the force of the remark. 
 
 It must have been 3 o'clock in the 
 morning when I tumbled down on thi 
 rude pallet that good mother spread for 
 me on the floor of the little shed room. 
 The rain had ceased, the clouds broke 
 
 away, the north wind roared without 
 and I slept until awakened by the little 
 boy just as the sun began to shine down 
 on the plains of the Navidad. "You 
 have no time to lose," said my good 
 hostess. "The heel flies will swarm 
 along the Navidad today in search of 
 my brother and the other two men, and 
 you had better make tracks." I told 
 her I aimed to reach the McDonald set- 
 tlement over on the Lavaca and remain 
 there a few days, and if she would direct 
 me to where her brother lived I would 
 ride by and see him. She said her 
 brother and the boys with him were well 
 acquainted on the Lavaca and that 
 doubtless they were at that moment on 
 their way to "Somers League," a noted 
 hiding place on the Lavaca river. They 
 knew the Hogans, McDonalds, Tates, 
 Heaths and Pontons, and that her broth- 
 er was courting Miss Sue Chandler, who 
 lived near Dr .Ponton's, and if I would 
 be on the lookout I could probably see 
 him before he started to Mexico. 
 
 Breakfast, the same humble fare — 
 corn pone and dried beef — over, I pre- 
 pared to take my leave of this interest- 
 ing family. Before the war this noble 
 woman, accompanied by her husband 
 and parents, left Ohio and came to Texas 
 and had begun to establish a pretty 
 home in the wilderness when the war 
 came on and the husband had to either 
 take up arms and join in the slaughter 
 of his countrymen, or .seek asylum in a 
 foreign land. He chose the latter and 
 here, by the way of parenthesis, I wish 
 to say that up to January, 1872, no word 
 had ever been heard from him by his 
 family. Not only gratitude, but deep 
 compassion, for this poor brave woman 
 and her little children, two bright little 
 girls and the boy, Davy Crockett. These 
 children told me they had no shoes dur- 
 ing the past two winters, and their 
 clothes, although tidy and clean, showed 
 age and long usage. "If you see my 
 papa in Mexico, tell him we pray for 
 him every night and all the time. 
 Mamma says God will bring him back 
 to us when the war is over," was the 
 message given me by the youngest of the 
 two little girls. vhe mother gave a 
 long message full of love, hope and 
 Christian faith and trust to be delivered 
 to the husband in the event I should 
 meet him. Oh the short, simple and of 
 times pathetic annals of the poor ! I 
 bade them goodbye and left them better 
 than I found them. It was all expense 
 
22 
 
 HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 mojiey, as I had none that I could call 
 ni.y own ; at any rate it would have been 
 all the same, and the joy of giving to 
 that distressed mother and her little 
 helpless cliildren has lasted through all 
 these long years. 
 
 It was a bright spring irtorning, the 
 wind subsided, the sun shown bright 
 and clear and the air was vibrant with 
 bird song. I swam the Navidad and 
 shaped my course for Mayo's Mill on 
 the Lavaca. The flat prairies in most 
 places were covered with water from 
 the late rains, and my progress was ne- 
 cessarily slow. Ab(;ut 11 o'clock I came 
 to a mott of timber where I found a 
 spot eonii)aratively dry and here I dis- 
 mounted and allowed my horse to rest 
 and graze a couple of hours. While he 
 grazed near the edge of the copse, I lay 
 down on tlie damj) ground and slept an 
 hour, when a shrill voice awak- 
 ened me. For a moment I was com- 
 pletely addled, but when I recovered 
 my senses and took in the situation, my 
 surprise was beyond expression. My 
 visitor was a woman ! Superblj' mount- 
 ed, wearing a black dress and sunbonnet 
 sitting as erect as a cavalry officer, with 
 a sixshooter hanging at her belt, com- 
 plexion once fair but now swarthy from 
 exposure to the sun and weather, with 
 steel-blue eyes that seemed to penetrate 
 the innermost recesses of the soul — this, 
 in brief, is a hasty outline of my visitor 
 —Sally Seull ! 
 
 Anyone who lived for any length of 
 time in South Texas before the war, 
 knew this remarkable woman, and there 
 are those all over West Texas who yet 
 remember Old Sally Skull, who was 
 perhaps the only female desperado, dur- 
 ing her career, that operated between 
 the Sabine and the Rio Grande. Sally 
 was once a Miss Newman, so I have been 
 told, and was of good parentage. By 
 marriage she was related to Creed Tay- 
 lor and the Tumlinson's and for. a num- 
 ber of years moved in the best society, 
 but she fell and the remainder of her 
 life was spent in camp or on the road. 
 
 Sally Skull spoke Spanish with the 
 fluency of a native and kept in her em- 
 ploy a number of desperate Mexicans 
 whom she ruled with the iron grasp of 
 a despot. With these she would make 
 long journeys to the Rio Grande where, 
 through questionable methods, secured 
 large droves of horses. These were driv- 
 en to Louisiana and sold. This occu- 
 pation was followed uatil the breaking 
 
 out of the Civil War, after which Old 
 Sally fitted out a mule train of several 
 wagons, with Mexican teamsters, and 
 engaged in hauling cotton to the Rio 
 Grande. 
 
 I met Sally at Rancho Las Animas, 
 near Brownsville, the year before and 
 subsequently had seen her several times 
 in Matamoras, and strange to relate, she 
 knew me when she aroused me from my 
 sleep in that copse. She told me that 
 her mnle train was loaded with cotton 
 for the Rio Grande, but owing to the 
 bad weather she had lain in camp on 
 the Lavaca near Zumwalt's for more 
 than a week. Several of her mules 
 lad strayed off or were stolen and she 
 was then on her way to look for her 
 stock on the Navidad, and seeing a lone 
 horse u.\ar a mott, she came by to inves- 
 tigate, and that acounted for her pre- 
 sence in that vast solitude. She told 
 me that the heel-flies were numerous and 
 active on the Lavaca and that unless I 
 exercised the utmost caution they would 
 sure catch me. With all her faults 
 Sally was never known to betray a friend 
 and I made no hesitancy in confiding to 
 her all of my troubles and my situation. 
 She told me of a spot known as Somer's 
 Thicket on the Lavaca, in which a num- 
 ber of men had found refuge from the 
 conscript officers, and that the heel-flies 
 were organizing a raid on that thicket. 
 She knew A. B. McDonald, Tom Hogan 
 ami the Tates, and told me they were 
 good and true men and that I could re- 
 ly on them. "Bidding this remarkable 
 woman goodbye, I mounted and hasten- 
 ed forward to the Lavaca, having re- 
 ceived instructions from Old Sally as to 
 the route leading to Mayo's Crossing. 
 
 Late in the evening I crossed the La- 
 vaca by swimming just below Mayo's 
 Mill. A short distance from the river 
 I came into the road and fell in with a 
 lone horseman and the "pill bags" he 
 carried sliowed that he was a doctor, and 
 such he proved to be. He told me his 
 name was Bellah, and knew all the par- 
 ties for whom I enquired and gave me 
 directio-* to reach Mr. McDonald's. He 
 asked me to what command I belonged 
 and seemed surprised when I told him I 
 was a citizen of Mexico, did not belong 
 to anj' command and did not expect to 
 enlist in any army. I had cast aside 
 all disguise except my dress, and felt 
 emboldered to face the situation now 
 that I was in a region where I would 
 find so many sympathizers and friends. 
 
HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 23 
 
 The doctor advised me to be on the look- 
 oTit for heelflies, which he said were 
 very numeroi;s aud troublesome, and if 
 I remained long they would be after 
 me. I told him I had heard that it 
 would be difficult to catch a man if he 
 once got into the Somers Thicket which, 
 I supposed was somewhere in that sec- 
 tion. He said that was even true and 
 that we were riding over a part of the 
 Somers' League and that along the river 
 a mile below Somers' Thicket set in. It 
 covered a large scope of country; it 
 was densely timbered and was a vast 
 wilderness of undrbrvish, vines, tangle- 
 wood, with long moss pendant, from the 
 larger timber, with here and there an 
 open glade, and that when a man sought 
 concealment there it was almost impos- 
 sible to get him out. As a hiding place 
 for criminals and outlaws it was equal 
 in ever}' respect to the Jernagin Thicket 
 in North Texas, and there were quite 
 a number of men at that moment hid- 
 ing from the heel flies in Somers' Thick- 
 et. Most of them lived in that section 
 and they had to stay in the brush, go to 
 Mexico, or .submit to conscription. They 
 preferred the brush, as is was a long 
 road to Mexico, and powerful risky. 
 And thus the doctor rattled away, con- 
 veying the information I most desired, 
 until our paths diverged. He kindly 
 insisted that I accompany him to his 
 home which was near at hand, but this 
 generovis invitation I declined, and an 
 hour later I was at Mr. McDonald's 
 gate. As I approached, although it 
 was growing dark, I noticed that Mr. 
 McDonald 's farm was in the midst of a 
 heavy forest of postoak timber and the 
 house and lots were near a small creek. 
 When I hailed at the front gate an old 
 man advanced and when I asked if Mr. 
 McDonald lived there he said: "Yes sir, 
 this is whar he stays when he is around. 
 'Light an come in. Here Jess, take tliis 
 feller's cayuse to the lot aj^' feed 'im. 
 Come right in. Mister. Leave yer mor- 
 ral and quirt on yer saddle; the boy '11 
 take care of yer stuif. " But I framed an 
 excuse and held on to my quirt 
 
 And this was my introduction to Vet- 
 eran A. B. M'Donakl and the beginning 
 of a friendship that grew with the lapse 
 of time and strengthened with the accu- 
 mulation of years. From his own lips 
 I subsequently learned that he was an 
 old pioneer, having come to Texas with 
 Dewitt's Colony, and for many years had 
 lived on the border and had participat- 
 
 ed in many battles with Indians and 
 outlaw Mexicans along the frontier. He 
 owned a nice home on Clark's Creek, 
 and all Texans of those days remember- 
 ed his broad hospitality which was ex- 
 tended to all who chanced to pass that 
 way. At the time of mj' first visit he 
 had a son in Joe Johnston's army. He 
 had another son, lleniy McDonald, a boy 
 of about 17, who was a member of the 
 Lavaca Home Guards; also a boy, Jesse, 
 a bright lad of about 14 years. Pour 
 beautiful girls added a charm to this 
 South Texas home, the two eldest, Lu- 
 cretia and Lizzie, being about groAvn. I 
 mention these members of the family on 
 account of the part they played later 
 in the serio-comic drama that followed 
 my arrival in Lavaca. 
 
 It was about dark when I reached Mr. 
 McDonald's and before entering the 
 house I took him aside and told him my 
 story. I concealed nothing from him. 
 I told him of my mission, my arrest, my 
 escape, and the cause of my coming to 
 him. He seemed to hesitate, but after 
 a pause he assured me that he would do 
 anything honorable to assist his fi-iends, 
 Mr. and Mrs.- Cox, and that I was wel- 
 come to stay at his home as long as I 
 wished. "But," said he, "times are 
 mighty squally jut now; the woods are 
 full of soldiers and heel-flies, but I guess 
 j'ou'U be safe here tonight if you don't 
 talk too much. We'll talk that over 
 before bedtime; come in, supper is wait- 
 ing." With this he led the way into 
 the house and presented me as Mr. Gar- 
 cia, the name I had given him. The son, 
 Henry, was in the family group, as was 
 also a man who, by his gray jacket and 
 pants, I recognized as a Confederate sol- 
 -dier. This man was introduced as Mr. 
 Harper. 
 
 The family retired early and being 
 crowded for bed-room I had to occupy 
 a bed with the elder son, Henry, while 
 Mr. Harper and Jesse slept in another 
 bed in the same room. After retiring, 
 my bed-fellow became quite communica- 
 tive and his revelations were not con- 
 ducive to that refreshing sleep that my 
 weariness and fatigue demanded. He 
 belonged to the Lavaca Home Guards 
 and had been on duty night and day for 
 a week. His company, 25 or 30 strong, 
 was camped at the Harless school house, 
 five or six miles distant, and being in 
 nieed of a fresh horse he was permitted 
 to come home to get a new mount and 
 would rejoin his company the next day. 
 
24 
 
 HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 The Victoria Home Guards and other 
 troo])s were daily expected and when 
 they all arrived the united forces were 
 going; to round \ip the Somers' Thickets 
 anil kill or capture the den of despera- 
 does tliat vscre there in hiding. When 
 I ask»;l about Mr. Harper he said he was 
 a member of a regiment stationed nt 
 V.elaseo on the Brazos and M'ith others 
 had been detailed to run -down and cap- 
 ture Joe Tate, who had been court-mar- 
 tialed and sentenced to be shot, but had 
 escaped, and that his home, a half mile 
 distant, was being gufu-dcd by these sol- 
 diers with the expectation that he would 
 try to steal in under cover of darkness, 
 and that Mr. Harper, being oif duty, 
 had come over lo spend the night with 
 the family. And along these lines the 
 j-oung man talked and expatiated until 
 overcome with weariness he finally fell 
 aslecj), but the night was far spent be- 
 fore 1 could follow suit. My reflections 
 were anything but comforting. What on 
 earth would come next! Like a block- 
 head I had deliberately walked into an- 
 other deadfall. A whole company of 
 heel flies, well mounted and encamped 
 within four miles of me ! Another com- 
 pany expected hourly from Victoria ; 
 and yet another company of regulars on 
 the watch within a mile, and one of 
 M'hom was then snoring not teli feet 
 from where I lay But that wasn't all, 
 I was in bed — actually in bed — with a 
 heel fly, a young lad who had just re- 
 lated his hard services for his country 
 trying to catch "deserters." He would 
 return to his company the next day and 
 as a matter of fact report my presence. 
 What must I do? Some plan of action 
 must be matured before morning. My 
 first impulse was to quietly and softly 
 steal out of the house, get my horse and 
 go to the Somers' League and fall in 
 with those "desperadoes" who M'ere 
 collected there. But of the refugees 
 gathered there, I knew not one, and 
 should I succeed in findig them possibly 
 I might be looked upon as a spy and 
 fare worse than if in the hands of the 
 heel-flies. Finally I decided "to face 
 the situation bold3% trust my good for- 
 tune and take chances. The morrow 
 would decide. The next morning my 
 bed fellow became quite congenial and 
 Mr. Harper was all smiles and good hu- 
 mor. He had belonged to Captain Lid- 
 dell's company, Gould's regiment. His 
 company was organized in Hopkins 
 county, had become tired of the war, 
 
 nearly all had dieserted and were then 
 leading the heel-flies a merry chase in 
 the Sulphur Bottoms. Although tired 
 of the soldiers life, he was too proud to 
 doMcrt and would stay in the army as 
 long as his command stayed where there 
 w;is no fighting to do, but if ordered 
 east for desperate service he would hit 
 till? breeze for Mexico. Others had gone 
 over there and were making five dollars 
 a day, he had been told, and he could go 
 wlM?.re any other men could go. The Con- 
 federacy was busted anyway, and it was 
 only a matter of time ^hen evey man 
 could go home. T noted down in mem- 
 ory ever.y word Mr. Harper said and 
 canpfull.y sizing him up, I decided that 
 he was a man I could trust and at the 
 proper time I would applj^ the test. 
 After breakfast Mr. McDonald called 
 me away under the pretext of showing "* 
 me a horse which he proposed to trade 
 for mine. This gave him opportunity to 
 talk to me privately amd he again as- 
 surred me of my welcomje to his home 
 and his protection so far as it extended, 
 adding that even if I was found under 
 his shelter, the heel flies dare not mo- 
 lest him, he knew too much and they 
 knew that he knew. He had opposed 
 the war and if Texas had listened to Sam 
 Houston, or if the people had obtained 
 an honest count of the vote against se- 
 . cession she would have no part nor lot 
 in this unnatural war, but like all the 
 rest he was in for it, and had to make 
 the best of it. He had advi.sed his son 
 to stay out of the army, but like other 
 young men, he was driven by an insane 
 impulse to be a soldier, and to go out 
 and fight for his country, when he hadn't 
 lost any country, and now he had a sur- 
 feit of military glory. His next son, 
 like all boj^s of his age, was forced to 
 enlist in the Home Guards or else go to » 
 Mexico. Being only a boy he could 
 not consent to his going across the Rio 
 Grande so long as he was allowed to re- 
 main with the Home Guards on duty 
 near home. He despised the name 
 "Hom'e Guard;" they were a shame and 
 a crjdng disgrace to the state and were 
 dreaded by the people they were sup- 
 posed to protect ten times more than 
 the Yankees. Held back by parental 
 admonitions and a natural disposition to 
 deal honorably his son had never engag- 
 ed in any of the excessies that had made 
 the heel-flies a stench in the nostrils of 
 all decent men, he, too abhorred them, 
 and only the force of circumstanceB 
 
HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 85 
 
 held him to the service. I could rely 
 upon his son, since not one of the Mc- 
 Donalds had ever been known to betray 
 anyone who had broken bread at their 
 table. He further stated that a number 
 of his neighbors, men who had been in 
 the army and had come home on. fur- 
 lough and had refused to return to their 
 commands on account. of the hardships 
 of army life and the hopelessness of the 
 Southern cause, had been lis'ted as de- 
 serters and had been chased by the 
 Home Guards into the Somers thickets 
 on the Lavaca ; that they were deter- 
 mined men, well armed,and would never 
 surrender to any force sent against 
 them. He seemed to be in touch with 
 those men when he said they would try 
 to make their waj' into Mexico at the 
 the proper time. He advised me to 
 stay close about the place, that he would 
 instruct Henrj as ro what to s;-y jn the 
 event he was questioned by any of his 
 company, but for me to keep my cj'e on 
 that fellow Harper. He was a regular 
 and was not to be trusted too far. "Get 
 all you can and keep all you get in the 
 way of information and give as little as 
 you can in return," was his closing aid- 
 monition. The daj' seemed long, thoxigh 
 in some respects pleasantly spent in the 
 society of those worthy young ladies 
 whom I learned to know as Lucretia 
 and Lizzie. Mr. Harper left early and 
 came back that evening with a comrade. 
 It was plain that they came to see the 
 girls and cared nothing for my presence. 
 Henry McDonald went to his company 
 in the afternoon. That night after 
 supper and while the two Confederates 
 were being entertained by the girls, Mr. 
 McDonald related to me the troubles of 
 Joe Tate and others in the settlement. 
 Tate had enlisted in the Confederate 
 army and while his regiment was sta- 
 tioned on the Brazos he was tried by 
 court-martial and sentenced to be shot 
 The night preceding the day set for the 
 execution of the sentence, Joe was being 
 guarded on the east bank of the river. 
 The guards had fish for supper and 
 shortlj' after having finished the meal 
 it was discovered that there was no 
 water -in camp and all were thirsty after 
 having eaten heartily of the fish Not 
 being fitted with manacles, Joe volun- 
 teered to bring the water, which was 
 but a few steps down the bank. No one 
 objected and when he reached the mar- 
 gin of the river he plunged in and by 
 diving and swimming he reached the 
 
 opposite shore and escaped into the 
 brush. Several volleys were fired to- 
 ward him by his guards and a grealt out- 
 cry was raised, but Joe did not believe 
 the shots were fired with any evil in- 
 tent. He traveled several miles that 
 night and concealed himself during the 
 day. When' he reached the Colorado 
 several miles below Columbus he secur- 
 ed a mount from friends and, traveling 
 at night, made his way into the settle- 
 ment on Clark's Creek near his home, 
 where he learned that the heel-flies had 
 preceded him and were guarding the 
 premises, expecting Joe to be so fool- 
 hardy as to walk into their trap. He 
 was heavily armed by this time, and 
 sent word by one of the Hogan boys 
 notifying the officer in command of the 
 company on duty that he was in the 
 country and would remain, as he would 
 never be taken alive. Grit GoUihar, 
 Mr. McDonald said, was another "bad 
 man" in the brush. He, too, had served 
 in the army, and had been wounded at 
 Shiloh and honorably discharged on 
 account of disability. He had subse- 
 quently served in the Home Guagjis un- 
 til ordered east and on his refusal to 
 obey this order he was arrested and 
 placed in the guard house at Halletts- 
 ville. "With the aid of friends he escap- 
 ed and was now with others in the 
 Somers' Thicket. He mentioned others 
 of his neighbors who had passed through 
 
 similar experiences, most of whom were 
 in the brush on the Somers League. He 
 thought there were at least 20 or 30 men 
 in that wilderness. They were well 
 arme^l and mounted, thoroughly organ- 
 ized, and had a code of signals that were 
 so well understood that the enemy could 
 never surprise them. There were plenty 
 of cattle in those extensive glades and 
 thickets and there was no dearth of 
 salt and bread as the latter was carried 
 to them by friends. He repeated his 
 regrets that his son belonged to such a 
 disreputable body as the heel-flies, but 
 the boy would never harm anyone, as 
 he had often heard him say he would 
 not shoot to hit a man who was trying 
 to keep out of tlie Confederate army. 
 He further stated that were he risks 
 not so great he jvould be glad if Henry 
 could go with me to Mexico and he be- 
 lieved a little persuasion on my part 
 would induce the young man to go. I 
 told him I could not think of such a pro- 
 ceedure ; that I would not attempt to 
 persuade anyone away unless it be 
 
HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 those who, like myself, were being hunt- 
 ed and chased from pillow to post. 
 While thus talking — it must have been 
 nine o'clock or later — six men rode up 
 to the gate and hallooed. It was very 
 dark and I moved to the rear in the di- 
 rection of the horse lot, while Mr. Mc- 
 Donald went to the gate. He was ask- 
 ed if Mr. Harper was there and when 
 told that he was, he was called out and 
 two of the men took him aside and en- 
 gaged for a few minutes in low conver- 
 sation, after which the six men rode 
 away and Mr. Harper came back and 
 told Mr. McDonald that these men were 
 a i)art of his command and were looking 
 for Tate; that they had asked him if he 
 had been there that evening. Shortly 
 after this Mr. Harper and his comrade 
 took their leave and when well away 
 Lizzie said to me: "Those men were 
 here for no good. They were on the 
 lookout for Joe Tate <and they had too 
 many questions to ask about you. They 
 were spies, and I would advise you to 
 hit the Somers' Thicket before day- 
 light." "Yes," .said I, "but I know no 
 one iJiere and I might be taken for a 
 heel-fly and shot." "I hear someone 
 coming now; step out in the darkness," 
 said the girl. 
 
 A horseman approached and it prov- 
 ed to be Henry McDonald. They had 
 orders to leave at once and go to Colum- 
 bus to take the place of the company 
 which had been stationed there, but was 
 now enroute to Hallettsville. A por- 
 tion of that company had beeu cleaning 
 up the Navidad country as far doM'n as 
 General Whitfield's place and had 
 reached the Lavaca that evening with 
 Uvo prisoners and were camped at Zum- 
 walt's. The Victoria Home Guards 
 and a squad from Clinton would arrive 
 tomorrow or the day following and 
 when all these got together they were 
 going to clean out the Somers Thickets 
 and kill or capture every man found in 
 that wilderness. He was glad his com- 
 pany was ordered away. lie did not 
 want to disobey orders, but he'd be the 
 last man to fire on those men who were 
 being liounded off the earth. 
 
 All this conversation took place while 
 sitting on the front gallery and I paid 
 closest attention to every word that was 
 said. The old folks 'retired, Henry 
 went in to the supper the girls spread 
 for him and when seated at the table 
 the j'oung ladies both came out to where 
 I was and Lucretia, the eldest said:" We 
 
 have a plan for you. If you stay here 
 the heel-flies Avill get you sure. You 
 are as welcome as a brother, but we'd 
 hate to see you caught by the heel-flies. 
 The country is full of them, but with all 
 their brag and bluster, they are not 
 going verj' far into the Somers Leagxie 
 thicket. You must get with those men 
 in the thicket. Don't know any of 
 them? We'll arrange that. We'll 
 have you out of here by the time it is 
 light. Jesse knows the paths; he's been 
 there before. You go right by Doc 
 Bellan's and m'c'II send Jesse along to 
 get medicine of the doctor. When you 
 get that far and find the way cleaj he 
 can go with you down on the League. 
 He'll find the boys and then you are 
 safe." 
 
 "What of my Mexican and the mules 
 in case they should come?" 
 
 "I've no faith in a Mexican; I hate 
 the whole generation, and I don't think 
 you'll ever see your Mexican or those 
 mules. But if the.y come we will send 
 you word as soon as possible." 
 
 "What will Henry say?" 
 
 "Don't worry about Henry. You 
 can rest assured that he will not betray 
 you under any circiimstances. I had 
 ten times rather see him' go to that 
 thicket than go away from home with 
 that gang of heel-fles he is now mixed up 
 with. They are a .set of thieves and 
 have been a curse here at home, and 
 when taken to Columbus there's no tell- 
 ing what devilment they will do where 
 they are not acquainted." 
 
 When I retired for the night my mind 
 was ill at ease. Dangers were thicken- 
 ing around me and my reflections were 
 such as would not induce sleep. The 
 Columbus heel-flics — my old friends, 
 the enemj' — had rounded up the Navi- 
 dad, caught two men, and were camped 
 at Zumwalt's, only three miles distant. 
 Could it be that those men were Gollihar 
 and Clampit? The Victoria gang were 
 coming up from the south and the Clin- 
 ton contingent were approaching from 
 the west, while the coinpany from the 
 Brazos, which had come for Joe Tate, 
 was camped on the creek near by. The 
 prospect was indeed gloomy, but where 
 there is a will there is a way; I had the 
 will and I believed the young lady had 
 pointed out the way. 
 
 Before dawn Jesse McDonald and I 
 were on the road leading to Dr. Bellah's 
 which was about three milees distant. 
 The boy was a bright lad and told me he 
 
HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 87 
 
 knew the Somers League quite well 
 and that during the past few months he 
 had carried messages, and even provis- 
 irons, to those thickets. As we rode on 
 I discovered that he carried a cow bell 
 in his morral, which was suspended to 
 his saddle horn, and when asked what 
 he was going to do with that bell he 
 merely remarked, "Wait and see." We 
 halted at Dr. Bellah's and the boy went 
 in to get the medicine. When he came 
 out the doctor accompanied him to the 
 gate, and whle we were talking with 
 him, four mounted men came riding out 
 of a copse of timber near by. They 
 were within pistol shot when discover- 
 ed and advanced at a goUop. I knew I 
 could outrun them, but decided to stay 
 and take chances. When they drew- up 
 at the gate they began questioning the 
 doctor in a way that showed at once 
 that they were strangers and not ac- 
 quainted wilh the. lay of the country. 
 To make bold, I asked: "To what com- 
 pany do you belong, gentlemen? ""Com- 
 pany K, Gould's regiment. Where do 
 j'ou belong?" came the quick response. 
 "I belong to Richardson's company. We 
 have been on duty at Corpus Christi 
 and King's ranch, but we were ordered 
 here to clean out the Somers Thicket, 
 and as soon as the Victoria and Colum 
 bus boj's arrive, we are going to have a 
 general round-up." 
 
 "Wlicre is your company?" 
 
 "My company has not yet ari*ived 
 but will be here this evening. Having 
 been raised near here and knowing the 
 country quite well, the captain gave me 
 and one of the boys in the company per- 
 mission to come on ahead, and liaving 
 nothing else to do, I thought I would 
 do a little scouting on my own hook be- 
 fore the boys got in. Have you gentle- 
 men scouted over near the League?" 
 
 "No,'" said the man who seemed to 
 be the spoliesman, "we haven't scouted 
 very much. We guarded the crossing 
 at Mayo's Mill last night expeeting to 
 capture Tate, whom we are anxious to 
 catch. We suppose, however, he is with 
 a lot of others in the Somers Thickets, 
 and I guess we will all be with you boys 
 in the big round-up." After some fur- 
 ther conversation, from which I learn- 
 ed they were on their return to camp 
 on Clark 's creek, -they rode away, great- 
 ly to my relief. They were not ignor- 
 rant of the approach of the men from 
 Concrete, Clinton and Victoria-, and my 
 story sounded plausible enough. Mr. 
 
 McDonald had told me that Dr. Bellah 
 was all right and I did not hesitate to 
 lie to those fellows in his presence. 
 When this quartette of Company K dis- 
 appeared, the boy and I headed for 
 Somers Thickets. 
 
 It must be remembered that a league 
 of land coyers a considerable extent of 
 territory, and this Somers League ex- 
 tended quite a distance along the La- 
 vaca river. The densest thickets — more 
 properly forests — were in the river bot- 
 tom and consisted of various groAvths, 
 the live oak predominating. From the 
 trees the long moss hung in great fes- 
 toons and in places the vegetation over- 
 head was so dense that the sun scarcely 
 penetrated to the earth. 
 
 When we entered the thickets proper, 
 the boy halted, dismounted, and attach- 
 ed the bell he had brought along to his 
 horse's neck, remounted, and we rode 
 forward. In reply to my inquiry he 
 said, "This is my signal." After wind- 
 ing around through glade and jungle 
 for probably three-fourths of a mile, 
 and while in the act of emerging from 
 a thicket into an open space, a man on 
 foot confronted us and sang out:" Hello, 
 Jess, whar ye going? Who's this feller 
 you've got with ye?" With this the lad 
 introduced me to Mr. Colbath, who was 
 soon informed that I was all right and 
 mighty anxious to keep out of reach of 
 the heel-flies. Mr. Colbath led the way 
 to the lair, where we found ten or 
 twelve men, and a harder looking set I 
 never beheld. 1 had heard of Italia>n 
 brigands,^ English highwaymen, robbers, 
 pirates, and Mexican bandits, but never 
 in fancy had I depicted such a ferocious 
 loolcing group as that which gathered 
 around me. They were in a rude camp 
 and "shooting irons" were visible all 
 around. They plied me with many 
 questions and when I told them from 
 whence I came and of my stampede from 
 Columbus, one of their number broke in 
 with: "Look here, ain't you the chap 
 that stayed all night at Mrs. Davis' a 
 few nights ago when you was a-running 
 from the heel-flies to beat h— 1?" 
 
 "1 guess I'm the man." 
 
 ','And didn't some fellers comin' 
 'cross the prairie on bosses in a run 
 scare you out o' the house an' make 
 you jump in the river?" 
 
