Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1858-10-20
An EpistOlary History of the KiekaPOO War
and Expedition beyond tho Wichita Noun
GMNE,vIILE, Oct, 9TH 1888,

hAlNEsNlL uet', sth l0oN.
Dear Lalimfr in company with Jalaesi u
Perry Esp,, left Gainesville On Saturday the
| 18th Of September, for nuehanan's on the head
or Big Eh.t-the place designated for the Tende,
y0us Of an those ehiyalrnps spirits whose blood
burned with the fiery arlOT talmOstl OF tho re-
nOwned old knights OF the orient, 20 ayenge the
blood o. our iellow,eitEens shed in the recent
| Indian outrage,
We reached the appointed place for the he"gath,
herring of the clans, late IN the evening, and
! found instead of the yauntcl three hundred who
would certainly rush tn arms at the ca' OF thor
suffering neighhOrs, only three men; two lrom
Grayson, and Mr., Robert Shegogg FROM Clear
| Greek, Several men from GriyIen among whom
/ were those big hearted old Texans and clever
men, William Davis and John ilaynie, had gone
by Mr.. Ptrry's ranch 10 get full stock OF heol,
which the Messrs Perry had generously offered
To all who were not supplied, Col. James Bonr'
land had gone to Arhuoklc after an Indian guide,
and Mr., Perry proposed that we should rendcH.
yous at his stock ranch on Fish Creek, and Kill
and dry beef, while We were waiting for rein
iorcements, hut this proposition not meeting the
| wishes Of the settlers, we concluded 20 start
I from that p int. Sunday morning Mrssrs Perry
! Shcgogg and myself left for pcrry's ranch where
we found acvernl men irnm Cook and Graysdn.
/ Next morningJ. NJ. Perry, started for Loves in
| the Chicknsnw nation, to notify Bourlnnd oil our
final place of rendezvous and the company, about
I 30 in number, set out for the head OF Elm. Mr..
| II. II Casteel had caught wild mule from his ca
baladI of Spanish horses, and after many ei-
forts, succeeded in fastening number of sacks
and packs upon it, among which was the wallet
Of your humble correspondent: Anxious to show
the procliyitics of its race, we had scartc got II
! quarter of mile, when the mule performed n
series Of dcI,ocratic kicks and plunges, which
sCiit the packs; kettles. tin crps and all the par
r l.l.. l. .l..s
around and before it, II seemed to have an cs-
pecial spite ut mc-perhaps the effect of the an
tascnism Of Me fGceS for It's said ~ fellow feel
ing makes a; wondrous kind at least, to show
he total want of affinity between the assinine
r. cc and mine, it made n furious onslaught upon
Wy wallet tore it into transycrely. kicked some
my biscuits out of sight, and Indignantly
,'izing the remaining Fragments in its @eth,
shook them deiiantly 1T Tho astonishcd band Of
warriors. "And then and there was hurryin,. to
and fro, and gathering bread Ec., all that Solo
mons wisdom wanted of demonstration, was
r. fe bfead was cast upon the prairie instead
OF eh. waters. Thus cnl,i the hrk-a-p)j bat
tic and we were lcf to mourn the untimcly loss
o. our daily bread. We surrendered to the long
cared hero for time, but about noon Mr.. Davis
shot large buck antelope, which Mr.. Castcel
dashed on the descendant Of race that bore
king David, and in few hours the mule das
thoroughly conquered.
I We remained near Buchanans Tuesday and
Wednesday Major B,urand and his company
arrived Tuesday night; and having failed to pro-
euro Blac!; Beaver, the Delaware guide from Ar
buckle, Capt: John Scandtland proposed to go to
the Delaware village and get JIM Ned, the Della
ware Chief, and as ma'y Dclawnres as he could
to 90 with us. The proposition was endorsed by
! the vote of the company,and Capt. Sclndtand set
out with Wilson, Delaware trailer, for the vii
| agc. We were to meet on Red River, at the
mouth of F,rmer's Creek, ut the upper edge OF
the upper Cross Timbers. The length of the trip
cont ,mplated prevented Mess's. Davis K lldynie,
from accompanying us, and they returned home.
! On Thursday morning we started, SO in number
for the mouth of Farmers Creek, which we
reachcd after weary ride over some of the poor
est territory on Gods round earth; and ,campod
| for the night near Red River. Next morning
We cross d the river, met Capt Scandtland with
Jim Ned and lour Delnwares Here We organ
ilod elected Major Wm. Bourlund Capaln, with
out opposition, and James NJ. Perry, t., First
Lieutenant, Mr.. Robert Shegogg was appointed
Orderly Sergeant . ....
Sixteen horses belonging to j. NJ. Il Z. G. Per-
ry and Robert Payne, also the saddle horse of
Mr. Audsot, Mere stolen from Perry ranch and
others from the head Of Denton and Elm, amount
! ing in all to 2G head 1t was evident that the
tail would be easily found for they had fled
shcrt4 aftef a heavy rain, and after consuta-
tibh NTH Jiiii Ned, who was dily befs snaded that
the Wichitas were the tfansgressors, we set out
IN search of the trail We travelled along tie
beach Of The river the remainder Of the day,
crossing it five or'siS times: Tho river is very
shallow; and the water quite SALT 1t has d beau
tiful beach, averaging half mile IN width; and
in some places at least miles The sand is
white and as level as floor. The snowy bed of
sand is astcfully ornanented with Il peculiar
plant which wotld Eea graceful ornament to airy
lady g garden. The largest arc about two feet in
height, and the limbs grow around the stem
twining their delicate foliage in such manner
as to entirely hide the stalk, and form perfect
conc about a foot and half in diameter at the
base 1 know nothing of scientific Botany, and
cannot give its class or geneus, but all the crowd
were struck with ID beauty, and it is certainly
an elegant plant. The roots are slightly imbed
| cd In the sand, and presume it would not grow
on upland soil. .rr.
family of Indians had passed along the
beach short time before, going up the river
We encamped that night on the northern bank
of the river. Saturday morning we started in a
western direction, and about 2 o'clock, to the
great Joy of Jim Ned, we struck the trail. Here
| will say by way of remark that the general I'M
preston was that the Kiekapoos had done the
murder and stealing, and a slight suspicion rest
ed on Jim Ned as being a particeps crininis.. lie
knew that some white men doubted him, which
made him the more readily accompany us. be-
| leye he has been basely slandered. lie is the
most intelligent Indian ever saw, and with
GOOD education and knowledge of public lite,
would no doubt have eclipsed many pale face
who has assumed to legislate for nation. His
whole department towards us was high minded
and honorable. His person is so remarkable thai
II deserves a word. lie is over six feet >high,
well proportioned, has fine head, eagle eye and
an air as commanding rs Sam. Houston, and
l y r. IL, fria md
of the red men. =,
| The trail went in a northwestern direction.
and we followed it till night-fall. 1t struck
| Reaver Greek about 3 miles above the mouth, at