Translation of 1847 Letter by Charles W. Presler from Texas to His Family in Germany

(continued)

We camped down the river here several days, waiting for some more men to join us. At night we always had a man on guard on account of Indians. One day I found some nuts along the river as big as our hazelnut, in a triangular shell. I showed those to the Americans and we tasted them. Very sweet. But they gave me right away throat troubles and I stopped eating them, but not the Americans. After a couple of hours they all became very sick. Attracted by the fire we killed two bucks. They are much smaller than ours. Similar to our does. We mostly kept the back part of the tongue since we had plenty of game around here. However, don't get selfish about it - deer prepared in your kitchen is much more tasty than ours just seasoned with salt or powdered and barbequed in open fire within fifteen minutes. You can imagine after preparing it in this way it is still tough and has not lost that certain smell. After the others showed up here - eleven altogether now - started and reached the Quihe settlement - all German - belonging to Castro's colony - we found twenty to thirty houses here located on the Quihe River. However, almost everybody was sick from drinking the water out of the pond. This was for a long time the last settlement in the West. However, five miles farther a new settlement - Vandenberg - is here. After that, nothing but prairie up to the Rio Grande.

We followed the Presidio del Norte road trailed by thirty to forty Comanches. They always watched us from a certain distance, naked with bow and arrow on horseback. We were lucky to meet about 200 volunteers who came back from the Rio Grande, so we ran the Indians off. After passing the Hondo and Seco, we left the road following the Sabinas River towards the hills. Quite often we run into rattlesnakes here - not big - the largest had nine rattles. The Americans are afraid of these snakes but one cook - a Mexican - dismounted and killed them with his whip, bringing the rattles back as a souvenir. We crossed Canon de Uvalde where a few Mexicans fought several hundred Indians and drove them back. The surroundings are quite nice out here. All hills have hardly trees but would make good goat ranches. We found quite some wild turkeys out here. There are just as big as the tame ones. Black feathers shining copper and green. They are hard to hit. During the Pearungszeit you can hide somewhere imitating the call of the female turkey with a feather to attract the male ones. The best chance is just before sunrise or in the evenings. They sleep in trees. During daytime you will not find them in trees. For in the evening, a male will call for at least half an hour to gather the hens (sometimes five to twenty) and they are easy to find that way.

We spent a month out here without further excitement except one day we found a tree full of bees. Yes, Texas is the land of milk and honey. Only milk is rather expensive and honey not to get in all places. Well, I tell you it was quite a lucky day to run into these bees. We run out of sugar and honey for a long time. Our Mexican discovered the trees; all excited, he yelled, "treebee, treebee." We chopped the tree with axes - a big oak- fighting the bees a while, but we made it and everybody was happy. What & fun with all the sticky beards after two or three pound pieces in the hands. The rest of six gallons of pure honey we squeezed it out with our bare hands, saved in a fresh buckskin, of course, in the inside and tied on mules. On our way back we followed an old Indian trail. No wild life at all here and all we had were fish for eight days. We made San Antonio, hungry, but quite well.

I left San Antonio all by myself headed for Austin via Bastrop altogether 920 English miles. In Braunfels I had bad luck. The first norther hit here early in the morning on a mid October day so I could not leave Braunfels on account of the heavy rain. I did not know the river crossing and nobody was around to ask for details. When I crossed the river, I thought I found the right place; however, as soon as I was in water the horse started swimming, half the way across the current was really dangerous. My horse and I almost drowned and I lost my bag with money and clothes. Several Americans on the other side watched me but did not help at all. All they had to say after I reached the other side was, "He made it!" I would not reach another settlement that day and had to camp in the open prairie. I was all wet. Another norther came up and I caught a bad cold. Finally I made Austin with high fever and terrific headaches. Five days later, Cordoba arrived, told me to wait here for papers and left for Houston. I followed five days later although still fever in every bone. Friends told me not to leave, but I did. But soon the fever made me stop and rest for a whole day. I made Bastrop in two days this time, otherwise it took me only three-fourths of a day. From there I crossed the Colorado River, following the river on the eastside. Hardly any settlements around here. Then another fever attack. No water and the hot sun! Like Hell! Finally I saw a log cabin. Nobody at home. I broke in the locked kitchen. No water in the house. Outside no water in the well. Back to the kitchen, I looked everything over; nothing to drink. I fainted and after a while the fever eased off. Then I saw a milk pitcher full of milk. I emptied it an aid down on the floor covered with my blanket. I fell asleep and late in the evening I was awakened by a woman. I told her everything. She saw my weakness and kept me till the next morning without charging anything for the milk. I felt even worse the next day. At noon I came to another log cabin occupied by a Negro woman. A ten year old boy fed my horse and I asked for buttermilk which I got. In the evening, a man came home for supper. We talked a while and I told him I planned to leave at one o'clock. He advised me not to leave on account of straying Negros around here. Not long ago they killed two ranchers and last week they tried to get in his mill, 500 feet away from the house, to steal some flour. However, they could not open the door. He went back to his mill with rifle and two pistols. I slept in he attic. A ladder from the only room in which the old Negro woman slept, was leading upstairs. I must have slept till one, when I was awakened by upcoming horses. Someone knocked at the door, and when the old woman opened, two Negros came in asking for something to drink. Others were still outside. They asked her whether she was by herself and she finally told them a sick German was in the attic. Although they spoke quite easy now, I still could hear them saying, "Let's kill the saddlehorse." I was prepared for everything, looking for some kind of a weapon in the attic. But I did not find anything. The two finally went outside again offering the others something to drink. Talking things over, they finally decided to go to another place first and come back later. The old Negro woman told them not to kill him. After I calmed down, I stepped down the ladder, the blanket around my shoulders, and walked outside. My papers and my money hiding under the blanket. I locked the door from the outside, jumped several fences and ran into the prairie hiding in the high grass. At 3 a.m., I heard them coming back. At daybreak, I went back, doors all open and nobody around. I saddled my horse and left.

I did not notify the sheriff about it, which I should have done, since it may mean they may run me out of Texas after it becomes known that I knew about those straying Negros. If I still have time left at the end, I will tell you about the disadvantages I had from this adventure.