When I was ready, I found eight of the boys had their guns all ready and were waiting for me. It was not over a half a mile from camp to the grove where I felt sure we should find the turkeys. When we reached the edge of the timber, I said, "Now, boys, I think we had better split up and two go together, and when any of you see a turkey, shoot him."
In a few minutes all I could hear was "bang, bang" all around me, and once in a while the cry "I've got one" as the hunter captured one he had wounded.
I spent most of my time laying at the foot of a tree, laughing and watching the other fellows shoot and chase the turkeys, but the fun did not last long. In a few minutes it was all over, and when the boys gathered up their game, there were eleven turkeys, and I had not killed a one, but I had my share of the sport in watching the others.
We struck back for camp, all the hunters feeling proud of what they had done. When we reached camp, we found the cook waiting for us with everything that would hold water and stand the fire that he could get hold of full of steaming hot water, ready to scald the turkeys, and all the men pitched in and helped to dress them.
When we were picking the turkeys, the boss said to the cook, "Say, John, can't you preserve one of these birds, so it will keep until we get to Santa Fe, and we will present it to Capt. McKee?"
John answered, "I am afraid it would not keep, Boss. There are too many of us in this crowd that like turkey fried in bear's grease, and after you have had breakfast in the morning, you won't say anything more about preserving turkeys for somebody else to eat."
But notwithstanding this remark John kept two turkeys until we got to Santa Fe the third day after the turkey hunt. We made the trip from Rocky Ford to Santa Fe in thirteen days. We met Capt. McKee coming to meet us about two miles before we reached our journey's end, and with him was Col. Chivington, the commander of the Government Post at Santa Fe. I was riding alone just a little ahead of the train. When I met them, I saluted the Capt. and after we had shaken hands he introduced me to the Col. whom I had never met before, although I had heard of him, and he had heard of me also.
The Col. said, "Mr. Drannan, I have been acquainted with Capt. McKee for several years, and have known him to have been a great Indian fighter, but he tells me that you can do more with the Comanches alone than he could do if he had five hundred soldiers to help him. Now, there must be some secret about this, and I would like to be initiated into it. The Capt. tells me that you went into the Comanches' main village alone, and I presume there were several thousand warriors there at that time, and what seems more wonderful to me," he said, "that you staid and ate dinner with the head Chief. Now my friend, there must be something in this unusual transaction. Will you tell me the secret of your influence with the red men?"
I answered, "Col., if you were a member of a secret organization, would you think it right to give away the secret to outsiders?"
At this answer the Capt. laughed and slapped the Col. on the back, and said, "Col., I reckon, you have got your match in Mr. Drannan, for I have never asked him a question that he did not find a way to answer me without giving me the information that I was seeking."
Col. Chivington smiled but made no answer to the Capt. or me.
We rode in silence a few minutes, and then turning to me the Col. said, "Mr. Drannan, I want you to come to my quarters tonight. I have a little business that I would like to talk with you."
We soon got to headquarters, and as soon as the train was corralled, I saw cook John coming to where the Col. the Capt. and I were standing, and he had a turkey in each of his hands.
As soon as he reached us, he handed Capt. McKee one of the turkeys, with the remark, "Here is your supper, Capt., and yours also, Col." and he gave the other turkey to that Col.
They both looked at John in amazement, and the Col. said, "Thank you very much, but where in creation did you get them?"
John answered, "I did not get them. You must give that honor to Mr. Drannan, and I will say that he has provided every thing good to eat, from turkey to bear feet, since we left Rocky Ford."
I went to Col. Chivington's quarters that evening, and as soon as we were seated, he asked me if I intended to return with the train to Bent's Fort.
I answered. "I have sent word to Mr. Bent that I was coming back to the Fort as soon as I finished my business with the train here, but I have not asked Capt. McKee whether Col. Bent wants my services or not."
At this moment Capt. McKee came in. I said, "Capt., what answer did Col.Bent give to the message that I sent by you?"
He answered, "He said he wanted you to get back to the Fort as quickly as you can, that they want you to go to the Comanche village on a trading trip for them."
I turned to the Col. and said, "You see the position I am in, Col. You must bear in mind that the train does not need an escort back to Bent's Fort, for there are no Comanches between here and there, and I do not see where there is anything to hinder the train in going back in perfect safety."
The Col. then said, "Now Mr. Drannan, what do you expect for your trouble in piloting the train here?"
I answered, "Col., I will leave that matter with you and Capt. McKee. He knows what my services have been and what they were worth."
The Capt. said, "Col., it will be impossible to ever pay Mr. Drannan the worth of what he has done to protect the train through the Comanche country, in not only protecting the Government property, but the lives of the men that were with the train. So Col., you will readily understand what a difficult matter it is to put an estimate on what his services calls for in money."
Col. Chivington sat in thought a few minutes and then said to me, "Mr. Drannan, will two hundred and fifty dollars be a sufficient amount to offer you?"
"That will be owing to circumstances, Col. If I drop the train here it will, but if I am required to pilot the train back through the Comanche country, I would not think of accepting so small an amount."
He then said, "Mr. Drannan, providing we employ you to take the train back through the Comanche country, will there be need of any other escort but yourself?"
I answered, "No sir, I would much prefer to handle the Indians by myself than to have a crowd with me." I then said, "Col., you have the control of this train. Why don't you make a contract with Col. Bent and Mr. Roubidoux to load the train with Buffalo robes to freight back to the Missouri river? I believe that if you could do so, it would nearly if not quite pay the expense of the whole trip."
He answered, "That is something I had not thought of, but it looks as if it might be a good scheme," and turning to the Capt. he said, "Capt. McKee, will you return with Mr. Drannan to Bent's Fort and see if such an arrangement can be made with Col. Bent and Mr. Roubidoux and report to me as quickly as possible?"
The Capt. answered, "Yes, if you think it best, and we want to be on the road early in the morning if I am to make such an arrangement."
Col. Chivington said, "Very well, I will hold the train here until I get your report, and, Mr. Drannan, come to me in the morning, and I will settle with you."
The Capt. and I now left the Col's, quarters, and on the way to our own quarters the Capt. said, "Mr. Drannan, I think you were very unwise in accepting so small an amount as two hundred and fifty dollars for your efforts to save the lives, and more than that, think of what an expense it would have been to the Government to fit out another train to take the place of the one destroyed if the Indians had attacked it, which I have no doubt they would if you had not been there to control them. A thousand dollars is the least you ought to have accepted."
I answered, "Capt., I thank you for your interest in me, and I will profit by it. I have another chance with the Col. if he employs me to take the train back through the Comanche country, which I feel confident he will."
