The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1890-06-15

my lot to serve in. / had a party Of Indian
scouts made up about equally of Apache
Yumas and Apache Mohaves. We had
been hunting for several days, and finally
n morning in June. came to the foot OF
the precipitous range known rs the Black
Mesa. aud that day l had an exhibition
OF Indian scouting such as i have never
seen equaled since. The order OF march
was very primitive, Q sort OF game OF "fol-
low your leader" We kept old Kwona-
hika and six or seven Of the scouts well out
to our front then came the lieutenantc COM
mandinR on his bronco; then the first SER
geant and the main body, all in single file.
and finally the pack mules and their
guard and attendants. Whenever We
reached n steep place, either up or down
hill, The leader would dismount and take
the rcins behind him his horse followed
in his footsteps; each man in succession
executed the same maneuver when he
reached the spot where the chief dis
mounted. The trail led over rocks and
ravines and canons. never wide enough
for W. abreast. Somewhere about l
o'clock i'm the afternoon we came To "a
lovely green valley at the foot of the
mountains n there suddenly u of the
Indian scouts, whom we called Washing
ton Charley, stopped and excitedly
and he pointed to certain damp
splashes where water had evil
IDENTITY been spilled as the carriers
clambered up the bank. "Tonto come
here for water. Look, see" he said. Some
where up there on the crest of that great
range then, as was their invariable GUS
tom, the hostile Indians were hiding, and
our orders were 10 hun them TO their
holes and fight IL out. How long the hunt
might last we could not tell. nor how
many hours since they came here for their
supply Of water. except that the earth had
not had time IN thorouUhlv dry Tha frsf
thing was to e a our horses fari in among
the rocks and trees and secure both them
and the pack mules; leave a strong guard
and the three packers with them. Then
every man of us kicked of his cavalry
boots and spurs and pulled on Indian
ing ample protection to the foot, n then
in ten minutes my little command was
stripped for its work.
When all was ready of we started; no
order, no ranks, but in perfect silence, the
soldiers RS, following ar after the Lieutenant,
sprang noiselessly to the front and scat
tered upward along the rocky ascent and
then came the pretty piece of trailing of
which l have spoken. Close TO the stream
the bushes and stunted oaks were thick.
ONCE away from II along the rise the
out right and left over the surface. Here,
while The trees were numerous, the
branches were high above our heads, the
trunks straight and bare for 20 feet from
the ground. The ground itself was every
where covered with fragments of rock
storm or avalanche that had &C.
Cured since creation. TINY blades
of grass peeped up here ard there for
we were creeping upward over a soil on
which the human foot left no impression
whatever. How then could those stealthy
.-..l -. f,4.,s ~ pI..sss IL. -. nalr,
us on? For 200 yards they covered
advance, moving noiselessly from point
to point, ~crouching like panthers on the
trail of the deer. Occasionally one OF
them would call me by a gesture and
proud of the undisguised admiration of
was slightly bent or abraded, OF where a
little fragment of rock or slate, crunched
from its place by laboring foot, had
turned and now lay with the damp face
upward. A single hour in the sun would
bleach il white and dry as its n~eighbors.
times crossing n mountain ravine, some
times over rocky Lodges, but all the time
our swarthy. half naked scouts would
guide us forward.
Once i'm a while we would halt for
breath-an hour of such climbing is very
geant Stauffer, who was close to my side,
held up n warning hand and pointed TO
the right. Two of our scouts were kneel-
ing behind a little rocky barrier and peer
ing over, m%otioning to 'keep back" and
the men were spread out unconsciously
in skirmish line. halted in their tracks.
Presently / reached the ledge and obeying
the signal of their cleaning eyes, peered
eager n over. Five hundred yards away
was another and higher rocky point, and
above il. boldly outlined against the blue
of the heavens. lowered a great cliff, the
western terminus of the mesa. A likely
place for an eagles nest, perhaps, but
not another living thing could l think of
or see as a possible inhabitant. But
the two Apaches by my sid pointed ex-
citedly To the ~promontory ahead and then
one of them waved his hand upward in
spirals, indicating smoke. aud whispered
'Patcbie house." Aud surely enough my
field glasses detected what was beyond
my eyes To see-not one but several SHIN
mering. colorless columns of smoke or
vapor rising just over the rock to u
front and there was the 'rancberia" be-
yond all doubt. They had guided us safely
To the very stronghold of the Apaches and
i'm five minutes were joining with us in the
attack. / nave never seen a piece of
trailing to compare to that. for he signs
by which they were guided were SO slight,
SO trivial, that none but the keencst Indian
eye would ever I'VE thought of observing
them.