Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1901-01-10
TOLD IN HIS DREAMS.
PECULIAR VISION or A RANcHER ON
A NEW MEXICO PRAIRIE.
His Partner Appeared to Him Dur
ing sleep and Informed Him of the
Fearful Fate That Ie Had Met at
the Hands OF the Indians.

ing Sleep and Informed Him OF the
Fearful Fate That lie Had Met at
the Hands OF the Incians.
mo, / can't say l so much on super
stition and that sort of thing, but I'd
like some of these wise chaps TO X
plain a little incident that happened to
me down In the Pecos valley, in New
Mexico. a few years ago"
Grizzled Bob Morrow, veteran cow
boy, ranchman. globe trotter and phi
losopher, took another pull at his cigar
as he sat comfortably in his seat In the
hotel lobby. A thoughtful look came
over his face. and his companions at
the table awaited in silence his further
~utterances. After a pause Bob con-
tinued:
I'VE We're sign riding, Lee Wells
and /. Know what sign riding is?
An imaginary line is drawn on the
prairie. Two men, Il stationed at
each end, ride toward each other at a
given hour. Any cattle that have
crossed that line are rounded up and
driven back. The idea is to keep the
cattle together as much as possible
during the winter.
.'Our line was about ten miles long.
Lee and l used to meet half way every
day. and il no cattle had crossed we'd
sit down and smoke and chat a bit.
Sometimes we'd visit each others
'dobe and generally chum together as
far as men can when ten miles apart.
We each had six horses, the pick of the
herd, and mighty proud we Were, too,
of 'em.
Bout that time the Indians were
rather troublesome. They generally
went in small bands. and occasionally
the less of a bunch of horses would be
reported by raLchmen ~thereabout. Lee
and ] didn't fear 'em much. They car
ried only bows and arrows, and If it
came to a chase our horses could cas-
lily outrun theirs. The greatest danger
we had to fear was the loss of u
horses.
"Lee and / had talked frequently
about the Indians, and both were OF
the same mind--if attacked, kill the
horses rather than let the maraudiug
thieves get 'em.
Il left Lee al the half way mark, as
usual, one day, got back to my 'dobe
ana after eating dinner turned in. |
hadn't been asleep very long wnen l
WAS awakened by a sort of feeling that
there was somebody in the 0 |
groped unde. tie pillow for my gun,
turning over as | did so. and there in
the doorway stood Lee Wells. The
.rathered shafts Of six arrows were
sticking from his breast. and his face
IL tie moonlight looked drawn and
gliagtly. There was a smile of salts
faction on his face, though, as he said
quietly:
well, they got me. Bob, but they
didn't get the horses,
II was cut of bed in IN instant. The
miHute my feet touched the floor Lee
VANISHED. The docr was shnt and locls-
cd just as | left it when | went 70 bed.
bordering over the realistic dream,
or whatever 1t was. | turned in again.
but it was o long time before ! got to
sleep again.
"a second time I was awakened by
The same vision. There stood Lee IN
the doorway. ana again he pointed to
the arrow shafts and said.
'They got INC, Bob. but they dldn't
get the horses.
mo 0 sleep for RE that night. !
looked around the 'dohe. thinking per-
haps Lee was playing me a trick. |
went out to the corral. The horses
were all right. and there were no signs
OF anybody having been around. ! sat
up and smoked and thought a whole
lot until daybreak; then | mounted and
set OFF for the half way mark. Lee
wasn't there. and there was no sign Of
his coming. so ! rode on to his 'dobe.
There. Mt the gate of the corral. was
Lees body. with six arrows in his
chest. just as | had seen them in the
vision. Inside the corral lay the bodies
of his horses. all killed with bullets.
ut was plain to me that. seeing the
Indians coming. Lee had deliberately
killed the horses before turning his at
tcntion to the thieves. Judging from
the hoof prints. there must have been
about 20 Indians in the bunch. Lee
must have damaged them some before
he fell. judging from the cartridge
shells Tying around. They took his
Winchester. OF course. and looted the
'Gobe. They didn't get much for their
trouble. though.
"But what | want to know Is was
that II dream or did Lee Wells really
appear before me In some sort of
form?"
His hearers could not expiain.-New
York Mail and Express.