Jan Star

North Texas Star
January 2014
CHASING OUR TALES BACK TO FORTUNE BEND AND THE MOORE FAMILY
OUTDOORS ALONG THE BRAZOS: THE CHOICE
Randolph B. Marcy:
OFFI CER, GENTLEMAN, TRAI LBLAZER
January 2014 NORTH TEXAS STAR Page 2
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North Texas Star
4
OUTDOORS ALONG THE BRAZOS
The Choice
By Don Price
8
CHASING OUR TALES
Back to Fortune Bend and the Moore Family
By Sue Seibert
12
By Jim Dillard
RANDOLPH B. MARCY
Officer, Gentleman, Trailblazer
I
t lay off the beaten path in western Parker
County along the railroad track, about a mile
south of the farm-to-market.
The small lake's reflected surface turned into a sheet
of sandpaper as the earth shook, caused by a Texas and
Pacific oil-burning, 10-wheel-drive locomotive pulling
more than 100 black tankers toward the Permian
Basin, gaining speed down the slight descent.
It really reminded one of an earthquake as the lake's
surface dimpled, while the iron horse roared a few feet
away at 80 m.p.h., and then it was gone, now just a
faint whistle somewhere down the track west of
Bennett's Acme Brick. The romance of the railroad is
gone, those steam-coal- and oil-burning old iron horses
of yesteryear.
Progress? Streamlined diesels? Of course. Ask any
Wall Street profiteer familiar with railroad costs. But...
the romance is gone, gone forever.
The secluded lake's peaceful atmosphere drew me to
notice it in a transfixed sort of way, with low brushy
hills all round. An old run-down red-tile cabin with
sagging roof was the only man-made structure to be
seen, squatting on a little hill north of the lake.
The old-timers around Millsap simply referred to it
as the T&P Lake. And the environs around the lake
the run-down red-tile cabin and such were as I saw
them in the late 1940s.
The angler hurriedly put his tackle box and other
fishing gear in the forward portion of his friend's alu-
minum boat and shoved as hard as he could, releasing
the light 12-footer from the sticky shoreline muck,
while the mist slowly shredded in an early morning
deep-orange wafer.
He had already fished this small idyllic lake several
times, and rather abruptly decided only the night
before to get an early start, to try his luck in the
35-acre lake.
As he eased out in this pastoral Walden Pond, an
occasional heavy crash would break the silence to let
him know this was a good time, as the big bass were
beginning to strike, he hoped a major feeding period.
This takes good timing on your part and a lot of luck,
80-percent luck at least, maybe even more.
Hardly something like 10 minutes had passed, and
the flashing tempo of bronze in the sun increased ever
so gradually, like a T&P 10-wheel-drive locomotive,
but only starting to move after a dead standstill, from a
standstill to pull 135 pieces of rolling stock at first, but
then the quaking of the earth that follows. Then
things got faster, as the game fish seemed to thrash the
water with more vigor. You'd think you were dream-
ing. It only happens once or twice in a
lifetime if you're lucky, and you've got to fish
every day to increase the one
time, the chance to
witness it, a
massive feeding period. Not one fisher on earth knows
when that will ever be.
The fisherman in the 12-foot aluminum boat was
actually witnessing a full-blown mayfly hatch. Game
fish go wild when this happens. There's the best time
coming when old granddaddy in the hollow stump
might start moving into the feeding arena to gorge on
mayflies himself.
Be ready. Hone your hooks needle sharp. And test
that tapered leader for frayed spots. This could be the
chance of a lifetime, but you won't know it, just wish-
ful thinking.... Especially the next morning in
Whataburger when you have to face the guys over cof-
fee.
To the old fishers in the know, this once or twice in
a lifetime feeding frenzy is just as exciting, even more
so, as hitting a royal flush in a poker game, pot limit,
with the six other players under the alcoholic fuzz, all
deep pocketed boys, a huge pot. Or even winning the
Lotto!
Paddling out into the thinning mist he nervously
joined together his three-piece bamboo fly rod within a
swarm of mayflies and gullible game fish. The way
they're thrashing the surface, they've got to be large-
mouth black bass, he thought.
Running his fingers up and down his tapered leader,
feeling for frayed spots, told him this leader was okay
to fish with. Now for the match-the-hatch insect. What
fly was he to use? He felt that he definitely had to
match the hatch as closely as possible on this one.
A lucky day for the fly fisher, he found a mayfly
imitation in the corner of his Perrine aluminum fly box
and tied it to the end of his 5x tapered leader.
