Excerpt from: "Pioneer History of Bandera County" Pages 216 and 217.

Mrs. Samantha Elizabeth Mayfield, who lives at Medina, has furnished the following sketch of the coming of the Mayfield family to Bandera county:

"On December 25th, 1877, four families left San Saba for Bandera. They were W. L. Mayfield, wife and six children; B. M. Mayfield, wife and seven children; W. W. McElroy, mother and three children; Mrs. White, sister of Mr. McElroy, and two little girls; and besides these four families there was Bud Wilson, Will Campbell and a Mr. Brown. We had a very enjoyable trip. Between Fredericksburg and Boerne we were caught in a snow storm and had to remain in camp several days, but we had good tents and did not suffer. Our travel was necessarily slow as we had three ox teams and one horse team. About January 10, 1878 we arrived at the Polk Ranch on the head of Red Bluff Creek, where we stopped for awhile and cleared some land for Louis Polk, then we went to the Hondo Canyon and settled a place about six miles above where Tarpley is now located, or about where the Cleophas Hicks ranch is situated. If I remember correctly, there were only fourteen families living in Hondo Canyon when we went there: Uncle Tommie Lewis and his two sons, Dave and Jim; Mrs. Annie E. Brown, better known as Grandma Brown; Uncle Street Hudspeth, Joe Hudspeth, Mr. Tucker, Uncle Henry Jeffers, Martin Jeffers, Taylor Hester, Joe Shull, Marsh Click, Joe Phelps, Uncle Joel Casey and his son, Sam Casey. I know of only one person new living in the Hondo Canyon who was there when we moved in and that is Grandma Brown, unless it be that her daughter, Mrs. Ryle is still living there. We remained on the Hondo one year, and then moved to what is now known as the Hansen ranch on Winan's Creek. This was a wild country with plenty of game, deer, turkey and a few bear. We have been here forty-four years, and during that time have made only two crop failures- in 1879 and 1917. We can make more with less work and as little rain here as any place in the United States.

My husband B. M. Mayfield, died January 9, 1912, aged 77 years. I am the mother of twelve children, seven boys and five girls. Four of these children have died, leaving eight, who are married and have large families. Walter, the oldest, lives at Medina; Brice, also of Medina; Mrs. Ernest Banta of Medina; Harry, of Port Arthur, Sam and Mrs. T. A. Buckner of San Marcos; Mrs. L. A. Holster of Shreveport, La., and Jas. H. Mayfield of Medina, with whom I make my home."

"I Believe I am the only one left of the older ones of our original party that came here in 1877. I am now 78 years old, in very good health, and quite stout for a person of my age."