Eleven-year old Herman Lehmann was captured by Mescelero Apaches from his German immigrant family near Fredericksburg in 1870. After fives years he was completely re-socialized into that tribe, later joining the Comanches for their last stand. He was nearly recaptured in August, 1875, as his band was returning to New Mexico Territory after raids in Texas. As Rangers under Captain Dan Roberts attacked the war party, Lehmann separated from the others to pick up Nusticeno (Old-Trot-Slow) whose horse had been killed. The two used their shields to deflect a dozen shots until Lehmann’s horse went down, pinning him beneath it briefly. Nusticeno ran away and was soon overtaken by the Rangers, who shot, decapitated, scalped, and skinned him. Jim Gillette and ed Sieker saw Lehmann’s long red hair and continued the running fight. Lehmann “crawled some distance on my belly and hid in the grass . . . They searched for me for an hour or so.” Lehmann then walked all the way back to the Apache camp in the New Mexico Territory.

A.C. Greene. The Last Captive: The Lives of Herman Lehmann, Who Was Taken by the Indians as a Boy from his Texas Home and Adopted By Them, Austin: The Encino Press, 1972.