Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-12-25
Twice He Became, a Hero Without
Intending to Be.
BOTH Times HIS HORSE RAN AWAY
Carried Him WiIIy-niI|y on to
Deeds of Daring.
WILD WEST ADVENTURES

Tennessee and in certain sections of the
west. He has reputation as a writer, a
cowboy and an Indian fighter By many
he is regarded as great hero His friends
here know him best keen wit.
The other day he got confidential with a
Star reporter.
Accident often makes heroes" he said.
Twice in my life 1 gained some fame.
have enjoyed the sensation of being a hero
and have had my courage praised with loud
acclaim, but 1 didn't have the courage to
tell that it was all an accident. But the
fact is that things just happened to me so
that couldn't get out of being a hero, and
l made the best of it.
Il went west from Tennessee to make my
fortune got out on the cattle ranges and
was looking for Il job. l knew nothing at
all about herding cattle. 1 could ride fairly
well, as most southern men can, and could
manage most any horse that another man
could, but knew nothing about herding cat
tie, and had no sort of conception of what
one of those big western herds was like.
Il had hardly got into camp among the
cowboys on an immense cattle ranch when
something happened, and the cry went up
that there was stampede. We were right
out on the prairie and the herd of cattle
which was off at some distance, was COM
ing on the jump in our direction. The cow
boys jumped on their horses and scattered
for high places. l had no idea how serious
thing a stampede of cattle was. l had
no conception of the size of the herd and
did not realize the danger.
Reckless Riding.
II rode straight toward the cattle on the
dead run, trying to head them off as 1
would a few cows in a pasture. When l
got pretty close to them the thing began to
dawn upon me. In front of me We're .hous-
ands of cattle, covering acres OF ground,
hao
cavalry, fairly making the earth tremble
with the tramp of their feet. Their dilated
nostrils, great spreading horns and bulky
forms wedGed together in great rushing
mass convinced me that | had no business
riding headong into them. l wheeled my
horse around and put out on the dead run.
The herd came laundering behind me. At
every jump of my horse the bunch of cattle
seemed to get bigger. They We're right be-
hind me. | was leading the charge All at
once L thought what ould happen if my
horse should stumble. 1 bore off a little to
the right to get out of the line of their
charge. They followed close in my lead.
Sill mere sharply to the right l bore, but
they were directly in my trail. They were
following me to dead certainty, and /
could only guess what the finish would be,
but bore off still more to the right Final
ly l got into heavily rolling ground, and,
seeing my chance, l turned quickly behind
ridge and cut out directly to the left
along the sunken ground. the ridge hiding
Il
to the right until they got to running in
great circle and got mixed and wound up
to a standstill. When ] appeared the
top of a ridge a mile away the cowboys
came over to me on the gailop.
" It's the best l ever saw. cried one of
them, slapping me on the shoulder. L
never saw cattle mlled better
Il didn't know what he meant. but saw
were all over yhelming in their praise of
my milling. They said l had saved the
herd, and took me up in triumph to the
owner of the ranch. There was one of the
cowboys l knew called Yellow John, who
came from the same county l did in Ten
nessee. l got him aside and asked him
what it was all about and what milling
was
Regarded AS a Hero.
81 kinder thought you didn't know what
you were doing he said, but don't say Il
wcrd.' He then explained that milling
was leading a stampeded herd off their
straight. headong course and getting them
to run in a circle. so that they would get
mixed up and locked in bunch Cowboys
take the lead of a stampeded herd at the
risk OF their lives to save the herd from de-
struction or heavy loss; and this is what I
had done without intending to.
Il took Yellow Johns advice to say moth
irg, and was made a great hero of. 1 was
at once taken into service, and was the
highest paid cowboy on the ranch. With
play out the hand.
Il was still enjoying the glory of this adj
venture, when, in 1852, the Creek war
broke out, and Lieut.. Black was ordered
to prevent collision between the two
lands of Indians, one under Specie and
the other under Chicotah. Lieut.. Black re-
cruited his company with some of the most
daring of the cowboys, and Yellow John
and were of the party. The two bands of
Indians had been advancing toward each
other, and were separated by a range of
hllls, and there were but two passes
through which they could go. Lieut..
Blacks troops were camped near one of
these passes. Across the pass from the
camp was an elevation commanding view
OF both passes. Yellow John and l were
stationed on this elevation to watch the
further pass under orders to give the
alarm at once If the Indians made move
II was not deemed possible that the In
dams would attempt the pass between us
and the camp. l had never had ANYTHING
to do with Indians. and l don't suppose
Yellow John had, but We kept our eyes and
ears open. We did not hear a sound nor
see sight of an Indian.
Brush With Indinns.
elbow John was on his horse and 1 was
standing with my hand on the saddle Di-
rectly there was whiZ, and an arrow wen.
through the calf of Yellow Johns leg,
through the saddle tethers and into the
horse. It was just enough to set the horse
"iio' anu IL uaSneQ OIL toward the camp.
1 threw myself into my saddle, lost the
reins, and my horse followed that of Yellow
John. This happened in an instant. A
shower of arrows followed the first one
and they came from between us and the
camp. Neither of us had any control over
his horse nor any choice of what direction
we would take. We knew the Indians were
between us and the camp, and that we were
dashing right into them, but we had to go
where our horses took lus. The Indians had
refrained from using firearms lest they
should alarm the camp 1 do not know
just what happened, except that the ar
rows were whizzing about me and 1 was
lying as close as I could to my horses neck
shooting, while the horse was going like all
possessed. 1 rode into camp with a re-
volver in each hand with all the chambers
empty. The troops got out and drove the
Indians back, preventing their escape. that
had been cleverly designed. The next
morning I found that both TANKS of my
horse We're powder-burnt. I had been
shooting straight down into the ground
with both hands, instead of shooting at
the Indians. / was SO scared I did not
know what was doing. But was great
hero Lieut.. Black complimented me on my
daring, and it was reported to the depart