The Topeka state journal., 1902-12-09
The Last Of the TOnkaWaS.


To begin at the beginning I must say
that 1 had a very poor opinion OF Syl-
Vester Baffin until l met MIN. luoeeos
I heard of him quite accidentally A.
Chickasaw. where Tom Pepper, one OF
the old-tfme drummer" deao
these six years-told me what ne knew
or rather what he didn't know, ABOUT
Baffin. It was in the old days before tWne W
government was half ready TO open Vi,
the Kiowa and Comanche country, ana
the few travelling men who got into Lne
traders had to drive in by wagon. lne
Rock Island was surveying, thlhIA. I'M ~
but there wasn't a mile OF ROAD west oA
the Chickasaw line.
The case that Pepper made out
against Baffin came pretty near De4Hs
the prize hard luck story, with Bat1ln as
the victim. Baffin was trader IN tnose
DAYS and might have prcspered II ne
were not everlastingly burning out
What struck me as singular was tnat'
in spite of the numerous fires whlch Ioi-
lowed his wanderings. Bafi1n never car car
ried any insurance, never Wnlned over
his losses and never reDudlated MS
debts. But fire was not the only cause
of his misfortunes. Whenever ne bousnt
few cattle they would get strlng-haslt
or manned on somebody's barp wire
fence IF he put out a crop a herd OF
ponies was sure to invade and destroy
it.. III luck according to Pepper, seemed
to follow Baffin till every white man
IN the reservations except himself be-
Ieved that the young trader had en-
emies among the Indians
However, as 1 was not looking for
trade and had mind to prospect a DIT
In the Wichita hills, 1 put down Batf1n 3
address and set out on horseback for
Cloudchief, near which BaHfn was then
running Il small post. His place was
about four miles up the dry fork OF tEe
Washita river, and there / found him
one March evening about an hour be-
fore sundown. In spite of the descrlp-
tions I'd had of him, 1 was a little sur
prised to find him such splendid lock-
ing fellow. He was sitting on a keg IN
front of his log house smoking his pipe
and gazing at me steadily as 1 came
slowly cut of the bare timber. When
got into the clearing he stood up, the
shadow of a smile lowering across his
swarthy face. and said: How do. sir
Won't you come in2' He was very tan,
more than six feet, his hair and eyes
were very black and brilliant: he wore
thick. dark mustache and though the
evening was cool he was in his shirt
sleeves. A true frontiersman, he said
very little. though he was hospitality
itself and seemed glad to hear me talk.
I'm quite sure that 1 took a great fancy
to him from the start and ! think ne
liked me. because he finally lapsed into
an almost talkative- mood and told me
few Indian legends of extinct tribes
which 1 cannot remember having heard
anywhere else.
I was going TO bed before he asked ne
the rather singular question. Did you
stop in any Comanche villages on your
way up2" and when I said no. ! thought
he seemed rather relieved. We slept in
the store that night, 1 on bale of
coarse duck that made a very good bed,
and he on the counter with his head on
bundle of brown wrapping paper. The
only other occupant of the house was an
old Indian squaW, very withered and
very silent, who seemed to carry on the
simple housekeeping pretty much as it
suited her.
I went away in the early morning af
ter coarse but wholesome breakfast
and a rather cordial handshake from
Baf1n. After three Drohtless days Of
prospecting I came back to find that
the log house in which I had so lately
been a guest had been burned in my alb
sence. Nothing but a few mounds of
vet smouldering ashes marked the plaee
Baffin was gone, nor was there any
trace of life at hand. In CIoudchiof
l asked about him, but nobody
knew more than that he had been
burned out during the night and that ne
had bought cart from some Wichita
Indians and started for the Canadian
River country. ! me him twice after
that at Taloga and once at Watonga,
but. though we got along famously 10
gether he always evaded any questions
about his misfortunes. He had given
up any idea Of trading for the future
and at that time showed extraordinary
interest in mining. I told him all 7
Knew warning MIN OF the DrecarlOuS
chance of finding any considerable mines
in the Wichita, where I had so often
failed, but advising him TO turn his at
tention to coal or oil. or even to asphalt
indications of which I had found in
many accessible localities.
He showed a particularly keen inter
est in asphalt and it's possibilities. lis
tening with wide-eyed delight to my de-
scription of its uses and values in the
big cities. Though he never told nee till
later l was already sure that he had
never been in the states. but he was so
keen for information. so ambitious for
work, so apt in grasping ideas, that I
never could make uD my mind TO be
heve that he had any Indian blood in
him.
When I left him that time his mind
was fully made up to go prospecting for
asphalt and sorry as 1 felt for him. l
couldn't helD but admire the splendid
optimism which seemed to surmount all
his strange i'll luck and lead MIN al
ways on to new enterprises. I gave him
two or three addresses where letters
might reach me during the next year.
and promised. in case he should find a
considerable deposit of asphalt to re-
join him, and if possible unite with him