The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1878-05-19

! he wanted to get anything 20 do.
ile wanted 10 20 10 Fort Sill, the
b great kowa aud Comanohe reservation.
nut was AFRAID TO walk the distance
= Tor his friends, the Comanohes. were
kllllng and plunderng IN every direo
l'on' As he could not speak their
language lac thought II would not be
safe Meanwhile, he heard that A
school teacher was wanted near the
town OF Wealherlord forty miles south
, OF Fort Richardson, lie made appli.
cation and got the school His cerliR,
cate which the writer has seen. ia da-
ted March >, 1879, and Is signed by A.
D. Reid, the principal lie taught
school four months, but il wns extreme,
ly dlsloslelul, and he could not drive
nom his mind the idea of becoming
Comanche chief lie heard that some
men from Washington we're in Fort
Richardson, IN search OF copper mines re-
ported TO have been discovered at Kiowa
Peak, seventy miles west OF Fort Griffin.
Having bought needle,gun, he went
up to Fort Richardson and offered his
services, Among the copper hunters
were a Judge Chandler, one Peters, said
to be n nephew Of Tom Scott Mr.. Kel- |
logg, an artist and Professor Rossier,
state geologist Of Texas, AS there were
humorous reports of Indian depreda,
tons, they gladly accepted Graham's
services, and paid him forty dollars per
month, They went right through on
the buffalo range, At Fort Griffin they |
hired as guides six ronkway Indians. |
Graham was overoyed, He was realiz-
ing the Eden of his notwithstanding. |
ing with Indians and killing buffalo. |
The party spent two months in the |
search, They found plenty of blossom
rock, but no real copper leads, and re,
turned unsuccessful, Graham then
joined the Texas Pacific party with Cap.
tain Hill, OF Austin, and helped survey
the Pan>llandle Of Texas.
From all that he could hear and see
he was satisfied that the Commanches
were the kings of the prairies. His
ideas OF joining them appear TO have
been strengthened by his experience,
With plenty Of money, good horse n
fine gun, and rafting six>shooter, he
made his way to Fort Sill, determined
to enroll himself among them. He in.
quired for Comanche camp, and was
informed that there was one up Cache
creek, about two miles from the fort
but was advised to keep away from
them, as they were Just in from the
plains, and were Wild lie rode up the
creek, saw the topees, the Indian boDs
MIN Inn |
horses grazing but never refined his
pony until he stopped in the camp. 1t
was large encampment of Noconee
Commanches He dismounted hitched
his pony to the limb of tree on the
banks OF the creek, lighted his pipe,
and sat down upon the ground. He
was so well armed that the savages ap,
peared to be frightened At last an old
Indian approached and wagged his
right hand, the Indian sign for "who
are you and what do you want2' Gras
ham did not understand him, and
made no reply. He offered the pipe
to the Indian to smoke, but he shook
his head, and by signs asked for tobac>
co. The enthusiast laid his stock hes
fore him. and the Indian seized it with
a grunt of satisfaction. He then
pointed to the giver, saying "Tenanna2
Tehanna2" which Graham understood
to mean "Texan2 Texan2" lie shook
his head, and put his finger to his
breast, and said English English
The Indian replied, Save" Graham
motioned that he came from long dis,
lance, and the old warrior repeated the |
word "Savez' Graham tried to ask
for the chief but could not make him>
self understood. He saw little savage |
with bow and arrow, and taking them
from him. showed them that he per-
fectly understood the use Of the weapon.
The squaws set up shout of astonish~
ment, and the Indians began to crowd
around him The use of the bow seemed
TO smooth the way to their hearts. An
Indian, by signs, offered to trade a pony
for Graham's gun, but the Englshman
shook his head. After looking at their
guns, shields of buffalo hide, and savage
accoutrements, he rode back to the fort.
lie says: ITO tell the truth, / was too
formidable. They did not seem to care
much about me- | saw | was not
creating the right impression
He camped that night under tree
at Fort Sill. The next morning he saw
Mr. Evans the post sutler, who has
since become famous by the develop
ments in the Belknap case, Graham
applied for employment, but was told
that he could be of no service unless
he spoke the Comanche language. That
day he saw troop of young Comanche
braves sweeping over the flats on their
ponies. The sight filled him with ads
miration. He halted them and gave
them the tail feathers of gray eagle
that he had shot short time before.
They were delighted, and braided the
teath into the names of their horses.
But Graham could not gain their conf.
dence. They called him Texan and
looked upon him with suspicion.
For months he hung around Fort
Sill and its environs, trying to learn the
language and scrape an acquaintance
with the chiefs, iaucying that he would
be allowed to Join the band. The more
he saw of them, however, the less he
wanted to see At one time he had a
plan to retaliate upon the Mexicans
and use the Comanches for grand catI
tie raid beyond the Rio Grande. The
Kiowas took more of fancy to him
than than the Comanches, and he be-
came quite intimate with the celebrated
chief Kicking Bird. His dream, how
ever, began to dissolve One day while
at Fort Richardson the bodies of man
named Walker and his little son were
brought in. They had been waylaid
and scalped on the dead line by his
idols, the Comanches. The sight shat
tered his enthusiasm. The mangled
body of the innocent boy broke the
spell. His feelings of admiration chang
ed to hatred. lie glanced at his past
life and shuddered. He joined the