today we have some more actual history about the Western frontier of Texas around the time of the Civil War this story took place near Mason Texas all the way back in 1863 when commanches caught sight of little Alice Todd's red gold hair which they heavily prized we will be reading a story from the spring 1961 issue of Frontier Times magazine titled kamane captive by William CX Hancock illustrated by BJ mousy so here is the tragic story of Alice Todd and her family which begins in Fredericksburg Texas in the late 1850s John Todd halted his covered
wagon in front of a Trading Post in Fredericksburg the outermost German settlement in the leean Apache Hill Country of Central Texas and with six-year-old daughter Alice and three-year-old son Johnny Holding On To His Hands entered to purchase some supplies they encountered a band of six Indian Braves preparing to leave through the back door these were much the biggest Indians John had ever seen in spite of their gay feathers bright paints and shiny bracelets and earrings these Indians looked as Fierce as Eagles each Warrior carried a wicked looking scalping knife in addition to his bow and
arrows all paused a moment and stared at Alice's red gold hair then stroe from the store with an arrogance manner act like their Lords of the pl said John as indeed they are smilingly said the stoep Keeper in cultured English Trac with a slight German accent they call themselves Nina which means live people white men call them commanches commanches exclaimed John it's commanche country we're headed for the part Ranger Scouts call Sans sabba land I know said the Traer a wondrous country between the Lano and Sans saaba Rivers the commane name for this region means
happy hunting ground and the subtribes men inhabiting it are enviously called panetas or honey eaters by other Indians but you haven't a chance in the world to make it there alone especially since those bucks just in here took in your little girl's reddish hair which they highly treasure as a token of Good Fortune you better join a wagon train which has been forming here and must be about ready to start for your Promised Land John followed this advice next morning he found his wagon a part of a train headed almost Due North toward the upper
reaches of the Lano as The Travelers approach s Sabal land game became most unbelievably abundant no longer was there any necessity for hunting meat it was now merely a matter of shooting whatever game was desired along the trail the country teamed with deer Antelope and wild turkeys black bear spooked by the noise of the train scurried up the mountain sides hordes of ownerless black cattle racked through the thickets and herds of Buffalo and wild Mustangs were constantly in view the lead wagon had reached the Lano Crossing when the driver ited dust clouds to the West
Indians form a circle with the wagons he bellowed waving his hat in an ark the word was passed down the line water barrels and household goods were dragged out and made into breast works the men crouched behind this barricade while the women sat nearby on the ground to reload for them at this critical moment the oncoming Horsemen topped a slight rise and the traveler saw a Detachment of federal Cavalry approaching the entire camp sighed with relief The Troop cantered up and halted the young officer commanding dismounted and introduced himself as Lieutenant Stewart Alice darted out
from her father's wagon and executed a Charming courtsy for him hello goldilock said the officer as he bent down to one knee and held out his arms without a moment's hesitation she put her arms around his neck and kissed him the glow in his eyes mirrored his thoughts of family and Home in Far Away Virginia Lieutenant said Todd it goes without saying that we are prayerfully thankful to see you but may I ask what accounts for our good fortune in having you here this detail is out of newly established Fort Mason Colonel Robert E Lee
commanding replied the officer we have been on a long Scout beyond the koncho river the planes are alive with commes and there seem to be a million buffalos for every Indian is there good land in this country which can be taken up or bought very cheaply asked John Fort Mason is located several miles up Honey Creek which flows into the Lano from the north said Lieutenant Stewart nearby is much good land for the asking but it's at the edge of settlement the Todds immediately decided to settle there the train reformed and the Cavalry troop helped
the settlers cross the Lano and escorted them to sand Sabal land according to Lieutenant Stewart there were no organized Indian bands depredating in the area at the moment so the other wagons Cut Loose from the Cavalry escort and changed course to the Northeast the Todds built a comfortable cabin about 5 m above Fort Mason beside a mineral spring which flowed into Honey Creek their nearest neighbors were the Tom Woods Family some 3 miles away from whom Jon presently acquired Foundation stocks of horses and hogs on days when he was not clearing land or breaking soil
