Patricia Adkins’ self-published book of 1,014 pages, titled Bourland in North Texas and Indian Territory during the Civil War: Fort Cobb, Fort Arbuckle & the Wichita Mountains, became available in 2006.
This comprehensive tome is remarkable (which really is two volumes in one). Little-studied, little written, and little-researched are the Indian conflicts during the period 1861 through 1865 on the Southern frontier — the frontier of the Confederate States of America. When the United States military forces withdrew in the face of the establishment of the new fledgling Southern republic, a partial defense vacuum was created in the areas contiguous to the Indian lands. This book deals with the Texas-Oklahoma border area, the Red River area. Texas had to contribute its sons not only to the struggle to maintain the nascent Confederate army in the War for Southern Independence but additionally to fill the need for border security with the many Indian tribes — the areas left vacant by the retreating United States military units. This need was filled by the Texas State Militia to maintain and protect its frontier from Indian depredations. And, although many of the Indian tribes quickly established amicable relations with this new nation, others did not. Treaties were signed inter alia with many of the Indian tribes such as the Cherokees, Seminoles, Creeks, Chickasaws and Choctaws. She includes the actual text of many of these treaties not to mention the Camp Napoleon Compact of 26 May 1865. Withal many of these tribes were split asunder with their own civil wars regarding their perspectives on the two republics now formed; tribes contributed Indian troops to the armies of both warring nations. There were now also the inevitable conflicts within the border areas between all ethnic affiliations. Additionally many Indians saw the great War between the whites as an open invitation for mischief. There were full scale battles, skirmishes, attacks, raids, etc., e.g., not only in the Northern states of Minnesota and Colorado which are well documented, but also in Texas which has not been heretofore well documented.
Our authoress has herein not only scoured existent published records, but has accomplished a prodigious amount of new research from primary sources which has never before been made public (she indicates that 70% of her study is from handwritten records). Adkins-Rochette has made an impressive contribution to our knowledge of the local conflicts between the Indian nations and the Confederate Texas Militia as well as the Confederate Indian units themselves. Her compilations of the militia posts and hideouts, details on John Jumper’s Seminole Regiment, Stand Watie’s Cherokee Regiment, an immense amount of biographical material on Colonel Bourland’s life and military service, the Texas Ranging Companies, Indian Territorial Posts, deserters, frontier personalities and conditions from the 1840s through the 1860s, and the descriptions of several battles such as those of Elm Creek and Village Creek, and the many sanguinary raids (over 300,000 cattle were stolen or levied), and a set of invaluable maps. Several hundreds of new documents have been transcribed to include 43 letters to and from Colonel James G. Bourland and General H.E. McCulloch – documents not found in the OFFICIAL RECORD that presumably should be therein — along with a myriad of muster rolls for north Texas Militia Brigades (to be specific, the militia listings for 34 Texas counties) and the associated brigade correspondence. Mrs. Adkins-Rochette has detailed the Tonkawa Massacre of 1862. Her appendices are of great value in this her magnum opus. For those of you with Red River area antecedents, this work will be of great interest.
Availability of this Book.
This hardback tome is self-published which means that you must purchase it directly from the authoress at: Mrs. Patricia Adkins-Rochette, 7312 South Garnett Road, #318, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma 74012. The price is $125.00 plus postage. Her phone number is 918-250-5040, FAX 918-250-8840. E-mail address is PRochette@Juno.com . She also has a website for this volume at www.BourlandCivilWar.com . Considering the price of the print version, the Society is hopeful that Adkins-Rochette will arrange for this book to be published in the Kindle format.
RBA