The Homecoming
Plains Indian warrior. I like the painting on this horse too:
Howdy folks, greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas!
We're in a series about the Wild West and the incredible story of an 11 year old German boy, Herman, who was captured by an Apache war party from his family's farm in 1870 in Central Texas.
He's now 19-20 years old at this point in the story and has become a full blown warrior who hates and fears the White man. And in fact, has taken many a scalp. He's been with the Comanche for a few years now.
Yesterday's post
In the last post Herman was finally on his way to his family's home in Texas, escorted by a detail of four soldiers from Fort Sill in Oklahoma.
Today's story
The trip was fun for Herman after he decided not to kill them. I'm sure he could have fairly easily killed all of them in their sleep but he felt he had no place to escape to if he did.
It was fun for the soldiers too but they stopped at Fort Griffin, Texas and the soldiers who were guarding him got into trouble because they went on a big drunk and got punished by being sent to the guardhouse or jail.(typical soldiers, they have one day off and get smashed!)
Changing of the guard
That meant another detail of four different soldiers were assigned to finish the trip. These guys also handed him a rifle and had him bring home dinner each day.
They watched him like a hawk though and weren't quite as much fun as the first bunch.
One of the soldiers was stepping up on the ambulance which they were using to transport Herman, I showed a photo of it yesterday but in case you missed it here's that model again:
But he slipped and fell which made the mules jump and the wagon rolled over his leg and broke it.
I guess the ambulance was finally the right vehicle for the job but that accident slowed them way down and they camped more often which gave Hermann more chances to hunt.
Meanwhile Herman's mom was counting the days minutes
Herman's mom didn't know what day he would arrive so she kept asking people coming from the North. See, she either ran a hotel or owned a hotel so she saw people coming into town all the time.
Well, one day when she asked a couple of guys who were coming from up North if they'd seen any soldiers, they told her about the escort with Herman and that they'd be in town the next day.
The word goes out
All the people in town loved Herman's mom and they'd seen her stay faithful and trusting that her son was alive and would be returned to her safely.
When she found out that he'd be closeby that night she sent runners in every direction to tell friends far and near.
Every oven and stove in town was baking breads and cakes, beefs and mutton were prepared, smoke from BBQ's were rising all over. They were going to have a feast to end all feasts in celebration of her boy coming home!
They got impatient
That evening some townspeople decided to ride out until they met the party coming towards town. Well, it was only three miles from town when they came upon the soldiers who had made camp for the night.
When they asked the soldiers if they could come on into town they agreed, broke camp and came on in.
The whole town was waiting for that ambulance wagon.. over 300 people. It was dark by the time the wagon appeared. They had to hold Herman's mom back as it came to a stop.
He's finally home
She rushed up to the ambulance and threw her arms around his neck and hugged him close even though he was mostly in the dark. Then she pulled him into the light and my God, he was a savage!
She didn't care. After all the heart-wrenching pain, anguish, sleepless nights of calling out to God, the empty ache of not knowing where he was or what he was going through...all that suffering was replaced with unspeakable joy!
She never lost her faith and she never stopped trusting her God in those 9 long years.
She started the praise celebration
His sister Mira was there, took hold of his arm and felt the scar that he'd gotten as a little boy so she knew it was Hermann. Here's what the local newspaper said about that moment:
"When the boy arrived, never before had anyone heard such shouts of praise and thanksgiving to God for His goodness and mercy. The good mother and her righteous soul became full to overflowing and she gave way.
There was no dearth of tears of joy that evening; feasting, singing hymns of praise, German and English, prayers of thanksgiving occupied most of the night."
The following day the feast continued for all who remained and for those who continued to come. The entire community rejoiced.
Herman was a stranger in a strange land
Herman's reaction to all this? He was emotionless. He couldn't care less. He didn't know any of those people, he didn't like any of those people, and his mom was just some crazy white squaw.
He planned on going back with the soldiers and go live with Quanah!
Herman's story continues in the next post.
Thanks for reading folks, God bless you all!
-jonboy
Texas
Well, this is an amazing homecoming- kind of like The Prodigal Son, except Herman didn’t want to be home! Looking forward to the next post!
Howdy again violetmed! yes, I know you can relate to the joy of his mother but he was total "Indian" and thought he was in the enemies' camp! lol. Amazing. thanks so much for commenting.
This is probably the brutal truth... I wonder, didn't he recognize his mother? He was a kid but grown up enough to remember his mother's face... But, from the other side, if he did not miss his parenth, and didn't believe they are alive, it is possible...
Anyway, I was going to write something like - what a great reunion of a family. But instead, things are still sad.
Howdy today zirochka! yes it was not like most people thought it would be because he didn't recognize them, not even his mother, and still considered all whites to be his enemy to be killed. It was crazy! lol. It was like he was born an Indian because he was an Indian through and through.
