"The Settlers built crude cabins, usually a single or double room with a dirt floor and one window, a fireplace and maybe a loft. They had to learn to create what they needed or do without. They knew hardships, pain with out medical care, loneliness, poverty, and dirt. Idleness was a sin and discipline was strict. The men cleared the ground, built cabins, planted and harvested, ground corn, meal and flour, butchered and cured meat, tended to livestock, tanned leather, and cobbled shoes, distilled brandy and brewed beer and dug a well. The women were even more busy. They did all the cooking and baking, prepared and spun cotton and wool, which they then wove, dyed,cut and sewed into clothes, bore and cared for a large family of children, milked and churned, planted and tended to vegetable gardens and orchards , which they then proceeded to can, dry , preserve and store, made soap and candles, cared for the ill and old, and gave a helping hand in the fields or on the range if needed and proved to be very capable with a gun in times of danger. The children were also vital cogs in this beehive of activity. They worked as hard as their little bodies could endure right alongside the adults."*Quoting from Roberta Banta, Bandera History

In 1856, the Indians made their first raid into the Sabinal Canyon. They came in from the south and entered the valley from the lower side. They struck first at the ranch of Joel Finley and stole two horses. Later that morning Gideon Thompson noticed that there was something wrong with his cattle by their actions and upon investigating found a trail of a band of Indians not far from his house. Gideon and neighbors Aaron Anglin, John Brown set out in pursuit of the Indians. Later that morning Gideon had discovered that his oxen had several arrows sticking in them. The men came upon the Indians encamped in a sinkhole and a battle ensued. After firing hundreds of arrows at them the indians escaped and the men returned home. *fromTexas Indian Fighters

Numerous raids followed where cattle or horses were taken and empty homes were pillaged. Up to this point no one had been harmed. During one of the pursuits of the Indians Henry Robinson came upon an indian by surprise and managed to shoot and kill him. Some time later Henry was tracked down killed in a most brutal manner by the Indians for revenge. In a later pursuit after an Indian raid, Gideon, accompanied by John Leakey, Henry Robinson and two other men got into a fierce fight with the Indians on a rocky and brushy mountain top. The men used muzzleloading guns that had to be reloaded after each firing putting them at a disadvantage. They had been trailing a small group of three or four Indians and suddenly were ambushed by twenty five or more Indians. Vastly outnumbered the men tried to retreat down the mountain. John Leakey was hit numerous times with arrows and finally jumped off a rocky bluff to escape. His comrades assumed he was dead and continued their retreat. The Indians had picked up the gun that Leakey discarded in his hasty retreat off the bluff and fired at the retreating men. The shot went through Gideon's hat and hit Henry in the hip. The four men took turns carrying Henry and continued their retreat down the mountain escaping from the angry Indians. Imagine their suprise when a bloody and angry cussing John Leakey met them at the foot of the mountain. Gideon said that John was the maddest, bloodiest man he had ever seen. He had been hit by nine arrows and had broken some bones in his leap to safety, but he was full of spunk and although his recovery from his injuries took some time he regained his health. *From Texas Indian Fighters