Murderous Indian marauders, who spread terror in the border country of North Texas
more than a century ago, learned the hard way not to push the Dugan family too far.
There were Indian raids, many of them, that too an appalling toll of lives. There
were hardships that today would have seemed insurmountable. The settlers counseled
frequently among themselves to determine the wisdom of continued defiance.
This story of my great-grandmother, Emily Dugan, 1822-1846, has been handed down
from generation to generation. Viewed in retrospect, she played a small, though
important role in the thrilling drama of pioneer live.
Emily was the sixth child of Daniel and Catherine Vaden Dugan's family of ten
children It was only a few weeks later, in the summer of 1841, after her brother,
Daniel, and his friend, William Kitchens were murdered by Indians that Emily's
heroism saved at least part of the Dugan family from extermination and inspired
other settlers to stiffened resistance.

In July 1841, young Daniel (son of the original settler, Daniel Dugan,) and his
friend, William kitchens, went two miles from his home to build a log cabin at
Dripping Springs for his future young bride. Both young men were killed and scalped
by murderous cattle-stealing Indians on the war path. A bloodstained axe, found
at Dugan's side, was evidence that he put up a terrific fight against hopeless odds.
Daniel and his friend were buried side by side in a beautiful spot on the Dugan
Farm, a place consecrated then and there as "God's Acre."

(This is Emily's story as told by her nephew, George Dugan.)
"All of the men in the family had gone to the fields to hunt game. Emily was
sitting by a port-hole, overlooking the yard. She was knitting while the other
women were taking an afternoon nap.
Emily heard what sounded like a turkey call. Then she heard another and became
suspicious. Indians frequently used turkey calls as signals when scouting for a raid.
she looked out the port-hole and sa an Indian creeping stealthily from one tree to
another.
Then he stoppped a monmnt to shade his eyes from the sun.
In the meantime, Emily had taken her father's old flintlock from the rack. She drew
a bead on the Indian through the port-hole and pulled the trigger. her aim was true.
The Indian dropped to the ground. Emily left the house and walked across the yard
cautiously fearing he might be feigning death.
But there was a pool of blood nearby and when she kicked his body, there was no
sign of life.
With the recent murder of her brother still fresh in her mind, the girl grabbed the
Indian's body by the feet and dragged it over to the chopping block, One blow with
the broad axe was enough. The severed head was hoisted on the gate post in front of
the Dugan cabin as a symbol of the fighting Dugan spirit. The Indians understood
and life for a while, at least, became less hectic.
The warning had a sobering effect. The savages cautiously kept their distance and in
time the groundwork was laid for more peaceful relations between the pioneers and the
hostile Indians.
This incident did not put an end to Indian depredations, but it helped break the reign
of terror and gave encouragement to prospective settlers in the North and East who
were eyeing the fertile Texas soil speculatively.
The Indian skull was used to mend the broken part of the spinning wheel in the Dugan
household as broken parts were not so easily repaired in pioneer days.
George Dugan, nephew of the plucky and courageous Emily, said, "We've had offers
from museums but money wouldn't buy the bleached Indian skull, a treasured family relic."

Notes of Emily's Life
In 1844, Emily age 22, met Frederick Patrick Whiting from Maine.
They were married in 1845 and had a son born March 1, 1846. They both died in
December, 1846, after a short illness leaving their infant son, George Dugan Frederick,
in his grandfather Daniel Dugan's care. He was fifteen when his grandfather died. His
uncle, Henry Patrick, helped rear him to young manhood. Then in 1870 he married
Molly Inge Fitzgerald, daughter of pioneer George S. Fitzgerald. Their daughter,
Bird, was my mother, and Emily Dugan Whiting's granddaughter.
(I am the oldest living lineal descendant of my great grandmother Emily Dugan Whiting.)

Thanks for Stopping By, PinBally
Emily Dugan's Story, by author: Lo Rene Taliaferro Reirdon
taken from The History of Grayson County Texas, by Frontier Village.