The Penateka Comanche were so angry after the Council House Fight in San Antonio, Texas, in which many of their chiefs, warriors, and women were killed that they retaliated in the summer of 1840 by conducting multiple raids in the Guadalupe Valley.

Led by Chief Buffalo Hump, the Comanche band, numbering as many as 600 at times, burned settlements, killed pioneers, stole horses, and made off with the plunder. After the Indians had sacked the town of Linnville in Calhoun County, the Texas volunteer army, along with the Texas Rangers, caught up with them at the crossing of Plum Creek in the vicinity of the present town of Lockhart, Texas, on August 11, 1840.

The Indians were trying to get back to the plains of northern Texas with a huge herd of horses and mules they had captured, a large number of firearms, and other plunder when Texas Volunteers under Mathew Caldwell and Ed Burleson intercepted them. Texas Rangers and armed settlers soon joined the volunteers. In a running gunfight that lasted for two days, the Comanche lost over 80 warriors, and a number of others were captured, including women and children. The Texans lost only one man, and seven were wounded. However, the Indians were able to get away with most of their plunder, including the horses and mules.

 

© Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated February 2024.

Also See:

Indian War Timeline

Indian Wars, Battles & Massacres

Military Campaigns of the Indian Wars

Texas Indian Battles