Josiah Pugh Wilbarger (September 10, 1801 – April 11, 1845) was an early

Texan Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by bo ...

who lived for twelve years after being scalped by Comanche Indians.

Early life

He was born in Rockingham County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, and moved to

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

in 1818. Wilbarger moved to

Pike County, Missouri Pike County is a county on the eastern border of the U.S. state of Missouri, bounded by the Mississippi River. As of the 2010 census, the population was 18,516. Its county seat is Bowling Green. Its namesake was a city in middle Kentucky, a reg ...

, in 1823 and married Margaret Barker in September 1827. They left for Texas soon after the wedding and reached what is now

Matagorda County Matagorda County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,255. Its county seat is Bay City, not to be confused with the larger Baytown in Harris and Chambers Counties. Matagorda County is ...

on December 26. Wilbarger was a teacher at Matagorda for a year before moving to La Grange, where he taught and

surveyed Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the land, terrestrial Two-dimensional space#In geometry, two-dimensional or Three-dimensional space#In Euclidean geometry, three-dimensional positions of ...

until he settled in

Stephen F. Austin Stephen Fuller Austin (November 3, 1793 – December 27, 1836) was an American-born empresario. Known as the "Father of Texas" and the founder of Anglo Texas,Hatch (1999), p. 43. he led the second and, ultimately, the successful colonization ...

's colony in a bend of the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

, some ten miles above the site of present Bastrop, Texas.

The scalping

In August 1833, Wilbarger was a member of a surveying party of four that was attacked by the Comanche about four miles east of the site of present

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. Two of the men were killed and scalped by the Comanches. The other two managed to flee. Wilbarger was scalped and the Comanche left him for dead, but he was still alive when he was found the next day.Josiah Wilbarger's entry
in th
Biographical Encyclopedia of Texas
hosted by th
Portal to Texas History
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilbarger, Josiah P. 1801 births 1845 deaths People from Rockingham County, Virginia People from Pike County, Missouri People from Matagorda County, Texas People from Bastrop County, Texas American pioneers American surveyors Native American history