Sioux City register. [volume] (Sioux City, Iowa) 1858-1871, 1858-11-11
THRILLING ADVENTURE.

as We question whether, in the history Of
ahair- breadth escapes q parallel to the
following can easily be found. The story
was told us by an old and valued friend,
now residing in the country near this city,
but whose early days were spent near the
tragic adventure here recorded.
u We give the story as related to us, in the
words Of the here.
: % 1t Va. about the year 1905 that ! set
tied in Virginia, near the falls Of the Ks>
nawha. The country At the time was an
unbroken wilderness. But few settlements
had been made then by the whites. and
they were SO far apart As to render vain
al hopes Of assistance in case Of an At
tack from hostile Indians-numbers of
whom still infested the neighborhood.
lived there alone with my wife for sew
eral months unmolested, and by dint Of
perseverance, being then young and hardy,
/ succeeded in making quite large clear.
ing in the forest, which had planted with
corn, and which promised an abundant
yield. #s..--
't One morning after we had dispatched
our humble meal, and l had just prepared
to venture forth upon my regular routine
Of labor, my attention was arrested by
the tinkling Of a COW bell in the corn
field.
'There !" said my wife, "the COW is in
the corn field"
But the ear of the back.woodsman be.
comes, by education, very acute, especial,
" so from the fact that his safety often
depends upon the nice cultivation of that
sense. was not so easily deceived. !
lis,ened-the sound was repeated.
'That," said |, in reply to the remark
of my wife, twas not the tinkle Of bell
upon the neck of cow. 1t is decoy
from some Indian, who desires to draw
me into ambush"
Believing this to be the case, ! took
down my old musket, Il had no rife, and
seeing that it was properly loaded, stole
cautiously around the field toward the
point from which the sound seemed to pro
coed. As ! had suspected, there, in q
cluster Of bushes, crouched an Indian,
waiting for me to appear in answer to his
dscoy bell, that he might send the fatal
bullet to my heart. l approached, with
out discovering myself to him, until with
in shooting distance, then raised my piece
and fired. The bullet sped true to its
mark, and the Indian fell dead.
Not knowing but that he might be &C
csmpsnied by others, returned with all
speed to the cabin, and having firmly bar.
racadsd the door, watched all day from
the PORTFOLIOS in anticipation Of an attack
from the companions Of the Indian l had
killed. To add to the dangers and SEEM
ing hopelessness Of my situation, discov.
cred that had but one charge of powder
left, and could but make one shot; then,
If attacked by numbers, l should be en-
tirely within their power. Determined to
do the best with what had, poured out
she last charge Of powder and put it into
my musket aud waited tor the approach of
night, feeling confident OF an attack
Night came at last. A beautiful noolight
night it was too, and this favored me great
ly, as l could thereby be able to observe
the movements Of the enemy as they ap
preached my cabin. 1t was some two
hours after the nightfall, and as yet had
neither seen or heard q sign Of the Ind
ians, when suddenly was startled by the
braying Of my dog at the stable. l knew
that the Indians were coming. The sta.
BILE stood little to the west Of the cabin,
and between the two was a patch Of clear
ground, upon which the light of the full
moon fell unobstructed. Judging from
the noise at the stable that they would ad.
vance from that direction, posted myself
at the port hole Oh that side Of the cabin.
~ had previously placed my wife on the
cross pole in the chimney, SO that in ease our
enemies effected an entrance into the cabin,
she might climb out through the low
chimney and effect her escape. For N.Y.
self ] entertained no hope, but determined
not TO be taken alive, resolved to sell my
life as dearly as possible.
With breathless anxiety watched at
the port hole. At last saw them emerge
from the shadow of the stable and advance
across the vacant ground toward my cab
il. Observation-Disclosures heaven six
stalwart Ii dians. armed TO the teeth, and
urged on by the hope Of revenge, and
alone to oppose them, with one charge Of
powder.
My case WAS desperate indeed. With
quick yet stealthy step, in close single file
they approached, and were already within
few Yards Of the house, when slight
chsngs in the movement Of the forward
Indians changed the position Of the entire
six. 90 thst . portion Of the left side of
each was uncovered. They were in .
range-one aim would cover all. Quick
a. thought / aimed and fired. As the
smoke cleared away, could hardly credit
what my senses showed me rs the result
Of my shot. The fifteen slugs with which
had loaded my musket had done their
work well; five Of the six Indians lay
dead N bn the ground, and the sixth had
disappeared.