 "Guess I'm the man." 
 "The fellow then proceeded with ex- 
 treme merriment to relate the circum- 
 stances, adding to and enlarging upon 
 
HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 every ludicrous feature of the event, 
 which caused rounds of laughter. Then 
 turning to me he said: "The lady you 
 stayed with is my sister. I am Wiley 
 Clampit, and I am one of the fellers 
 that scared you so bad that you had to 
 jump in the Navidad and sit out thar in 
 the bottom with the owls until nearly 
 day." To the crowd he said: "Boys, 
 this fellow is all right. My sister told 
 me all about him and if it hadn't been 
 for him I would not be here. " 
 
 Shortly after reaching my new 
 friends, Jesse McDonald started on his 
 return homeward, well posted as to how 
 to proceed in case my Mexican and the 
 mules showed up. 
 
 I soon found those men were contin- 
 ually on the alert. Their ears were op- 
 en to hear every signal and their scouts 
 and watchmen were on duty at all 
 hours. Several came in during the 
 forenoon and others went out to "look 
 around." All had many questions to 
 ask about Mexico and a majority ex- 
 pressed their determination to go across 
 the Rio Grande if they could once get 
 headed that way. 
 
 In the afternoon Crit and Charley 
 Gollihar and several others came in. 
 Charley Gollihar v.as one of those who 
 had escaped from the guard house at 
 Columbus and seemed very much pleas- 
 ed to see me. Crit Gollihar was a giant 
 in .size and evidently a man of great 
 courage. Pie said to us as we gathered 
 around to learn the news: "Weil, boys, 
 thunder's to pay. Oma (his wiie) was 
 up at old man Heath's this morning and 
 Dick told her that the Victoria company 
 and a company from over about Clinton 
 was to be here today. The company 
 from Columbus was at Dr. Ponton's this 
 morning; they camped at Zumwalt's 
 last night. Those fellows who came 
 here after Joe Tate are going to stay 
 luitil all these other companies come wp, 
 then they are going to come in here and 
 clean out everything from a, bat to a 
 steer. That's what they say they are 
 going to do; but <loin' it! You fellers 
 want to keep awake; there's no tellin' 
 what's going to happen; we may have 
 to fight like blazes, but they'll have to 
 fetch along something better than; heel- 
 flies if they ever clean up this crowd." 
 
 I M'as anxious to meet Joe Tate, and 
 was told that he was on the lookout, but 
 would probably show up that evening. 
 
 At nightfall the oompany dispersed in 
 squads of six to ten. During the evening 
 
 the place of bivouac had been selected 
 for each group or squad. These bivouacs 
 were on the outer edge of an area in cir- 
 cular form, and it was understood that 
 in case of attack during the night all 
 should rally to a common center. The 
 distance between each of the bivouacs 
 was not over 100 yards. Those who had 
 been scouting during the day were al- 
 lowed to rest and give their horses a 
 chance to graze in one of the nearby open 
 spaces. Besides two or three who were 
 on picket duty quite a distance from 
 "headquarters," each squad kept a man 
 posted to watch over camp and a^^ouse 
 the sleepers in case he heard a signal of 
 dianger. Horses that had grazed during 
 the day were brought up, saddled and 
 secured. No fire was allowed, and in 
 order to light his pipe the smoker had 
 to use the flint and steel which every 
 man carried in those days, as matches 
 could not be procured. 
 
 The night passed without incident, 
 and at an early hour the next morning 
 one of the outer pickets reported that 
 the Columbus company had encamped 
 that night at the Mayo's Mill crossing, 
 which was not over a mile and a half 
 above us on the river. This news made 
 me doubly uneasy. I was expecting 
 Ciriaco and the Cox boy hourly. They 
 had been directed to cross the Lavaca at 
 Mayo's, and now in all likelihood they 
 would fall into the hands of the enemy. 
 To warn them of their danger was out 
 of the question, and all I could do was 
 to hope for the best. 
 
 After having breakfasted, Crit Golli- 
 har called the men together and explain- 
 ed that scouting parties would likely 
 scour the country adjacent during the 
 day and he declared that he was going 
 to do some scouting himself. He wanted 
 five men, well mounted and well armed, 
 to go with him. He chose his brother, 
 Charlie, Mr. Hill, Mr. Clampit, Mr. Col- 
 bath, and another whose name I have > 
 forgotten. When these had been gone 
 three or four hours, one of the outer 
 pickets came rushing in with a boy by 
 the name of Stamps, who had been sent 
 ]iost haste to notify Mr. Gollihar that a 
 captain and three of his men had been at 
 his house that morning, and after mak- 
 ing a search of the premises and offering 
 many indignities, had forced Mrs. Golli- 
 har and her children to prepare break- 
 fast for them. They had demanded 
 fried chicken, and Avhen she refused to 
 kill her fowls for the hungry thieves, 
 
HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 29 
 
 they killed them, dressed them, and s\.-ore 
 if she did not cook them as directed they 
 would burn the house. Mrs. Gollihar 
 had sent the boy, thinking he would find 
 her husband m camp. The boy said the 
 men h'ld left but they would be back for 
 dinner and she wanted protection. When 
 we heiard this every man made tracks for 
 his horse and in an incredibly short time 
 all were mounted and ready to respond 
 to the lady's call for help. Every man 
 present wanted to go, but it was decided 
 best for some to remain and allow only 
 five to go, as they would be more than a 
 match for four cowardly heel-flies who 
 M-ould insult and rob a helpless woman 
 and her little children. 
 
 "We had not gone more than half a 
 mile when we heard signal guns off to 
 our right, and these were offered by the 
 boys we had left behind. Thinking that 
 these signals boded danger, and not 
 knowing their full import, we retraced 
 our steps as fast as the jungle would per- 
 mit. When we reached camp the men 
 were mounted and ready for any 
 emergency. They, like the rest of us, 
 didn't exactly understand the signal; it 
 was not one of alarm, nor was it a signal 
 for help. While discussing the matter 
 we heard a whoop nearby, and Henry 
 Dunn said: "I know that yell it's Crit 
 Gollihar, and he's got go.od news of some 
 sort. I know him too well." A minute 
 later the cavalcade entered the small 
 glade M'here we were assembled, and in- 
 stead of six men there were ten, and four 
 of these wore handcuffs and were se- 
 curely tied to their saddles. Gollihar 
 and his five men had ambushed them, got- 
 ten the drop on them and captured the 
 scoundrels who hod forced Mrs. Gollihar 
 thait morning to prepare their breakfast. 
 Loud jeers and merriment foUoweid tihei I 
 arrival for a few minutes, and none join- 
 ed more heartily than I when I saw that 
 one of the captives was one of my for- 
 mer captors at Columbus, and another 
 was no less a person; than my friend, 
 Captain Baker of the Columbus Home 
 Guards ! 
 
 The captured heel-flies were dismount- 
 ed and placed under a strong guard 
 After leaving camp that morning, Mr. 
 Gollihar and his squad had gone out on 
 the uplands west of us where the coun- 
 try was more open and where here and 
 there was found a small prairie. While 
 passing through a thicket aud just be- 
 fore coming out in the open, they saw 
 four hursenii3u approaching at a quick 
 
 gait. They at once spotted them as heel 
 flies, but thought at first they were of 
 the Halletsville crowd. They quickly 
 dismounted and secured their horses 
 Tinder concealment and ^yhen the four 
 heel flies reached the edge of the thicket 
 they suddenly found themselves covered 
 with over half a doezn revolvers — some 
 of the men carried two sixshooters — and 
 a sharp order, "hands \ip!" And thus, 
 the capture of the captian and his squad 
 was effected. 
 
 When Gollihar was told of our start 
 to his home and the causes leading there- 
 to, he gave waj^ to a paroxysm of uncon- 
 trollable rage. The Stamp boy had re- 
 turned with us and having seen the free- 
 booters at Mrs. Gollihar 's that morning, 
 readily identified these captives as be- 
 ing the culprits. 
 
 Gollihar was prevented from inflict- 
 ing ainj' personal injury on these un- 
 fortunate men. but soon mounted and 
 rode away in the direction of his home, 
 swearing that he was going to investi- 
 gate and if they had harmed his family 
 or had committed any sei'ious outrage 
 all h — 1 couldn't bar his vengeance. 
 
 When Mr. Gollihar had gone and the 
 excitement had somewhat subsided our 
 prisoners became more communicative. 
 The captain, however, was neverous and 
 when he asked what we were going to 
 do with him and his three men, he was 
 told to wait until Gollihar 's return and 
 then in all likelihood they would be 
 hung to a live oak limb. After this he 
 became sullen and had little to say, but 
 one of his men — a red-faced young fel- 
 low — who had assisted in my capture at 
 the mule train, seemed to take a phil- 
 osophic view of matters and his remarks 
 noAv and then created con.siderable mer- 
 riment. He said to me: "Well, young 
 feller, I had you and now you've got me. 
 But I must say, you are the smartest 
 scholar I ever saw. A week ago you 
 couldn't speak a word of English; now 
 .you can talk it like a school marm." 
 
 The only attempt at levitj^ the captain 
 was known to make during the evening 
 was while I was momentarily absent, 
 someone asked as to mj whereabouts, to 
 which the captain dryly i-eplied : "Gone 
 to get his witnesses, I guess." Clampit 
 overhearing the remark responded by 
 .saying; "Perhaps so, but he maj- be 
 leading some more of your men into a 
 bog." 
 
 The little captain begged that his 
 iiandcuft's be ruiuovud. Hu pleaded tkat 
 
30 
 
 SEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 he was au officer in the Confederate ser- 
 vice, faithfully performing the duties 
 assigned him, that he was in the dis- 
 charge of duty when unlawfully arrest- 
 ed, that his captors were an unorganized 
 bod}' of men, whom the authorities 
 could not regard in any other light than 
 citizens in open rebellion against the 
 government and that if those irons were 
 not removed and he and his three men 
 set at liberty, his captors and all con- 
 cerned in his capture and retention 
 would be treated as pirates when cap- 
 tured and that their escape was an xitter 
 impossibility. 
 
 It is well to state herte that Avhen tak- 
 en, these four men carried six pairs of 
 hand cuffs — manacles, made of old horse 
 shoes as the nail imprints could be plain- 
 ly seen in the wristlets. These, cuffs 
 were connected by sections of old trace 
 chains, and were home-made, and evi- 
 dently the product of a very inferior 
 blacksmith. Later we found that every 
 man in that Columbus gang was suppli- 
 ed with a pair of these implements of 
 torture. In reply to the captain's ap- 
 peal for clemency, he was asked if he 
 was in the discharge of his duty when 
 he and his men were destroying the pri- 
 vate property of helpless citizens, killing 
 a poor woman's chickens and forcing 
 her to cook and serve them up for him 
 and those under his command. He was 
 asked if he thought he was discharging 
 the duty of a brave, humane officer by 
 carrj'ing a supply of handcuffs along 
 with which to iron those unfortunates 
 who chanced to fall into his hajids. He 
 replied to this latter question by 
 saying -that he was only obej-ing orders 
 when he brought those handcuffs along 
 and that he had never yet jilaeed a man 
 in irons by order or otherwise. When 
 he said this, I and Mr. Clampit were 
 each ready with a reply, I said, "Cap- 
 tain, I saw a man wearing a ball and 
 chain in your office at Columbus. Did 
 you not order that man shackled?" He 
 shook his head, but before he could 
 speak, Mr. Clampit said: "Don't deny 
 it captain; I was there and know what 
 I am talking about; you won't tell me 
 you did not order that man ironed and 
 more than that; it was you or the men 
 under you, who arrested Aaron Shields, 
 a disabled discharged Confederate sol- 
 dier who had gone to town for the doc- 
 tor to attend his sick child, and while 
 there you arrested and hurried him off to 
 Houston. His ehild died while he was 
 
 still wearing the irons you had fastened 
 on his wrists, and he may be wearing 
 them yet, if living. No, no, Captain ! 
 Those jewels fit you; you've made other 
 ra n, either of whom were a thousand 
 times a better, a braver man than you 
 ever was, to wear irons by your order, 
 and now you shall wear them foi 
 awhile at any rate. You are not alto- 
 gether a stranger in these parts; several 
 of us know of your cruelty and devil- 
 mient and there may yet be a gander- 
 pulling before this thing is settld. " 
 
 A little later in the evening toward 
 the close of the day, a signal was heard 
 by those in camp and was answered by 
 one of the outer guards. Shortly after 
 Mr. Gollihar and others, accompanied by 
 Joe Tate and younger brother, Bob Tate, 
 came into camp. Mr. Gollihar 's rage 
 seemed to have subsided .since he learned 
 that the worst damage the prisoners had 
 wrought was the killing of his wife's 
 chickens. I took him asidie and asked 
 him what he was going to do with those 
 men. He informed me that on Joe Tate's 
 account they were going to hold them, 
 to use his ^expression, "till h — 1 freezes 
 over," and if the authorities captured 
 Joe, he would propose an exchange of 
 prisoners and if Ihey refused and «ver 
 fired on or hurt any of us, then he would 
 hang a prisoner for every one of our men 
 hurt or killed. 
 
 I saw the desperate straits to which 
 these men were reduced, and under the 
 leadership of Crit Gollihar I could only 
 see disaster. The odds against us were 
 too great. A number, some eight or ten 
 of these men had expressed a willingness 
 to go with me into Mexico, where I had 
 once gone to avoid the raising of my 
 hand against my countrymen. I regard- 
 ed blood shed in and around that Somers 
 Thicket as being a foregone conclusion, 
 ily mission to the Colorado was peaoe^ 
 able. I was violating no statutory law, 
 and I could not — would not — consent to 
 be led into a battle with those men Avho, 
 while bent on my capture or destruction, 
 yet they, too, were my countrjTiien. 
 These were my reflections and I quickly 
 decided that m.y own personal safety 
 was worth nioi-c to me ju.st then than a 
 whole caballaJa of big American mules. 
 I would await the coming of Ciriaco and 
 that span of mules two days longer; by 
 that time there would be developments, 
 and if matters grew worse and my Mex- 
 can still refused to sKow up, the mules 
 could go to the devil anid I'd go tg Mex- 
 
HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 31 
 
 ico. I had asked one of the men — the 
 red-faced fellow — about Lieutenant Cox 
 and was informed that he was sent home 
 from the Navidad with an attack of ill- 
 ness which threatened to develop into 
 pneumonia. This affliction might cause 
 the lady to delay the sending -of those 
 mules and Ciriaco, after all, may have 
 decided that there were other routes 
 leading to the Rio Grande. 
 
