The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1888-02-24

dirt on the brink of the pit A trench
was then dug to and under the wall of
the milk house, and by means of
boards a train Of powder was laid.
When the earth had been filed in again
no one could have told that it had been
disturbed.
We were as ready as we could be at
six o'clock, but the sun was just going
down when we saw the Indians APP
preaching. By that time more than
three thousand settlers had been butch
cred or driven from their homes, and
the war which was to sweep over an
extent of country two hundred miles
long and sixty broad, and alarm thirty
thousand settlers, had opened in all its
fierceness. The band which now
approached numbered only sixteen
warriors, and as soon as they saw our
strength they fired few shots at long
range and passed on to the east. At
dark we entered the fort, arranged the
goods and provisions to give us all the
room possible. and by and by turned
in to sleep while one man was left on
watch. This was Miller. He was to
watch until midnight, and then call
one of the young men, but at eleven
o'clock he quietly aroused the garrison
and whispered the news that large
number of Indians had arrived. We
were scarcely awake before being made
aware that our fort was being closely
inspected by spies. When we had
carefully pulled the plugs from the
loopholes we could see and hear them
moving about in large numbers. By
and by we heard a number of them on
the roof. They were probably investi-
eating to see how to burn US out.
At a signal from Miller we took
up our guns, carefully poked
the muzzles through the loopholes
in the planks, and at another signal all
fired. We killed or wounded two In
dians by the vOlley, and the others
hastily departed. Half an hour later
two or three of the reds crept up to
the barricade in front of our door with
arms full of light wood and started
fire. The posts were only half sea-
soned, and all that afternoon 1 had
kept them wet with water. They
charred a little under the flames, but
the fire would not take hold. From
the number of Indians we could see,
and to judge by the yells of those out
of sight. our enemies numbered at
least fifty. After trying us with fire
they drew off to wait for daylight, and
the most of them probably went to
sleep.
When daylight came our enemies
were REINFORCED by band of twelve,
and these newcomers brought with
them two settlers teams and wagons
and three prisoners. Two of the pris-
Oners, a man and woman, were killed
soon after coming up. L knew the
man. He lived about eight miles away,
and had frequently called at our house.
The third prisoner was a settler none
of us knew. About an hour after day
light the Indians sent him forward with
white flag to demand our surrender.
He came up within thirty feet of our
baTricade, and then halted and told us
what he had been commanded to do.
A dozen or more Indians had their
rifles on him, ready to shoot in case he
attempted to play them false. He was
a big. powerful fellow, and l never saw
such grief and anxiety in a bRman
countenance. In a voice loud e. ugh
for the Indians to hear, he depSAnded
our surrender, but in whispers Ee
warned us not to, as every one of u
would be butchered. Miller replied to
him from a loophole, telling him to &c
back to the Indians and ask their bes
terms. When he returned he was
come as close as possible, and at 81,
nal he was to spring forward, and tGe
door would be open for him. He
was a pretty cool fellow, in spite of
all his sufferings. He returned to
the Indians, consulted for a few
minutes, and when he came back to us
he approached within twenty-five feet
before they shouted to him to halt
! Then he told us that we would be per-
mitted to take one of the teams and
leave the country; that the Indians all
! loved us; that all they wanted was
| their land. We had our guns ready to
/ cover him, and / saw him draw a long
breath before the signal came. AS
Miller uttered whistle one of the men
pulled open the door, and at the same
| instant the stranger made a spring for
! shelter. 1t was veritable spring for
! life. The Indians fired at him. but too
late, and he pitched in among us with
out a scratch.
Then began a siege which lasted nine
days, and in which over forty Indians
were killed or wounded. They gath
cred in the quarry, as expected, and
Miller exploded the torpedo and killed
four and badly wounded dozen. They
tried every possible way TO burn US out,
and on one of these occasions, while
they were congregated together, Miller
sprang another of his mines and killed
several of them. Five or six different
times they displayed flag of truce and
sought to coax or threaten us into sur
render, but Miller was wise enough to
refuse to trust them. From first to last
they fired about four thousand bullets at
our fort, over a hundred of which
lodged in the door. but none of US were
wounded. The besieging force never
numbered less than thirty-five, and ono
day the number was over one hundred.
On the ninth day troops came and
drove the fiends of, and it was only
then that we learned of the widespread
devastation. Not house nor a barn had
been left standing for miles and miles
in any direction. Crops had been de-
stroyed, stock shot down, and settlers
butchered or driven off all over q great
section of the State. We had been the
only ones outside of the towns to make
fight, and by our standing Il siege we
kept large force from going ags'>s
the settlers.-.N l. Sun.
A Thoughtiess Father.