The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-09-10
THE FIELD OF ADVENTURE,
THRILLING INCIDENTS AND OAR
ING DEEDS ON LAND AND SEA.
\ Minister'S Narrow Escape From
lndians-Ripped by a SwordGsh
Rode With a Skull.

were on the warpath in 1867.
Stage stations we're attacked
6 and burned. telegraph wires
were torn down and thrown into wells,
and oil regular communication on the
overland trail was abandoned. 1t was
the duty of Captain Powell to estab-
lish the stations, leaving a guard Of
two or three men at each, and to push
On toward Fort Lupton. The country
was swarming with Indians, and small
parties of white men moved only under
great peril. At one point along the
river the command met a stage. which
presented an amusing sight. On the
top sat five men, armed with long guns
and revolvers, while from the inside
peereG q woman and three children.
The Captain persuaded the party to
place itself under his protection, as a
coach had been attacked the day before
and the driver killed. At the Wis
consin ranch the coach and the dead
body of the driver were brought in.
The lining had been cut out and the
woodwork was riddled with bullets.
The savages had torn open the mail
sack and distributed the letters over
the plains. after tearing them open, as
if in search Of money.
The next day at spot called Living
Springs, forty miles north Of Denver,
long, lank individual walked into
camp. The stranger called for the
officer in command, and was conducted
to Captain Powell.
"The man introduced himself rs a
Methodist minister from Denver" said
Colonel Powell. 81 asked him how
he happened to be so far from home.
He replied by saying that he wanted
to borrow gun. III coach comes
through said he, L want to 50 along
and kill some OF those red devils that
were after me yesterday ] asked the
maA to sit down aud tell his story.
He did so, saying that he was IN the
coach whose driver was killed the day
before. looked at him in astonish-
ment, but he told his story in such
straightforward way that I believed
it. He explained that the day before
was quite warm, and after dinner he
had pulled of his coat and boots, and
being the only passenger in the coach
had stretched himself across the seats
inside and gone to sleep. His story
went as follows:
':I had not been mapping very long
when l was awakened by the most in
ferual yelling I ever heard in my life.
I looked out the window, and found
that thirty or forty Indians had at
tackled the coach, and were pouring
volley after volley into it. The driver
had turned the horses, and we were
making remarkable speed toward God
frey's ranch. A shot struck the driver,
and he fell off the box dead.
"'Then l thought my only chance
of safety lay in reaching the boot and
getting hold Of the lines. climbed
out of the door, crawled into the seat
left vacant, and discovered to my dis
may that the lines had fallen between
IL / ~--~o~. or2 were draoninr on the
ground
Continuing his narrative, Colonel
Powell related the story as it came
from the lips Of the minister. The
Indians continued their frightful
shouts, and the terrified horses
plunged forward Mt pace that threat
ened to wreck the coach. The minis
ter climbed down to the tongue of the
coach and made wild grab for the
lines. At the same moment the coach
lunged across a gulley in the san |
which had been formed by storm
the day before. The minister lest his
hold aud fell hcadloug into the wash
out. The coach passed over him, anil
q moment later the pursuing Indians
dashed by on horseback after the coach
and horses.
The minister lay perfectly still for
several minutes Then he peerel over
the plain, to see that the coach had
been stoppel' q short distance away
and was being robbed The minister
saw only one means Of escape The
Indians would certainly return for his
scalp, anil MS only safety was in a
bold dash for the Plate River, several
hunlred yards away. The river was
wide and swift, anil he might succeed
in crossing to the opposite bank. The
project was clrriel into execution. In
his Stocking feet the white man male