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INDIAN CAPTURE OF BILL WILSON & ANNA AKERS
This article was provided by Jeff Thompson, whose great
grand uncle was Bill Wilson. It came from an old manuscript found
by Jeff in his genealogical research. There are some differences
in this article from other published sources and it is reproduced
here exactly as written.
July 1862 -- It was sorghum making time in
southern Parker County. Life was still very difficult in this county,
created in 1855. During the light of the moon every month, the
Comanches came over the Palo Pinto Mountains and raided the settlers,
stealing horses and murdering the early pioneers. In fact, the
Indians stole horses with such consistency that the farmers used
mostly oxen for farm purposes. Until the summer of 1862, no recorded
killings or captures of the white settlers by the Indians were
reported in the area twelve miles south of Weatherford near the
Brazos River and the Hood County line. Most of the early settlers
in this area were related. Our story of the Indian capture of Anna
Akers and her cousin, Bill Wilson involves a family group.
Hiriam Wilson bought a small ranch on Spring Creek,
near Muddy Creek in 1872 and moved there with his wife and children.
One daughter, Elizabeth later married W. R. Woodhouse and son,
Frank married Lou "Lucy" Akers, the sister to Anna Akers. Both
Elizabeth and Frank continued to live in Parker County. Both raised
their families there. A younger child, Bill was born in 1850 and
is one of the subjects of this story. Oliver Fulton, an uncle of
Bill had moved to the area earlier and lived on the old Coldiron
place some three miles north of the Wilson family and about a mile
west of Nebo Mountain. Anna, an orphan was living with the Fulton
family along with her sister, Lou. Anna Akers is the other subject
of this story.
In the summer of 1862 Bill was twelve years of age
and Anna was about the same. Late on a Tuesday afternoon, Bill
was sent to spend the night with his Uncle Oliver. He was to drive
the oxen the next day for Oliver, as he made sorghum syrup. Early
on Wednesday they started their syrup making as planned. The oxen
they were using were wild and frisky. Oliver decided to cease work
around noon because of this.
He sent Bill and Anna to Hiriam's to spend the night
and bring back more gentle oxen to use at the mill. This was about
a three-mile trip along a road that was open on one side and brush
on the other. Indians might be in the bushes and capture them,
even though it was not thought to be a great danger in this area.
The two children made it fine until they were within a half-mile
of the Wilson home. They had passed the home of other relatives,
the Richardson's. Mrs. Richardson, at her loom saw the children
pass. Everything was well at this time. This was the halfway point
between the Fulton and Wilson homes.
The children were attacked by a band of seven mounted
Indians just before reaching the Wilson property. The foremost
Indian overtook Bill, who was running as fast as he could. He was
knocked down with a blow from the butt of a lance. Bill was then
hoisted up behind the Indian. With Bill riding behind the Indian,
they returned to the other six Indians, who were mounted and had
Anna surrounded. She was screaming and hitting them with her bonnet.
Anna was then placed behind one of the braves and the entire party
headed at fast pace toward the Nebo Mountain. Nebo was northwest
of the place they were captured. This was a very fast ride and
they gained the north side of the mountain in a very short time.
On the way to Nebo Mountain, the Indians and their captives passed
T. J. Shaw's sheep but did not see young Jim and Jack Shaw as they
were hiding. The boys had seen the Indians coming, but from their
hiding place, they could not see the captives. Having gained the
top of the mountain, they placed one brave in a tree to watch all
directions for fear of being followed. Mount Nebo was the highest
point in the area and the highest point from Somervell County.
This mountain was often used for signaling between tribes. The
Indians were very nervous. The children could not understand their
language and were very frightened. They felt they would be killed
as soon as the Indians decided they were not being followed.
Now back at the Fulton and Wilson homes, there was
no worry at this time. Oliver Fulton thought the children were
spending the night with the Wilson's, while the Wilson's thought
they were still at the Fulton's. So the long night began for the
two children and seven Indians on Nebo. Anna crying and fighting
with her bonnet.
Just after dark, a wagon train with many horses was
passing about a mile east of the mountain. This excited the Indians,
as they need more horses. After the travelers had camp for the
night, five of the braves slipped into the camp and stole all the
horses while the two remaining braves guarded the children. The
children were sitting on a big, flat rock on the north side of
Nebo where they could easily see T. J. Shaw's log cabin and other
settlers' homes. During the night, an owl hoot was heard. Anna
and Bill were placed behind the braves on the horses. The group
headed for the bottom of Nebo and joined the other five Indians
with the stolen horses. This entourage of Indians, crying children
and stolen horses traveled to the west as fast as possible. They
heard the Wilson's dog bark and the rooster crow. They crossed
the Brazos River at daybreak and stopped at the mouth of a canyon.