for next year's corn and wheat crops he scouted the PLS searched the valleys and rode out the thickets for unbranded cows and dogies through Lieutenant Stewart's cooperation he got the fort blacksmith to forge and shape him a Branding Iron with the legend JT which he hoped to register when time and circumstances permitted it was of course legal and honorable to brand dogies and any other unbranded beef animal more than a year old John Todd was in business now and he looked forward to the future with confidence he managed to gain a contract with the fort
for the delivery of firewood the proceeds from which kept his family supplied with commodity Staples and ammunition settlers continued to enter Sans sabba land andc increasing numbers and the commanches grew more restive frequent reports trickled in of a ranch family murdered and scalped here a lone Rider jumped and slain there a surveying party ambushed and wiped out somewhere else among the victims was a widely circuit riding Methodist Minister named Jonas a dancer who had held services for the Todds and other Fort Mason settlers only a few days before he was scalped by the time of
the Fall Roundup Jon was beginning to make like a Cattleman he sold his 2-year-old steers and bought his family some Comforts the sale also provided money for tuition and board for Alice for the three-month School term in Sans sabba town the corn and wheat yielded heavy crops and amid the general rejoicing Lieutenant Stuart received word of his promotion to Captain Sarah arranged a party with a double purpose celebration Of The Dashing officer's advancements and a sendoff for Alice there arrived a moment when Captain Stewart and John found themselves in reasonably quiet Corner the officer's manner
suddenly became grave between us he said slowly I hope we have not stage this celebration prematurely judging by my mail from home the southern states are in a mood to secede from the union unless they are granted certain concessions do you think secession would mean war between the states asked John let us hope not certainly not if the Hot Heads can be restrained replied The Virginian when Alice came home for the Christmas holiday Civil War clouds were gathering ominously South Carolina seceded from the Union on December 20th and soon the other southern states joined in
but a small prophetically wise group in Texas headed by Governor Sam Houston kept that state in the Union until radicals took over in February and lined Texas up with the Confederacy in San Antonio on the 18th of the month General David E Twigs commanding the department of Texas signed an agreement with the Texas Commissioners providing for peaceful evacuation of United States Army posts by federal troops a few days later Captain Stewart rode into the Todd clearing looking very grave indeed he had come to say goodbye everything at the fort is in total confusion he said
as you know Colonel Lee has long been detached and the new commandant acts like he thinks he should arrest somebody many of the officers and men are Southerners and are stating openly that they intended affect the Confederacy and of course as Virginia goes so must I go my point in being here is to urge you to pull out until things get stabilized again the commanches will get wind of our leaving and it will only be a matter of time until they sweep down on you the Todds were momentarily speechless with shock and grief in her
gentle manner Sarah thanked him for his many kindnesses and expressed heartfelt hope that the Lord would watch over him in the years ahead John shook his hand warmly and hoped that they might all meet again in the midst of Peace Alice who never never cried burst into a fit of weeping as though her heart would break when the officer turned to leave now now goldilock sued the captain as he kneeled down before her you must never send a soldier away with tears in your eyes she rushed into his arms but continued to implore him not
to leave he kissed her ever so tenderly set her gently on her feet and stood up he saluted he turned on his heel and mounted his horse and galloped down the trail it was goodbye for some 3 and 1/2 years later he lay in the mud dying of his wounds in the battle of the Wilderness Sarah said John after the two had sat in silence for some minutes we've slaved to get where we are the war which is probably coming May last for years if we pull out of here now there will be nothing left
when we return if we ever return what shall we do whatever you think we should do is what I think we should do she replied then let's sleep on it and talk further on the matter tomorrow he said as he took her in his arms the next morning Tom Woods wrote over to announce excitedly that the Cavalry had indeed abandoned Fort Mason the settlers were a Gog over this development but not one was considering pulling out said Woods instead they were calling a meeting for that afternoon to plan the formation of Minutemen for the defense
against the commanches and wanted Jon to attend Woods had just ridden off when the Todd Hound set up a fearful Racket and dashed toward the edge of the clear clearing John looked and could hardly believe his eyes when he held a mounted squa with a companion in white man's dress mounted behind her after a minute's hesitation Jon stepped forward from the cabin and motioned for the Indians to approach and get down the brave held the bridal of the squad's horse in an obvious move to keep her from dashing off as he led her up to
