Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-08-31
INDIAN KILLER INTERVIEWED.
TaIk with Comanche BIII.


From the Davenport Qowa) Gazette. Aug. 1871
There has been stopping in this city
for couple of days past, one of those
characters who have made for them
selves a celebrity for their bravery and
daring on the plains of the far West
among the Indians and buffaloes, in re-
counting whose deeds, hair-breadth es-
capes and peculiar life, the pages Of
romance are filled. The person to whom
we refer is no less character than
Comanche Bill, " who is reputed to be
the slayer of no less than one hundred
and eighty-three Indians. He has been
nine years on the plains, part OF which
| time he has been in the employ OF the
Government as scout He has hunted
and killed Indians for the pleasure and
sweets of revenge, and hunted and
trapped of necessity. He is now on his
return to his old life in the West, having
been on visit to his early home in Min
nesota. He is about twenty-eight years
of age, of slender build, sandy complex
ioned, with profusion of hair that he
wears long on his neck. His dress is a
pair of buckskin pants, ornamented
from the outer seams with row of steel
buttons, a coarse shirt, an old coat and
broad-brimmed hat. His eye is pierc-
ing keen, and he has grip like dozen
blacksmiths. In response to our ques-
tons he said:
My name is George W. Porter.
have been on the plains since '62. Twas
in the Minnesota massacre. near New
Ulm, the 18th of August of that year.
All my folks were killed except me, and
my little sister, three years old, whom
they took prisoner. "
Where were your
II was away at the military station on
business; went the day before The first
| knew of the massacre, i was coming
along the road on my way home, when |
saw little ways ahead Of me wagon
filed with women and children that the
settlers had sent to the station for protec-
ton. just then saw the Indians pounce
upon them, and lodged into the woods.
| could hear the hatchets crushing into
their heads. They killed them all, every
one.
"They scalped 'em, and when the coast
was clear, | got out, and pretty soon
along came company Of cavalry, and
we buried them. "
"Why didn't you follow after the In
dans?'
II had no horse, and the captain didn't
want his men to CO. You see that was
in '62, and everything was topsy-turvy."
did you visit the scene Of the mas
sacre at New Ulm2"
"Yes. / went there the next day,
and saw my father and mother all scalr ed
and cut up, and my sister was gone. |
swore by the eternal God, i would never
rest until l had revenge--a bloody re-
venge."
did you get any traces of your sis
ter2"
"Why, yes, they was the Yankton,
Swanee and Sioux Indians, and |
knowed them pretty well. l learned
that they had her. knowed what they d
do with her. "
You have not been successful in
your efforts to secure her2"
No; you see, single-handed and
alone, a man don't stand much chance.
That what | had been doing all the
time. Once, in Arizona, was right in
sight of her. The way knowed it was
her was, | had been on the trail of the
band of Sioux that had her long time,
and she was the only white person they
had. This was in 1865, and then she
looked just like mother. | waited, and
watched, and watched, and picked an
Indian off every little while, when he'd
get a mile or two from camp, but twas
no use. They kept too good watch over
her"
Were you ever captured2"
Eyes. The Blackfeets captured me
and Jim Braden in ga, when we were
out hunting. They came on us with a
rush, but they didn't get us though until
| had killed one young buck.
"What did they do with you"
"They marched about twenty-five
miles to their camp, and there they
stripped us of everything we had, and
tied us up to stake, and let the women
pound us with clubs They did this
every day for eight days. We were tied
with buckskin thongs, and one night 1t
rained, and we slipped out of EN- when
they got wet. Jim got away all right,
but Just as / was gittin' my things on,
an old squaw woke up and gave the
alarm. There were but four Indians in
camp. The rest had gone on a hunt.
| run, with only my knife. They came
up to me, and j had desperate fight:
One shot had hit me in the left arm,
exhibiting a scarf " / cut and slashed
the buck that got hold of me, and finally
give him one under the ribs, so he wont
tie any more thongs. And he cut me,
too here, and here, and here, showing
scars in his arm, neck and breast.
"The other buck never came near for
I'd got this buck gun afore he d reached
us"
The rest of Comanche Bills story,
how he followed his sister among the
Comanches, and had a fight with the
white chief of that nation, and other
equally interesting accounts, we shall
have to omit. But if our readers wish
to see genuine frontiersman, they
should call upon the Indian fighter,
himself.
TeII-TaIe Tomatoes.
From the New York Post.
"Where did Won get them tOmatOesl