 After supper Joe and Bob Tate and 
 Henry Dunn went off in the direction of 
 Zumwal't's up the riX'er, saying they 
 would be back next day. Crit GoUihar, 
 his brother, Charlie, and two others went 
 to Gollihar's place to keep watch, as thej' 
 expected the heel flies who, finding their 
 captain and his three men had failed to 
 show up, might make an attack on the 
 house during the night. When the guards 
 were set and horses secured, those left 
 in camp gathered around and we dis- 
 cussed the situation. Everyone present 
 wanted to get out of the scrape without 
 having to fight their way out. They 
 said Gollihar, Joe Tate and Colbath 
 would never leave ; that they were de- 
 termined to stay and bushwhack the 
 heel flies to the bitter end. But while 
 those present were anxious to go with 
 me, yet a sen.se of dread, really a want 
 of confidence in themselves, was evident. 
 How could we avoid the heel flies at 
 Clinton, Goliad, Beeville, San Patricio, 
 and King's Ranch? All these places lay 
 on our route. And above all, how would 
 we escape capture bj-^ the numerous river 
 guards which were at every crossing be- 
 tween Eagle Pass and the mouth of the 
 Rio Grande? I explained that with fif- 
 teen or twenty determined men, well 
 armed, and well mounted, I could stand 
 off any body of heel flies we might 
 chance to meet. I had heard a French 
 officer in Monterey during a riot, say 
 that "mobs won't fight, and neither will 
 untrained, undisciplined boys fight." I 
 pointed out that the Clinton company of 
 heel flies were supposed to be in our vi- 
 cinity, and that even if the town were 
 strongly garrisoned, we could avoid its 
 close proximity by crossing the Guada- 
 lupe far below; that we could easily 
 reach that river in less than one night's 
 travel, remain in concealment during the 
 day and the next night reach the San 
 Antonio river beloW Goliad, which 
 once passed, all danger would be over. 
 As to crossing the Rio Grande into Mex- 
 ico, I assured them that would be about 
 the etisiout task eucountered during thu 
 
 entire journey. Benivede's regiment 
 was on duty, scattered all along the riv- 
 er from Brownsville to Laredo. They 
 were all Mexicans and were the most 
 arrant knaves that ever disgraced a uni- 
 form. They drew their pay $1G per 
 month, in specie. For rations, they had 
 flour, corn meal, fre.sh beef or mutton 
 every day, besides sugar and coffee. 
 They laid tribute on every bale of cotton 
 that went across the river, and on every 
 article of merchandise that crossed into 
 Texas. Tliousands of cattle who^e own- 
 ers were in the Confederate army, roam- 
 ed t the plains from the Nueces to the 
 Rio Grande and when' these soldier- 
 pelados wanted to break a Camargo 
 Monte bank, or their monthly stipend 
 began to run short, they would round up 
 a few thousand beeves, drive them to 
 Monterey or Saltillo and sell them — all 
 in the name and by the authority as 
 they claimed, of the C. S. A. Govern- 
 ment. The people of Mexico are as hon- 
 orable and as patriotic as those of nv.y 
 nation on the globe, but the frontier, 
 the border line betweeni two nations is 
 always the resort of the toughest ele^ 
 ments of the two countries adjacents, 
 and Benivedes regiment seemed to have 
 become the dragnet that caught the 
 \v;orst that Mexico ha-d to spare. 
 
 "No boys," said I, "the clink of a dol- 
 lar or two will remove all obstacles 
 that may offer on the east bank of the 
 Bravo." 
 
 I further told these men my plans for 
 leaving as soon as possible ; that I 
 would persuade no man to go with me, 
 but that all who intended going with me 
 must be ready to start the next night or 
 tlie night following. And furthermore 
 tluit each must agree to act the man 
 from start to finish. Supplies, we might 
 require along the route, must be paid 
 for, no one's rights violated or property 
 molested. Cattle were plentiful and 
 cheap in those days and it was custom- 
 ary for travelers, stockmen, or others, 
 when in need of food, to kill a maverick 
 (an unbranded yearling), and appropri- 
 ate its flesh. This I told the men we 
 would do, as was the custom, but in all 
 other matters involving the rights of 
 propert}', the strictest decorum should 
 be observed. To this proposition each 
 man prsent expressed his heartiest en- 
 dorsement and I began to realize from 
 that moment that, however coarse the 
 exterior of these rude, uncouth men, at 
 Uuart they^ wure liuu^st, aud thiu good 
 
32 
 
 HEEL PLY TI ME IN TEXAS 
 
 opinion, then formative state, was fully 
 confirmed by subsequent experience. 
 
 It was late that night when I stretch- 
 ed out on my blanket for a few hours 
 sleep. My horse stood near, saddled 
 and ready for service. I had determin- 
 ed to brave -all lurking dangers and go 
 over to Mr. McDonald's and, if possible 
 learn something of Ciriaco and those 
 mules. I instructed the guards to call 
 me at 3 o'clock in the morning. The 
 distanc to be traveled was not over six 
 miles and my aim was to reach Mr. Mc- 
 Donald's before daylight. After a re- 
 freshing sleep I was awakened, mounted 
 and set off. 
 
 I reached Mr. McDonald's before day 
 and rode to the back of his field north 
 of the house and tied my horse in a 
 thicket. It was yet dark, and on foot I 
 
 • made my way through the field to the 
 horse lot where I found several saddle 
 horses. Wheni I discovered these I con- 
 cluded that all was not well. In a lit- 
 tle house used for storing corn and feed, 
 I found three or four saddles and sad- 
 dle blankets. These latter were still wet 
 with the sweat of the previous day's 
 hard riding. Had there been only two 
 saddles I would liave formed the con- 
 clusion that they were the saddles be- 
 longing to Ciriaco and the Cox boy and 
 would doubtless have been caught, but 
 the number of saddles was clearly in- 
 dicative of danger. Members of the 
 household were astir and I withdrew. 
 
 About 200 yards east of the McDonald 
 residence was a cabin occupied by an old 
 negro and family, who cultivated a por- 
 tion of Mr. McDonald's land. While 
 pondering as to what to do next, I notic- 
 ed a light emanating fBoni this old ne- 
 gro's cabin. I decided to trj* to learji 
 sometliing from the old darky. As I 
 stealthilj' approached the cabin I heard 
 him at the lot in, the rear of his domicile 
 feeding the horses. I got between him 
 and his cabin and as he started back to 
 the house after having fed his stock I 
 came up close and in a low voice, I said : 
 "Good morning. Uncle, have you seen 
 an.y heel flies around here lately?" 
 "Who is you, an' wha' you foolin' 
 heah fo' dis time o' night?" "Don't 
 you know me, Uncle? I am the man 
 you saw at Mr. JIcDouald's the other 
 day; the man who had j'our folks do 
 some washing." 
 
 "Shuah! Is dat you.' Well you's all 
 
 . rite while it's dark, but ef you's trying 
 to keep out'u de way, o' doui liuel flj^ses 
 
 you'd bettah be makin' de sand fly. 
 Dey's a big gang on 'em at Marse A. B's 
 an' dey's sho' mad. Wha' fo' you come 
 heah anyhow?" 
 
 "All right. Uncle, you go right in the 
 house, but say nothing to any of your 
 folks; get a bucket as if going for water 
 then go to the well (which was near the 
 kitchen in Mr. Mc's yard) and loiter 
 there until you can get a chance to 
 speak privately to either one of the girls 
 and then tell her that Mr. Garcia is at 
 your gate and wants to see her. 
 
 "Lawd, yas .sah, yas sah; I'll hab dat 
 gal heah in two minits!" 
 
 The first gray streaks of dawn b'Cgan 
 to appear ajid minutes seemed hours, 
 but presently I heard the trip of light 
 footsteps and through the slowly van- 
 ishing darkness I saw the figure of a 
 woman approaching. It was Lizzie Mc- 
 Donald, and she brought me the most 
 startling news. On account of the grow- 
 ing light she had to be brief; there was 
 no time for an exchange of simple greet- 
 ings. The men at the house were a part 
 of the Clinton company, who had been 
 scouting around in the direction of the 
 Somers thicket the day before ; the men 
 camped at Mayo's Mill captured a Mex- 
 ican with two mules and a horse and 
 sho just knew it was my Mexican and 
 my mules. She did not know where 
 the}- had taken him, but thought he 
 was held at their camp. The Victoria 
 company had camped the night before 
 at Mr. ilayne's place, on Brushy, .lesse 
 had gone during the night to warn me 
 and tell me about the capture of the 
 ilexican, and she- wondered why he 
 had not found me. as he had ample time 
 to reach our lair before midnight. "But 
 it is getting light and they'll miss me 
 at the house. Go quick; don't go 
 through the field, thej' might see you. 
 (io round the field and for Heaven's 
 siiTce, don't let them arrest you." And 
 with that she was gone and turning to 
 the old negro who had returned short- 
 ly after the young lady's ap]>earance, I 
 handed him a dollar, and again admon- 
 ished him to observe secrecy, I turned 
 to leave when he said, "Wait MaJistali; 
 de old 'Oman's eookin' brekfus, an' de 
 braid is neahly done, an I'se gwiue guv 
 yo' a big pone o' dat braid ef yo' can 
 jis wait a miuit. It won't tuk j'o' long 
 an, yo's gwine to git might}' hongry a 
 runnin' fum dem heel flyses an' doin' 
 widout yo' brekfus." 
 
 (To be tioutiiiuud. 
 
HEEL FLY TI ME IN TEXAS 
 
 33 
 
 I had neither time nor appetite just 
 then, and handing the generous hearted 
 old negro another dollar, I hastened a- 
 round the field through the brush, mount- 
 ed and was away in the dirrection of the 
 Somers League. I did not seek to avoid 
 any one, as it was quite early and the heel 
 flies were never known to be early risers, 
 unless there was loot to be had without 
 fighting- For the 'steenth time since 
 leaving Matamoras, I was mad. Cir- 
 iaco was a prisoner in the hands of those 
 measley scape goats, and, besides, they 
 had those mules. I would have those 
 mules if it took all spring and summer 
 too, and if they harmed poor Ciriaco I 
 would stay with tho.se men in the thick- 
 ets till the close of the war. 
 
 The sun was up shining bright and 
 clear, a typical South Texas spring morn- 
 ing when I reached Dr. Bellah's, I made 
 no halt and had gone a short distance 
 when I saw a body of horsemen com- 
 ing from the direction of Mayo's Mill. 
 That part of the ccuntry was open post- 
 oak woods and seeing me at about the 
 same time I discovered them coming to- 
 ward me, they raised a whoop and dash- 
 ed forward at full speed. Veering to the 
 rightjl "lit out" and the race began. 
 They chased me more than a mile and at 
 no time were they nearer than 300 yards, 
 but from the start they kept up a running 
 fire as if they expected to hit someone. 
 I reached cover in the edge of the thicket 
 a,nd they withdrew, fearing as the boys 
 afterward said, an ambuscade. 
 
 Signals had been sounded at different 
 points along the thickets when this fir- 
 ing was heard and I met a force hasten- 
 ing to learn the cause. I told the boys 
 that it was only a little race for morning 
 exercise and that no heel fly could get 
 near enough to shoot me so long as I was 
 better mounted than they. "Fellers they 
 '11 never catch 'im as long as they is deep 
 water about. He was a headin' for the 
 river an' the Lavaca's no bigger nor the 
 Navidad." This speech came from big 
 nose, gander-eyed Wylie Clampit, and 
 there was a loud guffaw at my expense. 
 
 When we reached camp I related to the 
 boys all I had heard and told them of my 
 determination to rescue my Mexican at 
 all hazards and awked them if they would 
 .stay by me in th« undertaking, ail 
 
 agreed to go with me, if there were any 
 fighting to do they would not desert me 
 It was agreed however, to wait untill the 
 Gollihar boys, the Tate' and Colbath 
 came in and then our .attacking force 
 would be larger. Five new men had come 
 in the early morning but no one seemed 
 to know much about them, more than they 
 had been chased away from home by the 
 heel flies and were considered reliable. 
 The Colorado company that had captured 
 my Mexican numbered only thirty men 
 and boys, mostly the latter ; four of these 
 were under guard in our camp, leaving 
 the enemy only about 26 and it was con- 
 ceded that a dozen determined men could 
 capture the entire lay-out. 
 
 Shortly after noon, the two Gollihar 
 boys, the Tate boys, Henery Dunn and 
 Mr. Colbath came in, bringing with them 
 a man by the name of Jennings, who said 
 that his father lived a few miles beloAv 
 on the east .side of the Lavaca river. lie 
 ^vas well known to nearly all in camji 
 and had been kept in the brush by the 
 heel flies nearly all winter. 
 
 I related my late experience to Mr. 
 Gollihar and those who came in with him 
 told them of the capture of the mules and 
 Ciriaco by the heel flies, and of my deter 
 raination to attack the camp of the enemy 
 and that the boys had agreed to join m ■ 
 in the undertaking. Gollihar was pleas- 
 ed with the idea and announced his will- 
 ingness to lead the expedition. He swore 
 that he alone could whip half of that out- 
 fit and that .since they had gone into 
 the mule business he proposed to become 
 a horse dealer and that some of those hee' 
 flies had some mighty good horses which 
 he stood greatly in need of just then. We 
 would make the attack that eveninsr 
 about four o'clock. 
 
 This proposition was heartily approved 
 by all except Joe Tate. He reasoned 
 along different and more practical lines. 
 He set forth that there were other means 
 at hand by which to accomplish the ends 
 in view ; that of rescuing the young Mex- 
 ican, and the mules. He said to,openly or 
 stealthilj- attack those men would involve 
 us in greater embarrassments than tho-u' 
 under which we now labored, that it 
 would be making war on the Confederal.^ 
 forces and that if captured at any sub 
 sequent period, we would b« courtoar- 
 
 •THIS STORY APPEARED IN FRONTIER TIMES, a monthly 
 Magazine devoted to Frontier History, published at Bandera, Texas. 
 
 .'I 
 
 %r- 
 
84 
 
 HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 tialed and hanj^ed. "My plan," continued 
 
 Mr. Tate, is this:" We hold four of their 
 men as prisoners-a captain and three 
 privates. They are a biirden to us and we 
 oucrht to get them off our hands. Release 
 one of these privates ricrht away. and 
 send him their camp with a proposal to 
 exchansre the captain for this? young 
 man's Mexican, and the two privates for 
 the mules — miile for mule — they'll be 
 glad to swap as doubtless, they know 
 nothing as to what may have befallen 
 these men." 
 
 After some further discussion Mr. 
 Tate's plan was agreed to. Of course 
 these deliberations were held at some 
 distance from and beyond the hearing of 
 the prisoners. 
 
 During this general discussion, Jen- 
 nings heard me mention the Cox boy in 
 connection with the capture of the Mex- 
 ican and the mules and when an agree- 
 ment was reached and our plans formiil- 
 ated he told me he knew the Cox's and 
 the two families were great friends and 
 that the boy was safe. He said he had 
 left his father's ranch only that morn- 
 ing on his return to Columbus. He fur- 
 ther stated that it was daylight when he 
 and the Mexican neared the Lavaca 
 river, and he begged the Mexican to run 
 down the prairie and stop at Mr. Jen- 
 nings until night, then make their way 
 to Clarks Creek settlement. The Mex- 
 ican assured him that he could not make 
 it safely through and as they had ridden 
 all night and he (a boy), being almost 
 exhausted from fatigue, he could go to 
 Mr. Jennings, rest up, and return home 
 at his pleasure. The boy followed the 
 suggestion and was there safe. While the 
 Mexican went on and was captured. More 
 on Mrs. Cox's account, than any other, 
 I was greatly relieved on receipt of this 
 intelligence. 
 
 Our plan, as finally agreed upon for 
 the evening, was this: Every man was to 
 be in readiness to start at 3 p. m. By that 
 time those on watch along the outer bor- 
 ders of the thicket would be in for even- 
 ing relief 
 
 Th prisoners were to be blindfolded, 
 mounted and their horses were to be led 
 by men detailed for duty. We were to 
 ride in silence to a point in the river bot- 
 tom a quarter of a mile from camp at the 
 Mayo Mill — -a point where we would be 
 concealed from view by a dense thicket. 
 From this thicket we were to send in to 
 the enemy our demaad, and if this waa 
 
 refused we would tie our prisoners to a 
 tree and charge the camp. 
 
