The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1883-10-17
FFreg~
KILLED
A GALLANT Flight Eos Life Crows
to the RescueINnA@

to the Rescue!
In May last the Atchinsou, Topeka &
Santa Fe Railroad, having decided to ex-
tend the line from Santa fe throu Oh Che
Indian Territory TO Blue Sprins. Kan.
sent out a party to prospect and make
arrangements as to the course of t he
line. This parry, eighteen In number,
found Itself on the ylsins OF New Mex
leo, about thirty-tise miles from the
town of st Elmo. A band Of Crow In
dians we're in the vicinity, and evinced 4
very friendly disposition toward the
whites. From these il was learned that
a band Of hostlle Apache lndians were
lurking III the Delghborhood. About Ill
O clock on the morning of August IL as
The party were al work a Snake
River, fixing the coure of the railroad,
two shots were suddenly heard, aud Mr.
Burchill WAS seen running from the dl-
rection of a low clump of bills near
which he had been at work. he ran M
and cried :-"I have just been shot a
[ think the Apaches aie around Us.
so, we may leave our souls to God.
As he spoke a number OF Apache In-
diaus, iu full war paint, appeared on the
clump of hills. Gustaysen gave . warn !
ing signal assembling the men around
him. He had been a cowboy In his day,
and hastily counseiled The men ~ keep
well together, without crowding each
other, and to retreat ~ rapidly as posi-
bic toward camp. lie wound up:
Let US keep cool, anyway, and if We
have to part with our lives let us sell
them as dearly As We can.
The men responded cheerily. In the
meantime the Indians opened fire. The
whites fired back aud began the retreat
toward camp, over three miles away.
There were about fifty Indians 10 the at
tacking party. 4 running fight followed.
The Indians galloPed warIly around the
whites, who were on loot, and the latter
as they fled turned at inter vals and fired
at their pursnerS. They obeyed y usiay-
sens directions and avoided getting sep
arated. The character Of the country.
which abounded in little knobs, was ia
yorable TO esca,e. fter chasing the
whites about a mile, the Indians gave W
the pursuit. When camp was reached
il was found that two men-Lawrence
Halleu, the topograpaer, and Frederick
Leslie, a helper were missing. They
bad been working close to the hills from
which the ludtans emerged. They nave
never been heard from since
4ss A MIDNIGHT ATTACK.
After this encounter the closest watch
was maintained, and pickets were placed
on watch day and night. About mid
night on the night of August l6 the
party were encamped neal the Snake
| River. 4 couple of miles away was the
camp of the Crows. all the members
of the party were asleep, with the ex-
ception of the pickets and G. b. Ball,
the transit engineer, and Charles Clare,
the rod man, both of whom sat beside
the camp fire, talking. Suddenly a fusil-
lade rang out in the stiffness of the night
and both the men beside the camp fire
fell dead. Engineer Burchill cried out:
I'VE are attacked !. For Gods sake.
boys. keep together
The men had previously been instruct
ed to lie on their stomachs and fire. In
his pusiticn they could less readily be
-een. and offer less OF a target for the
| enemy. In spite of the suddenness Of
the attack and the rude manner in which
they had been awakened the men kept
their heads and followed the instructions
The moon was shining, and in its light a
number of dark forms could be discern
ed. crawling over the ground in the d.
rection of the camp. The whites fired
upon thes Sc dark figures, and the Apaches
returned the fire. The fusillade kept up
by the Indians-who seemed about fifty
in number-showed the whites that they
were being attacked from the front and
on each side. At the same time they
felt convinced that there were Apaches
lowering about their rear to guard against
their escape. Thus the fight continued,
the fire of whites and Apaches alike BE-
ing guided by the flash of a rifle or the
glimpse caught of a dark shadow fitting
across the moonlit prairie.
THE TENTS FIRED.
But soon a more brilliant light than
the moonshine was thrown on the scene.
A cracking sound was heard. two bright
flashes OF flame shot up. and, to their
dismay, the whites perceived that their
camp was on fire in two places. In the
excitement an Apache had succeeded in
s~,ealipg up to the tents and had set them
on fire. They were completely destroyed
in ten minutes. Up to this time the ad-
vantage OF position had been somewhat
in favor of the whites, as they lay In the
shadow of the tents, and only the fash
of their rifles served as an object at
which the Indians could aim. The
Apaches, on the other hand, were fire.
~ouently caught right up in the moonlight,
and thus made the object of a fatal aim.
The bright light of the burning tents,
however, turned the scale in this respect
in favor of the ApacheS, and the en-
%circling fire of the Indians grew closes
and closer.
TIE GROWS TO THE RESCUE.
The fight had lasted upwards of an
hour, vet the whites still resisted and
| fired with deadly aim. But the Apaches
were drawing nearer and nearer around
the site of the camp, and one by one the
guns of the whites were silenced. At
last Gustavsen saw Apaches on each side
of him, less than thirty yards off. Bull
let's were whistlipg all about him, every
instant he expected to receive his death
wound. He had fully given himself for
lost when all of a sudden the Crow war
cry broke out from behind the Apaches.
| The friendly Crows had been attracted by
| the firing, and had come to the rescue
of the whites. They outnumbered the
Apaches, and the latter were compelled
| to hastily withdraw, fighting fiercely as
they went.
ONLY THREE SURVIVORS.
When the Apaches had been driven
| off. and the camp OF the whites was
| searched. it was found that only three
had survived the Apache attack. B. B.
Ball had been shot in the head, and had
| fallen forward with his head in the fire,
beside which be had been sitting. Clare,
the rodman, had been shot in one tenn
ple. His hands and arms were burned
| hv his having fallen into the camp fire.
| Frederick Snaulding, the head chairman.