The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1892-06-10
THE BROWN-FACED BOY.

The old Santa Fe trail that histor.
ic thoroughfare first ,traversed by
Baptiste La Lande In 1904. and along
y saseh for more than so years cara
vans had crawled through the wilder
ness, across broad prairies and deserts
and through mountain passes 10 Santa
Fe-was being prepared for the pas
sage of the iron horse.
The newspapers had said some two
months before 1.-The Apaches are outr'
Old Geronimo and his friends had ac-
cepted the bounty of the Great
Father" and lived in idleness and
comfort all winter. to sally out in the
spring. sleek well-fed; and thorough
ly equipped for their murderous work,
to rage their red way at their own
sweet will till tired and satiated they
were ready to return 10 the agencies
again.
The soldiers maintained by the gov
ernment to protect itself against the
wards so literally endowed with the
'Wherewlthal to pursue their red
work did Their best. They fought.
suffered went down with their faces
ITO the foe and Geronimo and hi,
friends continued their pastime aanD
They were here. there. yonder.
gone. A brawny pioneer in some
ONE OF the narrow fertile valleys in
the morning kissed the wife and little
ones. tor whom he was so sturdily
striving to make home in the wilder
ness. and went out to his plowing. An
hour later the carrion buzzard. sailing
high above saw the humble home in
tiames the pioneer stretched dead by
his pillow. scalped and mutilated, the
wife and mother borne away to fate
worse than death. the little ones
cremGting in the cabin. In another
hour the Indians ara miles away. the
buzzard has swooped close to the
ground. the coyotes are gliding thithel.
A wagon train creeps across the
desert A rush as OF falcons upon a
frightened hare. In little while it
is all over The wagon.train is only
"a confused huddle of smoldering
tbrands and crooked irons. and here
sand there mutilated body waits for
.:he coyotes
Our advance was guarded by two
hroeps OF cavalry. The ethics of
caMflzed warfare did not meet the
appreciation of our red brother. He
regarded it as no part of the duty of
warriSr to march out to be shot.
Glory meant nothing to him. He had
been taught that to kilI-not to be
killed-was the predestined purpose
of warrior.
The soldiers prevented annihilation
,of our party. Our work went steadily
,on. A flash death cry. The In
.dians We're gone. Somebody took the
place of the fallen man. and all went
ON as before.
Young Steve Laurence had not been
with us long when his turn came. We
!, had grown somewhat short. handed.
thanks to the Indians and the climate.
and little squad of recruits had been
sent on by the company. Laurence
was quiet, sun Drowned, honest
faced young fellow who looked like a
farmer boy. He had been recon-
mended to the company by Fairfax.
the grim old engineer in chief. who
had known the boy somewhere back in
the east The rest of us had had
hardly time to become acquainted
with him before his turn came
1t came just after we had entered a
[. little fertile valley. We had not seen
the utter of II dyed feather for two
: days. The work was going merrily
: on. Old Fairfax silent and grim,
took his sights and scrubbed in his
fed book with the regularity OF a
3 Giuchinc. One troop of the soldiers
1! had gone on hall mile ahead. The
tulhcr WAS encamped Il short distance
lin the rear.
Laurence was only staff-man He
asxI advanced. planting his staff at
ii1lta&als. till he was we'll away frorr
Nle nest OF us. Old Fairfax was
foNiaMing. scribbling in his field book.
The az ,rpan were planting stakes.
Suddenly there came the crack o
rifle and Fairfax staggered. finished
the entry he swas making in his tield'
book, and then fell forward on hi:
face. Then he staggered to his fee
and came wavering toward U.S.
.Hi-yah! Hi-yah! ZIP ZIP! VI
.EI-Ir!"
Ia squad Of screeching redskins
counted on swift ponies burst from
mber -fringed arroyo and swir.e'
down upon the wounded man. firing
their rifles and yelling like demons
The ax-men came running back tow
ard us for their lives. Both troop
eprane to the saddle but it was plail
ito be seen that the Indians would b
upon E4irfax before either troop cou!'
come near enough to prevent
i saw young Laurence a. drop nj
.staff. give one frighteAed glance a
tthe bowling crew, start back towar
1.-THE sold;era stop suddenly. jerk hi
revolver from It's holster. and ru
straight back toward his chief
Fairfax was down again. II
seemed badly hit. Laurence reache
him the fraction of minute befor
the Indians, and we could sec hir
standing astride his prostrate chic
firing his weapon with the regularit
of machine into the horde rushin
down upon him. Its six cartridge
were exhausted in the space OF ha
as many quick drawn breaths. m
thon we saw him jerk Jne weapo
from old Fairfax's belt and straighte
up.
Then the demons swirled down VI
on him. He was shot somewher
AS the yelling horde swarmed ov'
him. sinewy hands clutched him I
the b hair and the arms and he WI
swung up in front of a stalwart wa
rior, struck senseless, and then
came up in time to save Fairfax.
There was horrible whlrlwind
shots and yells across the little vail
and away as the soldiers charged
pursuit And then. presently. it y
all over The soldiers had beat
off the Indians for that time, but tn