I called my men to me, and we rode to where Jim and his men were waiting for us. Jim said, "Will, I have been in the Antelope country twenty years most of the time, and I never saw so many Antelope together at one time as I saw here this morning; why, there must be fifty or seventy-five laying around here at this minute, that we have shot, and you would not miss them out of the herd."
One of the men said, "It did not need any skill with the rifle, that hunt, for a blind man could not help hitting one of them, for as far as I could see, there was a mass of Antelope."
Every man now went to work skinning and getting the meat ready to carry to camp. My two companions and myself put two Antelopes on each of our horses and started on ahead of the others, and although it was five miles and we walked all the way, we got back to camp a few minutes before they did.
As soon as they saw us, the women came to meet us and wanted to see what we had on our horses. As I threw one of the Antelopes off the horse, a middle aged woman said, "Mr. Drannan, can I have a piece of this one? My little girls have just picked some wild onions, and I can make some hash, and I want you and Mr. Bridger to come and take dinner with us today."
I told her to help herself, that I brought the meat to camp for all of them to eat as far as it would go. Her husband came at that moment with a knife and skinned a portion of the Antelope and cut out what she wanted. By this time the other hunters began coming in, and everyone was getting fresh meat for their dinner, and by the way they acted I thought they enjoyed the Antelope fully as well as they had the Buffalo.
While we ate dinner, I asked Jim how many Antelope were killed by the whole party. He answered. "Why, dog gone it, I forgot to count them, but I know this much. Pretty near all of the men brought two across his saddle, and I will bet that it was the biggest Antelope hunt that was ever in this country before. Why, Will, the Antelope came along so thick at one time that a man could have killed them with rocks."
If the reader will stop to think a moment, I think he will be surprised at the great change that has taken place in that country in fifty years. At that time there was not a white family living within two hundred miles of this place, and if there had been any one brave enough to tell us that in a few years this would be a settled country, we would have thought he was insane. And just think, this very spot where the wild Antelope roamed in countless numbers fifty-five years ago is today Nevada's most prosperous farming country and is worth from fifty to one hundred dollars an acre, and the city of Reno, now a flourishing town of several thousand inhabitants stands on the very spot where we camped and had the Antelope hunt, and I have been told by reliable people that the whole country from the city of Reno to Honey Lake is thickly settled, and that cities and villages and thriving farms now cover the ground where at the time I am speaking of there was nothing but wild animals, and what was worse to contend with, wild savages lurking in the thick sage brush which covered the ground for hundreds of miles, and I am also told that the whole country around Honey Lake is a thriving farming country, but at the time I am speaking of, we did not have an idea that it would ever be settled up with Whites or used for anything but a feeding ground for wild animals. If we had been told at that time that a railroad would pass through the place where the city of Reno now stands, we would have thought the one who told us such a wild, improbable story to be a fit subject for a straight jacket.
We pulled out of there early Monday morning; we took the trail up Long Valley towards Honey Lake, which we reached on the evening of the third day. Nothing occurred to disturb us during this time. As soon as we went into camp that evening the emigrants got out their fishing tackle and went to the lake. Some of them caught some fish, but many of them came back disappointed. None had the luck they'd had at Truckee river. Still, the most of us had some fish for supper that night.
While we were at supper, Jim told the people that they were through catching trout, that the next fish we had would be salmon. They said they had never heard of that kind and asked what it looked like. Jim told them that the meat of some kinds of salmon was as red as beef, while another kind was pink, and still another kind was yellow, and they were considered the finest fish that swim in the water, and he continued, "I have seen them so thick in the spring in some of the streams in California that it was difficult to ride my horse through them without mashing them, and they ran against the horse's legs and frightened him so that he was as eager to get away from them as they were of him."
An old man presently asked how large a salmon usually was, to which Jim answered, "Well, they run in weight from ten to fifty pounds, but I have seldom seen one as small as ten pounds, and they are very fat when they are going upstream to spawn, but when they are coming down they are so poor they can scarcely swim."
We left Honey Lake in the morning, and the third day from there we struck the Sacramento valley, and we now told the emigrants that they had no further use for our services, that their road was perfectly safe from this point to Sacramento city.
Two of the committee came to us and said, "As this is Saturday we will camp here until Monday, and we want you two men to stay with us, for the women want to fix up something for you to eat on your way back."
Jim answered that we would stay with them over Sunday and take a rest, for we had a long and tiresome journey before us, but it must be understood that we did not want the women to go to cooking for us, for all we could take with us was a few loaves of bread, enough to last us a few days. Our meat we could get as we wanted it, which would be our principal food on the trip, as it always was when we were alone.
Sunday was a very pleasant, restful day to us. All the emigrants seemed to vie with each other in being social. Among the company was a man and wife by the name of Dent; these two came to us and said that they were going to make their home in Sacramento city and were going into business there, and they wanted us if we ever came there to come to them and make their home ours as long as we wished to stay, for, said they, "We appreciate what you have done for us on this journey we have passed through. Besides the protection you have given us, the Buffalo and Antelope meat you have shown us how to get and have helped to get has been worth more money to us than all we have paid you to pilot us to California.".
We thanked them for their kind offer and good opinion of us but disclaimed having done anything but our duty by them.
Monday morning Jim and I were about the first to be astir. We caught our horses and had them saddled by the time breakfast was ready, and we accepted the first invitation offered us to eat. While we were eating, our hostess said she had baked two loaves of bread for us to take with us, and that she had roasted the last piece of Antelope that she had and wanted us to take that too. We took the food this lady had prepared for us and went to our horses, but before we reached them we saw the women coming from every direction with bread and cake. Jim said, "Will, let's fill this sack with bread and cake if they insist on giving it to us and then get away as soon as possible."
As Jim made this remark, it was very amusing to see how every woman tried to get her package in the sack first, but it would not begin to hold half that was brought. As soon as the sack was full, Jim said, "Now ladies, we can take no more, so be kind to us in letting us get away."
By the time we had our pack fixed on our pack horses' backs, every man and woman and all the children were around us to bid us farewell and good speed on our journey back to Taos, New Mexico.
We had shaken hands with probably a hundred or more when Jim sprang upon his horse all at once, saying, "Now friends, we will consider we have all shaken hands," and he took off his hat and, waving it to the assembled crowd, gathered up his reins and galloped away, and I followed suit. But as long as we were in hearing distance we could hear, "Good bye, good bye," floating on the wind. As the sight of the train faded in the distance, we waved our hats for the last time.
For the next two days everything went smoothly with Jim and me, which brought us to Honey Lake. The night we reached Honey Lake, we camped in a little grove of timber near a pearling stream of cool, sparkling water about a half a mile south of the trail.
We had eaten our supper and were about to spread our blankets and turn in for the night when we heard a dog bark close to our camp, but it was too dark to see him. Jim said, "Don't that beat any thing you ever heard?"
