James R. Moss, Pioneer Llano Citizen

J. Fenimore Cooper, out of his vivid imagination perhaps, many years ago, wrote sundry and varied novels concerning the American Indians. They were nice, honorable Indians—except that they were more or less at intervals bent on killing the whites. All in all they were nice, novelistic Indians.

Concerning all of which the aforementioned J. Fenimore Cooper might have been right, but he did not know anything about the Indians in Texas.

Take that from no other than James R. Moss, pioneer Llano citizen, who has seen the Indians of Texas firsthand, and who participated in one of the last Indian fights in Texas, the battle of Pack Saddle Mountain. Of the white men who took part in the Pack Saddle fight, a few miles from Llano, only five are living today, James R. Moss, Stephen B. Moss, William B. Moss, all brothers, Dever Harrington, who now lives on the Texas-New Mexico border and Eli Lloyd who lives in Bandera County.

Mr. Moss was born in Fayette County, January 24, 1843, and was reared in Williamson County where his parents settled four years later. Later he came to this section of the state with his father, settling near Bullhead Mountain. Although now 81 years old, he remembers distinctly many of the details of the Packsaddle fight.

On August 5, 1873, a party of Indians, supposed to be Comanches, although Mr. Moss declares that they resembled the Apaches, made a raid on Llano County and carried off several head of horses. A party of pursuers was formed, consisting of Dever Harrington, Robert Brown, Eli Lloyd, Arch Martin, Pink Ayres and the Moss Brothers.

After pursuing the redskins for over 40 miles, the white party came on the savages in camp at noon on the top of Pack Saddle Mountain. After looking the situation over carefully, it was discovered that the Indians had passed over a small open space, had pitched their camp on the edge of a bluff, and had left their stock to graze in the open glade, putting themselves between the Indians and their horses, and opened fire.

Though surprised, the Indians gathered their guns and returned the fire, forming at the same time a kind of battle line, and charging the whites twice in an effort to reach the horses. The line was repulsed each time, however, and a third line broken up before it had hardly formed under the protection of the timber. 

One buck, bolder than the rest, advanced alone some distance to the right of the others, and without firing his gun, which he held grasped in an upright position, seemed to make his way to the horses. He came within a few feet of the firing cowmen, then turned and retreated to the timber where he dropped dead still clinging to his gun.

About this time three or four Indians started up a chant, and filed off under the bluff, and in a short time nothing more was seen of them. Three bodies of Indians were found, the number of wounded was never known. Four of the whites were more or less wounded, William Moss being shot in the right arm and shoulder, the ball ranging through the breast and coming out the left side. Arch Martin was shot in the left groin; Eli Lloyd had two slight wounds in the arm, and Pink Ayers two balls in the hips. It is estimated that about 20 Indians were in the party.

Mr. Moss recalls another interesting experiences of the early days in Texas. A man by the name of Waler was killed near Bullhead Mountain, and a party of white men, including Moss, went to Mason to get aid from troops. The man whom Moss interviewed was General Lee then stationed in Texas. General Lee, then a colonel refused to allow the Llano citizens to go in pursuit of the Indians, declaring, “I have plenty of men, and you had better go back and protect your homes.”

Mr. Moss is one of the oldest stockmen of Llano County and has been one of the most successful. He owns a ranch of about 9,000 acres located in the southern part of Llano County, which he has stocked with high-grade cattle.

SOURFCE Frontier Times December 1923