Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1878-05-11
DAvY CROCHET OUTDONE.
The Extraordinary Adventures Of
three Texas RANGERS.

COMPANIES Or COLDRED CAVALRY
The DASH FOR RED kIvEK-oyER THE
Border.
Doc. Cooper, a wellknpwn cattle king OF
Northern Texas, resides four miles from Fort
Richardson. Ito miteS from Sherman. Five
years ago he gathered heard of cattle for the
Kansas market. On the day before starring
hi he ders We're camPed ab9uttwo miles from
around The fire their horses grazed in a Dunch
within sight. In the dusk of the evening Il
party were seen approaching. and were sup
posed to be cow boys from another herd.
They cut out Cooper'S horses under the nose;
Of his herders, and sped away at full galop.
By their yeiS the herderS knew they were In
dianS. As Cooper had no horses he could not
pursue them The same night the raiders
struck the herd Of John HinSon, securing alto
gether from twenty to thirty horses Within
an hour after the raid Cooper Was on his way
TO Fort richardson. He appealed TO the gov
eminent for aid. Col. Wood the comm md
am, refused to pursue the thieves. Claiming
tina l. was uncertain whether they were In
white men he had no authority over them. He
was only authorized u put 4 stop to milan
Expectations, aid was not willing to Senl on
hi tr"1ps without conclusive evidence that
the raiders were red men.
Cooper was an emerge ic fellow and an Old
Indian fighter. He did not propose t., tdmely
rallied around him. BY wight nine S urdy
cow boys were in the saddle. The trail of the
raiders was 20 b. Dad that they followed it at
full speed. About noon they found one OF tn
"bucker,' and from signs Oh the grass it was
evident that he had butked his painted rider
In the most approved border fashion. aud been
shot dead for his pains The Indians had also
killed a cow, cut a breakfast from her lOinS,
and left the carcass on the trail. Satisfied
that they were losing no time in getting away
with their booty, Cooper's party rapidly
pressed on, hoping to overhaul them before
they crossed Red river and entered the Indian
territory. But he was too late. The Indians
were shrewd, and kept changing their horses,
intervals the savages jumped down aud
mounted fresh ponies, turning the faded ones
in with the herd. Horses reared by cow boys
have an uncOnquerable aversion 10 Indians.
The scent OF one makes them uneSy and rest
less. The buckerS of Cooper'S herd did their
best to escape, and frequently unSea: ed their
riders, but in vain. The SavageS crossed the
border in triumph, and felt that they were
safe.
At the Red river Cooper halted. He saw thai
the thieves had such start that he could not
Overtake them. Even ii he did sue iced in
catching them within the Indian territory he
would come i'll collision with he United Safes
authorities, for the SavageS would undoubtedly
swear that the horses were their own property
and accuse the Texans of trying to steal them.
From the bend of the trail Cooper was satisfied
that The red raScas belonged to the Indian
reservation at Fort Sill He rode back to Fort
Richardson and secured the services Of friend
who was acquainted at Fort Sill. HinSOn and
several others accompanied him to the latter
post. They found large band Of NOconee
encamped on Cache creek, and their herds of
ponies dotted the prairie. Their chief was
Horseback, powerful, sIuint1eyei SAVAGE,
Indian agent, listened to CoOper's complaint
and sent for Horse back. The chief readily
admitted that band of his young braves hal
recently returned from a raid in Texas. Tell
have got his, horses: have seen them, and
know them by the description and the two
yellow horses The latter were two sorrels,
thorough bred, valued at over 500 apiece.
Horseback said he could not return the stock.
They were beyond his reach. His young men
would not listen to him. He could not keep
Il EN- from skirting the frontier. and if the
Texans wanted to save their horses they must
lock them in stables. Cooper then asked the
agent to interfere. He replied tha. the Indians
were running, things with such a high hand
that it would be utterly useless for MIN t. de
mand the horses. Though he was iSSuing
rationS to these very Indians every fortnight.
he dared not attempt to reclaim the stoiea
property.
Cooper and Hinson went back to Fort Rich.
ardSOn disguised with InIian agents and
swearing vengeance against their red allies.
They mad lost property worth hundreds of dol
lars, found the thieves, and cOOlly been told by
government officials who were feeding them
that they could not interfere. II was nos,
however, an uncommon case Scores of COW
boys had visited Fort Sill on similar errandS,
and received the same treatment. SavageS
mounted on stolen horses Saluted them with
the words, How, how and dashed away in
IL.
He was the legal protector of the thieves. If
the indignant herders tried to seize their prop
cry they were capped into a guardhouse as
interlOpers on Indian reservations. If neces-
Sary, United states soldiers were called Olt to
protect the robbers.
When Cooper and Hinson told their story,
why they expected different treatment frOm
others in a similar predicament. One eve
ming, while drinking in Murphy's saloon in
Fort Richardson, Cooper damned all Indian
Has IE,l-a I hat, IF
he could only get crowd together, with SnOs-
guns and six-shoOters, he would 60 UP to Fort
Sill, lay around and watch his chance, tear
through an Indian camp some night, riddle
their tepeeS and run off their stock. He
thought that In this way he could square him.
self: Edward Jackson, an old ranger, quietly
said that he could count him in for one. Jack.
son was just the man for so hazardous an un-
dertaking. He was shrewd, daring, and expa-
rlenced in frontier troubles. Others vOlun-
teered as Joke, but he meant business. The
not only excited the undying hostility of the
Indians, but threw down the gauntlet to the
United States government Cooper proposed
to head the party mounted on Old Doug,as.
The company burst in a roar of laughter. Old
Douglas was a race horse without an eQu Il
between Red river and the Rio Grande, and
everybody allowed that Cooper had keen
eye, to his own safety in the event of detection
and pursuit.
The party broke up without coming to an
agreement. The proposal was not regarded
as serious. 1t was thought to be mere barroon
talk. Three days afterward one of the com
pany met Jackson mounted on powerful bay
mare, armed with a Henry rifle and a six
shooter. why, Jackson" said he, where
are you gOing?" The ranger then coolly
replied that he was going up to Fort Sill to
square Cooper and cut out some Indian stock
The friend laughed, and expressed his doubs
We, youll see in few days" drawled JACK
son. ST IL be back before long with VIII Die
cavvyard of COmanche pOnies.''
He rode away, but the sequel proved that he
had told the truth. 1t was, indeed, a deSper-
ale adventure. Nearly d thousand Indians
were encamped on the reservation at Fort Sill
protected by six or seven companies of col
Ored cavalry. Large drOves Of ponies were
grazing in the vicinity. Jackson, with Nc
Carly and Mathers, spirits as daring as him
SELF deliberately determined to cut out a knot
of these horses and run them across the Dor.
der INTO Texas. They camped in an isolated
spot on Cache creek, about six miles from the
fort. 1t would not do to be recognized by auy
one at the post. Jackson said that they did
not fear the Indians. The dragons. or
smoked Yankees" as he called them, were
all that stood in their way. Three days and
nights were spent lurking around the Indian
camp and picking out a choice drove of ponies.
About shutdown on the fourth day select lot
were discovered in great bend of the creek
four miles from the fort. The three men were
we'll mounted. They swept down upon the
ponies like falcons, yelling and screaming,
rounding them up in true frontier STYLE and
started for the Texas border at full galiop. The
Indian herders were scattered like chat. The
hO6npSS of ft,n .