 There was a bountiful supplj' of fresh 
 beef in camp and the men during the 
 forenoon had barbecued a quanity of the 
 choicest pieces. After a hearty feasting 
 on beef without bread, I called the boys 
 together and told them that if our raid 
 on the heel fly camp proved successful 
 I was going to leave next night and all 
 who Avished to go with me to Mexico 
 must be ready. Nineteen declared their 
 readiness to accompany me and to face 
 any perils that might beset our way. 
 The GoUihar boys, the Tate brothers, 
 Dunn and Colbath said they had no de- 
 sire to leave the country, and that they 
 believed when the heel flies found out 
 that so many had gone in a body they 
 would abandon the chase, and this would 
 give them more freedom to go where 
 they pleased. 
 
 Half an hour before we were ready to 
 start Jesse McDonald came in bringing 
 a sack of corn bread, some salt and the 
 message the girls had intrusted him with 
 the night before. During the night, he 
 had met a. party of heel flies, turned and 
 fled and they chased him to Brushy Creek 
 ek below the Harless school house, where 
 he gave them the dodge. He then follow- 
 ed a circuitous route and got there with 
 the bread, but it was reduced to the con- 
 sistency of corn meal. 
 
 The lad wanted to go with us against 
 the heel flies, but I and others object- 
 ed. I told him to get back home before 
 night, if possible, and tell the girls if 
 we were successful, and the way open. 
 I would be at their house that night to 
 tell them good- bye. 
 
 At the appointed hour all were in read- 
 iness. Four men were detailed to guard 
 the four prisoners — Colbath andCharlie 
 GoUihar being of the number — and each 
 was well coached as to duty. Four strong 
 rawhide ropes were conspicuously dis- 
 played by these guards while making 
 preparation to mount the captives. When 
 they proceeded to blinidfold them, the 
 captain exclaimed: "Men, in Heaven's 
 name what does this mean?" Colbath 
 replied in a serious and sympathetic 
 tone by saying: "Well, Captain, we 
 have to obey orders; if you have any 
 preparations to make — but, I'm forbid- 
 den to talk." It was plainly seen that the 
 poor men were greatly alarmed and I 
 would have gladly given then* assurance 
 of their safety but could aot under the 
 
HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 35 
 
 circumstances. When we mounted I coun- 
 ted twenty-nine men, not including the 
 prisoners, and two others came to us be- 
 fore getting clear of the lower thickets. 
 Thirty-one in all, and these by common 
 consent were led by Joe Tate. Through 
 the mazes of thoKc jungles we rode in 
 single file and in silence. When out of 
 the Somers thickets proper, we kept 
 well under cover along the narrow riv- 
 er bottom until we reached the point 
 designated. Here we halted and dis- 
 mounted. A man was directed to go on 
 foot along the river to a small elevation 
 where he could obtain a very fair view of 
 the enemy's camp. He returned shortly 
 and reported that there were quite a 
 number of hor.ses in the camp, but he 
 could discover only 20, perhaps 25 men, 
 although there might be double that. 
 This report served to change the plan 
 originally agreed upon. Instead of send- 
 ing one of the captives into camp , Mr. 
 Tate decided upon a defiant, aggressive 
 course. He approached the captain and 
 asked him if he had any writing material. 
 The captain replied that he had a piece 
 of a pencil and a small note book, "Very 
 well ; you shall do some writing and it 
 may be your last. It all depends. Here 
 boys some one of you take off the hand- 
 cuffs, so that he can write." 
 
 Mr. Tate beckoned me to draw near so 
 that I might hear all that was dictated. 
 The captain was very nervous but man- 
 aged to scrawl an order to his men dir- 
 ecting them to deliver at once one Cir- 
 iaco, a Mexican, and two mules they 
 had taken when the Mexican was captur- 
 ed, that he, the captain, and his three 
 men, ( giving their names ) were being 
 held by a band of desperadoes, who were 
 determined to hang them if the demands 
 were not immediately complied with. 
 I well remember tli-i closing sentence of 
 that order. "Theref.u-e I command that 
 the said Mexican and mules b'^ delivered 
 at once, and it is stipulated that my re- 
 lease and that of your captive comrades, 
 will follow immediately upon the execu- 
 tion of this order." A man by the name 
 of Bast was selected to carry the mes- 
 sage under flag of trmce. He was instruct- 
 ed to approach the camp near enough to 
 observe the strength of the enemy, and 
 call for a parley. If he found that their 
 force was about equal or inferior to ours, 
 he was to wave his flag over his head 
 twice. He was also instructed fully as to 
 what to a&y to tli« eaem^- But there arobe 
 
 another barrier. There was not a white 
 handkerchief in the whole outfit. There 
 were handkerchiefs, but they were of the 
 bandana brand and color. Someone sug- 
 gested a shirt, but investigation showed 
 there was not a white shirt in the crowd. 
 Some there were that had once been white 
 but age and usage and lack of soap 
 and water had changed their color. 
 Finally a "poke" — a sort of bread sack 
 that was made of home spun cloth and 
 still retained a resemblance of its orig- 
 inal whiteness, was pressed into service, 
 torn open and the cleanest section cut out 
 with a jack- knife and fixed to a long 
 switch. This Mr. Bast took and with its 
 tarni.shed folds dancing in the evening 
 breeze, rode boldly to a point within 
 close hailing distance of the heel fly 
 camp. Some twenty minutes or more 
 elap.sed, when our lookout motioned us to 
 advance. He had seen Bast give the pre- 
 concerted signal. 
 
 Our party rode out from our place of 
 concealment, leaving two men to guard 
 the pri.soners, and when in the open we 
 formed in a line and advanced abreast, 
 allowing a space of about ten paces be- 
 tween the horsemen in order to make our 
 appearance seem as imposing as possible. 
 When within one hundred yards of 
 our truce bearer we halted and maintain- 
 ed strict silence. A man had come out 
 from the camp and was talking with 
 Bast. When our column came in view 
 we could not fail to note that there was 
 excitement in the enemy's camp. This 
 emboldened us and Joe Tate and I advan- 
 ced and joined Mr . Bast. Seeing this 
 movement, two of the heel flies came out 
 and joined us. Mr. Bast remarked as we 
 rode up: "These fellows say they have 
 the Mexican,but won't give him up until 
 their captain and comrades are produced. 
 Mr. Tate said to the men: (the two extra 
 men had rode up by this time.) "We 
 haven't a minute to fool away with you 
 fellows. Your captain and his three men 
 are in that thicket over there, closely 
 guarded by fifty determined men. We 
 have come after that Mexican and we are 
 going to have him and if thcr« is a shot 
 fired at one of my men your captain and 
 those with him won't last a minute. I've 
 got enough men to bag your whole crowd, 
 and it would do some of them good to 
 quirt every scoundrel in your outfit. 
 Hurry up now, we've no time for non- 
 sense." By thJ3 *iJBW <t* *3BB(DBny in 
 ttamp bad rallied and formed (on foot). 
 
 ■Il 
 
36 
 
 HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 at the edge of the grove in which they 
 were e-ncamped. Their paucity of num- 
 ber was apparent, and we learned later 
 that a nnmbe.r belonging to their com- 
 mand were absent on a seont looking 
 for Bob Tate. 
 
 The spokesman for the heel flies was 
 evidently "bluffed," and began to weak- 
 en. He" said that being overpowered he 
 would have to yield, out he first want- 
 ed to know that the captain was alive 
 and safe, and if so, he would surrender 
 the Mexican in exchange. I spoke up 
 and said: "We do not propose giving 
 vou all four of these men even for that 
 Mexican., We want a little boot in this 
 trade. You have a a pair of mules you 
 seized when you took that Mexican; we 
 want those mules and besides, if you 
 have any other prisoners, we want and 
 are goirig to have them. Wher'e are 
 those two men you arrested on the Nav- 
 idad?" 
 
 "We have four white men and the 
 Mexican. I don't think you men ought 
 to demand the Mexican. The mules he 
 had belonged to a Mrs. Cox near Colum- 
 bus; some of our company know the 
 mules, and that Mexican stole them,and 
 we caught him after he had ridden all 
 night and the d — ^d greaser ought to be 
 hung. We are going to return those 
 mules to the rightful owner." 
 
 "All right, sir! We want those mules 
 right now. The Mexican is not a thief 
 he was in my employ, and I intrusted 
 him with those mules and he was on his 
 way to headquarters when you arrested 
 him." 
 
 "Say my friend," said Tate: "You are 
 fooling away too much time here," and 
 wheeling toward our men he shouted 
 "C-o-m-p-a-n-y, advance!" The boys 
 came forward in a swinging trot with 
 pistols drawn. Turning to the heel fly 
 Tate said: "Will you bring out those pri- 
 soners and those mules?" "Yes I will 
 produce them at once,but captain it looks 
 like it would be fair to bring up our 
 men. We are willin ' to do the right 
 thing." Tate then said to one of the 
 boys in a very authoritive. loud tone, 
 "Ride back to the command and ask 
 Captain GoUihar to order a detail of two 
 men and bring those four prisoners for- 
 ward — those who belong to the Colorado 
 Home Guards." 
 
 Hearing this peremptory order, and 
 doubtless believing that he was almost in 
 the j^rasp of an army of blood-tMrst^ 
 
 desperadoes, the heel flj' man hastened 
 back to his company and by the time our 
 men, (detailed by Captain Gollihar. who 
 was all the while in the ranks) arrived, 
 the prisoners held by the heel tiies were 
 being brought forward. They were all 
 liandcuffed and poor Ciriaco had a woe- 
 begone look until he recognized me in the 
 crowd. When they came up I said, 
 "Where are those mules and this Mexi- 
 can's horse, saddle and blankets. There's 
 going to be trouble (I here substitute the 
 word trouble. I used a "more emphatic 
 word) if those mults and horse are not 
 forthcoming at once." "One of the men 
 who is out on a scout is riding the horse ; 
 the mules will be here presently." spoke 
 up one of the heel flies, a lad about my 
 own age and size. I had dismounted 
 and was standing with one hand resting 
 on Ciriaco 's shoulder and when the 
 young chap made that statement con- 
 cerning the horse, every word of which 
 the Mexican understood, he said to me in 
 a low tone: "Mentira, mi caballo y las 
 mullas allistan atados en el bosque cerca 
 del campo." (He lies: My horse and the 
 mules are tied there in: the grove near 
 the camp.) Turning on this little heel 
 fly .spokesman. I said, "You lie like the 
 miserable thief that you are. This Mexi- 
 can's horse is tied in that grove with the 
 mules and these dickerings have to stop 
 right now until that stock and every- 
 thing this Mexican had when you arrest- 
 ed him is restored." Tate gave force to 
 my remarks by ordering the men to get 
 read.v for business. A man older than 
 the young heel fly realizing that matters 
 were aboiit to assume a serious phase, 
 chimed in: 'Don't, gentleman, don't be 
 toohasty, the young man is just mistaken. 
 The horse and also the mules will be here 
 in a minute." 
 
 Prom our position we could see some 
 tall hustling about that camp. A bridle 
 here, a saddle blanket, a morral, a rope, 
 a quirt, was fished out there and each 
 article was quickly brought out. Ciriaco 
 said to me, "Estos ladrones me robado 
 de mi pistola y el poco dinero lo que 
 traigo," (Those thieves have stolen my 
 pistol and the little amount of money I 
 brought along.) I mentioned this fact to 
 the spokesman and told him his 
 captain was there to testify that not an 
 article was taken from him or his men 
 during their captivity and that this 
 Mexican's property even to the last 
 farthiug had to be restored. At Uub thu 
 
HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 87 
 
 captain confirmed what I had said and 
 ordered that my demands be couiplied 
 with. 
 
 While I was engaged in looking to 
 the delivery of those mules and attend- 
 ing to Ciriaco's interests, Mr. Tate and 
 Mr. Bast were attending to the claims of 
 the other four men whom we had liberat- 
 ed. They also had been robbed and de- 
 manded either remuneration or restora- 
 tion. The horse and saddle of one was, 
 without a doubt, ab.sent and could not be 
 delivered. Several horses were led up 
 and he was ordered by Tate to take his 
 pick, but be careful and not take a bet- 
 ter horse than the one he had lost. He 
 chose the best horse, bridle and saddle 
 in the layout, and after the war, 1 was 
 told that three days later, these same 
 heel flies run him and recaptured him, 
 his hor.se and equipment. The pony 
 they had first taken from him, it was 
 said was an old plug that could not head 
 a cow. While all this was in progress, 
 I noticed that Ciriaco wore an old dilapi- 
 dated wool hat, a piece of headgear quite 
 different to that he wore at Columbus, 
 and I asked him if he had been swapping. 
 Pointing to a young chap who was stand- 
 ing in front of the camp, he told me that 
 fellow had his hat, and that it was a forc- 
 ed swap. I stated the facts to the cap- 
 tain, who called the lad by name, and or- 
 uered him to bring out that Mexican's 
 hat. He obeyed, and as he approached, 
 Ciriaco seized his own sombrero, a very 
 stylish and costly affair, and threw the 
 old hat on the ground, stamped upon it 
 and kicked it away. The j'oung heel 
 fly picked it up ajid sheepishly slunk otf. 
 All demands being met, cutis were re- 
 moved from our prisoners and they were 
 once more free. Crit Uollihar insisted 
 on keeping the handcuffs, saying that 
 he might nave use for them some other 
 time. Joe Tate gave his little captain 
 some wholesome advice before leaving. 
 He told him who he was and assured him 
 
 that he was going to stay around home, 
 anid that no set of heel flies could take 
 him. He told him that he would do well 
 to take his little gang of thieving boys 
 and go home, and allow them to assist 
 the women in making a crop of corn with 
 which to feed the .starving soldiers in the 
 army, and closed by warning him that 
 swift vengeance would be visited on him 
 and his outfit if any one in that section 
 was further molested. 
 
 By this time the day was far spent, 
 the sun was lO'W in the west, and bidding 
 
 the liberated captain and his brave (?) 
 command goodbye we set out on our re- 
 turn to the Somers thickets, having ac- 
 complished far more than we expected. 
 
 When we reached our lair, we found 
 two of our men, who, being out on watch 
 failed to join us that evening. They re- 
 ported that the Victoria company was at 
 Wallace's Mill a short distance below, 
 and that several of that outfit evidently 
 had been scouting through the country 
 that day. They knew nothing of the 
 Clinton company or any other layout 
 that might be in that vicinity. 
 
 After we appeased our appetites on 
 beef, roasted over the coals, I told the 
 boys that that country wasn't quite large 
 enough to hold me any longer. I thank- 
 ed them for their generous aid in the re- 
 lease of my Mexican and the recapture 
 of my mules, and the only means by 
 which I could return the favor was to 
 pilot them safely into Mexico, a place 
 where home guards dared not molest and 
 where heel flies confined their operations 
 to old cows in the spring tim?. Twenty- 
 two in all declared their willingness to 
 go. Some were ready to start then, 
 others were not quite ready; they had 
 to go home and make certain prepara- 
 tion, etc. After much planning and dis- 
 cussion, it was finally agreed that we 
 .vould postpone our departure until the 
 following night, at which time we would 
 ;dl get together and make the start. As 
 a number of the men lived near the Ger- 
 man church, a short distance from where 
 the town of Hope is now situated, it was 
 agreed to meet there for the start at 10 
 o'clock, and not later than 10:;10 p. m. 
 Should for any cause, those arriving find 
 that it would be unsafe to asemble there, 
 then we were to rendezvous about a mile 
 further one, and at the back of the field 
 owned by. an honest and inoffensive old 
 German by the name of Hample. Each 
 man was advised to come with three or 
 four days' rations of bread and also a 
 supply of bacon and dried beef, if it 
 could be had, but not to come overbur- 
 ened with baggage. 
 
