Mrs. George Schwankner and Son, Albert

During 1863, Mr. and Mrs. Schwankner and son, lived near Camp Wood, not far from the Nueces, and the lines of the present counties of Real and Edwards. Mr. Schwankner was away, and Mrs. Schwankner and her son, Albert, her only child, were herding sheep when several Indians surrounded them. Mrs. Schwankner, who resisted the savages' onslaught, was brutally assaulted and slain. The warriors carried Albert away into captivity. For many months he remained among the Indians of Old Mexico. But was finally ransomed, and returned to his father. According to one account, a Mr. Burges recovered Albert from the Indians. According to another, he was ransomed by a Mr. Stockton, who ranched on the Rio Grande above Del Rio. A Mexican girl was with Mrs. Schwankner and Albert at the time, and she too, was carried into captivity, never to return.

Note: Author personally interviewed E.L. Downes, and several others who lived in that section at the time.

Further Ref.: Hunter's Frontier Times, March 26.