Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1896-11-19
"A HAT was the way She was

was Mary. Joe Baker was a hunter,
Indian fighter, scout, prospector and
miner, and he had Il cabin and Il home
up in the Three Buttes of Idaho, to
the west Of Fort Hall. Father and
daughter were all alone-he Il man of
30 and she "A girl under 90. We at the
fort knew him well, and we saw the
gITT quite often, but no one knew Joe
Baker well enough to question him
about the past. For reasons Of his own
he had taken up his abode beyond civ
ilizatiOn, and though the life was wild
and lonely and full of danger, the
daughter seemed to prefer it.
A girl of about Is when | knew her
slight, blue eyes, short, curly hair, a
strong face, dressed for climbing, rid
ing and walking, and II who com
manded both admiration and respect
the moment you laid eyes on her-she
had a %handshake for officer and pri-
vate alike, and to us and all others
who came that way she was a border
queen. We said to each other that it
was a strange thing for Joe Baker to
make his home among the dangers of
the mountains, miles and miles from
the nearest settler, and to expose his
daughter to the hardships, privations
and perlls of a frontier life, but no one
questioned him or her. nor did either
volunteer any explanations.
The cabin was in Il bit of valley way
up the East Butte, and was built most
ly of stone and contained three rooms.
There were days ut Il time, when Ba-
ker was prospecting or scouting, in
which the girl must have been left en-
tirely alone, but she rode, hunted and
nshed, ana now n then was the guest
of the c%olonel's wife at the fort for
two or three days at Il time. The wom-
an may have found out more about
the girl than have told you, but if so
the information did not cross the pa
AIDE ground to the barracks.
For weeks the Indians of Idaho had
been sulky and sullen and threatening.
The force at Fort Hall had becn in
creased by fifty men, all wagon trains
were doubly guarded, and every sol
der or citizen who understood Indian
character felt that an outbreak was at
hand.
One day, when Joe Baker was at the
fort consulting with the colonel the
latter advised him to abandon his home
and take refuge among us. The old
man realized the situation, but said he
would wait and see. He hated contact
with the world-even that intinitcSim-
al portion represented by Il hundred
people at Il frontier pOSt-and the
daughter knew no fear. We saw him
two or three times Il week. as he was
then scouting among the Indians and
bringing In reports, but we had not
seen the girl for II month, when Il ser
geant'S guard was dispatched to East
Butte TO cut and haul telegraph poles
for the line which was to connect the
Tort with the OUTSIDE world. There
was danger that we might be cut off If
an outbreak occurred, but there was
also need Of haste in completing the
line.
. That was our first glimpse of the
cabin, rs we went to our work on the
mountain-side, and Mary stood ut the
door to shake hands all around and in
Quire after those who were absent.
She anticipated an outbreak ON the
part of the Indians, but expressed no
fear. Only the day before she had re-
ceived a visit from three sullen war
riors, who demanded food and seemed
on the point of committing violence, |
but she ordered them away at the
muzzle of her rifle. and had no thought
of leaving the place until her father re-
turned and advised the step.
Two miles east of the cabin we made
our camp and began work, but the In
dians were ready sooner than we had
planned for. On the second night of
our stay we were fired into at midnight
and routed out of camp with the loss
of two men killed. We were falling
back in the direction of Bakers cabin
when we were joined by Mary. In a
rocky pass, crouched down behind
powders and being fired upon every
moment by thirty Indians in our front,
the girl told her story and assumed the
command in place of the poor sergeant
lying dead.
Indians TO the number Of a dozen had
made a sudden rush upon the cabin
lust at sundowu, but fortunately she
caught sight Of them in time to close
the door. Then began a fight which
lasted for an hour, during which she
had killed two and wounded another
of their number. The redskins had at
length drawn or. and the brave girls
first thought was of the soldiers on the
mountain side. She hoped We had
heard the firing and would come down