Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1880-01-22

d grub runs out, don't hesitate to xii
my animal for sustenance. For waite
. and fuel we usually trust to luck, whicI
= don't always pan out well. have NOR,
than once ridden one hundred and tiftv
: miles without seeing a creek of running
water, or finding a stick as big as
match. Sometimes we are sent ou
with dispatches for command WeeH
ahead Of us. Do we find themP Yes
generally, but we have to trail the com.
| mand. Sometimes it is easy enough
other times it ism easy at all. In or.
dinary weather | can generally tell, by
trailing within two hours how long it is
since they passed, or how old the tracks
are. Well, yes, l guess we are pretty
well paid for our services, as a general
thing. Sometimes the service is a par
ticularly dangerous one, and the COM
manding officer offers a reward for a
volunteer to carry the dispatches, but
even the reward don't always secure a
volunteer.
Right after the Custer massacre a re-
ward of 5000 was offered to anyone
who who would carry sealed letters to
the nearest command and bring an
swers; three soldiers volunteered and
| got through safely, but they could not
be induced to return with the answers.
IndiansP Well, yes, l think have
seen few of them during the past six
years; l have seen them and felt them
closer than | ever want to again.
Treaties don't amount to anything; the
Indians are nasty and treacherous,
and you just mark my words, they kill
a white man whenever they get a
chance. It's in their nature, and they
can't help it, The Piutes in and around
Nevada and Utah are quiet and peace
able enough, but that's because they are
not strong enough to be fighting. Well,
| don't want to blow my own horn, but
should remark / have had a few mar
now escapes If you think you would
like TO hear a couple of them, will
just as leave tell them as not. No,
thank you, / don't drink; in our bust
ness q man must keep a stout heart, a
steady eye, and cool head, and liquor
won't help to give him any of them.
"In June, 1877, l think it was about
the 2lst, / started to take train of
prOspectors from, Deadwood to the Big
Horn country. In the party were sew
eral tender-feet-pretty green ones. A
man named John Snyder, of Cheyenne,
and myself thought we. would scare
them a little; SO we sneaked off about
two miles from camp and lit fire.
Coming back into camp, we woke the
boys up with the remark, There's In
dians around; see the fire. and to carry |
out the joke, we put them to work dig |
ging riAe,pits. There's many q true
word spoken in jest, you know, and so
it was in our case. At dawn in the |
neighbOrhoOd of our fire, which had,
doubtless, been seen by them, were
about eighty Indians, in war paint, and
excellently mounted. / think they were
of Lame Deers band. / knew they
wouldn't attack us till daylight, because
Indians are superstitious Of the dead
and killing at nighttime, so we got
ready to fight, and awaited movements
on their part. You bet, we didn't have
long to wait In about ten minutes
after daylight they we're upon us, and
shooting commenced in good ear
nest. In the first round three of our
men, tender-feet, got killed; they seemed
to be Crazed with excitement and COM
pletely lost their wits; they jumped out
of the rife-pits and ran toward the In
dians; they had not got twenty feet
from US when they were goners.' The
8crimmage lasted nearly all day, four
more of our party being killed in the I
afternoon. Toward evening the In
dians fell back out of sight, and, think =
ing it safer for us to be on the move,
we abandoned lots of good grub, and, t
under cover Of the darkness, made s
racks for the Big Horn country. I
guess the Indians got about as good as I
hey gave us,
Soon after this, / think it was ia
August. / was in company with an In q
llan called Longtoe, / was carrying q
dispatches from General Miles, at Fort b
AehOe, along the line to Fort Welsh. t
About dark, on the fourth day, ! told t
1OngtOe to get supper ready-hard-
ack and Cotfee-while | sauntered y
Lreund for about mile or so to look
or e:esh signs. When l came back [
ound the fool had built fire on high
round, and, my mad getting up, |
licked everything over and rebuilt the Il
ire in the bottom of a little hollow. Il
The first fire must, however, have been Q
cen By the Indians, for next morning, p
1hen | had left Longtoe to pack the 9
lules, and had, travelled less than u
ale, / looked back and saw him, about II
quarter of mile behind me, and ten II
indians about half mile behind "
i'm, and waited for him to come up n
me. Our horses were too tired to e.
IN, having been ridden about one a
undred miles the day before, so we u
-aited for the Indians to come up to NJ
s, which they did in just about as long :,
, it has taken me to tell you this. Not u
Hpecting them to fre-Indians being Is
ways anxious to parley-we did not 70
root, but let them come within hum el
red yards of us, when, without mo- sH
ents warning, they fired on us W
lling Longtoe and both the horses, m
nd hitting me in the shoulder. Before al
> was killed, LOngboe had cooked one a
the savages, and IanOther. dropped Sc
,hind my dead animal and waited for 81
second charge. They soon came. tn
'ew bead on the first one and killed as
m and tunninU ont naurrbA hfu uOuvy ne