El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1901-02-04
THE OVERLAND TRAIL
By M. Quad
Copyright, 800. bD c. b. Leicis. ID
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In the old days of the overland trail. !
the pony express and the numbering
stagecoach stage stations had been
erected mt n distance of 10 miles apart
throughout the length of the whole trail.
After the first so miles from the Mis-
souri, river no coach was safe from at
tack until it reached San Francisco. 1t
was a misnomer to say the stations
were erected" Most of them were
dugouts-that is. a hole or cellar four
or five feet deep was dug and then
covered with slabs of timber to sup
port two feet Of dirt The stables were
made In the same way, while the hay
was stacked. There was generally an
underground passage leading from the
house to the stables. House and sta
bles were loopholed for rifles. the doors
constructed of timber or covered with
boiler iron, and there was not one OF
them which was not attacked a dozen
times over. The Indians could not use
fire as weapon. nor could they carry
a station by assault, but they captured
many OF them by trickery or siege In
no case was the life of n company en-
ployee ever spared. The distance be
tween stations. with the feeble garri-
son maintained at each, prevented any
hope of relief in case OF attack Indeed
the orders were: Defend your own
station. Only the last man alive is to
break through the Indians If he can"
Never were greater hardihood and
bravery exhibited than by the men Sc
lected to drive the coaches. Knowing
what the risks were, it seems strange
that any passengers could have been
found to fill them, but in the last two
years preceding the opening OF the Pa
cific road the coaches averaged five
passengers each way, and many of
these were women At a few points on
the long route a guard rode for few
miles with the coaches. but for most
of the distance the driver and passen-
gers must take care of themselves
There was hardly a week without its
ira gedy. AS the stage toiled through |
the heavy sand of some strip of desert |
or met several miles of stony and up |
hill trail a band of a hundred yelling
warriors would suddenly appear The
driver must fight we'll as guide his
excited team. The passengers fired
from the open doors. and if the attack
was beaten off it was a case of luck. 1t
was when the Overland company final
ly appealed to the government to clear
its route through Kansas that General
Custer was sent out with a brigade of
troopers Fourteen stations had been
attacked and wiped out. and stages
had ceased to run over a distance of
almost 200 miles. Custer coulu not
hope to strike a telling blow against
the hor1es in the field, but he laid his
plans to open the route and drive the
Indians back from it AS we followed
the trail to the west we picked up sta
ton after station showing grewSome
sights. In each and every case stout
defense had been made. but the Indi- |
ans had prevailed Kegs of powder
had been used to blow open the doors
or tear out the roofs. and even though |
the warriors had lost ten to one they !
had destroyed the station Burning |
Hill was relay station, with eight |
men to guard it and care for the extra |
horses The last stage from the east |
had come in after a race of five miles. |
with the driver and three male passen- |
gers wounded-some of them twice |
and three times 1t was one of the lar |
gest and most defensible stations on |
the route, and there was no thought |
of anything but beating the Indians
off. no matter what their force.
Clusters whole command witnessed
the arrival of the last stage from the
west. the last for several weeks From
a hilltop three miles from the trail,
with impossible gullies between, we
saw the coach come up the trail with
100 Indians pursuing it 1t was a run
ming fight, which aroused every man
to the highest pitch of excitement, but
we were helpless to extend aid.
Through the clear air of a summers
afternoon we saw the stage horses
shot down and the coach overtaken
The passengers made a brave fight to
the last, but not one of them escaped.
1t was night before we had made our
detour and reached the station. and
the Indians had departed long before
They had captured the station two
hours before they attacked the stage
1t had held out against them for three
days, and it was not until 40 Indians
had been killed or wounded that they
got possession of it by digging under
the walls and using a keg of powder
If Burning Hill had failed to hold
out, how would it be with Pawnee
Flat, the next station TO the west, and
with White Horse, the next after that?
The first was a four man station and |
the next a relay with eight. AS we
rode away through the night not q
man had the slightest hope for Paw
nee, though we knew ii would have |
been defended as long as one of the
four could lift a gun. We reached II |
at about II O'Clock. 1t was as we had