The next morning we were up very early and ready to leave Santa Fe. I went and bid the wagon boss and the other men of the train good bye and told them of the arrangement now pending between the Col. and the people at Bent's Fort. This news seemed to please the boys very much, especially if I were to be their escort through the Indian country. The wagon boss was anxious to know how soon we would know what we were going to do. I told him we would know in eighteen or twenty days at the outside.
Capt. McKee and I now went to the Col's. quarters, and he paid me the two hundred and fifty dollars I had agreed to take. As we were leaving, the Col. said, "Mr. Drannan, if the Capt. makes the arrangement in regard to the freighting of the Buffalo robes, where can I find you?"
I answered, "I shall make Bent's Fort my headquarters from now on until next spring."
Capt. McKee and I now pulled out for Bent's Fort. He being well acquainted with the country, we did not take any road or trail, but took our way across the country by the most direct route, and we made good time all the way. As well as I can remember, it was called in the neighborhood of three hundred miles from Santa Fe to Bent's Fort, and we covered it in seven days on this trip.
When we landed at the Fort, Col. Bent and Mr. Roubedoux were both there. Capt. McKee informed them what he had come for at once, and they were more than anxious to close the deal with him, but they did not have robes enough on hand to load the train. They then inquired how long it would take the train to get there. The Capt. said he thought it would take about twenty-five days; Col. Bent then turned to me and said, "Mr. Drannan, will you take a pack train and go among the Indians and trade for robes for us?"
I said, "Yes, I will." He asked how many days it would take to go to the Indian village and get back. I answered, "To go to the main Indian village and do the trading and get back here will take fourteen or fifteen days."
Col. Bent asked me if I thought I could take twenty pack horses and go to the Indian village and trade for and load them up with the help of two men and get back to the Fort in fifteen days. I told him I thought I could and was willing to try it anyway. "But, Col., I want you to send the quickest and best packers in your employ to help me." He answered, "I have two men that are number one packers, and you can rely on them in every particular." I said, "All right, we will be off tomorrow morning."
We commenced to pack the goods that I was to trade for the Buffalo robes which consisted of knives, rings and beads. We put each kind in boxes by themselves. When I thought we had enough packed to trade for what robes the horses could carry, Col. Bent said, "Here, Will, take some more," and he threw several knives and some rings, and a bunch of beads into one of the boxes. "Maybe you will want a few to give some of the squaws that are such friends to you down there. Such little gifts are never lost among the Indians, you know, Will."
Col. Bent then sent some of his men out to gather up the pack horses so he could pick out enough for a train.
The next morning Capt. McKee said he wanted to have a talk with me when I was at leisure. I said, "Now is your time, Capt." So we started out for a walk. We walked in silence. The Capt. seemed to be thinking. At last he said, "Mr. Drannan, have you made any definite arrangements with Col. Chivington regarding taking the train through the Comanche country?" I answered, "No sir, I have not."
"What will you charge him if you take the job?"
I said, "Capt., I am not anxious to take the job, but if I take it, I shall charge five hundred dollars for my services this time, and I would like you to tell the Col. so when you go back to Santa Fe. I think this amount will be very reasonable from the fact that there will be no more expense. If he had to feed forty or fifty men and pay them wages besides, he would find quite a difference, and after all, they would be no protection to the train, and they and the drivers also would be scalped before they had passed one Indian village. So taking all things into consideration I think that Col. Chivington acted rather close with me, more close than I shall allow him to do again." Capt. McKee said that he thought my charges were very modest, and he continued, "There is another thing I want to talk to you about, provided you go with this train. What do you propose doing when you come back?"
I answered, "I am open for anything that is honorable and has enough money in it to pay me."
He said, "I intended to make up a company soon to go down on the Pan Handle country in Texas, and I expect to go down as far as Fort Worth. I would like you to join me. What do you think of the idea, Mr. Drannan?"
"What is your object in going down there, Capt.?" I asked. He said, "Western Texas is settling up very fast, and the Apache Indians are very bad there. They are murdering the white people every day, and something must be done to protect them from the Red fiends. I have seen enough of your methods with the Indians to satisfy me that you understand them and how to manage them better than anyone I have ever met with, and I am sure you would suit me better than anyone that I know. If you will join me in this undertaking, the state of Texas will pay us well for what we do towards protecting the settlers. I believe the Apache Indians are the most vicious as well as the most treacherous of any tribe of Indians that ever infested the frontier from the fact that they are so mixed with the Mexicans and never have been conquered."
I said, "Capt. McKee, if I take the train back and you are not gone when I come back here, I will join you in this trip to Texas, or if you will leave word where I can find you, if it is within two or three hundred miles of here, I will come to you."
We turned back to the Fort with the understanding that, in case he left the Fort without me, he would leave word where I could come to him.
The next morning my packers and myself were up early and ready to be off for the Indian village. I told the boys to be sure and take a plenty of rope as all the hides would have to be baled before they could be packed on the horses. One man said, "I have four sacks full of rope, and I reckon that will be enough."
Col. Bent asked me how many hides I thought I could pack on the horses. I told him I could put twenty hides on each horse, and that would make four hundred and forty hides in all. He said, "That would be a big load, and I am afraid you cannot do it. Besides, it is early in the season for the Indians to have so many robes. But do the best you can, and I shall be satisfied." I bid the Col. and Capt. McKee good bye, and we were off.
The second night out we camped near a little village. I told the boys to get supper, and I would go over to the village, and have a talk with the Indians. As soon as the Indians saw me, they thought I had come to trade with them. I told them that I was on the way to the main village and for them to come there tomorrow, and I would be ready to trade with them.
[Illustration: The next morning we struck the trail for Bent's Fort.]
We landed at the main village about noon the next day, making the trip in a half a day less than I had planned to do. We camped near the old Chief's lodge. The boys commenced to get dinner, and I took the two knives that I had promised the Chief and went to his wigwam. I greeted him with a handshake and handed him the knives wrapped in a paper. He opened the package, and I never saw such a smile on a face before as the one that beamed on that Indian's. He examined the knives carefully, and then he told me how proud he was of them and said in his own language he would always be white brother's friend.
I told him that I would be ready to trade with his people the next morning and asked him to inform them of the fact.
The boys had dinner ready when I went back to our camp. I told the boys when I would commence to trade with the Indians, and that I wanted them to be in readiness to begin packing the robes as soon as the Indians gave them to me.
That afternoon I went around among the wigwams and visited the Indians, and they seemed as pleased to see me as children are with a new toy. I showed the squaws the rings and beads I had with me, and I showed the knives to the braves also, and they could hardly wait until morning to trade their Buffalo robes for them.
