The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1883-02-16
miscellaneous.
Far West Experiences.
THE TALES TOLD by AN ARGoNAuT.

a true representation OF claSS OF men now
| fast becoming eXtinct-the old hunters, trap
pers and prospectors Of the far West the
men who spent their lives in advance of the
wave of civilization, who explored the coun-
| try, fought the Indians, and as he says, made
it safe for the soldiers to go there'-was at
| the Girard House yesterday. His name is j.
| NJ. Kirkpatrick. He is stout, robust, well.
preserved man OF fifty-five, with kindly
| face, a mild but bright blue eye, pleasant
voice and ready speech. He had come to
Philadelphia to confer with capitalists about
the sale of some mines which he owns in Ari-
IONA, in which territory he now makes his
home, after forty years of wandering up and
down and into every corner of the vast
stretch of country between the Mississippi
and the Pacific Ocean He was but fifteen
years old when he left his home in Ohio. He
drifted about the frontier for while, and
when the Mexican war broke out entered the
army as q tifer, saw service in Mexico, and
early in 1850 followed the Argonauts to Cal
ifornia. Since then his life has been one long
romance.
SOME PECULIAR INDIAN TRAITS.
indians are like children" said Mr. Kirk
patrick, recounting his adventures to re-
porter. "lf you gain their confidence you
can do what you please with them. never
| made promise to an Indian that did not
keep, and in that way Imade plenty of friends
among the tribes. They like bravery, too,
| and will not hurt man who shows no fear
when overpowered. When the Indians get
you in a corner, if you stand up and bare
| your breast and tell them to shoot, they will
never do it. l have had to do that twice in
my life, and so speak from experience; but
never knew them to kill prisoner who de-
| fled them.
;rbt I Lo,t ~,
many, but | think the worst | ever struck
was at Port Oxford, Oregon, on the 10th OF
June, 1861. That was the time, as / tell my
friends, when my hair began to drop out. -
Here he lifted huge sombrero and showed
wide expanse of glistening scalp, well
fringed with grizzly brown "There were
nine men, all told, in our party, and we had
come down in the steamer from Portland to
start a settlement there and open road to
the new placer mines in Oregon and North
ern California The steamers officers prom
Used to stop on their way back, on a certain
day, and see how we were getting on; but
when the vessel reached San Francisco she
was seized for debt and tied up, and we came
precious near being annihilated for counting
on her. We had only been at Port Oxford a
few days and had had no time to put up a
stockade when the Indians found us and a
band of eighty or ninety of them pitched into
us, while we were at work They had no
guns, luckily for us, but the arrows flew like
hail and some of them came with almost the
| force of a musket ball.
SOME BLOODY WORK.
| "Three of our men fell dead at the first fire
The rest of us managed to get under some
kind of cover, and | placed myself beside a
six pound mountain howitzer that we had
brought along and stationed at the head of q
ravine up which the Indians had to come
We had two pounds of powder in the gun
and lot of pig lead cut up into slugs.
lighted piece of tarred rope and waited fol
the Indians to get close up. Meanwhile, as
had to be exposed to their fire, one of the
men got piece of inch and a-half board and
held It up in front of me as shield and in
about minute that board was stuck full Of
arrows, some of which went in so far that
their points showed on the other side.
thought our time had come, sure, but de
termined to take as many Indians as possible
along to the happy hunting grounds and sc
held my fire till the foremost was within ter
feet of the gun. Then | let her go, and be
fore they could get over their surprise the
six of us were among them with our knives
and six shooters. In about minute and 6
half from that time not live Indian was tC
be SEEM but when we cleaned up we founC
twenty three dead ones
"Well, after that the Indians were afraid tC
come too close, but they laid regular siege
to our place and we found we'd have to ge
out of it. The steamer was to be back in If
teen days from that time and we told the In
dams by means of the sign language that W
would leave in fifteen days So they waited
The time came, but no steamer, and the In
dams came at us again. This time there
e., 1,,,,. ,nl
them and the boys made up their minds tina
we were going to be wiped out. Things die
look pretty desperate. There we were, al
alone in the woods, not another white MAJ
within hundred and fifty miles of us, anC
only half dozen of us to fight three or fou
hundred redskins. When | saw that W,
were likely to have more trouble | wrote Al
account of our fight on the blank leaf of
book, winding up with the statement that w
were surrounded by hostile Indians ant
would probably all be killed, and this burie,
at the foot Of stump, which shaved dow
on one side, and wrote on the fresh surface
in red chalk, the words: Look beneath
ESCAPING IN THE NIGHT.
fittings kept looking worse and worse al
that day, but the Indians didn't care to fac
the howitzer again by daylight and they lie
us alone until evening. Then l said to TIL
| boys: NOW, look neIe VIC We gov W Sc' ou
of this. If you will follow me I'll take yo
out right through the woods. Inever MISE
my bearings yet and | reckon can take yo
to Portland overland. SO we slipped ava
that night and / guided the party to til
Umpqua river, where we separated. wen
ON To Portland alone, and the first men me
, there were Phil Kearney and Major Lorlni
: the man who went to Egypt us General Lol
ing. by gracious Loring exclaimLt
there's kirkpatrick and they rushed acros