Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1871-02-23

We held council OF war. and de-
termined TO bring matters to n crisis
at once.
The crisis soon came.
One day big Indian came riding
along by us. He began talking in a
contemptuous way, and gesticulat;ng
| turiorsly. At last. he asked one of
our men for his gun. The man refuse!
The Indian repeated his question. and
attempted 10 take the gun from his
hand. The man drew back. The In
dian sprang forward, fiourishing his
knife and threatening, At this the
man camly levelled his piece and shot
the Indian through the heart.
As the wretch fell shrieking from
his horse. the plain seemed 10 be alive
with other lndians. From behind
every clump Of trees. every hillock.
every rock. and every rising ground,
they poured forth in countless num-
hers. We had never before seen SO
many assembled together rs now.
And now Our companion, the con
lnrcr. came ont conspicuousIv. He
had been once in the French army. he
said, and understood all its admirable
discipline. \ few words of warning
and short explanation suiiiccd to
make us form circle of the wagons.
and draw up behind them. with bag
gage heaped up fpr hreastwo,ks.
here we waited for the sayagcs
But they dill not come inst then.
With loud whoops aud screams they
gathered upon the plain at a distance
from Us. Inc wrctchcd towards. as
soon a. they saw our slight prcpara-
tlons. were actually afraid 10 attack.
They waited till night
Night came. Our dcfcnces were
ma'ic. Our wagons were arranged more
closely. and the barricade of baggage
was made higher, deeper. and more
elective. Ia the centre were our cat
TIE. Behind this little ioriidcatIon We
awaited our foe.
Shortly after dusk the tramp Of thou.
sands of hoofs shook the PLAN. Down
upon US thuuderci the Indians. Shout.
and yell, burst around.
tn thcs came. near and It'll nearer.
We waited IN breAthlc-s suspense.
Al last our ,oilvy burst il thunder
upon them.
NhricAs arose from amidst the gloom.
We saw not what the effect of our shot,
hal been. bat could only conjecture
that II hai been deadly.
There Was Wild uproar-the con
Iu,rI sound Of tramp.tn5 horses. the
NOISE Of men calling to one another,
'ht"rmsngtcd with groans and cries of
p.lu. Without giving them time 10
recover irom their coIiusion. We poured
~ another Noliey, and yet another,
loading as rapidly A. We could. firing
i revo!vcrs where we had them.
: iv effect va, tcttlblr. MANY must
have been wounded OF Killed, Judging
from the awful uPToar that arose. For
time there Was q confused hubbuh OF
sounds. Horses were trampling, men
calling groans were mingled with
cries of rage. During all tins time ~
uEed al intervals whenever We heard i
sound, outstanding our ammunition.
and not willing 10 waste shot.
AT last there arose a Wild tramp of
horses, the sound moving away from
a. and scemln. 10 show that our enc
mics had retired baillcl from the as
sault.
Yet We were afraid of some plot.
Grsnon made II, keep our watch, and
all that night We lay on our arms, cx-
pecting every moment TO hear the In
dian yell which should announce the
assault Of the sayagc..
After long night, which seemed
lntcrmlnable. morning dawned. As
the light Illuminated the whole plain We
looked around anXiously for oar enc
mics. but saw none whatever. We took
Il hasty breakfast. and then dellbefated
on what we ought 10 do. whether 10
take advantage OF this respite and
move on, or wait awhile. Most of is
thought We had better hurry on : but
Grlsnsn gave il as his opinion that the
Indians were yet in the nci,hborhooi
and were waiting TO attack us on the
march. lie thought that it woald be
better 10 wait at least another day. We
all yielded TO this opinion, and waited
as best We could.
We did not have 10 wait long.
After few hours, al about ten
o'clock, ten or dozen horsemen ap-
pearcd over hillock in the distance,
riding slowly towards US.
They wish TO have a parlcy," said
Grlgnon. some of YOU step forth,
and see what they want wish To
have little to say, but will wait
One of our men was selected, and
went outside Of our enclosure To meet
them.
Meanwhile Grignon lifted trunk
out of the wagon which belonged 10
him. drew it outside. and busted him.
self coOlly in arranging and turning
over the things. We all thought this
was done for the purpose OF assuming
an air of indifference. SO none of US
noticed him particularly
Our representative stood outside
waiting for the Indians. Ten of them
dismounted. and walked towarus us in
a friendly manner, while the two Others
held the horses.
One of them addressed our man in
broken English.
The Indians, he said, did not want
our lives. They wanted powder If We
would give them what We had, they
would let us go in safety, and protect
US from other tribes till we got behind
the plains.
Give them our powder. !. A pleasant
request. 1t scarcely needed debate.
We refused.
Well. then, would we give them our
bullets: They were very much in want
of bullets.
One of us said in low voice that
bullets were the only thing they would
get from US, but the Indians did not
l.. a q