Continued on page 6
Outdoors Along the Brazos
By Don Price
The Choice
Texas & Pacifcs
600, the frst of
the Texas-type
engines, circa
1927, built by
Lima Locomotive
Works, weight
701,100 lbs.
Continued from page 4
A 5x tapered leader (2-pound test) is much too light
to use successfully in stumpy water while in pursuit
of monster bass, but the fly fisherman had just been
fishing the week before for perch and had forgotten to
change to a heavier leader.
He didn't start false-casting right off, but rowed the
little 12-foot boat around the point into the cove he
would remember for the rest of his life, as this was
where the huge bass lived in a hollow stump some 6
feet deep.
And with the great fish having broken his leader
several times, the fly fisher had never been able to
land it and here he is approaching the lair with a 5x
tapered leader.
While his flyline was still in the air, the big fish
roiled the water's surface above its home, the hollow
stump, feeding hungrily on the cloud of insects.
It was up to the fisherman now; he tried his best to
ply his artificial mayfly, to alight on the water's sur-
face as a mayfly would do.
And then surprisingly it all happened so quickly
that the fisherman was shocked. He wasn't ready to
recoil by setting the hook because he remembered in
a flash his 2-pound-test 5x leader. So he tried to set
the hook gingerly, or softly. It worked, the light leader
held.
The gullible old warrior had vacuumed the fly
under, scarcely making a ripple. No sooner had the
fly fisher set the hook than his bamboo rod responded
in a good arch.
One could actually hear the leader cutting the sur-
face in a vee wake and then he remembered the 5x
leader and to soften the rod's arch somewhat.
After the first run was spent, it paused and then
burst out of the water to dance on its tail to shake its
head like a bulldog, trying to throw the hook as only
that patrician of the pond always seems to do. Then
the fish went deep and headed for the boat, causing a
lot of slack line.
The fisherman gained line, frantically trying to
keep the slack out of it, but the bronzed warrior kept
on coming right under the boat to finish its second
run on the other side.
Around the boat twice and then he was through,
floating on his side as the angler eased the landing net
under the great fish's frame.
The fisher could hardly wait to gaze upon his catch;
while holding it at arm's length, the morning's sun
brought a rush of coloration, an iridescence of black,
bronze, green, silver, and tones of light yellow and
ocher from the fish's belly.
What a specimen, the grandaddy of the T&P Lake.
Was the the angler worthy of such a work of art? He
hesitated for a long pause to think about the ambi-
ence, the culture, the fascination of future trips per-
haps.
He hesitated for yet a while longer, but then pushed
a cord stringer through the lower lip of his fish with a
shrug, tying it securely to the side of the boat, then let
the bass easy over the side to swim around, a prisoner
now.
Without nearly as much enthusiasm, he cast once
again; things were not the same. The sun was hotter
now and had chased away the early cool mist; bird-
song wasn't as vibrant; squirrels didn't seem as lively.
The T&P Lake seemed to lose its spooky atmosphere,
its mysterious chill. Half-a-dozen half-hearted casts
were all he could muster. And the prisoner relentless-
ly thumped the underside of the 12-footer.
An analogy would be the big T&P 10-wheeler
belching smoke; the old oil-burning iron horse, it's
gone, it's no more, the romance of the railroad is
gone.
He skipped along with the little boat, digging his
paddle deep, pondering in deep thought himself, gain-
ing sufficient speed to push the light craft past the
watermark, the muck.
The fisher had something bothering him as he toted
tackle box and stuff to his car; he puttered around,
and then he told himself he thought he knew; he went
back to the boat, untied the cord stringer from the
gunwale to pull it from the handsome warriors lower
lip, gently releasing it within a cool pocket under the
big cottonwood tree.
The Texas & Pacifc Railroad purchased a short
line, the WMW & NW in 1903; eighty years
later Don ONeal restored the depot on South
Oak Ave. in Mineral Wells, completing the
dream of his late father, George ONeal.
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Chasing Our Tales
Back to Fortune Bend and the Moore Family
By Sue Seibert
I
received a letter recently that I would like to
share with you. It was written in response to one
of my old columns about Fortune Bend that
appeared in the Painted Post years ago and is now
on my website at http://www.oakcottage-tx.com/. I
will include the old column here, and I am hoping
someone who reads this might be able to help the
correspondent with the new question:
Dear Sue, My name is Andrew. I started looking
for my family about two months ago. After speaking
with my great uncle, he said my great-great-grand-
parents are buried around Mineral Wells, Texas. He
described the place along the Brazos River. He was
recalling this memory as a child and said there was
an old bridge and a new bridge, a farm house home-
stead, and a small family cemetery. As I was looking
online I came across your site. My family would
have been Moore. My uncle said that George and
Maggie Moore, or her name could have been listed
as Margaret, were buried there along with two chil-
dren, a son and a daughter. The Fortune Bend drive
as you described was similar to what my uncle said.
