Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-12-19
A Roriler FsOmnnmce.

covered tough old Indian fighter, whose eX-
PLOTS quite eclipse those of Kit Carson and But
falo Bill. He is called Captain John Hobbs and
his story as he told it 10 the credulous reporter,
is as follows
He invited the reporter to be seated, and hand
| ed him a pipe of unique pattern, with stem
about four feet in length, which he first lighted
| and INDUCED in n few whiils as starter, lhat
pipe, said he 81 captured from Algalaumme,
| Montezuma chief thirteen years ago, ana
| would not part with it for a thousand dollars.
While smoking, Interpreter surveyed the border
plan; he is fully six feet in height, sparely 6uilt,
| is as straight rs an arrow, has small Dlack,
| piercing eyes, long and coarse hair, as black as
coal, a swarthy countenance covered WIN
scars. and a complexion in general that has Oeen
| so tanned by exposure to the sun and WIND tnat
| it resembles strongly that of an Indian, lie
| wore bOrdeT-Suit of buckSkm, Enthusiastically ar
| ranged, but his person was devoid OF JeWeliy,
| which is such a characteristic weakness OF ron
| tier men. On a bureau at the right rested
| huge white sombrcro while in one corner OF the
room, near the stenoeraphel' 5 desk, were scalps
| and tomahawkS and other relies OF the forest,
| and of sanguinary conflicts with the saVages.
As he had been captive such great length OF
| time among the Indians, il seemed matter oil
| surprise TO the reporter that he could converse
| so fuenty in his mother tongue. He explained
| this by stating that he had as Il companion IN
| captivity an American, and had frequent inter
| course with trappcrs and herdsmen Wnom nc
| had aSsis cd in capturing BY this mode he had
manae q ) retain his English perfectly. His
| knowle& 81 dates was also surprising when II
| is taken iIfn consideration that he was carried
| off by the Comanchcs when but twenty years OF
age, aud previous to that event had but little
| schooling.
| He was born in a small frontier village oil the
| Big Blue river, in the northern portion OF Jack
son county, in the state Of Missouri IN the year
| lS2H but does not remember the month. W lea
| but Il mere lad lie gained a great reputation
| among the hardy backWOodsmen and trappers
| of that section AS Il wonderful shot as he nad
| been known TO bring down deer at four hundred
| yards. At eighteen he was a successful trapper,
| and knew every elk path and otter pond for miles
| through the wilderness. His shrewdness attract
ed the attention of Bent, the great ST. Louis fur
| trader, who secured his services when nineteen.
1t is TO this incident that his subsequent n'isior
| tunes and ten wears captivity AMI SuHeIlngS
| among the COmafchcS may he attributed.
! Shortly after enieriHg the services Of the fur
| company, as the captain related, ne and q com
| panion, Jean Battles, French Canadian, were
| sent TO the CimerOne springs, near the head
| waters OF the Arkansas river, AT that date the
| whole country was almost bowling Wilderness,
with but few settlers scattered here and there,
and was Swarming with hostile Apaches, Paw
| neeS, and the Scourgc of northern Mexico, the
| blood-thirSty COmanches. On the 1Ih Of Sep
| TENDER, 1871, az their luck had been BID, Bat
| ties proposed to Hobbs to start further south,
| where game was supposed to be in abundance;
| the latter acquieSced During the evening OF
| the first days trip Hobbs traied buffalo. His
captur; is given in ms own yetnacular Putting
| spurs TO my mare" said the captain, 81 soon
| ovcrhauled the Varmint, which proved to he
| COW, which | killed Battles soon Joined me,
| and after we cut off all the meat sc 5faIitcd we
built a fire and bunked in for the night. The
! following morning, while preparing our grub, Il
| war party OF iWehty t0n'apche braves, with
| eight or ten Pawnee ScalpS, and drove d stolen
ponies appeared on the scene. The leader of the
| band advanced toward me with on stretched
| hands and grgwled out. How | answered
| him in friendly way, stu heeuipg an eye on
my sho0tng-rOnS. All Of Il sudden one OF the
| most demOniac ycllS that ever greeted mortals
| ears was given, and before we could move the
| whole pack Of hell-hOunds We're upon us two
| poor devils fhty killed pGCr Battles before my
| eyes, scalped him, took off his muccaSinS, Sc
| cured his rifle and ammunition, and then made
| for me. But the chief somehow took fancy to
| tne and drawed Oft the pack after they had al
most finished lie and lGd the knife to my scalp.
