Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1902-10-08

back, them there Spaniards amt In 1t |
with Injuns for putin up hot fight
not the Injuns of the old days; no, sor-
rec. Buck Bill was enj'yin' Of himself |
to heat poker, SO he was, an in the
thick of it every time. The old troop
was out by itself under orders from
Phil to scout along the border. Daddy
liked that. Daddy was happiest when
he hadn't no reports to turn in every
mornin', but was free to do as he liked.
The Comanches was thick about us,
fightin' foot an tightin' horse, an Pm
burned if the squaws an papooses
wasn't putin in good ticks, too, SO
they was. There was the night charge
on village with snow foot deep an
freezin' hard. Twas before your time.
got an arrow from papoose that
night myself right in the shoulder.
There's devils an devils, but them was
devils.
at was one day the old troop was
caught slick when we never thought
there was Comanche or Kiowa
within ten miles of us. 'Twasn't ar
ambush zactly, for Daddy saw it In
time, but it give us the chills for an
hour or two. There was q creek-see?-
an we was goin' to camp near the
headwaters of that creek, we was. 1t
was gettin' toward shutdown, an we
was tired. Where the beggars come
from don't ask me, but all at onct it
looked as if the troop was surrounded.
Gee, they come! We fought an we
irl
dismount, skirmish line, commence fir.
in, rally by company, to the rear, gal
lop-oh, say, 1t was hot, an, by gum,
we retreated, we did. Twas fine
moonlight night, an the moon was UP
when the sun went down. We was
dead tired after n long march an no
time for chuck, an by s o'clock we was
nigh beat. Curious for Injuns, they kept
on fightin' after dark, for it was fine
moonlight night, see? There was a bit
of hill with scrub bushes on it back
of the creek, an Daddy-he did II fine,
too-retreated to that hill, where we
might hold the red devils off until Phil
could come up.
1--WE couldn't get there at onct.
though. The Injuns saw what Daddy
was after, an they got there before we
did. Well, we was fightin' down on the
creek side, an Buck Bill he went an
got killed, an. worse'n that-he'd drop
ped off his horse, bein' wounded-he
got scalped. Bill was all right, lie was,
an we liked him, we did. When we
tumbled to what he'd got, we got mad,
an Daddy was mad too. We charged
an scattered the blackguards for a
time, an we got Bills body before they
had time to mutilate 1t, save the scalp
in. We liked Bill, we did. an Daddy
liked him. He was fine build of
man. The troop held the position. Hot
shootin' it was, an we dug grave, an
we buried Bill to save him from mu-
tilation. We blowed taps over him, too,
an all the time the Injuns was tearin
around on their ponies. shootin' in on
us like mad. Bein' SO, we hadn't time
to dig the grave very deep, but we put
Bill under, all accordin' to the rules an
regulations an revised statutes. We
was sorry, an we was mad, for Bill
was fine build of n man an played
good game at poker.
"Well, we had to hurry up bit, an
then we retreated in good shape, got
over the creek, cleared out the Injuns
from the hll-lively, that was-an'
had time to think what we was dom.
We throwed up few bits of rife pits
an got bite to cat. Mind you, all
the night the Comnnches was circlin'
round the hill an putin in q good,
steady fire. 1t looked almighty rough
for us, for there was no chance to
send out a runner with word to Phil.
So when 1t was near mornin' Daddy
spoke up.
Boys says he, we're trapped
says he. There's no way to get help
sent to us. So says he, 'as them dew
lis are all about us an we're short of
chuck an water an ammunition, he
says-not just like that, but them was
his meanin's-he says: I'm goin' to cut
my way out. Is it rightY he says.
| Fright 1t was. 1t was our only
chance, for we was completely sur
rounded, an what he said about the
Colville with us, the bugler. You've
heard of him. He'd played taps over
Buck Bill when we buried him. There
was no use in layin' low. We didn't
care how much row we made. Fred
up an gives a roarin' call, full blast
an to hades with the rest. Boots an
saddles! Yup! never got my fingers
twitchin' ut a call as did that time.
Up we went into the saddles, revolvers
at the carry, carbines loose in the
boots, an faced the reds. never
thought I'd live through it, but all
was mad about was to empty them six
chambers into the Comanches that was
thick about us. They saw what we
was up to. Trust them. They're cute.
The beggars got together on the only
road we could take to find the COM
mand an waited. Give me Comanche
for square fight. They formed up in
the gray of the mornin' to meet us,
an says to myself, says l, it's
massacre, so 1t is, for they was about
five to our one. Boys says Daddy,
cool as ice chests, you see,' he says,
I'm goin' to charge in column of
fours,' he says, an cut through. Look
out for yourselves, an luck to us all.
Trumpeter,' he says, sound the boots
an saddles again. It's dandy he
says. It's II good defi,' he says.
"An' at that Fred Tipped the bugle,
an it went to rouse the land. You'd
have thought they'd have heard it at
Washington. Whoopee!
"'Again! yells Daddy, for he seen it
put blood into US an seemed to scare
the reds.
Erred let her go again, an / was
lookin' at the other side of the creek
where we'd buried Buck Bill between
where the Iniuns was an the water.
p1ess I cried out For daddy ho..lad OF