Emanuel Dubbs

Emanuel Dubbs was born in Stark County, Ohio. He served in the First Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company I during the Civil War and was wounded at Stone River and at Resaca, Georgia. In the spring of 1871, Dubbs and his wife took a covered wagon, a pair of mules, small tent, camping outfit and arrived at Newton, Kansas. They had taken a contract to grade the bed between the Little and Big Arkansas Rivers near the town of Hutchinson, Kansas.

In the spring of 1872, Dubbs, the head contractor Mr. Wiley, and an unnamed person traveled up the line from old Fort Larned over the Dry Ridge Trail. When they came in sight of the Arkansas valley about two miles from Fort Dodge, they saw numerous herds of buffalo. Dubbs, armed with a cap and ball revolver, pleaded with Wiley to allow him to obtain some buffalo meat for supper. Wiley consented and Dubbs put the spurs to his mule. He charged amongst the herd, singled out a fat cow, rode to her side and discharged his revolver. 

Dubbs later commented:

“I think every one of the charges in that old six-shooter exploded at once. My mule made a right “chasse” and I took a header to the left.”

When he regained consciousness, he found he had lost his buffalo, his religion, his six-shooter, and thought he had lost his mule. But on looking around he saw her grazing contently about 200 yards away, innocently – well, as innocent as a mule can be. They camped that night five miles up the valley from Fort Dodge, in what later became Dodge City.

In the winter of 1872-73, Emanuel Dubbs had quit the grading business and taken up buffalo hunting. His first camp was located on Bluff Creek, 25 miles from Dodge City, south of the Arkansas River. He saved horns, humps, hides and in a short time had enough for two loads of buffalo meat to haul into Dodge City.

This meat was sugar-cured, and in the spring was freighted to the railroad and shipped in carload lots to Kansas City, Missouri, and from there distributed to wholesale houses."

Dubbs relates his manner of still hunting as follows:

“Early in the morning after breakfast I would take my “Big Fifty” Sharps rifle (long shell) using 110 grains of powder, my buffalo horse, two belts of ammunition, about eighty rounds, and start ahead of one wagon and team which generally consisted of one wagon and team and four men. Riding up on the windward side of the herd out of sight of the buffalo, jump off the horse when it was no longer safe to ride any closer, drop the reins over the horses’ head, then walk as close as possible without frightening them, say three hundred or four hundred yards, then pick out the buffalo that was in the most favorable position, take aim, being careful to shoot just back of the fore shoulder so the ball would penetrate the lungs. The report of the gun would frighten the herd and they would start off at a tremendous speed. The next shot would not be fired at the herd but in front of them, the whistling of the ball and the dirt knocked up would turn the buffalo back, this would be repeated until I got the herd to milling, and until they got the scent of blood of the first buffalo shot. By this time their attention would be entirely distracted and the hunter could shoot them at his leisure.”

Dubbs had a narrow escape in his early days of hunting. He had killed 17 out of a bunch, outright, but a cow he had shot several times moved off 400 or 500 yards and laid down. He followed her up, approaching within ten feet when she jumped up like a flash and charged him. He fired and jumped to one side, she turned so quickly that her horn ripped open his hunting shirt along with some flesh on his right side. His gun was knocked from his hands and the only thing left for him to do was grab her by the horns and hang on. She spun several times, fell dead and the momentum threw Dubbs several feet to one side.

Spring, 1874, found Dubbs in Dodge City. He had sold his sugar-cured meat and hides and then found out that Charles Rath and A.C. Myers were ready to start their franchise at Adobe Walls. When asked to join up, Dubbs agreed and outfitted with one team of six yoke of oxen with trail wagons, another four-mule team, his riding horses, and three men. They joined the 110 men and 100-wagon outfit and proceeded south to Adobe Walls in the Texas Panhandle.

