The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1896-12-31
up my mind | would DO so at the first

luF ueoIludt)OQ Iue trail turned do
ruptly to the right in order to cr)5s a
and the train made wide
d-tour to strike the proper place 1t
was bad crossing, and we halted to
give each team ample time While
waiting l happened to look back and
saw a band of antelope not a quarter
Of a nile off. Quickly insertn & a
fuse | sighted the cannon at them and
pulled the string. 1t was lucky for
me that | stood on one side, for the
piece bounded back and went u nder
the wagon as far as the cou pling
would reach. In few minutes Hol
mes came back and asked why [ had
fired the cannon; and with a wi nix |
tod him | guessed the old thing had
g, ne off of its own accord. L tho ught
that was the end of it, but in little
while a small squad of United States
cavalry came hurrying up from t he
river, where they were guarding the
freight, to see VIII at was the trouble.
They found Us peacefully driving
along the trail, but couldn't learn why
OF by whom the cannon had been
fired, and went back TO report. In an
hour or so We reached the encamp-
ment, and had no sooner unyoked
than the officer in charge. young
lieutenant, fresh from West Point,
sent a couple Of soldiers to arrest me.
| was taken to his tent, followed by
our whole crowd, headed by Missouri
Joe.
" See here, young man. said the
lieutenant, did you fire that cannon?'
AS | did not answer his question
promptly, for | was considering
whether to say | did, or whether to
refuse to answer at all, the officer got
angry and continued:
Nv ont answer me. Ell? Sergeant,
take him to the guard house and keep
him there until farther orders
No, you don't said Missouri Joe,
stepping up to my side This here
kid amt goin' to no guard house; that
IS, not till you've fit an licked this
yere outfit of free an independent
bullwhackers. We are peaceable men
and don't want to fire on Uncle Sans
flag, bnt Friday (my nickname) amt
gOlE' TO no guard house.'
The lieutenant was probably never
so surprised in his life. He stared at
Missouri in speechless amazement and
seeing him hesitate, Missouri took me
by the arm, saying:
Come Aid. we've got to begin
loading up and we all went back to
the wagons. Nothing more was said
about the affair. There was not more
than fifty soldiers in the camp, and
the lieutenant probably concluded he
couldn't arrest me.
I've worked hard to load up the
outfit, six tons of freight being slowed
in each wagon. and in a couple of days
were on TIE trail for Helena Five or
six days after leaving the river, we
corralled the wagons and unyoked for
dinner by a big spring. While we
were eating, Reyois, who had been on
ahead, came in and said the country
was alive with Indians.
4 seen only one,' he said. but
there's lots of signs. l b'lieve there
isn't less'n two hundred, and they're
Sioux
Well SAID Holmes, If that's the
case, Reyois, what shall we do?'
Stay right here tonight" he re-
piled. Let the cattle go. No use
sending night herder out with them,
for he would be killed. The Indians
will not bother the cattle, for they
have plenty of better meat. What
they want IS the freight in these
wagons and our scalps, if they can
get them
That night we put on a heavy
guard and slept in our clothes, ready
at any moment to get up if called, but
everything was quiet, and we began
to think that Revois had been mlstak-
en-. At dawn, before it was fairly
light, the night berder, George White
got up aud called some of us to go out
with him after the cattle.
: ] don't believe there's any Indians
about he said to me, and the boss
VIII be wanting to yoke up
"'All right, replied. Wait until
| get my boots on and we will all go
together
Hurry up, then said White. I'll
Just 60 up to the top Of that little
knoll and wait till you fellows come
Maybe can see the cattle from there.
In two or three minutes those of
Us whom White had called had prll-
ed on our stockings and boots and
started out of the corral after him. [
jumped onto the herd pony, which
was feeding close TO the wagon, using
his picket rope for a bride, and start
ed off a little to the right of the boys,
who We're Struggling along up the
hill. Suddenly the one in the lead
called to me and riding quickly to
him, | saw just over the brow of the
hill a man lying fiat on his back, his
body stuck full of arrows. He was
not only dead, but had been scalped,
and his whiskers had been taken, too.
The boys quickly lifted the body up
and placed 1t across the horse in front
of me. In the dim light we had as
yet seen no Indians, out as soon as
we turned toward camp they sprang
W CttI u lIC SIctoS anu dtttlu pltIl "
cut us off.
Arrows whizzed ali around us. Ny
pony was struck in the flank by one
and he reached the wagons before the
boys had fairly started, but from the
hill to the corral it was not more than
fifty or sixty yards, and got in safely
Not one of us was hit by the shower
of arrows. For few minutes all was
quiet, and then from all directions.
mounted Indians began to appear,
shouting and brandishing their gaudy
shields as they circled about Us. Most
of them We're armed with bows and
arrows only, but few had guns, and
they fired at Us as fast as they could
load them. We shot back, but so far
as we knew did not hit any of them.
They took good care to keep beyond
our range.
After riding and whooping about
for half an hour or more they with