DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Indian Signaling Grounds of San Saba County. Now, before roads, before fences, before any of that — there were the hills. And the people who knew how to use them.
This spot, known as Five Mill Hill, was one of three points in a network that stretched across San Saba County. Chapel Hill, two miles south. The old community of Sloan, out in the west of the county.
Three high places, and between them, a language made of smoke. The Comanches and others used these heights from pre-settlement days all the way into the 1870s. They wintered at a main village near Sloan.
Their burial ground sits on Chapel Hill. And from these ridgelines, they sent messages across distances that would make your jaw drop — news, warnings, orders to gather, orders to disperse. The system was excellent.
The Comanches knew it, and so, eventually, did everyone else in earshot. Smoke was part of it. Mirrors, too, at times.
And codes — real codes, designed specifically to confuse enemies who might be watching. Add to that the imitation of animal cries, and you start to understand that what a settler heard at night out in San Saba County might not have been what it seemed. Speak of which — there's an account that comes down from an early settler, a woman, that I want you to sit with for a moment.
One night, she and her children and a friend became aware of Indians peering through the cracks in the cabin walls. In the dark. Now, this woman kept her head.
She believed — and she had reason to believe — that Indians would not enter a dark house. So she put ashes on the fire and they hid. Just waited in the black.
They were fine. Another time, she heard her livestock being taken. Just heard it.
Out there in the night, and nothing she could do but listen. Many pioneers in the area reported seeing signals on the nearby hills. Those signals could be a warning to other tribes.
They could also, in some areas, warn the settlers themselves — because in time, whites learned the system well enough that they pre-empted signal grounds and used them against the Indians. The story of this land and these hills pulled in bigger names, too. Mirabeau B.
Lamar visited this area in 1837. He would go on to serve as president of the Republic of Texas, and his Indian policy, the marker makes clear, was forceful. Then came the attempts at negotiation.
In 1847, on the banks of the San Saba River, the German Emigration Company bought peace from the Comanches — three thousand dollars' worth of beads and trinkets. Three years later, in 1850, out on Wallace Creek about fifteen miles to the southwest, the United States signed an Indian treaty. Peace bought.
Treaties signed. And through all of it, these hills stood right where they'd always stood — Five Mill Hill, Chapel Hill, the old Sloan country to the west — carrying whatever message the smoke or the mirrors or the silence chose to send.
What the marker says
Heights used from pre-settlement days to 1870s by Comanches and others to send messages over long distances. Smoke once rose from here (Five Mill Hill); Chapel Hill, 2 mi. south; and old community of Sloan in west San Saba County. Tribes wintered at main village near Sloan; burial ground is on Chapel Hill. An early settler recalls Indians peering through cracks in cabin at night while she, children, and friend put ashes on fire and hid. She believed Indians would not enter a dark house. Another time she heard livestock being taken. Many pioneers saw signals on nearby hills. Indians communicated by means of smoke, at times mirrors. Codes were used to confuse enemies. Messages sent news and could gather or disperse tribes. The Comanches had an excellent smoke signal system, also imitated animal cries. These often warned settlers to prepare for attack. In some areas, whites later pre-empted signal grounds for use against the Indians. Mirabeau B. Lamar visited this area in 1837; later, as president of Republic of Texas, he had a forceful Indian policy. On banks of San Saba in 1847, German Emigration Company bought peace from the Comanches for $3,000 worth of beads, trinkets; and in 1850 on Wallace Creek, about 15 mi. southwest, the U.S. signed an Indian treaty.