With
this post, I hope to prove to one and all that I can tell a horror story and
ghost story--all wrapped up in one event--without scaring myself.
I
can do this.
The
story is about a Texan named Josiah Wilbarger who was one of the early settlers
of Austin, Texas. Some dispute exists where he had lived before, but
probably it was Indiana or Missouri.
 |
| ONION CREEK IN PRESENT DAY | |
He
settled near the Colorado River where there is a bend called Hornsby Bend,
named for Reuben Hornsby. Today this bend is close to an area between Austin
and San Marcos called Onion Creek.
In
1820, Hornsby and his family had built a blockhouse fort there, and a small
settlement grew up around it. Josiah Wilbarger spent time at the fort and soon
became enamored with one of the Hornsby daughters.
Since
Wilbarger was single man and a frontiersman, he hired himself out as a guide to
surveyors and land scouts in the wild area west of Austin. However, he made one
fatal mistake, and that was to take the same route every day into the open land
that was free for the taking.
When
a man begins to use the same route every day, he becomes predictable. A good
and capable scout would know to vary his route often. Failing to do so put
him and the men he led in serious trouble. They became vulnerable to ambush.
On
one fateful day, a group of Comanche warriors approached Wilbarger's party and
began shooting. Two men escaped, but the rest of the party were shot, including
Wilbarger.
He
was hit in the neck by a large-caliber musket ball. It apparently bruised his
spine, temporarily paralyzing his entire body. Although conscious, he was
unable to move or even blink his eyes. This method was called "creasing" if used intentionally.
The
Indians stripped him naked except for one sock on one foot.
SIDE
NOTE:
"Creasing"
a Wild Horse consisted of shooting a bullet so that it strikes the animal on the
top of the neck just in front of the ears and about an inch or so deep close to
the spinal column. The shock stunned the horse, and the hunter ran up and
tied the animal's feet together before it recovered.
Some
advocated this method of capturing a mustang, but more often than not, the act
killed or maimed the horse such that it had to be put down in the end.
****
Wilbarger
suffered these same symptoms after being struck by a musket ball. To others, he
appeared dead. Luckily, this act saved his life.
As
a writer and researcher, I was surprised the Comanche had guns in addition to
bows and arrows. Also, some accounts say the Indians were Kickapoo--not Comanche.
The Indians began to strip and scalp the men. When it came Wilbarger's turn, he
did not feel pain, but only pressure on his scalp where the Indian cut around
the hair and skin he intended to remove.
Wilbarger
later related he heard a sound 'like distant thunder" as the scalp was
ripped away. He said he looked into the Indian's eyes the entire time, unable
to move or even blink. If he had done either, the Indian would have killed him.
At some point he lost
consciousness.
When he awakened, the
sun was low. He dragged himself to the banks of Onion Creek, washed as much of
the blood off as he could, wet the one sock, and placed it atop his head over
the area that had been scalped.
He tried to go in the
direction of Hornsby's fort but didn't get far. Exhausted, he sat down at the
base of a big tree, still naked, and prepared himself to die. He folded his
arms and cupped his hands over his privates so whomever found him would not be
distressed or disgusted.
Shortly after the sun
went down but before true darkness fell, he amazingly saw his sister, Margaret
Clifton, walking toward him. He thought
she was still back in Indiana, 700 miles away. She stood in front of him and said
"Have no fear, brother Josiah. Help is on the way." She then
'disappeared' going in the direction of Hornsby's fort.
When the two survivors
arrived at Hornsby's blockhouse
fort, they insisted all others had been killed. All men there tightly closed up
the fort and loaded all rifles and pistols in preparation for a possible
attack. When darkness fell and there was no attack, the residents relaxed
slightly and the Hornsby family went to bed.
Soon after falling asleep, Sarah Hornsby abruptly awoke.
She sat up. She'd had a dream. In it she saw Wilbarger--wounded but
alive, sitting under a tree. She woke Reuben and told him of the dream.
Reuben didn't put much stock in dreams. He told his wife to go back to sleep.
Wilbarger was dead. The survivors saw him killed. He and the boys would go
collect the bodies as soon as the sun came up.
Sarah went back to sleep. She had the dream again, this time in greater detail.
"He's been scalped," she told Reuben. "He's got something on his
head-some sort of cloth over where he was scalped."
Reuben again told his wife that dreams meant nothing, and to go
back to sleep.
Sarah had the dream a
third time, this time in much greater detail. She was able to describe his
exact location. Reuben gave in and woke the boys. They dressed, and went out to
saddle horses.
"Take the wagon," she told them. "He can't
ride." She brought blankets and quilts from the house to pad the wagon's
bed.
They found Wilbarger exactly where Sarah Hornsby described from
her dream, and he was alive. At the fort, the Hornsby daughters nursed him back
to health.
Later, Josiah married one of the daughters, retired from his job
as a scout, and operated a cotton gin for the rest of his life.
The skin never grew back
over the skull where he'd been scalped. He wore, according to the stories, a
silk or quilted skull cap at all times.
Several months into his recovery, Wilbarger received a letter from
his family. It had been written months before, soon after his sister "appeared"
to him as he lay near death under the tree. Mail service was slow during those
early days in Texas.
The sister who appeared to him died the day before he was shot. As
he lay unconscious and bleeding on the banks of Onion Creek, she was laid to
rest.
When she appeared to him, she was spending her first night in the coffin
in her grave. Believe it or not.
Years later, Josiah Wilbarger hit the scalped portion of his head
on a low doorframe, fractured his skill, and died.
Josiah
Pugh Wilbarger (September 10, 1801 – April 11, 1845)
A
legendary early Texan who lived eleven years after being scalped by
Comanche Indians.
(The
following is found on the back of his tombstone.)
Captain of a Company of
the
Mississippi Militia in the War
of 1812. First came to Texas in 1814
In 1818 he was Brigade Major
of Long's Expedition
Returned to Louisiana and
next came to Texas in 1822 with
Stephen F. Austin
Fought in the Battle of
Velasco in 1832
and was a delegate to the
Consultation in 1835
~~*~~
Celia Yeary-Romance...and a little bit 'o Texas
Sources:
Wikipedia
The Handbook of Texas Online
South Texas Traveler
Texas Tales Your Teacher Never Told You
