Omaha daily bee., 1895-12-28
RECOLLECTlOH OF BORDER
Brace of Stories Recalling Life on the
Frontier.
GALLANT DASH AT THE APACHES
How Fort c. Il. Smith Was Relieved
When Bclcaeucrcd by In
dinns - Aboriginal supcrsti-
ton Served n Good Purpose.

ton Served m Good Purpose.
We had come out Of Fort Wallace. bount
Tor Camp supply, with a train of thirt,
wagons, slys a writer I'm the Detroit Ere,
Press. There were only sixty troopers to es
cort the tratn-sixty troopers and the coun
try full of war parties raiding back and forth
and flushed with their victories over thu
stage stations and isolated settlements. A
high noon, as we halted for half an hour
rest and to close up the train, fully 400 In.
dams were in sight from every wagon
Horses were unsaddlsd, rubbed down ant
given a bite to eat before the saddles served
out, firearms overhauled, and the pale-faced
teamsters warned that they must fight or be
wiped out.
We are ready half an hour after IL o'clock.
We must give the Apaches a lesson in man
ners. We had been waiting until the train
should reach a favorable location. The mo-
ment had come. On this ground the team
sters would take care Of IL with ten troopers
to guide and direct, and that left fifty Of us
to act. The word was quietly passed down
the line, each man prepared himself, and at
a note from the bugie a wonderful change
took place. Our captain wheeled with twenty
men, and charged to the rear; our single
lieutenant wheeled to the left with ten men
a sergeant charged straight ahead with ten
more. l took nine others and wheeled to the
right and rode straight at a body of eighty
Indians punched on a knoll just out Of rife
shot.
Right whsel-steady, now-forward, trot,
g2llop-charge!"
Ten to eighty! Eight to one! Odds
enough to prove our metal and make 1t
exciting. Every trooper in every squadron
was cheering as he rode. His carbine was
strapped to his back and his saber was held
aloft in his right hand.
Rush 'em, boys-drive right into en-
make a hole in the bunchi'
Our plan had b2en executed SO swiftly
that the reds were dumbfounded. Only three
or four shots were fired at us as we charged,
and the whole band sat there gazing at us
as We Numbered up. We struck them with
an awful crash-ten Of us In single rank,
and as our sabers began to flash the Indians
thought only of getting out of reach. We
had them flying in two minutes, and the
orde' was, in case they took to flight, to keep
together and run th@m for a couple OF miles,
using our carbines on their backs.
HOT WORK.
1 had a light horse, not much larger than
an Indian pony. He struck and knocked
over two ponies, and as / cut a warrior
down with my saber my horse pitched
ground. l was stunned, but remember that
two or three horses stepped en- me as the
Indians drew out and took to flight. When
| struggled to a sitting position 1t was to
find myself almost helpless. My right
shoulder was broken, my back severely
injured and my legs felt numb. 1 was in a
hollow, from which l could not see the
wagons, but could hear the fighting going
on in all directions.
To the right of me was q dead warrior;
to the left a second; further to the left a
dead pony; to the right a wounded one;
directly in front of me and twenty feet
away was a redskin, kicking and struggling. l
had just gotten a rest on my left elbow when
he sat up. The right side of his head was all
bloody from a saber cut which had shaved
IN - a-- 1"l L,- tr,onIl Inyyn HoA n t~; No |
to him. He must have been dismounted as
| was, and had also been trcdden upon. His
right arm hung limp and his back was
He fell back as he tried to sit
up, and, rolling over half wsy, his eyes
Looked straight into mine. Il.
Talk of the fury in the eyes of a tiger
brought to bay, of a lion crippled and wait
ing to strike a dying blow, of the fires of
hell burning in the eyes of a mastiff at
tackled with hydrophobia and impatient to
isstroy! The face of that Indian was the
of a demon fresh from the confines
Of hades. The hate in his eyes made the
blood chill. The desire for vengeance burned
like a blaze on a hilltop at midnight.
felt for my revolver with my left hand.
It was in the holster of my saddle. My
get at it, injured as I was, and the slight
.at movement gave me the most eXcruciat-
pain. Was he armed? Yes! l saw his
eft hand go down and seize the handle of his
anu as ue TdlSsu IL lie tTleu W
liter a shout of vengeance. He could not sit
10, and his right arm was helpless, but, shut
ing his teeth tightly together to force back
he pain, he waved the tomahawk three or
our times to get an impetus, and then flung
t as me. 1t passed over me and sunk into
he earth. /
Had he any other weapon? He lay back, {
hough, and again his eyes glared into mine, a
While the blood oozed from his wound and ran a
own his throat and neck. a
A THRILLING MOMENT.
Hate! Vengeance! Fury! Hope! Despair!
read each feeling as 1t passed through his
eart-read it from the eyes which burned
nd glinted and blazed until / grew faint at !
heir malignity. y
Then he moved his arm again and brought q
D a knife-a long, thin knife, which the !
ghtest blow would drive to a mans heart.
flashed and g~listened in the sun, and my
crept as the red devil, wounded unto
cath and almost helpless, reached out and
lid tbs knife on the ground, and then sought =
clutch the soil and drag his body toward =
e. An inch-two Observation-Disclosures
If he can have time he will pull him
Elf across that space to within striking dis r
lnce, and then drive that knife into me!
He reachss out again-he groans in pain
is fingers dig up the dirt-his eyes look {
ood-red as he calls up his thirst for venge-
ice to help his muscles perform their S
ork. Another inch-six ~nches-another
ot! / feel the ground around me again as
r as / can. No ~weapon-nothing to stop c.
Is advances!
Once more he reaches out and deposits the c
nife-the black fingers sink into the soil
I'd find a hold-the powerful muscles of a 0
ngle arm pull his crippled body along inch
inch-inch by inch! There's a brighter o
axe in his eyes-additional fury creeps into
lat steady glare. He has been wounded
ito death, but If he can kill me he will die
ithout a ~regret-aye, with a shout of exulta-
n on his lips.
Inch by inch-coming, coming-nearer,
'arer! Two fest mDresand he can reach me
ID stab and thrust with that knife. But,
ddenly ] notice that the firing has ceased.
hear the hoof beats Jofegalloping horses, and
W a half dozen troopers ride up, and one
them calls out:
BLESS my stars. hut here's our sergeant!
clio, old boy, catch "a bullet? Down boys, nj,
d look after him, and I'll Just put an stt
nee ball into ths dhead of this red devil u,
been picking fisrteeth with his hunt ID,
! knife. Stand clear a minute, boys! One, 90
o. three-gona to .injun heaven, to fool no "
IRE with wagon trains!"
FORT SMITM RELIEVED.
The story told the other day of the fierce
tile Of Sand Creek. In which White Ante De
village Of Indians. man, woman, and mi
lid, were annihihtnd by the whites under tic
3 leadership of ColOael George l.. Shoup,