Danger lurked on Texas frontiers during Civil War. (original) (raw)

One young white boy was taken prisoner by the Indians in Wise County near early Fort Worth. His family was killed outright so he had no one to care or follow.

After living with the Indians for several years he wound up in Oklahoma Territory where W.T. Waggoner, the famous Texas rancher was grazing cattle herds on Indian Lands.

Seeing the Indian boy was white, Mr. Waggoner traded some horses for him and took him into his ranching family as an employee and cowboy. The Waggoners raised him with the man working for them the rest of his life. He married, raised a family and eventually became a kind of foreman and lead-off man for the ranch. Everyone knew and called him "Shinnery" McElroy.

Though he worked as hard as any man, he was somewhat crippled and limped when he walked. When asked how his leg was hurt he told the following story.

While living with the Indians as a boy, he could run faster than the other Indian boys his age when playing games and in contests. This was irritating to the Indians so they cut a tendon in his knee to slow him down. When listeners sympathized with the brutality, Shinnery always replied,

"That's better than cutting my throat."

When the Indians were finally placed on reservations, the Texas frontier became somewhat safer but outlaw gangs and a few "war raiders" were still around so the land was never really safe.