The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1901-05-16

| gan to pack up and about eight o'clock
| in the morning the Indians came down
on us again. We rushed for our horses
| and poor Jim Pierson was struck in
| the neck with an arrow and fell. and
before he could get up an Indian
struck him with stone hammer and
| killed him.
"Those that could got to their horses
and rode for dear life to the mouth OF
the canon. But the Indians had
| blocked us there and we had to shoot
our way through. They did not chase
us and when we got clear of them in
the open we found there were only
nine of us out of the twenty three.
I'VE loaded up our guns and pistols,
and rode back to the canon. where we
found one of our poor fellows whom
| the Indians had overlooked. He had
four arrows in him. We buried all our
dead that afternoon. They were
stripped and naked and even the three
poor fellows we had buried in the
morning had been dug up and stripped
1--WE now had horse apiece and old
| Tlge extra. God knew what would
become of us with nothing left but our
| horses and our arms and poor old
| Tigc. One of our boys had put the
pack saddle on Tige when the raid
started, and the bag with our few last
pints of flour, had hung with the ket-
tie and frying pan from the saddle.
| rige followed us pell-mell, with the
kettle and frying pan rafting when
we ran. and You could hear his tin
ware racket above the yelling and the
| shooting.
after it was all over one of the
boys said: Charley, you are hit, tool!
And sure enough | was with au arrow
shaft two or three feet long sticking
out OF the small of my back. My cloth
ing was thick and the arrow did not go
in very deep. The boys cut it out. 1t
left a sore that hurt good deal but
did no damage.
Again some were for going back to
the sink of the Humboldt, but finally
we agreed to go on. We built up ires
as though we were going to stay there
| until morning. but as soon as it was
dark we went ON until it was ten
o'clock in the evening when we lay
down and slept untii daybreak. Then
we went on until full daylight when
we stopped and made coffee and baked
our pancake. Our allowance was three
spoonfuls of batter each.
"Then after q little rest we went
on until nine o'clock and so on until
the fourth day. On the morning OF
that day We found that poor old Tiger
had died in the night, Is there Il
heaven for good horses? If there is
old Tige is there with a free range of
green pasture, watered by clear crys-
tai streams.
"That day when John Lee and were
riding little ahead we found an ami
NAL something like a badger and killed
1t. We had quite quarrel about how
it should be cooked-some were for
SOUP some for boiling SO we had
both, and little it was among all us
starving men. We had been SO long
on nothing to eat that we were getting
used to it, but all were very cross and
surly.
For three days we rode absolutely
without anything TO eat. AS for my
self felt better then than did when
we had the pancake, for l soon be-
came faint and wanted nothing and
cared less. On the other hand the
pancake created n gnawing hunger
that brought to memory all the stuff
that ever was good for eating. We
would have killed horses only this
would have dlsmounted us, for we
could go no faster than the slowest
man and If one were afoot we might
as well all be afoot so far as time was
concerned.
"Well, as we were trudging along
rather down at the mouth, the star of
hope suddenly made its appearance
and shone bright rs MONDAY. For, as
we came around the point of Il large
hill we struck in Il wagon trail appar-
emily about three days old. l do not
ask you to imagine our joy. for you
cannot We shook hands and laughed
and some of us boo-hooed and cried
Had an angel from heaven come down
and welcomed us to dine in the regions
of bliss. we would not have been hap
! pier than we We're ut simply seeing d
wagon track three days old.
I'VE followed it until twelve O'Clock
that night, and as soon as there was
any light We were up and off. We
| travelled sixty miles that day and over
hauled a train from Oregon on the
way to the mines as we We're. We
got plenty to eat from them by paying
well for 1t. The mines were now only
: $50 miles off We bought -four of then
, at 81 pound and pork the same. Fol
t coffee We paid them So II pint, anC
, milk, $1.50 quart, for they had 1
number of cows with them.
''We stayed with them i've days ant
then left them after dropping $40 will
t them for food. We rode to old Law
, sons the first day, the distance being
{ siXty-one miles. | will here mention
t tint old Lawson is the one who lait
out that route we got on and cause,
so many to perish. We. passed til,
| bones of hundreds of people. lyinj
bleached on the ground-some tina
7 had starved to death and had beer
5 left where they dropped by those 70,
(, weak to bury them, and others th
| Indians had dug up to plunder of thei
, | Door .aoS of crave clofhes