The age-herald., 1898-07-18
BAT MASTERSON'S
 INDIAN STORY

Denver Correspondence of the Philadelphia
 Times.
 There s no man In thhs section of the country who is better known than Bat Masterson. He has a fund of orlginaa stor- ies to tell when one meets him casually that always captivates his listeners. Re- gently he was launched on a conversation suggested by the talk of the formation of a company of old Indian scouts and plains men to fight in the war with Spain, and he delivered himself of the following in- teresting views on the subject:
 "Such a company in the present war would be of inestimable service They are brave and daring lot, and have not the slightest fear of death, although they knew It in it's worst forms. The tomahawk and torture at the stake think, were more to be dreaded than the cannon's mouth.
 "There have been rare deeds of personal courage performed on the field of battle for friends and for the flag. and high rank and great glory have been gained thereby. Com paratively little, however, has been publicly recorded of the innumerable 1ife-imperil- ling acts of bravery of the frontiersmen l who fought the American savages and | faced dangers of all descriptions in de- fense of home and family. The same state- ment is true of the white hunters and gov ernment scouts. who were ever alert and willing to risk their lives in the discharge of their duty or in rendering assistance at the first call for help
 "One of the bravest things I ever knew one of our boys to do was that Of Amos (thann1an thn tima he and m old mart ner, Billy Dixon, were ccralled in a buffalo wallow, with some soldiers, by a hostile | band of something like 300 Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians. That was during ths Indian outbreak of 1874, which I have spoken about before Billy Dixon was with 1 me at the time of the 'Dobey Wall battle, in June of that year, when the trouble started. After that we both were made government scouts under General Nelson A. Miles, along with a number of others, among whom was this Amos Chapman. I Knew Chapman quite well by reputation. He was a Yankee who had come out to the frontier a number of years before, had
 hunted buffalo, traded with the Indians, fought in the Indian war of '68 and had married a Cheyenne squaw. He was a young man of perhaps thirty years of age, tough and wiry, a good rider and a. sure shot, and, outside of Ben Clark, was the best interpreter of Indian talk and sign language in the west.
 "It was in September, 1874, that General Miles command was camped the Red river, in the Texas 'Pan-Handle,' where it had followed the retreatlng Indians, or, rather. the main body of them. Prairie Dog Dave and I were selected as the two scouts to carry dispatches from General Miles to Major Compton, whose command was located on McClelland creek, about miles n he of the dispatches were really intended for Camp Supply, in the Indian Territory, still further north, but our instructions were simply to deliver them to Major Compton. Dave and hoped to be sent to Camp Supply with them for we needed some new and warmer clothes. as it was beginning to be cold nights.
 .'We were not clad in buckskin and beads, as scouts are usually pictured. Our clothing simply consisted of pair of cheap overalls, calico shirt, soft hat and a pair of boots We had lived in them all summer and thought it about time to change them. We reached Compton's camp without incl dent, and cursed our luck when we were given return dispatches to Miles, while ours were turned over to Billy Dixon and Amos Chapman to take to Camp Supply. Later, when we learned what they went through, we took 1t all back.
 Tt was known that there was a mar auding band of the red devils somewhere in the vicinity. but, like the Irishman's flea, it was a difficult matter to put finger on them. They might be in spot one day and fifty miles or more away the next. It was considered best to send a sergeant and five soldiers with the scouts for greater security and as was customary, they took an unbeaten trail to their destination.
 "Now, it happened that this rowing band of reds, numbering fully 300 warriors, had been laying five days siege to Jack Cal 1aI, m tuyay Si mil supply train in the sand hills of the Wichita river. The train was bringing supplies from Camp Supply down to Gen. eral Miles, It was surprised at this bad place for fight and was forced to go into corral. This is done by putting two wagons together in this A-shape, stringing the rest down the sides. and closing them up at the other end in this V-way. The mules and horses are kept comparatively safe in the enclosure made by the wagons, while the teamsters and soldiers get what pro- lection they can from behind the wheels or by digging rifle pits beneath the wagons. There they can shoot with little danger of being hit. Such corral stand off an army of Indians until the water gives out. The Indians attacked the train for five days, killing one lieutenant. two soldiers and some of the animals. Their loss was heavy. Soldiers of Company K, Sixth cav- airy, Captain Kingsbury, from Camp Sup ply. had appeared upon the scene, driven off the Cheyennes and relieved the besieged
 'tChapman and Dixon, with their little escort, had crossed the Wichita, some three or four miles below where the pack train had been held up but, of course, knew nothing of it's presence or that of the h. dians On a rolling prairie country. such as they were in it is a difficult matter to see any great distance on account of the knolls and holows. They were coming out of a small draw or canyon, when suddenly they espied the savages, who were almost di- rectly upon them. There was yet one thing to do. and that was to get out on the open prairie where there would be chance to fight. Temporary protection would be afforded by getting behind things in tine canyon, but it would only be mat ter of a short time when they would be surrounded and shot at from all directions. As experienced men they knew this A dash was made for the prairie, and they reached 1t In a shower of shot. It Is im- possible to shoot well from the back of ra, r1aou