Omaha daily bee., 1886-09-18
A FIERCE FIGHT FOR LIFE.
Thrilling Story of an Adventure on the
Mississippi.
Old Man Birdsalrs Bloody Encounter
With Rencgadcs.

VIVID henCGaucs,
1.-Two or three times IN my lifc,' said
old man Birdsall, as he ran his fingers
| through his grizlled locks "l have been
boxed up IN such way that it was i'm.
! possible to say who would come out on
top. was just thinking of an adventure
| | had down the Mississippi number of
years age. If you have been down the
big river, you know that down below
! Donaldsonville it spreads out over acres
and acres of country on each side of the
channel. The further down you 90 the
more country you'll find covered by
water and you can find places where II
houseboat can be hidden away so nicely
that fifty men might search for her u
week and not find her. ! went down into
thaS country on venture of my own.
had small, snug houscboat and $500
worth of trading cargo, and the idea was
to peddle off my stuff to the isolated peo-
| pie along the banks in exchange for furs
and to spend the winter there in hunting
and trapping. l took with me my
nephew, a boy about eighteen years old,
and couple of good dogs, and reached
about the first of November. | had
pretty good luck in exchanging my
| goods, and when tied up there was only
| about Sl5 worth of notions left. In the
bend where | proposed to winter the
| overflow was at least
| TEN MILES ACROSS,
| and the place selected was all of three
miles from the steamboat channel. The
| water over the bottom lands was about
| two feet deep on the level, but here and
| there were sinks where il was much
| deeper, and there were many islands
| clear above water. There were panthers,
| wildcats, 'coons, foxes, woodchucks and
muskrats in plenty, and | was counting
| on big luck when something happened
to the boy He went out with one of
| the dogs to inspect some of the traps,
| and, after n couple of hours one dog
| came back alone. The other had been
stabbed IN two places, and had died Just
after reaching the boat.
1t was Just at night when he returned,
and as L could not get out IN search be-
fore morning, you can imagine some
thing of my anxiety and how slowly the
hours dragged away. l was off at the
first peep of dawn, taking the dog along.
After walk of two miles we came upon
the boys dead body. He had been shot
ut one Of the traps, and by some one
who had lald hands on him before the
through his heart, and his rifle, knife and
other effects had been taken away
Pinned to his clothing was
piece of paper, on which was
scrawled; If you don't leave
within two days We'll serve
you the same 1t was the work of some
of the renegaues who made that region
their permanent home. Twas completely
Knocked out for an hour or so, but then
l braced up and vowed vengeance. Law
could not reach those men. 1 buried the
body on an island and returned to my
boat. feeling pretty certain that the men
who had done for the boy would soon pay
me visit. had rifle, a shotgun and
a navy revolver and the boat house win
dows were provided with loopholed shut
ters. Once shut in no one could get me
out unless i was driven by flames.
1T was just before noon next day when
heard from the expected visitors. was
keeping very shady, knowing they would
shoot me on sight when saw men pull
three whites and two blacks, and if my
dog had not given them warning, should
certainly have shot one of them before
haiing. The voice of the dog
4 ~ DROVE THEM TO COVER
on an island about pistolshot away and
from there they hailed me and wanted to
know what was going to do. / dcfed
shSiIi pltlID ooVil tlicS oDtlltu III e vi
the boat The only alarm that felt was
that they would seek to board me. In
that case, live to one were too many.
After they had fired thirty shots, all of
which were harmless to me- l got bead
on one of the blacks and knocked him
over. Their PLAN was then abandoned
for another By the use of their boat
they could work all around me, and by
and by they had four men posted at
different points, and the leader called
out that they would remain all winter
but that they would have my life. They
were close enough to command some of
the loopholes, and each one kept himself
SO we'll sheltered that did not get a
shot the whole afternoon. As night came
on made ready for different attack.
heated the stove boiler full of water,
placed pals handy and made a barrcade
across the BOATS cabin with furniture.
The boat lay in such II position that they
could only reach me by making use of
their skiif and then only at the stern.
The bow was in water too deep to wade
in and too full of roots and canes for
boat to pass through.
1t was near midnight when the growl-
ing OF the dog proved that some deviltry
was on foot. | dipped out pail of boil
ing water, had the shotgun and revolver
handy and pretty soon | realized that the
quartett6 had landed on the stern. All Of
a. Sbuu'ii NUNS lhS uOOI OItll' lNO VI
them stood there, and as swished the
water over them they
WENT OVERHEARD,
yelling as if they had been skinned with
knife. The two others had gone for
ward one on each side of the boat. They |
had reyolvers and they turned and opened |
on me- and the three of us emptied our
shooters without anyone being harmed. |
As | dashed into the cabin after my shot
gun they followed me. They were so
close on me that | could not get the gun,
but had TO draw my knife 1t |
was dark in there, and the dog took |
a hand IN, and expect that little |
shindy has never been matched. We |
cut, hacked, thrust and used our fists and
feet got two cuts almost at the begin |
ming, but at the end of five minutes one |
fellow was lying in a heap and the other |
begging for quarters. l struck light |
and found the one dead and the other
bleeding like a hog, with the dog hold of |
him. / was in mood to finish him at |
once, but he begged so hard that | let up |
on him. only to see him die a couple of |
hours later. In the darkness think the /
fellows must have fallen afoul of each |