The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-04-25
CHASED BY THE REDS.

taken?" i--'=
Yes; and had been for some half
: dozen years. What's more, l wish
were there now; or, at least, in SOM
other OF the far Western States or Ter
ritories, responded my old friend
D thoughtfully
; "Ah! you like the new country-Iik,
the climate; the grand scenery, and the
excitement. | Supposed said l.
well, yes; the climate is gooe
enough for me; the scenery amt bad
and the excitement is all very well-un
less you happen to have too much o.
it. -
''Ah! then you can have too much OF
a good thing?''
Perhaps you would have thought so,
Charley. if you'd happened to have been
with lis on the twenty-third day of June,
1866.
'1ou met with quite an adventure
then, take it. Now, was it with the
miners. or lndans9"
1t happened to be Indians, the time
| am thinking of. Yes he continued,
| rs ii thinking aloud. lit WAS on the
twenty-third the twenty-third Of June
| But there rousing himself YOU We
| heard all about it at least a hundred
| tin!es--neVer mind repeating the story. -
1 A'ht hitt iIiHtt, anu lOIu MIN So ana
! after a great deal of trouble, [ succeed
| Ell in extracting from him the following
| narrative of the Indian attack which was
made on the United States Overland
Mail-coaeh. while passing through the
Territory of Wyoming, in the month of
June, 1866 -
1t was glorious day." he said, land
we were spanking along at the rate OF
fourteen or fifteen miles an hour upon
the hard road that winds through the
valley between Fort Bridge and Blacks
Fork of the Green River
I'VE had a team of six horses-splen-
did fellows to go-the best, in fact, that
we had picked up anywhere on the road
since we left Carson City.
There were nineteen passengers,
most of us inside; and. as the Indians
were known to be hostile, there was a
guard of ten United States regulars,
armed with rifles, on the roof of the
coach, SO that. with the driver and
Wells, Fargo & Co 5 agent we made up
a party of thirty-one.
I'VE had no lady among us. and. |
must say. it was well we had not.
We were men mostly in the prime of
life, returning after efforts. more or less
successful, To make onr fortunes in the
land Of gold.
Besides the arms borne by the sol
ders, we each of us carried a revolver.
some of lis two, and there were at least
three good rifles among us.
II am afraid we were rather noisy
party.
The air WAS bracing and inyigorat-
inc. and we were in the best of spirits -
singing snatches of old songs, roaring |
ont the choruses of the first tune that |
came to hand, and greeting every good |
thing that was said with shouts of laugh |
ter that made us fairly hoarse.
"A running fire of chatf was kept up /
between the passengers inside AMI the |
soldiers on the roof, ard the driver and |
the express agent Joined con 0noFe IN |
tine FRAY
The only silent man of the party was
the old sergeant i'll charge OF the guard, |
who sat by himself, just back of the |
driver, looking grim and immoveable
as wcll-prcsereed mummy.
Suddenly his voice rang out clear
and loud above the din:
= Look to your arms, meni Out with
your shooting-irons. gentlemen
What's the row. Cap'n?" asked one |
OF the inside pas5engers-a regular
oking his head out of
the window, and screwing his body |
round to get a sight of the person he
was addressing.
= Row! there amt any row just yet;
but there's going to be lively one
mighty sudden, let me tell you, re-
sponded the old sergeant. coolly, look
in~ ia his rifle and revolver the while.
= What is it. pard?' asked another,
also poking his head out OF
the window.
Nothing but Injuns' replied the
old man, imperturbably
- Wharf
Great snakes alivet' and the head
was Withdrawn.
1T was perfectly true. The Injuns'
were out, and they were everywhere.
We We're careering along "A part of the
road which runs between two long low |
such as are frequently met
with in that part of the country and
over the crowns of which, about a mile
off. mounted Indians were pouring
down upon us in every direction.
There was very little time for DELHI
Grafton, as you may well suppose; but a
hasty council of war was held, neverthe-
less. The main question to be decided
was whether we should stop the coach,
and, turning it into kind of fortifica-
ton, defy the attack; or whether. look
inc upon discretion as the better part of
valor, we should slash the horses into
their highest speed, and fight flying. In
the latter case, whoever fell wounded
from the coach, must be left to his fate; |
IN the former we might be overwhelmed
bv numbers, and not a man be left to
tell the tale.
The Indians themselves solved our
They poured down upon us
n swarms, all splendidly mounted, APP
oarently. To make stand would have
been madness.
80 Hill, therer and away we
vent at race-horse speed, followed by
he dusky hordes that were gradually
closing in upon us on every hand, ex-
,epting on the road that lay straight be-
ore US.
Their yells were appalling. the glare
f their eyes terrible, the merciless ex-
PRESTON of their countenances diaboh-
al They were gaining upon us too.
ut was true that we were outdls-
ancing many Of them, but those who
we're better mounted were some hum 7
reds strong, and these were receiving
onstant achievements. Their horses,