Kimball enterprise. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1883, 1883-04-20
Facing Indians,

go TNASes& sG4HffNSF N2EEi
Facing Indians.
on the 15th'day of June, after a most
perlops ascent of what our. company
called in plain English, "'the Deeil'st
CASTLE we found ourselves face.tc- faceJts
with the foe. Not an Indian was to be .
seen. Now ard then an arrow came
singing through the air and glanced
thronph the manzanita bushes. where
we were gathering our forces for fight,
and nos. aaa.then the ugly mqzzle Of
gun barketi and smoked at us acrqss the
little ope,gsag and fattened a bit Of lead.
onthe rocks around us. But We could
see even an Indians feather. At last
,lr leaders decided on a plan 81 paetle,
and the most of us were Stationed be.
hind trees and rocks to engage the enc
my, while a dashing scouting party,
stripped to the waist, attempted ID rout
the rear. At a signal from this party we
were to advance and run across tile clear
ing and charge the rocks and cfAparral.
How reckless! What risk! And for.
what2 Well, / stood there, loading up
and peppering away slowly. did not see
an Indian. l, otell the TRUTH did not
pine to see an Indian. Now and then'a
bullet would knock the bark OIL from
my tree and l could see an arrow spin:
ter on the rocks very frequently. But
n gets used to such things iri a shorter
time lhan YOU would think. The day
was hot and I sat down and read atat-'
tered pocket edition ofByron that l'had
picked up in an abandoned prospect"
tors, camp 81 few DAYS before. the first
that | had ever heard Of Lord By.
ron.
By and by our boys got a fooshold in
the rocks in the rear and began tp'pour
in their fire. Then we began to'.hear :
groans and yells from the Indians. And,
of the women made the thing. ten.fold
more terrible. I sprang up, filed my
mouth full of bullets SO as TO have
them handy and prepared to join in the
| charge across the little clearing, With
a whoop and a yell our party darted for
ward and | with them-my dog barking
at my heels. An arrow drew blood in
my left leg and my dog fell dead from a
stray shot. But we poured ahead right
into tie brush and rocks. But here a
regular sluice-head of arrows met US,
and that is about all / remember of my
first battle. I had been carried out oi..the
with a little row of other wounded fell
| lows, and Mountain Joe was cutting Oft
/, the head of the arrow which had pierced
| and passed through the lett side of my
face and neck. When he had done this
and drawn out the arrow from my tacs,
[ again became unconscious from the
loss of blood and do not remember any
thing more that happened until next
morning, when they were bundling me
off on the back of asquaw prisoner to be
carried down to the Sacramento
River AS we were about to start one
Of our party, a stout, burly fellow called
"Gabe," but whose name / never knew,
held a bag up before my face; g heavy
bag, half full; Il bag through which
oozed and streamed and dripped on the
pine quilts and spattered on the leaves,
! blood! He tapped this with his bloody
knife and said: "Scalps! Boy, them S
scalps for you'll" This %sickening sight al.
most cost me my life, for ! again became
unconscious andirememberedonly speak.
ing TO the old oma who carried me all
that day till we reached the river.
Three years ago | went with mydaugh-
ter Maud, now in a convent school in
Canada, to spend a little time at my old
home, which had long passed into the
hands of those who did nothing to sub
due this savage border 10 civilization,
but who are careful to reap the
reward. We sat down under the same
pines where / had lain all summer just
twenty-five years before, and the water
talked to me there in the old, swift,
sweet fashion, till tears came in my eyes
and / had to turn away. Some Indians
who had heard that l was once more
with them came back. gathered about
me. gray, battered, all broken up, and,
leaning on their guns, talked in strange
and almost forgotten tongue of my bat
ties, my loves, my lifetime, aweary gen
Grafton before. And Maud looked on
and listened, la%rge-eyed and silent, Won
dering what it all meant, Queer world,
ain'ti?-Joaquin Miller.