We listened a moment, and then it was a howl, and then in a moment he barked again. Jim said, "You stay in camp, Will, and I will take my gun and see what is the matter."
In a moment Jim called, "I see him." I waited about an hour before Jim came back and was beginning to feel anxious about him. When I heard his footsteps, he said, "I followed that dog nearly a mile, and then I found the cause of his howling, and what do you think it was?" I answered, "Jim, I have no idea," to which he said, "Well, I will tell you. I found the body of a dead man laying on his blanket just as if he was laying down to rest. I did not get near the dog until I had discovered the body, and then he was very friendly with me, and came and whined, and wagged his tail, as if he knew me. I looked all around, but I could find nothing but the body laying on the blanket. I could not see that there had been a fire, and I saw no signs of a horse or anything else, and the strange part of it is that, although the dog was so friendly with me, I could not coax him away from the body which I suppose was his master."
I asked Jim what he thought it was best to do. He answered, "What can we do, Will? We have no tools to dig a grave with, and the body is laying among the rocks, and I expect that dog will stay beside it and starve to death."
"Wouldn't it be a good idea to go to the place in the morning and pile rocks on the body to keep the wolves and other wild animals from eating it up?" Jim said, "Yes, we will do that, and we will shoot some jack-rabbits and leave them with the dog, so he can have something to eat for a few days anyhow."
On the way over to the place where the body lay, we killed three rabbits and threw them to the dog, and he ate them as if he was nearly starved, and I have always thought that his master died of starvation, as he had no gun or pistol with which to kill anything to eat, and Jim thought that he must have got lost from some emigrant train and wandered around until he was too weak to go farther and lay down and died with no one but his faithful dog to watch over him in his last moments.
We covered him up with stones and brush the best we could and left him and the poor dog together, although we tried every way we could to tempt the animal away. The faithful dog would not leave his master's body. After trying persuasion until we saw it was no use, Jim said, "Let's put a rope around his neck and lead him off." I answered, "No, Jim, if he will not be coaxed away, it would not be right to force him to leave his dead master." Jim said, "It seems too bad to leave him to starve, but you are right, Will," and so we left him, and we never saw him again.
Saddened with the experience of the morning, we mounted our horses and struck for the trail. We had nothing more to disturb us for the next three days. About the middle of the afternoon of the third day we were riding along slowly, talking about where we should camp that night, when Jim happened to look off to the south, and he saw a band of Indians about a mile from us, and they were coming directly towards us, but we could not tell whether they had seen us or not. Jim said, "Let's put spurs to our horses and see if we can get away from them Red devils without a fight with them."
We put our horses to a run and had kept them going this gate for five or six miles when we came to the top of a little ridge, and in looking back we saw the Indians about a half a mile in the rear and coming as fast as their horses could carry them.
Jim said, "Will, we are in for it now, and we must find a place where we can defend ourselves."
At that moment I saw a little bunch of timber a few hundred yards ahead of us. I pointed to it and said to Jim, "Let's get in there and show them our war bonnet and scalps, and maybe that will save us from having a fight with the Red imps."
Jim laughed and said, "Why dog gone it, Will, I forgot all about your war bonnet. Sure, that will be the very thing to do."
We had reached the timber while we talked. We now dismounted and tied our horses, and in less time than one could think we had the war bonnet and scalps dangling from the trees all around our horses. We had scarcely got ready for them when the Red Skins were in sight. They raced around us in a circle but did not come in gun shot of us. They went through this performance a few times and then stopped and took a good look at our decorations, and then they wheeled their horses and left in the direction they had come from, and that was the last we saw of that bunch of Indians.
We waited a few minutes to be sure that all was clear, and then we mounted again and rode about two miles before we found water so we could camp for the night. When we were eating our supper that night, Jim said, "Will, I don't think you realize what a benefit those scalps and that bonnet is to us; if I were you, I would never part with that bonnet as long as you are in the Indian country. This being a Ute bonnet, the Comanches will offer you all kinds of prices for it, but if I were you I would not sell it at any price."
I answered, "Jim, I am going to keep that bonnet for two reasons. One is for the protection of my own scalp and the other is to keep in remembrance my last trip in company with you as a pilot across the plains to California."
Jim looked at me a moment and then said, "Will, you don't pretend to say that you will never take any more trips with me."
I answered, "Yes Jim, I mean what I say. This is my last trip as a pilot for emigrants."
Jim did not answer for a few moments, and then he said, "Who will go with me next year Willie? I thought the pilot business just suited you."
I answered, "In some respects I do like it, and in others I dislike it very much. You know yourself how impossible it is to please everybody. There are so many of the people who come from the east that don't think there is any more danger of the Indians than there is of the Whites, and you know Jim that is the class of people who will always get us into trouble. See what those nineteen smart alecks did for us on this last trip. Do you think if they had known any thing of Indian trickery they would have left our protection to go hunting in the very heart of the Indian country? And if we had not been firm with the rest of those people the whole outfit would have been scalped and then we would have had to bear the blame."
Jim answered, "There is more truth than poetry in all you say Will, but maybe you will change your mind when spring comes."
We had a peaceful night's sleep and pulled out on the road bright and early the next morning. We left the main trail and took a south east course and crossed the extreme southern portion, of what is now the state of Utah. We traveled hundreds of miles in this country without seeing a human being.
A year ago I passed through this same country in a comfortable seat in a railroad car, and it would be difficult for me to make the people of this day understand the feelings that I experienced when in looking from the car window I saw the changes that fifty-five years have made in what was a wild, rough wilderness, inhabited by Buffaloes, Antelopes, Coyotes and savage men.
We kept on through this section of country until we struck the Colorado river, which we crossed just below the mouth of Green river, and a few days' travel brought us into the northwest part of what is now New Mexico.
The country which is now New Mexico was at the time of which I am writing considered perfectly worthless. It is a rolling, hilly country with smooth, level valleys between the hills and is proving to be very fertile and is settling as fast as any part of the west.
There was nothing more to trouble us, and we made good progress on our journey, and in ten days from the time we left the Colorado river we reached Taos, New Mexico, which was the end of our journey, and tired and worn with the long hours in the saddle and the anxiety of mind which we had experienced in all the long months since we left there in the spring, we were glad to get there and rest a few days and to feel that we were free with no responsibility.
[Illustration: The mother bear ran to the dead cub and pawed it with her foot.]
We found Uncle Kit and his family all well and glad to see us. It was late in the afternoon when we got there, and we spent the remainder of the day and evening in recounting our summer's experience for Uncle Kit's benefit, who was a very interested listener to all that had befallen us since we parted from him in the spring.
While we ate supper, Jim told Uncle Kit of the fight with the Indians in which I killed the old chief and took his scalp and war bonnet, an account which amused Uncle Kit very much, and later in the evening he insisted on my undoing my pack and showing the bonnet to him.