The squaws showed me the robes they had dressed since I was there the last time, and I saw that they were in a fine condition.
The next morning they commenced coming very early, hardly giving me time to eat my breakfast, and I fixed my price when I bought the first robe, which was one string of beads for one robe, or two rings or one butcher knife, and the reader can rest assured that the Indians kept me busy handing out my goods and taking the robes in payment for them.
About noon one of the packers came to me and said, "Will, I think you have all the robes the horses can carry." I told him to count them, and then we would know, and in a short time he came back with the report that we had bought four hundred and eighty-nine robes. I said, "That is a few more than we can find a place for, isn't it?"
He said, "I reckon we can get them all on, and we will finish baling as soon as we can, but don't trade for any more," and the boys certainly did prove themselves to be expert balers as well as packers.
The next morning as they finished packing a horse, I had to hold him, and so on until the horses were all packed. It was my job to take care of them, and when the horses were all ready for the trail, they surely were a sight to look at. Each horse was completely covered. All there was to be seen of him was his head and his tail.
The next morning amidst the lamentations of the Indians because we could not exchange more of our goods for robes, we struck the trail for Bent's Fort, and we had the extraordinary good luck to cover the distance in three days, and Col. Bent, and Mr. Roubidoux were very much surprised to see us, as well as pleased.
They did not expect to see us in four days more, and when I told them how many hides we had brought, they were more than pleased. Col. Bent said, "Did you have any goods left over?"
I answered, "Yes sir, almost enough to have loaded another pack train."
He said, "Well, well, Will, you can have all our trading to do whenever you want it."
I asked the Col. when he expected the train from Santa Fe. "I don't think it will be here under four or five days," he answered, "and I want you to make yourself at home and be easy until the train comes. You have done enough to lay over awhile, and the rest won't hurt you."
The fourth morning after this I was saddling my horse to ride out on the trail and see if I could see anything of the Government train when Col. Bent asked me where I was going. I told him I was going to see if the train was in sight, "and what is more important to me, I want to find out whether I am going to escort the train through the Comanche country or not."
Col. Bent said, "I thought that was understood. If I thought you were not going to be the escort, I certainly would not trust my freight with the train."
I said, "Col. Bent, I have not made any positive bargain with Col.Chivington, and after Capt. McKee tells him what I said about the priceI intend to charge him for my services this trip, he may decide not toemploy me."
Col. Bent said, "Would you be offended if I asked you how much moneyCol. Chivington paid you for that work, Will?"
I said I would not, and I then told Col. Bent the whole transaction, and I also told him what I would charge to escort the train back through the Comanche country, and that I would take the whole responsibility myself without any helpers. Col. Bent said, "Col. Chivington was not fair to you in offering you so small a sum for what you done to protect the Government property, not speaking of the lives you probably saved from the savages' arrows or tomahawks, and I think you charge a very reasonable price if you undertake the job over again and you don't want any one to help you, for they might upset all of your plans by doing something to anger the Indians."
I answered, "Well, Col. I will soon settle the matter if I meet the train."
I then struck out and had ridden perhaps ten miles when I met Capt.McKee and the wagon master coming just ahead of the train.
Capt. McKee said, "Why, Mr. Drannan, I thought you were at the Indian villages trading for Buffalo robes."
I told him that I had been to the Indian village and bought all the robes we could pack back to Bent's Fort and had been waiting for the train to come four days.
Capt. McKee said, "And I expected to have to wait for you four days." I said, "Now tell me what Col. Chivington had to say about my escorting the train."
The Capt. laughed and said, "After the Col. had studied the matter over for about twenty-four hours, he came to the conclusion that he could do no better than employ you. So the job is yours, and Mr. Drannan, can you tell me just about how long you will be gone so I can lay my plans to meet you here at Bent's Fort?"
I said, "Capt., I want about twenty-five days to complete the trip, and as soon as I return, Capt, I will be ready to join you in the expedition to Texas, and Capt., I would like for you to bring my pay here so I shall not have to go to Santa Fe after it when I come back from escorting the train."
He answered, "I will arrange the matter so Col. Bent will settle with you here."
The next morning Col. Bent had his men commenced to load the train, and they put the entire day in this business. That evening the Col. said to me, "Will, if you had a half a dozen more hides, we could not have put them on the wagons."
When we were all ready to pull out, Col. Bent said, "Now Will, I want to give you some presents to give to the squaws."
We went into the store room, and he gave me a dozen butcher knives, saying, "The bucks will be jealous if they don't have something too," and he gave me a dozen rings, and a hand full of strings of beads and said, "Now, Will, you can give these trinkets where you think best and the knives too. I know the Comanche Indians are all friendly to you, but these little trifles will cement their friendship."
I bid everybody at the Fort good bye, and we were off on the journey east.
Everything passed along smoothly for the next two days. We did not see an Indian, and nothing happened to interfere with our progress. The third evening we went into camp near a small Indian village. I rode over to see the Indians and took a couple of knives and a few rings and strings of beads with me. When I entered the village, I inquired where the Chief's wigwam was. A couple of young bucks showed me where it was.
As soon as I saw the Chief, I knew him at once. He was "White Bird," and he had not met me in a year, but he recognized me as quickly as I did him. He invited me into his wigwam and asked me to eat supper with him, which was ready in a short time. As we sat eating, two young squaws came into the wigwam, and White Bird said they were his sisters. I took out a butcher knife and gave it to him, and I gave a string of beads to his squaw and one to each of his sisters. They all jumped up and commenced to dance, and I think they kept it up for half an hour. Then White Bird said in the language of his race, "White Bird and all the Indians of the Comanche tribe always be pale face brother friend."
His sisters said they had some skins of the young dog which they would tan and give to me so I could make some new clothes for myself.
The train pulled out from there, and the third day we came to the main village. Before the train went into camp for the night, I told the wagon boss that I was going to the Indian village and that he need not expect to see me before midnight as I was going to have a good time with the Indians.
I gave my horse into the herders' care and struck out on foot for the Indian village, which was about a half a mile from our camp. Before I reached the Chief's wigwam, I met several Indians, and they accompanied me to the Chief's lodge. Chief Light Foot saw me before I did him and commenced to shout at the top of his voice, and as I reached his wigwam the Indians were coming from every quarter.
As soon as Light Foot and I had shaken hands, he said, "Stay to supper, and we have a peace smoke and peace dance tonight."
By the time we had finished that meal there was a dozen or more of his uncle Chiefs at the wigwam, and we took our places for the peace smoke.
