The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-11-25
i SCOUTS FEAT

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80 @e=-&0A%-@
itoiriginraal.1 $50 -
John Redshaw is 'an 'ottttD6genarian
ana a'svIetersshi' IL the war With Mexico.
He tolq' me this story " one winter even
ing while lIle.s W. Were sitting. eyer, a Are
blazing on the. hearth, 4 ,fstes. =
4 was not in the aarmy.As,s he said.sasI
was a.scout. Born and bped1in Texas,
wherespomder and ball were Of more
importance ltAah1 bread andrhheat, 1 was
as f~amilfart~ith firearms Asc mosts men
are WITH what. they get to eat. Besides
this faa1miiiiiiairatty, II haid. a natural salp,ti-
tudee f =. Quick 81 gl,isstpr straight |.S shooting.
1t has always been 2 mystery to me
why soldiers are trained. to everything
except tmarksmanshih hut they are
getting more ofrthat nowadays. te a
/. "When General Zachary ,Taylor was
on thefR RIO Grafde / was with him as
ondE ofsshis' scouts. Willie Scott, who
had landed at Vera Cruz, was lighting
his way T. the be- GGtfy. e 3 Ia ys3lco he sent
up to Ta NylleFa for Heterogeneous. They
we're to, be furnished, and I was sent
ahead to give notiee,of their coming
carried dispatches from Taylor to
Heott, was not in uniformeand If cap
tQred would have been 'garroted or
shot by the MeSleans fora spy. l made
the most of my journey safely, when l
was CAUGHT In a trap.
Il reached point within ten miles
of-ScotHta,s lines at, aighltfall and, fearful
of-losing my way in the dark, conclud-
ed to lie down where | was and wait
till morning: 1 had crossed a stream, one
Of the tributaries to the Rio .Grande,
and bivouackedy.,on a knoll on the
'sdnthy hank, having ptcketed my horse
below. ! didn't light a. fire. but just
lay down on the grass, with the stock
f.of-my Erife,insmy. right hand, the same
ride ! had used for years and which l
considered a part Of mes 80, -, 81
TT vas, broad dsglight when l
awoke. II}hhad slept soundlly and posi-
bly, ssmights not. have awakened, whenuI
lhad sitsl aaot been fersthe sound.of
9 voice. Turning my, head. without
rising, l saw five Mexicans riding sin
gle fle. ~ the opposite ,shoresf for the
ford, bXasYFhlieeAht 4 had scrossedo4 There
Yas~ no about, their being Next
cans, foET, they wore somhreros,l jackets
and -slaahahed trousers, with noJ end of
t=fffgrees RpAs gga1spups. IL Besides,
they were. talking inv the .&MeXican jar
gofn, Which. + could partly understand.
y YLscast,my eyes, about me quickly to
take in. the situation andslwas horrified
ito. see that If l escaped it must be over
open, gropnd-,s.I /. knew my horse, who
hadleoma. q long distance, wasn't up
|ttoA the work. and, there seemed, nothing
tsfor it, but either to give. myself up or
6ght the five men. The war proved,
+ especially at Buena Vista, that one
United States man ! was worth -four
Mexicans, and with my craftsmanship
I Thought I Ought to- be worth five. At
any rate, 1 determined to try it. If l
could kill one or two Of them by rapid
Airing l hoped the others would run.
assThere'sa no telling what surprised
Emen will do These men didn't do as
/ expected at all..'''I waited till they
had got into the ford for, T knew that
men crossing d stream would be more
disconnected than when on dry land.
AS soon as they were all wading in
water up to thetbe1lies' Of their horses
I aimed at the first imfan's head and
fired. ! He pitched forward into the
FLYER. His horse stopped, thus block
Ing the ford. The frseniaining Mexicans
for ID moment tddid+ihiot seem to know
! what to do" Those were days when a
rifle once discharged must BE loaded
again and the sanhes 'wtvass true of pistols.
IsHad two pistols fl my saddle holsters
F.tsbig Effeff3wtsss1.sahfSd one at each hip. OF
course when I 1ptcKeted my horse kept
all my arms about mhie:. In six seconds
after my rifle cracked i" a pistol shot
brought dbweHi the second Mexican. He
Sid but or his saddle backward. de-
IkhiYYriaa1ltzfhg' TIE man behind him, who
s1sseekeMMeedt til realize th 4 a his turn was
next, 'and 1t ppahriafyzed him. At any
--fAtea, he sat rigid to be shot at though
1.-THE man 4bAehinnd' him began to try to
u itsh hts morse about !" dropped the
third man With the same certainty as
I had cropped the Others. for you see
there were i've 'Mexitans,, and"1 had
onay Ave shots without r%eloading. So
I couldn't afford 70 waste any bullets.
%"~tThe fourth6. mans way backward
was blocked s.; the thafth, who was too
1ta ~ ~ L ~ .a.x-Ss. A-lSlAi- 49, 49,