 The German church was about six 
 miles southwest fiom Mr. McDonald's 
 and having a night and a day before me, 
 I resolved to go over and tell the folks 
 goodbye. Four of the men announced 
 their willingness to accompany me. 
 
 When the .sun had gone down, we 
 separated, I and my crowd of six, in- 
 cluding my.self, rode out near the open 
 woods, where we halted until darkness 
 
38 
 
 HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 overspread the earth. Ciriaco led one 
 of the mules and one of the men, a Mr. 
 Kendrick, led the other, while I rode in 
 advance. When near the Heath place, 
 I halted the men in a copse of timber and 
 rode down to Dr. Bellah's house. The 
 doctor was away on a professional call, 
 but his niece, Miss Olivia Chandler, who 
 lived in the family cnrae out and answer- 
 ed my inquiries. ( Miss Chandler after- 
 wards married Wm. Gafford. She has a 
 son, J. A. Gafford at Silver Valley, Texas 
 and a daughter, Mrs. Smith living in 
 East San Angelo.) She heard of our af- 
 fair at Mayo's Mill that evening, and 
 the greatest excitement prevailed 
 throughout the settlements. Men had 
 been passing going in the direction of 
 Mayo's since just before sundown, and 
 they were seemingly iui haste. The re- 
 port had gone out that we had captured 
 tlie entire Colorado company , carried 
 away all their horses and left the men 
 tied to trees. To avoid meeting with 
 any of the.se heel flies, she directed me 
 to follow a route different to any I had 
 xollowed before in going to Mr. Mc- 
 Donald's. This rt.ute we %)ur,sued, and 
 reached Mr. McDonald's between nine 
 and ten o'clock. Approaching within 
 a quarter of a mile of the house, 
 I concealed my men in the brush near 
 the road, dismounted and went on foot 
 to reconnoiter. I knew I could depend 
 on the old darkey to find out if the way 
 was clear, and cautiously approaching 
 the cabin, I called to him to come out 
 and direct me in the road leading to Mr. 
 Hogan's. In answer to my inquiries h* 
 said, in his serio comic way: "Shuah, 
 dem same heel flies is heah yit, only dey 's 
 mo' done cum. Dey mus' a got some 
 kind o' news dis even' late, as dey was 
 a pow'ful scatterment 'mong 'em. Ah 
 donno; dey's a big dance ober at Marse 
 Carpenter s and dey mout been done 
 gome to dat dance. Deys' all gone but 
 three, an' dey's siayin' to git de per- 
 vishuns what dey wanted cooked. Marse 
 McDonald's wimmin folks is cookin' 
 hard as dey can an, my ole 'oman is cook- 
 in' braid to' 'em too. Dey said dey 
 wanted dem wittuls (victuals) foah mid- 
 night. ' ' 
 
 "Is Mr. McDonald there?" 
 
 "Yas sah, yes sah. Marse A. B. is 
 dah." 
 
 "Well, say, uncle, can't you slip over 
 there and tell the girls I am here again ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' Cose I kin, but yfKl stay 'way dar in 
 
 de dark; dem heel flies mought be cam- 
 in' down heah to git dat braid." 
 
 In a very short time Jesse and one 
 of the girls came. Quite a number of 
 the Clinton company had been there, 
 coming and going all day. That even- 
 ing a runner came in post haste and 
 brought orders for every man to be at 
 Mayo's Mill by sun up in the morning, 
 and that a combined attack was to be 
 made on the Somers thicket. The men 
 camped at Mrs. Tate's were going to 
 leave that night, so said Mr. Harper, who 
 had left the house not half an hour ago. 
 There was a dance at old man Carpen- 
 ter's about half a mile distant, and a 
 number of the men were attending the 
 function. Late in the evening and after 
 this runner had left, they had ordered 
 their father, Mr. McDonald, to have a 
 quantity of corn bread cooked by mid- 
 night, and they were now performing 
 the unwelcome task. The three men 
 left at the house were of the Clinton 
 gang and were mere boys, and were mad 
 because they, too, could not attend the 
 dance. 
 
 I told them of the men I had staked 
 out and that I would be at the house 
 presently with my crowd, and for them 
 to keep quiet as there would be no rucas 
 raised. 
 
 Mr. McDonald had plenty of corn 
 and top-fodder, and leading my men 
 round to the lot, we dismounted and fed 
 our stock. We then went into the house 
 and found three heel fly friends in the 
 kitchen, having a gay time talking to 
 the girls while they were cooking. I 
 told these young men that they ought to 
 be with their command at Mayo's millj 
 that the "brush-busters" had cleaned up 
 the Colorado company that evening and 
 every available man was ordered to as- 
 semble at Mayo's by daylight the next 
 morning. In reply to their questioms I 
 told them we belonged to the Victoria 
 company and were then en route to the 
 place of rendezvous, and had come by to 
 see if we could get some bread. Certain- 
 ly. They were having bread cooked and 
 would divide. Mr. McDonald's folks 
 were mighty fine folks and they never 
 turned a poor hungry soldier away 
 empty. Did we come by where the 
 dance was going on? They were nearly 
 dead to go to the danee, but they had 
 been left to attend to the cooking of that 
 bread. One of my men, Mr. Hamersley, 
 suggested that, being tired and not ear- 
 ing for th« dance, we would look after 
 
HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 the rations, and they might go to the 
 ball. They were delighted over the 
 proposition and were off in a jiffy, leav- 
 ing us complete masters of the situation. 
 When they had gone, Mr. and Mrs. 
 McDonald, Jesse and the girls gathered 
 round us in the kitchen to hear the story 
 of the day's happenings, the three men 
 who had remained in the kitchen with 
 me, went out, saying they preferred be- 
 ing outside on the lookout. 
 
 Mr. McDonald showed uneasiness 
 and said those men at the dance were 
 liable to appear any moment and that 
 while entirely welcome, yet, I was by no 
 means safe. He said I was very im- 
 prudent and would certainly be taken be- 
 fore I got out of the country if I did not 
 use more caution. He wanted to see 
 those mules that had caused me so much 
 trouble, and I had to go with him to the 
 lot, where, in the dim starlight, after 
 examining 4;hem closely, he gravely 
 shook his head and said: "Too good a 
 pair of mules. You'll niever get through 
 with 'em." I called Oiriaco and the 
 others and told ihem to prepare to 
 mount. With Mr. Me. I went back in 
 the kitchen to bid adieu. Kind good 
 Mrs. McDonald — everybody called her 
 "Aunt Martha" — ha-d a sack of that 
 bread and a small sack of sweet potatoes 
 ready for us to take along. She said 
 we had as well have that bread as the 
 heel flies. One of the girls gave me a 
 woolen neck scarf, another a pair of 
 woolen mits — all their own make. 
 
 It was with a feeling of sadness and 
 dread that I turned away from that ho.s- 
 pitable home and rode out into the dark- 
 ness, not knowing what ill or good for- 
 tune the future held in store for me. 
 
 One of the men with me knew the 
 road leading to the German church, and 
 taking the lead he held a .steady gait 
 until, when we had covered four or live 
 miles, we left the road and he piloted us 
 to the home of a Mr. Cherry, whose son 
 had been with us in the thickets, and was 
 of the number who had agreed t9 go 
 with me to Mexico. Back of Mr. Cher- 
 ry's field, in a creek bottom, we bivouac- 
 ed in a thicket, where amid the torments 
 of a swarm of mosquitoes, we remained 
 until the following night. Mr. Cherry 
 was very kind to us and invited me to 
 dine at the table, but I declined, prefer- 
 ring to remain under close cover. When 
 we breakfasted the morning after our ar- 
 rival at Cherry's I noticed that my four 
 white comrades had a good supply of 
 
 bread, and when questioned, they ad- 
 mitted that when they left the kitchen 
 to go on the lookout the night before, 
 they went to the old negro's cabin and 
 told the old darkey that they had come 
 afer that bread, and the old slave, think- 
 ing they were the heel flies who had or- 
 dered the bread, willingly gave it into 
 their hands. I had told tliem of the 
 cooking arrangements before we ap- 
 proached Mr. McDonald's house. 
 
 About an hour after nightfall, with 
 Mr. Cherry's son, Rob, as pilot, we set 
 out for the appointed place of rendez- 
 vous, the German Methodist church. 
 When we came in sight of the place, we 
 saw that the house was lighted up, and 
 found, upon inquiry, that it was prayer 
 meeting night. We rode into a wood 
 near the church and dismounted, having 
 decided to wait an hour for our expect- 
 ed recruits. It had been two years 
 since I had attended church, except on 
 a few occasions when, as sightseer, I had 
 attended services in Catholic churches 
 in Mexico. It was with an effort that 
 I repressed the impulse to become one 
 among those humble, devout worship- 
 ]ierK. IiT my early years I had received 
 ])ioiis instructions and had been taught 
 to bt' i-cligious by God-fearing Methodist 
 parents, whose rule was to take the chil- 
 dren to the house of God on regular oc- 
 casions. I withdrew from the men and 
 came near the house. I heard the de- 
 vout leader of that little meeting offer 
 the opening prayer. He prayed for 
 the poor soldiers in the field, the sick, 
 the hungry, the wounded, and the dying. 
 He prayed for those laboring under af- 
 fliction and bereavement at home, pray- 
 ed for the enemy and prayed God to 
 hasten the end of that unholy war. They 
 sung those same old hymns that I had 
 heard and learned when a little child, 
 and their .sad, .sweet, melody foreiblj- re- 
 called to mind the days when I wa.> a 
 happy boy in the old home. I was now 
 a waif, a cast-away, a wanderer, and be- 
 ing pursued by relentless men. These 
 latter thoughte disturbed me little, but 
 the melody of those hymns overcame me 
 and I sat down and wept as a child 
 and implored the Father to bestow that 
 merciful protection that He h:is given 
 me through all these subsequent years. 
 After waiting about an hour and 
 none of our men appearing we went 
 to the back ofthe Hample field and 
 found several in waiting. By 10 o'clock 
 we counted noses and there were pre- 
 
40 
 
 HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 sent twenty-one men and two boys. 
 These latter I supposed to be not over 14 
 years old, and havinp; learned of our 
 plans from some of our men, had run off 
 from hom expecting to go with me to 
 Mexico. I ordered them, to go home. 
 About 10:30, the appointed hour, we set 
 forth on onr long and perilous journey 
 to the Rio Grande. The sun was an 
 hour high next morning when we cross- 
 ed the Guadalupe, a mile or so below 
 where Cuero now stands. We remain- 
 ed in the brush along the river bottom 
 all day and at nightfall we mounted and 
 headed for the San Antonio river below 
 Goliad. A young man named Walton 
 knew the country and served as guide. 
 At sunrise we were on the west bank of 
 the San Antonio river, where we found 
 good grass and a snug place of conceal- 
 ment. Our breakfast was not tempting. 
 Dried beef, a few potatoes roasted ini the 
 fire, and corn bread which by constant 
 attrition had become a mass of crumbs. 
 Mr. Walton stated that our position was 
 secure, it being an oiit of the way place, 
 and that the nearest house was nearly a 
 mile distant and that a man named In- 
 man lived there, tliat he was a Union 
 man and always worked a good number 
 of Mexicans. This piece of information 
 was gratifying indeed, and calling Ciria- 
 co to one side, I directed him to mount 
 and ride over to Mr. Inman"s and learn 
 all he could from any Mexicans that he 
 might chance to meet and then come 
 back and report. In an hour's time he 
 was back and stated that two or three 
 Mexican families were on the place, be- 
 sides la familia del dueno de la hacienda; 
 that there had been no soldiers in that 
 ])art of the country for several days. 
 Tlius finding my way clear, I mounted 
 and went up to the ranch. Miss Inman, 
 the pretty lady interpretor who so gen- 
 erously came to my rescue at Goliad, 
 gave a cordial greeting and expressed 
 a great surprise at seeing me at her 
 liome. In the best English I could com- 
 mand, I told her tliat having occasion to 
 pass through the country toward the 
 Rio Grande and having heard that she 
 lived near, I had called to tender my 
 gratitude for her generous sympathy 
 and the part she played in securing my 
 release from the little captain and his 
 heel flies at Goliad, that I had learned 
 that her father was a Unionist and for 
 that cause was being hounded off the 
 earth by these same Home Guards. She 
 led the wax i^to the sjttmg r oom where 
 
 I was presented to other members of the 
 family, and I was made to feel once 
 more I was in the house of friends. A 
 I\Iexican servant put my horse in the lot 
 and fed him well, while I, when the noon 
 hour came, was the guest of honor at a 
 real old-time family feast. 
 
 During my stay, I had related some 
 of the events of my trip, and my start 
 back to Mexico and our travels at night 
 instead of day. Miss Inman did not 
 think I would encounter any serious dan- 
 ger until we reached the west bank of 
 the Nueces, and wLen informed that we 
 would resume our journey at nightfall, 
 she a.sked that we send a couple of men 
 for provisions, which she would have 
 ready. I gratefully accepted her offer 
 and Avhile preparing to tell her goodbye 
 and be off, Ciriaco advanced from a 
 group of his countrymen and brought 
 forward a Mexican who wanted to go 
 with us. 
 
 He was the pelado who had stayed 
 all night with me in the guard house at 
 Goliad! He recognized me at once and 
 with exuberant joy invoked the bless- 
 ings of all the saints upon my devoted 
 head. All he wanted was an oppor- 
 tunity to show his gratitude for my 
 kindness to him while he was in bonds 
 with not a friend near. Don Ciriaco 
 had told him of the mules. He had no 
 hor.se, no tengo caballo, but he could 
 ride one of those mules and that would 
 save the trouble of leading it. He would 
 saddle and unsaddle my horse, he would 
 be my mozo. I asked Miss Inman 
 about this man and she said that as no 
 witness appeared against him at Goliad 
 he was relea.sed and later found his way 
 to their place,. She advised me to 
 watch him in case I let him go along, as 
 she had put him down as bad hombre. 
 After leave taking of this ho.spitable 
 family I mounted and saying to the pe- 
 lado, "I guess you can go with us if it 
 is agreeable with Ciriaco." I set off 
 for our camp. When we reached camp 
 I told Ciriaco that this Mexican whom we 
 nicle- named Zarco on account of a glazy 
 blemish in one of his eyes, was to be 
 strictly under his charge ; that it was on 
 his solicitations that I had consented to 
 his going with us, and that he would be 
 held responsible for his conduct. Two 
 days had not elapsed when we all regret- 
 ted having ever seen El Zarco. 
 
 When Texas seceded from the Union, 
 the United States troops were with- 
 drawn from all forts along the border 
 
HEEL PLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 41 
 
 from Red River to the mouth of the Rio 
 Grande, thus leaviijg exposed to the In- 
 dians all the settlements along the fron- 
 tier. The state inaugurated at once a 
 very wise system of frontier defense, the 
 efficiency of which proved to be far 
 superior to that emloyed by the federal 
 government after the war. 
 
