January 15, 1868, Bill Miller and Wash Marrow, traveling in a wagon drawn by four head of horses, were returning from Rose's mill, about twelve miles east of San Saba, to their home in McCulloch County, three miles below Camp San Saba. When they were within two miles of Brady Creek, ten or eleven Indians were discovered. So Miller and Marrow drove into a cedar thicket and stayed until they thought the Indians were gone. They went on to the mouth of Brady Creek where the savages reappeared. Miller and Marrow whipped up the four horses and tried to outrun the Indians, but could not make sufficient speed. They ran about one mile in a circle, and Wash Marrow lay down in the wagon where he covered their retreat. Bill Miller, who drove the team, placed the bedding over his back, and had a pistol in the seat to help keep the Indians at a distance. But when the horses were pulling the wagon in a run over the rocks, Miller's six-shooter slipped out on the ground. After running about one mile, the horses broke loose from the wagon, and the two men then retreated into a thicket of timber. One Indian ventured up, and Bill Marrow hit him with a rock. Since Miller and Marrow did not return, a searching party found them the next morning. According to reports, Bill Miller, who drove the team, was wounded twenty-three times. Wash Marrow was also wounded several times. Note: Author personally interviewed Taylor Vandeveer, whose sister married Bill Miller, M.T. Cavis, Newt Brown, John Robbins and others who lived in this section at the time. The above story is from the book, The West Texas Frontier, by Joseph Carroll McConnell. |
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