I will explain to the reader what the peace smoke is. We all took seats in a circle around the head Chief. He lighted the peace pipe, which is a special pipe kept to use on these occasions alone. He took the first whiff himself, blowing it up into the air, and the second whiff he blew into my face. I being his guest of honor, I sat at the right of him. The third whiff he blew into the face of the Chief who sat on his left, and then he passed the pipe to me. I went through the same performance and passed the pipe to the next, and so the pipe went around the circle until all had smoked, and in all the time this smoking was going on there was not a smile or a grunt or a word spoken. Every motion was in the most solemn way throughout the whole performance. As the last one finished smoking, he passed the pipe to the head Chief, and all of the Chiefs sprang to their feet and shook hands with me, from the head Chief down, and the peace smoke was over.
I will say here for the instruction of the reader that the Indians never held a peace smoke with others than the members of their own tribe, without they had perfect confidence in the outsider, who always occupied the seat of honor at the right side of the head Chief of the tribe.
After the peace smoke was over, everybody left the wigwam and everyone, Chief, warriors, and squaws, all joined in the peace dance, I of course taking a part with the rest. I never knew how many took a part in the dance that night, which is always danced in a circle, and every Indian has his or her own way of dancing, and all, old and young, male and female, that take a part are singing.
It would be impossible to explain to the people of this age so they would understand just what a peace dance is and how the people who took part in it looked with the camp fires throwing their lurid light through the darkness of the forest, lighting up the savage faces of the red men, and the not-much-less wild faces of the squaws. It was a strange sight then. How much more strange it would look to the people of this later civilization.
The dance lasted half an hour or more, and all the Indians of both sexes then shook hands with me. I shook the Chief's hand last of all, and as I did so, I gave him the other knife I had brought with me. He took it and, brandishing it over his head, he shouted as loud as he could yell, which was a signal for all the others to yell too and shake their hands towards me. By my giving these knives to the head Chief of the tribe, I cemented the friendship of him and through him of the whole tribe more than I should if I had presented each one of his warriors with a knife.
Amidst the yells of the warriors and their squaws, I left them and walked back to camp, well satisfied with what I had done towards protecting the train as it passed through the Comanche country, for I knew we would not have any trouble with the Indians of that tribe.
The wagon boss and several of the drivers were sitting at the fire waiting for me. As I came up to the fire, the wagon boss said, "What in the name of common sense was the racket about? Why, some of the time this evening there was such a noise over there that we could not hear ourselves think, much less talk."
I answered, "Why, I was just having a good dance with the squaws, and as they all wanted to dance with me first, they made a little noise over it."
He asked, "How many squaws were there in the dance?" and I told him I reckoned there were about a thousand in the crowd.
"And did you dance with a thousand squaws?" he inquired.
I answered, "Why, I certainly could not show any partiality there, couldI?"
He said, "Well, if you have danced with that many squaws, I guess you are tired enough to sleep sound."
So we bid each other good night and turned in, and in a few moments silence reigned over the camp.
We pulled out of this camp the next morning and did not see an Indian for the next three days. On the third evening, as we were getting ready to camp for the night, I discovered a small band of Indians coming directly towards us. I told the wagon master where to corral the train, and I then left him and rode on to meet the Indians. As I drew near them, I saw that I knew them all. They were a small band of Comanches, and when I met them they told me that they had been on a visit to the Kiawah tribe and were hurrying to get back to the main Comanche village. I told them of the peace dance I had taken a part in at the main village a few nights before, and they expressed much regret that they had missed the fun.
I asked them if there were many more of their tribe down the country they had come from. They answered, "No more Comanches that way, all gone to village," which proved to be a fact, for we did not see another Comanche Indian on this trip.
I remained with the train four days after this, and, seeing that my services were no longer needed, I told the wagon master that the train was out of danger, as we had passed through the Comanche country, and there would be nothing to interfere with their progress, so I would leave them the next morning.
In the morning, when the wagon boss told the men that I was going to leave them, a number of them came to me and insisted on my taking at least ten dollars from each of them in payment for the bargain I had made with the Comanche Chief regarding the passage of the train on its way to Santa Fe.
Of course, I did not accept their hard-earned money. I told them thatI was glad of the privilege of saving their lives. And besides, theGovernment would pay me for my services.
Cook John had a nice sack of bread ready for me, and I accepted his gift gladly. I bid them all good bye and struck out for Bent's Fort, and it was about as lonesome a journey as I ever made in my life. I avoided the Indian villages when I could, for I knew that the Indians would take more of my time than I could spare if I stopped at all.
I made a rule with myself when I first left the train to ride eight hours and then stop and let my horse rest and feed four hours. This rule I followed day and night, except a few times I overslept, but I gave my horse his feed and rest just the same, and I was back at Bent's Fort on the twenty-third day after leaving there with the train.
The next morning after I got there, Capt. McKee arrived, and he was very much surprised to find me there before him. He had made arrangements for Col. Bent to pay me for piloting the train through the Comanche country, and Col. Bent settled with me that day. The next morning Capt. McKee and I began our preparations for our journey to Texas. He had thirty-two men with him when he came to the fort, and eight more joined us there, making forty in all. Each man had two saddle horses, and there was one pack horse to every four men. Everything being ready, we left Bent's Fort on what would be considered in these days of rapid transit a long and tiresome journey on horse back, over trackless mountains and plains, through valleys, across rivers, in danger of attacks from wild animals and still wilder red men.
I think we traveled between four and five hundred miles without seeing a white person. We camped and lay over one day to give our horses rest where the thriving little city of Amarillo now stands. At that time we had no idea that vast prairie would ever be inhabited by the white race. That part of Texas was the greatest country for Antelope at the time I am speaking of that I had ever seen. Some days we saw a thousand or more Antelope in one drove.
We now began to see plenty of Indian signs all along where we traveled. There were no roads or trails to guide us. We had traveled down what is now called the Pan Handle country, to where the city of Bowie now stands, before we saw a white person after we left Bent's Fort. We met three men there. They were going around through the country hunting for men to assist them to look after a settlement that had been attacked by the Indians the night before. They did not know what tribe had made the attack. Capt. McKee said, "We will go with you and assist you if you will lead us to the place."
We all struck out with the men, and after riding perhaps five miles, we came to the settlement and found that one man had been killed and all the horses and cattle belonging to the people had been driven off.
Capt. McKee asked if they knew what tribe of Indians had made the attack. They answered that they did not know, as it was very dark when the Indians first came, and they could not see them, but they had a skirmish with them, and one man was killed, and the Indians drove the horses and cattle off in a southerly direction. The Capt. asked me if I thought it would be best to follow the savages and try to take the horses and cattle away from them.
