The Portland daily press., 1874-06-06

in its very silence, and who follows the me
anderings OF that stream with no companion
but his OVID thoughts, will realize perfectly
the intense meaning of that dread word
alone t..a .a a.. ..,s4
IlIimitabe as the ocean the weary waste
| stretches away, and loses itself in the purple
of the sky. while the mirage pictures dis
| tances that only deceive and annoy.
The shrek of the bittern rarely breaks up
on the air to disturb the quiet of those
waters, nor the sharp whistle of a startled
| pheasant to CRATE harshly on the ear, the
hare rushes trembling from mans presence,
| the antelope and the buffalo move quickly
away at his command, but they too, utter no
| sound to change the quiet that reigns so SUI
| preme.
There are miles of prairie in that region,
| however, that seem to have risen like islands
| out of the sea, s'hedged round with forests,
| and as
| ''These are the gardens of the desert, these
The unshorn fields, bOundless and beautiful,
And fresh as the young earth ere man had sinned-
So they stretch
| Ia airy unduatons, far away .
As if the ocean in his gentest swell
Stood still with all his rounded pillows fixed,
And motionless forever" a
More desolate still are those wastes in mid
| winter, when covered with snow, and the
|
| of drearinesS.
There was little to change the eternal
sameness during these long months as the
train moved day after day through that bleak
wilderness, and its long lines of wagons in
four columns, extending nearly mile, and
its rattle of wheels only intensifying the
world of monotony surrounding
Occasionally, however, herd OF butfaioes
were discovered in the dim distance, their
shaggy sides contrasting curiously with the
broad field of snow all round them, and as a
detachment of the cavalry rode after them,
the ennui of the command was dispelled for a
time in the excitement of the chase.
The buffalo would quietly watch their COM
ing until they were within a few hundred
yards, then give two or three shifts and COM
mence their short quick lope towards the
bluffs. In few seconds, puffs Of blue
smoke cut the clear cold air, and one after
another of their huge carcasses tOppled over
in the snow until dozen or more were ly-
ing dead. Then the men stopped to skin and
cut them up, while wagon was sent out
after their rich ribs and juicy humps, which
were divided among the whole command.
The third day alter leaving Camp Supply
as the train was approaching the Cimmaron
river, large party of Indians were observed
on the sand hills about mile and a half
away on the opposite side, watching the COM
mand. i
The cavalry were Immediately sent in pur-
suit, which as quick as the Indians saw, they
started over the divide and were out of sight
at once. The cavalry continued on, however,
to the spot where the Indians were first seen,
but it was not considered prudent to chase
them any further and leave the train without
all of its escort, as this move on the part of
the Indians who could no longer be seen,
might only be a ruse to draw a portion of
| the troops away, while another war party
cto acof fI,n vn1Ilac o,,d mt
off some of the wagons, the sand hills on the
river being peculiarly favorable to such STRAIT
egy. at
So after reaching the high sand knoll from
| which the Indians had been watching the
train, the squadron halted, and these discov-
cred the first link in the chain of mystery
that surrounded the fate of M'Donald and
| Davis. -
In little ravine under clump of box
elders, three roughly made graves were
found, which the men tore open, and resnr-
rected the bodies of threej Arrapahoe warriors
wrapped in heavily porcupined buffalo robes
| and red blankets.
The war paint was still fresh on their faces,
and their raw-hide shields were lying on their
breasts, their bows, arrows, and redstone
| pipes were found at their sides, and around
| the neck of one was string of polished wolf
| teeth ornamented with the rattles of the rat
! tlesnakes.
Bullet holes through the bodies of two of
the Indians, and one through the neck of the
other plainly told how they had found their
death, but by whose hand and where and
| why were they left there among the barren
sand hills?
| Tue trail of large war party was discov-
cred a few rods off, leading from the north,
| and their moccasin tracks showed they had
| rested there, and that fact with other well
| understood signs connected the death of the
Indians buried there, with the death of
| MDonald, and Davis, and that their bones
were bleaching somewhere between the
| Cimmaron and the Arkansas. 4.h4 sai
The dead Indians were stripped of their
trinkets, hurriedly rolled back in their holes,
and the cavalry rode back to the river where
| they found the men cutting the ice, and the
| train ready to cross.
A new interest was now awakened among
the command, and every man was untirng
in his efforts to find out something mole def
mite in relation to the death of the missing
''Scouts," the whole country within protect
irg distance OF the train was carefully hunted
over as they moved along, but another day
passed away without any further clue.
On the afternoon of the second day after
leaving the Cimmaron, as the train was near
ing Mulberry creek twelve miles from Fort
Dodge, further evidence was discovered
The commanding officer was riding alone
in advance of the column, intently watching
a large pack of gray wolves on the left of the
trail, that had been frightened out of the bush
by an erratic trooper, and were scamperlng
over the prairie with all the dogs OF the train
in full pursuit, when suddenly his medita-
tions were interrupted by young lieutenant
who came galloping up to him, holding in his
hand part of a new pair OF pantaloons that
had been saturated with blood but which was
now dry, and said:
'Majo-, one of my men found this piece of
pantaloons near the creek and think from
its appearance, it has story if We can read
it, that will tell us something more about the
fate of Mcdonald and Davis. Had we not |
better camp at this place, there is plenty of
water and wood, and look around hereW
The major scanned the bloody cloth mo-
ment and replied: evidently those panta- |
looms shave been torn from their owner; they |
were never taken off in the usual manner,
you can see that, for they are still buttoned,
and l imagine the Indians and Coyotes have |
had something to do with it, | was just won |
dering what so many wolves" pointing to
the pack in the dstance-"were doing here,
but NOW they only confirm your suspicious,
and believe myself, we shall find out some |
thing here either in regard to the two |
Scouts or someone else who has been MUIR
dered by the Indians. You may stop the |
train and we will go into camp on this creek;
it is early yet, and perhaps we can find out |
all about the matter before dark. As soon as
the men get their dinner l will order every
one who can leave safely 10 search thoroughly /
up and down the creek"
oThe lieutenant rode back. stopped the |
train, and the command went into camp and
cooked their dinners as quickly as possible,
in order to get all the daylight they could to
learn something more about the death of Nc |
Donald and Davis. go .nat s3s
As soon as dinner was over, the guards |
posted and the mules and horses picketed |
near the wagons, several details were made to
hunt through the brush in the creek bottom,
and part of the cavalry were sent on the
open prairie to find out if possible the secret |
Of the bloody trousers.
In about half an hour after all the details |
had left the camp, one of the cavalry soldiers |
returned, rode up to group of officers who |
were smoking their pipes round blazing fire |
of old logs near the bank of the creek, and |
told them that some of the infantry had found |
two dead horses and an empty mail bag down
in the bottom; ''the letters have been torn
open'' said he, ''and are scattered all over the |
ground, here is one pickedlup' it
to the adjutant who stood there-''sgned by |
Colonel Crosby; three or four of the men ap
pear to know the horses, and say they are the
+lxo@ I'm