Robert Neighbors

Robert Simpson Neighbors (November 3, 1815 – September 14, 1859) was an Indian agent and Texas state legislator. Known as a fair and determined protector of Native American interests as guaranteed by treaty, he was murdered by a white man named Cornet, whose brother-in-law had been defamed by Neighbors, accusing the brother-in-law (one Patrick Murphy of Belknap, sheriff, saloon owner and businessman) a common horse thief, responsible for stealing horses from the reservation Indians. When Neighbors refused to recant the accusation in front of the two men, Cornet shot Neighbors with a shotgun. Cornet was murdered, and Murphy was acquitted as he did not pull the trigger. Cornet went on the run and was killed during his arrest.

Early life

Robert Simpson Neighbors was born in Charlotte County, Virginia, on November 3, 1815. He was the sole son of William and Elizabeth (Elam) Neighbours. between the US, represented by Indian commissioners Pierce M. Butler and M.G. Lewis, and the chiefs of the Comanches, Ionies, Anadarkos, Caddos, Lipans, Tonkawas, Keechies, Tawacanos, Wichitas and Wacos, signed near Waco on 15 May 1846. Old Owl however, took a liking to the fearless Neighbors. He told him though most whites irritated him, he liked Neighbors, and invited him to accompany the war party, and he proposed instead of Neighbors making a civilized man of him, that he would make a fine horse thief out of Neighbors, and adopt him into the tribe. His reasoning was that Neighbors was perhaps the only man in Texas who could safely ride into the Comancheria.

Neighbors led a combined military-Ranger force that included his personal friend "Rip" Ford The camp was commanded by Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee of the Second Cavalry from 1856 to 1857.

Officers serving under Lee's command at the camp included Captain Earl Van Dorn, Captain George Stoneman, and Captain Theodore O'Hara. Major George H. Thomas succeeded Lee as commander and was wounded while pursuing Comanche warriors.

Death Gravestone of Maj. Robert S. Neighbors at Fort Belknap near Newcastle, Texas alt=Gravestone of Maj. Robert S. Neighbors at Fort Belknap near Newcastle, Texas It was during this period, when settlers began to attack the Indians, that Neighbors became hated among white Texans. Neighbors reported that the United States Army officers located at the posts of Fort Belknap and Camp Cooper, near the reservations, failed to give adequate support to him and his resident agents, and adequate protection to the Indians and settlers alike.

Personal life Robert Simpson Neighbors was a Methodist, a Mason, and a leader in the temperance movement. He had married Elizabeth Ann Mays in Seguin, Texas, on July 15, 1851, and their home was on his Salado Creek ranch, now part of San Antonio, Texas. Two sons survived childhood.