He recalled it was off the highway and a windey
drive. If you have any information on the grave site
marked Moore, would you please let me know?
Thank you so much for your time. Looking forward
to hearing from you. Andrew Kemp.
Now, here is the old column. I hope the letter and
the column together will help in finding Andrews
family!
We went out for one of our Sunday drives and
decided to see how far down Fortune Bend Road we
could go. Fortune Bend
can be accessed off of
Highway 4 north of Palo
Pinto, and before becom-
ing completely private
land, you can drive for a
little over 10 miles seeing
some of this most beauti-
ful land which has
become known as the
North Texas Hill Country.
About 8 miles into our drive we came upon the
Fortune Bend Cemetery. It is a lovely, peaceful little
plot nestled into the side of a hill, the ground purple
with juniper berries. I have no idea how many
graves were in this tiny cemetery, as many were only
marked with a limestone head and foot marker but
no names inscribed which could be read.
(You can find the Fortune Bend Cemetery online
at http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr
&CRid=2151352&CScntry=4&CSst=46&CScnty=2
701&CSsr=21&.)
The oldest readable marker was that of J.T. "Jim"
Snoddy. This marker had been crudely carved of
handmade orange cement, and it had recently been
replaced with a new marble marker. The marker
states that Jim Snoddy was born in January 1868 and
died in November 1902. There was a second Snoddy
grave which stated that A.R. Snoddy, born 28
February 1895 and died 19 May 1933 was the son of
J.T. and Mollie Snoddy.
(I now see that Find a Grave says that the name
should be Stephen R. Snoddy.)
Other families buried in the Fortune Bend
Cemetery included Moore, McCoy, Lewis, Thomas
and Richardson.
Fortune Bend was named for John Fortune who
came to the area as a pioneer in 1846 with many
slaves. Mr. Fortune never moved his family from his
Waco, Texas, home, and stayed, himself, only a few
years before returning to Waco.
The next family to move into the bend, which is
bordered on three sides by the Brazos River, was the
Williams family who arrived about 1872. Henry and
Gipp Williams brought their families to Fortune
Bend from Illinois. At that time, Mineral Wells had
not been settled, as the Lynch family did not arrive
until 1888, so the nearest town was Weatherford.
The Williams family reported seeing many wild ani-
mals, including bears.
After the arrival of the Williamses other families
began to move to the bend. They included Crabtree,
Giddings, Weldon, a second Williams family and
Snoddy, and about this time a school was built in the
area. The families began farming cotton and corn
and raising cattle.
By the turn of the century bend family names
included West, McCoy, Richardson, Gann, Simms,
Pendergraft, Garland, Days or Daes, Height or
Hight, Basham, McHare, Coker, Camel, Walker,
Sellers, Upton, Adkins and Blue.
In 1920 the school burned, and another school was
built by 1922. Teachers of the Fortune Bend school
included Dora Peach, Lena Ruth Watson, Clarence
Giddings, Delia Watson, Bob McNeme, Myrtle
McConnel, Lela Bell Harris, Nola Marshall Garland,
Grace Webster, Homer Tate, George Slimp, Coon
Garland and Afton Walker.
There is a second Fortune Bend Cemetery very
close to the first one. It is located about 200 yards
passed the first where you take a right turn and fol-
lowed the road up the hill. Continue up this road
until you reach an old house and barn. This is the
Williams old family home. Behind the house, upon
the hill, is found a small family cemetery containing
the markers for the Weldon family.
Thomas Fielder Weldon and Elizabeth Craig
Weldon were farmers and ranchers. They established
a small ranch in Fortune Bend. They registered the
XAV brand on Feb. 8, 1881. Their homestead was
started on a hill with a living spring at its base. A
doorway was dug into the hillside and framed with
cedar logs. On the threshold, at the mouth of the
spring, is built with river rocks and the initials TFW-
MEC are carved in the rock facing the entrance.
When Elizabeth died in 1883 at the age of 42, she
was buried on a hill some distance from the house.
After Elizabeths death, Thomas went back to
Arkansas for awhile, returning to the home place in
Texas, where he died on arrival 1885.
