Америкалық саяхатшы-қазынашы және дін қызметкері Плезант Таккит

American politician

Pleasant Tackitt (or Tackett; April 22, 1803 – February 7, 1886) (sometimes rendered as James Pleasant, but no official documents support this name) was a 19th century politician, pioneer Methodist minister, stockman, teacher, farmer, Indian fighter, and Confederate officer. Tackitt was a key figure in the history of Arkansas and North Texas, including a state representative in the Arkansas General Assembly. Because of his battles with Indians in Texas, Tackitt became known as "the Fighting Parson".

Tackitt was born in Henry County, Kentucky, to Virginian Lewis Tackitt and Mary Elizabeth Bashum, and was one of seven children. The Missouri Methodist Conference assigned Pleasant as missionary to the Western Cherokees in Arkansas in 1829. He was a circuit rider for two years and then assigned to mission schools. He married Kezia Frances Bruton on August 20, 1830, in Pope County, Arkansas. He served one term in the Arkansas General Assembly before joining a Texas bound caravan in the autumn of 1853.

Pleasant settled first in the spring of 1854, two years before Parker County was organized, on Walnut Creek, about four miles west of Springtown, Texas. He founded Goshen Church, and helped clear ground for the adjoining cemetery after providing shelter for his family. He preached his first Texas sermon in the cabin home of Hezekiah Culwell, and regularly held services at Goshen, Springtown, and Ash Creek, where he helped build churches. In 1857, he organized the First United Methodist Church of Weatherford, Texas. Then, the Texas Methodist Conference transferred Pleasant to Fort Belknap, Texas, to spread the gospel to friendly Indians and white settlers. He organized churches in Palo Pinto, Shackelford, and Young Counties, including one at Graham, Texas. Tackitt at one time had 143 appointments requiring 1,200 miles of travel to visit all. Tackitt Mountain in Young County was named for him in memory of the skirmish there in 1860 between the Tackitt family and a band of Indians led by a Comanche known to the settlers as Piny Chummy (or Pine o Channa). During the American Civil War, Tackitt served as chief justice and postmaster in Young County and as enrolling officer in the Confederate States Army.

An often told story emphasizes the major scares the Tackitts endured at their Fish Creek home south of Ft. Belknap. One of the family's cows came home with an arrow protruding from her back. Pleasant and his three oldest sons, James, Lycurgus and George, armed themselves and went to bring home the remainder of their herd. They were returning from the Tackitt Mountain area with the animals when 10 Indians rose from a ravine ambush. When the arrows and bullets ceased, four attackers lay dead, and James had a dangerous arrow point lodged in his skull and Pleasant was suffering from a point that pierced one foot. Both suffered great pain, but survived. Frontier life had tense episodes, but all Pleasant's children lived long lives, mostly into their 80s. His brother, Mann Darius Tackitt, was not so lucky. He was slain by a pillaging Indian band on his ranch in Jack County. Pleasant Tackitt returned to Parker County in the last years of his life and is buried in Goshen Cemetery beside his wife.