October 11, 1848; Kenedy: For several years prior to 1S48, the Texas counties of Gonzales, DeWitt, and Karnes saw relatively few Indian attacks. That changed in October, when a band of about forty Lipan Apaches came down the Cibolo River and raided Sandies Creek in western Gonzales County, in the process killing two settlers, Dr. George W, Barnett and the son of Rev. John S. McGehee. Then, along Ecleto Creek in Karnes County, they killed two more, a man named Lockhart and the son of Thacker Vivian.
The raid sent a shock wave through the area. In western DeWitt County, thirty-two men and boys gathered under the command of Capt. John York, for whom the village of Yorktown, Texas, was later named. York, a native of Kentucky, had fought in many battles during the Texas Revolution. Among the men accompanying York were his son-in-law, John M. Bell; his own son, James York; Richard H. Chisholm; James H. Sykes; Hugh R. Young; and guide Joseph Tumlinson. On 11 October, York's command picked up the Indians' trail on Cabezo Creek and followed it to the junction of Escondido Creek and the San Antonio River. Crossing to the west side of the river, they found an abandoned campsite with letters and other possessions of the Apaches' recent victims. Judging by their trail, the Indians, driving many horses, were leaving the region.
Even though York and his men had been tracking the Indians for nearly twenty hours with hardly any rest, they hurried on. After following Escondido Creek for about five miles, the Texans ran into an ambush. The Lipans, hidden in a small patch of trees, screamed and fired at Tumlinson and York's advance men, throwing them into confusion. Even so, Tumlinson tried to hold. When the main command came up, the Texans made one rush at the Lipans, but the Indians' close, accurate fire took a toll. Sykes was shot and killed as he dashed up to the thicket. Two Lipans rushed out to scalp him, but the Texans shot them. John Bell, York's son-in-law, was shot down on the open prairie between the lines. As York ran to him and picked him up, he was shot through the kidneys. Both men fell in a death embrace.
The surviving Texans, in a panic, retreated to a small grove about sixty yards away. The Lipans came out to pin them down, and for the remaining hour of daylight, both sides kept blasting. Finally, darkness ended the fighting, and both sides, tired, hurt, and low on ammunition, moved off in opposite directions.
The Texans lost three killed and about six wounded, including Tumlinson, Young, and York's son James. The latter was shot through both cheeks, which left him severely disfigured. The Texans believed they had killed or wounded half a dozen Indians. The Lipans' October rampage was the last Indian raid in that part of the country. John York and John Bell were buried in the same grave, in a cemetery eight miles east of Yorktown.
