Texas Wild: the True Story of Josiah Wilbarger and Other Texas Heroes

In the unforgiving wilds of 1830s Texas, Texas Wild tells the true-inspired story of Josiah Wilbarger, a surveyor and settler who survives one of the most harrowing ordeals in frontier history: being shot and scalped alive by Comanche warriors, left for dead, and miraculously enduring days of agony before rescue. The novel opens with Josiah and four companions—Strother, Haynie, Standifer, and Thomas Christian—riding out from Hornsby Station to survey new land grants. They are ambushed in a brutal, sudden attack. Josiah is shot and scalped, left bleeding on the prairie as the others flee or fall. What follows is a visceral, deeply human account of survival against impossible odds: Josiah, naked and near death, crawls through the night, fights off coyotes, and clings to life beneath a lone post oak tree until his friends return, guided by visions of an apparition and a prophetic dream that reaches Sarah Hornsby. Back at the station, grief grips the survivors. Margaret, Josiah’s wife, refuses to accept his death, praying fervently for his return. Sarah experiences vivid dreams of Josiah’s location, dreams so real they compel Reuben and the men to ride out once more. The two storylines converge in a powerful rescue scene: the battered, barely conscious Josiah is found and carried home. The narrative then widens to the escalating violence of the Texas frontier. The Comanche, led by the formidable Buffalo Hump, launch devastating raids in retaliation for broken treaties and settler encroachment. The Great Raid of 1840—sacking Victoria and Linnville—unfolds in vivid, harrowing detail: families slaughtered, towns burned, captives taken. Buffalo Hump’s vengeance is relentless, but the Texans rally under leaders like Jack Hays and the Tonkawa chief Placido. The climactic Battle of Plum Creek becomes a turning point: Rangers, using Colt revolvers and adopted Comanche tactics, shatter the war party in a desperate, chaotic clash. Interwoven are the personal stories of endurance. Matilda Lockhart, abducted and tortured, survives to guide Rangers with her knowledge of Comanche trails. Young Judah Putnam, taken as a child, is passed between bands, loses her name and identity, and is eventually sold to a settler—only to be dramatically reunited with her sister years later by a heart-shaped birthmark. The novel closes with quiet, poignant reflections: Josiah’s eventual death from an old wound, the slow rebuilding of communities, and the enduring legacy of those who stood against overwhelming odds. Through grief, faith, and unyielding courage, Texas Wild is a gripping tale of survival, loss, and the brutal forging of Texas—a land that takes much but also, in time, gives back to those who refuse to yield.