The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1896-03-12
VOLUME XXXVII. No. :

seems 10 teIDilNf- the dIIllldl SuOiteLly
OF the use of its legs. which become as
stiff as pokers Then the creature falls
over on its side, makes few ineifect
ual gasps for breath and dies.
As the days and weeks slipped by
we began to think that either the In
dians did not know we were wolting on
their territory or that they had no de
sire to attack so formidable a party
One evening late in February, how
ever, the east course outfit. Duvall,
Scott and Atwood, came into camp and
reported that they had had a running
fight with a small war party and had
killed or wounded two Of them. They
had gone out to the end of their line,
and on their way back, when about
three miles from camp, they had been
fired on by z dozen or more mounted
Indians, who rushed up out Of a coulie.
The boys put spurs to their horses and
retreated with all speed. followed By
the Indians, who kept firing as fast as
they load could their guns. At last Du
yals horse was shot and down he went:
then the boys stopped and fired
round at the Indians, and had the sat
! isfaction of seeing one of them fall
from his horse Abandoning his horse
and saddle, Duyal then got MP behind
Atwood and they went on as fast as
they could. In a few minutes the war
| party took up the chase again. leaving
only two or three Of their number with
the one the boys had shot, As At
woods horse was now carrying a
double burden, they could not go on
as fast as before, and soon the bullets
began to strike unpleasantly near. SO
Scott dismounted and checked their |
pursuers, and when the other boys had |
made few hundred yards he rejoin-
ed them. This manOenvre was re-
Deated several times, and was quite |
successful, for the Indians were arm
ed with old Hudson Bay company |
''fukes,' or smooth bore flint locks, |
which were not reliable at distance
above seventy five yards, while Scott,
as well as the rest OF us, used the |
Hawkins rifle, thirty two balls TO the
pound, which was every bit as accur-
ate as the modern breechloader SO |
it was that when Scott dismounted |
the Indians kept at a safe distance.
hoping that one of the many shots
they fired at him might find the mark
AS the distance to camp became
shorter and shorter the boys felt their
courage rise. and finally they con
cluded that they wouldn't be driv-
en- Il yard further They all dis
mounted, and although the trade balls
from the Indian fukes occasionally
struck the ground little too near,
they took deliberate aim at their pur-
suers, some 300 yards distant. As the
smoke cleared away they saw one of
them reel and tumble headlong to the
ground. The boys gave yell Of
triumph, and fired several rounds as
fast as they could reload; bot the In
dians seemed to have had enough and
quickly rode away. carrying their fal
len comrade with them.
Discussing the affair that night, we
concluded to stand our ground. Every
body was well aware that the Indians
never would be satisfied until they had
tried to ayenge the death of their com
rades. and that IN two OF three weeks
they would return in full force and
try to wipe us out. One or two timid
ones favored an immediate return to
Fort Benton, but they were soon
silenced when old Dan said:
Il think | expess the sentiment Of
this year camp when | say that
sooner'n leave the wolves lyain' around
the lnjuns gifts my ha'r"
Except for a few days in January
the weather had been so cold that it
was impossible to do any SHINING. the
wolves freezing solid in a single night
and hundreds of them were lying
around our bats. But now a warm
interval set in, and we all worked from
daylight to dark skinning the animals
and stretching the hides on the ground
about the camp. In less then two
weeks we made such progress that we
had cared for all the frozen animals,
and had only to work on those that
we found about the bats from day to
day. So we quit going out over our
lines, kept a watch of four men out
on the hills two miles from camp. and
fortified our position as well as we
could. Around the inside Of one of
the lodges we built a sod wall two
feet wide and twice as high to shelter
the women and children. The corral
was chinke3 with poles to make it
fairly bullet proof, and lastly we
threw up some breastwOrks on the
east side of the corral, relying on the
corral itself and the wagons as shell
ter from other directions
Then the time began to drag.
Everybody felt more or less suspense,
and wished the Indians would come,
If they intended to come at all After
few DAYS of this monotonous lying
in camp, | think if anybody had pro
posed a general retreat to the fort |
there would not have been a dissenting
voice. But after the stand we had |
taken nobody liked to be the first to |
make such proposition.
1t was on March %, about 10 O'Clock
in the morning, that our scouts came
charging into camp and reported a
large body of Indians approaching. |
The horses were corTalled. the women |
and children crowded in their lodge. /
and. ollr rifles and revolvers carefully /
loaded, we got behind our breast |
works aud impatlently waited the at
tack In little while we saw the |
Indians, 100 or more some riding |
slowly over the ridge down to the |
creek, some 400 yards distant. and |
disappear in the little belt of timber
which fringed the banks. In few |
minutes they suddenly rushed ont in |
solid body and came over the fiat at
us as fast as their horses could run. |
All of them the flower of the Assina-
boine camp, We're decked in full war
! costume of trailing eaple plumes. /
brightly decorated shields and war
clubs, and ermine fringed shirts, and !
their faces and limbs were painted |
I ] , J