The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1888-11-01

broodsfde to them we might have been
seen, but as we were head on, and as
they were going at q canter, we were
undiscovered. just about mile further
on we walked right into the camp Of q
pioneer, who had pulled up stakes.
thrown his all into wagon, and was
bound for Kearney. The family con-
sisted Of seven persons, and every one
OF them were sound asleep. Talk
about luck. but they had travelled all
the day before without seeing an In
dian, and had campcd down here and
gone to sleep as cooliy as the people
OF city go to bed! I had to get of
my horse to arouse the man, and when
l told him that Indians had passed
within mile, and that he must hitch
up and start out at once, he growled at
being broken of his sleep! He started,
however, and strangely enough, the
whole outfit arrived safely at the fort.
. rode on to within two miles of the
springs, and then dismounted and
waited two hours for daylight A
mist rose from the grass, and it had
just cleared and I had mounted and
advanced to the brow of rise, when
l caught sight of nine Indians on
horseback not over a quarter of a
mile ahead. They had halted, and
were in consultation. and I was not
seen. What followed is a matter of
frontier history. Singing my VIM
chester over my back, and pulling my
revolvcrs sounded my war-whoop
and charged the crowd. Three shots
were fired at me as l charged, but in
five minutes I had cleaned out the
crowd, killing three, badly wounding
two others. and causing the rest to
rattle away as If the devil were in
pursuit. The dead and wounded were
carried into the post by the men,
where one warrior died and the other
was later ON sent to Fort Leavenworth
as a prisoner. Had made any other
move than what did l should have
lost my scalp.
That same fall, late in the season,
while l was scouting from Fort Larned
in the direction of the Smoky Hill
fort OF the Kansas river, having a
pioneer with me, we suddenly came
upon signs of camp. AS we turned
hill l saw an Indian pony picking at
the dead grass. As he was saddled I
knew that his master was near by, and
it was likely that a small party had dis
mounted to rest and eat their meat. In
deed, we soon discovered the smoke of
their hre, and there was no longer any
doubt about it. The hostiles had then
broken up into small parties and
we're heading for winter quarters,
and I did not believe there were over
six or eight reds in this one. The
pioneer had begged to come with me
to secure revenge, as all his family had
been butchered that summer. and
up to this moment I had not doubted
his courage. Now that danger was
near his nerve went dead back on him,
and he even cried in his fright. have
seen this happen to truly brave man.
1t is because his mind is not strong
enough to control his nerve. It is as if
he had met with a fall, and produced
nervous prostration. He would be no
good for a day or two, and although
he begged of me to retreat, l felt that
our safety required me to scatter that
band. He agreed to hide among the
rocks and let his horse charge with
mine, and he had his face to the earth
when I left. I proceeded at walk
until close upon the pony we had seen.
Beyond him were five others, and be-
yond them was the camp fire. As soon
as the pony saw us he started off at a
trot, and then drew my revolyers
and charged. The pioneers horse gal
loped beside me, and the Indian ponies
made dash right through the camp.
l was indebted to them for this action,
for it threw the redskins into con-
fusion. The affair did not last three
minutes. I killed three, wounded a
fourth, and the other two got away
one on foot and the other on the pio-
neer's horse. I secured four of the
ponies, all six of the rifles and outfits,
and then went to the wounded warrior.
He had bullet in his back, and was
mortally wounded. He tried his best
to put an arrow into me, and, when
would have propped up his head and
give him drink, he bit my hand.
therefore left him to the wolves, and no
doubt they got him. When 1 came to
look for the pioneer he had disappeared,
and four days later he turned up at the
fort, crazy as a loon.
The next spring while leading a
scouting party up the Loup Fork of
the Platte river, the signs became so
fresh one afternoon that I rode on
ahead to reconnoiter. A band of
about sixty Indians had concealed
themselves in dry ravine, and sud-
denly found myself between two bod
les. There wasn't one chance in a
thousand of my getting away, and in
the minute they gave me for reflection
l determined to down as many of them
as could. I therefore rode straight
at the larger party, which consisted
of about a hundred warriors, having q
revolver in either hand and my horse
rushing like a wild locomotive. 1t
seemed as if every man fired at me be-
fore got up, but I was not hit. I
rode through and over them, and then
Id h. ?
only after my revolvers were empty
that warrior knocked me off nv
horse with a blow of his rifle. had
killed two and wounded seven with nv
twelve shots. Even the other three
had not been lost. as l had downed
two ponies. Mad! Well, if they were
not the maddest gang of redskins ever
heard of on the plains! I should have
been cut to pieces at once but for the