Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-03-06

hand, and then retired 10 the dugou
In company with the others. Each o
US had a port hole. bnt more than fiv,
hundred bullets had been fired by thC
Indians before we fired our first. Then
inside OF ten minutes we killed seveI
and wounded three. There were about
/ l5O Indians In the party. AS soon a.
their fire slackened we knew what tC
expect, and we got ready for 1t. "A
band as large as that would be certain
TO charge us before giving up the fight
This dugout was in the form of an out
door cellar, having q bullet-proof door
while the top was covered with two feet
Of earth. The door had two port holes,
and the only way the Indians could get
US was to enseonce themselves in the
barn, thirty feet in front of US, and then
keep up fire on the door until thirst
and hunger drove us to surrender. In
this case we were fixed for week, but,
Of course, they knew nothing of our
condition, and had wrongly judged our
numbers. Had they divided their for
ces a charge must have been successful,
but the Indian always charges in body
or not at all.
The force had to approach over open
ground, and at the first sign Of the
charge We sprang out of our dug-out,
ranged In line, and began blazing away.
The mob was checked before it had half
covered the distance, but before it could
return to shelter we killed thirteen war
riors and wounded three or four more.
Ten minutes after the charge was made
all the living were galloping off to the
west, not even making an effort te re-
cover the bodies of their dead. In after
years met a warrior who We s there,
andhe explained that his band got the
idea that forty or fifty soldiers were con-
eealed in the dug-out and stables, and
that he himself counted over twenty of
US.
One cloudy afternoon I left post of
the Seventh calvary on the South Platte
to carry dispatches to headquarters. No
Indians had been seen for four DAYS,
and as the first fifteen miles of the route
was full of washouts and gullies, I
wanted daylight to make anything like
decent progress. / had gone twelve
miles, and was riding at walk along
sunken way when an Indian on horse
back crossed it not over 200 feet ahead
Of me. He had come out of another
gulley which intersected it. While I
was going north he crossed from east to
west. halted the instant 1 saw him
and sat there on my horse while seven
teen mounted warriors followed each
other in single file across the gulley,
which was there fully fifteen feet wide.
Any one of them had only to turn his
head half way to the right to see me,
and yet all passed and left me undis-
covered. ascertained the reason as I
moved up to the crossing. They were
following the trail of q cavalry horse
which had escaped from the camp on
the Platt three or four days before, be-
lieving that he carried rider.
In the latter part of the summer,
when the stage route had been partial
ly re-established, set out one night to
carry orders to the officer at one of the
stations. was two miles off the trail
and travelling parallel to it, and my
horse was going at lope, when he sud-
denly came to standstill. This was
the signal that danger menaced, and as
sat quietly in the saddle and peered
about me heard a white man cough.
dismounted and crept forward and
found two white men wrapped in their
blankets and asleep on the earth. Il
awoke them to learn that they were de-
sertars from the Seventh. They had
left camp three nights before, got lost,
and were so glad to see me that they
shed tears. Each had his carbine and
revolver and plenty of ammunition,
but they had had nothing to eat for two
days. They had seen Indians all around
them that day, and it was the greatest
wonder in the world that they had not
been discovered.
AS the men were determined to 20 on
with me, I had to proceed at a walk,
and thus when daylight came we were
still five miles from our point of desti-
nation. Luckily for us we were in bro
ken ground, and as soon as day had
fully broken I left the men and my
horse in gulley and ascended ridge
to look about me. To the left was the
stage route. Two civilians named Arm
Did and Webber had left the station five
miles away before daylight to push on
to the fort. AS day came they almost
rode into ambush of Indians in huge
washout commanding the road. The
accidental discharge of q gun in the
hands of one of the concealed Indians
discovered their presence, and the citi-
,ens turned short to the left and broke
across the country, hoping to find cover
md place to make a stand. These
men were only half mile away as as
,ended the ridge, and q quarter of a
nile behind them were twenty-three
Indians, all on horseback. I called to
,he men, and it took but word to place
Is In position.
The two men, who were riding for
heir lives, came straight at us, aiming
10 get the cover of the gulIies, and they
went over the ridge and down into the
gully almost upon my horse. They
,aught on in an instant, and before the
pursuing Indians were up the strangers
lad crept up beside us with their rifles. |
heard but did not see them. Not a
word was spoken as the Indians came
sweeping up. They were spread out on
. line about ten rods long, and while the |
pace was fast 1t was not furious, they
doubtless believing that q long chase !
was before them. The line was within
)ne hundred feet of US when we fired,
md as we rose up we had to dodge the
horses. The redskis were paralyzed by
he suddenness of the attack, and three
'r four of their ponies fell and rolled
nto the gulch with their riders. Only
,wo warriers fired a shot. Their only
anxiety from the first was to got away.
Five succeeded in this, although two Of
hem were wounded. The others were
killed inside of four or five minutes,