16 April 1871; Graham, Texas: In the spring of 1871, 12 ranchers were engaged in their annual cattle roundup near Rock Creek when more than 40 Comanches and Kiowas attacked them. The only protection the ranchers could find in the flat prairie was a shallow ravine, and their pistols put them at a disadvantage to the Indians' rifles.
By late afternoon, eight of the ranchers were either dead or wounded. Had the Indians known only four of the men were still capable of firing, they would have rushed the ravine and killed them all. Knowing this, rancher I.E. Graves had all the men who could stand rise and gesture their defiance. The stratagem worked; the Indians took the stock and left.
Three ranchers died in the fight; five were wounded.