the cabin he was wearing a gold crucifix and Moccasin instead of shoes he dismounted removed his broad brimmed hat revealing a full shock of black hair instead of the usual semi- plucked pain of the commanche warrior he bowed gracefully my name is Manuel Castro he said in Spanish 90 call Manuel Low by height Lone Wolf Manuel half Mexican half 90 Manuel wish be white man's friend and her questioned John indicating the squa squa daughter of Chief buffalo hump N9 call her Rosie hummingbird Manuel call her Rosita at the sound of her name the young squa
raised her head and flashed a quick smile her thick black hair was worn in two giant braids festooned with bright feathers commanches normally forc their women to cut their hair short she was dressed in fringed buck skin ornamented with bright shells and a few beads her moccasins were also decorated with gay colored shells she looked quite clean Big Chief of Long Knives good friend Emanuel and Rosita continued the Indian why Long Knives leave fort johon hesitated not sure it would be a good idea to tell the Indian the soldiers had pulled out for good Long
Knives go on Long Scout he said at last will Long Knives return to Fort asked Lone Wolf now there's a question requiring a careful answer thought John finally he said yes someday Manu will have Lodge one son there toward 9 said the commanche pointing toward the Northwest chief of Long Knives no let white man shoot Manuel nor Rosita now white man shoot if he find but if he know shoot Manuel and Rosita be white man's friend help N9 there he waved in an ark toward the Northwest but if N9 come Manuel warn white friend a
one-man peace treaty said John to himself he turned and eagerly explained the conversation to Sarah this represents direct help from our blessed lord said Sarah reverently you're right Sarah I'll tell Manuel that we are glad to accept his proposal when this information was communicated to Manuel he bowed in his gracious Manner and replaced his hats he turned and took down from his horse a thick roll for the Senor and the Senora he said as he handed John Two Fine Buffalo robes for the Nito he said as he offered a delicately carved miniature bow with a
small quiver of feathered arrows carrying fire hardened points inste of Flint heads Manuel obviously knew something about the Caprice of small boys for for the n n must never see little Sunburst he said as he held forward an ornamented buck skin outfit complete with moccasins which seemed to be a miniature copy of The Ensemble Rosita was wearing at this moment Sarah stepped forward from the cabin for Manuel she said as she handed him Jon's pride and joy a keen fine tempered hunting knife with an inlaid handle for Rosita she said as she placed in his
hands her own necklace of semi-precious stones we Brothers said man Manuel as he again bowed deeply then turned and mounted his horse and the two commanches rode away into the underbrush Manuel has obviously been spying on us as he knew the makeup of our family I hope he doesn't scalp us with my own knife said John with a rice smile John Todd attended the meeting of the Minutemen the group agreed that every effort should be made to get along with the commanches until further notice no settler would go deep into the Northwest country in search
of Strays or for any other purpose or do any other thing which might stir up the commanches but if the commanches raided the settlement area the Minute Men were to assemble with all possible speed and strive to kill every Raider thus encouraged John decided that he and his would stand fast on their exposed Ranch then came the Fateful 12th of April and the hotheads on both sides staged the tragically unfortunate show at Fort Sumpter in South Carolina the Civil War in effect had begun but not until June 8th did acting Governor Clark declare Texas in
a state of War Governor Houston had walked away from his official chair and had gone into retirement rather than abgate his oath of allegiance to the union soon Sans Sabal land was drained of her young men as they answered the call to Arms one morning the Todd hounds went into their Indian frenzy Manuel and Rosita were sitting on their horses at the edge of the clearing the Todds waved them in cheerily and signal for them to get down Manuel handed Sarah Buckskin bagged filled with smoked Buffalo tongues thank you Manuel she said with a smile
we are very glad to see you please come in he got her General meaning and took Rosita by the arm half leading and half dragging the nervous girl into the cabin inside the house Manuel explained that he and Rosita had been on a long buffalo hunt beyond the koncho N come to Manuel's Lodge while Manuel and Rosita hunt Buffalo he stated leave message B have Rosita's brother these cousins holding up two fingers these Braves holding up three fingers hunt horse but no hunt here because Manuel said no hunt one son there pointing to the Northeast
