Morning journal and courier., 1890-10-16

of and captured. They went into camp, threw up breastworks and finally beat the | Indians off. Next day over twenty of the | men, disheartened and afraid to continue | further, took six of the wagons and start ed on their return to the east There were | five wagons and eight men left. One of | the wagons belonged to an immigrant | named John Hosmer, who had his family | and all his belongings in the vehicle. He | was one of the ten men killed His fami- | ly consisted of his wife, who was de- | scribed as little woman weighing less | than one hundred pounds, @ boy of ten l and girl of six. that section of the party which had decf- ded to retrace its steps, but she refused to do so. She had travelled with smaller par ty for five days, driving her own team and bearing up in courageous way. Then, when within thirty miles of our camp, a reaction came, and she suddenly deter mined to return to Iowa. It was an em barrassing situation for the others. They did not wish to return, and of course they could not think of seeing her go back alone. They argued, coaxed and pleaded with her, but she was obdurate. When, in her own interest, they decided to take possession of the team, she seized her dead husbands Winchester rifle and threatened to kill the first man who approached. No one has ever blamed the men for allowing her to separate from them and head back over the trail. They believed she was driving to her death, but she would not listen to them. She had come to the reso- lution that she would return, and nothing could be said to change it. They were rough fellows, and she was the only wo- man, and hers were the only children in the party, but she could not have been afraid of them. There wasn't a man among them who would not have laid down his life for her. When they knew that she had determined to separate they | conspired to disable her wagon, but she ! was on the watch to prevent that, and had | any man attempted to detain her by force ! he would have periled his life. After breakfast on the morning of the day be- fore the party reached our camp Mrs. Hos mer left them, with curt goodbye, and I headed back over the trail.
 This was the story as told us, and no | one had reason to doubt that it was the true one. The first thing the immigrants did was to appeal to our major to send out | force to overtake the woman and bring her in. The idea could not be entertained. ! It was thirty miles to the point where she had separated, and, if she had not been disturbed in her journey, she had made
 thirty more cby that hour. To expect a
 squadron to overtake her, even, with the | country full of hosti1es, was almost ab- l surd. Our great wonder was that the par l ty had come in without being attacked, and it must have so happened that they
 slipped between hostile hands, It was quickly decided that we could do nothing
 as a command. Not a soldier could be l spared from the post, which might be in
 vaded any hour. I offered, in case the
 major would consent, to take five of the
 best mounted immigrants and make the
 attempt, but he would not consent, and
 none of the men cared to encounter the
 peril. Fate, however, had a hand in the
 matter. Within two hours from the arri-
 val of the party courier came in to us
 from Fort Laramie, bearing orders whicf
 I must attempt to transmit to Fort Ran
 dall. My ride would take me over a DOT
 ton of the trail, and it was probable tha ! I would make some discoveries.
 'I can't ask you to deviate from you
 direct course or to incur any additiona l peril" said the major, as I was making
 ready to go. "Indeed, if you get througl
 alive, with all your skill and cunning, i
 will lift great load from my mind. l have no doubt there are a thousand hos | tiles between this and Fort Randall. Tn
 woman and children were no doubt at
 tackled within two hours after leaving tn party. It's a sad case, but I don't SC how we can help them"
 "Are the dispatches very importantf , asked.
 seYes, but they will keep. You need no kill your horse to deliver them"
 fThen before return I shall learn tn | fate of the woman"
 He extended his hand and turned hi , | face away. It was what he wanted, bu he would not command it. He had a wifi !, and two children of his own back in tn
 states, and I knew how his sympathie , went out for this poor, obstinate mother
 whom grief had probably worked to sucl an extent that her mind was not quit ! right Soon after dark that night 1 rod ! away to the northeast, only half an hou
 before a scouting party came in with tn
 news that large band of hostiles wer approaching from the north. Had I beel
 delayed few minutes I could not hay
 got outSfor week. It was July night
 cloudy and threatening rain, and I tool
 my chances and pushed ahead at a gallop
 hour after hour, having a pretty leve country, knowing could not go wrong 7 I did not intend to look for the trail of tn wagon until daylight, and when dawl 3 came found it with very little trouble : hit it at least ten miles beyond the poin
 where Mrs. Hosmer had separated iron /. the band. In other words, I had gaine I | e told of peculiarity about her wago e which enabled me to pick out its trail 6 = once. On the tire of one of the hin
 wheels the blacksmith had stamped a han f thus: e-. This pointed in the directio | the vehicle was going, and found its in . print in Q dozen places headed back f. U the Elkhorn.
 As soon as the sun was fairly up I toe a careful survey of the country and foun
 nothing to alarm me. The great body 1 the hostiles had gathered lower down c @ the various forks of the Platte, and tl e small bands roaming over the sectio is could not thoroughly cover it. I unsa, 1t died, got bite to eat, let the horse re W and gaze for a couple of hours. and hs
 the luck to find water, such as it was, in ,I sink hole About nine o'clock, having a st l almost level country ahead of me, picke 8. up the trail and rode on. After an hour k gallop came to the spot where Mrs. Ho IT mer had made her first camp. She hi d made distance of about twenty-two mil = the first day, and had gone into camp in
 dry ravine, deep enough to hide the wage r | from sight of any one riding over u 70 plains She had found water, though Ii to tie better than mud hole, and had built small fire and cooked supper. So far as
 had followed the trail the horses had ke a a regular gait, proving that the womi h was not unnerved by her lonely and da " gerous situation Her making can
 where she did encouraged me bit to ho |, le that she might pull through. I rode { for ten miles beyond this camp, and tn V finding good water and grass and a capit
 place to hide myself, I halted and unss ar dled again and slept until three o'clock 'n the afternoon.
 ,h When I pushed ahead again ma IT. twelve miles without a halt. Then
 reached he10hcond camp. She had be
 obliged to encamp on the level ground al
 without water. saw that her horses h
 grazed during the night, but she had bu
 no fire. There was great blood stain Id the grass near the wagon, and few ft st away lay the skeleton of wolf which t :n buzzards had picked clean. The amin III had probably made an attack on the WI of on or the horses during the night, and on woman had killed him. I hunted abo clx to find the empty shell which she wor - have thrown out of her rifle after firir cn but as could not find it, I had to co