After he had examined it, he said, "Will, I always knew that you would make an Indian fighter since that night when you were not fifteen years old and showed such bravery in showing me the two scalps of the Indians you had killed that morning all by yourself. But little did I think that you would have the honor of killing a Ute Chief and capturing his war bonnet. There will be many times when that bonnet will be as much protection to you as a whole regiment of soldiers would be," and turning to Jim, Carson said, "Bridger, don't you think my Willie must have been an apt pupil and does me great honor for the instruction I gave him?"
Jim answered, "Yes, Kit, I certainly do, and if you had seen him tested as I have the past summer, you would not need to ask me that question."
Uncle Kit patted me on the back and told Jim that he did not need to see his boy's bravery tested, for he always took it for granted that Willie would stand any test.
The next morning, Uncle Kit and Bridger commenced to lay their plans for the winter's trapping. I heard Uncle Kit say, "Bridger, we have got to get down to Bent's Fort right away; here it is in the last days of September, and you know that when the fall of the year comes, them trappers are like a fish out of water, and if we don't get to the Fort soon, Bent and Roubidoux will fit them out and send them out trapping on their own hooks."
Jim answered, "That is true, Kit, and the quicker we go the better it will be for us."
On the fifth day after we arrived at Taos from California, we were on the road to Bent's Fort with twenty-two pack horses besides our saddle horses. Uncle Kit, my old comrade Jonnie West and a Mexican boy by the name of Juan accompanied us.
We reached Bent's Fort in safety without having any trouble on the way. The evening we got to the Fort it seemed to me that there were more trappers than I had ever seen together at one time before, and they all huddled around Carson and Bridger. Uncle Kit told them all that he would talk business with them in the morning. When supper was ready that evening, Col. Bent invited all of us to take supper with him. We accepted the invitation, and while we were at the table, a runner came with a note to Uncle Kit from Capt. McKee, asking Carson to send all the men he could muster to join him at Rocky Ford to escort a government train to Santa Fe, New Mexico.
According to the Capt's. note Carson had only twenty-four hours to gather his men and get to Rocky Ford. When Uncle Kit read the note so unexpectedly brought him, it seemed to upset and confuse him. He said, "My God, I can't go," and then he read the note aloud. When he had finished reading. Col. Bent said, "I will go out and see how many men will volunteer to go." After Col. Bent left the room, Uncle Kit said to me, "Willie, will you take charge of the men if Col. Bent can raise a company? I know you can handle them as well as I could."
I answered, "Yes sir, I will do any thing you think is best."
In a short time Col. Bent came back and said he had found twenty seven men who were willing to go, and that every man had his own horse and a gun and a pistol, "but who will take the command of the company? Do you intend to go yourself Carson?"
Uncle Kit said, "No, I do not, but Willie here," and he touched my shoulder, "will take my place and do as well as I could."
Col. Bent said, "Well, come with me, Will, and I will introduce you to your men."
When we went outside, all the twenty-seven men were there waiting for us. Col. Bent said to them, "Now, gentlemen, I have brought you a leader in Mr. William Drannan. He will have charge of you until you reach Rocky Ford."
I then told the men to furnish themselves with four day's ration and also to take blankets to use at night, and to be ready to take the trail at sun rise in the morning. They all promised to be ready at the time I specified, and we separated for the night.
I found Uncle Kit in the dining room writing a letter to Capt. McKee. He gave the letter to me, saying, "Give this letter to Capt. McKee, and if you want to go to Santa Fe with him, do so, or if you had rather be with me, you will find Jim and me on the Cache-La-Poudre; just suit yourself, Willie, in regard to this matter, and I shall be satisfied."
The next morning we were up and on the road by the time the sun was up. We rode hard until about eleven o'clock, when we dismounted, staked our horses out to grass and ate our luncheon. We let our horses feed about an hour, and then we mounted and were on the road again. A little before sunset we came in sight of Rocky Ford. As soon as I saw where we were, I pointed it out to the boys, and said, "There is Rocky Ford, and we are ahead of time."
We had ridden but a short distance when one of the boys remarked, "We are not much in the lead, for there comes Capt. McKee's company just across the river," and as we reached the Ford, Capt. McKee and his men were crossing. So we both met on time. I had never met Capt. McKee but knew him from the fact that he was in the lead of his men.
I rode up to him and saluted and asked if this was Capt. McKee. He said it was. I told my name at the same time I gave him Carson's letter.
He read the letter and then said, "Let us go into camp. My men and horses are tired, and we will talk business after we have had supper."
We rode perhaps a quarter of a mile from the Ford, where we could get plenty of sage brush to make fires, dismounted and staked our horses out to grass, and it was not long until our meal was ready to eat. As soon as the meal was over, the Captain came to me and inquired if I had ever been over this country before. I told him I had a number of times. He said, "I am a stranger in this country; will you please tell me where the main body of the Comanches are at this time of the year?"
I told him that the main body of the Comanche tribe was at least a hundred miles down the river.
"They go down there to shoot the Buffalo as they cross the river on their winter's feeding ground. You will find the Indians very numerous all through that part of the country. Sometimes there are from two to three hundred wigwams in one village, and the Indians will stay there for nearly a month yet before they go farther south."
The Capt. then asked if I was acquainted with any of the Comanche Chiefs. I told him that I was, and that I had traded with pretty near all of them.
"The Comanches are all great friends with Kit Carson, and as I have visited them and traded with them in company with him, they extend their friendship to me."
The Capt. thought a moment and then said, "I am mighty afraid that we are going to have trouble with the Comanches from the fact that that Government train is at least two hundred miles from here, and there are forty wagons in it, and they have no escort, only their drivers and herders, and I am weak myself; you see, I have only twenty men with me. Five days before I received this order, I sent all of my men, except the twenty with me, to Fort Worth, Texas to protect the settlers in that country as the Comanches are on the war path there, and the few men we have with us now will not be as much as a drop in a bucket as far as protecting the train is concerned if the Comanches attack it."
I answered, "Captain, if we can reach the train before the Indians do, I believe we can get the train through to Santa Fe without firing a gun."
This seemed to surprise him, for he looked at me as though I was insane in making such a remark and said, "What do you mean, young man?"
I answered: "Capt. McKee, all the Comanche tribe know me, and they also know that I have for several years been closely associated with Kit Carson, and they think that all Kit Carson does or says is right, for they both love him and fear him, and they have the same feeling for the boy Carson raised, and furthermore I have in this pack," and I pointed to my pack which was laying on the ground near me, "more protection, in my estimation, than a hundred soldiers would be to the train."
He said, "Explain what you mean, for I do not understand."
I then unrolled my pack and, taking out the Indian scalps and the Ute Chief's war bonnet, I showed them to him and told him how I had used them to protect an emigrant train when I only had twelve men to help me that were of any use in a fight with the Indians.
