The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 34, July 1930 - April, 1931 Page: 59
359 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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History of Fannin County, 1836-1843
that of Garner and Camp, killed in 1839. This is a pardonable
error in that the three men were murdered at approximately the
same place and under almost identical conditions.
The death of Alberty was followed by a rather unusual episode
in the relationship between the Texans and the Choctaws and
Chickasaws. In May, 1842, James R. O'Neal in his capacity as
major of the Second Battalion, Fourth Regiment, Fourth Brigade
of the Texas Militia, addressed the following letter to the chiefs
and principal officers of the Choctaws and Chickasaws:
I have received intelligence of a late discovery of the wild tribe
of Indians up Red River, supposed to be those who committed the
midnight robbery on the western frontier of Texas and the citizens
of the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations, having no regard to the
law of our land, and having not the fear of God before their eyes!
We must arise and put them to the sword, for they are a people that
have forgotten God. I intend to give immediate information to
the brigadier general, and advise a campaign about the first of
July next, and we want all the assistance we can get from your
side of the river. I will endeavor to let you know the further
arrangements in the matter. Rub up your guns, prepare your-
selves with ammunition, rouse up your warriors by your bugles,
and we will teach these rogues and murderers that their policy is
bad, and we will let them know we resent their wicked deeds.12
Immediately upon the receipt of this communication the Indians
forwarded a copy of it to Fort Towson to Choctaw Agent A. M. M.
Upshaw. That official warned the Chickasaws and Choctaws to
have nothing to do with the affair and informed them that if they
needed protection from predatory bands to remember that the
commanding officers at Fort Washita and Fort Towson were al-
ways ready to come to their assistance. The action of Major
O'Neal was also brought to the notice of the State Department of
Texas through a letter from Joseph Eve, charge d'affaires, to Sec-
retary Terrell.8 The government of Texas disavowed the act of
O'Neal and ordered that he be discharged from the service should
he not be able to acquit himself of the charge. Jesse Benton, Jr.,
District Attorney for the Seventh Judicial District, was asked to
make a full investigation into the affair and report his findings
"U. S. Senate, Executive Documents, Thirty-second Congress, First Ses-
sion, III, document No. 14, 82 f.
"U. S. Senate, Executive Documents, Thirty-second Congress, First Ses-
sion, III, document No. 14, 84 ff.
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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/m1/63/: accessed May 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.