The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 34, July 1930 - April, 1931 Page: 52
359 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Iistorical Quarterly
The Indians responsible for the death of young Dugan and
Kitchens and the attack on the Kitchens house were renegade
Coushattas from the United States. This group of Indians, and
associated bands, were not only a source of constant menace to
the white settlers of Texas but also to the civilized Chickasaws
north of Red River, as is shown in the letter which A. M. M.
Upshaw, of the Chickasaw Agency, near Fort Towson, wrote to
Major William Armstrong, acting Superintendent for the Western
Territory, on September 13, 1841:
. . . For the last two years the Chickasaws have been very
much annoyed by various bands of Indians, who intruded into
their district, viz.: Delawares, Kickapoos, Cherokees, Caddoes,
Uchees, Coushattas and others. The ostensible business of these
various bands was hunting, but they carried on an extensive trade
with the Comanches and other wild tribes, who are situated to
the south and west of the Chickasaw district; and I have reason
to believe (from the horses that they bring into this country be-
ing States-raised horses, and generally shod) that they, or the
Indians they traded with, stole them from the citizens of Texas.
This last winter those bands became more numerous and trouble-
some. They commenced killing the stock of the Chickasaws, and
stealing their horses, and got so strong, bold, and threatening,
S. . that the Chickasaws, Choctaws and traders petitioned me
to have them removed forthwith. I immediately went among the
various bands and advised them to move, but all I could say to
them had no effect. They at one time threatened hostilities, and
the good and peaceable citizens became so alarmed, that I called
on the commander of the second department, western division, to
send, as soon as possible, troops to protect the frontier and move
these bands off; which request was complied with in the last of
April, May and the first part of June. The troops left the Chicka-
saw district about the fifteenth of June, since which time some
fixed by the fact that it took place on Monday night following the mar-
riage of Mary Dugan to Daniel Montague. This wedding was solemnized
November 14, 1841. Accordingly, the battle was fought on the night of
November 15-16. Joseph Sowell was killed, John P. Simpson says, on
Sunday night before District Court assembled in 1841. Here we must
decide between the M1ay or November terms of court. Fortunately this
is easy to do, as we find in the Probate Records of lnnin County a
copy of Sowell's will made August 18, 1841, a fact which defers his
death to the later of two possible dates. The first Monday in Novem-
ber, 1841, fell on the first day of the month, so we may safely conclude
he was killed the night of October the thirty-first. The District Court
Minutes for Fannin County, 31, for the November term show that in
reality court did not convene until the second. Would this not be due
to the confusion resultant upon the death of the host of the officials
and jurors?
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 34, July 1930 - April, 1931, periodical, 1931; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101091/m1/56/: accessed May 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.