I said, "Now, Captain, you must know that the Indians have no fear of death, but they do dread to lose their scalps after they are killed, as they think there will be no chance for a scalpless Indian to enter the Happy Hunting ground. So if we reach the train before the Indians get there and fear they will attack it when they do, all we have to do is to hang these scalps up in a prominent place and put the Chief's war bonnet high above them all, and there will be no need of a fight or chance for one, for the Indians will not come near enough to be shot at, for they will fear that they will share the same fate that befell the Indians that these scalps belonged to."
Capt. McKee then asked me if I were willing to go on and assist him in this way until the train reached Santa Fe, and he said, "I am quite sure your plan in using the scalps and bonnet for protection with the Indians will prove a success, for I know how superstitious the Indians are about being scalped, and I am also sure that we have not sufficient men to save the train from the Indians without some other means is used."
I then asked the Capt. who would pay me and my men for our time if we went with him. His answer was "The Government pays me and will pay you and the men with you, and if we have a chance to test your plan and it proves a success, I will see that you have double pay."
Everything being understood and arranged to the satisfaction of all hands, we separated and turned in for the night.
Next morning we were all up in good season and got an early start on the road.
Late that evening just before we went into camp we saw a few Buffalo feeding near the river. I asked the Capt. where he was going to camp that night. He pointed to a little ravine about a half a mile from us, and answered, "We will camp on that ravine." I said, "Take my pack on your saddle in front of you, and I will kill a calf for supper."
He took my pack, saying, "All right, we surely will enjoy some fresh meat," and the company moved on, and I struck out to kill the Buffalo. I rode around the herd so if they became frightened they would run towards the place where we were to camp. They saw me before I had got in gun shot of them and started to run directly towards where the Capt. had gone into camp.
As soon as I saw the direction they were taking, I commenced to shout to the men at the camp to look out, for the Buffalo were coming, and they did not get the news any too quick before the Buffalos were there. The men grabbed their guns and commenced shooting, and that was all that saved the camp from being overrun with Buffalo. They shot down three calves and two heifers right in camp.
The boys had the laugh on me for several days. When anything was said about getting fresh meat, some of them would say, "Will can go and drive it into camp, and we will shoot it," and the Capt. would laugh and say he reckoned that was a good way to save me from packing it.
I do not think I ever saw men enjoy a meal more than these did that night. We had all ridden hard that day and had only a light lunch at midday, so we were all very hungry and young and hearty and just at the time of life when food tastes best, and every one of us knew how to broil Buffalo meat over sage brush fire.
The next morning the Capt. told the men to all cut enough meat from the Buffalos to last until the next day and to put it in their packs, for, he said, "We may not meet with as good luck again as we did today, and if we take the meat with us we will be provided for anyway."
We were on the road early in the morning and traveled without stopping until noon, and we saw numerous small bands of Buffalo all along the way. We stopped on the bank of a little pearling stream of cold water, where there was plenty of grass for the horses, and ate our luncheon and rested about an hour. We were about ready to continue our journey when I discovered a small band of Indians coming up the trail.
I sang out to the Capt., "There come some of our neighbors." He looked at them and said, "Boys, mount your horses and be ready, for we are going to have fun right here." I said, "Hold on, Capt., and let me see if I can't settle this thing without a fight." He said, "How will you do it?" I said, "I believe I know all those Indians, but I will ride down and meet them and see, and if I am acquainted with them we will have no trouble with them."
Capt. McKee said, "Won't you be taking a desperate chance, Mr. Drannan, in going to meet those savages when you are not sure whether you know them or not?" I said, "I am not afraid to go to meet them, but if anything is wrong, I will signal to you by raising my hat, and if I do so you must charge at once, but if I give no signal you may be sure everything is all right."
I started my horse at full speed down the narrow valley to meet the approaching Indian band. When I was within a hundred yards of them, they recognized me, and they all began crying, "Hi-yar-hi-yar," which translated into English means, "How do-yo-do," and in a few minutes, they were all swarming around me, each one trying to shake my hand first. I shook hands with all, and I then asked them where they were going. The Chief told me that they were going to their village, which was on the opposite side of the river. We had passed their village a few hours before, but owing to the timber being so thick we did not notice it. They wanted to know when I was coming to trade for Buffalo robes with them. I told them I would come in four months. This seemed to please them well, and they said they would have a plenty of robes to trade for knives and rings and beads.
I rode back with my Indian friends to the camp. On the way I told the chief where I was going, and that the white men he saw in the camp were my friends and were going with me. Not knowing any of the men in the camp, the Indians passed on without stopping, as is their custom when they are not on the war path.
When the last Indian had passed the camp, Capt. McKee ordered the men to mount, and we continued our journey.
When we were under way the Capt. rode to my side and said, "Mr. Drannan, will you tell me how it is that you have such a control over those Indians? Why, I would not have ridden to meet that savage band for anything that you could have offered me, for I should have considered doing such a thing equal to committing suicide, and I know I should not have come out alive."
I said, "Very true, Capt. I don't think you would. But there is this difference between your going to meet them and my doing so. You are a stranger to them, and a member of the white race, which they hate. They, not knowing who you are, are suspicious of your being on their hunting grounds, but in my case I have known them all for years and have accompanied them many times to their village. Whom they trust, although he be a "pale face," they have confidence in, as they have in me. So they are all my friends, and when I told the Chief that you and all the company were my friends and were going with me, he or any of his braves had no wish to trouble you."
Capt. McKee looked at me as if he thought me something hardly human while I explained why I was not afraid of the Indians who had just passed, and in a moment after I had ceased speaking he said, "Can you control all of the Comanche tribe the same as you did the band which has just passed us?" I answered, "I certainly think I can if I have my way about it." He answered, "If that is so, the United States Government will be under great obligation to you." "The obligation is nothing to me Capt., but if the men will obey my instruction I think I can pilot the train through to Santa Fe without their having to fire a shot," I replied. The Capt. said, "I am not acquainted with the wagon master, so I can not say what he will do, but I will give you my word that my men will do as you instruct them, and as soon as we meet the train I will have a talk with the wagon master and try to influence him to submit to being directed by you."
The third day from this place we met the train at a place called Horse Shoe Bend. We saw a number of bands of Indians and passed several Indian villages on the way, but we did not come into contact with any of them. The train was just corralling for the night when we met them, and the most discouraged-acting men I ever saw were in that train. The wagon master told us that the Indians had attacked the train the day before and killed five of his men, and he said, "If this had been anything but a Government train, I should have turned around and gone back, and Capt., you haven't half men enough to protect this train through the Comanche country; we have just struck the edge of it, and the Comanches are the largest and most hostile tribe in the west, and you see that I lost five of my herders in the Kiawah country, and they are a small tribe beside the Comanches."
Capt. McKee then told the wagon master what he had seen me do with a band of Comanche warriors, and also told him what I said I could do for the train if I had the control of the men and they would obey me.