This area was often plagued by Comanche
Indians, who stole their livestock and killed or
wounded the settlers. One interesting occurrence can
be read at http://www.forttours.com/pages/
stcraw.htm and is entitled "Crawford Fight on
Chick Bend Mountain." This Indian raid
occurred in 1874 and many of the early pio-
neers are listed in the article.
Another Fortune Bend family is the John
Worth and Bonnie Marie Storm Gann family.
John Worth Gann, the fourth child of Bayless
and Laura Etta Hunt, was born Nov. 16. 1894,
in the Veal Creek community. He married
Bonnie Marie Storm Sept. 23,1920, at
Pickwick, Texas. She was born April 27, 1899, in
the Pickwick area. Their children were twins, Veva
(McCoy) and Vearon, born July 18, 1921, in Caddo,
Texas. Vearon died June 30,1985 and is buried in the
Indian Creek Cemetery west of Mineral Wells,
Texas; Vera Nell (Phillips), born Oct. 14, 1923, in
Pickwick; and Cecil, born June 9, 1938, in the
Fortune Bend community.
Continued on page 10
Fortune Bend was named for John Fortune who
came to the area as a pioneer in 1846 with many
slaves. Mr. Fortune never moved his family from
his Waco, Texas, home, and stayed, himself, only
a few years before returning to Waco.
John Worth Gann served in the Army in WWI.
Vearon served in the Navy in WWII. The son-in-
law, Euther Phillips, (ret. U.S. Army) served in
WWII, the Korean conflict and in Vietnam War.
John and Bonnie lived in Pickwick, Caddo,
Fortune Bend and Mineral Wells. John was a
farmer and rancher and did custom hay baling. He
moved to Mineral Wells in 1940 and set up an
auto salvage business.
John died July 24, 1972, and is buried in the
Indian Creek Cemetery, and Bonnie died April
1997, and is also buried in the Indian Creek
Cemetery.
You can discover much about the Gann family
on the internet at http://www.galen.gann.com/.
(This website is no longer available. Another
site might be helpful, http://www.linkpendium.
com/genealogy/USA/sur/surc-G/surc-Gan/sur-
Gann/.)
Here is information on other Fortune Bend resi-
dents.
Henry Montgomery Goodin was born in
Colgate, Okla., in 1922, and attended school in
Fortune Bend. He moved to Abilene from DeKalb
in 1991. He had worked for Hall Construction
Company for 12 years and for Mineral Wells Sand
and Gravel for three years before he retired. He
married Edith Franklin in Palo Pinto in 1968. She
preceded him in death in 1990.
Jack McCoy was born Dec. 28, 1929, at
Fortune Bend and died July 22, 1977, Park Lake,
Palo Pinto, Texas. He was married to Letha Lavell
Storm, daughter of Leroy "Buddy" Storm and
Thyrza L. Mitchell. Leroy was the son of Allen
and Jessie Nicholas Storm, and Allen is the son of
George Storm and Emily Moore. Jack and Letha
Storm's children were Sharon, Caron, Sue, Jackie
and Shawna. Information on this family can be
found at http://midatlantic.rootsweb.com/database/
d0044/g0000092.htm on the internet.
(This site is still available.)
There is certainly a wealth of genealogical
information about the Fortune Bend area, and I
hope, as time goes by, to tell you more tales of the
area.
Next month I will continue on Fortune Bend
and try to discover more about the Moore family
who lived there. If you have information, please
contact me at PO Box 61, Mineral Wells TX
76068!
Thanks!
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Randolph B. Marcy:
Officer, Gentleman, Trailblazer
By Jim Dillard
July 1, 1852 The gigantic escarpment of sand-
stone, rising to the giddy height of eight hundred feet
upon each side, gradually closed in until they were
only a few yards apart, and finally united over head,
leaving a long, narrow corridor beneath, at the base
of which the head spring of the principal or main
branch of Red river takes it rise. This spring bursts
out from its cavernous reservoir, and, leaping down
over the huge masses of rock below, here commences
its long journey to unite with other tributaries in
making the Mississippi the noblest river in the uni-
verse Randolph B. Marcy.
