My name is Linda Kirkpatrick and I wrote a poem about the Indian Massacre 
of a McLaurin family around Leakey Texas in 1882.

I first heard the story of the McLaurin Indian Raid when I was 6 years old. 
I was raised on a ranch 14 miles north of Leakey, Texas on highway 336 and 
just a few miles from where the McLaurin family lived in the late 1800’s.
  
There was an old cowboy from a neighboring ranch that would ride over on 
horse back about once a month to visit and get a good meal. I always liked 
to read and be read to, so on one of his trips he brought an old book that 
was just full of short stories about Texas; but the one story that I 
wanted read over and over was the story of the McLaurin family.

As I got older, I joined a Girl Scout troop. Miss Sallye Godbold came to 
talk to our troop one-day and the story that she told was the story of 
the McLaurins but she took it one step further. She had been a small child 
on the day the bodies of Kate McLaurin and Allen Lease were brought by 
wagon to Leakey for burial. I was so excited to have been able to touch 
someone who had been there! 

Time rocked along and I told the story many times over the years. Then two 
years ago a friend of mine and I were talking about writing, etc. His name 
is Frank Roberts and he is the Interpretive Ranger at Garner State Park. 
He wanted to do a program on the cowboy and bring in local history as well. 
So he challenged me to write a poem about the raid. Well, I kicked the idea 
around for several months and just couldn’t get a starting place. Then one 
day Frank called and since we were going to start our program in about a 
month he wanted to know how my poem was coming along. I said, “Great!” and 
actually I hadn’t written a line.

I then loaded myself up and went to the site and it was there that the poem 
took shape and in two days I had it finished. It has been well received but 
there has been a few objections from Native Americans. I understand their 
thoughts, as I too am part Native American, however in telling stories of 
the past it is sometimes hard to tell the stories as they happened and keep 
the dignity of all people involved.

Then as my group, “The Cowboy Sunset Serenade”, was preparing to go to 
Lubbock, Texas to the National Cowboy Symposium, we found the story of 
the McLaurin Raid had been published on the Internet, on the McLaurin 
Homepage by Jesse McLaurin.

I contacted the author of the story, Hilton McLaurin of Lubbock and he 
came to the Symposium and sat in the audience while I recited the poem. 
I was thrilled beyond words!!!!

I am very lucky to live in this area. The setting of the attack is on 
the Frio River between two towering rock cliffs. It is a beautiful 
setting and one can understand why John and Kate McLaurin chose this 
spot for their home.

As I tell everyone who attends our programs, I like to emphasize the 
pioneer woman and women of the west. There are three women who are 
important to this poem. 

The first is not mentioned in the poem but without her this story 
would never be known. She is the Lipan-Apache maiden who kept the 
braves from killing Maude.  

The second is 6 year old Maude McLaurin. It is so hard to imagine 
the distance and the responsibility that this little girl showed 
on that fateful day. 

The third is Kate. Women like Kate are the backbone of the west. 
They gave their love and life for their families and the settling 
of the west. So with all this in mind, please enjoy my poem.