The wagon master turned and looked at me a moment as if he was measuring me and then said, "Young man, do you pretend to say that you know all of the Comanche tribe?"
I answered, "No, sir, I do not know them all, but they all know me, and there are hundreds of them that are particular friends of mine, and if you are acquainted with the Indian character, you know that when an Indian professes to be a friend he is a friend indeed, and there is no limit to what he will do for you."
He then asked how I proposed to handle the train and the men. I answered, "I want the men to ride beside the wagons, and in the rear of them with a half a dozen just a little ahead of the teams, and I will ride alone from a quarter to a half a mile ahead, and if the men in the rear or those on the side see any Indians advancing on the train, I want them to notify me at once, for I want to talk with the Indians before they get to the train, no matter whether there are a few or many of them."
The wagon master said, "I don't see anything to find fault with your plans," and turning to McKee he asked what he thought of the arrangement. Capt. McKee answered, "All that I find fault with is the desperate chances Mr. Drannan will take in going out to meet the savages all by himself." I said, "Capt., there is where you make a mistake. My safety lies in my going out to meet the Indians alone, and I will assure you and the other gentlemen that there will not be a gun fired if I can get to the Indians before they get to the train."
At this moment the cook said supper was ready, and it did not take long for me at least to get to eating it, for I was very hungry.
The wagon master, the Capt. and I messed together. The Capt. asked me what I thought about putting out picket guards that night. I told him that I did not think it necessary tonight, but further on the road it might be advisable.
We had a quiet night's rest, and everybody seemed cheerful in the morning, and we were on the road quite early. Before we started, I asked the wagon master how many miles he traveled in a day, and if he stopped at noon. He answered that he was four or five days behind time now and would like to make twenty miles a day if he could, and he thought it would not be advisable to stop at noon while we were in the Comanche country, but when we got clear of the Indians probably he would lay over a day or two, and let the teams have a rest.
Everything moved on pleasantly all that day. We did not see an Indian, but towards evening we saw large bands of Buffalo all going south. That night when we had got settled into camp, I told the Capt. that I would take a ride five or six miles up the valley and see if I could find any Indians' village or see any Indians and for them not to be uneasy about me or look for me until they saw me.
I had ridden perhaps three miles when I saw a large band of Indians just going into camp. They were about a half a mile from our trail right on the bank of the Arkansas river. I knew that they were a hunting party because their squaws and papooses were with them, which is never the case if the warriors are on the war path.
I rode down among them, and as soon as the squaws saw me they commenced to cry, "Hi-yar-hi-yar," and ran to me with extended hands, and they all asked together if I had come to trade rings and beads. When I told them that I would come again in four months and trade with them, they laughed and said in their own language that they would have many Buffalo robes ready to trade with me. As I was talking with the squaws, an Indian came to me, one that I had known for quite a while, and invited me to his wigwam to take supper with him and stay all night. I explained to him that I could not accept his invitation that time and told him what I was doing, and where I was going, but that I would return in four months and would bring a plenty of knives and rings and beads to trade for Buffalo robes.
This seemed to please him very much.
I bid them all good bye and went back to camp. It was rather late and supper was over, but the cook had saved some for me. While I was eating, Capt. McKee and the wagon master came to see me. The Capt. asked what I had seen while I was gone. I said, "Capt., I saw enough Indian squaws to keep me shaking hands for twenty minutes, and besides the squaws I saw four or five hundred warriors and shook hands with a good many of them and was invited to eat supper and pass the night with one of the Chiefs, but I declined to do either, although I would have been more than welcome."
The Capt. asked where the Indians were, and I told him. He asked how far from our trail their village was. I told him between half and a quarter of a mile. He said, "Have we got to pass in full view of that Indian village?" I answered, "Yes, sir, that is the only road that leads from here to Santa Fe." "And do you believe that we can pass them in the morning without being attacked by them?" he asked. I said, "Capt., if the men will obey my instructions, there will be no danger when we strike out in the morning. We will all travel in the same order as we did today, except that I shall not ride so far in advance of the train, and if the Indians start to come towards the train, I will ride out and meet them, and the train must keep right on, as if nothing had occurred, and I will hold the Indians until the train is out of sight, and then I will leave them and overtake you."
The Capt. said, "All right, Mr. Drannan, we will do as you have directed, and if you succeed in this venture, I shall know that you have the control over the Indians that you thought you had."
The wagon master said that he would not feel very easy until we had passed and were out of sight of the Indians and their village, and I believe he spoke the truth, for he was up and had everything ready. We were on the road by sunrise. When we were nearly opposite the Indian village, the squaws discovered us and came running towards us in droves. I rode out and met them and had a general hand-shaking with them, and they wanted me to assure them that I was coming in four months to trade with them and wanted me to go and look at some of the robes they had dressed, which I did, and in doing so, I saw something that I had never seen before nor have I since. It was a white Buffalo skin, and the animal must have been a half-grown cow judging from the size of the skin. It was the prettiest thing of the kind that I had ever seen, or ever have since. When I was looking at the beautiful thing, I asked the Indian that I thought it belonged to how much he would take for it. He said it was not his, that it was his squaw's. I asked her what her price would be, and she answered, "One string of beads." I told her to save it for me and in four months I would come back and bring the beads to her and take the robe. I was so interested in looking at the robes and talking with the Indians that time passed without notice, and the first thing I thought about it, in looking at my watch I found it was nearly noon. I now bid the Indians good bye, mounted my horse and started to overtake the train. When I caught up with them, I found that the Capt. was feeling very uneasy about me, and the wagon master thought the Indians had taken me captive.
When I rode to the Capt's. side, he said, "This settles it. I have been fighting the Indians for several years, and I must admit now that I don't know anything about them, and I will confess that I was like "the Missouri"; I had to be shown before I believed. But having seen like them, I am satisfied that you knew what you were talking about. After the experience of this morning, I cannot doubt that through your friendship with the Red skins we shall get through to Santa Fe in safety without having any trouble with them."
That evening when we went into camp, the Capt. and the wagon master came to me. The Capt. said, "Mr. Drannan, you are so well acquainted with the Comanche Indians, perhaps you can tell us where we shall pass their main village and where the Indians are likely to be the most numerous." I answered, "This is an unusually late fall, and the Buffalo are as a consequence unusually late in going south and are more scattered than they would be earlier in the season, and I do not think we will pass the Comanches' main village under forty miles from here. You must understand that the Comanches' main village is always near where the largest herd of Buffalo cross the river, and from this on we will travel as we have been doing; I will take the lead five or six miles in advance of the train so that if we come on to a band of Indians or a small village I can meet them and have a talk with them before the train gets up to them, and Capt., I want you and the other men to keep a close look out, and if any of you see any Indians coming towards the train from any direction, send a runner after me at once, for I want to meet the Indians before they get to the train."
