The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1894-01-25
OLD STAGING DAYS.
COACHING, AND NOT THE DRAMA. IS
HERE MEANT.

In the summer Of 1876 Fort Lar
annie was the end of the Black Hill
stage route, which began at Cheyenne
4 through line to Custer and Dead
wood had been operated for shor
time. but there had been a considerabl,
period Of idleness in this rich 5rancI
Of tie transportation service, owing t.
a growing capacity among the Siou1
for tie informal requirement of white
mems horses and scalp locks. Seyera
/ drlvers-among them. if my memory
Is not at fault, the superintendent Of
the liae-had been shot, and a large
number of fine horses, which. at that
time and IN that territory, command
ed high pIices. had been run off. The
stage people felt disheartened, and
wayiarers who wanted to 90 into the
Black Hills had to join bull trains OF
make up caravans Of their own.
But, as the summer wore on and
the tide Of adventurers bound for the
/ placer mines grew larger, Luke NOor-
hees, the active manager Of the com
pany, concluded to set things going
again. | happened to be in Cheyenne
at that moment, looking out for an
available opportunity to visit the new
gold country A stage load Of pas
senger5 We're ready to start the first
/ morning, and Voorhees, himself went
along as far as Fort Laramie to see
the expedition off We bOwled into
the last-named place just before dark.
and out Of 1T the next morning just
before dawn. From Cheyenne to the
fort we had travelled in a fine.
thOroughbraced Concord coach. drawn
10y four-hOrse teams, changed at brief
Intervals From that point onward
we had no relay stations before Us.
but eight or ten days Of hard travel,
camping OUT at night. Much Of the
road We knew lay through the Indian
country. and we We're aware thai at
one point in the Horse Creek section
we must cross the trail traversed
by the friendly Indians, who were
all the time joining and returning
from the embattled legions of Sitting
Bull Only the day before at this
point Gen. MERIT had turned back
a great throng Of warriors who were
pressing nOrthward to the fray Most
/ Of the passengers was eight OF
us all told-had rifles, and everybody
Wore one or more revolvers. We had
not lost any Indians, but we might
! find some.
The outfit included a time worn,
canvas covered stage, called in that
country ',ierky," by reason of the
suddeness and frequency with which
It would, at the slightest provocation,
| Jerk the driver into the air with the
velocity of a cannon ball, in a way
20 deposit him as likely as not upon
his head by the roadside The other
vehicle was a common freight wagon,
which carried the stores, freight and
most Of the baggage Each equipage
was completed by four large tough
horses. The driver, who had been oc-
cupied in the same capacity else
! where, looked the procession over and
said that, if it was all the same to
everybody else, he would tackle the
freight wagon. He "allowed' the
lighter passenger coach wouldn't shake
mp the bones of old Van Zant Tor Van
Brunt, ] forget which,, who, as an ex-
perlenced campalgner, had been plac-
ed III charge Of the expedition by
Voorhees,. A few days later, when
old Van, whiskers, tobacco juice. pro
ianity and all, sailed parabolically
from the ''jerky' and the "jerky" ran
yehemently over him, cracking some
Of his ribs, the regular driver was very
sorry indeed, and winked at me
| thoughtfully.
There was alkai in that country, and
there was also driving rain, which
turned the dry dust into gummy,
sticky mass that clung to the wheels
until we had to pry it off in huge
slabs. The passengers tried to light
en the horses task by walking, but
the mud stuck to their feet till they
were fairl y anchored. We made tif-
teen miles the day the rain came up.
and finally had to camp out on the
bluff overlooking Horse creek, not
! half mile from the Indian crossing.
Nobody so much as thought of
building a fire, though the night was
wet and miserable. Fires are not
iavorabiy regarded in the neighbor-
hood Of prowling Sioux. So we
uunched crackers and raw ham and
heated ourselves up with Fort Lar
annie whisky, which, as one of the
party said, feels like you was haul
lng a tOmcat across a carpet by the
tail The horses were picketed, the
men We're divided up into watches,
and we shiyered through the night.
/ Once there was a splashing III ihe
creek as If thousand red men on
horseback had suddenly plunged into
the tide and We're swimming over to
investigate Us. There were no re
marks, but there was a clicking of
rifle locks. and for an hour or more
we strained our eyes an ears, waiting
fOr the slaughter. 1t did not arrive.
and IL the morning we discovered that
4 the swollen stream had washed ont
q large section Of the clay bluff. which
had had fallen into the water and
well, disturbed Us. | gathered from
| the morning conversation that nobody
/ had been scared, which was a relief.
The next night but one our cavaI-
cade halted upon the bank of a roar
ing stream fully fifty yards wide
! Ordinarily this was a mere thread OF
water not higher than ones ankles
But the storm had in few hours
raised it to a rushing torrent. On the
other side there was a log house. anC
IN response to our shouts several mne
came out. They told Us the river was
sill rising, and if we were comiuf
across within the next three or foul
days we had better start now. Ole
Van cracked his whip, shouted "Gi
ap,' and started. In two seconds his
leaders were off their feet, rearing anC
plunging in the tremendous current
Three of Us dashed in, cut the trace.
L