Bill was rolled in a blanket with an Indian sleeping on the blanket
so he could not escape. Anna was allowed to sleep next to Bill.
They both slept from exhaustion, even though they felt they would
soon be killed.
At one point the next day, they stopped long enough
to kill three calves. The Indians ate the meat raw and offered
some to the children. They could not stomach it. As the trip resumed,
Bill and Anna were both placed on the same horse tied together
on the horse. The horse was then unbridled and turned loose among
the stolen horses. About the middle of the day, they reached Sunday
Creek, in Erath County. They stopped for a while and this time
killed a cow and cooked some of the meat. The children ate a small
amount. Since they had not already been killed, the two felt they
now would be held for trade. They began to talk and plan an escape.
After this stop, the children were placed back on the old roan
mare. They were no longer tied on, but still running loose with
the head of stolen horses.
As they crossed the mountain in Erath County, it was
a serene night. Anna had stopped crying. As they neared the top
of a pass a rattle of firearms all around the party broke the stillness
of the night. At the first round of shots, the old roan mare with
Bill and Anna fell dead, as did most of the other horses. The children
had to fight for their lives among the kicking horses. All the
while they were thinking it was their families that had finally
found them. They began to scream that they were captives. With
all the commotion, the rescue party thought they were wounded Indians
screaming. They continued to shoot until Bill finally convinced
them that they were indeed captives. He was told to come forward
with his hands up. He found Anna hidden behind a rock and took
her with him. Anna practically passed out when she saw the white
people.
They soon found that the men in the rescue party were
not family. It was a company of minutemen from Stephenville commanded
by Captain Hughes. They had been called out to follow a party of
Indians who had murdered a settler on Rock Creek in Palo Pinto
County. Not an Indian was killed, but they left without a horse
and Bill and Anna were safe. Captain Hughes sent a member of his
party to Parker County to tell the families of the safety of the
children. Anna & Bill were taken to Stephenville and Judge
Marvele returning them to Parker County in a buggy, as Anna was
too weak to ride a horse. The trip took four days over rough country.
Back home, concern did not start until Thursday morning
when Hiriam went to the Fulton home to see how the 'syrup making'
was going. They quickly realized the children never reached their
destination and went to the Richardson home. Mrs. Richardson reported
that they had passed her house the afternoon before on the way
to the Wilson's home. At this time, some 18 to 20 hours after the
children were captured, the settlers realized the children were
in the hands of the Indians. A group organized immediately, including
the Wilson's, Richardson's, Sealy's and Shaw families. After two
days, the search was given up. They felt the children were either
dead or would be offered for trade.
On Friday night the settlers were in mourning at the
Sealy home when the messenger sent from Captain Hughes arrived
and informed the group that the children were safe. Much rejoicing
took place. Shortly after this event, Hiram Wilson and his family
moved back to Dallas County. There Bill married his wife, Kate.
They had two daughters, Bertha and Kate. They remained in Dallas
County until 1874. He then moved to Eastland County, then to Oklahoma
and back to Dallas in 1914, which is where he later died. Bill
revisited the route the Indians took with Anna and himself to the
Nebo Mountain and other parts of the trail in the early 1920's.
At this time he showed his nephew Regan Wiggs, the big flat rock
where he and Anna spent the night on Nebo Mountain and relocated
the entire story to him. Anna also revisited the mountain in 1862,
and tried to find her bonnet, but never found it.
Anna Akers married J. W. Anderson in 1869 in Dallas
County. They had two children who died young. Anna and her husband,
as well as his two children were deceased before 1923.
Many of Bill Wilson and Anne Akers' relatives live
in Parker County today. Many of them attended the Nebo School located
at the foot of Nebo Mountain on the northwest side from the late
1800's until 1927. This Indian capture is told to hundreds of visiting
school children each year. They also visit the Shaw cabin, built
in 1856. The property holding both the school and cabin now belong
to the V. Kemp family. The Parker County Historical Commission
agrees with the Kemp's that this important event should be preserved
by a marker to be placed on Highway 51, near Mt. Nebo on the east
side of the road at the nearest point to Mt. Nebo, the Nebo School
and the route the Indians took with their captives.
This page was uploaded on April 30, 2000
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