The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1903-11-01
A BLACK HILLS MAIL CARRItR
The Liveliest Experiences OF Col. Jim Bakers
Life---Thrilling Recollections.

companions were found hacked TO
pieces about the ashes of the camp,
fire.
! Friendly Indians at the agency and
scouts told me frequently that I was
sure to be caught by the Sioux some
/ time, for the idea was abroad that the
lone riders with the leathern pouches
carried valuables and information
about the Indians.
| .'One morning, when I was about to
camp in a secluded spot where I could
get water and could sleep till night, l
saw a bunch of six or seven Indians
coming full tilt toward me. They We're
three miles distant. / leaped into my
saddle and got out my six-shooter, and
/ left the trail like A wllirlwind.
There was creek there, and it was
eight miles from the Cheyenne River.
Usually some emigrants We're camping
there, and I felt that If 1 could reach
the river l would have help in fighting
off the Indians.
/ But how to get there? l knew that
my time for a race for life had come
| My horse knew the danger, too
| I'VE reached the high bluffs of the
Cheyenne Not a human being was
there. When 1 dashed UP the rise of
ground and made good target of my
self, the Indians, who had gained fast
upon me, yelled. I can hear the yelling
now and feel the way my heart thurnp-
ed.
Bullets pinged all about me. 1t
seemed as if I never would get I'D and
over the bluffs. And / was about to
jump off, and, facing the Indians, sell
my life as dearly as possible.
Then over the crest of the bluffs we
went. I jabbed the spurs harder than
ever into the beasts TANKS. The In
dams came galioping and screeching
| behind.
My horse leaped into the stream.
urged and spurred him on. My SOM
| brero was gone. / saw that the odds
were against me. More volleys from
| the Indians, but the shots fell short.
MY horse was in the middle of the
river. The Indians dashed down the
| bluffs, as If to follow me across the
Cheyenne, but they stopped at the wa
ter's edge. They probably believed
that there were soldiers in camp on
the opposite side and that quickly
there would be a camp uproar
1.-The unsteady movements of my
horse in the water saved my life, for
none of the shots sent after me hit. My
horse was wounded in the neck, and
| that started him more frantically for
| the shore. s,t#
sit seemed like ages while we strug-
gled there in the muddy current. The
yelling sayages were firing at me.
| Finally, with bound the horse touch
| ed the shore, and up over the opposite
bank we went flying. I glanced back
and saw the Indians making ready for
another and final volley.
Twenty miles still lay between me
and Custer City. 1 thought the In
dams would ride eight miles UP the riv-
er to Green Rock, and there head me
off. seventeen miles from Cluster City.
AS rode I resolved that if the In
dams should be at Green Rock I'd shoot
my horse, and, using the carcass as a.
bulwark, lie behind 1t and shoot as
long as ccuid raise my gun. 5ta - :
MY horse could not last more than
a few miles at the rate he was going.
Indeed, few horses could have done
what he had already done. A turn in
| the road among the hills, and 1 saw
approaching long mule train carrying
| supplies into the hills. Whew! What
joy that sight was. I knew my carcass
| was saved that day anyhow.
1.-THE Indians must have seen the
| train, too, for I saw no more of them.
I rested with the teamsters several
hours, and then logged on easily to-,
ward Custer City.
But my faithful horse was ruined.
| Do what we could to nurse and doctor
the beast. he was nervous wreck and
! died a little later.
81 had one or two more lively expert
7 -
the nearest ever came to death while
a Black Hills mail carrier
1