His outfit remained at the Walls for five days, helping to start construction of the buildings. They then took a month’s rations and on the sixth day they crossed the Canadian River at the mouth of White Deer Creek. They traveled upstream to the head of it, near where Pampa is now located, then headed southeast expecting to strike the head of the North Fork of the Red River. The natural depressions on the prairie created mirages that shone like water-filled lakes, but they were only dry lakes without a drop of water. Eventually they found water in a hollow depression in table rock. They eventually crossed the Salt Fork of the Red River and then saw a vast herd of buffalo near Lelia Lake.

The next morning, they were ready for business – killing buffalo for hides which were bringing $2 to $2.50 each according to quality. His outfit remained three weeks and had taken over 1,000 hides. They loaded their teams as heavily as they could and secured the remainder by ricking them in piles. Being low on supplies Dubbs intended to pull for Adobe Walls and contract a freighter to haul in the remainder of the hides. His outfit camped late at night in a grove of cottonwood trees at the mouth of Barton Creek where it emptied into Sadler Creek, about 10 miles north of present Claredon, Texas. The stock was turned loose with the exception of one saddle horse, which was used to round up the stock in the morning.

The next morning, as soon as it was light enough to see, Dubbs told his men to prepare breakfast while he would ascend a small bluff to spy out the location of the stock. He couldn’t locate the stock so he returned to camp, ate breakfast, saddled his horse, and left directions for the men to have the camp loaded upon his return.

After hours of fruitless searching of ravines, he discovered their trail. They were being driven and he concluded that they were being herded by Indians. Dubbs approached his camp carefully, when he came near the bluff he used for a lookout that same morning, he dismounted and proceeded afoot to the top of the hill in order to obtain a good view of his camp without exposing himself.

At first, he thought the camp was deserted, but a closer look showed the tongue of the lead ox wagon was propped up with an ox yoke and across the tongue in a spread-eagle fashion was the body of one of his men. It was obvious that he had been tortured to death, as his chest contained splinters, which had been driven under his flesh and then set aflame. He could not locate the other two men, but assumed they too were dead. He retreated to his horse and made good his escape not, however, without being seen. There was a running gun battle but the Indians were no match for the long-range accuracy of his Sharps rifle. He rode a general course for White Deer Creek and Adobe Walls.

That Dubbs made it to Adobe Walls there is no question, the problem is when did he make it there. He would have readers believe that it was his arrival that awoke the men in Harahan’s Saloon and not a gunshot as is commonly believed.

Fifteen days after his arrival at the “Walls,” the Indian scare had subsided enough so that Dubbs was able to lead a strong party of men back to his camp at the mouth of Barton Creek. All they found were the bones of his companions and these were gathered carefully and given a burial. The wagons and buffalo hides had been destroyed to such an extent that he could save nothing of his summer’s labor.

Dubbs accompanied a party of hunters that returned to Dodge City and upon his arrival noticed that the whole valley for several miles was dotted with hunter’s camps of all kinds and descriptions. It wasn’t long before Dubbs hooked up with a man named Peters, who owned a good outfit. They hired two men at $75 a month and proceeded south on a three-week hunt.

The Dubbs/Peters outfit crossed the Arkansas River at Dodge City, proceeded 25 miles to Crooked Creek, then 35 miles to the Cimarron River, then 20 miles to Beaver Creek, across that and then another 15 miles to a water hole between Beaver Creek and Wolf Creek. Here they found buffalo by the thousands, in five days they had over 200 hides.

Normally the hides were stretched out on the ground, hair-side down when green, pegged out with little stakes which had been previously prepared. Before they became flint dry, they were taken up, folded down the center with the hair side in, and then loaded on the wagon with the back of the fold outside and the legs lapping on the inside. Ropes were used to tie them down firmly, being careful, a load could be hauled a long distance without slipping. In this instance, the Dubbs/Peters outfit decided to load their wagons with the hides laying flat, as the hides had become too dry and hard to fold. The location of their camp precluded them from cutting “boom poles” or “springy poles” which were used to help secure just such a load. Instead they tied the hides down with ropes as best they could and hauled for Beaver Creek where they could pause and cut the necessary poles.

