Danger at the Watering Hole
Early in the afternoon, a nondescript mail coach parked alongside a watering hole near Devil’s River in Southwest Texas. Tired and very thirsty, the eight-member crew had been traveling non-stop since twelve o’clock midnight from El Paso to San Antonio. The crew leader, referred to as “Cap” (short for Captain) decided to let the horses and mules forage for two to three hours while the crew rested, commonly referred to back then as “nooning it.” To prevent them from wandering off too far, the animals were hobbled by tying ropes or leather straps around their legs.
Cap or his real name, William “Big-Foot” Wallace, had a bad feeling about the campsite. Shortly before their arrival, telltale signs of Indian activity were encountered such as distant smoke signals and a hoof-beaten trail where fifteen to twenty horses crossed the road they were traveling on. While his crew slept on their blankets, he walked fifty yards over to a knoll to survey the area. Again, those signs appeared. One of the horses looked up while grazing and stared into the distance. More disturbing, a deer ran past him, but no wolves were chasing it. Something was coming! He hurried back to camp to wake his men.
Big-Foot
William Alexander Anderson Wallace was born on April 3,1817 in Lexington, Virginia. He departed for Texas after his brother and cousin were killed in the Goliad Massacre, stating he was going to “take pay out of the Mexicans.” He got the nickname “Big-Foot” after being mistaken for an Indian who had exceptionally large feet. Wallace fought at Salado and Honda River before joining the ill-fated Mier Expedition. After surrendering to Mexican forces, he and his fellow prisoners were forced to march south to the notorious Perote Prison. Along the way, Wallace avoided execution by drawing a white bean from a jar. The prisoners who drew a black bean were shot. Suffering from the effects of disease, malnourishment and hard labor, he barely survived his time in prison. He returned to Texas after his release, later volunteering to fight in the War with Mexico. Wallace joined John Coffee Hay’s Texas Rangers after the war, fighting mostly Comanches. During the 1850’s, he became captain of his own ranger company. At the same time, Wallace became an expert tracker, frequently called upon to track down runaway slaves heading for freedom in Mexico. He also operated a mail coach, carrying mail from San Antonio to El Paso and back, a hazardous undertaking that included predatory animals, bandits, and Indians, especially Comanches.
Texas Long Rifle
The Comanches Attack
“Get up, Ben,” said Wallace. “Get up and help me bring in the horses.”
Ben rubbed his eyes. “Injuns about?”
Wallace replied,”I haven’t seen any yet, but they are about here certain.”
They no sooner brought the mules and horses into camp when Ben blurted out, “Cap! They are coming! I hear their horses feet!” Out of the nearby boulders and brush, twenty-three Comanches came galloping toward the camp. A hail of arrows fell on Wallace and his men while they ducked behind chaparral bushes. The Texans shot back with rifles and six-shooters, killing four. Three to four charges followed. With six guns blazing, they held off the Comanches. Overcome with fear, one of Wallace’s men cowered behind a cactus.
“Come out of that,” said Wallace. “And stand up and fight like a man.”
The young man replied, “I would if I could, but I can’t stand it.”
Wallace let him stay there and promised not to say anything about it. Unfortunately, an arrow found its mark and pinned him to the cactus he was hiding in. The only one of Wallace’s men to be wounded.
The Comanches, however, were not finished. Wallace had his men take cover beneath the coach. This time the Comanches approached on foot, curious about the coach that appeared to have been abandoned. Holding their fire until they were well within range, Wallace yelled out, “Now score ‘em boys!” Four fell dead from gunfire. Not ones to simply abandon their dead, the Comanches employed a curious method of retrieval. From concealed positions in the brush, they lassoed the feet of their dead fellow warriors and then pulled them into the brush. For Wallace, it was a clear signal the Comanches were retreating.
Comanche Attack
Bait Then Escape
After emerging from beneath the coach, Wallace’s men began harnessing the horses. Wallace prudently walked over to the knoll to see if the Comanches had left - they hadn’t. A second Comanche war party rode toward him, unaware of the previous fight that had taken place. The war party’s leader or chief rode out alone for about thirty or forty yards to confront Wallace. He would find a cool, tough and disdainful adversary. In Spanish, the chief asked him what had happened. Wallace cleverly baited him, telling him that he and his men had fought Comanches and “flogged them genteelly, too!” The chief bristled, replying that, “You are all squaws, and you don’t dare to poke your noses out of the chaparral.” Wallace stated that his mail coach would continue to travel on the road and camp eight miles down the road at California Springs, regardless of any Comanche threats. Turning his back toward the chief, Wallace casually walked back to his camp, leaving the Comanches thinking he would be camping at California Springs that night and vulnerable to their attack. Instead, Wallace took the opposite direction on the road. He headed toward Fort Clark and sanctuary from the Comanches. Before the Comanches realized they had been duped, Wallace had put too much distance between them and the mail coach. It was a masterful escape from certain death. Escorted by a U. S. Cavalry detachment, the mail coach arrived in San Antonio a few days later.
Check It Out
Check out John C. Duval’s book, “Big-Foot Wallace, The Texas Ranger and Hunter.” The book was published back in 1871. Based on the author’s interviews with an aging Wallace, the book certainly contains embellishments and half truths. Wallace had his prejudices against Hispanics and Native Americans but the book provides an interesting account of frontier Texas.
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