The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-07-29

a %-As~t 49, 1850 NN%L@t NN~-(
he had an army musket. He gave rs
his name as Little Smoke, and was a
typical warrior in build and demeanor.
Before we left the fort an old hunter
called me aside and said:
ADoyou believe thar is a cache?'
"Why notf'
"Bekase an Injun says thar is. Allus
take 'em contrary to what they say. Is
your scalp nailed on"
sDo you mistrust the man."
ssNever saw yit that | didn't. I'm
going to bet my rifle agin a keg of pow
der that you don't come back"
AS o as we were out Of sight of the
fort I motioned for the Indian to take
the lead. He seemed to take it as a mat
ter of course, and he led off with a lope
and held it for six or seven miles with
out a halt. I had not only to keep an
eye on him, but scan the country as
well. He appeared to be on the lookout,
as well he might be if his story was true,
and about II o'clock we approached the
spot where he claimed to have hidden
his property. l had kept him in the lead
all the time, and we had had more or
less shelter along the bank Of the stream.
Half a mile from the groveI drew rein
and said: +
81 will wait here while by brother
goes forward after his property"
SIS the Swift Rider tired with his
rider he sarcastically answered.
"One must keep watch for danger. I
will do that, for you will be busy"
eff my white brother is afraid he need
not CO."
.sH my red brother has a cache in the
grove let him look for it. If not we
will return to the fort"
He hesitated a moment, and then, sat
isfied that / was on my guard, he walked
away and soon disappeared in the grove.
| had every confidence that the trees
sheltered a band of redskins, and it
would not have surprised me in the least
to have seen a body Of them dash out.
/ was therefore taken aback, at the end
of about a quarter of IN hour, to see Little
Smoke reappear with a backload Of stuff
from his cache. He came straight
toward me, but very slowly, and halted
every few yards to adjust his burden. I
was carefully watching him when my
horse shifted the air uneasily, and all at
once it came to me that I was being
stalked. I left the shelter of the cot
tonwoods for the open ground, and as
I rode away two bullets tipped close to
M head, having been fired from the
opposite bank Of the stream. At the
same moment Little Smoke dropped his
goods and fired on me with his musket.
While half a dozen Indians in my rear
were yelling and shooting / rode down
to within 200 feet of the smooth tongued
traitor and dropped him dead in his
tracks. There were five Indians in the
ambuscade, and they mounted their
ponies and pursued me for three or four
miles, but / got safely away.
The second attempt was made in De-
cember. A half breed Cheyenne-an
old man with a very honest face-came
into the fort and reported that a white
man, a trapper, was in camp on the
river above us with broken leg, and he
had volunteered to come in and report
the case. The distance was not over five
miles, but the snow lay deep on the
ground and it was very sharp weather.
The old man probably reasoned that I
would be sent out to guide the relief
party. He was asked to do so, bat re-
fused, even under promise of a gallon Of
whisky. This refusal aroused my suspi-
cions, and instead of going out as a re-
lief corps a dozen men went armed to
the teeth. The place designated was a
grove, and we approached it as neal as
possible under cover and then made a
sudden dash. Eight mounted Indians
rushed out on the other side. There
were evidences that they had been there
in camp for two or three days.
In the spring, when war had been for
mally declared, most of my work was
along the Smoky Hill stage route.
When the stages finally ceased running
I carried food and ammunition to the
station employees or guided them safely
to the posts. Lookout station, twenty
miles beyond Fort Hays, was more ex-
posed to attack than any other on the
route. The hut for the shelter of the
men was half wood, half mud. Two
stables filled with hay and oats thanked
it and stood dangerously ear. While
at every other station the men had made
dugouts for their protection, this precau-
ton had been neglected at Lookout.
Small bands of Indians had appeared
and been stood off by the well armed
men, and they had come to believe that
they could defeat any force likely to ap-
pear. On the morning of April Is I was
approaching Lookout with 600 Win
chester cartridges for the men, when,
just as day fairly broke, I was discov-
cred and pursued by a band Of about
fifty Indians. got into the station after
a lively chase, and within an hour it was
surrounded by over a hundred redskins.
1 had been recognized, and they sent q
flag of truce to offer the three men their
lives if they would hand me over. This
offer was twice repeated, and then the
Indians settled down to bcssege the sta
ton. During the day the firing was kept
up at long range. All the horses in the
stables were killed before noon, but none
of us was wounded. AS night came ]
determined to get away, being under or
ders to report at Hays as 0 as possible
The men encouraged me to 60, saying
they could hold the place until I sent