Those interviewed differ considerably concerning the date of this difficulty. Nevertheless, this particular fight will be related at this particular time. The Indians had been stealing horses in Mason County. So J.M. Bolt, Henry Morris, Pat Jones, Monroe Coats and a few others took the Indians' trail and followed it to a point about twenty miles or more northwest of Mason and near the corner of McCulloch Co., where the citizens encountered a large band of Comanches. The chief, who spoke Spanish, made overtures for a single combat. This, of course, was only an intrigue for the purpose of overpowering the small band of Texans. The Indians' chieftain asked the whites to send a man forward to meet him. J.M. Bolt, who could speak Spanish, accepted the chief's challenge. But before J.M. Bolt was able to engage the chief in a fight, the remaining warriors simply loaded down his body with bullets and arrows. During the fight that followed, Henry Morris was wounded in the foot and remained crippled ever afterwards. Pat Jones received a slight arrow wound in his head. Others were also wounded. J.M. Bolt was buried where he fell and at a point in the southwestern part of McCulloch or the southeastern portion of Concho County. Note: The author personally interviewed W.P. Fry, son-in-law of J.M. Bolt, also interviewed J.F. Milligan, who states that this fight happened after the Civil War. The above story is from the book, The West Texas Frontier, by Joseph Carroll McConnell. |
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