I said, "Capt., these people have lost everything they had to depend on to get a living, and what will they do if someone does not do something to help them? And all the way to do that is to get their horses and cattle and return them to the owners."
He answered, "Well, if you will take the lead and do the scout work, we will strike the trail of the Red devils at once."
I said, "All right, Capt., you pick out two good men to assist me, and we will be off at once, for the sooner we are after them the quicker we may overhaul the Red murdering thieves."
In a few minutes the Capt. came to me, and with him were two men. He said, "These men say they are willing to do all they can to help." I said, "I will take the lead, and don't you pay any attention to my movements. You take the trail and follow it as long as you can see it, and when it is too dark to see, go into camp, and if I locate the Indians, whether they are in camp or on the move, I will inform you at once."
It was in the middle of the afternoon when we pulled out on the trail of the Indians. After following them eight or ten miles, I decided in my mind that there were not more than forty Indians in the band we were after.
I said, "Now boys, if we catch these Indians in camp, we can wipe them out and not leave one of them to tell the tale. We have a bright moon tonight, and their trail is so fresh and plain there will be no trouble in following it."
One man asked if I thought we could overtake the Indians in their first camp. I answered, "I think we can, for the Indians will have no fear of being followed and will not be in a hurry and will be off their guard."
We pushed on until about eleven o'clock in the night when we rode up on a little ridge, and, on looking down in the valley beyond, we saw several camp fires, but they were burning very dimly.
I said, "Boys, there are your Indians, and I want one of you to stay here and hold the horses, and the other to go with me, and we will investigate the matter," and said to the man that we left with the horses, "If you hear the report of a gun, mount your horse and lead ours to us at once, for the gun shot will be a signal that we are in trouble and want you to assist us."
My companion and I crawled down near the camp fires, and we saw that all the Indians were lying around the fires asleep, but they were scattered about so that I could not count them.
I whispered to my companion, "Now let us find the stock."
We crept down a little further and found the horses and cattle all feeding quietly, and they were all bunched up together. We went back to the man who had the horses. I told him to mount his horse and take the trail back until he met Capt. McKee and to tell him what we had found, and if it was possible for him to get here by daybreak to do so, "for if we can all be together before daylight, I think we can capture the whole outfit without losing a man."
He mounted his horse and was off at once. He had been gone perhaps an hour, and my comrade and I were sitting talking, when he raised his hand and said, "Hush, I hear something."
"What did it sound like?" I said.
"Like a horse snorting," and he pointed up the trail the way the Capt. should come. We sprang to our feet and listened, and in a minute more we heard the tramp of the horses' feet. We quickly mounted our horses and went to meet them. I told the Capt. what we had found and what position the Indians were in.
He said, "Mr. Drannan, what do you think is the best way to attack them?" I answered, "It is the easiest thing to do imaginable Capt., if we only work the thing right. Dismount all but ten of the men, and we will crawl down and surround the Indians and not fire a shot until daybreak or till they commence getting up, and when we that are on foot commence firing, the ten on horseback must charge down the hill, and if any of the Indians escape our bullets, the mounted men must follow them and shoot them down. When the Indians find that the Whites are after them, they will make a rush for their horses, and that is the time for the mounted men to get their work in."
The Capt. thought a few minutes and then said, "I believe your plan is a grand idea, and we will follow it."
He selected the ten men and then asked me where he should place them. I showed him where I thought was the best place for them to stand. I then pointed to the place where the stock was still feeding and said, "Now boys, when you make your charge on the Indians, charge down between the stock and the fires, and by doing so you will catch the Indians as they run for their horses, and be sure and get every one of them. Don't let one get away."
Everything being understood, we that were on foot commenced to crawl down towards the sleeping Indians' camp. The day was just beginning to break when we got fixed in our positions around them, and it was nearly sunrise before any of the savages crawled out of their blankets. As soon as the first one got out, we shot him down, and we continued to shoot as long as an Indian remained alive. The men on horseback gave a yell and made the charge. When they reached Capt. McKee, one of the horsemen said, "Where is our part of the fight? We didn't get any chance to fire a shot."
The Capt. answered, "It is all over, boys. You will have to wait for the next time for your shot, for I do not think one of this band is alive for you to shoot at. It was one of the quickest-won battles I was ever engaged in," and turning to me the Capt. said, "Mr. Drannan, you ought to join the army, for you would make a first-class General, and I am sure would always lead your men to victory in Indian warfare any way."
We now led our horses down to the Indian camp and staked them out to get their breakfast from the juicy grass that was very abundant in the valley, and then we began to think that we were very hungry ourselves. We had not had a bite to eat since the morning before, and the hard day's ride and no supper and the all-night vigil had about used us up.
Capt. McKee said, "Come, boys let's get some breakfast, for I for one am nearly starved, and we will lay over here until tomorrow morning and let our horses rest and get a little rest ourselves."
After we had satisfied our hunger with a slice of Antelope broiled over the fire and some bread and a cup of coffee, Capt. McKee said to me, "Let us look around and see how many dead Indians we can find."
We struck out together, and we counted thirty-eight, and not one of them had got ten feet from where he had slept, and all their blankets lay just as they had crawled out of them.
I said at the time, and I think now, that that was the most accurate shooting and with the least excitement of any Indian fight I was ever in. It seemed as if every man was as cool as if he was shooting at prairie dogs, and every shot hit the mark. We did not touch the dead Indians but left them as a warning to others who might come that way. We next looked after the stock. By examining the horses, we found that they tallied with the number of Indians, for every horse that belonged to the Indians had a hair rope around his neck, which was a custom followed by all the Western Indians at that time, as by marking a half hitch around the horse's nose he made a bridle of it.
We found twenty-two horses and thirty-two head of cattle that the Indians had stolen from the white settlers. Capt. McKee looked the horses over that had belonged to the Indians and said, "Those are the most valuable horses that I ever saw in the possession of the Indians. They are all good stock, and we will get a good price for them if we take them to Fort Worth, for good horses bring good money there."
When we returned to camp, we saw that two of the young men had their horses saddled. The Capt. asked them where they were going. One of them answered that, as they did not earn any of the honor that morning in killing Indians, they would try to kill some deer for supper, as they knew they would enjoy a piece of good, fat venison and thought the others would, and they believed there was plenty of deer all around there.
Capt. McKee and I spread our blankets and laid down to try and make up for some of the sleep we had lost while in pursuit of the Indians.
About three o'clock one of the boys came and woke us up, saying they had some fine venison all cooked and ready for supper, and that was one of the times that I enjoyed a venison roast. It was as fat and tender as a young chicken.
