The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1888-08-31

o0f oiheetS redoubled their vigilance.
ana White we lay to for the wounded "a de-
tan was dispatched TO Council Grove for
cannon. BY The .imc she injured men
could ride We had four hoSitz.rs. our
| lttle squad OF blue coats had shown thc
| Comanehees that it would fight. and they
were wary. They huyc.cd around us q.
| before, watching from aftr. hgt ne,crcat,.
within rifle range y dozen dragons
could scatter hundreds upon the omen
prairie. The Comanchec is a brave and
gallant FELLOW when he can act with who0p
and dash, bu' he cannot stand and FIGHT.
They outnumb"reG ms ten 70 one bat We
Kept IN the open p'ar ara watched
For days our caravan had been toilnc
along the north bank Of the Arkansas,
river. Elsewhere upon the pl3i thr. nat,r.
was gone Vegetation had slrvrllcd aud
parched under the intense sun. Here aud
there stretches of sand cleaned " hitc ana
bate, and IN the middle OF the day, look
which way we would, the plain seemed
one vast stretch of ripping water The
dust rose in sitting clouds from the many
scores OF feet aud but for the river near
neither men nor mules could have travelled
II was the morning of the 10Th Of July
and Fort Mann was but twelve miles away.
For several days 10 Indians had been
sighted. BY nj Ght the long. dangerous
march would be over and the treasure
safely lodged. ON We toled, the weary
mules struggling with the wagons hub
deep some times in sand. Frequent pauseS
were necessary, and it was while We rest
ed in the forenoon that heard a .oice III
the front sing ont 'CNclOuct"
Men who have lived upon the plain know
what the word means and every eve was
turned towards the west. There WAS I'D
breath Of air stirring, not a cloud in Tie
~ l,ffr far off, 3 b.
line that seemed 10 roll, swell aud rise
''Cyclene, "CycloncN ran down the
tram, and men vino would have charged
battery with scarcely hcart's-beat quick
| er turned pale in their saddles What
could courage and daring avail before this
monster Of the plain. There was 10 shell
ter, no escape. We could only wait and
hope that it would break before it reached
us or pass away 10 the northward.
The long line Of dust had rolled nearer
as we watched 1t boiled up from the
earth and turned ike q great serpent in
pam. 1t seemed 10 stretch from the river
away to the eastward and WAS bearing d.
rectly upon us. Now and then strang.
sound could be heard, low aud rambling
like far away thunder But the mules.
quick to detect IA storm, had :aken no heed
Of Ganger, and the men vino had been
watching III silence began to comment on
the slow pace of the blast. Boys, that's
no cyclone" heard one say. "A cyclone
would have been upon rs b. now and the
mules would have stampedcd The strange
mulmur, too, bad become p ,inIy audible
1t had grown into one con inuOus roar.
deep, unnatural. And as We listened an
| other sound seemed to COM above the
rumble, wild and shrill, Il sound HAT ,yc
had heard before.
Squirting his horse forwa, Lieut.. Love
made towards 4 little sand hill that rose
near by II the prairie. Ny heart never
beat so fast. some danger tremendous,
terrible, | knew not what, was coming
upon me. ! watched the officer as he
clambered the little mound and brought
his glass to bear upon the dust cloud rap.
idly approaching. a nome he observed
| it. then waving his hand , me squirting
| towards US as fast as hors. could nv
| ''Buffaloes! BuffaIoes Buff loes and 60
| mancheesr
Then indeed it seemed as if Il storm had
struck the caravan. In an instant wagon
masters were screaming orders Driver,
| sprang to their places. \ ulea plunged
! through the heavy sand under oatA- and
| Iashcs. The dragoous obe, ed the quick
| commands Of their officer The cannon
were run ont. The wagons we're crowded
! into circle, the stock corallcd and over,
man stood rifle in hand
by this time the dust had rolled within
a mile The rumble had grown iuto "A
roar The buffalo could b" seen now un.
der the cloud galloping madly towards us.
urged on by the thousand screaming
Comanchees. They had been driven down
| upon the river and had massed in front of
us as thick us swarming bees There was
not a space between them, and as one
sprang from the ground another took hi,
tracks Before us were tens Of thousands
and stretching away to the eastward the
dust rose as far as the eye could reach
1t was for this the Comanchces had dis
appeared, and they must have swept the
plain for a hundred miles.
No sooner were they in range than our
howitzers opened fire. We poured grape
and canister amongst them as fast as men
could load. The shot moved the beasts
down like grain before a scythc, but tine
| living rolled over the dead ana trampIed
| the dying. The furrOws torn by the mis-
sils closed up as though they had been
fred into water. The buffalo never way
cred, but rolled and plunged over the
fallen like waves Of the sea. Thousands
were pressed into the river struggling
drowning. The howitzefs rain.d upon
them, but the panic stricken mlrad-
pressed the foremost on. Above the roar
vi L'1t anu oc'lit VI If'iiiOLl ttiIAt iltf
shrieks Of Comanchecs driving the black
avalanche down upon u.s. That nlod
could sweep over us like q tidal wave upon
a sandy bar. Their front was almost on
US, the dust was in our faces when the
order came 20 load and fire the guns To-
gether. Quickly we rammed down the
powder and filed the Shot to the muzzle
and then at a word poured them into the
struggling mass hundred teet away
Il was the smoke and roar and not the
slaughter. There was not "a moment
pause. Electric, as by a single impulse
the vast herd whrlcd. a plunge, mighty
cloud OF dust, and the whole line bore
back upon the COmanchees as mady a.
they had rolled upon Us. For moment
the Indians raycd and scrcamcd, but the
tide had turned and away across the plain
they fed for their lives before the storm
which they themselves had gathered. oh
how we yelled2 Back the dust cloud rolled
as it had come but the plain was left bae1
with the trampled and slain.
, | fought ComancheeS a dozen years.
saw Buenavsta and followed Kit Car Oh
in some of his widest rides, charge,
Rosencran's battery across that opel
plain at Murfreesboro when "a hundre,
cannon poured upon us, but never ha
danger touched me as when | awaited
that unknown enemy and faced cGafg
Of hundred thousand buflaloes.