The captive who became a warrior

Mason County— In the unforgiving Dry River and Hill Country of Texas during the 1870s, where German settlers struggled to survive amid the constant threat of Indian raids, the story of Herman Lehmann unfolds — a remarkable testament to survival, adaptation, and the collision of cultures on the American frontier.

Born June 5, 1859, to German immigrants Moritz and Augusta Lehmann, Herman grew up in the harsh realities of frontier life. His father’s death in 1864 and his mother’s remarriage to Philipp Buchmeier two years later set the tone for a childhood shaped by hardship. Speaking only German and unable to read or write, Herman could not have imagined the ordeal that awaited him at age 11.

Captured by the Apache

On May 16, 1870, near Loyal Valley in Mason County, Herman and his younger brother Willie were tending wheat fields when a band of eight to ten Apache warriors attacked. The raid was swift and brutal. The boys were beaten, forced to eat raw meat, and marched for five days into the wilderness.

Two younger sisters escaped to raise the alarm, but the brothers’ paths soon diverged. During a clash with Buffalo Soldiers near San Angelo, Willie escaped and returned home after nine harrowing days. Herman, terrified and convinced his family was dead after the Apache showed him bloodstained clothes as “proof,” remained with his captors.

He was adopted by the war chief Carnoviste, who renamed him En Da — “White Boy.” His initiation into Apache life was merciless. Whippings, burnings, and ritual humiliations tested his endurance. Yet amid the cruelty, a measure of compassion emerged. Carnoviste’s wife, Laughing Eyes, offered him food, comfort, and stories, softening his isolation.

Over time, Herman learned the Apache language, customs, and skills of survival. Slowly, the boy from Loyal Valley became an Apache warrior.

Becoming Apache

Over the next six years, Herman transformed from captive to hunter, from boy to warrior. Ranging from the Guadalupe Mountains into northern Mexico and back to central Texas, he mastered bareback riding, tracking, and archery.

Known among his people as Alamán — “the German” — Herman took part in raids against Texas Rangers, Comanche rivals, Mexican patrols, and settlers. In his autobiography, Nine Years Among the Indians (1927), he later wrote, “I became an Apache in every way but blood.”

One defining moment came on Aug. 24, 1875, near Fort Concho, when Herman’s band clashed with Captain D. W. Roberts’ Texas Rangers on the Concho Plains. Amid the chaos, Herman turned back under fire to rescue a fallen warrior. A Ranger’s bullet struck his horse, pinning him beneath it. Sergeant J. B. Gillett and Ranger Ed Sicker, noting his blue eyes and fair skin, hesitated to fire. Herman escaped on foot, crawling through the grass to safety. His bravery in saving a comrade earned him promotion to sub-chief.

Exile and Survival

Tragedy struck in 1876 when Carnoviste was killed in a clash with a rival Apache band. Seeking vengeance, Herman killed a deceitful medicine man, a decision that branded him an outcast. Fleeing retribution, he survived alone for a year in the desolate plains between the Pecos River and the Rio Grande, living on jackrabbits and muddy water, evading soldiers and storms.

Isolation eventually drove him north, where he encountered a Comanche camp in 1877. Initially met with suspicion, his tale of slaying the medicine man was confirmed by a scout, and the Comanche accepted him.

Among the Comanche

Renamed Montechena, Herman adapted quickly. His skill with horses and weapons earned respect, and he joined raids against the Tonkawa and U.S. cavalry patrols.

His years with the Comanche culminated in the Buffalo Hunters’ War of 1877, fought near Adobe Walls and Yellow House Canyon, as Native warriors resisted the slaughter of bison herds. In time, Quanah Parker, the legendary Quahadi chief, persuaded Herman and his group to surrender at Fort Sill in Indian Territory, modern-day Oklahoma.

Parker adopted Herman as a son, cementing his place among the Comanche and closing the first chapter of a life that bridged two worlds, one of German settlers and one of the Plains tribes who shaped Texas history.

End of Part One.