Rocky Ford enterprise. (Rocky Ford, Colo.) 1887-1950, 1902-07-04

strong petition for the repose OF the old
woman's soul. and call down the lightnin'
o the Almighty on himself II he ever
caught him doin' dirt Of that cowardly
kind agin. An rather think we made
the Teller feel more an half in earnest
afore he got through with them funeral
more braggin' when we got back to
camp, about the lnjun he'd killed. An
we didn't make any long story about it.
but we struck camp that afternoon an
moved on up the valley. We stopped
down here at old Fort Bent an got some
supplies. We crossed the river below
here and found ourselves just the night
afore the Fourth Of July campin' down
atween here and the river in pretty
clump O. cottonwoods. As loyal citizens
o the United States we concluded we
ought to celebrate the Fourth. The men
and the women in the camp was all
Enthusiastically in favor Of 1t. The young
fellers scratched their heads and tried TO
remember some OF their school-day dec
lama,ions suitable for the Fourth. We
picked one Of the cleverest chaps an told
him he had TO make the grafton O tho
fday. Some o the camp was TO gather
wood all forenoon next day for the 'hmi-
nation. and the others was to 60 out IN
the morning for game for the bankot-
Tho wagons were drawn up in limo an
tho women decorated one Of en- with all
the red. white an blue clothes in tho camp.
That wagon was tho platform. an on Il
tho old boys said their pieces. Things
was agoin' on swimmin'ly and wo was
.t.s - ~. vtrSnats af sha
program. what was spread out in good
shape on tho ground. when bunch o
redskins on thor ponies rode up on tho
top Of this hill out here an ~o see ~e
was spotted an something was up. We'd
had 'eeptionally paaeesble time all tho
way out from tho river an felt that we'd
been little careless like on that ae-
count. and hardly knew how To take tho
sudden change o! our program. While
wo was pullin' ourselves together as
fas; as we could some Of us saw three OF
tho herd dismount and start down tho
hill on foot When they got about TO tho
foo. ono Of them took on, pioeo OF white
rag an tied Il on stick an waved u. an
~e thought ~e could SEQ ho wasn't .
ln5an. That give Us a chance TO q; our
hearts down out Of our ,hroats Ike an
~e started Oh; three Of our mon with q
stick an \ ~hiin rag TO Nmoot ON. An
~ha, do you think ;hem kio~as wanted
Of us9 Wal they'd 60, on To tho shoo,in'
o ,ha, ssuaw an thoy wanted tho Teller
~ha; did IT, Tho white man with ON
wo could SEQ was scout They had
sroggh; him along with ON from Fort
Bent as interpreter. an no told Us an old
indian had soon tho 'ull burial perform
anea o. his wife an got an sdoa Of how
&c was tesiin' tho iellar Of our camp
~ho killed hef. They i,ss come IN 10
Fort Ben; an told Kit Carson how |.
looked To ;horn and that they wanted fe-
songo. ki; and fa~ others from the
fort had como along with ihom. Kit
wanted 10 know tho particulars an ,hofo
was nothing for !; ou; TO own Up. Tho
general fospoe' for 'Aleek' in tho camp
was no; sufieion; 40 know 70 cause Us
70 want TO put up much Of a hgh, for
him. H; said Il was kind O. tough pof-
haps 10 give up tho Teller 10 his fate bu,
it WASH, any moro an fair aeeofdin' 10
our own code Of morals. I, was !ass
~ha; ~a'd O. wanted u any redssin had
killed ono O. our wives an it was tho
only way TO teach tho lnIan fairness TO
be fair with tham. An besides 1, was
the only way 10 sarso more general
bloodshod. for they had threatened to
follow our camp clear over the range u
necessary 20 got even with us. Kit Car
son was the scout with ON. and II; was
general modoatur. you know. st~oen tho
whites and lniuns in thesa parts an ~a
felt pretty much bound 10 take his advice.
wal. wo give Up Aleek: an measly
euss as he was. We didn't somehow feel
like goin' on with that Fourth O. July
celebration after he left Us. They agreed
to settle him without any unnaehal CRU
city: TO shoot him in tho presence Of Kit
an no; keep him for torture. an To bring
him back whore we could geth body for
burial after they killed him. |, was night
fall when We heard the gunsho;s on tho
hill that put an end TO the fellor who
come out 10 the rnountins with no better
ambition than TO kill Injuns.
Blu, the cruel rod devils wasn't quite
satisfied with ,ssin' his life. As we was
, in and feolin' bad generally instead o
eelebra,in'. as we planned TO do. we saw
suddenly freight spring UP on the hill
top yonder. an II them devilish lnSns
hadn't tied the body Of Aleek to stake
an set FIRE TO pile o wood around Il
where they knew we could watch Il
burn.
Il tell you. gentlemen. I've been through
some tough experiences in the last forty
year in the rnoun.ins an | mightn't mind
il much now. but ! was comparatively