The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1900-09-08

hat the emigrants had had no chance
% defend themselves. The station ten
ler'S opinion was that they never fired a
shot, for he saw no Indian fall, nor one
Of them carried away by his comrades,
nor could we find one dead or wounded.
AS we surveyed this awful scene none of
US could help shedding tears we cou!d
have kept our nerve had we found only
the corpses of men, but the sight OF those
poor women and innocent children,
hacked, charred and ScalDed, was more
than we could bear; it was heart-rendinS:
And what must have been the feeling OF
these men, these husbands and fathers,
in their last moments, ere they were |
struck down by the bullets or arrows OF |
the Sioux! What distressing, what awful !
agony of mind they must have endured
in that brief time as they realized that
through their careleSSneSS, through their
haste, through their fever for gold, they
had doomed their loved ones to fright
full death, or even. worse, at the hands OF
thu cruel savages.
We began at once to bury the corpses,
but 1t was not until the next evening
that we laid the last one in the grave.
Then we made a great pile of the trunks,
boxes and household goods scattered
around, and burned them that they
might not fall into the hands of the In
oians. The livestock, of course, had
been driven away by the raiders who had
also taken all the firearms of the party;
at least we never found so much as a six
shooter. So far as l could learn the four
young women were never QedrO OIL dSdlIl
I'VE had scarcely resumed the trail
beyond Plum Creek when Indians We're
again seen on the distant ridges watching
our progress and in larger numbers than
before. 1t was thought that they were
the scouts of the party who had massa-
cred the poor souls we had just buried.
As soon as the first one was seen, Colonel
Vaughn ordered all the extra men q to
climb into the wagons and remain there
until dusk. If they see only the bull
whackers and herders,' he said, they will
think us easy prey and no doubt attack us
in the course of a night or two. L hope
they will
Not a man of US but hoped so too;
everyone of us was thirsting TO avenge
the death of those women and children,
even if he died in the attempt.
We camped early. AS soon as night
fell we loaded the two cannon with heavy
charles of ounce balls and placed them
spaces had been left between the wagons
sufficiently wide to permit their being in
stantly run out and fired. Then, after
enclosing the stock we all spread our
beds under the wagons and lay down in
our clothes, rifles and SiX-ShOoterS be-
side us, ready to spring up and do our
best at the first alarm from the guards.
The short night wore quickly away, how
ever, and the sun rose on as peaceful
a scene as one would wish to see. The
green prairie, dotted with bands of buff
falo and antelope equietly feeding, the
cheerful songs of the larkS and thrushes,
gave no hint that at any moment
painted horde of savageS might come
surging over the nearest ridge to make
us battle for our lives. How earnestly we
scanned the crests of those low ridges
and rolling hills, through the blue haze
of the early morning, for some sign of
the Sioux. How we wished we could look
through them and see what was beyond.
Immediately after breakfast. as on the
previous day, Colonel Vaughn ordered
every one but the bull WhaCkers and herd
ers into the wagons and we soon yoked up
CTR a in q
long spring day was hot, the road dusty,
and it seemed as if we never would reach
water again and camp. Not an Indian
could be seen, far or near, and we con-
cluded that they had left us to go our way
in peace. But after we cOrralled that
night Colonel Vaughn who had been rid
ing ahead all day, and scanning the coun-
try with his powerful glass, told US that
he had seen a number of Indians show
their heads above the hills as they eau
tionsly watched our slow progress. And
tonight he said, unless | am very much
mistaken, they will attack US. They now
think that their ruSe has been successful
and that we believe they have left us for
good and all. That is one of their tricks,
as l have learned by dear experience.
eve corralled that evening on the edge
of a cut bank some ten or twelve feet
high overlooking an old watercourse. AS
no attack upon us could be made there, We
placed both cannon on the opposite side,
one at each end of the corral Many of
the men threw up shallow earthWorks
under the wagons We didn't sleep that
night We all knew that when Colonel
Vaughn said he was sure of something,
that thing was going TO happen And
happen it did, for Just as faint light be-
gan to appear in the eastern horizon we
heard the thunder of the SiouX's advance
ing charge, and then the colonel called
out: They're coming; boys, keep cool,
hold your fire until we discharge the can
non. then pour ii into EN-.
ION they came, but it was still so dark
that we could mt see them. They rode
in silence until they were so near we
could make out their forms, their trail
ing plumes and feathers. Then with one
accord they gave their dreadful war cry
and let fly their arrows and discharged
their guns at the apparently sleeping
train. Almost at the same moment the
cannon belched out their deadly hail the
men followed suit with rife and pistol,
and the shrill, defiant war cry changed
to shrieks of pain ana terror as me
enemy wheeled and rode back into the
darkness out of which they came. Faint
er and fainter grew the hoof beats of their
horses until, finally, they died away In
the distance. But-muSic to our ears
out in front where grape shot and rifle
End pistol balls had met the charge;
wounded and dying were grooming ana
gasping for breath. wounded horse,
Struggling to regain its feet, gave vent
to piercing almost human, cries of pain
and terror We started to rush out to the
scene, when the colonel called out that we
were to remain where we were until day
light, so we impatiently resumed our posi-
tions Little by little the darkness faded
away before the crimsoning sky. and, as
the light grew we began to see what
havoc we had played in the ranks of the
Sioux Dead and dying warriors and
horses were scattered here and there,
singly and in groups, piled one on an
other and away beyond crawling on
their hands and knees, or limping pain
fully along, were a number of wounded
rascals endeavoring to reach a place of
conceaIment before the growing light
should reveal them to our eyes;
Now, then, boysr the colonel shouted,
mind what you are about: one of these
wounded fellows will feign death until you
are right over him and then discharge
rifle or pistol in your face. Well, go at
en- ~
I'VE rushed out. I was a pretty fair
sprinter in those days. and managed TO
get the shield bow and culver of big
faIl fellow, who himself had several long.
fine. golden-haired scalps fastened to his
war shirt They were not yet thoroughly
dry. and | knew they had been taken
from some of the poor women we had re-
Gently buried l had great satisfaction IN
cutting off his .topknot.
'I had just finished stripping my prize
when / saw some of the men grouped
about something little way beyond, and
over there found they were look
ing at one of the Indians, who had tried
to crawl away. His leg was broken and a