Frontier Yona Kanati: A Texas Family’s Beginnings Episode 1 (1814-1835)

By Jim Caraway

Seth was a young boy who learned to hunt, scout, and protect his family in the hills of North Carolina. However, Seth’s father, an adventurer in his own right, decided to move the family to Texas, a place on the verge of a war for independence with Mexico. In their new home, Seth’s skills were put to the test. One of his more memorable encounters involved a bear that was prepared to devour Seth’s brother. Using his skills with a bow and arrow, Seth rescued his brother, and was forever tagged with the name, “Bear Hunter.”

“Frontier Yona Kanati (Bear Hunter)” is an exciting tale of a family dealing with the dangers and threats that come with settling in a new wilderness. You will sense the fear that comes with hiding from a nearby Indian raiding party, and you will feel the excitement of scouting the location of a threatening Mexican army.

In addition to the thrill of the story, you will learn much about the frontier ways of Texans in the early part of the 19th century. From constructing a bow and arrow to creating a Bowie Knife, you will have a front row seat as a young man comes of age in a very challenging environment.

Grab your Kentucky Flintlock Long Rife and join Seth as he helps his family build a new home in a new world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Brothers Publishing
• Release date: Aug 31, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310738906

Book preview

Frontier Yona Kanati

(Bear Hunter)

A Texas Family’s Beginnings

Episode 1 (1814-1835)

Jim Caraway

This book is a work of historical fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, places, characterizations, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Resource web sites are included for readers’ further study and/or exploration.

Frontier Yona Kanati (Bear Hunter)

Copyright © 2015 by Jim Caraway

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

Smashwords Edition

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

For information, contact

Austin Brothers Publishing

www.austinbrotherspublishing.com

For

Bonnie and Johnathan

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I’d like to thank the following people and organizations for their assistance and contributions to this book:

To my wife, Bonnie, who tirelessly suggested changes to help make the flow of this story better. To my son, Johnathan, who gave me the necessary eleven year old’s perspective.

To my 2nd cousin (once removed), Emilee Caruthers, who penned the work The Fortitude of Mitchell Putman for utilization by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas that outlined the life and times of our energetic patriarch and instrumental participant in the fight for Texas liberty.

Foreword

Texas owes its existence to immigrants from all over the world. These immigrants never lost sight of the ultimate goal–to make a better life for themselves, and to use each opportunity to its maximum. This story is about Seth Smith and his family as they became a new Texas family. It shares how they lived prior to coming to Texas, and the early struggles, challenges, and obstacles they overcame as a Texas homestead family who helped bring about the birth of the Republic of Texas.

Along with this opportunity came great challenges, like learning how the Indian cultures in Texas varied and how to deal with them, how to deal with Texas’ different environment conditions, and learning to depend upon neighbors in times of need or crisis. Couple this with a vacillating Mexican government seeking to establish itself as a world power, and the United States seeking to expand its influence and physical borders as well, and you have the mix of which legend is made.

Chapter 1

On the Lookout

Thirteen year old (almost fourteen years old, truth be told) Seth Smith was sweltering hot as he and his brothers Jake, who was sixteen, and Joe, who was eleven, sat on their horses just below a hilltop. They passed a canteen of water back and forth between them. They were located west of Gonzales, and were keeping watch for signs of Mexican soldiers.

Seth thought to himself, There has got to be a better way to spend a body’s time than this!

He then heard a loud noise followed by a foul smell coming downwind from Joe’s direction. Dang Joe, replied Seth, why don’t you just wave a big flag so the Comanches will know exactly where we are?

Joe just had a flatulent episode. Joe said to Seth, What did you put in the beef jerky? It is killing me!

Seth replied, You’re going to think it was my fault if the Comanches catch us!

Joe replied, Awe, don’t worry about Comanches. The Comanches smell worse than anything I happen to let loose.

It ain’t the smell I’m worried about; it’s how loud you get when you let fly with that God awful stink! Sound travels lots further than smell you little runt! scolded Seth as he slugged Joe’s arm in playful manner.

The boys stifled their laughter by putting their heads down into the cool grass for a brief minute. Joe raised his head and wiped the sweat from his brow.

Seth said, It sure seems like it has gotten hotter!

Even though they were now in the month of September when cooler fall weather should have been setting in, it was one of those roasting hot days. The trees and grass looked hot and tired of the Texas summer. It was vastly different from the change of seasons in the hills and mountains of North Carolina where they used to call home.

The boys had just barely avoided a Comanche hunting party earlier that day while scouting on the rolling hills halfway between Gonzales and present day Luling, Texas. The Comanches, numbering about a dozen, were on horseback, and wore buckskin garments and buckskin leggings to protect their legs while traveling through the high grasslands. The Comanches traveled light, and were armed with bows, arrows, and flintlock rifles in search of buffalo that occupied about two-thirds of the state from the Pecos River eastward to Louisiana.

The Comanche hunting party hadn’t found any buffalo, hence their swift departure from the area, much to the delight of the Smith brothers. The boys had been lucky enough to be downwind from the Comanches and smelled them before they saw them. The odor from their sweat, ceremonial ointments, and the scent that horses emit when they are all lathered up was almost overpowering. The boys also caught wind of the smell emitted from unprocessed animal skins.

The gait of the Comanche horses told the boys that they were looking for something that moved quickly, most likely buffalo. The boys slid off their horses, dismounting without a sound. Even the horses seemed to understand the danger of the situation, and followed the boys to the ground while the boys pulled on their reigns and placed their hands on the horses’ muzzles to keep them from making any sound.

The tall grass gave them the coverage needed to hide from the Comanches. But, just in case, the boys hid behind their horses and had their weapons at the ready. Curiosity got the better of Joe, and he tried to rise up to catch a glimpse of the hunting party.

Seth quietly, but forcefully, told Joe, Get down you fool, before you give us all away!

Joe complied, knowing Seth was right, especially with danger being this close. Their Pa had told them to give the Indians in the territory a wide birth, especially the Comanches. Joe almost gave their position away again when his hand slipped off his horse’s muzzle, but his horse seemed to intuit the danger around them, and didn’t whinny out to the passing Indian ponies. They waited for what seemed to be hours (but in reality was just a few minutes) until they were sure the hunting party had passed, and they had not been spotted.

They boys tied their horses to a tree below the crest of the hill and walked to its top for a better view. As things stood now, they were hot and sweaty, even though the Guadalupe River was in plain sight, about a quarter of a mile away. The narrow escape had left them tired, and ready to go home.

Joe said, It sure is tempting to head on over there to the river and cool off a bit. You sure we can’t?

How long are we going to be out here? Seth added, Pa said to come out here until we either saw something unusual or we got replaced. It sure would be nice to get wet with water instead of sweat. But as soon as we stepped into the water, sure as shooting, that Mexican cavalry would show up and catch us with our drawers down.

Jake replied, Seth, when did you start making so much sense? You are acting like a grown up for a change.

Seth responded, I don’t know. Maybe it is because those same Comanches were trying to steal Lizzie and Kattie from us. I know Joe, and I don’t talk about it that much, but things just seem different now.

Joe joked, The Indians would have given them back to us after Lizzie got through cutting loose on ‘em!

The boys chuckled, but they knew the truth, and again gave each other a round of good natured arm punches. John Smith would have been proud had he heard the conversation between his boys. He had complete confidence in the boys’ ability to locate the Mexican threat, and keep their hair intact from any Comanche raiding party they might encounter while out on the scouting mission.

If Jake had to be in a tussle, there was no one else he’d rather have beside him than his hunting buddy, Seth, and their little brother, who was only a head shorter than Seth