The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-05-09
VAIN SHOTS At A SPOOK.
Three Horsemen's Experience at the Scene
of a Utah Massacre.

Salina, Utah. dispatch says On the
night of Saturday last this little city
was awakened by the loud clatter of
horses feet through the main street
The nightgowned people ran to the win
dows and recognized the lorsemen as
Griffin Elliott, Tom Fastfold and Cald-
we'll Johnson. for all three always rode
milk-whte horses. When a horse be-
longing to one of them died he never
rested until he found himself bestridng
The like of the dead animal. These three
men were OF undisputed courage. and no
man in the county would have dared
offend them or approach any of them
with desire to pick quarrel with inn
punity, for there was not only their indi-
-idual daring but to insult one was to
encounter all three.
Knowing the men, even those not given
TO frequenting the saloon. the Hog
eye" to which the three frantic riders
had gone, were there that night. This is
the tale as related by Caldwell:
I'VE went hunting this morning, and
struck cross Wilder Mason's fields
then into the small timber long the river
then we follered that some, then we
Game 10 a patch of ground which looked
as IL no axe had ever fetched II. There
was a great dea. OF underground and
bushes as we'll, with an abundance Of
game both big and little, and for the
whole day we had more rabbits and
squirrels than we could shoot. Even
deer were plentiful, AMI ran within
few feet of you sometimes when they
didn't see you coming. and often and
often they'd run clean over our feet
when you or them would step from be-
lind bush. Every now and then, bout
two or three hours apart, we'd catch
glimpse Of a man way i'm the distance,
but he'd never come anywhere nigh us.
and as we warn't Fostering him we
didn't look him up. once or twice Tom,
straiEinS his eyes, would say: Wonder
what is that fellow doing wandering
round these woods? For I'm a fool,
and a big fool too. if he's got gum
"Grif and med laugh at the notion OF
lodging about in that thar dismal wood
'thout gun when thar warn't nothing
else worth locking at Still il seemed TO
me that the next time l glimpsed him I
couldn't catch a sight Of no gun in his
hands. 1 told Griffin 10 look, and he
couldn't see no man either. WHAT
says |, no gun nor man" NO says he,
staring at the spot where / was pointing
TO, and when l come to rub my eyes he
was gone. too. though IL had not been
half a second since / looked away. 1T
must be a spook, boys says |, and we
all laughed but looking round we gin
10 see that it was growing on toward
dark, and the owls were beginning TO
boot in pretty doleful way.
Then Tom he says. I tell you what.
boys, let's have supper out here.
Things kinder taste better when you eat
EN- In the wood. Grit and me didn't
care 10 eat stuff so newly killed. bat
Tom picked out several birds we had
killed early In the day. and we soon had a
roaring fire under tree and pronged
stick over IL with the cleaned game on
it, We sat around II telling stories,
when all at once Tom yelled out: MY
God. look at that" and we saw Just be-
tween Toms head and mine a headless
Indian, standing clawlng at his severed
throat in A way that made you sick.
Il fell back dizzy at the sight and cold
as death. But all at once the figure was
gone, and there was a woman with =
face as II she had been dead for a long
time. and in her arms was a child-a
little thing about two years old. We
jumped to our feet and every fellow Of
us grabbed our guns. and we must have
fairly rlddled that tree around which
we chased that Indian. We expected 70
see that red devil fall dead every mo-
ment. but the manner In which he
evaded the bullets was the most extraor-
binary thing I ever see
Pretty soon the Indian went awav.
and the woman. as blind as ever any
body was. with her ewes fairly shot ont
OF her head, knelt down with the little
dead body Of her child in her arms
and tried TO dig its grave with her blunt
and broken fingers. We wanted 20 HELM
her, but when we went 10 the spot she
was gone. and blmeby Elliott whis-
pered to me: They amt no human he
ings. Caldwell. but they've come back
to tell us what We should do for 'en.
and that's sweep 'em Off the afrth. and
we are the ones to help 'em. We've
seen to-day only a little work. and I
and you and Tom here must he pretty
nigh tired OF 'em. No. don't repeat their
own savage act. but set 'em 10 work.
and thatll kill 'em dead, sure
Then we went back TO where we'd
left our horses and that Internal beast
chased us every inch Of the way home
First I'd find him on my horse grinning
In my face; then I'd see him on one OF
the others"
When Caldwell finished his story he
rose and looked at old Robinson. who
smiled and said. Johnson. my boy. I've
known that story for over twenty years.
and that's why the town avoids the spot
Of one Of the most fearful massacres In
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Times. March
18th.