Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1884-05-10
A PERILOUS ADVENTURE.

us with the following interesting
story of the perils of engineering
life on the Plains only fifteen year
ago:
"In recent letter from - h,
informs me of your request that
should write tin detail the story
Iof Howard's miraculous escape
from the Indians, as l had narrated
it to you. If it is a matter of inter
est to you, it will certainly be {
pleasure to me to do so.
.sIn the month of June, 1869
when the grass and fowersson the
plains of Kansas and Colorado were
nearly knee-high, the result of unu
sually abundant rains, which left
clear pools of water in all the little
arroycs, a corps of Kansas Pacific
engineers under the leadership o1
Howard Schuyler, were engaged in
making certain preliminary sur
veys in the vicinity of the terminal
town of Phil Sheridan, near the
border line of the two States. They
had been out on trip of several
months in the direction of Denver,
and had returned to the end of the
track to begin the definite location,
which we afterward carried through
to Denver. At this time had been
| with the party some two or three
months, taking my nOvitiate in en-
/ gineering, and was occupying the
| position of rodInan. Prior to COM
mencing the location, we were rum
ming some rapid trial lines north OF
Sheridan, and by the 18th of June
were some fifteen or twenty miles
out in a rolling country, where the
heads of the Smoky Hill and Re
publican Forks of the Kansas riv-
er interlOck. On the evening before
our camp had been brought up to
| the end of our work, and we started
out bright and early on this memor-
able Saturday morning, so that by
! ten o'clock we were several miles
| away from camp. In all our work
we had been accompanied by an
escort of fifteen infantry soldiers.
under the charge of lieutenant,
acting in the capacity of a camp
guard, who, while they were very
useful in guarding our base of sup
plies, were of no protection to us in
the field. Our party numbered
thirteen, two of whom remained in
camp as cook. and teamster. The
working party was therefore re-
duced to eleven, including Howard,
whose custom it was to ride several
miles ahead, looking out the line
and indicating it by building sod
mounds two or three feet high with
q shovel. We followed from one
mound to the next, measuring
angles and distances and leveling
the ground. Our progress was as
rapid almost as a man would walk
at moderate pace, and we were
exceedingly Vulnerable to attack, as
we were all separated, strung out
over a distance of a mile or more,
while Howard was always out OF
sight and several miles ahead, but
having been out several months
without seeing any Indian signs,
we had no suspicion of danger and
did not dream there were any In
dians in the country. We after
wards knew that they had been
watching us some days and were
simply waiting for the most favora-
BILE opportunity to make the attack,
having evidently planned to kill
Howard first and then come back
along the line picking off the rest of
the party one by one.
In pursuance of this plan they lay
in wait until they had cornered
him in a trap when they fired a
shot, striking his horse in the hip;
and looking around he saw long
line of red painted devils on three
sides of him, while on the fourth, in
the direction of his party, was half
mile or more of broken ground,
cut up by deep narrow ravines. 1t
took but a moment to decide his
line of action. Putting spurs to his
horse he turned to the only loop
hole of escape, and, to the surprise
of the Indians, went leaping over
the ravines, one after the other, at
the risk of his life, but with the
assurance that they could not fol-
low him, AS none of their ponies
were equal to the work, and to
keep up the pursuit they were OBJ
liged to make long detour.
Having once got clear of the bro
ken ground, Howard, looking back,
found himself well ahead, and was
congratulating himself on so easy
an escape, when he saw directly
before him, springing out OF the
grass, a formidable array of Indians,
intercepting his flight; those pur-
suing in the rear closed up, and al
most before he could realize the sit
uation he found himself again en-
trapped, this time by line of In
dians that entirely encircled him,
OBJ a o
near as he could judge. They
rapidly narrowed the limits of the
circle, and began taunting him
with all manner of insults, and
telling him of the tortures that
awaited him and of the slow roast
ing that they proposed to give him.
For several minutes he sat on his
horse trying to reconcile himself to
the certainty that death was before
him, but when the first struggle
was over all trembling ceased, and
with as true an aim as ever hunts
man ever leveled at a deer, he
drew up his rife and fired at the
nearest man, killing him instantly.
Earlier in the fight he had realized
that he was more lightly armed
than usual; having that morning
left his belt, with brace of pistols
and a box of cartridges, in camp TO
be cleaned, taking only his Win
chester carbine, carrying twelve
shots. He now determined to sell
his life as dearly as possible, and,
counting every shot, to be sure
that he saved one for himself as a
de1mier Tessort in case of capture,
since death by his own hand was
preferable to slow torture. Twice
more he shot in quick succession
without fatal effect, when he sud-
denly put spurs to his horse and
dashed through the line. AT this
moment there was general scram-
BILE and rush for him, some trying
for him with their spears, others
seizing his legs and striving to un-
horse him. He succeeded in the
twinkliDg of an eye in throwing
them all off, and even killed a Sec
ond man riding at his side, putting
his gun against his (the Indian's)
body and blazing away, the blood |
squirting over HOward's buckskin
leggings, saddle and horse. The |
instant he freed himself from them |
and got clear alone on open ground |
ahead OF them, where they were |
not in danger of killing each other
In shooting at him, they fired a |