| Look here, 50 saying tile captain parted the
| thick black hair on the side of his nedG and Il
| long white scar was revealed. "rhatS the COM
! menrin' place" he resumed, 'and in two min
| utes' time longer expect they would have raised
| my top-knot, for certain DO you see this p
| Here he pointed to deep scar just above his
mustache, at the right Of the nose That's an
| 'ihEl Htdth tubD HaNt NE W III Il IOuldidNk Oh
| that occasion. Well 70 piate Il long story
Short they carried me with THEM Hp To the
| mountains. They danced around me, sung and
| played on the tOmtOmS nearly all night, and TO
| wind lip they cut off my hair and commenced
to cut up my face, or what you Hight cell it TO
| tattoo me. | objected so strongly that they
| stopped 1t, but they managed to put brass ring
through my nose This wore during my ten
years captivity, J was made warrior, and
| went oht With them chi al their war
and maraudng expeditions dcrOss the
| Mexican border and several times came
| near losing my life while fighting the ApachcS
| and Pawnees. All told, my body bears severn
teen bullet and arrow wounds" Removing his
boots the captain exhibited to the reporter five
buck-shot "iudentures" in his right leg, and
| three or four gun-shot and arrow wounds in his
left limb 81 remained with the redskins two
years before | was made Il warrior. About six
months after this event, while hunting alone in
the mountains of lower Sonora, | heard the
breaking Of a twig not far from where I was
standing. cooked my rifle, thinking it might
| be Il cinnamon bear. | did not hear the sound
| again, but Instead saw the cause Of it in the
| shape Of big Pawnee warrior who stood part
" concealed in a clump of chaparal about 200
| yards distant. We looked at each other fully
| five minutes without drawing Il bead; suddenly
| he raised his gun and fred at me without TAX
| ing aim. | jumped to the right and escaped
| still keeping an eye on the Pawnee; he lodged
|
the head and scalped him. When nearing the
lodges | got two ash poles and stuck the ends
OF each into the ears of the scalp-it's the style
| Of the ComancheS TO take ears and all-and
| marched into camp.
Five minutes later seven hundred warriors,
| headed by Old Wolf whom the United States
| soldiers and Mexicans well know to their sOr-
| row, surrounded me, and such shaking of hands
and hugging ] never experienced before. The
chief the next morning gave me his third
daughter as bride BY our marriage have sew
| en- children" "Where are they now ~ querted
the reporter. ooh, they're running wild on the
| plains" replied the captain, lau9hingly. He
| said that in the fall of 1911, after numerous
| fights with United States soldiers, during which
| he tried to escape (rather duDOuS) the Co
| manches concluded TO sell him and another white
| prisoner named ktrker. Thus, after ten years
| of captivity he was taken to Fort Bent, and was
| sold to Col. Sumner of the 9th cavalry. The
| captain was ranSomed for six yards of red fan
| ne one pound of tobacco and a string of beads.
| Kirker was sold for eight yards Of curtain cali
| co and pound of common Missouri tobacco.
! After being ransOmed, the captain sought the
| home of his youth; but all his relatives had re-
moved, and, heartbroken, he retraced his steps
and made his way into Mexico, where
he joined Placida Ia Vega in his war
against the church party. At the con.
| cusion he made his way to Chihuahua,
and was employed by Gov. Anglestres to fight
the Apaches at the rate of $50 per scalp. With
| thirty MeXicans, during six months they raised
| ninety tscalps. Becoming disguised with the
| MeXicanS, he again cast his fortunes with Old
| Wolf and the COmanches. He continued fight
ing with them two or three years against other
| tribes, and when the French invaded Mexico he
| repaired to Chihuahua, and was made lieu
tenant of artillery in the liberal army by Benito
| Juarez, and participated in the battles Of Los
| Membres, Mazatlan, ZapiCk, Santiago, ES-
| quantito, Sierra Aleger and various Others,
| down to OueretarO, when MaXimilian surreu-