During 1868, while Geo. Halsell and Pete Hardin were working for the Waggoner "outfit", they were charged by a large band of Indians. Hardin hurriedly hid under the bank, but Halsell riding a good horse hurried on with the large number of Indians in hot pursuit. He had only gone a short distance, however, when he received a mortal wound. While the savages were searching for Hardin, in the timber across the creek, an Indian chief stopped his horse immediately over Hardin's head, but apparently did not see him. Hardin, however, had his gun cocked, and said, "If the chief had looked down, I intended to pull the trigger.." But the Indians did not find him, for he was away from his horse, and well-concealed under a bank that was covered with considerable brush. Note: Author personally interviewed Joe Bryant, and W.A. (Bud) Morris, who lived in Montague County at the time. The above story is from the book, The West Texas Frontier, by Joseph Carroll McConnell. It is strongly contended by Halsell's relatives, and they are probably correct, that he was actually killed a little further to the southeast in Clay County just below where the Lake Arrowhead dam now stands on the Little Wichita. |
||||
|
||||