St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-10-14

issued the above terse and emphatic
order on their departure on their peril
GUS three-months' trip. The small
number of Creighton's patrol rendered
an open campaign against the Indian
marauders impossible. All repairs to
the line were done in the night, and
all breaks in the wire were made in
the daytime. The mode of destruction
was as follows: A party of young
Cheyennes or Sioux would gallOp up
to the telegraph line and throw a riata
or rope over the wire, and then start
off on full gallop, tearing down the
wire, which was usually coiled up and
carried away to be concealed. The
mischievous redskins would then de-
plOy up and down the line, each buck
squatting himself down at the base of
a telegraph pole, where he kindled a
fire of sage brush or greasewood, and,
after lighting his pipe, would sit and
wait patiently until the tall pole burn
ed through and fell, The labor of cut
ting down or digging up the poles was
too much for the lazy savages; and,
as time was no object to them, they
waited until the poles fell. The mill
tary patrol, safe within its impregna-
BILE corral of wagons loaded with tele-
graph poles, could see the work of
destruction going on UP and down the
line, hut dared not move out of camp
until night concealed their movements.
The Sioux and Cheyennes have al
ways been very superstitiOus about the
"talking WIRE" as they call it, and for
several years after the Indian war
broke out refrained from meddling
with the overland line, In order to
impress tle minds of these wild beings
with the mysterious power of the tele-
graph, great council was called at
Scott's Bluffs, when the line was first
built. Two of the great chiefs were
stationed at pQsta in the open plain,
hetween the Chimney Rock and Scott's
Bluffs, and each sent messages through
telegraph operators, which were
promptly delivered. Then the chiefs
mounted their fastest horses and gal
lOped to meet each other, and asked
what the message was, or the words he
had spoken to the wire. The result
astounded them, They could not ex-
plain it, NOR has 1t ever been under
stood by them, and to this day a tele-
graph operator or man engaged in the
repair or management of the 'ttalking
wire" is regarded as a ''medicine man"
and a person to be let alone, 1t was
to this superstition that Creighton's
thirty men owed their lives and exemp-
ton from attack.
With the approach of night the tele-
graph destroyers usually disappeared,
and the repairers would start forth up
on their thrilling and exciting trips
The horses hOOfs We're mutfled with
blanket pads 10 prevent noise. No
saddles were used, so as to render the
horses lighter in case of retreat or pur-
suit by the Indians. The instructions
were, in case of interruption by the
Indians, to scatter into the brush and
each man to silently escape as best he
could to the camp. One party would
dig holes and insert the burning tele-
graph poles, after driving in "a large
nail upon which to hang the wire. The
hammers used were thickly padded so
as to muffie the sound of the knocking,
No talking was allowed, aud only
whispering when it was unavoidable.
CreightQn's work was usually the most
dangerous. His task was to unreel Il
thin, thread-like wire covered with
green silk, and stretch it from one end
of the break to the other, suspending
the frail wire upon the top of sage
brush OF weeds. BY this slight, deli
cate wire the people of California and
) Nevada sometimes received whole
days news. But woe to the wire if
jack-rabbits were thick, or a bear or
, stray pony crossed it, as they often
did. The frail thread would break
and California got no more news for
that night or day.
Sometimes the Indians camped Oh
the line. In that event the Superin-
tendent Creighton would start out
| alone in the darkness, make a circuit
of the Indian camp, reach the line be-
yond the break and attach his pocket
, instrument, and commence to talk to
Omaha or San Francisco, send mes
sages to operators on the line, and then
return to camp in time to escape cap
ture. The Indians never move about
J at night; hence there was little dan
! ger of meeting them in the darkness
When moving from place to place, the
ten wagons loaded with the long tele-
t graph poles proceeded in two lines, the
men in the centre, When the Indians
4 appeared, a corral was formed instant
D ly, stock in the centre, and men at the
breastwOrks formed by the telegraph
n pole. But while this little patrol was
S pursuing it's daring and solitary work
t lively times were being enacted not fal
J, from them, and many brave men wer,
t dying by bullet, arrow, tOmahawk anC
s Indian tOrture.-[ San Francisco Exam