The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1897-02-05
GARRISON IN
A ROUND HOUSE.

"Smoky Hill was the end of the track
at that time," said the old engineer,
shifting his lame foot to an easy posi-
ton. I'VE had built a round house,
square one-with two stalls and room
at the back for three or four hunks and
a work bench. To protect ourselves
against the Sioux we had lined, or
wainscoated, the house up to about five
feet from the ground and filed in be-
hind the lining with sand.
Indians were thicker than grasshop-
pers in Kansas in the days of the build
ing of the Kansas Pacific, and scarcely
a day-never a week-went by without
a fight At first they appeared to be
awed by the locomotives, but in little
while thsiisne"rstitious fear had van
ished a. were constantly setting
lures t re the big hoss,' as they
called hgine. One day we were
out at Il front with train of steel,
Hill. It had been showing all day in
little fits and spits, and near nightfal
the clouds became thicker and darker,
and before the sun had gone down the
snow was falling fast. By the time
the last rail had been unloaded it was
pitch dark, and as the engine was head
ed west, we were obliged to back up all
the way to Smoky Hill. The conductor
and the captain Of the guard, composed
Of government scouts, took a stand on
the rearmost f1at-car, and when 1 got
a signal opened the throttle and be-
gan to poke the blunt end of the con-
s,,&o la, a..
dinarily, l hate running backward at
night, but in a case of this kind it is a
real relief to know that there are
dozen or more well-armed soldiers be-
tween you and whatever the darkness
holds. Three or four men with white
lights were stationed at intervals along
the tops of the ten or twelve cars that
made up the train. The house car, or
caboose, was next the engine, and upon
the top of this car stood the foreman Of
the gang, and from him was supposed
to take my tokens
eve had been in motion less than ten
minutes when I saw the conductors
light 1--WE were going with the storm
stand out, and following this move
ment all the lights along the trains top
pointed over the plain, and 1 began to
slow down. Instantly a dozen shots
were fired from the darkness. Muff1ed
by the storm, the sound came, as If a
pack Of firecrackers were going off un-
der dinner pail, and we all knew what
we had run into. Injuns,' shouted the
fireman, leaping across the gangway,
and they're on my side.' Keep your
81
'Now all the white lights, following
another signal from the conductor, be-
gan to whirl furiously in short circle.
That was my notion precisely. If they
had prepared to ditch US we might as
well ointo the ditch as to remain on the
tops OF tie cars to be picked off by the
Sioux, so l opened the throttle and be-
gan to back away again as fast as pos
sible. The Indians had prepared to
ditch our train. They had placed a
great pile of cross-ties upon the track,
expecting that when we struck them
our train would come to a dead stop.
This small party which had fired upon
us was the outer watch, the main band
being huddled about the head of ties,
where they expected US to halt, and
where most of the amusement would
occur. The track was newly laid, and
as billowy as rough sea, but this was
no time for careful running.
''The old work engine soon had the
empty train going at a thirty-mile gait,
and then we hit the tie pile. The men
on the rear car, which was now the
front, had anticipated wreck, and re-
tired in bad order to the center of the
train The Indians, who had only a
faint notion of the power and resistance
of a locomotive, stood close together
about the pile of ties. The falling snow
had made the rails and timbers so wet
and slippery that when we hit the stack
of wood the ties few in all directions.
Some Of them were thrown to the tops
of the cars and others few into the mob
of redskins, knocking them into con-
fusion. 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 right at the con-
ductor's feet. The fellow was consid-
erably stunned by the fall, and, takinr
advantage of his condition, the scouts
seized and bound him with piece Of
bell cord, taking care to remove an ugly
r., L