Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1890-12-27
HELD By INDIANS.

BODY Ot lntlllnS appeared t1 Tile west
Fort Wallace. and from their mancuvcr
ing seemed - be spying out thcchanccs of
cutting out the stage station. half mile
from the fort. Thr station w&s guarded
by four or tiv" men at the time, and the
corral held about thirty five horses.
had Just come in that morning from n
long scout. nItl was nslccp whcn the In.
dians were first seem AS soon :,s routed
ont i took twn ncn with mo and rouc
down to The station. We picked up Il
fourth man there ard headed direct f"r
The redskins. who were then II l.lilc ii.v;--'.
We were MOI y quarter of II mile from the
station when lecrnc suspicious that it
was Il plot to'lraw us away. We brought
our horscs To- n walk. and after getting
half Il mile fro,l the station we turned
10 the left ~ If 10 ci,clc bnck. At that
moment SO Cheyenne warriors. led by
old Roman NoSc burst out of the dry
ravines whore they had hccn lying con-
cealed for two hours and made straight
for the station.
The plan woul,l have done credit to Il
brigadier. About 200 warriors threw
themselves between the station and the
fort so ~ to bc ready for any move on
the part of the soldiers. Thirty attacked
the adobe hutS constituting the station
About fifty made for the inclosurc where
the horses were kept. and the Others
rode To cut Us four off the fort. Only
one part Of the plan miscarrird. The
men at the station made such II fight
that the Inlialr5 could not break i'll ou
them. They l:illcd three warriors and
wounded seven. while they suffered no
loss themselves. They got the horses,
partly destroyed three stages. anl kept
the soldiers of. and the four of Us. "c"ing
that escape to the fort WAS cut off. rode
10 the west in hopes To outlur our pur-
suers. Unfortunately for me. was
mounted ON my own horse, who had
done sixty-five miles the day before AMI
was jailcd. For three miles he showed
good leg. but then he began to weaken.
We were then on level ground. and
held him up with voice and spur for
another mile. or until we had gained Il
spot covered with outcropping of rock.
Those who wrote about this incident at
&he time held the three station men mp to-
contempt for deserving me. 1 did not
blame them ut all. They were only EN-
p2oyes of the stage company. None of
them had ever been at close quarters
with Indians before. and it would have
been strange if they had not been rat
tied. They were ahead of me as my
horse went down, and do not believe
they missed me. Poor fellows. Had
the four of r:a been there in the natural
rifle pit among the rocks we could have
stood the redskins off III handsome
manner. Az it was | was captured, and
they We're shot down one by one rs they
.eQntinued their fight.
Only thirty-tive Indians took mp the
pursuit. When my horse fell with me
fifteen of the warriors remained behind
70 effect Ily capture. | rolled into a
natural hollow, pullcd saddle and blanket
off my horse. and then rs he struggled
mp drove him limping away. 1t WIS
an unfortunate thing. He was only 30
feet from me when they shot him dead,
and MS he fell / saw that he was in line
with Il dry ditch up which the enemy
could creep and shelter themselves be-
hind the body. That was just what they
did do. They didn't dare charge me, Ill
though fifteen to one, but they secured
positions from which they could shoot
me il raised my head six inches from
the earth, and when l realized that
was helpless | surrendered. There was
little aforinaiity about it. Among thu
besiegers l recognized an Indian named
Dark Day. called out that | would
surrender, and the fifteen walked in on
me.
When an Indian is in luck he is good
...l..
three companions were now returning
with their scalps, horses and guns.
had not hurt anybody. Roman Nose
had defed the fort and got away with
the station horses. There was every rca-
son for rejoicing. and rs they formed n
circle about me every face wore smile,
and several Of them greeted me with u
"howdy?' They knew me for u govern
ment scout and rider. They knew had
killed three Cheyennes ON the Smoky
Hill fork Only the week before. They
knew that had baked two of their
raids ON stage stations, and that / had
once ridden right through II camp of 200
of them and carried off the best horse
Roman Nose ever had.
An Indian sizes man up according
10 his deeds. They took my rifle, re-
volver and Knife, but We're very respect
full about it. was then mounted on n
station horse, my feet tied under his
belly, and he was led behind warriors
pony. They headed to the northwest,
and about an hour after dark we came
mp with the main party, which was en-
camped in grove Of cottonwood on q
small creek. had no sooner dismount-
ed than was taken into the presence Of
Roman Nose. History has said that he
was one of the smartest chiefs any west
en tribe ever had. He was smart only
as an Indian. Ee was liar, hypocrite
and assassin, He had the srnartness Of
afcoyote in avoiding a superior force,
and the cunning of "A serpent in APP
proachihg a foe. knew he could hold
conversation in English, but as he did