Near Peters Creek, a dry creek that led down to Beaver Creek, one load toppled over and caused the outfit to stop. Peters took a singletree and a length of chain and rode to Beaver Creek to secure the necessary poles while the rest of the party reloaded the hides. The wind picked up to almost gale force and made reloading the hides extremely time consuming and difficult. After a time Dubbs went to the top of a rise to see if there was any sign of Peters. He did see what he presumed to be a white buffalo carcass about 200 yards distant. Dubbs returned to camp, saddled a horse, left directions with the men to have camp ready to move to Beaver Creek when Peters returned, and told the men he was going over to an old camp site to retrieve a beautiful Mexican quirt that he had left there.

After riding 500 or 600 yards, Dubbs discovered a letter addressed to Peters hanging on a prickly pear bush. At this moment he knew Peters was dead, the letters being of immense importance to Peters. Dubbs mounted up and on the return to camp rounded up the loose stock and drove them to camp. The wagons were moved side by side, horses tied off short, and a line thrown up between the wagons with hides thrown over the rope as protection from bullets and arrows. The Indians processed no weapon capable of penetrating more than two thicknesses of dry buffalo hides at that time – at least that was the thought implanted in his men’s minds.

Dubbs tightened the cinches on his saddle, pulled both six-shooters around so as to be handy to his hands, checked to be sure his belt was full of ammunition, and with his Sharps rifle across the cantle of his saddle and grasped in his right hand so he could shoot instantly, he set off to find out what happened to Peters.

He found Peters, lying on his face, scalped, his clothes torn off, and an ax sticking in his head. Peters had been shot at least three times. What Dubbs had thought to be a buffalo carcass was instead an Indian pony, which indicated Peters had put up a good fight before being killed.

Dubbs returned to camp, told the men to unload half the hides from each wagon to lighten the loads. They hitched up the horses and made for Sharps Creek, the other side of Beaver Creek. The men had their guns and ammunition ready for instant use. Dubbs rode from point to point to ensure the route was safe.

At one o’clock a.m. they reached the flats on the other side of Sharps Creek. They made camp and took turns with guard duty, the sleeping men slept with clothes on and guns ready. At daybreak Indians were spotted riding single file not more than one half mile from the Dubbs outfit. Dubbs fired several shots at them, which hastened them on their journey but did little else. They heard later that these same Indians killed six government surveyors on the Crooked Creek flats and that they lost a number of their party in a battle with Fred Singers hunting outfit which was then on the Crooked Creek-Dodge City road. The Dubbs/Peters outfit arrived in Dodge City without further incident.

Approximately 10 days after his arrival in Dodge City, Dubbs hooked up with Tom Nixon to return south and hunt buffalo. When the Nixon/Dubbs outfit left Dodge City, they consisted of 28 men, 14 wagons and teams, and riding horses. They proceed south to the flats between Wolf Creek and the Canadian River. About the third day of hunting, it was determined that the outfit was too big for profitable hunting. The outfit was divided in two with Nixon remaining on the Canadian River and Dubbs and Ed Jones proceeding to Big Springs on the head of Wolf Creek.

The Dubbs outfit had gone approximately six miles when they came in sight of Wet Weather Lake and about 300 head of wild horses. They reached the breaks of Wolf Creek and started down the ridge between the two tributaries. An Indian appeared and then disappeared, and the outfit knew it was in trouble. 

They were on a narrow ridge and now had to turn around and get to the flats where they were in a less vulnerable position to defend themselves from the impending attack. Dubbs and Jones rode alongside each team and urged them on with strokes of a whip.

Five horses were killed and one man shot through the hand before they made it to the flats and got the wagons corralled and the stock inside the corral for protection. Firing was active from both sides without much harm being done on either. Occasionally a horse or mule would be hit, but no men were shot. About three o’clock, 15 Indians tried to cross a little divide about 500 hundred yards from the hunters. Three of the 15 horses made it across and only five Indians made a successful dash across that open ground. When sundown arrived, the firing ceased on both sides. The hunters had lost half their stock and could only move their seven wagons by hitching their saddle horses and even then, they only had enough stock to allow two animals to a wagon.

