The Scalping of Josiah Wilbarger

 

THE SCALPING OF JOSIAH WILBARGER

                                    by Katie Flippin, Copyright June 5, 2010

 

 

Wilbarger rode out one fine Tejas day,

Christian, Strother, Standifer and Hani joining his foray.

Into the wild and virgin forest they galloped,

Scouting for the best land the law allowed

For more sturdy settlers set to tame the Tejas wilds.

 

A powerful thirst came upon them and the desire for a bite,

And upon sparkling Onion Creek they did alight.

The horses some did lighten, saddle leather set aside,

and all splashed and drank from the cool clear stream-side,

as man and beast did both succumb to the peaceful by the by.

 

Then the whistle of an arrow sent them jumping to their feet!

Wilbarger, Christian, and Strother sprang behind a tree,

While Standifer and Hani, their leathers still at the ready,

Did jump upon their mounts – and for fleeting moments holding steady,

As arrows flew and blood did flow, their companions mortally wounded.

 

Sharp spur to flank, Standifer and Hani took frightened flight.

Cries of the fallen Wilbarger clearly in their minds, but not a sound nor sight

Pressing enough to prompt their galloping steeds to turn.

They rode hard and fast away, vowing later to learn

the fate of their saddle-less companions who took refuge behind the trees.

 

With whoops and shouts the Commanches did surround

The fallen and bloody white men, and their scalps they quickly found.

Wilbarger tells of a thunderous roar as his scalp was sliced from his brain,

Taken as a token of victory, he was swiftly left for dead yet again.

In mortal distress, he drug himself once more to the life-giving clear creek waters.

 

Oh the hours that followed, the dark and dead hours of that lost night,

The blowflies blackening his body when late he woke to the sunlight.

He thrashed and scraped at the foreboding flies, and moaned in great agony.

Determining forthwith, blowflies upon the creek would not be his destiny--

Wilbarger set out, drag by drag, across the virgin Tejas land toward home and family.

 

But woe and frailty, so mortal were his wounds, quickly found him yet again.

And drag by drag, he sought shelter beneath a great shading oak, just till he regained

A bit of strength to see him further through this test of his mortality.

Wilbarger closed his weary eyes, and he did rest his scalpless head carefully --

And in the deepness of his wounded sleep, a voice gently roused him.

 

“Brother, Josiah! You are not alone, open your eyes that you might see.”

Fearing himself gone crazy with sickness and need,

Wilbarger opened his eyes and was astounded to find, Margaret, his sister,

Standing by his side, smiling at him lovingly -- and his hope did quickly stir.

His sister, dear sister, Margaret had come to see him home.

 

Gently, she said, “Brother Josiah, you are too weak to go in alone.

Remain here and friends will come to aid you before the setting of another sun.”

She smiled upon him peacefully and, with an unheard swish of her long skirt,

She turned and walked away. Wilbarger struggled to rise, despite his gruesome hurt,

Piteously calling, “Margaret! Stay with me! Take me home!”

 

He so wanted to push, to drag himself onward through the Tejas wild,

But Margaret had said no, Josiah, under this spreading oak tree you will bide,

You will wait, my brother . . . You will be found . . .

And in the light of next day, Wilbarger was indeed unbound

From his solitary agonies, as Standifer and Hani led a party to his refuge in the trees.

 

A fortnight and more passed in ministering, and Wilbarger finally laughed out loud!

And all that prayed for his recovery, were well out done by his rebound.

But even so, he must be told of the passing of Margaret, his sister!

The very night of the very day -- that but for the Grace of God his own end was not sinister,

Margaret, his dear sister, so many miles distant, had died and gone the Way.

 

Though filled with grief at the loss of dear Margaret, Wilbarger was filled as well

With thankfulness and awe, and new found understanding of the spirit within that dwells.

Months passed into years, and the tale of Wilbarger’s scalping never waned,

And the spirit of Margaret come to save him, very few dared disdain. .

 

 

Copyright ©Katie.Flippin June 5, 2010 -- All Rights Reserved

SCALPING OF WILBARGER

"Many incidents in Texas history illustrate the verity of the saying that "Truth is stranger than fiction," but none perhaps so forcibly as the circumstances of the [March 1830] scalping of Wilbarger --since the dramatic interest includes an occurrence as remarkable, if indeed not as mysterious as any to be found within the range of spiritualistic and psychological literature." (1)

Border wars of Texas: being an authentic and popular account, in ...  By James T. De Shields, October 1912