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A Texas Pioneer. August Santleben
Читать онлайн.Название A Texas Pioneer
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isbn 9781647981228
Автор произведения August Santleben
Издательство Ingram
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than is usually expressed in a new railroad town when visited by the road's officials in their private car. Fre- quently the natives, with their primitive flutes, made of burnt clay and of cane, would serenade the passengers at the stations where we stopped, and very often a dance was arranged for them at night, to which the respectable class of people were invited. As I was fond of dancing, these events afforded me pleasant recreation and I never failed to attend them.
On one occasion General Wardwell, the general in- spector of United States custom-houses along the Rio Grande from its mouth to El Paso, participated in one of such entertainments. He was on his way to Brownsville, and as there was no public means of conveyance to that place, other than on my stage to Monterey, where con- nection was made with the Mexican stage line to Mata- moras, he accompanied me to the end of my route. At Lampazos the general and other passengers, including myself, were invited to attend a select dance gotten up for our benefit by the best people of the town, and as many of them were present it proved to be a swell affair.
The general was a close observer, and he noticed particularly, that several ladies present wore a silver ornament of beautiful workmanship attached to their belts by two chains, that had the handle and sheath of a dagger. He took advantage of the first opportunity that offered to express his interest in the subject by remarking to his companion that he had always discredited the statement made about Mexican women carrying daggers about their persons, but with the evidence then before his eyes he was forced to believe it was true.
His criticism was circulated among the ladies and it gave rise to many pleasantries at his expense. One of them approached him in a spirit of raillery, and suddenly but gracefully drawing from its sheath one of the deceptive daggers it spread into a beautiful fan which she fluttered before his face in an elegant manner while merrily
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laughing at his confusion. The outer folds of the fan were two flexible springs that were secured with the folds at the lower end to a delicate rod which, when drawn outward to the mouth of the sheath, unfolded in the shape of a half circle. The novelty was imported from France and they became very popular. Some of them were expensively ornamented with precious stones and displayed the highest grade of workmanship, but those most commonly in use were supplied at a reasonable price.
The Republican government of Mexico had been fully reinstated, and before this time a law was passed to forbid the circulation of money bearing the stamp of the empire, with a view to eliminate every evidence of Maximilian's reign. The law also authorized its being sent out of the country free of export or other duties with the intention of ridding the country of it as soon as possible. As it was not a legal tender in the republic the money became greatly depreciated, but it commanded a premium in the United States and we bought all we could afford with the means at our command through Messrs. Weber & Ulrich, our agents in Monterey, who secured all that was offered. We never cleared less than thirty-five per cent, by the speculation, consequently so long as any could be had, we made it a profitable business.
We transported many thousands of dollars from Mon- terey and other points along my route that was consigned to merchants in San Antonio, compared to which our own, in the above noted speculation, was insignificant. As it was known that we carried money, and sometimes large amounts, it is remarkable that we were never molested except on one occasion in Texas, and that time the attempt was a failure. It happened about thirty-seven miles east of Eagle Pass on my way to San Antonio, but I had been forewarned and the designs of the highwaymen were frustrated.
When I arrived at Eagle Pass I found a letter awaiting
me from my partner, Captain Muenzenberger, written at
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San Antonio, and dated February 10, 1868. He stated that he had received information of a scheme to rob me, and that a party of men had left that city with the intention to waylay me. He advised me to be on my guard and not travel at night, as it was probable that they would make their attack under the cover of darkness. I also received a letter from John Kenedy, of Sabinal, at the same time, in which he communicated the fact that a party of eight men of questionable appearance had spent the night at his ranch, and the next morning, as it was necessary for him to go to Fort Clark, he accompanied them to Uvalde, a distance of twenty miles, where they took the Eagle Pass road. When on the way they asked him if he was acquainted with my schedule time between Chichon and Turkey Creek; also if I carried much money over the route, and many other questions which excited his suspicions. He also warned me to be on my guard because he was convinced that the men intended to attack me somewhere between the points designated.
These warnings of my friends made me cautious and I took their advice by changing my usual programme. It was my custom to drive the twenty-seven miles between Eagle Pass and Chichon before dark, stopped there until two o'clock the following morning, and generally, I arrived at Turkey Creek about five o'clock A. M.; but on that trip I did not start from Chichon until seven o'clock, and we resumed our journey with the expectation of having an exciting time. I took my seat on the outside of the stage with my extra man and driver, where I could look out for the robbers and be prepared for anything that might happen. On the inside of the coach were my four passengers, Mr. Gilbeau, the father of Mrs. Bryan Callaghan, who is the wife of the present Mayor of San Antonio ; Mr. Fernando Garza, also of San Antonio, and Messrs. Nicholas Burke and Jim Riddle, of Eagle Pass. We were all well armed with Winchester rifles, which were
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placed where they would be ready for use at a moment's notice.
We were all determined to give the highwaymen a warm reception in the event of an encounter, and a strict watch was kept ahead, but nothing occurred to excite suspicion until we started down a long grade when we saw a party of men in the distance on the north side of the road. Evidently they were the expected robbers, but we agreed to let them start the fight, after deciding to " run the gauntlet " as the best means of avoiding the attack.
I ordered the driver to lash the mules and at the crack of the whip the half-wild animals dashed forward at full speed. We approached the men under full headway, and nothing but a volley of bullets could have stopped the team on that incline. When passing the party we noticed that only six men were in sight, but when they saw our strength and that we were prepared, they abstained from making any threatening movement. Those inside the stage greeted them, saying, " We are behind time. We are in a hurry. We can't stop." But the baffled outlaws made no response and we dashed onward until they were lost to view.
The faces of the six men were fully exposed, but we passed so quickly none of them could be recognized. Later they were all identified, but it is wrong to circulate harmful reports about the dead by naming them and equally cruel to their families. It is sufficient that I eluded them through the aid of friends and I shall never cease to be grateful for their interest in my welfare on that occasion. If they had not forewarned me of the danger I would not have been on my guard when the would-be thieves waylaid me, and as all my passengers were brave men they would not have submitted quietly to being robbed, consequently the incident might have had a tragic ending instead of terminating as it did in a farce.
Mr. Gilbeau once had an experience with highwaymen
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in the Paso de la Laza, near the Sabinas River, in Mexico, and his cool, determined action on that occasion brought about decisive results. The ambulance he was on was stopped by ladrones and they surrounded it, but before they could commence their depredations Mr. Gilbeau dropped two of them in rapid succession, with a double- barrel shot-gun, and the others ran away.
Mr. Garza was credited with an equally resolute char- acter and his bravery was never questioned. He was the youngest of three brothers that were members of a prom- inent family in San Antonio. They possessed equally fearless natures and all, at one time, held commissions in the Mexican army, but when Major Adolph Garza was killed in a duel by Colonel Henrico Mejia in 1867, Captain Juan Garza and Lieutenant Fernando