Manuel followed try a little way NY pass near this Lodge maybe so see little Starburst very bad this information caused Sarah busy as a beaver in her kitchen to pause in fearful speculation but work prayer and hope constituting the only only salvation on this Frontier she returned to her cooking while silently beseeching Divine protection for them all she said at a feast fit for an emperor under her kindly urging Rosita overcame a little of her shyness she was enthralled with Alice and her Red Gold hair the commanches rode away shortly after the meal proud of
and pleased with their friendship for the Todds some 10 days later as the sun was setting the Todd hounds again bugled their Indian alert Manuel and Rosita rode into the clearing and approached the Todd cabin without awaiting an invitation this time he was armed to the teeth white man's arms too he was leading two good horses on each side of his Mount Rosita bow and quiver of arrows slung on her back was leading four pack horses in a line three were heavily Laden with tanned hides and bundles of Furs the other with utensils and the
remains of their knockdown Lodge obviously Emanuel did not subscribe to any of this slow moving Indian travois business Rosita's brother visit Manuel's Lodge last son said the Indian without preliminaries say 90 Council vote scalps of Manuel and Rosita must be taken because friends of white man Manuel great warrior and take many scalps in 90 Wars Chief buffalo hump give Rosita to uel but now 90 no friend Emanuel and Rosita because we friends to white man what will you do now asked John Manuel and Rosita travel by night till reach Fredericksburg and trade horses and Furs
maybe so some horses then go to Mexico ask him if there is anything we can do to help him said Sarah he says we are the ones in need of help replied John Rosita's brother warned that the commanches would come for their scalps around the full moon and plan to raid this country they know about Alice he calls our attention to the fact that the Moon is nearing the full and urges us to get out of here at once Manuel and Rositas sadly rode away Southeast into the Gathering Darkness the Todds molded over their predicament
a check showed that the moon would be full in three nights John decided that they would pull out the next day as quickly as he could bury their valuables and round up the horses he would warn the other Settlers of the impending attack and keep his family in the settlement area near the forts until the commanches had left the country everything was Up Before Dawn preparing for the Exodus John mounted a horse held in the lot and rode forth to gather the other horses by the time the family was ready to start for the settlement
the sun was nearly overhead Jon put lead ropes on the horses and the two yearlings leaving a weing Philly to follow along and secured them to the saddle horn then he slung a bag of clothing in front of his saddle he called for Alice who emerged from the cabin decked out and honor of the exciting trip to the settlements in the outfit Rosita had made for her the reddish yellow glow of the splendidly tanned buck skin matched her hair and she did indeed resemble a little Sunburst the father lifted her up behind his saddle while
the mother did likewise with little Johnny and the party shoved off along the trail to Honey Creek just as they reached the creek and struck the trail South to the Settlements a turkey gobbled Upstream not far away John froze to attention from what seemed to be a considerable distance Downstream a turkey gobbled in reply commanches go have mercy on us moaned Sarah her teeth clenched in anguish John kicked the clothing bag free and tossed the lead ropes quick over this hill he said if we can get around him we can approach the settlement from the
south I'll ride ahead about 200 yard if they intercept us it will have to be that ban from Downstream in that case I'll try to hold them off while you ride back over the hill to the Honey Creek Trail the Todds had galloped about a mile down the valley and their hopes had risen when suddenly a war party numbering perhaps 40 Braves came pouring out between the fleeing Todds from an aroyo on the west opening to Honey Creek they were hardly 50 yards behind Alice and her father about half of the band swung toward Sarah
and John saw his beloved wife turn her horse and head back toward home his only hope was that they would take her captive and that he might later rescue or Ransom her the rest of the band bore down on John and Alice Jon dug his heels into the mount and the Speedy horse widened the distance between him and the pursuers seeing this the commanches opened up with their arrows and Jon had to zigzag his Mount this maneuvering cost him grounds and the Indians began closing the Gap suddenly the horse stumbled and Alice shot off to
one side the Gallant animal regained his feet without actually going down but the Indians were right on top of Todd he escaped being lanced only because he jerked his Mount suddenly to the left he continued to Arc toward the left in the now wide Valley with the intention of trying to ride back toward the band to Alice he looked back and saw several Braves holding her gleefully but none trying to injure her if he opened fire he felt the Indians would murder and scalp the child he decided that if he threw his life away now
