Ted wrote:
Did the Military Road expose them to the open prairie in a way that might have made them vulnerable to Plains Indians?
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The Plains Indians generally stayed west of the Cross Timbers and the heaviest casualties were in the future Wise and Parker counties continuing until the early 1870s. There was one major raid across Montague and Cooke Counties about 1868.
Most of the Indian attacks in northeast Texas before the Military Road were from small bands coming down from Indian Territory and the large encampment of several tribal fragments at Village Creek in present Arlington. Those were disrupted by the General Rusk and Dyer campaigns in 1839 and mostly ended by the May and July 1841 campaigns of General Tarrant and by the Treaty of Birds Fort in September 1843. Colonel Cooke lost several men on his trip north in 1840 and lead a small retaliatory raid into Indian Territory northeast of Fort Inglish with another man killed.
Warren Ferris and his survey crew east of the Trinity at Kings Fort near present Kaufman did have several encounters and a few deaths between 1839 and 1841. Those like the massacre at Fort Parker in 1836 were probably by the Cherokees then settled in East Texas.
Fort Parker, Kings Fort, Fort Inglish and several similar forts in northeast Texas were built and defended by the settlers, not the Texas Army or Militia. The Texas Militia, re-established in 1838 by the same act that authorized the Military Road, conducted a number of campaigns in northeast Texas and to the Three Forks. Companies were organized in almost every county but were not constantly on patrol.
Birds Fort (in present Arlington) was the only one built under the Military Road Act in the fall of 1841 and it was abandoned in the spring of 1842 due to the expansion of the Peters Colony. The Act, which promised additional land to those settlers who located near the planned forts, was repealed and their claims denied. One of the Bird's Fort Militia, Hampton Rattan, was killed by Indians on Elm Fork on Christmas 1841 and Solomon Silkwood of the rescue party died from exposure. There may have been another death but I can't confirm the details.
The first settlers to the future Dallas County did encounter a few Indians in 1842 but there were no casualties. The 1843 and 1844 attacks in the future Collin County generally only caused one or two deaths and there were only a couple of incidents.
At the beginning of the US Mexican War in 1846 a new line of forts was established and manned by volunteer Texas Rangers in Federal Service. The western defense included Fort Washita in Indian Territory, Elm Station 3 miles south of where Gainesville was later established, Hickory Station just west of Alton the original Denton County seat, Johnson Station at Marrow Bone Springs in present Arlington, and several others extending south to the Rio Grande. The original company that manned Elm and Hickory Stations was organized in Buckner and commanded by Andrew Stapp. Two additional 1 year re-enlistments were commanded by William Fitzhugh also of Collin County. The ranger companies serving in Texas were part of Jack Hays Regiment in a battalion commanded by Peter Hansborough Bell. Middleton Tate Johnson who commanded the company at Johnson Station would later command that battalion and in that capacity was responsible for the selection of the site of Camp Worth in 1849. The Rangers were all mustered out that year and Camp Worth was manned by Regulars of the US 2nd Dragoons under Major Ripley Arnold.
There were several deaths among the Cooke and Denton County Rangers from 1846 to 1849 though most due to accident or disease. There were not any major skirmishes with the Indians in north Texas but that may have been because of the Rangers' heavy presence and constant patrolling. The Rangers in south Texas spread over a larger territory did suffer a number of casualties including Littleton Rattan, a veteran of the 1841 Village Creek campaigns, who had also led the original scouting party to the Throckmorton community later that year. He was killed near Laredo.
M C
Did the Military Road expose them to the open prairie in a way that might have made them vulnerable to Plains Indians?
------------------------------
The Plains Indians generally stayed west of the Cross Timbers and the heaviest casualties were in the future Wise and Parker counties continuing until the early 1870s. There was one major raid across Montague and Cooke Counties about 1868.
Most of the Indian attacks in northeast Texas before the Military Road were from small bands coming down from Indian Territory and the large encampment of several tribal fragments at Village Creek in present Arlington. Those were disrupted by the General Rusk and Dyer campaigns in 1839 and mostly ended by the May and July 1841 campaigns of General Tarrant and by the Treaty of Birds Fort in September 1843. Colonel Cooke lost several men on his trip north in 1840 and lead a small retaliatory raid into Indian Territory northeast of Fort Inglish with another man killed.
Warren Ferris and his survey crew east of the Trinity at Kings Fort near present Kaufman did have several encounters and a few deaths between 1839 and 1841. Those like the massacre at Fort Parker in 1836 were probably by the Cherokees then settled in East Texas.
Fort Parker, Kings Fort, Fort Inglish and several similar forts in northeast Texas were built and defended by the settlers, not the Texas Army or Militia. The Texas Militia, re-established in 1838 by the same act that authorized the Military Road, conducted a number of campaigns in northeast Texas and to the Three Forks. Companies were organized in almost every county but were not constantly on patrol.
Birds Fort (in present Arlington) was the only one built under the Military Road Act in the fall of 1841 and it was abandoned in the spring of 1842 due to the expansion of the Peters Colony. The Act, which promised additional land to those settlers who located near the planned forts, was repealed and their claims denied. One of the Bird's Fort Militia, Hampton Rattan, was killed by Indians on Elm Fork on Christmas 1841 and Solomon Silkwood of the rescue party died from exposure. There may have been another death but I can't confirm the details.
The first settlers to the future Dallas County did encounter a few Indians in 1842 but there were no casualties. The 1843 and 1844 attacks in the future Collin County generally only caused one or two deaths and there were only a couple of incidents.
At the beginning of the US Mexican War in 1846 a new line of forts was established and manned by volunteer Texas Rangers in Federal Service. The western defense included Fort Washita in Indian Territory, Elm Station 3 miles south of where Gainesville was later established, Hickory Station just west of Alton the original Denton County seat, Johnson Station at Marrow Bone Springs in present Arlington, and several others extending south to the Rio Grande. The original company that manned Elm and Hickory Stations was organized in Buckner and commanded by Andrew Stapp. Two additional 1 year re-enlistments were commanded by William Fitzhugh also of Collin County. The ranger companies serving in Texas were part of Jack Hays Regiment in a battalion commanded by Peter Hansborough Bell. Middleton Tate Johnson who commanded the company at Johnson Station would later command that battalion and in that capacity was responsible for the selection of the site of Camp Worth in 1849. The Rangers were all mustered out that year and Camp Worth was manned by Regulars of the US 2nd Dragoons under Major Ripley Arnold.
There were several deaths among the Cooke and Denton County Rangers from 1846 to 1849 though most due to accident or disease. There were not any major skirmishes with the Indians in north Texas but that may have been because of the Rangers' heavy presence and constant patrolling. The Rangers in south Texas spread over a larger territory did suffer a number of casualties including Littleton Rattan, a veteran of the 1841 Village Creek campaigns, who had also led the original scouting party to the Throckmorton community later that year. He was killed near Laredo.
M C