The next morning we pulled out of there bright and early, and it took us two days to make it back to the settlement that the Indians had robbed and in whose behalf Capt. McKee and I had gone out to punish the thieves, with what success the reader already knows.
As soon as we landed, we sent word to all that had been robbed to come and get their stock. Each owner came and claimed what belonged to him, and when all had taken what they said belonged to them, there were still four horses left unclaimed. These horses we never found an owner for, so we kept them ourselves. The settlers whose property we had returned to them now met and came to find out how much we intended to charge them for what we had done for them. We knew that these people were all poor, and we told them that they might give us what they could afford to pay without distressing themselves. They made up one hundred and forty-four dollars and gave it to us, which was a much larger sum than we expected to receive. After thanking them for their generous payment and refusing their invitation to stay with them longer, we bid them all good bye and continued on our journey to Fort Worth, which had been interrupted by the Indian raid on the settlement.
We had ridden to within ten miles or so of Fort Worth when we met an old acquaintance of Capt. McKee. His name was Reese. There were two other men with him, and they all three wanted to purchase horses. They examined all the horses we had, and then they asked Capt. McKee what we would take for the entire lot. The Capt. asked me what I thought would be a fair price. I answered, "Let the men make an offer before we set a price."
When the Capt asked them what they would give for them, they said they would give a hundred dollars apiece for them if we would help them drive the horses to Dallas.
I told the men that we would let them have the whole bunch and help drive them to Dallas for a hundred and ten dollars apiece. The three men rode off a few yards and consulted together a few minutes. When they came back, they said they would take the horses on my terms.
Capt McKee then told his men to go on to Fort Worth and go into camp, and he told them where to camp and to wait for us and we would come to them as soon as we could. The Capt. then told Mr. Reese to lead on and we would follow.
We drove the horses to Dallas without any trouble and delivered them at Mr. Reese's stable. He paid us the money for them, and we lost no time in pulling out for Fort Worth. It was thirty-two miles from Dallas to Fort Worth, and we passed two houses on the way from there to Fort Worth at the time of which I am writing. I think there were about fifty houses in Fort Worth. I do not know the number there were at Dallas. The place was somewhat larger, but it was a small town.
[Illustration: I took the lead.]
When we reached Fort Worth, the news met us that the Indians were on the war path in western Texas and were raiding all the white settlements, killing the people and driving off their stock throughout all that part of the state.
We laid in a supply of provisions and tobacco, enough to last three months, and struck the trail for western Texas. The fourth day after we left Fort Worth, we came to a settlement, and all the people were natives of Tennessee, and as that was my native state, I soon made many friends.
The people of the settlement had met together that morning to try to plan some way to stop the depredations of the Indians, but they did not know what to do or where to commence, and they were glad to see the Capt., he being well known as an Indian fighter all over Texas.
When they asked him what he thought best to be done, he said that he could not advise them what to do, but he had come to that part of the State to protect the settlements from the outrages of the savages for the next six months.
We rode to the edge of the settlement and went into camp, thinking we would stay there until towards evening. We had just eaten our dinner when two of the settlers came to our camp and in a very excited manner told us that a small band of Indians had just gone into camp a few miles from the settlement.
We asked them how they got the news. They said that two of the men had been out hunting and saw the Indians when they went into camp.
We told these men to go and bring the men who'd seen the Indians' camp so we could get all the particulars from them. In a few moments the hunters were with us. I asked them how far the Indians' camp was from the settlement.
"Not over five miles," one of them said. I asked which way the Indians had come from and if there were any squaws with them. The answer was that the Indians had come from an eastern direction and there were no squaws with them, and they were driving quite a large band of horses.
Capt. McKee said to me, "What do you think of it?"
I said, "Capt., I am afraid they will move again before night, but I want one of these men to go and show me where the Indians are, and I will locate their camp tonight, and we can get every one of them and the horses too."
Capt. McKee said, "That is a good idea. How many men do you want to go with you?"
I said, "Give me the two men that went with me on the other Indian hunt."
In a little while my men and I were off. I told the Capt. to stay in that camp until he heard from me, which would be before dark.
We had ridden between four and five miles when we came to a little ridge, and, stopping and pointing to a little bunch of timber, my guard said, "The Indians' camp is there."
We dismounted, and, taking one man with me, I crawled to the top of the hill and looked over, and sure enough, there was a small band of Indians squatted around their camp fire, smoking and talking and apparently not fearing any danger.
I told my companion to count them, and I would count too, and we might find out how many there were. I crawled around in the brush keeping out of sight, and I counted forty-eight, and my men made out fifty-one. We crept along on the ridge to see if we could find out how many horses the Indians had with them, but we could not count them, although I was satisfied that there were at least a hundred horses feeding in the valley. Some few of them were staked out, but the most of them were feeding where they chose.
We went back to our horses, and I told the boys to take the horses to a little ravine which was a short distance from us and to find a place where they could not be seen and to stay with them until they heard from me, for I intended to watch the Indians, and if they did not move before sundown I would send one of them to the Capt.
I went back to the edge of the ridge where I could see the savages and watch their movements. They sat and lay around on the grass until nearly sunset when a few of them went to the horses that were staked out and commenced to move them to fresh places to feed, which convinced me that they intended to stay where they were that night. I crept down the ridge to the ravine where the boys were with our horses and told one of them to go back to Capt. McKee and tell him we had found the Indian camp, and that the Indians intended to stay the night where they were, and that I wanted him and the rest of the men to come to me, but not before ten or eleven o'clock that night.
The other man and I led our horses further up the ridge and hitched them, and we then crawled to the top, where we could watch the Indians and not be seen by them. It was not nine o'clock before all the savages had turned in for the night. Seeing that we could now leave the Indians to their slumbers in safety, my companion and I now mounted our horses and struck out to meet the Capt. and his men. We had ridden perhaps a mile when we met the company. I told Capt. McKee how many Indians there were in the band and how many horses they had with them. He said, "Can we take as good advantage of this outfit as we did of the other one?"
I said, "I think we can, only there are more of them to fight in this band, but as far as the ground is concerned we have all the advantage, and we had better station ourselves around them just as we did before and wait for daybreak, or until the Indians begin getting up."
"Shall we have a reserve on horseback as we did before?" he asked.
I told him I did not think it would be necessary in this case. We could get between the Indians and their horses, and if they started to run for their horses as they surely would, they would put themselves into our clutches. And besides, this way would be more pleasing to the men, as they all would have the same chance to shoot Indians alike and could find no grounds to murmur, as they had the last fight.
