River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1877-02-22
(Which For who ?"

| air, and finally settled down il % the
| spluttering fire or upon the cold earth.
There were other men on the trail
| before and behind. Men rush wher-
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 the travellers from
every hill.
The dozen gathered closer as dark
ness shut down and the snowfiakes
came faster, and by and by an old man
with grizzly locks and piercing eye
said. as if speaking to himself
"Custer went in to kill. Tt was an
awful thing to do-to rush three hun
dred men down upon five thousand
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. So catllke
was his step that he had almost enter
| ed camp before the sentinels saw him.
He was a giant in size, and as he halt
ed where the light of the fire shone
| full in his face, three or four men ut
tered EXPLANATIONS of surprise and
horror. There was blood on the stran-
gers 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 turn
ed his back to the men, and they saw
that an attempt had been made to scalp
him.
"Water-foodr' he whispered as he
looked from face to face.
Both were given him, and after
drinking full quart of water, he grasp
ed a 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 somewhat ap-
peased, he said.
ut happened off this way, nigh to
twenty miles. | lost the trail some"
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 mel
His eyes blazed with fury he
seemed to grow in height, and casting
VIC VI lOOtl litIO NV AAN
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 Threats cut from
ear to ear! Come on-come with
me -
He leaped over the fire and bounded
away into the darkness, bnt presently
returned and said in calmer voice:
81 fit, of course. it was which for
who, but they were fifty to one. |
drove 'em from the corpses. | dubbed
'em off with my rifle, but they were
too many. They shot and stabbed me;
they run me to the hills they even
hunted me all the afternoon"
The giant trembled like q 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 the party tried to soothe
him, promising aid as soon as daylight
came, but the stranger waved his arms
and cried oat:
"What can you dol The wolves are
feeding on my wife and children to-
night their scalps are back in the
hills with the Indian devils Can you
bring life back to them Give me
gun and an axe"
No one moved for two or three sec
onds, being spellbound by his wild
looks and words, and the stranger
picked up cavalry carbine and its
box of cartridges, seized the light axe
used about the camp fire, and IN
another minute was lost sight of III
the darkness, calling back, as his step
was lost to hearing:
1T is which fer who y
Next day about mid-afternoon, the
party came upon two dead Indian po-
MES, lying between the trail and the
foot of the hills, to the right. A few
yards further on was great stain of
| blood on the two inches of snow COW
ering the grass, A warrior had fallen
here and been carried off by his CON-
rades. There was the trail of white
man on foot, heading for the foot
hills, but moving slowly, and there
| were plain traces that the man had
halted every few rods to use his weap-
ons. All along the trail were 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
| fust 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 man moved
to get among the hills and have fair
play. Jist look thar
Fifteen or twenty rods ahead were
three dead ponies lying close together.
The,band of redskins had made charge
upon the lone man at this point, and
he had met them brayely. The snow
| told everything. Standing in his tracks
and not lifting a foot except to turn
around, he had whipped the whole
gang! There were three dead ponies
within hundred feet of the white
mans position, and again the snow
was crimsoned with two great patch
| es of blood where the warriors had
fallen.
"Great God but how he fit y
whispered the old hunter, as he saw
| how the snow had been trampled
down. s'But they wounded him
here"
So they had. He had retreated slow
ly, seeming to have no fear, and along
| his trail was a track of blood. The
/ first hills were a mile away, and
straight for the hills ran the bloody
path through the snow. There were
no sounds of confict-no red demons
| in sight. (which for who" had met
early in the morning,and the tragedy
had been played before the sun was
two hours old. Again. between the
three dead ponies and the first hill the
white man had been charged by the
full band. They had circled around
him and then charged at q common
center. One lone man, armed with a
carbine and an AK, was that center.
Thirty, forty, perhaps fifty to one, and
yet he had not weakened in the least.
On the right was a dead pony, on tho