many days would pass before this Indian outrage would be discovered too late for Rescue of his family so he set his horse down toward the settlement for all he was worth and under his lighten load HE soon left the commane so far behind that they abandoned The Chase in later days some of the settlers censured John Todd for these actions he galloped into the settlements only to find nearly everybody away on a community project for clearing a camp meeting ground over the Lano it was late afternoon before he finally assembled a party of eight elderly
men and boys riters were dispatched east and south to spread the alarm and recruit more men the small party bravely accompanied Todd back along his Trail no signs of Alice or her abductors were seen but when they reached the spot where Sarah had turned her horse they stumbled upon the remains of Mrs Todd and little Johnny the scalps missing from their decapitated heads the party gathered up the pieces in a blanket and carried them toward the Todd clearing where the smoke could be seen curling up through the trees the Indians had burned the cabin to
the ground all the horses and two yearlings had been stolen the weanling Philly and several pigs and cows lay about with arrow shafts projecting from their bodies Todd's neighbors dug two shallow Graves and one of them mercifully led him away while the others buried his wife and son all through the night the remaining men of sans Sabal land rode into the Todd clearing at first light the rescue party now some 25 strong struck the commy trail leading Northeast toward the lower reaches of the S Saba River this seemed to indicate that the Indians were out
to steal more horses and could be overtaken the trail was easy to follow and the white men rode hard as night approached they reached Turkey Creek which flows through what is now the famous Sloan Ranch in Sans saaba County here beneath a tall Bluff was a muched comme campsite the murdering band had camped there the night before on the face of this White Cliff the rescue party found two bloody handprints of a size and confirmation that an 8-year-old girl might have made while leaning forward in exhaustion to rest her weary head apparently the commandes had
tied Alice's wrists with green rawh hide so that as the Rawhide dried the bonds grew Tighter and cut into the flesh the Comanche band apparently altered their plans and elected to forego further horse stealing on this foray and instead lit out for their stronghold in the Northwest the whites pressed the trail as hard as they could but the ground grew rougher and rockier in the trail dimmer in spite of the Peril and their small numbers Todd and his posi stuck to the pursuit right on into the foothills of the Santana mountains the heartland of the
Southern commanches here the trail faded out completely with heavy hearts the Gallant little company had to turn back empty-handed in actuality the bloody handprints on The Cliff face were later thought to be a well-executed Indian painting but from them had already Arisen the legend of the bloody handprints of little Alice Todd Kaman lore dealing with the closing years of their life on the Open Range often refers to a great Chieftain who had a squa with hair like a Sunburst was this celebrated squa once the able little daughter of John Todd with a red gold hair
so that's it for this episode to this day nothing is known about what happened to alist Todd after she was captured the story mentioned Lieutenant Stewart who was with the federal troops at Fort Mason before the war broke out I believe this refers to James UL Brown Stewart who was stationed at Fort Mason Stuart was a distinguished General during the Civil War the story mentioned that he died at the Battle of the Wilderness on May 5th 18 1864 but he actually died on May 11th at the Battle of yellow Tavern in henrio County Virginia it
is unclear whether steuart actually met the Todds or whether this was some embellishment on the part of the author of this story in the next episode on unworthy history we are going to follow this story up with an account of the same story from one of Alice Todd's classmates at her school in Sans sabba some of the details in her classmates story differ from those in this story from Frontier Times magazine this upcoming episode will also include some other stories of Indian attacks in Sans sabba and Lano counties during the same time period this episode
will be released very soon so stay tuned to this channel for more actual history this channel is called unworthy history because we talk about actual history that is now deemed unworthy to discuss on History Channels on TV if you'd like to support the mission of unworthy history then consider joining our patreon page or becoming a YouTube channel member your contribution towards keeping actual history alive will be recognized at the end of each episode and you will also have access to special membersonly videos so if you want to see more episodes like this then be sure
to like And subscribe and we'll see you next time on unworthy history
