St. Paul daily globe., 1893-06-12

| The writer, now known as Catherine T.
| SWerdfeger, says she was impelled t.
her literary task by friends who desired
! to see the mistakes abounding i'll earle
versions corrected. Some two years agt
| a partial account of the terrible expert
ences of the four girl captiyes appeared
| in the Century; Various other storle!
of the affair, none of which can be con
sdered quite trustworthy, have DeeI
! given to the public from time to time.
| Gen. Miles, after reading the story
| pronounced it not only true, but re
markabe for its accuracy and elearness
taking into consideration the fact tina
| more than eighteen years have elapsed
! since the occurrence of the events mar
! rated Only in one or two particulars
which related to events beyond the per
| sonal knowledge of the narrator, did he
| find-it necessary to give supplemental
| Information, as will appear further OF
in the present. account. The genera
| was, indeed, quite aStonished to fine
| that Catherine, after witnessing the
| cruel slaughter of her father and hel
mother, her brother and two of her sis
tiers, and suffering the tortures of lone
and almost hopeless captivity among
savages, should, after the lapse OF sc
long period. be able to give the de
tails with so much faithfulneSS.
This story of murder. outrage and
| captivity, with Indians in War-palnt fol
a background, and soldiers of the front
ier forts coming at last to the rescue,
has In it the elements of border ro-
nance; yet, as here offered, it is nothing
more than backWoodS recital from the
pen of the captive who suffered most
and to whom deliverance probably came
with the greatest joy. incidentally il
indicates to some extent the importance
Of Gen. Miles campaigns against the
hoStiles during the years 1874 and 1875.
There is something peculiarly pathetic III
that part of the story which tells of the
sufferingS of two of the little girls, who,
after being abandoned by the savages,
wandered for month on the pathleSS
prairieS, when. by some strange good
fortune, they fell upon the trail OF the
army, and lived on crumbs and crack
ers which had been cast away. Going
back in memory to that terrible time,
the means Of their salvation must GER
tainly appear to them now in the light
Of special providence.
Johu German was a poor farmer at
Blue Ridge, Fannin county, Ga. He
served in the Confederate army. and
WHICH Ilt WGIlI ltOlIl luo dI uti, IL
common with many others, found his
family in destitute circumstances. With
a yoke of oxen and wagon, which fur
nshed the only means of transportation
he could afford, he set out with his large
family for the great West in April, 1870.
Iu Central Tennessee work was found,
and there the family remained until the
following September. Then they pushed
on into Southern Missouri, where Ger
man took up homestead. After spend
ing three years in Missouri, amid sick
ness and discouragement, they again
pulled up stakes' and set forth for
Kansas. They stopped at Elgin, a little
town i'll Chautauqua county, along the
line of the Usage strip.
Work was found for father and son in
Indian territory, and the rest of the
family were glad of the prospect OF
settling permanently. But German
soon got restless again-like so many of
the pioneers-and determined to move
on into Colorado. He thought the
mountain air would benefit some of the
children, who we're prediSposed to con-
sumption. That last fateful move and
its consequences are best described in
the words of Catherine:
We left Elgin on the 10th of August,
1874. We journeyed along till we came
to the Smoky Hill river. Here we were
told by people living along the line that
we had better keep along the river so
we could get water. They said we could
not get water If we went along the rail-
road. And if we took the old trail by
the river we would not see house for
over a hundred miles. We took the
river road, and everything seemed per-
fectly quiet. We met several persons
on our several days journey up the
river.
Father said we would start early and
make Fort Wallace the last day. |
know he felt uneasy all that lonely way,
bu1 We had no indications or danger,
and now We were so near to the settle
melt he seemed more at ease. The
days work shall pass over as quickly
az possible, for | do not like to think of
what happened. 1t was Sept. II. We
were just starting as the sun began
10 peep over the hills. Father took his
gun and started on ahead of the wagon.
My brother and had gone to drive the
COWS along. We were driving two cows
and two yearlings. We had just turned
them toward the moving wagon when
we heard yellS.
On looking we saw Indians dashing
down upon the wagon and father. We
were about a hundred yards off and we
started to run in northeastern direc-
ton. We got something like half a
mile, but were followed by the Indians.
Brother was killed, and was taken back
to the wagon, only to see father, mother
and my oldest sister had been killed.
Then they killed sister younger than
me. They thought they were taking
the four youngest, because | was
smaller than the sister they killed last.
This was all done in a very short time.
Leaving the wreck behind, they then
started south, took Il G cattle along
some distance; then they killed them,
ate what they wanted and left the car
casses lay. That afternoon a thunder
storm came up and the rain poured
down, but we had 10 shelter. When
they stopped for night they tried to fix
blankets up for shelter, but made a
poor attempt at it. There were nine
teen IndianS-seventee men and
two squaws. The little squaw 1--WE
called herr seemed very sorry for us and
would try to prepare something for us
to eat. but the big one was of different
nature and not very much inclined to
do anything for our benefit. Ii any
thing was done to make our distress
greater she seemed to enjoy 1t hugely.
These Indians had left their main tribe
on the plains of Texas and come on
raiding tour. There was a raiding
party of about 100 in it in the country
at that time. We did not see the big
party.
Continuing her narrative, Catherine
tells how the Indians, after few days,
reached the Arkansas river, where a
halt was made to allow the bucks to for
age in the surrounding country for
cattle and other plunder. They slaught-
cred cattle by the wholesale, and with
the exception of what little they ate,
left the carcasses scattered about for
wolves and vultures. When the journey
was resumed it was evident to the.cap-
lives that the Indians were on the alert
for soldiers on their trail. She writes:
We travelled at lively gait, and l
know they were, expecting to be fol-
owed. They scarcely spoke above
whisper. We travelled speedily till
toward morning, then stopped till day
light. We were pretty hungry some
lays, for we did not have our meals
very regular-once a day and some
lines not that often, Julia and Addie.