The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-02-05
FAMOUS RIDE.
Rescue Made by Joe Rankin, an Old
Time Western Guide.
anaconda Standaru.)

anaconda StandaIu)
Say ana tho Man from Wyoming
blew {, heavy cloud OF smoke in,o the air
and watched it disappear, you fellows
talk abous your horseback riding and tne
were doing something that wal worth
mentioning
You never knew Joe Rankin, I reckon"
the man from Wyoming resumed when he
had rounded himself. up.
We'll. Joe Rankin could sure ride some.
He wasn't much for fancy; but he was
were needed Those were the days when
they used to scropO up alkah dust for
baking powder and all the water there
waa in Carbon waG brought there in little
tank cars that looked like the wind had
blown the sides out OF box car and let
the ROOF down to tho floor And that water
was the cause of-but that has nothing to
do with Joe Rankin.
Joe Rankin lived in Rawlins then. He
had been plugging around on the frontier
ever since they showed the line west from
Missouri. and no knew more'n lot of
the expert Indian fighters that they had
sent out to suppress the Utes- These
Utea had been trying to stir up trouble for
ten years, and this time they did it for
sure Tho Indians were of the Saguadhe
country, and they turned loose in 1870
and killed lot of settlers near their res
erVatiOn in Utah.
command sent to suppress tho Utes
and Rankin joined him an guiGc when ne
State1 marshal and sheriff and most
everything else around there, and he knew
the whole country. But he slipped up on
his estimate of the strength OF the In-
dianS. and at Milk river. in Utah. the
Utel closed In on Thornburg's troops. and
when the smoke cleared up Major Thorn
burg and thirteen OF his men were dead
and every horse in the command was
either killed or wounded.
But Rankin made good all right. That
night he volunteered to get through the
Indians and take word to tho railroad, 100
miles away Ho took one OF the wounded
hOrsea and got through this Indians on the
far side OF the camp. He had to ride a
foro ha struck the back trail, seven miles
from where the EteS had the soldiers
penned in. His wounded horse soon gave
out. and he tried another that he got from
g little cattle camp. and this one, too
broke down before he'd ridden far. He
struck out afoot- and came to ono of the
supply camps that Tharnburg had left
on the trail. and the captain there gave
him p new horse This captain tried to
break through to rescue the major. but
no lost all his horses and some of his
men
with the horse from the supply camp
Rankin made tho rest of the ride to Raw
lins. where was the nearest telegraph In
lef; He had crossed three mountain
ranger, haG led his horse for mileu where
tho trails were so rough that he couldn't
ride in tho dark. or else when hia horses
wero too tired to carry him That'a what
no had done. and he had done Il in TWEEN
ty-fouP hOurc- Now. that's riding some :
Somebody wanted Ia know Wha. became
of Thornburg's command. and tho man
from Wyoming walked up again. What
became of them? What do y~s. suDpose2
They were saved. OF course. Joe Rankin
Just telegraphed from Rawlina and before
daylight next morning Colonel Merritt
was mavinc with sly companies 10 entrsin
from Fort Russell at Cheyenne"