Indian Raid in Comanche

The raid fell when the frontier had lost its soldiers. The Handbook says the army's withdrawal during the Civil War left Comanche County settlers without protection and, after raids, without livestock. Home-guard companies formed, but many settlers fled, and the white population shrank to about sixty by 1866. The county had counted 709 people in 1860. The plaque calls the raiders only Indians and names no nation, so who they were is unrecorded there. With the war's end, military protection returned and settlers came back; by 1870 the county had 1,001 people and 126 farms and ranches.

What the plaque says

Indian Raid in Comanche One of boldest depredations in Texas history, made in May 1861, during the "Bright Moon". A braying mule wakened town after nearly all horses were stolen. Citizens spent rest of night molding bullets. Pursuit began at dawn, under command of Capt. James Cunningham, assisted by 17 boys and men, using hounds. Posse finally caught Indians on Brown's Creek (about 36 mi. SW), killing 19 in close fighting. White men's only casualty was a slight wound given to Capt. Cunningham. Relentless pursuit of Indian raiders was key to a town's survival on the frontier. (1969)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Dublin Bottling Works — 20 mi
  The Erath County plant that bottled Dr Pepper with cane sugar from 1891 until a 2012 settlement ended its Dr Pepper license, and that still makes its own sodas the same way.
• Lake Brownwood State Park — 25 mi
  A CCC park on a reservoir that filled in a single flood before its dam was done, with stone cabins, a hilltop dance pavilion and a grand staircase climbed by dancers arriving by boat.

More markers nearby

• Fleming Oak — steps away
• General Ashbel Smith, C.S.A. — steps away
• Old Cora Courthouse — steps away
• Robert Thomas Hill — steps away