J. P. Heinen, Sr., a highly respected pioneer citizen of Bandera county, writes interestingly of his experiences here in the early days. His narrative will be read and appreciated by many of the old timers who have moved away, as well as by all who live here now and know him:

During the war between the states I lived with my parents in Kendall county, near Comfort, I often passed through the town of Bandera hauling corn for the Confederate government to D Hanis, driving a team of eight or ten yoke of oxen hitched to a heavy wagon, hauling three tons to the load. In 1866 I came over to Bandera with one of my brothers and we engaged in the mercantile business, building a two-story stone building in the valley east of the Riverside Inn. This stone building was washed away in the big rise in the Medina river in 1900. In those days, after the war, there was very little money in circulation in this section and I sold my goods mostly on credit, for which I received shingles in payment, that being the only commodity the people had to pay with. To make my collections I made one or two trips every month on horseback to the very head of the Medina river, buying shingles and collecting them for debts due me, and having them hauled to San Antonio and sold for cash. At that time there was no Medina City. Mr. George Smith lived in a log cabin two miles above the present site of Medina, on what is now known as the Goodman place. I often spent the night with Mr. Smith on my trips up the river. He was unmarried at that time, lived alone, and always seemed delighted to have me come and stay with him. Like all frontiersmen, Mr. Smith was a fine old gentleman, and I treasured his friendship most highly. There were no houses between Laxson's Creek and Mr. Smith's place, and only shingle camps beyond where he lived. The Indians came in almost every full moon, and when I left home I had no assurance that I would get back alive, but I was fortunate in never meeting the Indians face to face, although I have been very near them a number of times.

I recall one instance during the time I was driving the ox team to D'Hanis that I will mention here. A band of Indians passed my wagon one night driving a bunch of horses. It was a bright moonlight night and I could plainly see them as they passed. The next morning seven or eight men came to my camp and asked me if I heard any horses passing the night before, and I put them on the trail. The Indians had stolen the horses near Quihi, and were in a hurry to get them out of the country. They probably saw my camp, but as they wanted horses and not oxen, they did not molest me.

I have seen a number of men that were killed by Indians. A Mr. Hardin with his family lived where Matt. Adamietz now lives across the river from Ben Batto. His son, a boy about 16 years old, went bee hunting over on the divide, between Indian Creek and the Middle Verde. He burned some beeswax in order to attract the bees, and thus locate their cave or tree. When night came he did not return home, and his parents, becoming uneasy, sent a man to town to get help to make a search for him. About ten of us started out, and after hunting all night we found him next morning in Middle Verde Creek. He was lying in shallow water, face downward, stripped of his clothing, and had an arrow sticking in his back. We put a blanket around the body, tied it on a horse behind 0. B. Miles, who took the dead boy home.

Another time, Polly Rodriguez sent a runner to town saying the Indians had chased a man named Gonzales to his place. As we were ready to go on a scout we went over to Privilege, six miles from town, in about an hour, but the Indians were gone. We followed them for some distance. About a mile above where the San Antonio road crosses Pipe Creek they killed a man who had been digging post holes. I think his name was Reeves, but I am not certain.

These and other experiences like them are sad remembrances of those frontier days.

In 1870 we had a big rise in the Medina river, the water reaching a depth of nine feet in my store, and ruined all of my goods to such an extent that I decided to quit the mercantile business and follow the carpenter's trade. In that same year I was appointed to a position on the state police force, an organization created for the protection of frontier counties against outlaws. There were many bad men on the frontier in those days, generally in sparsely settled regions where they thought they could do as they pleased. To arrest and bring to trial these criminals was the purpose of the organization of the state police. From one to three men in each county were appointed on the force. I was the only one in Bandera county, and I served two years, resigning at the end of the second year. The pay was $60 per month, and we had to furnish our own equipment, horses, arms, etc. The pay was wholly inadequate considering the risks we were constantly called upon to face.

In 1868 I married Miss Ida Schlador. We raised a large family, six sons and two daughters, and I am happy to say all are still living and very devoted to their parents.

In 1873 we organized a minute company, with Robert Ballantyne as lieutenant, and 19 privates. It was for protection against Indian depredations. The state furnished arms and ammunition; we furnished our own horses and other equipment. We were to scout no less than ten days in each month, for which we received $20 per month for each man. However, very often we were out twice that length of time, when Indians were in the country, for which we received nothing above the $20 mentioned. At the end of two years the company was discharged and the arms were returned to the state.

In the fall of 1875 I moved my family to San Antonio where I worked for two years at the builder's trade, doing fairly well, but on account of my wife's health I moved back to Bandera. In 1880 I bought the ranch property where I now live. I have worked hard all of my life to decently raise my family, and I am happy to say I have succeeded in doing so. I have seen many changes occur in old Bandera county during the time I have been here. Men have come and gone, manners and customs have changed; the wilderness, where only a few hundred people lived on very small farms far between, has given place to a greater population of thrifty enterprising people and the land put in a high state of cultivation, with farm after farm all over the county. It is certainly a revelation to one who knew the early days, to behold the transformation. First ox teams, later horse and mule teams, now truck or auto, and the convenience of the telephone-changes no one dreamed of fifty years ago.

I have gone through many hardships in my lifetime-privations such as the present generation does not have to endure. The people of today have many things we did not have, but with all the luxuries and comforts of the present time, I doubt if they are better satisfied than we were in the olden days. I am glad I lived the pioneer life. Neighbors lived far apart, but were the best of friends whenever they met. There were no classes, no social lines drawn- everybody was your friend. The almighty dollar played no role in our social relations then. What little anyone had everybody was welcome to it if in need. Each one helped his neighbor, not expecting pay for it. Alas, it is different now. Unless there is money in sight you don't get very far. I am now 75 years old, and as I fondly look back to the long, long, ago my thoughts revert to my friends of that day, and my heart becomes sad when I realize that many of them have passed on to the great unknown, while others have moved away to distant parts. Some of them yet remain here, and when I meet them it is with a hearty hand-clasp that betokens the life-long comradeship and brotherly love which has endured through all these years. May the Almighty God bless and protect them, as He has protected me and my family, is my earnest wish.

Mr. Heinen and his wife reared a fine family of sons and daughters, some of them still residing here. Mr. Heinen was fatally injured by falling from a mowing machine while working in his field, and died two months later, November 22, 1922. His wife passed away a few years later.

From Reprint of 100 Years in Bandera 1853 - 1953 by J. Marvin Hunter, page 12. A Story of Sturdy Pioneers, Their Struggles and Hardships, and Their Heroic Achievements A Century of Intrepid History, page 12.