We rode to within a quarter of a mile of the Indian camp, dismounted and hitched our horses, and we all got near together, and I explained to all the boys the position that all the Indians were in, and also where the horses were.
I took the lead, and we crawled down and took our stations around the sleeping Indians' camp. When every man was stationed and ready for the Capt's. word to proceed to business, Capt. McKee crawled to the place where I was waiting and whispered, "Why not make the charge at once? I will go around and tell the boys, and we will begin the attack with knives. I could kill a half a dozen Indians before the others are aroused, and when the others begin getting up, pull our pistols and finish them before they are fairly awake, and don't let any of them get away. When you see me in among them it will be your time to begin."
He left me as silently as he had come, and I waited, hardly breathing, till I saw his form outlined among the shadows, as the full moon flickered through the branches of the trees.
As soon as the Capt. reached the Indians, every man sprang for the nearest one, and it was a lively little fight for me at least. The first two Indians I struck never gave a grunt, for I nearly severed their head from their bodies. The third one, as I made for him, shouted, "Woughe," and sprang to his feet. I hit him on the back of the neck, but I gave him the third blow before he went down. Just as he doubled up, I saw another coming directly for me, running at full speed. I jerked my pistol, and when he was in a few feet of me I fired, and he fell, and now I could hear the pistols firing thick, and fast, but no more Indians came near me, and the fight lasted but a few minutes longer. One of our men had a hand-to-hand fight with an Indian. They both fought with knives. I did not see the fight, although they must have been near me, and he was the only man that was wounded in the fight, and he was only slightly wounded. He told me that the first he saw of the Indian he was right before him brandishing his long knife, and he said, "I had to work lively for a little bit, you may rest assured, but I finally got a lick at his short ribs, and then I gave him another on the back of the neck and that got him."
As soon as the pistols ceased firing, Capt. McKee came to me and said,"I think we have got them all."
I said, "Now Capt., call the boys together and see if any are wounded."
He stepped out a little ways and called to the men. "If anyone is hurt, report to me at once, so we can attend to you."
No one came to us but the one I have spoken about. He was cut on one arm and had a slight cut on one shoulder. The Capt. said, "Now boys, go around to every dead Indian and take every knife and anything else that you can find that is of any value and bring them here and lay them in a pile," and then he gave me a title when he said, "The scout and I will go and see about the horses."
Capt. McKee gave me this title in fun that night, but he little thought that years after that night I would win the right to not only be called a scout but would have the honor conferred on me of "Capt., Chief of scouts."
We went to where the horses were feeding, but they were so mixed that we could not count them. After we had looked at some of them, the Capt., said, "I wonder where the Indians stole them. Such fine horses are not found every where. Perhaps after daylight we may discover some brand that will show whom they belong to."
We went back to the Indians' camp and saw that the boys had gathered up all that belonged to them. Each one of them had had a nice blanket and nearly all of them had butcher knives. The Capt., said, "Now we will get our horses and stake them out so they can feed, and we will get to our blankets and try to get a few hours rest, for I am dead tired, and I reckon the rest of you boys don't feel any better."
It was nearly sunrise when I opened my eyes in the morning, and there were only a few others stirring, and I was not long in getting something to eat, for I had not broken my fast since noon the day before. In a short time all the men were cooking their breakfast and as soon as the meal was over Capt. McKee asked me what we should do with those horses. I told him, we could not fight Indians and care for a band of horses at the same time. We must drive the horses some where and sell them, and I think we had better go back to Fort Worth, and if we can not dispose of them there we can take them to Dallas.
The Capt. then called four of the men to us and told them to go out where the horses were and count them and to be sure and get the right number. They were gone about an hour, and when they came back they said there were one hundred and twenty horses out there, and one of the men said, "Some of those horses are of the finest breed that I ever saw, and nearly all of them have been broke to the harness, for I could see the marks where the collars have rubbed the hair off their shoulders, and I bet those Indians drove those horses hundreds of miles, maybe from Kansas or Arkansas, and they and the horses being so tired was the reason that the Indians stopped here to rest."
Capt. McKee and I went back and took another look at the horses, and we found them to be much better horses than we had thought them to be, but we could find no brand on them or any thing that would show whom they belonged to. This convinced us that they had been stolen from farmers. As the horses showed that they had been driven hard and we thought a long distance, we decided to stay over one day as the grass was plentiful and a stream of pure, cool water ran a few feet from where they were feeding.
Three of the other men and myself went hunting, and we killed six Antelope and were back in time to cook some for dinner. Capt. McKee and I cooked dinner together that day, and while we ate he told me the conditions he had hired the men to work under. He said he had guaranteed them twenty-five dollars a month, and each man was to pay his portion of the grub bill. "So you can see that the men have no share in these horses, and what we can make out of the sale Of them belongs to you and me alone. And I think we had better pull out for Fort Worth in the morning, and try to dispose of them there."
So the next morning we pulled out, the Capt. and I taking the lead, and the men driving the horses after us.
The evening of the fourth day we reached Fort Worth.
That night we camped a little south of where the Union depot now stands.
The next morning Capt. McKee and I rode into the town to see if we could find a purchaser for our horses. We found a number of men who wanted horses, but each man only wanted a few. Of course, the first question was what price we asked for them. The Capt. and I had set the price at one hundred and twenty-five dollars apiece, which we considered very cheap for such fine stock.
We talked with a number of men, and a few of them said they would come to our camp and look at the horses. So we rode back, and by noon we had sold half of our horses. I heard one man say as he rode off leading four horses that he had paid one hundred and twenty-five dollars apiece for, that he had made a bargain, as he would not take two hundred dollars for the worst-looking one.
After dinner that day a man came and looked at the horses we had left and said, "You are selling your horses too cheap. If you can stay here a few days and let your horses rest, and the people have time to find out what good stock you have for sale, it would pay you well, and you will have no trouble in selling your horses for a much higher price than you have been asking."
The Capt. answered that we had other business to look after, and it was very necessary for us to get rid of the horses as quickly as possible, even if we had to sell them at a disadvantage. The man said, "Well, I will send some men to you this afternoon, and perhaps you can make a bargain with them."
Before the next night we had sold all of our horses at our own price. Capt McKee said, "I think I will settle up with the boys, and then we will see how we stand."
I said, "I think you had better lay in enough provisions to last three months, Capt., for we do not know where we shall be or whether we can get any as good as we can here. And besides, we may not always have such good luck as we have been having the last few weeks."
Capt. McKee bought the grub and then settled with the boys, and then he came to me and said, "Now we will settle between ourselves."
