DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, the years right after the Mexican War were not quiet ones down in south Texas. Between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, the Federals and the Texans were working together to rid that stretch of country of marauders — and it was rough, dangerous work that didn't leave much room for hesitation.
Into that picture rides Captain John S. Ford. They called him "Rip" Ford, and that name ought to tell you something about the man before I even get to the story.
He commanded a company of Texas Rangers, and on May 29, 1850, Captain Ford led those Rangers straight into something that could have gone very differently than it did. Near this very site, Ford's men surprised a Comanche camp. Now, here's the part that ought to make you sit up a little straighter around the fire — in numbers, the Rangers and the Comanches were about equal.
This was not a situation where one side had an overwhelming advantage and simply pressed it. This was a fight between roughly matched forces, out in open country, and every decision counted. When the smoke cleared, seven Comanches had been wounded and four had been slain.
One Ranger was killed, and two were wounded. Those numbers are plain and they are not small. A man gave everything he had on that ground.
But the marker saves its most particular detail for last, and it's a detail worth savoring. Comanche Chief Otto Cuero was in that fight. He was wounded by Captain Ford himself — wounded, but not yet finished.
It was Ranger David Steele whose bullet ultimately brought the chief down. And then David Steele did something that speaks to the formality and the gravity of what had just happened. He gathered the chief's regalia and sent it to Governor P.
H. Bell — a man who, it so happens, was himself an ex-Texas Ranger. One old Ranger sending word to another, through the tokens of a hard-won fight, that the work along the Nueces had been done.
The ground here has been quiet for a long time now. But that's the story this marker carries — and some ground, once it's earned a story like that, holds onto it.
What the marker says
A gallant fight in era after Mexican War, while the Federals and Texans were ridding Nueces to Rio Grande area of marauders. Texas Rangers under Capt. John S. "Rip" Ford surprised camp of Comanches near this site on May 29, 1850. In numbers, Rangers and Indians were about equal. Seven Comanches were wounded, four slain; one Ranger was killed and two were wounded. Comanche Chief Otto Cuero was wounded by Capt. Ford and slain by a bullet from the gun of Ranger David Steele, who sent chief's regalia to Governor P. H. Bell, an ex-Texas Ranger. (1969)