Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1877-07-18
An OId-fashioned Indian Story.


Once there was wild Indian chief called |
War Eagle, who had band of two or three |
hundred warriors, about the worst set of |
cruel, thieving redskins that ever raided on |
a settler, or stole a pony. They had been |
doing 80 much mischief in burning houses |
and stealing cattle from che farmers of the
far west that the general of the army sent
company of hundred soldiers, com
manded by an old Indian-fghter captain,
and told them to hunt War Eagles band
down till every one was killed or taken |
prisoner.
So the captain and his soldiers set off for
the Indian country on horses. Every man
carried rifle and bayonet and two revolvers,
and they used TO practice shooting every day
SO as to be good marksmen The Indians
hunted and fought mostly with bows and
arrows, knives and tomahawks, in those
days only a few of them had old muskets
that they had taken from the soldiers who
had been killed in other wars. When the
captain got near to their country, he left his
horses in fort, and went on afoot, because
the way was so rough, rocky and woody
But he took along a dozen mules to carry the
tents, provisions, powder, and other things.
In about ten days the soldiers came to the
Indians bark wgwams, or tents, away down
in deep valley. With a spy-gass the cap
tain counted sixty huts, and allowing four
Indians to each, he made out that his hun
dred soldiers had got to fight two hundred
and forty Indians. That very night he sent
down two of his guides to peak around and
see what they could find out about Mr.. War
Eagle. But they got "A little too near, and
some Indians saw and chased them, and shot
one poor fellow dead, about halfway up the
hill, but daren't come any further. The
other guide came running into camp and
told about it, and the captain knew there was
"a fight close ahead for him.
oven teach the varmints one lesson, to
begin with" he said. lie knew the Indians
would send back party to get the dead sol
diers' scalp-lock and so he sent squad of
soldiers to bury him, and gave them large
can of powder to put in over the body
They fixed fuse and percussion cap on a
little spring, so that when anybody should
pull on the string hitched to it the powder
would go off like a cannon. On top of the
can they put some brush and leaves, and
then threw on dirt lightly to cover it up.
| Then they went to the top of the hill and
watched. Sure enough, in an hour or twoas
many as fifty ugly redskins came running to
| the spot, with black war-paint on their faces
and feathers in their hair-all yelling and
dancing like mad.
90, dig away said the captain, and you
will learn TO let brave soldiers graves alone. "
They all gathered around aud began paw.
ing out the dirt and brush in hurry, when
all at once blaze and puff of smoke came
out of the grave, and then a roar like can
non was heard. They had exploded the
| .I., a;xy 81 tl.e
were thrown into the air and killed, and the
IT st ran bowling away, saying, q" Ugh dead
pale face make big thunder under ground
This tickled the captain, but he knew
they would be after the camp next, and SO
he got ready. As night came on he let the
fires 90 almost out in front of the tents
And he told each soldier to bring log
wrap his overcoat around it, aud put it down
in the blankets inside, so that it would look
as much like sleeping man as could be, in
the dusk. The soldiers knew some trick
was up and so they fixed lot of wooden
soldiers that would have fooled the captain
himself if he had not known. Then he gave
each of the soldiers good supper, and told
them to see that their rifles and pistols were
all in good order. He then told them that
he felt pretty sure the Indians would attack
the camp that night, and he proposed tC
show 'em another white mans way of fight
ing. lie ordered thirty soldiers to clint
into some low, thick trees on one side of the
camp, and thirty more TO lie fiat down on toI
of some big rocks on another side, Will,
twenty hid in the bushes below, and the res
Staid with him back of the tents
Now men," he said, the redskins will
come up the hill so still that cat couldn'
hear 'em, but they'll make noise enough
when they dash into camp. Don't one o
you move nor speak. Don't you even sneeze
But the instant fire my revolver, every maj
of you begin to Shoot and keep al it, Hi
the rascals if you can, but keep popping
away. And the soldier that makes old Wa
Eagle, the chief, a BALD eagle, shall have
months furlough to go and see his sweet
heart-and gold medal BESIDES
So the soldiers fixed themselves aud waited
1t was pretty pokerish you'd better believe
waiting so quiet, with the wolves howlin,
on the mountain, the darkness everywhere
and couple of hundred Indians coming
About two o'clock in the morning mos
terrific yell startled the sleepy soldiers, ant
the whole band of Indians dashed in a
once, as though they had sprung out OF tn
earth. They rushed for the tents, but be
fore they had time TO tomahawk the logs
"pop" went the captains signal shot, ant
from the trees, and rocks, and brush an,
from the very ground itself, where the CAP
tains twenty men lay fiat ON their breasts
came the flash and the crack of the rifle:
The Indians tumbled over by the dozen, an,
all around them seemed a blaze of fire
though they couldn't see single soldier
Just then two big donkeys, of the mule train
scared by the noise, set up a dreadful nois
:. -" ye-haw l-ye.haw.w-ah' The Indian
had never heard this bray before, and though
: they were certainly in the very home of tn
,, worst kind of evil spirits-with the tree-top
, raining bullets, the rocks on fire, soldiers S
hard-headed that blow broke their tomf
hawks, and a strange, dreadful noise in tn
darkness louder than VOLTS howl or
chiefs battle-cry.
And so they turned and ran, those tina
were able, and when the captain ordered tn
men down to light up the camp-fres, the
found over fifty dead lndians-War Eagle
the chief, among them, though nobody knee
who killed him, And the band broke u
J and scattered, and was never heard of again
= -Bedtime Stories, in Golden Rule.