Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-12-28
An INDIANS GRATITUDE.
THRILLING ADVENTURE OF A GOVERN
MENT SCOUT.
One Case at Least IN Which a Sioux
Possessed Some Sem
timent

| timent
When | lived in the Indian country for
upwards of twelve years, and encountered
the red man daily, either in peace or war,
| never considered him worth studying as
a man. Indeed, in only one single in
stance was | satisfied that there was any,
thing to study. felt that he was to be
taken as a surly, brutal, inconsistent and
revengeful chunk of humanity, and any
search for sentiment was time thrown
away. This one instance occurred during
the savage Indian campaign which ended
in Clusters death.
In the fall of 1866, while was carrying
a dispatch between two temporary posts on
The Arkansas river, and when mid way be-
tween the posts and twenty miles from
either, at the hour of noon, came upon
an Indian lying on the ground between
two of the monotonous ridges of the plains
| saw him while yet forty rods away, and
knew that he was dead or unconscious
Before | got to him | discovered pony
tracks, and knew that he had come there
on horseback l reached the body to find
it that of a young buck about twenty-five
years old, and for some time | believed
him dead. He had been shot through the
head. as | supposed, as one side of it was
horse and looked down on him dozen or
more buzzards were sailing in the air
above us, waiting for the feast. | was
| II Al ~, e L.
were reduced by even one, for every In
dian was hostile in those day, and was
about to ride on when the supposed dead
man uttered groan.
| was down beside him in a moment |
had bottle of brandy aud canteen of
water and when | had poured some of
the former down his throat, and used the
latter to wash off some of the blood, he
opened his eyes and looked at me in a way
to prove that he had his senses. | could
speak the Sioux dialect like one born in
the tribe, and l presently asked;
"Who are you, and how came you to be
in this condition ?"
"Why don't you Kill -" he asked in
reply;
'But the white man and Indian are
enemies. We kill whenever we can"
eff found you seeking my life l should
try to take yours. As it is, you are almost
dead, and am willing to aid you in any
way l can"
He looked incredulous, and composed
himselffor the death blow but as l mixed
some water and brandy and handed it to
him, and again investigated the nature of
his wound, he finally explained that he
was member of Little Crows band. The
Sioux tribe, as tribe, was then split up
into half dozen bands, each under the
leadership of sub-chief. He would not
| fully explain what had occurred, but told
me sufficient to enable me to supply
the rest. He had attempted to run
off with one of the sub-chiefs three wives,
and had been pursued, overtaken, and left
for dead. The bullet had not entered his
skull, but had ploughed through the scalp
clear over his head, rendering him uncon-
scious for several hours and making ter
rible wound to look at. There was water
in a sink-hole quarter of a mile away,
and | fetched some and worked away at
him until | could see the extent of his in
juries He was sitting up and feeling
quite strong when | offered to do bit of
rude surgery for him. He grunted his as
sent, and l took needle and thread from
my pack and brought the scalp together
and stitched in half dozen places. 1t
must have hurt him terribly, for worked
away as if mending a slit in an army
blanket, but during the whole operation he
never uttered a groan. When | had his
head in shape l divided my luncheon
with him, and was amazed to see what an
appetite he had. As we finished, l said:
"You are not able to travel, and if you
l were you are defenseless. What do you
. propose to do ?"
81 cannot return to Little Crows band
for time, if ever" he replied after mo-
. ment's thought: 'as my white brother says,
| am weak and without even knife. Let
him tell me his plan"
81 should advise you to lie quiet near
the water hole for day or two. l shall
return this way inside of two days, and
then you will be stronger. Here is one Of
my revolvers to protect yourself with.
You can also take this blanket and the
rest of my meat and crackers. | shall
: make for this spot as return, and l hope
to find you"
No Indian will give his feelings away in
!, his face if he can possibly prevent it, but
this young fellow made no effort. He
looked his amazement and incredulity,
and even as he held the revolver in his
hand he stared at me as if he could not
comprehend my motive. We were enc
, mics. | had not only succored him when
found him helpless, but had placed in
his hands weapon to enable him to take
my life. He could not help but suspect
some duplicity on my part, until | tHrned
and rode away. 1 did not look back at
him, but l knew that he was on his feet
aHd following my progress with wondering
eyes.
1t was 8 o'clock in the afternoon of the
third day when ] returned to the water
hole, and failed to find my warrior there.
l waited for full hour, but he did not
, show up. l was going away feeling very
| bitter toward him, when l discovered a
trail showing that large war party had
, passed there the day before, and l knew
then that he had either joined it or been
driven away. The scene of war was shit
I ing every day, and by the next spring |
had almost forgotten the incident. The
, facts leaked out in one way and another,
| and for time | was the butt Of ridieufe
! of all the officers and scouts. Ny green
, ness in supposing an Indian had any graft
, tude was bad enough, they said, bat the
, idea of my giving him food and weapon
brought down the house.
During the early part of summer Of the
next year l was detailed as one Of the
l guards to accompany the stages over eer-
tain distance on the Smoky Hill route.
There were from three to six of rs with
each stage, according to the demeanor Of
, the Indians, who, at times, seemed de-
termined to prevent all travel. A skirmish
of some sort was an everyday occurrence,
/ but one afternoon, as three of us were rid
ing ahead of the stage in which were three
Z civilians we were amhnshed from cnt ar