I
n his journal, Captain Randolph B. Marcy, 5th
United States Infantry, recorded his July 1,
1852, discovery of the source of the Red River at the
head of its main branch in Palo Duro Canyon, locat-
ed in present Randall County in the Texas
Panhandle. Other expeditions led by Lt. Zebulon
Pike (1806), Captain Sparks, Thomas Freeman,
Lieutenant Humphry, Dr. Custis (1806) and Major
Stephen Long (1819), had previously failed to locate
where one of the largest and most important rivers in
the United States had its beginning. At the time it
was believed to have its origin in the foothills of the
Rocky Mountains, but expeditions into that region
located only the sources and tributaries of the
Arkansas, Rio Grande and Canadian rivers
On March 5, 1852, Captain Marcy had received
orders from Adjutant General of the United States
Army to make an examination of the Red River
and the country bordering upon it, from the mouth of
Cache Creek (west of present Waurika, Okla.) to its
sources, according to the special instructions with
which he will be furnished. On completing the expe-
dition, Captain Marcy will proceed to Washington to
prepare his report. Brev. Capt. G.B. McClellan,
Corps of Engineers, is assigned duty with this expe-
ditionThe necessary supplies of subsistence and
quartermasters stores will be furnished from the
most convenient depots in the 7th and 8th military
department. By command of General Scott.
Marcy would be in command to lead a 70-man
exploring expedition through an unexplored region
of Indian Territory and Northwest Texas where few
white people had ever ventured.
Captain Marcy immediately departed for Fort
Smith, Ark., where he began assembling the neces-
sary transportation and five months provisions for
the expedition. He was able to acquire 10 good hors-
es from the quartermaster and proceeded to the mili-
tary depot at Preston (now under the waters of Lake
Texoma) on the Texas side of Red River north of
present Pottsboro, Grayson County, Texas, for addi-
tional supplies. The expedition was outfitted with 10
teams of oxen which would provide good service for
transporting all the necessary equipment and bag-
gage for the long expedition. Marcy then instructed
the wagon master to lead the assembled caravan via
Fort Arbuckle to the mouth of Cache Creek.
From Preston, Marcy traveled southwest to Fort
Belknap in Young County, Texas, where he arrived
on May 2, 1852, to unite with his unit of the 5th
U.S. Infantry. From there he would lead 55 men of
Company D under Lieutenant Updegraff and rendez-
vous with the supply train at the mouth of Cache
Creek on the north side of the Red River.
Accompanying the expedition was Doctor George G.
Shumard of Fort Smith, Ark., who would serve as
surgeon for the expedition and help collect speci-
mens of rocks, minerals, soils, shells, mammals, rep-
tiles, fishes, invertebrates and plants. Other informa-
tion would be collected or documented on meteoro-
logical conditions, barometrical observations, geolo-
gy, water resources, topography, and on anything
else of interest relating to the natural history of the
region.
At the age of 40, Marcy was no stranger to the
type of task that lay ahead of him and the men he
would lead on this expedition. His military training
and vast experience gained during his earlier career
in the army well qualified him for this assignment.
He was born in Greenwich, Mass., on April 19,
1812, and entered the United States Military
Academy at West Point on July 1, 1828. In 1832 he
graduated 29 in his class and was brevetted a second
lieutenant in the 5th Infantry. Between 1835 and
1846, Marcy saw most of his duty on the frontier in
Michigan and Wisconsin. During the Mexican War
(1846-1848) he served with Gen. Zachary Taylors
army and saw action in Texas at the battles of Palo
Alto and Resaca de la Palma.
With the discovery of gold in California during
1849, gold seekers looked for a route west from Fort
Smith, Ark., to Santa Fe, NM. In 1849 Marcy suc-
cessfully escorted a party of 500 Arkansans on a
route previously traveled by Josiah Gregg in 1839
across the elevated plains on the south side of the
Canadian River across the Texas Panhandle into
New Mexico and on to Santa Fe. During that year as
many as 20,000 emigrants traveled this road, which
became known as a southern branch of the
California Road.
On his return trip to Arkansas, Marcy traveled
from Dona Anna, NM, (near present Las Cruses) via
El Paso and turned northeast through west and West-
Central Texas to Preston on the Red River. This
route would later be used by emigrants traveling to
California, the Butterfield Overland Mail and Stage
route and later by Oliver Loving and Charles
Marcy
Randolph B. Marcy:
Goodnight to trail cattle herds to New Mexico
and Colorado.
In 1851 Marcy escorted Gen. William
Goldsmith Belknap and five companies of the
5th U.S. Infantry to a crossing on the upper
Brazos River on the road he had previously laid
out between Preston and Dona Anna. The site
was selected for the construction of a fort (Fort
Belknap) that would provide security for
travelers headed to California and pro-
tection of settlers in the region from
Indians.
