The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1894-01-25

"SNAA E'7ILiIl. Iu6 SdIHleHlS lAt'
. gave me for my personal use led mt
TO think they must have come int
. possession of the wardrobe of the Ton
! Thumb. As / am a tall citizen. will
a visible tendency TO what ones friends
call embonpOint and others call lank
( L must have been a rather cheerins
/ spectacle. Between the tops of the
I shoes and the bottoms of the trouser.
there We're eight or nine inches o
bare legs, and the waistband of ny
neither garment was held as nearly to
/ geth7r as possible by a piece of string
The coat might have been taken fol
a porous plaster with sleeves attached
and my appearance was such that old
Van, who had wanted to shoot at me
awhile back for refusing to obey his
orders and remain on the other side.
roared with laughter aud swore him
self amiably to sleep.
The men who kept that ranch were
entertaining persons and good fellows
as we say OF generous, open-handed
folks. The place was at our disposal,
along with everything in it. True,
there wasn't much, but the spirit OF
hospitality was there, and such condi-
tfOns under such circumstances COM
mand One'sregard. The establishment
was painfully deficient in whisky, and
our party had none either. There
was d small military camp a few
miles further on, at the mouth Of Red
Canon. but the ranchman said the
officer IN command could not be Undue
ed to part with any Of his liquor. I
said | thought [ could get a little, and
the ranchman said they thought ]
couldn't.
Before starting from Cheyenne
had ransacked the Sun office there fer
exchanges, and had brought along
something like a bale of these more
or less mutilated newspapers to dis
tribute among the print hungry people
along the road Take a man away
from civilization for a time. and he
will more highly prize a recent news
paper than he would banquet at
Deimonico's. 1 have seen miners
throw down their picks, divide new
ly arrived paper up into small parts
so that each might have some portion
nf 1t TO himself, and then, sitting III q
row on the sluice box, read for hours,
exchanging their pieces of paper a.
they went along. And no earthly
power could have induced those men
to go back to work while there was Z
line left unread.
Supplying myself with a bundle OF
my exchanges | rode over to the camp
and presented the papers to tbs major
in command. He was delighted, and
SO were the other officers. Presently
We We're all In the doctors tent sip
ping toddy. The liquor was good and
| yentured to say so. The doctor de
cIared that | must take some OF it
back with me after dinner really
must. And when [ reined up in front
Of the old log house a few hours later,
there was an orderly with me who
bore a demijohn of as good old rye as
often finds its way down an appreciate
i've throat
That night we sat long by the crack
ling fire. and told stories of the from
tier. Those four rancheTs had been
for years on the outside edge Of civil
ization, and had seen about all there
was to see in that direction. They
sometimes had to stand off the In
dians right here Coming in only u
few months before, they had been in
a very lively tilt with party Of war
riors. They We're travelling with a
wagon train, and were In the heart of
the Sioux country. Everybody had
been cautioned to keep close and take
no chances. for, under these circum-
stances, the wayfarer who wanders far
from bis associates is likely to fall
into a condition where hair tones will
avail him nothing. But no Indians
were seen, and one day German
traveller shouldered his rifle and set
out in advance Of the caravan TO git
me some andelopes yet alretty." An
hour or two later. this unwary Ger
man, who was Just climbing hill a
mile or so ahead, was observed to
stumble, pick himself up, fire his rifle,
and stumble again. An instant later
two or three sharp reports told that
he was not doing all the shooting, by
any means.
The four ranchers dashed forward
to the rescue of their incauuOus com
panion, leaving word for the entire
party to come along as rapidly as was
consistent with caution. hen they
arrived at the Germans side they
found him at the very top Of the hill,
lying on his belly, in great agony, but
still shooting as often as he could get
the chance Every now and then q
bullet would hit the ground near at
hand, sending up a little cloud Of
dirt. Riding to and fro, yet some dis
tance off, and slowly working up the
hill. were four or five Indians, waving
their blankets, shooting and yelling as
only Indians can yell when the scent
Of Caucasian blood is on the air. The
experienced plainsmen, who had
crept up unseen, took careful aim
with their long range RemingtOn's.
each one selecting his target, and at
the word let go. Three of the Indians
tumbled over and one pony plunged
forward on his knees. never to get up
again. After that the shooting was
sharp and fast, and the remaining
braves dashed off, leaving their dead
behind them. The unfortunate but
reckless German died in the course OF
an hour, and was buried where he
fell The next wagon train that came
along found his body lying across the
road, with the scalped head cut off
and standing, CHASTITY and horrible,
upon the chest.
On the afternoon Of the last day
but one of our detention at the ranch
a wagon owned by the stage company
and bringing two passengers pulled
up at the door. The vehicle was Just
from Deadwood, whittier it had been
sent on q sort Of reconnoitring tour
under the direction of a man named
Gray, sort of rough-and-ready per
al1,,~l1L1 N i