Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1891-04-29
sne scvu,'s story.

the warpath, and were never so malig.
naut and cruel. They could see the
beginning of the end, but were deter.
mined to fight it off as long as posi-,
bic. | left camp at midnight for 6
ride of forty miles. could have made
it by daylight, but at o'clock in the
morning my horse slipped on a stone
and went dead lame. | was then or
the right bank of the Smoky Hill fork
Z of the Kansas River, following il
down. and by leading the horse half 6
mile / got the shelter of a grove OF
! cottonwOods. / knew | must remain
tEere for the day, and made the best
arrangements l could for defence
There was large thornapple tree in
the centre of the grove, which was
covered with grapevine. Under thi:
shelter | dug out rifle pit, and when
/ it was finished | knew l could stand
| any small party of Indians off until
had fired 100 bullets.
l slept from o'clock until 9, al
which time whimper from my horse
| aroused me. l heard the reports OF
rifles TO the north and the east, min
4 -ASo wan NAS Adlhl ,
aud as soon as l could get look in
that direction the cause was plain. A
white man on horseback was headed
for the grove, coming from the north.
He was followed by dozen Indians.
He was well ahead of pursuit, and
would have made the grove all right,
but party of three Indians were CON-
| ing down from the east to head him
| off. He had pulled up just as looked
| out. He was cut off, and those behind
were fast coming up. He took in the
situation i'll a minute. He was on a
knoll covered with dead grass and
scrub bushes. He swung himself from
tie saddle, unbuckled and pulled it
OF, and gave the horse a slap and start
| ed him off. | had a telescope with
me, and when got it out and got the
| bearings the man was so hidden on the
knoll that | could only guess his loca-
ton by locating the saddle.
All the Indians had come up and
halted just out of rifle range. There
were fifteen of them, and from the ap-
pear. ice of their ponies l knew that
they mad had long chase. The white
! mans horse came down TO the stream
above me, drank his fill, and then be-
gan grazing as if in his own pasture.
| wanted to mix in at once, but they
were not only out of range, but nv
horse was disabled. To have moved
out on foot would have been throwing
my life away. There was every chance
hat l might have to fight them single
handed later on. The white mans ac-
tions proved that he knew how to take
care of himself, and | must let him dc
so for the time being. / climbed into
one of the cottonwoods, got an eleva-
tion of about thirty feet, and now my
glass served me better. The man was
digging in the earth with his hunting
knife TO scoop out a rifle pit. While
he worked the redskins rested and
planned. They gave him about TWEEN
ty minutes, and at the end of this
time he was well hidden, even from
my sight. He had turned up several
large stones, and these made a breast
work.
When the Indians moved il was to
circle around him and keep up fire to
rattle him and waste his ammunition.
While they were at long range he made
no answer, but as they narrowed the
circle a puff of smoke suddenly leaped
from his pit, and one of the warriors
fell from his horse like log. A sec
ond dashed in to secure the body, and
his horse was shot through. The bullet
hit the rider in the opposite leg, and
could follow him as he crept away
through the grass. Another consulta-
ton was held, and it resulted in a gen.
eral dismount. Then each warrior be-
gan creeping forward on his own sc-
count, firing at will They had the
man completely encircled, but he was
very cool. When he finally got sure
thing he fired, and shot an Indian so
dead that the fellow never kicked.
Two minutes later he killed a second.
This was three killed and one wouI ded,
and they were losing their sand. All
crept out of range and consulted again,
and knew how it would end. If the
eleven warriors let one white man beat
them off they would be disgraced for
ever.
The ground was favorable for charg-
Ing him on horseback, and they were
soon ready. Six went to the east and
Eve to the south, and at a signal they
put their ponies on the run and rode
for the knoll. Up jumped the man,
his rifle at his shoulder, and he fired
twelve shots into the two sections fast
er than l could count. He killed two
rnnafae and xx-f.t1rlaI tI,,.aa
riors, and this stopped them. They
broke back and headed for the grove
to make new repairs and study up new
deviltry. / let them come within
pistol shot aud then opened on them
with my Vino hester, and it is recorded
in military reports that | killed two
and wounded third. The living went
off down the river SO badly ratified that
an old woman could have kept them
on the run with broomstick.
1t didn't take the stranger more than
q minute to catch on, and he came
down to me. To my great surprise
he turned out to be a beardless boy of
l9, who had been ont searching after
lost stock. The Indians had run him
all night long, making a ride Of al
most fifty miles. He didn't pretend
to be even a cowboy, and when ]
praised his courage he blushed like Q
girl. He said he expected to be wiped
out in the end, but he was bound tc
give the redskins the best he had be.
fore he went under. It was a lucky
fight for both Of US. There were four
dead Indians on the ground, and we
found on each buckskin bag with
e4s0 in it. They had finished off some
pioneer or mining party and made 8
big haul, and the money had been
evenly divided. We had 81, ,72o to di.
vide between US, and it was big lift
10 both.
A Knowing Goose.