 A well defined line along the border 
 was drawn from Red River to the Gulf. 
 All men subject to military service and 
 who lived beyond or outside of that line 
 were exempt from service in the Confed- 
 erate army, but were required to organ- 
 ize into companies and one half of each 
 company was required to be on patrol or 
 scout duty all the time. The Medio 
 river, which is about 15 pr 20 miles west 
 of Goliad, was said to be on this line at 
 the time of which I write. Beyond, or 
 west of the Medio there were no home 
 guards, such as we had encountered as 
 heel flies, and our only peril lay in the 
 possibility of meeting or falling in with 
 soldiers going to or returning from 
 army posts along the lower Rio Grande. 
 
 Leaving the San Antonio river at 
 dark, we rode as far as the Medio, where 
 we dismounted, mounted guard and re- 
 mained until morning. The next even- 
 ing late we reached the Nueces, about 
 two miles above San Patricio, only to 
 find the bank full I was in favor of 
 swimming our horses over, as the stream 
 was narrow, but a majority of the boys 
 were against taking the risk. I argued 
 that it would not be prudent to under- 
 take to cross at the ferry at San Patricio, 
 as there would likely be a number of 
 soldiers there and they might cause 
 us trouble. But I was over-ruled, 
 and to San Patricio we went. As we 
 passed through the little Irish village, 
 we saw very few people, but when we 
 approached the river an animated scene 
 came into view. There were several 
 wagon trains loaded with cotton en 
 route to Brownsville, mule and ox trains, 
 Mexican, German and American. On 
 the opposite bank were camped trains re- 
 turning from the Rio Grande, laden with 
 government supplies and merchandise. 
 All these with daily additions were 
 waiting for the river to become fordable, 
 as the little ferry boat was too small to 
 bear up the heavy wagons. It was sun- 
 down when we rode boldly into this vast 
 encampment with its bright camp fires 
 and incessant din of ox and horse bells 
 and shouts of herdsmen. I asked for 
 the ferrj^man and was told that he had 
 
 just gone over with his boat, but would 
 be back in a few minutes. We rode to 
 the water's edge, dismounted and wait- 
 ed for the coming of the boat. El Zar- 
 co, our pelado, had ridden one of the 
 mules without saddle since leaving the 
 Inman place, and complained of being 
 muy cansado (very tired) and in great 
 misery. Several gathered round and a 
 few questions were asked as to where we 
 were from and to where bound.etc. We 
 gave evasive replies to these questions, 
 which seemed to be entirely satisfactory. 
 It was about an hour after dark when 
 we all got over, and we rode out about 
 a half mile and camped near a small 
 lake, known as Lago Cayman, or Lake of 
 the Alligator. 
 
 We were all greatly fatigued with 
 the day's hard riding, and being, as we 
 thought, beyond the pale of any serious 
 danger, a spirit of security seemed to 
 possess the men. No one wanted to 
 stand guard; it was useless, they con- 
 tended; we would not be molested and 
 all were too tired and sleepy to keep 
 watch. I insisted, begged and persuad- 
 ed until they reluctantly yielded. I kept 
 watch the first two hours and it was 
 onlj'^ by continued walking and moving 
 about and around the horses that I kept 
 awake. Sleep seemed to envelop me as 
 a mantle and several times I came near 
 yielding to its influence. At about 11 
 o'clock I turned in, after calling Ciriaco 
 to go watch until 12. At 12 o'clock he 
 came in and Wiley Clampit and young 
 Kendrick went out. 
 
 I was up at dawn and found Clampit 
 and Kendrick were still out. When it 
 was sufficiently light to see well I dis- 
 covered that oiir stock was scattered, and 
 I could see no one on duty. I found 
 Clampit and Kendrick asleep under a 
 liuisache bu«h near the edge of the chap- 
 aral. Ciriaco's horse and Clampit 's 
 saddle were gone, and El Zarco was no- 
 where in sight. Ciriaco hastened to the 
 ferry, but no horseman had passed that 
 way. In our search Ciriaco had met up 
 with a Mexican named Feliciano Torres, 
 who told him that the place where we 
 camped was the most noted of any spot 
 on the road from Goliad to King's ranch. 
 Seldom a night passed that some camper 
 was not robbed at Lago Cayman. He 
 said a few miles above was the "Rin- 
 con" — a big bend in the river — and this 
 bend was one vast wilderness of chaparal 
 and tanglewood. He stated that this 
 bend afforded a coaveAieat hiding place 
 
42 
 
 HEEL FLY TI ME IN TEXAS 
 
 for thieves and their stolen stock. This 
 information led to the conclusion that 
 El Zarco had gone to the Rincon. but I 
 ordered out men in twos to scout in five 
 directions With Ciriaco and othets I 
 went to explore the Rincon, leaving the 
 other remaining men to guard camp. 
 
 Two miles above La go CajTnan we 
 came to a ranch occupied by a Dr. Cox, 
 a brother to Rev. Ivy H. Cox, a pioneer 
 and Methodist preacher in the West 
 Texas Conferenc. With the doctor re- 
 resided his son-in-law, Jack Cook, and 
 wife. The ranch they occupied was on 
 the site of Old Fort San Miguel, where 
 a desperate battle was fough and won 
 by the Texans during the Revolution. 
 The ruins of the old fort still remained 
 and overlooked a beautiful lake in the 
 valley belaw. While at the ranch and 
 just before leaving I noticed a very 
 comely looking young chap who, while 
 clad in citizen's clothing, wore a Federal 
 cavalryman's hat, such as I had seen the 
 First and Second Texas, U. S. A., wear 
 during Banks' ocupation of Brownsville. 
 The young man seemed preoccupied with 
 his own thoughts and appeared to shun 
 or ratlier hold himself aloof from others. 
 
 Mr. Cook kindly consented to assist 
 me in the exploration of the Rincon. I 
 had engaged the Mexican, Feliciano, and 
 his brother on account of their know- 
 ledge of the Rincon and with these two 
 Ciriaco, Mr. Cook and myself, five in all, 
 we struck out for the big bend. While 
 riding along ray mind reverted to the 
 sad-looking stranger I had observed at 
 the ranch, and I a.sked Mr. Cook if he 
 was a member of the family. "No; that 
 fellow is a prisoner," was his blunt re- 
 ply. 
 
 From the beginning of the blockade 
 until, the fall of the Confederacy the 
 Federal's maintained a body of troops 
 on San Padre Island, just out from Cor- 
 pus Christi. Occosionally the Yankees, 
 finding the way clear, would come across 
 to tile mainland, in small parties, well 
 mounted, and round up a bunch of fat 
 cattle for beef. A short while previous 
 to my arrival with my outfit, a squad of 
 these soldiers had landed at Penescal be- 
 low Corpus and bad been captured by 
 Cook and some of his crowd. Instead 
 of paroling these men they decided to 
 hold tliem, farm them out, and each man 
 to keep his prisoner on the principal of a 
 .sort of peonage. There was no chance 
 of escape. It was a long way to the 
 Rio Grande. It was 30 miles to the 
 
 nearest point on the coast. Corpus, and 
 the avenues of possible escape were well 
 guarded. This Yankee was being held 
 by a member of Richardson's company 
 who lived just across the river above San 
 Patricio. He was given the liberty of a 
 "trusty" and was permitted to visit Mr. 
 Cook at his pleasure. I decided to 
 liberate that Yankee. The heel flies had 
 accused me of having stolen those mules 
 I would now try to steal a Yankee, if 
 the Yankee wa.s willing. 
 
 We had not proceeded far into the 
 Rincon when we heard two shots and a 
 whoop in the direction from whence we 
 came. I understood the signal and we 
 hurried back to learn that Kendrick and 
 Clampit had found a trail where two 
 horses had put into the river and their 
 tracks where they went out on the op- 
 posite side were plainly visible. When 
 Ciriaco examined the tracks he declared 
 they were those of his horse. We had 
 no time to lose. Following Mr. Cook's 
 suggestion, two men were to swim the 
 horses over and follow the trail. Two 
 others were to go up on the south side 
 of the river to the old Beeville crossing, 
 cro.ss over and travel down the river 
 until they should meet the two on their 
 way up the river. Owing to the great 
 bend in the river those going going up 
 the south side would have a much short- 
 er distance to travel and would stand a 
 chance to head off the thieves should 
 they keep near the narrow bottoms. 
 
 We remained until my scouts had 
 disappeared, and then returned to camp. 
 During the evening some of our scouts 
 came in and reported that they had 
 found no trace of the missing man and 
 horse. Early the next morning Wil- 
 liams and I mounted the mules and 
 went up to the ranch, entertaining a 
 hope that possibly we might hear some- 
 thing from the boys who were from the 
 boys who were still out. 1 had resolved 
 to keep those mules under my eyes from 
 that time on, hence the reason for having 
 ridden them that morning. 
 
 Mr. Cook was like all old Texans in 
 those days, generous to a fault when at 
 his house, and while you were welcome 
 to .stay as long as you wished, yet he 
 would employ any and all arts to blister 
 j'ou in a horse trade. Drl Cox, was a 
 Virginian. 
 
 Mr. Cook, the Doctor and the Yan- 
 kee, who was introduced to me as Mr. 
 Stanfield, were going several miles up 
 the river that morning and pressed us 
 
HEEL PLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 43 
 
 to go along. The Doctor took the lead 
 and piloted us to an old rnin in which 
 he seemed to take some interest. This 
 ruin was about four miles above th-,- 
 ranch, and stood on an eminence over- 
 looking the river valley on the east and 
 south, while to the north a short distance 
 away a small creek ran by and emxjtied 
 into the Nueces. The walls were of 
 white, soft limestone and were hoary with 
 age. The ruin was known among the 
 Mexicans and the few Irish and Ameri- 
 cans in that region as "Casa Blanca" 
 (white house), but no one professed to 
 know its builders or for what purpose it 
 ha-d been erected. From the Casa Blan- 
 ca we went to the Mann ranch a few 
 miles above. This fine property 
 was owned by a Mrs. Mann, and her 
 horse and cow brand — a running M — 
 was known from the San Antonio to the 
 Rio Grande. We found the place 
 wholly abandoned. The beautiful re- 
 sidence stood with doors ajar, and the 
 silence of desolation brooded over the 
 surroundings. Dr. Cox dismounted and 
 led the way. In the rooms, once lux- 
 uriantly furnished, still remained some 
 of the furniture, but that which held my 
 attention most was the once magnificent 
 library. Prom early childhood I had 
 been a "book worm," and here spread 
 out before me was the accumulated wis- 
 dom of the ages. Books on the chairs, 
 on the tables, on the shelves — books 
 everywhere, and for me, no time to read 
 scarcely a title page. Every feature in 
 this once elegant mansion betokened for- 
 mer wealth, culture and refinement. The 
 sons had gone away to war, while mother 
 and sisters not caring to hazard their 
 lives on a ranch remote from others and 
 exposed to the rapacity of border ruffians 
 had retired to Goliad, leaving their vast 
 herds of stock and their pretty home to 
 the mercies of the Bedouins of the bor- 
 der. 
 
 Cook and Williams left us and went to 
 look after some stock, and we started on 
 our return. When we had gone some 
 distance the doctor opened a magazine 
 he had secured at the ranch and began to 
 read as we proceeded at a slow gait. 
 This gave me opportunity to fall back 
 and engage Mr. Stanfield in conversa- 
 tion. I told him how I came to be there, 
 my destination, etc., and if he wanted to 
 escape I was there to lead him safely to 
 Matamoras. He asked me if I was in 
 earnest or was I jesting with him in his 
 misfortune. He would gladly go; he 
 
 would take any risk; his people m 
 Illinois were well-to-do and if I would 
 provide a way for his escape, I would be 
 amply rewarded some day. Before reach- 
 ing the ranch a plan of escape was 
 agreed upon, on condition that Ciriaco's 
 horse was recovered. 
 
 As most of our stock had been on the 
 grass during the day, that night we stak- 
 ed them and put out our guard. It was 
 a delightful clear evening, dand we sat 
 around and talked on various subjects 
 until a late hour, when we were startled 
 by the appearance of three horsemen ap- 
 proaching from the direction of the fer- 
 ry. They were Ciriaco, ShofiBt and Ken- 
 drick. They had caught the thieves 
 and recovered the horses. Ciriaco would 
 have but little to say about the capture, 
 but Shoffit and Kendrck said it beat a 
 circus. Near the spot where tht cap- 
 ture was made, was a small mot of naqua 
 trees. The two boys could not under- 
 stand Spanish very well, but said they 
 never heard so many "Carrajos" (a 
 Mexican curse word) in all their lives. 
 They stood by as spectators to see 
 the fun, while Ciriaco was spokesman, 
 orator and executioner. He tied El 
 Zareo, the pelado, to a small naqua, 
 stripped all his clothes off and whipped 
 him most unmercifully with his quirt. 
 The boys declared that he would have 
 beaten him to death had they not inter- 
 ferred and stopped the performance. 
 Not being satished with the beating he 
 gave him lie tore and cut every rag of 
 nis clothing, even his shoes into frag- 
 ments and turned him loose stark naked. 
 The Mexican with EI Zarco could speak 
 a little English and protested his inno- 
 cence, lie was a young lad, and as they 
 had no proof against his being caught in 
 bad company, tney let him off easy. 
 
 The next morning, accompanied by 
 Ciriaco and three others of my most 
 trustworthy men, I went up to Dr. Cox's. 
 On the road I told the.se men my j^lans 
 for getting the Yankee out of his trouble. 
 When we reached the Doctor's it was 
 quite probable that I would have no 
 chance to talk with the prisoner, as my 
 host would occupy all of my time, and, 
 moreover, if seen talking with Stanfield 
 suspicions would be aroused. One of 
 the boys could get him aside and instruct 
 him to be at Lago Cayman that night 
 between 9 and 10 o'clock without fail. 
 I had noticed while at the ranch the pre- 
 vious day a McLelland saddle, the kind 
 used by the Federal cavalry at Browns- 
 
44 
 
 HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS i. 
 
 ville, and he was to be instructed to 
 bring a light army saddle, a bridk and 
 a stake rope whch he could easily carry. 
 
 We remained a couple of hours at 
 Dr. Cox's. I told the Doctor and his 
 family that the object of my visit was to 
 thank them for the kind favors shown 
 me; that I was going to leave immediate- 
 ly, and sincerely hoped that at some fu- 
 ture day we might meet again under 
 more favorable circumstances. By way 
 of parenthesis I want to say that on this 
 and my previous visit I took note of the 
 three sons of Dr. Cox. James, the eld- 
 est, who was about my age, later became 
 one of the dearest boyhood friends I 
 ever knew. Alex, another son, was 
 some ten or twelve years old, while the 
 youngest— Lennie they called him — was 
 a wee blue-eyed lad about four years 
 old and was the pet of the family. He 
 is now a prosperous merchant of Ozona, 
 Texas, and Crockett county has not a 
 more popular upright citizen than L. B. 
 Cox. 
 
