September 9, 1852; Comstock, Texas: Because of Indians, the mail run between Leona Station (Fort Inge), Texas, and Fort Fillmore, New Mexico Territory, was a very dangerous undertaking. One of Henry Skillman's drivers who proved equal to the task was William A. "Bigfoot" Wallace. On 9 September, Wallace, accompanied by eight men, made an early-evening camp near the Painted Caves of Devil's River. They drove the stage to a dense chaparral next to the water hole, and while some of the men prepared supper, others went to sleep under the coach. Feeling uneasy, Wallace left his men and went to inspect the area from a small hill fifty yards ahead. Several animals running by alerted him that someone was approaching. Hurrying back to camp, he woke everyone and warned them to prepare for Indians. Seconds later, about twenty-three Comanches charged in.
According to Wallace, the defenders hit a few Indians on the first charge. The Comanches fell back, then "circling around us [they] took possession of a Big Bluff, directly over our camp, and then the fandango began." The warriors fired down from the bluff, answered by the accurate shooting of Wallace and his party. A man named Fry was wounded and one of the pack mules was killed, while the stage drivers knocked four warriors off their ponies. The Indians fell back, waiting to see if the stage would try to leave. Wallace placed his men under the coach and in the chaparral, keeping them quiet and hidden. Finally the Indians' curiosity got the best of them and they came in for a closer look. Wallace waited until several showed themselves before opening fire. Once again, the Indians were forced back.
Before dark, a party of about forty Comanches rode up, signaling for a parley. Wallace went out and spoke with one of them in Spanish, boasting that he could ride his stage through "the whole Comanche nation." He said he intended to continue his journey as soon as his men finished supper. The Indians pulled back, no doubt waiting for the coach to begin to roll. Instead Wallace packed up his men and the coach, and when dusk fell, he retreated as fast as he could, keeping a sharp watch. "I could not by any means pass the Indians with the mail on mule back," he wrote. He and his men made it safely back to San Antonio, but they realized that future mail coaches would need a larger escort to have any hope of getting through.