And now the Red River expedition
would once again take him into the
wilds of Northwest Texas on a mission
of discovery. Marcy kept a daily journal
of the expedition which was published
in 1854 in a book he authored entitled
Exploration of the Red River of
Louisiana in the year 1852 that chroni-
cled the arduous journey. In it he por-
trays a fascinating glimpse of a region
once thought to be uninhabitable and
void of life sustaining water or land
resources suitable for settlement. On the
contrary, he describes a land with good
grass, timber along the streams and
springs of fresh water on many of the
rivers and their tributaries. Some areas
had soils suitable for farming and live-
stock grazing, others not so much.
Abundant populations of pronghorn
antelope, bison and white-tailed deer
provided a source of food during the
entire journey. Other unknown species
were collected and notes taken on the
natural history of everything from prai-
rie dogs to spiders. During the expedi-
tion, the days march would begin at 2
or 3 oclock in the mornings and
stopped by mid-day to conserve the
strength of the horses and oxen.
Marcy first explored the Wichita Mountains
in present Oklahoma and several tributaries of
the Red River including Cache Creek, Otter
Creek, the Salt Fork of Red River, and
Sweetwater Creek. In the Texas Panhandle he
traced the North Fork of the Red River to its
source southeast of present Pampa, Texas.
Turning south he crossed another stream he
named McClellan Creek in present Gray County
for his soon to be son-in-law Capt. George
McClellan. As the expedition traveled on south-
ward, they encountered a region where the only
water available was tainted with gypsum and
not suitable for drinking. A vast prairie dog col-
ony was encountered below the Caprock which
Marcy estimated covered 625 square miles.
After traveling through more prairie dog
towns, they finally reached the south or main
fork of Red River and entered Palo Duro
Canyon. Marcy suggested the river be named
after the Comanche word for the river
Ke-chea-qui-ho-no or prairie-dog-town
river, and today it is still called the Prairie Dog
Town Fork of the Red River. They were awe-
struck as they made their way into the deep
chasm of the canyon with walls abruptly jutted
upward 800 or more feet to the elevated flat
plains of the Llano Estacado (Staked Plains)
above.
While traveling through the canyon, Marcy
and McClellan spotted a herd of antelope graz-
ing in the distance. In an attempt to call one of
the antelope into rifle range using a fawn bleat-
call he had obtained from one of the Delaware
Indian guides, Marcy inadvertently called in a
panther (mountain lion) instead. He successfully
killed the lion which measured 8 feet from nose
to tip of tail. One of the guides also spotted a
black bear in the canyon but was unable to kill
it after his horse got wind of its scent and bolt-
ed.
Due to the rough terrain and narrowness of
the canyon, only Marcy, McClellan and a
detachment of 10 men proceeded 25 miles up
the river and camped. All water in this portion
of the stream continued to be contaminated with
gypsum causing sickness and wors-
ening thirst as they had no other
choice but to drink it. It was not
until the following day, July 1, 1852,
that they encountered fresh water
free of gypsum flowing from a tribu-
tary two miles from the head of the
canyon. On July 3, 1852, having
successfully found the source of the
main branch of Red River, Marcy
and the detachment returned to the
camp downstream where the other
members of the expedition waited to
begin the long journey back to civili-
zation. The expedition arrived back
at Fort Arbuckle on July 28, 1852
with no loss of life or livestock.
They had traversed over 1,000 miles
of unchartered territory in Indian
Territory (Oklahoma) and Texas and
discovered mineral deposits, 25 new
species of mammals and 10 of rep-
tiles.
This would not be Marcys last
trip to Texas. Two years later when
the Texas Legislature authorized that
certain unoccupied public lands be
set aside for the establishment of
two Indian reservations in Northwest
Texas to be operated by the federal
government, Marcy was sent to
locate and survey suitable lands.
That expedition was chronicled in a
manuscript taken from the diary of
W.B. Parker, who accompanied Marcy, in his
book, Through Unexplored Texas, in the fall
and summer of 1854.
This expedition also originated in Fort Smith,
Ark., and traveled across Indian Territory to
Preston on the Texas side of Red River. They
traveled across the northern tier of Texas along
the route Marcy had established during 1849
toward Fort Belknap. At Cottonwood Springs
(west of present Olney, Texas) Capt. Marcy ren-
dezvoused with Texas Indian Agent Maj. Robert
S. Neighbors and his Indian scouts to begin a
march toward the upper reaches and tributaries
of the Wichita and Brazos rivers to locate sites
suitable for the reservations. After making a cir-
Randolph Marcy
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JANUARY 1864
Palo Pinto County and the surrounding area was in the grips of "terrible
drought," according to the memoirs of Henry Belding, a local pioneer.
