The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1894-11-29
A FRONTIER ADVENTURE.

As the traveller TO or from the Paci
tic IS whirled along in the luxuriou
cars of the Union and Central Pacific
throuph these bleak mountains it i
| hard for him to realize the slow. tire
some process and the many periIs anC
| dlscOmfOrts that attended the journel
| by stage coach years ago.
Days heightened into weeks. auC
weeks into months sometimes. ere tn,
weary sOlled travele.' reached his des
! tlnatiOn, The rough, unpalatable far.
that the stations afforded, the rolling
motion Of the coach as it rushed III
| hill and down, added to which the
ever present fear of indians made this
| journey one that the stOutest heart
did not enter upon without some fears
Often the travellers bones were left
to bleach upon the plains, while his
scalp lock danSled from the belt oi
some member Of the Lo family, or his
| body was buried in some obscure and
unmarked grave.
To-day the traveller seats himself il
d palace car and is shot through to his
journeys end almost before he can ap-
pIeciate the change. He takes bis
meals at a comfortable time and place
wraps the drapery of his couch
around him, and lies down to pleas
ant dreams when night comes on.
He experiences none Of the priva-
tions and perils incident to stage
coach travel, and looks complacently
out upon the hard beaten stage-road.
and tries 10 imagine some Of the scenes
and deeds enacted upon its line in
times past. The red man gives the
locomotive a wide berth, and looks
with superstitiOus awe upon the
long and seemingly endless line OF
telegraph.
During the summer OF 1867 the In
dlans were unusually troublesome,
and from their many depredations
upon the line Of the stage comDanv's
route, and seemed determined to ex-
terminate them or drive them from
the field.
They set about their task with an
energy and bloody perseverance that
would have discouraged a corporation
possessed Of less pluck, and caused
them to withdraw their line Of coaches.
But the bravery of the company's
men, who, accustomed as they were 60
lives in which every day some new
test was put to their courage, saved
the company, and maintained after
hard lighting and much bIOodshed-
the line
In the month of June, the Indians
had partially surrounded several sta
tlons, and for the time broke the con
nectIOn.
Among the number thus besieged
was North Fork, situated on the North
Platte river, some twenty miles above
where Fort Steele now il. This sta
ton had been hemmed in for fort
night and large amount of mail had
collected, and uperintendentIS,e
finally determined to make ;.L effort
to forward a portion of it to Sulphur
Springs, the next station west. For
this purpose three cages las light
wagons with tops for baggage were
called and two coaches were loaded
with !letters, mail, and detail of
twenty picked men sent with it as an
escort A lady who had been detained
for some time at North Fork begged
to be allowed to go with the party.
and was reluctantly sent in one of the
coaches. The escort was under the
charge of John Beeman, an old from
tlersman, and the party took their de
partre one beautiful moonlight night
about eleven o'clock. They drove
swiftly along in silence, for they knew
the dangers they were about to en-
counter, and We're prepared.
One Of the drivers, George Ingman,
de serves special mention. He was a
man about twenty-five years Of age.
weighing two hundred pounds and
over, strong as an OK, andit was on ac
count OF his immense strength that
the passengers had named him "Hee
nan" Some idea of this mans DOW
ertul frame may he had from the fact
that his arm above the elbow was near
ly as large as mans thigh, and judg-
ing from his courage on this occasion.
he was as brave as he was strong.
Heenan was driving one Of the
cages to which was attached six fiery
untamed California 'bronchos," ;" which
no amount of kind treatment ever re
duces to geutleness.
Until near daylight they met with
no opposition, but just as day began
to dawn, and while they were driving
rapidly up canon some five miles in
length, the Indians opened on them
from each side.
The banks rose gradually up on
each side to level ground, about one
hundred yards away, and the Indians
mad an immense advantage. and their
tlte soon began to have atelling effect