We walked a few yards away from camp and sat down under a large tree, and he showed me a little book where he had everything set down in black and white, and when all was reckoned up there were twenty two hundred and eighty dollars to divide between us two.
As soon as we had divided the money, he said, "Now, are you willing to do the scout work and take the lead of this company? You are the only one in the outfit who understands the duties of a scout. I know this work will very often place you in positions that will be anything but pleasant, but someone must take the chances, and your knowledge of the Indians and his ways of fighting makes you more suitable than any one else in the company."
I said, "I will accept the position, Capt., if I can have the two men that have been with me in the last two hunts, and one more man. And another thing I want understood is that we four men will be exempt from all camp duty and have the privilege of going and coming any time we please without being interfered with."
He said, "All that suits me, and I will see that you are also exempt from cooking. Your meals will be prepared for you from this on."
Capt. McKee now called the men I had selected, and one of the others to come to him, and when they came, he told them of the arrangements we had made and told them they must look to me for their instructions in the future if they were willing to accept the positions as assistants. They all said they were willing to undertake the job if I was willing to teach them what I wanted them to do. One of them said, "Mr. Drannan, when I make a mistake, I want you to tell me of it at once, for I want to do right in everything as much as you will want me to."
I answered that we would commence by learning the private signals to be used when in the Indian country, which I would teach them tomorrow night.
After we went into camp the next morning, just as we were getting ready to pull out, two men came and told us that the Indians were doing a great deal of damage about seventy-five miles in a southwestern direction from Fort Worth. He said they had been making raids on the settlements every few days for several weeks and had killed several people, and the settlers were kept in a constant fear day and night.
As the Capt. was well acquainted all over the country, he knew just where to direct our course, and we pulled out in that direction making as good time on the way as possible.
The second night after we left Fort Worth, we camped on the edge of one of the settlements where the Indians had been making so much trouble. As soon as we were settled in camp, I rode to a house that was perhaps a half a mile from us to get some information regarding the Indians. The man of the house said that the Indians had come every ten days and sometimes oftener, and, said he, "The Indians do not try to kill the people as much as they did to steal the stock or anything else that they could get their hands on."
I asked him what direction the Indians came from, and he answered that they invariably came from the west. I asked whether they were in large or small bands. He said there were seldom more than thirty in a band, and they always came up that river, and he pointed to a small stream not far from us.
I rode back to camp and told Capt. McKee what I had learned. He said, "The Indians must be very sure that no one will be after them now. What do you think is the best plan to adopt?"
I told him that I thought we had better travel down the stream that the Indians seemed to make a pathway of, for one day at least, and go into camp at night, and I would scout around the country and find their main trails, for I was satisfied that only a part of the band came to this settlement. "And what we want to do, Capt., is to cripple them so they would let this settlement alone, and we can do it if we can catch the main band."
We pulled down this little stream and traveled in that direction.
All day we saw lots of Indian sign all the way, but none of them was fresh. As we were going into camp that evening, I told Capt. McKee that my scouts and I would take a circle around the camp and see if there were any Indian camp fires to be seen.
We rode about three miles on top of a high ridge, and looking off to the west we saw a large Indian camp. I knew this by the number of fires they had burning. I pointed to the fires and said to the boys, "There they are. We have found the main camp. But now the difficulty will be to get to them without being discovered by them."
As the darkness was coming on, I could not see well enough to tell how far the Indian camp was from where we stood, but we struck out towards the fires. I told the boys to ride carefully and keep close together, and for each man to keep a close watch in every direction.
We rode about two miles, and almost before we were aware of it, we were close to the Indian camp. I tried my best to count them, but I could not make out the number of Indians there were in the camp. Their horses were staked all around them, and I could not count them either.
I said, "Now boys, we will go back and report to Capt. McKee and see what he thinks is best to do."
It was late when we got back to camp, and they were awaiting our return. Before turning in for the night, I told the Capt. what we had found, and the position of the Indian camp, and that I thought they were about five miles from us.
He sat in thought a few minutes and, turning to me, said, "What plan have you in your mind about making an attack on that camp, Mr. Drannan?"
I said, "They are so scattered that in my opinion it would be impossible to get them all, and I think the best way to make an attack on them would be at daybreak, and for us all to be mounted on our horses. You and your men make the attack, and me and my scouts make a dash for their horses and cut them loose and run them off out of the Indians' reach. Now Capt., I am satisfied that this fight will be no child's play, but will be a nasty little fight, but if we can get the Indians on a stampede and keep them from getting to their horses, I think we can run them down and get the most of them."
The Capt. told the men that they had better not go to sleep that night.
"If we sit around the fire here until three or four o'clock in the morning, you will all get over your scare and feel more like fighting."
One of the boys laughed and said, "It don't affect me in that way, Capt. The more I study about a bad scrape that I expect to get into, the more nervous it makes me."
Capt. McKee answered, "Perhaps you will fight better when you are nervous than you would if you were cool. Anyway, we will take the chances."
We sat around the fire and told stories and smoked until about one o'clock in the morning, and then we saddled our horses and pulled out for the Indian camp and arrived there in good time to look around and see if we could take any advantage of the Indians in the coming fight.
The Capt. selected the place to make the attack and told his men that he and they would sit on their horses and watch for the first Indian to get up, and as soon as the first Indian attempted to get up, they must make the charge, and every man must do all the shouting he could, "for," said the Capt. "if we can get the Indians stampeded once, we will have as good a thing as we want."
I told my scouts, that we would cut the horses loose and turn them in the opposite direction from the one the Capt. was making the charge, and I told the men to cut the horses loose as fast as they came to them, and to pay no attention to the Indians unless they saw them coming towards the horses, but if the Indians, one or many, seemed likely to get to the horses, to pull their pistols and shoot them down before they caught the horses, "for," I said, "every horse we drive away will be equal to killing an Indian, for it will be putting him in the way of the other boy's bullets."
We did not have to wait long before the sound of the guns and the yells of the men as they made the attack on the half-awake Indians reached us, and the din that the two noises made was something dreadful to listen to as it broke on the stillness of the early morning, but my men and I had too much to attend to to pay much attention to what the others were doing.
After the fight had been going on a little while, one of my scouts came to me and said, "I think we have got all the horses loose."
I answered, "Well, we will drive them all to the top of the hill, and then they will be safe from their Indian masters."
We were not long in driving them there. I told one of the boys to stay and look out for the horses, and I and the other two would go back and see if any of the horses had been overlooked in our hurry.
When we reached the village again, we could only hear a shot once in a while, and the yelling had ceased altogether.
We sat on our horses and waited for the pursuers to come back, and in a half an hour the Capt. and all his men were back to the Indian camp.