Indian in Spring Branch
Source: Family interviews with Clinton Ludwig, Isabelle Ludwig, James P. Ludwig, and many other descendants of Valentin Fuhrmann
In the mid-to-late 1800's, encounters with Indians were not uncommon in the Texas hill country. While the Indians did occasionally kill settlers, it was more common for them to sneak onto someone's property and steal their horses. Horses were the livelihood of many people.
Late one afternoon, around dusk, Valentin Fuhrmann heard a commotion coming from his barn. The horses were upset about something. Valentin had a pretty good idea regarding what the situation might be. He grabbed his gun and, on his way out the front door, asked his wife to bar the door behind him, just in case.
A few minutes went by, and gunshots rung out from the barn! Then silence. Catherine and Minna waited for what seemed like an agonizingly long time. Finally, there was a knock on the front door. Valentin shouted, "It's me!" Catherine threw open the door and saw her husband standing there, holding an Indian medicine pouch. Valentin gave it to his daughter.
Even after Minna grew up and married Herman Pfeuffer, she kept the Indian pouch on the mantle in her house, as a symbol of her father's protection of her.
This is the pouch that Valentin took off of the Indian he killed. Inside was a disk of peyote. The turquoise and black beads indicate that this most likely belonged a Commanche Indian. The metal "tinklers" were probably made from tin cans the Indian found on a settler's property or camp. The pouch was used by this Indian circa the 1860's. It is currently archived (not on display) in the Indian Collection at the Witte Museum; San Antonio, TX.