"The Brazos did not run for a long time, and what water there was stood in
small holes long distances apart. I believe a man could have ridden in the river
bed from Young County in all its meanderings until it left the county without
wetting his horse's hoofs. Large bodies of large post oak timber, some of which
looked like it had growing for a hundred years, died between Camp Cooper and
Breckinridge."
JANUARY 6, 1884
The George Troupe Scudder family, having sold their holdings in Georgia, ar-
rived on Keechi Creek in Palo Pinto County. George, his wife and their seven
children came by train. A nephew, John Terrell, tagged along. According to local
history, "For several years, not one blade of anything grew due to the drouths.
Water was so scarce, the family had to get water from the one water hole in
Keechi Creek where all the cattle and other stock watered."
cuitous reconnaissance of the mostly desolate region
they made their way to the Clear Fork of the Brazos
in present Shackelford County and camped at the old
Stone Ranch where former Indian Agent Stem had
established a rancho three years earlier. (He was
killed during February 1854 while returning from
Fort Belknap.)
Marcy and his entourage arrived at Fort Belknap
on Sept. 7, 1854, where they were met by a gather-
ing of Indians including Jose Maria of the Anadarko
and other representatives of the civilized tribes
who welcomed efforts of the government to place
them on reservations and for protection against the
Comanches who frequently raided the region. Two
sites were eventually selected and surveyed for the
reservations, one east and south of present Graham,
Texas, that would be known as the Lower or Brazos
Reservation (for Caddo, Anadarko, Waco, Ioni and
other civilized tribes) and the Upper or Clear Fork
Reservation (for Comanches) north of present
Albany, Texas.
In 1857 Marcy served briefly in the Seminole War
in Florida and later that year with Albert Sidney
Johnston on his expedition to Utah to establish a
non-Mormon government in the former Mormon
Territory. He became famous for his march of over
1,000 miles to provide relief to Johnstons army
which had become stranded without supplies in the
mountains of Utah. Marcy was recalled to
Washington in 1859 to prepare a semiofficial gov-
ernment guidebook based on his vast knowledge of
the west for travelers planning to cross the vast
western territories. His book The Prairie Traveler,
became a classic and contained such information as
what equipment to carry, methods of organizing
wagon trains, techniques for avoiding Indian attacks
and maps of 34 of the most important trails to fol-
low. On Aug. 22, 1859, he was promoted to the rank
of major and assigned as regimental paymaster.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Marcy was pro-
moted to colonel and named inspector general of
McClellans Army of the Potomac. From Sept. 23,
1861, through July 17, 1862, and from Sept. 13,
1862, to March 4, 1863, Marcy served as acting
brigadier general of volunteers. On March 13, 1865,
he was brevetted brigadier general of the regular
army for gallant and meritorious service in the
field and on the same day major general of volun-
teers for faithful and meritorious service during the
war.
Randolph Marcy would serve as inspector general
of various departments of the army through 1878.
But it was while on an inspection and fact-finding
tour of the Texas frontier with Gen. William
Tecumseh Sherman during May 1871 that he nar-
rowly escaped massacre on the Butterfield Stage
road between Fort Belknap and Fort Richardson near
Jacksboro by a raiding party of Kiowa Indians. Over
100 warriors led by Satanta, Big Tree and Lone Wolf
on a raiding party into North Texas from across the
Red River lay in wait behind Cox Mountain, watch-
ing for an easy target passing along the road to
attack.
Sherman and Marcys small wagon train was
escorted by 17 black soldiers and included a small
army ambulance in which they rode. As they passed
near Cox Mountain, the Indians decided not to attack
this small train and wait for a bigger prize. Sherman
and Marcy continued on safely to Fort Richardson.
The following day as seventeen wagons owned by
the firm of Warren and DeBose in Weatherford car-
rying corn to Fort Griffin passed along the road near
Cox Mountain, they were attacked.
Seven teamsters were brutally killed and the mules
taken by the Indians. Miraculously, Marcy and
Sherman had narrowly escaped death on Salt Creek
Prairie.
Randolph Marcy retired from the army on January
2, 1881, and died Nov. 22, 1887, at his home in West
Orange, NJ. In addition to the two books already
mentioned, Marcy was a prolific writer and docu-
mented many of his travels throughout the western
United States including, Thirty Years of Army Life
on the Border, (1866) and Border Reminiscences,
(1872). For his contributions to the exploration and
settlement of the Texas frontier, we as Texans owe a
debt of gratitude and honor to this officer, gentleman
and trailblazer.
(Sources: Exploration of the Red River of
Louisiana in the year 1852, by Randolph B.