The next morning we pulled out early, and we traveled without interruption all day, and we did not see an Indian and but very few Buffalo.
That night we camped on a little stream called Cotton Wood Creek. There was fine water and the best of grass for the stock. That evening I told the Capt. and the wagon boss that the three main Buffalo crossings were within thirty miles of us, and we would probably have more trouble with the Buffalos than we would with the Indians. "At this time of the year it is no uncommon thing to see a herd of Buffalo from eight to ten miles long, and from a half to a mile wide, and if we meet with such a herd, all we can do is to stop and wait until they pass, for we could no more get through them than we could fly over them, and, Capt., we now have two dangers to avoid. The Indians and Buffalos. If you see a band of Buffalo coming and I am not with you, have the wagon master corral the train as quickly as possible, and as close as he can get them together. I have considerable influence with the Indians, but I have none with the Buffalos, so we must give the latter their own way and a plenty of room, or they will tramp the train under their feet and us with it."
We were on the road in good season the next morning, and every thing went smoothly until about eleven o'clock in the morning, when I saw a large band of Buffalo coming from the north and heading directly for the river. I rode back and met the train and told the wagon master that he must corral the train at once, and he did not have time to get it corralled too soon before the herd was near us, and I will say I had seen a great many large herds of Buffalo before and have since that time but never saw anything that equaled this herd. We waited until three o'clock in the afternoon before we could move on our journey, and after they had all passed us, one could see nothing but a black moving mass as far as the eyes could see.
I asked the Capt. how many Buffalos he thought there were in that band.He answered, "I think the number would run into millions. How manyBuffalos would it take to cover a half a mile square?"
I thought a moment and answered, "That is a difficult question to answer, Capt. The way they were crowded together here I believe there would be a hundred thousand on every half a mile square."
Capt. McKee said, "Yes, and on some of the half a mile square there would be more than that number. I was in Texas nine years, and I saw a great many bands of Buffalo in that time, but I had no idea that they ever traveled in such immense bodies as the one that passed us today."
We proceeded but a short distance that afternoon but made an early camp on account of water. While we were at supper, I was amused at some of the remarks made by the teamsters. One of them said, "Boys, if I live to get home, you will never catch me any farther west than the state of Missouri again. Who would live in such a country as this is? Good for nothing but Indians, Buffalos, and Coyotes, and any of the three is liable to kill you if you get out among them." And another said, "How in creation are we going to get home? If this train don't go back, we are sure in for it."
The wagon boss said, "Boys, I should not think you would want to go back over this country again." One of them said, "How would we live?" He answered, "Why, you could go and live with the Indians, and then you could have Buffalo meat to eat and hear the Coyotes howl all the time."
This remark made a laugh, but I noticed one of the teamsters wiped his eyes on his coat sleeve and got up and left the crowd, and I saw the tears running down his cheeks. After he had gone, one of the other drivers said, "I pity John, for he thinks he will never see his sweetheart again. It was to get money to settle down with that brought him out here, and now he is afraid that he will never get back, and I believe he will go crazy if he don't get to see his girl in a few months."
The boss said, "It is too bad, and I will go and see if I can console him."
When we were ready to strike the trail the next morning, I told the Capt. that I thought we would pass the Comanches' main village that day. Said I, "If it is late in the afternoon when we pass the Indian camp, it will be best to drive on four or five miles before you stop for the night, and do not pay any attention to me, for very likely I shall be in the middle of the camp, talking with the Chief."
I struck out, and I had not ridden more than eight miles when in looking off to the south I saw the Indian village. It was about a mile from the trail on the bank of the Arkansas river. I turned my horse and went for the village. When I was about halfway there, I met a number of young bucks, and they all knew me. After I had shaken hands with them, I asked where the old Chief's wigwam was, and they all went with me and showed me where it was. As soon as I struck the edge of the village, every buck and squaw commenced to shout and shake their hands at me. When I got to the Chief's wigwam I dismounted, and as he came out to meet me I offered my hand, which is always customary when one visits an Indian, be he Chief or warrior.
After we had talked a few minutes, he told me in his own language that I had come too soon. He supposed I had come to trade with the Indians for Buffalo robes. I told him that I had not come to trade this time but would come all prepared to trade in four months.
Then I told him what I was doing and where I was going, and I told him that if he would tell all his Warriors to let us pass without disturbing or molesting us in any way, I would make him a present of two butcher knives when I came in four months to trade with them.
This promise seemed to please him, for he said I and the pale faces with me could go through his country and none of his Warriors would disturb us. I told him I would want to come back with the same wagons in about one month, and he answered, "It is well," which meant "It is all right."
By this time there were hundreds of bucks and squaws and papooses around the Chief's wigwam. They all thought I had come with knives and rings and beads to trade with them. When the Chief told them that I was only making him a visit, and that I would return in four months to trade, they all wanted to shake hands with me, and while I was shaking their hands, I saw the train pass along the trail, and by the time I had shaken hands with them all it was out of sight.
I was now about to mount my horse to follow the train when the Chief said, "No go now, stay eat dinner."
I knew that it would be considered an insult to refuse, so I said, "Wa to," which means "All right."
I staked my horse out by tying him to a sage brush and accompanied the Chief to his wigwam, and it was not long before the squaws had a plenty of juicy Buffalo steak broiled and ready to eat, and I have no doubt the reader will think me a very strange person when I say that I enjoyed that meal, which was of broiled Buffalo meat alone without even bread, more than I would now the most sumptuous dinner that could be cooked and spread on the finest mahogany table, and that meal was spread on the ground in an Indian wigwam with wild Indians for companions.
After a while, which seemed short to me, I looked at my watch and was surprised to find that it was two o'clock in the afternoon. I bid the Chief and his squaws good by and mounted my horse and was off in pursuit of the train.
I overtook them just as they were corralling for the night. As I rode into camp, Capt. McKee met me and said, "Mr. Drannan, you must bear a charmed life. I never expected to see you again, either alive or dead."
I laughed and answered, "Did you think I was going to marry a squaw and settle down in the Indian village, Capt? I thought you had a better opinion of me than that. I will confess that I like the Indians pretty well, but not well enough to be a squaw man."
This answer made a general laugh and upset the gravity that was settling on all their faces. Capt McKee then said, "Where have you been all day, Mr. Drannan?"
I told him I went to the Indian village which he passed and was invited to eat dinner with the head Chief, and they made such a spread that I like to not got away today. He said, "What could you have had for dinner that it took all day to eat it?" I answered, "Buffalo steak straight cooked in the most approved style."
This answer made such a laugh that the Capt. did not ask any more questions until he and I were alone that evening. The wagon master and Capt. McKee asked me to take a walk with them. After we had strolled along a while, the Capt. said, "Mr. Drannan, how is it that you can go into those Indian villages be they large or small? It seems to make no difference to you, and the Indians do not molest you. Have you no hesitation at all in going among the Indians?"
