The Pioneer Coalsons

On June 1, 1877, Indians attacked Nick Coalson's goat camp; his ten-year-old son Arthur was killed, his fourteen-year-old son Johnny was wounded, and Coalson escaped after three hours of hard fighting. One year later, he lost his wife Alice, his daughter Etta Elizabeth, Arthur's twin, and an infant stepson in another Indian raid. Captains Pat Dolan and Dan Roberts with Texas Ranger units, S.D. Coalson, Nick's son, U.S. Army scout Jim Hill, Jim and John Welch, and Henry and Sam Wells pursued but failed to find the Indians. The victims' graves are near the old homesite on Half-Moon Prairie, and Coalson descendants are prominent in Texas history.

Barksdale, Texas · United States