Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1879-11-12
4 BRAVE GIRL.
MISS MEEKER's STORY oE HER CAPTURE

Mrs. Meeker, her daughter, Joseph
inc, and Mrs. Price and her two child
ren have been detained here two DAYS
on account of Mrs Meeker's illness,
caused by nervous reaction, after ter
rible journey of five hundred miles on
stages and Indian ponies, bareback
and with poor saddles, over mountains
and alkali deserts During this ordeal
she was only half clad in a calico dress
and single shawl, without blankets,
and had only the bare ground to sleep
on in the Indian camps. The party
leaves for Denver in a day or two,
going thence to their home in Greeley.
Miss Josephine Meeker was threatened
with death, and her escape was mar
row one She is blonde, with blue
eyes and light hair, and is tall in stat
ure, and vivacious in manner and con-
versation. She was q teacher at the
agency and great favorite among the
Indians. She taught the boy of Chief
Douglass, and had half a dozen offers
of marriage from the Ute braves. Her
quick wit and knowledge of the lam
guage undoubtedly saved her life.
| HOW THE MASSACRE BEGAN.
Miss Meeker says: II was in the
kitchen with my mother washing the
dishes 1t was afternoon / looked
out of the window and saw the Utes
shooting the boys who were working
on the new building. Mrs. Price was
at the door washing clothes. She
rushed in and took Johnny, the baby,
to fly. Just then Frank Dresser, an
employe, staggered in, shot through
the leg. l said, Here, Frank, is Mr.
Prices gum 1t lay on the bed. He
took it, and just as we were fleeing out
by the door the windows were
smashed in and half dozen shots
were fired into the room. Frank
Dresser fired and killed Johnson's
brother. We ran into the milk room,
which had only one small window,
and locked the door and hid under
shelf. Firing went on for several
hours at intervals There was no
shouting, no noise, but frequent firing.
While waiting in this horrid suspense
Dresser said he had gone to the en-
ployes' rooms, where all guns were
stored, but found them stolen. In the
intervals of shooting Dresser would
exclaim: There goes one of the gov
ernment guns Their sound was
quite different from those of the In
dians. We stayed in the milk room
until it began to Gil with smoke. The
sun was half an hour high.
| A DASH FOR LIFE.
| / took May Price, three years old,
and we all ran to fathers room. 1t
was not disturbed The papers and
books were just as he left them.
'Pepy's Diary lay open on the table.
We knew the building would be
burned and ran across Douglass ave-
nue. for field of sage brush beyond
the ploughed ground The Utes were
so busy stealing the annuity goods
that they did not see us at first.
About thirty of them, loaded with
blankets, were carrying them toward
Douglass camp, near the river We
had gone one hundred yards when the
Utes saw US. They threw down the
blankets and came running towards US
firing as they came. Bullets whizzed
as thick as grasshoppers around US. /
do not think they intended to kill US
only to frighten us-but they tried to
shoot Frank Dresser, who had almost
reached the sage brush.
Mother was hit by bullet, which
went through her underclothing and
made a flesh wound three inches long.
AS the Indians came nearer they
shouted: we no shoot Come to
usp | had the little girl, and the
Indian named Pursune said for me to
90 with him. He and another Ute
seized me by the arms and started to-
ward the river. An Uncompahgre
Indian took Mrs. Price and her baby
and mother was taken to the head
quarters of Douglass We came to
wide irrigating canal which father had
the Indians build. | said | could not
cross it. The Indians answered by
pushing me through the water: l had
on only moccasins, and the water and
mud were deep. The baby waded,
too, and both of US came out wet to
the skin.
QUARREL TO POSSESS HER.
AS we were walking in Chief Joseph
came and pushed away Pursune and,
in great anger, told him to give me up.
understood some of the language.
Pursune refused to surrender me.
Hot words ensued and | feared the
men would fight for a moment l
thought would ask Douglass to take
me. but as both were drunk | kept
silent and afterwards was glad | did
not go.
Douglass finally went away and we
walked on toward the river. Before
reaching the stream, not more than
| two hundred yards away, both my
conductors pulled out bottles and
drank twice. No whisky was sold at
the agency. Their bottles were not
agency bottles. The Indian, Pursune,
took me to where his ponies were
standing by the river and seated me
on a pile of blankets while he went for
more. The Indians were now on all
sides. / could not escape. Pursune
packed his effects, all stolen from the
agency, on a government mule which
was taller than tall man.
He had two mules stolen from the
agency. 1t was now sundown. Pack
ing was finished at dark, and we
started for the wilderness of the south.
| rode horse with saddle, but no
bride. The halter-strap' was so short
that it dropped continually. The
child was lashed behind me. Pursune
and his assistant rode each side of me,
driving the pack mules ahead. About
twenty other Indians were in the
party.
MRS. MEEKER's SAD PLIGHT.
Mother came later, riding bareback
behind Douglass, both on one horse