If you have never read old newspapers, you should try one. There are many websites that share digitized old newspapers for the public to enjoy. Most however are subscriptions. The range of costs varies up to one hundred dollars per year. One that is free is Portals of Texas, based at University of North Texas in Denton. The downside is that only Texas newspapers are available. But there are definitely good Texas tales.
A friend of mine who knows I am interested in civilians during the Civil War forwarded an article from Newspaper.com. Stories like this one are frequently found from that time period. It shows how amazing Fate controls lives.
The main character is Otis H. Burton of Bangor, Maine. Born in 1837, Burton made his way to the southwest as a young man. While in Missouri, he met an accomplished young woman named Susan Mary Payne. But poor Otis waited too long to profess his feelings. She moved to another state, somewhere in the South and they lost touch with each other.
Shortly thereafter, the Civil War broke out. Missouri was one of those states whose allegiance was for both the Union and the Confederacy. Burton joined the Union Army where he was severely wounded. Fearing death, he wrote his mother a farewell letter. But he survived and eventually recovered to join his regiment. The mission at that point was to deliver supplies across the plains. Along the way, the men were ambushed by a band of Native Americans. All the soldiers were killed except Otis Burton who was taken prisoner and in pain carried to their camp. As he recovered, he knew it would be best to adapt to their customs, while always on alert for a chance to escape.
After about six months of captivity, Burton saw tribe members return to camp with several stolen ponies. One caught Otis’s eye. He recognized its high breeding and promise for speed and endurance. Otis began to care for that horse with petting and feeding. Tribe members allowed him to ride the horse. During one ride Otis ventured out further than usual. Seizing the opportunity, he took off at top speed, riding furiously with his captors in pursuit.
Finally evading his captors, he continued the hard ride for three more days before leaving the hostile territory.
From a distance he saw smoke rising from the chimney of a small house. Carefully he made his way to the door. After knocking, the door was opened by non-other that Susan Mary Payne, his sweetheart from Missouri. The two exchanged stories. Susan had married a Confederate officer, Joseph L. Robey, who was killed during the war. Susan listened intently to Burton’s tale. The two happily reunited. In 1870 Otis and Susan married and came to Hunt County, Texas, where Otis passed away in 1898 after a very eventful life.