Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1877-02-28
MIsCELLANY,

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WHICH FOR wHO?'
ABlack Hills Tragedy.
New York Sun.
A dozen mcn--journalists, hunters
Indian-fighters, and mincrs-sal
around a camp fire on the trail to
Dcadwood. Soft flakes of snow
sailed in eccentric course through
the night air, and finally settled down
into the spluttering fire or upon the
cold earth.
There were other men on the trail
before and behind. Men rush whcr-
ever the precious metal is discovered.
There were broken wagons, dead
horses, and human skeletons along
every mile Of the trail, and fierce.
eyed Indians looked out from every
ravine and down upon travellers
from every hill.
The dozen gathered closer as dark.
ness shut down and the snow fakes
came faster, and by-and-by and old
man with grizzly locks and piercing
eye, said, as If speaking to him.
self:
"Custer went in to kill. 1t was an
awful thing to do-to rush 300 men
down upon 5000 reds, but he did it.
and meant to win. No other man
will ever take such chances"
And yet one was near by who
meant to take greater chances. Sc
cat-like was his step that he had al
most entered the camp before the
sentinels saw him. He was giant
in size, and as he halted where the
light Of the fire shown full in his
face, three or four men uttered ex-
clamations of surprise and horror.
There was blood on the strangers
face--blood on his great rough hands
blood over his clothing clear down
to his boots. 1t was terrible sight,
and yet, as if something further was
needed, the stranger turned his back,
to the men, and they saw that an at
tempt had been made to scalp him.
"Water-food !" he whispered as he
looked from face to face.
Both were given him, and after
drinking full quart of water, he
graspcd loaf of bread and hunk
Of meat, and tore them with his teeth
as a wolf would have done. By and
by, when his hunger had been ap-
peascd, he said:
at happened off this way, nigh to
twenty miles. lost tho trail somc-
how and the red devils swooped
down at noon on me to-day. The
old woman and five children were
in the wagon. There were forty or
fifty reds, and it wasn't three minutes
before the hull family was dead-all
but mcw
Ills eyes blazed with fury; he
seemed to grow in height, and cast
ing the remnants of food into the fire,
he fiercely shouted:
"Think of the old woman having
her brains beaten out by the fiends
Think of the children being hauled
out'n the wagon and scalped and
stabbed and their throats cut from
ear to ear Come on-come with
me"
He lcaped over the fire and bound
ed away into the darkness, but pres
emily returned and said in a calmer
voice:
al fit, of course. II was which for
who, but they were fifty to one. 1
drove 'em from the corpses. l club
bed 'em off with my rife, but they
were too many. They shot and
stabbed me; they run me to the hills
and have hunted me all the after
noon."
The giant tremblcd like leaf, and
the fresh blood ran from his wounds
and trickled down in red paths over
his neck and cheeks and clothing.
The leader of tho party tried to sooth
him, promising aid as soon as day
light came, but the stranger waved
his arms and cried out:
"What can you do? Tho wolves
are feeding on my wife and children
Tonight; their scalps arc back in the
hills with the Indian devils! Can
you bring life back to them? Give
me gun and an AK"
No one moved for two or three Sec
onds, being spellbound by his wild
look and words, and the stranger
picked up cavalry carbine and its
box of cartridges, seized the light ak
used about the camp fire, and in an
other minute was lost sight of in the
darkness, calling back, as his step
was lost to hearing:
at is which for who!"
Next day about mid-afternoon the
party came upon two dead Indian
ponies, lying between the trail and
the foothills to the right. A few
yards further on was great stain OF
blood on the two inches of snow
covering the grass. A warrior had
fallen here and had been carried of
by his comrades. There was a trail
of white man on foot, heading for
the foot hills, but moving slowly, and
there were plain traces that the man
halted every few rods to use his
weapons. All along the trail were
the hoof tracks of ponies, and an old
hunter shook his head and said:
at is the man who left our camp
last night. Back thar is whar the
reds Just sighted him, and he stood
in his tracks and killed two ponies
and one Injun. There was gang OF
forty or fifty reds, and the white mar
moved to git among the hills and
have fair play. just look thar y
Fifteen or twenty rods ahead were
three dead ponies, lying close togeth'
er. The band of redskins had made
a charge upon the lone man at this
point, and he had met them bravely
The snow told everything. Standing
in his tracks, and not lifting foot
except to wheel around, he had whip
ped the whole gang! There were
three dead ponies, within q hundred
feet of the white mans position, ant
again the snow was crimsOned will
two great patches of blood where thu
warriors had fallen.
"Great God but how he fit!' whis
percd the old hunter, as he saw how
the snow had been tramplcd down
"but they wounded him here"
So they had. He had retrcatet
slowly, seeming to have no fear, ana
along his trail was track of blood
The first hills were a mile away ant
straight for the hills ran the blood!
path through the snow. There were
no sounds of conflict-no red demon
in sight. (Which for who" had me
them early in the morning, and tn
tragedy had been played before th'
sun was two hours old. Again, be
tween the three dead ponies and thu
first hill the white man had beer
charged by the entire band. They
had circlcd around him and thcl
charged at common centre. One
lone man, armed with carbine ant
an AK, was the centre. Thirty, forty
perhaps fifty, to one, and yet he hat
not weakened in the least. On tn
right was dead pony, on the lcf
two crimson spots in the snow
Ahead toward the hill horse hat
fallen and struggled up, and half
dozen trails of blood could be count
ed. The Indians had given away
and at a slow pace the white maj
had resumed his journey.
"You will see a sight to make you
flesh crawl over in the hills !" whis
percd the hunter, and the party slow
ly advanced.
The lone man had not hurried hi
pace. The yelling, bowling, whoop
ing, redskins galloping around him
firing upon him and sure of his scalp