St. Landry democrat., 1888-07-21
About noon the Indians DreDared to

moving leg. sat by his head. knit
in hand, and fully determined to Gu
his throat if he attempted to get up.
sat facing the West, and all at once
heard the gallop of horse. Mex
moment an Indian warrior appeared
to view. He turned to The
right to avoid the sink, hal
encircled me, and disappeared il
the east | saw him look me full il
in the face, but he came and went sc
suddenly that I was dumb witt
establishment. | supposed [ was dis
feet grew fainter, and finally died away
in the east. With rifle in hand | crep
to the top of the sink, and | could see
the savage mile away, riding to joir
a small band. | stood looking after
him, head and shoulders above the
sink, when seven other Indians, com
ing from the west, passed me not over
twenty rods away. My heart stood
still for the moment. for it seemed that
all were looking straight at me, but
they galloped on after the others and
left me undisturbed. Several years
later L met the one who almost rode
into the sink. His name was Man
Afraid-Of-the-Wat and he assured
me in the most solemn manner that |
must have been dreaming, as he would
have been certain to see even a rabbit
in the washout. | also met one of the
other warriors, and he had the polite
ness to hint that | must have been
drunk. Still, every thing happened
just as | have described.
I gave the Indians an hour to get out
of sight, and then abandoned the sink
and rode down to the station. The
house was still burning, and at that
time, as | could see nothing of the
men, | supposed they had been carried
| off. After I left several settlers
reached the spot, found the bodies,
and gave them burial. My mission was
accomplished, and my orders were to
return to the fort Between me and
the post was a full band of blood
thirsty Indians, and an attempt at
progress in the day time was fool
hardy. | secured water for myself and
the mustang, and then struck off to the
north for a mile and descended into a
dry gulch filed with sage brush.
Here was pretty fair shelter if we lay
close, but | had not been there five
minutes when | discovered the corpses
of four Indians, all still warm, who
had been killed in the fight. No at
tempt had been made to bury them,
but they were rolled under the bushes,
legs Strengthened out, arms folded
across the breast, and ALE their
weapons left with them. In inspect
ing their rifles, which were new, I
made the discovery that the maker of
the weapons wanted to accommodate
the savages without doing the white
folks any particular injury. The front
sights were so far out of true with the
hind sights that no one could have hit
a COW ten yards off. Each one of the
Indians had received a ball in the
breast, and each one was of middle
age. I made bundle of their weapons
to carry to the fort, and although four
corpses are not pleasant company to
one in hiding, | was obliged to put up
with them for the rest of the day.
just before sunset seven Indians
passed on the stage road going west.
and from the terrific pace of their
ponies ! had judged they were after a
AS soon as night had |
fairly set in led the mustang out of |
the ravine and mounted and set off, |
not daring to go near water for fear of
an ambush. | planned to keep to the
left of the road about mile, and I got
along without incident until about |
was then riding at lope,
using eyes and ears to the best advan-
tage, when the mustang suddenly
stopped. It could mean only one
thing. slid out of the saddle and put
my ear to the ground, and after min
ute heard human footsteps. They
came from the east, and / knew they
were made by a white man having
ooot' or shoes on. / stood at the mus
5ang's head, when, out of the gloom of
midnight, a human figure walked di-
'ectly up to us. I was satisfied that he
vas white, and uttered hist! which
1alted him scarcely five feet away. He
Uttered a groan as he came to a stop,
ind | softly inquired:
white or red?"
''White! he eagerly answered.
Then come on"
1t was settler named George Rob-
nson, whose wife and children had
,een butchered and his buildings
burned. He himself had been wounded
~ Indian bullets in the hand and
and had been three days try
ng to get to Fort Hays. Pain and
right had so unnerved him that he had
ost his bearings, and had the fort been
My mile away he would have missed
t. He was suffering from hunger and
hirst as well as his hurts We soon
ound water in hole, and / spent half
n hour getting him in shape to ride.
hen took the lead and he followed
n the mustang, and [ kept a pace
Thlch brought us to the post Just after