The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-27
BEAR FOOT, GOOD INDIAN.
ca UGHT RED. HANDED AND SPEED.
ILT TRANsFORMED.

the Early Days of Western Rniironding
smoky Hill was at the end Of tho track at
that time" said tho old engineer, shifting his
lame foot to an easy position. I'VE had built a
roundhouso-a square one with only two
stalls and n room at tho back for three or four
hunks and a work bench. To protect our
selves against the Sioux we had lined the house
up to about five feet from tho ground and
filled In behind the lining with sand.
Indians were thicker than grasshoppers In
Kansas in the DAYS of the building of the Kan
pas Pacific. and scarcely.a day-never q week
won't bv without a fight At first they appeared
to be swed by th~eSlocomotives. but in q little
while their suporstitious fear had vanished,
and they were constantly setting lures to cap
ture thebig hoss,' as they called the engine.
One day we were out at the.front Will q train Of
steel. somo eight or ten miles west of the Hill.
II had been showing all day In little fits and
splits, and near niGhtfall the clouds became
thicker and darker, and before the sun had gone
down tho snow was falling fast. BY the time the
last rail had been unloaded IL was pitch dark.
and rs tho engine was headed west. we were
obliged to back IN nl tho way to Smoky Hill.
Tho conductor and tho captain of the guard.
composed of Government scouts. took n stand
on the rearmost%f lnt-car, and when / got a signal
l opened the throttle and began to poke the
blunt end of the construction train into the
DARKNESS. Ordinarily | hnte running ask
ward at night, but In n case OF this kind II is
a real relief to know that there are n dozen or
moo well-armed soldiers between you and
whatever tho darkness holds. Three or four men
with white lights were stationed Mt intervals
along the tops OF the ton or'twclve cars that
made up the train. The house car, or cabooso.
wns next the engine, and upon the top OF this
car stood the foreman OF the gang. and from
him I wnn auDnnsp1 IN taGc INV 'tpknpa
I'VE had been In motion less than ten min
utes when l saw the conductors light 1--WE were
going with the storm stand ont. and follow
Ing this movement all the lights along the
trains top pointed out over the plain. and |
began to slow down. Instantly n dozen shots
were fired fro IL the darkness. Muirled by tho
storm, the tound anne as II n pack Of fire.
crackers were going off under n dinner pail.
and we NIL knew what we had run into. In.
juns,' shouted the fireman. leaping,across the
| Gangway. and they're on my side Keep
your scat said /. they're on my side. too
Now all tho white lights. following another
signal from the conductor. began TO whirl furi-
ously In II short circle. That vas my notion
precisely. If they Ind prepared to ditch US.
We might as well 20 in the ditch as to remain on
the tops of the cars 10 be picked or by the
Sioux, so l opened the throttle and began TO
back away again as fast as.possiblc. The In
diars had prepared to ditch our train. They
had placed n great pile of cross ties upon the
track, expecting that when we struck them
our train would come to n dead stop. This
small party which had fired upon us was the
outer watch, the main band being huddled
about the heap OF ties where they expected rs
TO halt, and where most OF the amusement
would occur. The track was newly laid, and
rs billowy rs n rough sea, but this was no
tine for careful running. The old work engine
soon had tho empty train going at n thirty
mile gait, and then we hit the tie pile. The
men on the rear car, which was now in front.
had anticipated q wreck, and retired In bad
order to the centre O. tho train. Tis Indians,
who had only n faint notion of the power and
resistance OF n locomotive. stood close together
about the pile Of ties. The falling snow had
made the rail and timbers so wet and slippery
that when we hit the stack Of wood the ties
few in all directions. Some NJ them were
thrown TO the tops of the cars and others few
into the mob OF redskins. knocking them into
confusion. A fine buck. who must have been
standing on the track. was picked UP In the
collision and landed upon the top of the second
car. rigfa at the conductors feet. The fellow
was considerably stunned by the fall, and. tax
ing advantage of his condition. he scouts
seizei and bound him with II piece Of bell cord,
taking care to remove an ugly knife from his
rawhide belt. Tho band was so surprised to
SEQ the train plough through tho wreckage
that they forgot TO fire until ve had alm ost
passed them, and n great flcod Of fire from the
engine stack was falling among them. They
then threw up their guns. those who were still
on their feet, and let 90 at Us, but none of the
bullets affected our party.
when we reached the station the Pawnces
who were among the scouts recognized our
captive at once rs Bear Foot. n noted and.very
wicked chief. When the Sioux came to him
self and realized that he was a captive, he be-
came furious. He surrcd and strained at the
bell rope. but in vain. and finally he gave up.
gave avn Hp: ~, ,,,
i1to the round house soldiers and all for we
know the sioux would make n desperate effort
to secure their chief before the night was out.
1t was long after midnight when ono Of the
men on duty heard u low scrnping sound, like
moment later the noise was repeated. ana when
the same sound Ind been heard three or four
times the Lieutenant in ommand flashed a
and the light of /. revealed three big braves
standing close together. while n fourth was
Just creeping, in under the loor., With n we
arc-discovered expression, the tall Indian who
appeared TO be The leader glanced at his com,
panions. Then. as If the idea had struch all
Of them at once. they, threw their guns up and
let go along down tho ray OF light. and the
Lieutenant fell severely wounded.
Approaching the importance Of our cap
ture. the Captain In command had set four
powerful Pawnec scouts 10 guard Rear Foot.
'N ,NsN 80. ~ N'''N ''''' ~
would lie able to stand the Indians off till
morning. and as the storm had Smoked tho
wires down. we had been unable to t"leg nph
70 Lawrence for reEnforccincnts The fact
that their brave chief WINS himself n captive
would increase the wrath OF Che red men with
out. and taking even n moderate Wow of the
situation. we were in a hard hole. for one
would have gladly bartercd our captive and
the glory of the capture, away for the nssur-
nnce OF seeing the sun rise on the following
morning. but ] dared not hint such n thing to
the Captain, much less TO the HRw.iccs.
The four Pawnecs. with their prisoner.
werc placed In tho con ltank Of the locomotive.
while the fireman and occupied our places
in the cab and kept the steam M to 40
pounds. II at any time II seemed 10 me the
fight waI going against us. and the Sioux stood
II chance. 10 effect nm entrance. ] was TO null
out for Lawrence with the CAPTAIN and fetch
assistance, provided did not meet Il west
bound train and lose my locomotive. | rather
liked this arrangement, risky ns IL was, for II
was preferable TO remaining in the round house
to be roasted alive. TL.cn. again. disllked
fighting that's what we fed and huulcd ,heso
soldiers around for. They were 30 internally
lazy in times OF peace that ! used almost TO pray
for trouble that they might have an oppor.
tunitv at least once n week To earn their board