Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-09-25

turned TO 70 down stream when We found shs
redskins more numerous and far boid8 The
soLiies bad sesen<nooteF cafbin3 md Cal
sin and had Winchextsrs. a.d re felt no
alarm even shen xe knew the Indians to
number fully one hundred An amb1sh uas
the only thing " be dreaaied. and ne got into
one In spite Of cur vigilance Two miles be
low where weeronet the river the ground
came very rough and was cut mp into guiliak
This extended from the river back a. far -
we could SEE, and we could not flank IT, We
eouki bare crossed the river here, bur cur or
des< we're 10 come down on the north bank
Every ni1is knew that If the indians meant 10
attack they would do il here, and the hrst
notice would he o volley from one Of the blind
rayifseA
La this emergency We strung out In single
file, the corporal leading, Calvin next, l
third. and the two priyatss making fourth
and fifth. We bad not advanced forty rods
into the bad ground" and bad not caAght
sight Of 10 much a. an indians feather, when
We received q voiley from Twenty-Five In
iiais IN q gulch They were only 400 feet
away, and one would have thought every
man Of Us would have been riddled On the
contrary. however, the last three OF Us we're
untouched, and not one Of cur horses was
hit. The corporal and Calvin were both
wounded and their horses killed Stimuli
taneoualy with tbs voliey = hundred or more
Indians exhibited themselves in front and On
our left. shouting and firing. In such an
emergency every man acts for himself. The
three Of Us wheeled and retreated as fast as
our frightened horses could run, all the tiIle
under fire But as soon - we had cleared
tie '.bai ground" We took shelter IN u snail
grove ON the edge u the stream an prepared
for defense We were charged by sixty ~
seventy warriors Oh foot, who perhaps i'm
axined Us badly frightened, bat we pegged
away at them 50 steadily that they broke
ami took to cover. leaving SIX dead men in
plain view
This was at 10 O'Clock in the morning, and
we did not get another glimpse of an Indian
until in the afternoon, when climbed one
Of the trees and saw a body OF them making
OF to the mountain. | then made a scout u
tho neighborhood, and soon ascertained what
had occurred. Both Calvin and the corporal
had been put TO the torture, but they had
been amply revenged. The six we had killed
lay where they fell as our hre commanded
the spot We found, III q sort Of pocket,
covered with bushes and limbs, eleven other
dead, every one Of whom had died Of poison.
One was Chief White Bird, noted warrior,
and the others were veteran warriors OF his
band The bottle was Empty, and the tobac-
co bag had been turned wrong side out
Three or four years afterward | met an
Apache who was present OH that occasion,
and he said that White Bird and his chosen
few drank the whisky and then smoked their
pipes while the others were making the pris-
oners ready for torture. The corporal died
before they could make ready, qnd when the
warriors began To die Of the poison Calvin
was soon dispatched by a blow Of toma
hawk The bodies were badly mutilated,
but it was mostly after death. The band
lost seventeen to our two, and was 50 dis
heartened that it retreated and went into
mourning for weeks. New York Sun.