I answered, "Yes sir, I would hesitate a long time before I went into the village of some tribes of Indians, but I have no fear of the Comanches in small bands or when they are all together, for they are all friendly to me, and instead of hurting me they would protect me from harm, and there is something else I can guarantee, and that is that this train will not be molested by the Comanche Indians, either going or coming on this trip."
Capt. McKee said, "Where in the world could you get that guarantee, Mr.Drannan?"
I replied, "Capt. McKee, I got it from the head Chief of the Comanche tribe, and his word is law with all his warriors."
Then the wagon master spoke for the first time since we started on our walk. He said, "In that case there is no need of all these men as an escort, is there?"
I answered, "That is none of my business; it is nothing to me how many men the Government employs to escort the trains. All I have to do with it is to do my duty."
The Capt. inquired how I came to make such an arrangement with the Chief. I told him that I had the idea in my mind from the beginning, and that was the reason I wanted to go to the main village in advance of the train, so I could arrange everything to suit myself before the train came in sight.
The Capt. inquired how much it cost me to get the guarantee. I said, "The cost was considerable, but I think the teamsters will be willing to make it up to me, considering the trouble and perhaps loss of life I have saved them."
The wagon boss said, "I reckon we all will want to take a hand in that payment. Tell me what it costs, and be it ever so much, you shall not be out a cent. I will go and see the boys right away and see if we can make it up. How much shall I tell them?"
I answered, "I promised the Chief two butcher knives for the safety of this train's passage through the Comanche country, both going to Santa Fe and coming back."
They both stared at me as if they were amazed, and finally the Capt. said, "What are you giving us? Are you joking or in earnest, Mr. Drannan?"
I answered, "I have told just what I promised to give the Chief. We did not call it 'paying,' and I have over three months to pay it in."
Capt. McKee said, "Two butcher knives for the safety of all our lives and all the property in our care? How in the name of common sense could you make such a bargain as that?"
I answered, "There is nothing very wonderful about the transaction, Capt. I told the Chief that I would give him two butcher knives if he would tell his warriors not to molest the train either going or coming back, and he accepted my offer and seemed to think himself well paid. I told him that I would come to trade with his tribe in four months and that I would give the knives to him then."
Capt. McKee asked how many more villages we would have to pass through. I told him that there were two more small villages. One was about ten miles, and the other one about fifteen or twenty miles above us.
He inquired if I intended to visit each of those in advance of the train as I had the ones we had passed; I replied, "I certainly do, for they would think themselves greatly insulted if I should visit the other villages and pass them by without paying them a visit too. The Indians are very much like children. If you notice one, you must pay the same attention to the others or there will be jealousy, and that is very much to be avoided in this case. Besides, I expect to trade with those Indians next spring, and I want to keep on the good side of all of them. If one gets the ill will of one Indian, the whole tribe is against one, and if you have the Chief on your side there is no danger from the others."
When we returned to camp from our walk, the wagon master said, "Boys, Mr. Drannan has hired the Chief of the Comanches to forbid his warriors interfering with this train going to Santa Fe or when it is coming back. Now I want to know how much money each one of you are willing to chip in towards helping him out. You must remember that the contract he made with the Indian Chief has not only saved the destruction of the train, but more than likely some of us would have lost our lives if the Indians had resented our passing through their country."
Three drivers, all from Missouri, came forward at once and said, "Mr. Drannan, we haven't any money now, but as soon as we draw our pay, we will give you twenty dollars apiece as our share."
Another man cried out, "I will give twenty-five."
Capt. McKee frowned and said, "Don't you think your lives worth more than twenty-five dollars, men?"
This remark seemed to stir them up, and in less than ten minutes they had subscribed four hundred and forty dollars.
The Capt. clapped his hands and said, "Mr. Drannan, you are safe," and then told the men what the real expense would be to me. The Missouri men answered, "Don't make any difference to us what he is to pay. The bargain he made to save our lives is what we want to pay for as far as we can."
I said, "Now boys, I believe that I have been instrumental in saving some of your lives and probably the whole train, but you don't owe me a cent of money for what I have done, and I want to say to you all that if there should be any Indians come near the train while we are passing through the Comanche country do not interfere with them in any way, and you may rest assured they will not with you."
The Capt. now turned to the wagon master and said, "How much further do you want me and my men to accompany you?" He answered, "I will leave that for you and Mr. Drannan to decide."
I said, "Capt. McKee, I think you had better stay with the train until we cross the river at Rocky Ford, which will take the train nearly out of the Comanche country at this season of the year, and we ought to reach Rocky Ford day after to morrow night, and as far as having an escort is concerned, I do not think there will be any more need of one after we cross Rocky Ford. I think the train will be perfectly safe to go on alone under the present circumstances."
To this neither the Capt. or the wagon master would agree, for Capt. McKee said, "You, Mr. Drannan, have been really the only protection the train has had, and it is no more than right that you should accompany it through to Santa Fe. I with my men will go on to Santa Fe, and I will report that all is well with the train, and I will also report what you have done in protecting the lives of the men as well as the Government property on this trip."
The next morning we broke camp early and hit the trail in good season.Everything went along smoothly until about two o'clock, when we came insight of a little Indian village. It was on the opposite side of theArkansas river.
I rode to the bank of the river where I saw a number of squaws on the other side. I waved my hand at them, and they recognized me at once and began crying, "Hy-ar-hy-ar," and they came to the brink of the river and waved their hands at me. I called to them that in four months I would come with a plenty of beads and rings and knives to trade with them. They clapped their hands and answered, "Good-good," and I turned my horse and rode back to meet the train.
I will here explain that all this conversation had been carried on in the Comanches' language, as the Indians, neither bucks or squaws, could understand a word of the English language at that time, and if I could not have talked with them in their language, I would not have had the influence over them that I had now.
That night when we went into camp, Capt. McKee got off a good joke on me.
While we were eating supper, he said, "Mr. Drannan, I have caught on to your tricks with the Indians. First you make love to the squaws, and then you get the good will of the bucks by giving them knives to scalp the white men with. I saw how you made love to the squaws today when you were flirting with them across the river, and I saw them throwing kisses at you too."
I answered, "Capt., you ought to be with me when I come down here to trade with them. You would then see the real thing. I will acknowledge that I get all the hand-shaking that I can stand up to, but as far as kissing and hugging is concerned, that the squaws save for their own if they give them to anyone."
The Capt. laughed and answered, "Well putting joking aside, Mr. Drannan, I think the Indians of the Comanche tribe are all your friends, and no mistake, and I see that you have a wonderful influence over them."
