Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1903-02-12
The Last Of
theTonkawas
BY JOHN H. RAFTERY.
ITO BEGIN at the beginning, 1 must

knew, or rather, what ne o1on I KNOW,
about Baffin. 1t was in the old days
before the government was half ready
to open up the Kiowa and Comanchc
country, and the few travelling men
who got into the traders had to drive
in by wagon. The Rock Island was sur
veying, think, but there wasn't mile
of road west of the Chickasaw line.
The case that Pepper made out
against Baffin came pretty near being
the prize hard luck story, with BAT
fin as the victim. Bafin was trader
in those days, and might have pros
pered if he were not everlastiDgly
burning out" What struck me as
singular was that, in spite of the nu-
merous fires which followed his wan
behring's, Baffin never carried any in
surance, never whined over his losses,
and never computed his debts. But
fire was not the only cause of his mis-
fortunes. Whenever he bought few
cattle they would get string-halt or
manned on somebody's barb wire
fence. If he put out crop herd
of ponies was sure to invade and de-
stroy it. Ill luck, according to Pep
per, seemed to follow Bafin, till every
white man in the reservation except
himself believed that the young trader
had enemies among the Indians.
However, as 1 was looking for
trade, and had mind to prospect bit
in the Wichita hills, put down Baf-
fms address, and set out on horseback
for Cloudchief, near which Baffin was
then running a small post. His place
was about four miles up the dry fork
of the Washita river, and there found
him one March evening about an hour
before shutdown. In spite of the de-
scriptions I'd had of him, was a little
surprised to find. him such a splendid
looking fellow. He was sitting on a
key in front of his log house, smoking
his pipe and gazing at me steadily as
/ came slowly out of the bare timber.
When l 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 imp"
He was very tall, more than six feet,
his hair and eyes were very black and
brilliant; he wore thick, dark mus
tache, 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 Pm
quite sure that L took great fancy to
him from the start, and think he
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.
was going to bed before he asked
me the rather singular question, ibid
you stop in any Comanche villages on
your way up?" and when 1 said no,
thought he seemed rather relieved.
We slept in the store that night, on
a bale of coarse duck that made a very
good bed, and he on the counter with
his head on bundle of brown wrap
ping 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 house
keeping pretty much as it suited her.
1 went away in the early morning,
after coarse but wholesome break
fast, and a rather cordial handshalic
from Baffin. After three proftless
days of prospecting l came back to
find that the log house in which !
had so lately been a guest had been
burned in my absence. Nothing but
few mounds of yet smolderiDg
ashes marked the place. Baffin was
gone, nor was there any trace of life
at hand. In Cloudchief l asked about
him, but nobody knew more than that
he had been burned out during the
night, and that he had bought cart
from some Wichita Indians and start
ed for the Canadian river country.
met him twice after that at Taloga
and once at Watronga, but though
we got along famously together, lie
always evaded any questions about
his misfortunes. He had given up
any idea of trading for the future,
and at that time showed extraordi-
nary interest in mining. 1 told him
all knew, warning him of the pre-
carious chance of finding any consid-
cradle mines in the Wichita, where
/ had so often failed, but advising him
to turn his attention to coal or oil, or
even to asphalt, indications of which
| had found in many accessible locali-
ties.
He showed particularly keen in
terest in asphalt and its possibilities
listening with wide-eyed delight tc
my description of its uses and values
in the big cities. Though he never
told me till later, I was already sure
that he had never been in the states,
but he was so keen for information.
so ambitious for work, so apt Ill
grasping ideas, that l never could
make up my mind to believe that he
had any Indian blood in him.
When 1 left him that time his mind
was fully made up to go prospecting
for asphalt, and sorry as felt for
him, 1 couldn't help but admire the
splendid optimism which seemed to
surmount all his strange i'll luck and
lead him always on to new enter
prises. 1 gave him two or three adj
dresses, where letters might reach
me during the next year, and pronl-
ised in case he should find consid-
cradle deposit of asphalt, to rejoin
him, and if possible unite with him
in the business of acquiring leases
and developing the property.
l was in Pittsburg late that sum-
mer when 1 got letter from Baflln.
dated at Ardmore, in the Chickasaw
country, telling me that he had found
a great and hitherto unknown depos-
it of asphalt in the black hills above