During 1862, Lt. J. Chandler, in command of a squad of about ten men who belonged to Capt. J.J. Callan's company then camped on Clear Creek in the Brown and Coleman County section, were scouting in the vicinity of Santa Anna Gap. Two men were stationed on the mountain as spies and the remainder near a water hole which lay to the north. The spies on the mountain discovered several savages in the far distance coming from the settlements with a large caballada of stolen horses and immediately reported to the remaining part of the command, stationed at the water hole. Lt. Chandler and his men subsequently located themselves in the Santa Anna Gap where the present town of Santa Anna now stands. When the Indians arrived, the whites made a sudden charge and the savages scattered like a covey of quail. One Indian was killed and another thought to have been wounded. After Hog Marshall emptied his six shooter and fell back to where he considered his position safe, an Indian shot an arrow high in the air and as it came down, accidentally found lodging in Hog Marshall's hip. Note: Author personally interviewed R. Kolb, who belonged to J.J. Callan's company. The above story is from the book, The West Texas Frontier, by Joseph Carroll McConnell. |
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