Milford chronicle., 1889-11-08

approached each one in turn and drove my
knife to his heart. Then | gathered up sad
dies and blankets and lariats and Hung them
into the river | took the rifles, tomahawks,
! knives, wampum, and headdresSes Of the nine
warriors and made up a load for the mule,
and after covering Johnson's body with
brush and stones to keepi from vultures, |
went forward on my journey, which was
completed without a further incident worth
mentioning.
A couple Of years later was transferred 70
Fort Davis, in the Guadalupe mountains Of
Texas, and in the Apache country. A COM
mission was sent to the east TO locate a post
on the Rio Pecos river, and as tho country
was full of hostiles the party was made pretty
strong. There were six scouts, thirty private
soldiers, three or four officers and some seven
or eight prospectors and hunters and trappers
who wanted to get sight Of that country
The distance from tie fort to the river is
about sixty miles, and all open country, and
we were accompanied by two wagons and an
ambulance. While VIC did not number over
ffty all told each man was heavily armed
and well mounted, and 600 Indians would
have hesitated to attack lis in the open. All
the scouts were paired off, and the name Of
my partner was Calvin. He VEGA rough and
rugged man Of 20, and most Of his life had
been spent in tho Indian country He had
had dozen Of close calls, and tho scars be
could show in proof counted up a dozen or
more | did not know until we had started
on tie march that be had prepared any trick
against the Indians, who would be sure to
menace us, but at our first camp be showed
mo u cantcen Of whisky, which he said was
poisoned lie had about half q pound Of
smoking tobacco in bag, and poison had
been mixed with this While the rest OF US
hated Indians as bad as Calvin did no one
else had prepared any such weapons Indeed
it was not looked upon as exactly honorable
in a white man.
We reached the Rio Pecos, opposite Cor
poral's Peak Of the CASTLE mountains without
being annoyed by the Apaches although We
saw numbers Of their scouts and had no doubt
that considerable force was hanging OH our
TANKS We made our camp in a defensive
spot, and, after a rest small parties secuted
up and down the river to examine the lay Of
the country. On the third day Calvin and
myself. accompanied by corporal and two
private soldiers, rode Up the Pecos about ten
miles, crossed over and started to come down
on the other side. The ground was more
broken on the north side, and we had hardly
turned to 50 down stream when we founl the
redskins moro numerous and far boldcr. The
soldiers had seyon-shooter carbines and Cal
vim and had Winchesters. and We felt no
alarm even when we knew the Indians to
number fully one hundred. An ambush was
the only thing to be dreaded, and we gos into
one in spite Of our vigilance. Two miles he
low where We crossed the river the ground
came very rough and was cut up into gulles.
This extended from the river bnck as far as
we could sec, and we could not flank il We
could have crossed the river here, but our cI-
ders were tu come down on the norta hank.
Every man knew that if the Indians moan; To
attack they would do it here, and tie III 81
notice would be a volley from one of The btnd
raYineS
In this emergency we strung on. "a single
file, the corporal leading, Calvin nsx;,
third, and the two priyates making fourti
and fifth. We had not advanced foi;y rode
INTO the "bad ground" aud had uot caught
sight Of 50 much as an Indians atbcr, When
we received IL volley from twenty-five In
dans in guch. They were only 2OJ feet
away, and one would have thought every
man Of us would have been riddled On tho
contrary, however, the last three Of Us were
untouched and not one of our horses was
hit. The corporal and Calvin were both
wounded and their horses killed SinUl-
taneousiy with the vOlley a 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 tho time |
under fire. But as soon as we had cleared |
the bad ground VIC took shelter in q small |
grove on the edgeof the stream and prepared |
for defense. We were charged By sixty or |
seventy warriors on foot, who perhaps i'm |
Ggined US badly frightened, but We pegged |
away at them 50 steadily that they broke |
and 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 enc |
Of the trees and saw n body of them making |
of to tho mountain. l then made scout of |
the neighborhood, and soon ascertaiucd what |
had occurred Both Calvin and the corporal |
had been put n the torture, but they had .
been amply revenged. Tho six we had killed |
lay where they fell, as our fire commanded
.he spot We found, in a SOFT Of pocset,
covered with bushes and limbs, eleven cdter
dead, every one OF whom had died Of poison.
One was Chief White Bird, a noted warrior,
and the others wero veteran warriors of his
band The bottle was empty, and the totz,c-
co bag had been turned wrong side out
Three or four years afteTward | met an
Apache who was present on 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 pt is
oners ready for torture. The corporal died
before they could mako ready, and when the
warriors began to die of tho poison Calvin
was soon dispatched by blow of toma-
hawk. The bodies were badly mutilated,
but it was mostly after death. Tho band
lost seventeen to our Two, and was so dis
heartened that it retreated and went into
mourning for weeks.-New York Sun.