 During our stay at Dr. Cox's I ob- 
 served that one of our men was engaged 
 in conversation with Stanfield and I 
 made my stay sufficiently long to enable 
 him to explain fully every detail of my 
 plan. Wnen we left the ranch one of 
 the men told me to be on my guard, as 
 Cook had left early that morning and he 
 believed he was getting his crowd to- 
 gether and if possible arrest us on some 
 pretext or other. He was hated by the 
 ^vlexicans, and at all hazards i should be 
 on my guard. (While seated at his table 
 writing. Cook was shot and instantly 
 kilieu uy a iviexican shortly after the 
 close ot the war). 
 
 It was about 10 miles from the Nueces 
 to Banquette, which was then a very 
 small village on Agua Dulce creek, and 
 directly on the roau to King's ranch and 
 Brownsville. We rode to the Agua 
 Dulce that evening leaving Banquett iwo 
 or three miles to the right and went into 
 the brush, struck camp and waited for 
 night to shelter further operations. When 
 it became dark, four of us rode back to 
 Cayman and lingered there until our 
 man came up with his saddle and bridle 
 swinging aero.ss his shoulder. We had 
 an extra hor.se ready for him and by 
 midnight we were safe in camp on the 
 Agua Dulce. I aroused the boys and 
 told them to saddle up, we must get in 
 the chaparal beyond King's ranch just 
 as soon as possible. None could be in 
 more need of sleep than I, but our safety 
 
 now depended on speed in getting out 
 of the country and I did not want to be 
 taken, tried by court martial and shot 
 for having aided in the escape of a Yan- 
 kee prisoner. Daylight found us snug- 
 ly emconsed in the brush where we spent 
 the day, taking turns in watching and 
 sleeping. In the forenoon I found time 
 to study my new recruit. He told me 
 of his boyhood, his home life, his enlist- 
 ment and his final capture. Ho was in 
 the trenches around Vicksburg during 
 the siege and was with Banks when the 
 latter took Brownsville. He was a mem- 
 ber of the Church of United Brethren 
 and had tried to live right in the army. 
 He showed me a little Bible his mother 
 gave him the day he marched away to 
 the war. When captured by the rebels 
 his little book was about all they had 
 left him and when he slipped a^ay from 
 his captors he had purloined a morral in 
 which to safely curry this precious old 
 book, which in truth, was about all the 
 baggage the poor fellow had to get off 
 with. That evening before resuming 
 our night journey, he asked if we object- 
 ed to his praying before starting. I told 
 him that 1 believed in prayer, and we all 
 would kneel with him. i'rom that time 
 until we reached Matamoras that devout 
 soldier prayed every morning and even- 
 ing, and his walk and conversation 
 showed that he was a noble t^npe of a 
 God-fearing, faithful young Christian. 
 
 That night after having passed King's 
 ranch, we bore off in the direction of 
 Rancho Los Olmes, 30 miles distant. Los 
 Olmes was a quiet secluded place, far 
 from the main line o.f travel, and was 
 rarely visited by Americans. There were 
 some five or six jacals, with as many 
 families, Mexicans, and all seemed very 
 poor. The country alternated between 
 dense chaparal and prairie, grass was 
 abundant and there was no dearth of 
 
 i'eeling quite safe and thirty miles on 
 the main line of travel we decided to rest 
 at Kancho Los Olmes a couple ot days and 
 give our horses needed rest. Grass was 
 exellent, rich and nutrious and the sim- 
 ple Mexicans were kind and ho.spitable. 
 The morning after our arrival a Captain 
 with .30 men, all Mexicans, belonging to 
 Benevides' regiment of cavalry, C. S. A. 
 came up and went into camp within fif- 
 ty yards of our bivouac. 
 
 Before unsaddling, a bunch of their 
 men shot a fine beef steer that with ather 
 cattle had come to the watering place, 
 and while some built fires others engag- 
 
HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 45 
 
 ed ini dressing the beef and ere long the 
 aroma of barbecued meats filled the air. 
 The owner of the animal came out and 
 protested, the captain offered him ten 
 dollars Confederate money , which was 
 refused. This refusal gave the Captain 
 mortal offence. He told the old Mexican 
 who was being ruthlessly robbed that his 
 refusal to accept the national currency 
 showed that he was a traitor to his 
 country and that he ought to be shot. 
 He, the captain, with his men had been 
 detailed to procure a large herd of beeves 
 to feed the hungry soldiers that were 
 fighting for their country ; he had orders 
 to pay ten dollars a head Confederate 
 money, (worth then about 10 cents or less 
 on the dollar), and when a cattle owner 
 refused that offer, he was a traitor and 
 his stock would be taken and no pay 
 would he get. 
 
 These men were well mounted, armed 
 and better dressed than any Confederate 
 soldier I had ever seen. The captain 
 offered to divide beef with us and became 
 very friendly. When he asked me to 
 what command I belonged I told him I 
 was captain of my company and we had 
 been detailed on a scout through that 
 section and report to the commandant 
 at Rancho Davis; that we were short of 
 coffee and sugar and if he had any of 
 those luxuries to spare I hoped he would 
 honor a small requistion. Certainly, he 
 didn't have much on hand, but he would 
 be more than glad to accommodate a 
 comrade in arms — and we got fourteen 
 pounds of real high grade coffee and two 
 dozen peloncillos — the only kind of sugar 
 thej"^ had. 
 
 In conversation, this captain admitted 
 the stealing of live stock and justified 
 the act by saying that it was for the bene- 
 fit and maintenance of the army. He 
 further stated with much humor, that 
 in the organization of the regiment the 
 authorities were told that if ten compan- 
 ies of Mexicans were incorporated in one 
 regiment with Mexican officers , they 
 would steal every thing in sight from El 
 Paso to Boca del Rio Grande. "Acting 
 upon this advice," said he "they had at- 
 tached two companies of Americans to 
 our regiment and it turned out they can 
 steal more in one day than we can in a 
 life time. They steal cotton and grab 
 the customs revenues, while we are sent 
 out to press beeves and horses for the 
 government and when these are driven 
 across the river and sold they pocket the 
 pi'ou««db, b§i'«l)r flowing us our monthly; 
 
 pay of sixteen dollars, specie, our sugar, 
 coffee, clothing etc." 
 
 We rested two days at Los Olmes and 
 in the morning we left, one of the cap- 
 tain's men told Ciriaeo that they had 
 rounded up over six hundred fine beeves 
 during the past day and a half and that 
 they would get as many more before leav- 
 ing. I wi.sh to say in this connection that 
 I do not vouch for the truth of this Mex-' 
 ican captain's statement, I merely relate 
 the story as 'twas told to me. At the 
 time, I had no occasion to give it dis- 
 credit. 
 
 Our next objective point was a cross- 
 ing on the Rio Grande, some miles below 
 Rancho Davis. I had learned from the 
 Mexican captain at Rancho Los Olmes, 
 that one of the two American companies 
 of his (Benavide's) Regiment was post- 
 ed at Rancho Davis. Knowing the cupid- 
 ity of these soldiers stationed on the Rio 
 Grande, I had no desire to meet but 
 rather cherished a fervent desire to 
 avoid their presence. However, we 
 -traveled leisurely, gave our horses ample 
 time to rest and graze, when we reached 
 a point about eight miles from Rancho 
 Davis we fell in with two Mexicans, the 
 elder of whom informed us that he owned 
 a ranch four miles below Ranch Davis 
 and invited us to go by and accept his 
 hospitality as there was to be a baile 
 (dance) at his ranehito that night and 
 we would be entiely welcome. 
 
 I sized this man up as being an all 
 nound picaro,t a fawning rascal that 
 would do to \yateh. We had halted 
 when he and his company came upand 
 after listening to his invitation to his 
 fandango I told of our situation and de- 
 sire to cross the river without encounter- 
 ing a position from the Confederates. 
 He told me that there was a hard set of 
 troops at Rancho Davis, that they were 
 a gang of ladrones and that they patroled 
 the river mth great dilligence in order 
 to arrest those who wee trying to get 
 out of the Confederacy into Mexico and 
 that unless a man was well acquainted 
 with the country and the crossings on the 
 river he would surely be caught by the 
 guards if he attempted to cross. He 
 knew every goat trail in the country, 
 knew of a safe crossing, where the cur- 
 ent was not swift, some miles below the 
 Post ; a friend had a small boat there iu 
 which we could cross over and swim our 
 stock. He would pilot us to the place, 
 procure the boat, and assist in crossing 
 the horties for 4i25. 
 
46 
 
 HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 I was posessed of a fair knowledge of 
 Mexican character and proceeded to turn 
 it to account. I told him we did not need 
 a pilot, that some of us had a knowledge 
 of the rountry and that we didn't care 
 for getting our clothes wet, that we had 
 crossed several rivers on this trip by 
 swimming, but if he was willing to lead 
 the way and secure the little boat I 
 would give him siy dollars, which would 
 be fair wages, for one night's work. 
 
 After some further haggling, he accept- 
 ed the offer and asked us to go to his 
 ranch and get supper before going fur- 
 ther. At the ranch we found that prep- 
 arations were being made for a grand 
 baile that night, The women were cook- 
 ing tortillas, tamales, chili con came and 
 brewing coffee. These refreshments 
 were to be served only to tho.se able to 
 pay for them. The orchestra was al- 
 ready on the grounds and regaled our 
 attentive ear with choice selections from 
 their repertoire. The orchestra consis- 
 ted of only three pieces; a wheezy old 
 fiddle, a clarionetto that bore a very an- 
 cient appearance, and a barrel ^\^th a 
 rawhide stretched over the ends. This 
 rude instrument served as a drum and 
 at each interlude, amateurs almost 
 fought for the privilege of pounding the 
 vibrant rawhide. Quite a number had 
 assembled and the national game, monte, 
 was in evidence. Seated on a blanket 
 spread upon the ground, the man with 
 two or three dollars in small change and 
 a deck of Mexican cards, could open a 
 Monte bank, and unless some shrewd 
 compadre with sufficient wealth to t^p, 
 win and break his pile, was liable to 
 play all night and go home the next day 
 with about the same amount of money. 
 Among these rancho's "bucking at Mon- 
 te'' is a craze, and women, old and 
 young, crowd the card table the same as 
 the men. 
 
 I cautioned the boys to stay close to- 
 gether and to keep an eye on our stock, 
 which was tethered nearby. We were 
 in a tough crowd among whom, judging 
 from their looks, were men who for a 
 dollar would "cut a throat or scuttle a 
 ship", if opportunity offered. We par- 
 took freely of their food preparations, 
 paying for all we consumed and at dusk 
 we rounded up our compadre and set out 
 for the river, which without mishap we 
 crossed and found ourselves safe at last. 
 On the west bank of the river, we slept 
 soundly, refreshingly and undisturbed, 
 and the sun was up shiuuing brightly 
 
 when we arose to breakfast on a scant 
 ration of dried beef. But we were 
 happy; overjoyed at the thought of hav- 
 ing reached a country where Home 
 Guards and conscript officers could not 
 disturb or molest, and we thought that 
 Stanfield's prayer of thanksgiving for 
 deliverance was longer and more fervent 
 than usual that morning. 
 
 From the place of our bivouac on the 
 west bank of the Rio Grande we pursued 
 a southwesterly course through chaparala 
 and nopal until we came to the Camargo 
 and Matamoras ropd. This was one of 
 the most prominent highways in the 
 valley and we had not proceeded far 
 along this road in the direction of Matai- 
 moras when we met a company of sol- 
 diers. Thej' belonged to the liberal or 
 Juarez forces and by their enemies, the 
 Imperialists were called Rojos, liberales, 
 and guerrillas. The lieutenant, who 
 commanded this squad, informed us that 
 the French army had taken Monterey 
 and were advancing on Matamoras and 
 that the Liberal General, Menez, was 
 concentrating his forces for the defense 
 of the city and that we were likely to 
 see some desperate fighting before an- 
 other week had passed. 
 
 Nothing daunted, we pushed forward 
 and in due time, reached the end of our 
 journey. 
 
 Matamoras is situated on the south 
 bank of the Rio Grande and the country 
 away from the citj-, south, north, and 
 M-est, is one vast plain and the spires of 
 the city may be seen from a great dis- 
 tance. It was with feelings of extreme 
 delight that I beheld once more the tall 
 steeples over the great cathedral and as 
 we rode into the city late in the evening, 
 no music ever sounded sweeter than 
 those evening bells, as they rang out 
 from the great belfry at the cathedral. 
 
 After supper Mr. Cox was sent for, 
 and his joy and surprise was excessive. 
 He remained with us until morning and 
 had many questions to a.sk concerning 
 his family on the Colorado. I placed in 
 his hands the quirt which he gave me, 
 five weeks before, and told him his good 
 wife, with her own hands, had extracted 
 from its concealment the letter he had 
 enclosed for her and in its stead had 
 placed a reply. 
 
 There were no banks in Matamoras at 
 the time of which I write and many 
 An;iericaas, Mr. Cox among others, kept 
 their money in the safe in the consulate. 
 The morning after our arrival Mr. Cox 
 
HEEL FLY TIME IN TEXAS 
 
 47 
 
 asked me to go to the consul's ofB,ce and 
 he would pay me. He suggested that 
 we all — my entire crowd — go over and 
 call on the consul. This we agreed to 
 and saddling our .stock we mounted and 
 with the two mules rode over and drew 
 up in front of the consulate. Mr. Cox 
 went in and in a few minutes came out 
 with Mr. Pierce, the consul. There 
 were twenty-four all told in my crowd, 
 twentj' Texans, whom I had been instru- 
 mental in leading into Mexico and the 
 Yankee whom we had run off with, and 
 mj' man Ciriaco. The consul spoke flat- 
 teringly of the achievement, took charge 
 of Mr. Stanfield and retired. Mr. Cox 
 paid me the $200, gold, and didn't com- 
 plain at the expense account. 
 * * * m 
 
 Reader, this closes the story of "Heel 
 Fly Time in Texas." I hope it has prov- 
 en entertaining and instructive. I have 
 made no attempt at verbal embellish- 
 ment. I have stated plain, unvarni.shed 
 facts. There are those li^^ng near San 
 Angelo and elsewhere in West Texas, 
 who know a number of the circumstances 
 related, and there be those who know 
 many of the parties mentioned. You 
 would doubtless know something of my 
 faithful Mexican, Ciriaco ; something 
 more of Mr. Stanfield. 
 
 As to the latter, a few daj's after hav- 
 ing reached Matamoras, he bade me 
 goodbye and stated that he was on the 
 eve of departing, by water, for his com- 
 mand on San Padre Island. I never 
 heard more of him. 
 
 Ciriaco re-enlistcd in the Liberal army 
 under the brave General Mendez and 
 fought gallantly through the war against 
 the Imperialists. He was in General 
 Escobedo's army at the siege of Quarre- 
 tario and witnessed the execution of the 
 Emperor Maximillian, June 19, 1867. He 
 now lives on his hacienda near Victoria 
 in the .state of Tamaulipas. 
 
 The boys readily obtained employ- 
 ment in Matamoras and I learned later 
 that some of them enlisted in the Liberal 
 Army under Juarez and assisted in the 
 overthrow of the Maximillian empire. 
 
 The American consul sent for me a 
 few days after our arrival in Matamoras 
 and offered me a handsome reward if I 
 would go back into Texas and manage to 
 release the San Padre Island prisoners 
 that were still being held near San Pa- 
 trico, but I respectfully declined, prefer- 
 ring a quiet, uneventful life in Mexico, 
 to the hazardous and uncertain chances 
 of being chased by Home Guards during 
 Heel Fly Time in Texas. 
 
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