Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-08-16

| test. At that instant the horse strugs,eu
| to his feet again and Howard saw that ms
opportunity had come, his foe was at ms
| side and he quickly thrust his rifle against
the Indians BODY and fired, blowing hole
through that seemed as large as one arm.
The Indian shrieked, leaped out OF MS SAD
| die and fell to the ground on his lace, ue:u'-
Looking about Howard saw the remain
! der of the band following at prudent ols-
lance, for by this time they began 70 . looA
| upon him as a god, invulnerable to all thelr
| weanons. When, at last, the poor horse
| fell PROSTATE, and apparently dead, tney az
| hocked I'D to make final dlsposItloh OF
| their troublesome enemy. But howard,
| nndaunted Law quietly down behind the
HOLY of his horse, and when they came
within short range took deliberate aim and
fred killing another man. This unlocked
for disaster completely demoralized them,
and they fled in all directions. Within
three minutes not an Indian was IN sight.
He turned his attention to his horse, loos
ened the girth to take Off the saddle, and
was surprised when the animal drew deep
breath and struggled to his feet He then
led him slowly to where the rest OF the
party had made stand about their wagon,
and as he approached from one direction
came limping up from the other, with
bullet in my right leg. The Indians had
paid their gentle attention to the rest OF US
during the time Howard was having his
fight, but fortunately not IN force, ana we
succeeded in getting together al the wagon
without the loss of a man, being the only
one wounded in the whole engagement.
As soon as Howard joined US we started on
the retreat for camp, the Indians harasslng
us the whole way. They would form IN
single file or all abreast, and charge as
though they were going to ride over US, but
on getting within short range would wheel
and retire, after discharging volley OF
shots that would tear up the earth all
around us This was most terrifying to
me. a boy fresh from school, who had
| never experienced any sort OF warfare, and
had never even seen 4 gun Tired by one
| man at another, but Howard, who had gone
through four years of war OF the rebellion,
and had seen three years or more OF border
| warfare with Indians, was quite exhliarated
by the excitement He gave them chal-
| lenge by walking alone several hundred
wards away on one side. They charged, but
retreatcd when he kneeled and fired.
Arriving at camp after an hour $ ride
| and running fight, we found the escort
thoroughly alarmed and Just starting out
| to pick up our dead bodies, for they had
| seer so many Indians about that they made
sure we were all killed. 1t was q scene of
mutual rejoicing and congratulation, as we
had feared that they had met an untimely
| late. A hasty council of war was held as
| to what was 10 be done. We were unani-
nous in the opinion that it was folly to
continue work without larger escort and
personal body guard besides it was nee
essarv that my wound should be dressed.
Consequently it was decided to turn our
| faces in the direction of Sheridan, which
| we did, arriving there late in the afternoon,
| the Indians following us all the way seek
! ing an opportunity to attack us again.
| With them ii became question of re-
| venge, as they had lost heavily, while we
| had escaped entirely.
The horse that carried Howard so nobly
| through the first fight ultimately recovered.
| Three of the five bullets were extracted. l
afterwards took him home to Burlingame,
where he was carefully fed and pampered
| for some years till he died.
! recovered from my wound very quickly,
and within six weeks reioined the party,
receiving promotion to the first place in the
corps-that of transitman-which | occu-
pied until the road was completed.
| Our miraculous escape was long the sub
! iect OF wonder on the frontier, where it was
| regarded as the most marvellous on record,
as we fought against such fearful odds.
hope the narrative as | have written it will
he Ineligible. I fear have not made it
as clear as | could verbally. 1t always ex-
cites me to think or tell of it New York
| Evening Post.