"The wagon train had been intercepted by a large party of Indians about 4 miles from where Lieutenant Carter had first met General Sherman and his party." - General of the Night (2007)
"The poor victims were...scalped...Captain Robert G. Carter, one of Mackenzie's subordinates recalled." - The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend (2013)
"Carter... mastered every phase of Indian ruse, signs, signals and strategy, ...became a terror, not only to the Camanches, but to evil doers of every description." - San Angelo Standard, Feb. 18, 1914
"Salt Creek Prairie...known as 'the most dangerous prairie in Texas,' ... was long a favorite area for Comanche and Kiowa war parties striking south from the Fort Sill." -TSHA Handbook of Texas
Was General Sherman at fault for not preventing the Salt Creek Prairie Massacre that took place during his visit to the Texas frontier in 1871?
In 1919, the "terror of the Comanches," US Cavalry officer and Medal of Honor recipient Robert Goldthwaite Carter (1845-1936) published a short 50-page narrative of one Comanche raid titled "Massacre of Salt Creek Prairie and the Cowboy's Verdict."
The Salt Creek massacre, occurred on May 18, 1871. Henry Warren was contracted to haul supplies to forts in the west of Texas, including Fort Richardson, Fort Griffin, and Fort Concho. Traveling down the Jacksboro-Belknap road heading towards Salt Creek Crossing, they encountered William Tecumseh Sherman. Less than an hour after encountering the famous General, they spotted a rather large group of riders ahead. They quickly realized that these were Native American warriors, probably Kiowa and/or Comanche....
In introducing the section on the Salt Creek Massacre story, Carter writes:
"Gen. Sherman was inclined to be very incredulous and shook his head in such a manner as to cast doubt upon the pleadings of these poor harassed settlers who had been expecting so much from him. On that very night...what was believed by the Jack County ranchers, and cattlemen to be an almost hopeless appeal, a wounded man hobbled into our post hospital with a horrible tale of massacre and atrocious butchery on Salt Creek prairie..."
Other books by the author include:
• The Boy Soldier at Gettysburg (1877)
• Four Brothers in Blue (1913)
• The Old Sergeant's Story (1926)
• On the Border With Mackenzie (1935)
• Record of the Military Service of First Lieutenant and Brevet Captain Robert Goldthwaite Carter, U.S. Army. (1904)
• Tragedies of Canon Blanco: A Story of the Texas Panhandle (1919)
• The Mackenzie Raid into Mexico (1919)
• Massacre of Salt Creek Prairie and the Cowboys' Verdict. (1919)
• On the Trail of Deserters: a Phenomenal Capture by Captain Robert Goldthwaite Carter. (1920)
• Pursuit of Kicking Bird: a Campaign in Texas 'Bad Lands'. (1920)
