The Junior Historian, Volume 8, Number 4, January 1948 Page: 7
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THE JUNIOR HISTORIAN
I1b\ Indians and had their things stolen
from them. Frequently after the raids
the people were hungry and cold for
days, until they could reach a town and
buy food and clothes.
When they reached Nacogdoches,
some of the families remained, while
others went on to San Felipe. Moon
and his family went on to Yegua Creek
near Bastrop, twenty-five miles from
any other settler.
In September, 1838. the P'resident of
the Republic of Texas declared war
against the Indians, who were leaving
the states which were a part of the
Union and crowding into Texas. Many
of them were savage and were robbing
and killing the Texans.
Moon moved his family into the town
of Bastrop, where he joined the Texas
Rangers. lie helped fight the Indians
in many raids, one of which was the
raid at I.innville, a shipping point for
Te'xas and Mexico. The Indians stole
a large amount of goods from the ware-
houses and from the settlers' homes.
They loaded the goods on about a hun-
dlred mules and started for their reser-
vat ions in the mountains. The officers
gathered the Rangers together on Plum
Creek; their force numbered eighty-
two.
\Vlhen the Indians came in sight, the
Rangers saw that they were outnum-
hered. The Indians had also captured
some of the women and children. Then
the Rangers started fighting, and the
Indians were so startled that they fled
in all directions to their hideouts, leav-
ing behind the things they had stolen.
In 1843 a band of Indians stole a
herd of horses and some other things
near Bastrop. The men in the town
gathered to follow the Indians and get
their horses back. They followed the
Indians two days, losing their track,
then finding it again. They stopped at
the San Marcos springs to rest that
night. Tl'he next day, they came upon
the Indlians near the Blanco River, and
the white men again routed thle Indians.Moon scouted around after that, and
finally he decided to move to the San
Marcos springs. He thought this was
a very beautiful place, with the many)
springs coming out of the mountains.
The water was clear and deep and fish
were plentiful. There were moss and
water lilies on the bottom of the river.
Mrs. Moon's health was poor, but she
was not afraid of the hardships. She
and the children helped Moon build a
log cal,in. He cut down the trees, and
the family helped build the house.
Billie had to hunt and fish to get
food for his family. While he was hunt-
ing, he explored many places and found
many interesting things such as arrows,
knives, bows, tomahawks, and other
things.
After a time several settlers came
and built cabins at the head of the
river. The town was not built right
beside the river because it frequently
overflowed.
The Indians became friendly with
the Moon family and came often to
trade and to visit them. The Indians
brought furs and skins from fox, rabbit,
squirrel, deer, and other animals to trade
for corn. They also brought knives,
bows, and arrows.
Mrs. Moon died on April 1, 1846,
leaving Moon with four children. A
sister of Mrs. Moon's came to stay with
the children. She held the first school
in San Marcos in the Moon home, where
she taught reading, writing, and arith-
metic to the Moon children and the chil-
dren of two other settlers who had come
to live in the community. The first
church services were held in the Moon
home by a visiting Baptist minister.
On August 7, 1848, at the first elec-
tion ever held in San Marcos, Moon
was elected constable. In 1851 he was
elected sheriff.
W. W. Moon built the first log cabin,
which was a two-room tavern, at the
present site of San Marcos, on what is
now thle corner of East Hutchison and
Union Streets. The Austin-San An-
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Texas State Historical Association. The Junior Historian, Volume 8, Number 4, January 1948, periodical, January 1948; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391365/m1/9/?rotate=180: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Texas State Historical Association.