River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1877-09-20

NiN P@PPoOscS Dehihu- htep lulet untl
we can get out"
At the end of five minutes the Indian
were heard advancing, and presently
their conversation could be plainly made
ou'. All were mounted, but seemed il
no hurry. Some rode round the heed O
the ravine, and others were heard Gloss
ing II lower down. Huddled togethel
IN the darkness were the seven white mer
each one holding his breath and eacl
horse trembling with excitement.
We'll be discovered sooner or laterl'
whispered Dan, "and we'd Better get il
the first blow. Draw your revolvers, ride
three abreast, and III lead -
He waited minute for the men Il
make ready, and then raised the widest
yell ever heard by Indian or white man
Its ierceness fairly appalled, his com.
| paniOns for an instant, but as his mus
tang sprang forward they spurred after
/ Charging straight down the ravine, with
wild screams eehoing from bank to bank
they had gone nearly half "a mile before
the surprised Indians comprehended
\ the situation and made pursuit. The
rayine bent aud turned for miles, and
while some Of the Indians followed
down il others rode along the banks,
| firing at random and screaming in their
rage.
"A mile further down. called Little
Dan as he turned in his saddle, Trail
crosses the ditch Wen tufn 10 the right
and make for the Injun village. II you
shoot straight we'll give these devils q
chance Ia attend dozen funerals at
home :"
Not O shot lad tilrs tai ljeeh fred BIZ
the entire party. Two or three mounted
Indians had been encountered, sitting on
their saddles and wondering over the
alarm, bat they had been knocked down
and leaped over like so many toys The
little band were a quarter of "a mile
ahead ofpursuit as they whirled to the
right. dashed up the bank and made
for the hundred eamp-ilres mile Away.
six abreast. now. and follow me ;"
shouted the dwarf: II want to charge
right through the village, ana I'll kill as
many as all of you can wound, Fire at
everything ON legs and keep yelling like
devilsg'
Had they kept ON down the rayine it
would have simply been a test of speed
between horses, with the odds i'm favor of
the white tntf. Little tan bad doubled
back IN tleir track instead of ruhnitg
away, and was headed for a big village
alive with excitement. The Indians kept
along the Teyine. not having vet caught
sight OF the putsued hut still Knowing
that they were chasing white men.
Now raise a YELL" shouted Dan, as
the band neared the village-"raise the
worst yell you can, and don't forget to
to keep shouting''
His peculiar scream was again sent
forth, and the ether sir riders lurrahed
at the top of their voices. Dan and his
mustang we're a wonderful sight. The
animBl forged ahead at steady gait, his
cars laid back ard HE mouth wide open:
aud he SerFed aside fOF h5thihE. lie
jumped blazing fire, ran directly over
2 lodge. picked up a boy IN his teeth and
flung him aside, and every instant utter
ing a neigh which was almost a roar of
rage. A revolver in either hand, Little
Dan swung himself from side to side,
blowing a warriors brains out on the
right, and then sending a bullet through
the head Ct an old man or a squaw to the
left. Pop! pop! pCpl rang his revolvers,
and ab5te tie awful din created in the
surprised and frightened camp could be
heard his wild wells and the tigerish
neigh of his mustang. The six fired as
they could, sweeping a trail of death
forty feet wide through the village.
Hardly a shot was fired in return, but one
of the few sent after them struck and
MORALLY wounded a bronze-faced, griZ-
zly haired veteran who was three times
hit at Artietam. He fen forward, clung
"a his horse and wien the band halted
on the prairie beyond the village he fell
10 the ground.
" In three minutes We shall have two
hundred bowling tiends after us said
Little Dan. as he dismounted. "This
man is fatally wounded, and he'll be dead
in half an hour We can't take him along,
and We can't stop here
While be was speaking he was busy
sraching the pockets Of the unfortunate
rider. Watch, motley. photographs Of
loved ones. revolver and sabre, were taken
and distributed among tho Nv in thirty
seconds. aud then the dN bent down
and asked:
" COmrade, can sou sps,K
4 understand its all right was the
whispered reply.
Here's your rifle. said Dan. Ii the
Indians run upon you, shoot yourself! II
they don't find you for an hour, you'll be
dead. Good-bye. God forgive you and
us, but its the only way"
Leaping TO the back of his mustang, he
turned for the White Horse Hills just
as Il terrific vail Of sorrow, mingled with
a cry for yengeante, rose on the cool
night air. from the village. The. horses
had not galloped 4 mile before they were
pulled up. The band was safe for mo-
ment. and each heart was heavy at the
Thought of the comradc dying among the
trampled flowers. Each head was bent
that way, and each ear heard the rush of
Indians in that direction. They rode as
straight for the dying man as ifithad been
broad MONDAY. A sudden shout proved
that they had found him, but ii was hard
" raised before the report of rifle echoed
across the prairie.
HE was brave man." whispered Lit
til, Dan. God pity the poor ones at
home" added the others, and they rode
forward at full speed, knowing that they
had not one chance in ten of reaching
Fort McKavette. But they did reach 1t
after days of riding, hiding, starving and
thirsting, and the order was delivered and
Western Texas saved from the horrors of
AN Indian war. Before the wild winds of
winter swept the bleak plains solitary
horseman rode from Fort Terrett at night
lodging In5ian scouts and never minding
the gaunt wolves which gallopped close
behind with theft red tongues hanging
from terrible jaws He crossed the ra-
vine, rode across the site of the Iudian
village and hating at a spot half mile
beyond he dag hole in the soft soil
and firmly embedded a post and a
cross. In deep. carved letters was the
legend:
a BRAVE NAN DIED HERE.
Only that and nothing more, and the
U records of the ffcn&cr forts show, from
l. =