Don't worry, it gets better.
Oops, spoiler 😁😁
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Enjoying the saga.
Namaste, JaiChai
Howdy sir jaichai! Thanks so much for reading and commenting! I checked your blog, what country are you in? Your posts looks very interesting! I'll get back there soon.
Although I bounce around most of Asia (Thailand, Japan, Cambodia, Laos, etc.) all year, I am in the Philippines the better part of most years.
Where are you?
Namaste, JaiChai
Howdy sir jaichai! What allows or requires you to do so much traveling?
I'm in the North part of Texas, U.S.A.
Short version answer: Choosing to early retire (age ~41, 15 years ago) in Asia, family, friends, and several hobbies that evolved into small businesses.
Texas, huh?
Decades ago, while on leave from the military, I was in Houston to visit my sister who was doing a Unix gig with American Express.
The aspect of that visit that stands out in my mind was how BIG everything was. I mean, seriously? The "normal" breakfast I ordered at Denny's could have fed me, my girlfriend and my daughter!
Anyway, may you and yours be well and love life today.
Namaste, JaiChai
I was in Houston decades ago,
Howdy again sir JaiChai! well if you can choose to retire early then you are in a very unusual position so good for you! Do you do travel posts also?
that's funny about the meal sizes, I agree, it's crazy and it's one reason people are so overweight over here!
The prodigal returns and then ups and leaves again....poor mom. Delighted to hear it gets better!
Howdy deirdyweirdy! I know, but she has great faith that he'll come back to her. She better have because it might take awhile!
Crazy expectations and high hopes! These are frightening!
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howdy sir kaminchan! thank you, I agree!
Howdy Janton! I will be busy tomorrow with my daughter and the boys, so here I am, because I had to know how the reunion went!
It was quite the celebration, almost like a wedding, lol. Sadly the groom was not into it! Well, I am not surprised, knowing Hermann. I am really curious how all this develops!
Beautiful quote..........and true
Howdy again Miss Lena, have fun tomorrow! Yes well, it may take awhile for Hermann to adjust. lol. I like that quote too, thanks.
I am glad he is finally home. That must have been a strange party! Everyone feasting and celebrating and the guest of honor not being able to even speak to anyone and thinking they were all really weird!
lol! yes, it was very strange indeed, everyone was happy except the guest of honor!
It's already late, how has your day gone? I gotta get over to your blog.
A decent enough day! I got some fun chipmunk photos that I will post over the weekend. The lawn care guys were here this morning--all this rain is causing the grass to grow out of control. The renter across the street hasn't mowed in a few weeks and his lawn is thigh high. It will be interesting to see how he manages it now!
I forgot about the lawn mowing, that's been my problem too, being able to have a long enough stretch of dry weather so the ground isn't too wet to mow. I bet that's a huge challenge for the lawn guys. it will be interesting to see how the guy across the street gets that cut!
The guy across the road has a huge lawn, and a little push mower. You would think he might have thought about that when he rented a house with such a large area that needed to be mowed.
My lawn guys have been mowing when it was way too wet to be mowed. I'm sure they have had no choice since we haven't had any dry stretches!
yes, they didn't want to lawns to get too tall and they have to stay in business. That guy across the street needs to hire some pros at least at the start! I'm sure the city will eventually give him a citation right?
I suspect he doesn't have the money to hire anyone, or to buy a new lawnmower if that is what is necessary. We will see! We are in the township and I don't think they have the same rules as the city does.
@esteemapp announced the Leaderboard spotlight prizes today. Congrats to you!
Oh thanks, you did pretty darn good yourself! That guy across the street may have to rent a bush--hogg if the grass is 2 ft tall!
Can you get pictures of his yard? lol.
What a story. Lol. Surely she sways him before too long. She had to know it would be a rough transition.
howdy tonight ginnyannette! Well no one knew what to expect but I don't think they expected that!
Hermann reacted like I thought he would when he met his mother. It will be difficult to deal with him if he stays there.
What a celebration they had planned. Mother was certainly a God fearing woman.
Howdy today redheadpei! I didn't think he'd be happy but I thought he might at least recognize his mother but he didn't! Yes, I was pretty surprised that the entire town was celebrating so much but it was a very close knit German community. Yeah, she had her own revival!
Hi janton, how sad for Hermann. His mum and the towns people had no idea did they? This transition is definitely not going to be easy for this young man.
Howdy angiemitchell! It would have been great to interview his mom and some of the townspeople to see what they thought of his stoic, non-reaction to everything! I agree, they had no idea that he thought he was in the camp of the enemy and didn't like any of them. lol. He'll come along. I think.
Haha, janton, I think you have an inside trader's knowledge here. But humour aside, I agree. Hermann has proved himself over and over in the world of Indians so I reckon he can successfully reintegrate into the white man's world.