Marcy; The Warren Wagontrain Raid, by
Benjamin Capps; Through Unexplored Texas, by
W.B. Parker; Texas State Historical Association
On-Line and other internet sources.
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January 2014 NORTH TEXAS STAR Page 20 January 2014 NORTH TEXAS STAR Page 18
STORIES & SNIPPETS
BY SSGT. BILL COOK
Dear Aunt Gertie, Uncle Louie
I got my check out in an armed Huey
Now my troubles are all by gone
Cause Im over here shooting around Saigon.
A bit humorous perhaps, but not the story behind the verse of song composed
by an Army Warrant Offcer helicopter pilot fying an armed UH-1B Huey in
Vietnam.
Today, bachelor WO Michael J. Davis lives with two of his buddies, WOs Jan Bin-
gen and Dick Jarrard, also from the 197th Avn. Co. (U.T.T.), in a trailer house that is
reminiscent of the apartment in the movie, Pillow Talk.
The three pilots have been together about two and a half years now. They at-
tended fight school together, went to Vietnam and served in the same company,
for awhile in the same platoon, and now all three are assigned to the U.S. Army
Primary Helicopter School at Fort Wolters as instructors in the schools new Flight
Division.
Davis was well known in Vietnam for his entertaining with songs composed
about things he had seen while piloting his armed Huey on missions supporting
the RVN and U.S. troops.
I went fying with Jim Lee. He got shot right through the knee. You remember
old Tom Baker. He hit a mine and thought that he had met his maker.
Although a little fippant about the business of war, Davis was certainly not
fippant about the way he carried out his duties while assigned to the Playboy
Platoon.
For his service in the Republic of Vietnam, he has been awarded the Air Medal
with 21 Oak Leaf Clusters, or 22 awards of the decoration. Each award is based on
an average of 25 missions into a hostile area. He holds the Good Conduct Medal,
the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for Vietnam and has been nominated for
three other high awards. The Playboy Platoon is part of the only all-armed helicop-
ter company in the world. Each of the Hueys in the unit carried six 7.62mm M-60
machine guns, and two pods of 2.75-inch rockets.
This is in stark contrast to his personal life.
Davis is an excellent folk guitarist, and the trio have quite a collection of folk and
jazz records and tapes. They also collect various types of frearms, including one
Russian manufactured rife that Davis picked up while serving in Vietnam.
I saw this VC making it across this rice paddy...so I just swooped down and got
him. After registering the weapon with the local military authorities, they permit-
ted him to bring it back to the States.
When the group is not busy teaching offcer and Warrant Offcer Candidates
how to fy (much of their instruction based on their experiences in Vietnam), they
can be found riding around on their motorcycles, duck hunting, or just lounging
around the trailer with their registered basset hound, Bod, which is short for
body, which is short for Baron Von Bodyworthy. They named him this because
we couldnt stand his real name, Chalimar Acres Timothy. But they were quick to
point out that there had been 16 champions, some of those world champions, in his
blood line, including Bods sire, Chalimar Acres Just Lazy.
Davis performed some of his Vietnam compositions at the Air Force Association
Meeting at Carswell Air Force Base December 7, to honor the returning members
of Air Forces 7th Bomb Wing and the Vietnam veterans who are assigned at Fort
Wolters on the staff of the
helicopter school.
I just talked to Warren
Green. He said he saw a
Mig 15. He said it started
a bombing run. I think Ill
watch it; this should be a lot
of fun.
You should see him, hes
a Beaut. Now hes straffng
Tan Son Nhut. Hes coming
this way, his aim is better.
Darling Mudder, Fodder dis-
regard this letter.
This series of pieces from the past is meant to remind us of this
areas unique history. The material comes from old issues main-
tained at the Index offce and is presented pretty much as it
appeared in print. These papers are quite yellowed and brittle,
deteriorating from age. By publishing these pieces perhaps we can
keep them in play in the digital world for years to come. For clarity,
some punctuation issues have been addressed. Hopefully you will
enjoy these tiny windows to the past. Feedback is appreciated and
will be shared. E-mail publisher@mineralwellsindex.com or send
your letter to Mineral Wells Index, P.O. Box 370, Mineral Wells,
Texas 76068, attention publisher. You may also drop it by our offce
at 300 S.E. 1st. St. in Mineral Wells. Thanks for reading!
Vietnam Music Man Teaching Students At USAPHS To Fly
Sunday
December 12, 1965
Mineral Wells Index
Jane E. Privitt
Co-Owner
Elliott & Waldron Abstract Co.
of Palo Pinto, Inc.
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