It was decided to quietly feed the animals, hitch up, and drive back to main camp as soon as it got dark enough. Dubbs had given one small feed to his animals and decided to get some more corn from the wagon. He climbed up and was dipping corn out of the sack with his hand when a bullet came so close to his hand it almost scorched him. A muzzle flash and report came from the shadows less than 75 yards away. Surprised, he lost his footing and fell head first into the ammunition box. When it was dark enough, they pulled for Nixon’s camp on the Canadian River.

They made the camp at daybreak, and the whole camp got up to listen to their accounts of the day. Outraged, Nixon chose fourteen men, including Dubbs, to pursue the Indians. Saddling their horses and moving out right away, they arrived at the scene by ten o’clock and there found their stock. The dead horses and mules had checkerboards cut into the hides on their sides and some were even scalped. The hunters took up the trail and at sundown they saw the Indians on the south prong of Wolf Creek. The hunters gained on the Indians so fast that the Indians were forced to start dropping horses, mules, tepee poles, buffalo robes, pots, kettles, and assorted camp equipage just to escape. The Indians made it to the breaks of the Canadian River and the hunters gave up pursuit, it being too easy for the Indians to ambush them in the woods and darkness.

Imagine their surprise when the hunters stopped to get their bearings and found they were less than three miles from their camp on the Canadian River; this, after a hard day’s ride of miles and miles. They returned to camp and ate supper. The next morning, they would take the trail again while those who remained in camp would gather up the stock left by the Indians.

The hunters gave up after trailing the Indians almost all the next day and returned to camp by way of the cap rock. About six miles down, in a kind of basin, they could see six of the remaining men driving about 40 head of Indian stock to camp. Not more than 600 yards behind them were a dozen Indians. The hunters spurred towards their comrades who were sure to be overtaken by the Indians before they could reach the safety of camp.

One of the six, Charley O’Brien, halted the men and had one man to hold the horses while the other five dropped to the ground and opened fire on the Indians. Several Indians and three ponies were killed before they could get out of range of those six men. All in all, the hunters retrieved seventy-nine head of horses, mules, and ponies from the Indians. The men whose stock had been killed replaced them from this new supply and the rest were auctioned off to the highest bidder with the profit being shared equally by all the men upon arrival at Dodge City.

The winter season of 1877-78 found Dubbs hunting with a man named Stealy on Oakes Creek, eight miles north of the Red River. They had killed about fifteen hundred buffalo and were curing meat and hides when visited by a party of hunters from eastern Ford County.

Emanuel Dubbs continued to hunt until the spring of 1878, then he moved his family to Wheeler county. An old buffalo hunter named Joe Craig had squatted on a beautiful sub-irrigated bottom land about eight miles down from Sweetwater and it was this land that Dubbs bought. It included a small one-room log house, covered with earth, and 40 acres broke by plow.

In the summer and fall of 1878, the town of Sweetwater was moved to within one half mile of Fort Elliott, this done to obtain the soldiers trade. Dubbs hunted deer, turkey, ducks, and prairie chicken to sell to the soldiers at the fort. In the spring of 1879, Emanuel Dubbs was elected as county Judge and so ended his buffalo hunting career. 

Sources:

1 Dubbs, Emanuel, “Pioneer Days in the Southwest from 1850 to 1879,” The State Capital Company, Guthrie, Oklahoma, 1909.

2 Wright, Robert M., “Dodge City the Cowboy Capital,” Wichita Eagle Press, Wichita, Kansas, 1913, PP 191-192.

3 White, Lonnie J., “Texas Panhandle News Items, 1877-1885, From the Dodge City Times,”

4 Panhandle Plains Historical Review Xl, 1967, Panhandle-Plains Historical Society, Canyon, Texas, Pg 38.