The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1851-02-01
lrum The busiun Journal
An INDIAN HUNT IN CALIFORNIA,

lrum the Rpston Journal
AN INDIAN HUNT IN CALIFORNIA.
Thr following lellor descriptive of al In
dian hunt IN California, will be- read with iIT'
tcrcst lthas been kindly furnished us by a
friend, for publications
FusTrH's Ban, CALiroHNiA, Nov. q, 1880.
DEAH BHoTHfR.--l take my pen to inform
you about an "lndiau hunt" ia which par
tcipated a few years ago A, the subject re-.
quircs few word. ofprcparalory explanation
I will give them to you before proceeding fur
thcr. The Indian. have (-incc the treaty Of
last Junc) been quite poancahlc, until within
the last week oT Ga the aOth ult they
wounded packer" while on his way from
"Gra.. valley" to the "lorks."Ilc made his cs-
cape from them with au arrow sticking Ia his
shoulder The ncNt day man by the nanr
OF Hc0, residing At "Nycs Crossing" on tile
Middle Fork, lost yoke oroNon, and pre-.
suming that they were stolen hy Indians fol-
lowed the trail with five men aud eight friend
~ Indians, tu "rauchcro,T situated on the
western side Of "ludian Crcck" Through
the help of the guides be- wa, enabled a. have
a hit of"a talk" with Htrm They admitted
that the ca'tlc were ia their possession, and
in very "Lcouida,-likc manner told him to
"comc and ui, H,m Vhe couhi"' Though
such a speech in the mouth OF the Spartan,
when he with 800 men was opposed 10 Ncr-
Ncs and his whole army, has challenged the
admiration of every historian, vet in his ia-
siaacs tho rrply sounded Ear dincr-pt Ern
it, prototype, for the colds" we're me other
'rnV-thc lniiaus numbering. SOME three or
four hundred Several bows wcv drawn up
on the man holding the "parlcy," who 'oply
saved himself 10y shielding his body with that
ofan old Indian. 4 fight then commenced
but the whites were obliged to run for it"
5ftrr the first yuli6y,
The next day three travellers were attack
cd; one saved himself by hightTranothcr was
shot dcad--while the third way severely
wounded, The man that escaped, immcdi-
rut-rt II t-rr1ri r7vrrrt tivr -rurr IN ruFs
cue his companions. They proceeded 10 the
spot, found one Of them nearly dcad-both
legs hrnkcn and otherwise bruised, with rocks
in addition to arrows and mnskct .hots-and
lac was surrounded with hrushwcod &c., pre-
paratoryh to being burnt di,rc. The few Indi-
ans around him Ned az their approach. The
poor fellow was taken Ia "thc cabin" where
hc died in few hours, while the rest of the
| party went in pursuit of the wrclchcs. When
near their rauchcro they found about four
hundred ofthcm drawn up ready for battle,
\ pretty severe fight cnsucd,each white man
taking to a tree, and thus covering his per
son, while rc-loading their rifles Tho Indi-
ans then cndcavorcd to surround the littlc
band, which being perceived, forced the
whites to retreat. a running Gght was then
Kept up till the Indians ceased 10 pursue hay
/ ing lost ten or twenty of their numbcr-the
whites losing none,
On Sunday last there was a small party of
flurtccn formed on this Bar for the purpose
of aiding tho middle Fork men," and Join
ed it. The first night we wcntt6 the Cabin, -
or "Poor Mans Tent" four or FIVE miles east
Of here At the Cabin We met about ten men
from the Middle Fork, and rs many more
! from South fork. The man 6rst Wounded
was lying on bed in the cabin, and witness
ing the torture and suffering he endured (ior
he was shot with pOtsoaed aj1or,) together
with sight of the other mans grave, few
rods distant,d not tend 10 soften in the least
our feelings of bitterness towards their muir
/ dcrcrs. Their being no other accommoda-
! tiuns for us, we built n fire n short distance
/ from the cabin, and bivouacked for the night.
! We were then about seven miles from the In
dian "ranch," which we proposed attacking
in the morning at daylight, The night was
quite cold, but by lying with our feet to- the
fire, we managed to get few hours sleep. At
one O'Clock We were reused up, and shaking
The frost from our persons and wcdpons,gatli-
cred in ceuncil, TO organize and prepare our
plans a Operation, We were formed in three
\ divisionS-cach rander the command of a Cap
tain and Lieutenant, and all under that of a
kind of commander in chief"
! At o'clock we were ready, and commcnc-
ed our silent march through the woods in the
direction OF the enemy, The morning. was
| clear and cUtrf,s there was no moon, but the
stars twinklcd ikea merry topcr's eve" vet
they Gailed to pierce the gloomy woods through
which we picked our way in single file, wind
ing along a sandy ridge over hills, in dark ra-
vines, through tiucicts and deep tortuoas Ca
mons There was no spiritstirring sound of
martial music-no waving plumcs or banner,