Mr. Ferg and Tom Neil, Sr.

During the early days of Gillespie County, Mr. Ferg lived on South Grape Creek, about ten miles south of Fredericksburg. Tom Neil lived on the Pedernales. One morning in 1854, Mr. Ferg was out a short distance from his home, perhaps in search of his stock. At the unexpected moment, he was brutally murdered by the Indians. Tom Neil, who was also alone and out deer hunting, was massacred by the Indians in the evening of the same day, on Neil's Branch, which derived its name from this particular occasion.

Ref.: The author personally interviewed Mr. and Mrs. F.C. Streigler, who were living in Gillespie County at the time or shortly afterwards.

The above story is from the book, The West Texas Frontier, by Joseph Carroll McConnell.