Sam Maverick, Witness of Last Texas Indian Fight, Now 94

Special to The News.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, May 16.—Surrounded by a hundred relatives and friends, Sam Maverick, who witnessed the last real Indian fight in Texas, celebrated his ninty-fourth birthday anniversary at a Maverick "round-up" in Kochler Park here.

The pioneer Texan, who has lived ninety-three and one-half years of his long life in this State, is the son of a man of the same name who was a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. The elder Sam Maverick became one of the greatest ranchmen of his day and the term "maverick," as it refers to unbranded cattle, reputedly sprang from his refusal to brand his calves, all unbranded cattle being regarded as Maverick.

The original Maverick home, an adobe structure, stood near what is now Alamo Plaza and in that dwelling there arrived the first American boy born in San Antonio, the present Sam Maverick's younger brother, Louis.

Mr. Maverick served with the Confederacy in the Civil War as a member of Terry's Rangers. He is credited with swimming across the Cumberland River to set fire to a "Yankee" gunboat.

Mr. Maverick's encounters with Indians began when he was a baby six months old. His father's family, making the overland trip to Texas, was surrounded but unmolested by a band of redskins. The Council House fight here in 1840, last real battle with Indians in this section, took place when the man now 94 was just old enough to remember it.

Among members of his immediate family here for the reunion were Sam Maverick, Jr., Galveston; John Frost Maverick, Houston; Mrs. Ed Sammons, Austin; Mrs. Sallie Gray, Mrs. E. A. Harris and a brother, Albert Maverick, San Antonio.

Article provided by Bill Page.