I answered, "Capt. McKee, I have been trading with those Indians four years, and I have always done just as I agreed to do with them, which is the secret of what you call my wonderful influence over them, and I certainly have never had any trouble with one of the Comanche Indians yet, and I will tell you furthermore, Capt., that I intend, if I go back with this train, to carry the knives with me and stop at the main village and give them to the old Chief, for I do not know how soon I may have occasion to ask another favor of him, and I feel confident that as long as I keep his good will he will never refuse to do me a favor."
We left this camp quite early in the morning, and all things worked satisfactory throughout the day. We did not see an Indian and but very few Buffalos. We reached Rocky Ford and crossed the river just before night and went into camp, and Capt. McKee began to make preparations to leave the train, as with his twenty men and also the twenty-seven men who went with me from Bent's Fort he intended to strike out in the morning for Santa Fe, where he could make his report, and the men could receive their pay from the Government for their services on this trip.
Before he left us in the morning, I said, "Now Capt., there is a part of the route between here and Santa Fe which I am not familiar with, and as the country is strange to the wagon master also, can you tell me about the water and also tell me how many days it will take the train to reach Santa Fe from this place?" The Capt. answered, "As for water and grass, you will find a plenty all along the way; there is not more than four or five miles from one stream to another, and for the time it will take to reach Santa Fe, I figure that it will take fourteen days if everything moves as smoothly in the future as it has done the last few days, and now, Mr. Drannan, have you any word you would like to send to Bent's Fort to Mr. Bent or Roubidoux? I intend to go back that way, and I will take any message to anyone there that you would like to send."
I said, "Tell Mr. Bent and Mr. Roubidoux that I will be at Bent's Fort as soon as I finish this job and can get there, and that if they want me to go and trade with the Comanches, I have everything cut and dried for business, for I have visited all the main villages on this trip, and the Indians are expecting to see me back in four months to trade with them."
The men all mounted now, and we shook hands and bid each other good bye, and the Capt. and forty-seven others struck out back across the Arkansas river for Santa Fe by the way of Bent's Fort, while the train kept on up the old Santa Fe trail by the picket-wire route.
From this place I had a jolly time all the way to Santa Fe; we were in a wild country where game was plentiful, such as Deer, Antelope, and black Bear, and after the first day's travel there was never a night on the trip but I had fresh meat for supper.
I traveled along with the train until the middle of the afternoon. ThenI always asked the wagon boss what kind of meat he wanted for supper.Sometimes he would say Antelope, and at other times he said he wouldlike a piece of black tail Deer, and I invariably got what he mentioned.
We got up into the foot hills where Trinidad, Colorado now stands. The wagon boss and I were riding along together one afternoon. I looked at my watch and saw that it was about time to be looking for some meat for supper. I asked him in a joking way what he would like best for supper if he could get it. He replied that he would like a Cub Bear for a roast tonight. Up to this time I had not seen a bear, although I had seen some signs of them, and I had no more idea of killing a bear that evening than I had of flying when I started out to get something for supper.
I struck out on a low ridge that ran almost parallel with the trail. I had gone but a short distance when I came on a patch of huckleberries, and they certainly looked as if they might be delicious. They were the first I had seen that year. I jumped off my horse and went to picking and eating as fast as I could. In a few minutes my horse gave a little snort. When I turned to see what was the matter, I saw that something had frightened him. I went to him at once, and not over fifty yards from him was an old she bear, and she had two cubs with her, and I thought they, like myself, were so taken with eating berries that they had not noticed the horse or me either.
I took my rifle, dropped down on one knee, fired and broke one of the cubs' necks. The mother bear ran to the dead cub and pawed it with her foot. While she was thus engaged, I mounted my horse drew my pistol, rode up to where the mother bear and her two cubs were in a bunch and shot the other cub and broke this one's back, and it looked for a few minutes as if I must run from the mother, as I did not want to kill her for the reason that I had no use for so much meat. So I rode away a short distance and watched her a few minutes. She pawed them over a few times and seemed to think that they were no more good and with a few low growls she trotted off into the brush, and I saw no more of her.
I then rode to the dead cubs and dismounted from my horse. I picked them up and strapped them both on the back of my saddle and struck out to overtake the train, which I did just as they were going into camp.
When the wagon master saw me coming, he came to meet me, and when he saw the load on my horse's back, he exclaimed, "Mr. Drannan, I would like to know if there is anything that you can't do that you take a notion to do. I had no idea that you would bring in a bear this evening than I had of doing so myself. I was only joking when I suggested bear meat for supper."
I answered, "Well, you had your joke, and you and the rest of us can have Bear's Foot roasted for supper, and as I have wanted some bear meat for several days, I can please you and myself at the same time."
The whole outfit was amazed when I spoke about roasting the bears' feet. They had never heard of such a thing before. When I got all the feet roasted, I took one from the coals and told the men to help themselves. They all gathered around me to see how I fixed it so I could eat it. When I had it ready to eat, the wagon boss said, "Well, who ever thought of eating Bears' Feet? But it does look nice."
He watched me eat a few minutes and then made the remark that, as I seemed to like it so well, he guessed he would try one, and it was not long before the boys all had a taste of Bear's Foot.
After he had demolished a whole foot, the wagon boss said, "I have tasted almost all kinds of meat, but I must say that I never ate any meat as good as Bear's Foot."
Some of the boys asked me if I could get some more Bears' Feet for supper the next night, and one said he would give me a dollar if I would get a big foot for him.
We got an early start on the road the next morning, and we traveled along all day without anything of interest taking place.
Along in the middle of the afternoon I told the boss that I guessed I would go and hunt some more huckleberries. He said, "I would not exert myself to get any more meat today if I were you. We have enough for supper that was left over from last night."
"Yes, but I want some huckleberries, and I will pick enough for your and my supper if I can find them."
I struck out and rode a mile or more, but I was not at any time more than a half a mile from the train. I came to a little ridge. When I had ridden to the top of it, I saw something in the way of game that was a great surprise to me, as I had not seen any of that kind in several years. It was a large flock of wild turkeys. I saw that they had not discovered me as yet. I looked all around and could see no place where they could roost except a little bunch of timber about a quarter of a mile from where they were feeding. I got back out of sight and rode back to the train as quickly as I could. When I overtook the train, the boss was looking for a place to corral, and it was not long before all was in shape for the night.
I asked the boss if he would like to go turkey hunting that night. His answer was that he always went turkey hunting in the daytime, when he could see to shoot them. I asked him if he had never hunted them at night, and he said no, and had never heard of any one else doing such a thing.
I said, "All right, I will go to the boys from Missouri and ask them, for I have found a flock of wild turkeys, and I know where they roost."
When I told the Missouri boys of my find, they were wild for the hunt. One said, "Do I know how to hunt turkeys by night? You bet I do, and I have a shotgun that will fetch one every pop."
I said, "All right, you can have a chance to try your gun tonight, for the moon will be bright tonight, and we will start right after supper, and I think we will have some fun and all the turkeys we want besides, for the flock was a large one that I saw this afternoon."