The Cairo bulletin., 1906-12-08
AN ADvEN TURE
With INDIANS
BY HARTLEY c. PRESTON

stolen some things from Fort Larned,
He was imprisoned for several weeks
and some of his friends declared that
| should pay for the ndignity With my
life.
The three whom | had TO Tear were
called Red Earth Half Moon and
Cloudy Day. They drew ratlons al the
agency and We're supposed TO live
within the limits, but as matter OF
fact. were prowling over the country
most of the time ripe for any mis-
chief
| was then riding between two posts
about 80 miles apart, and the Indians
\ knew full well where to find me at
any time within the week, for, count
ing the hats at each end of the route,
the round trip was made every seven
! days.
For % miles Of the journey ! had
| stage road and was sure OF company.
| For 20 miles farther the country was
| fairly safe, because OF the hunters,
! trappers and scouts about The dan
/ gerous portion OF the journey was con.
/ llbtu w dboul - lIiltHs btllCftd
| knew where the Indians would attack
me if they held to their threats 1t
! was where the trail left the base OF
| the mountain to take to the valley,
! where was canyon making into the
/ hill. and the tran ran within 30 feet
| of its mouth before turning TO the left
| II the weather was good always
| passed this point in going west at
about nine o'clock in the morning, In
going the other way | arrived about
sunset and made my camp in the
bushes growing around spring.
figured that the indians would
shoot me down as | rode up to the
spring, or very soon after | had dis
mounted II is the unwritten law Of
the frontier that when a man threatens
your life. even if he Is drunk at the
time yon are expected to protect your
self by shooting him first ! had wit
nesses that these Indians had threat
ened to wipe me out, and / was eX-
pected to shoot any one Of them on
sight.
l knew they would not act upon their /
threat at once as they would expect |
me TO be on guard, and perhaps have /
an escort. Therefore, | waited until |
my second trip before carrying out I
my plans. The Indians would reach |
the canyon in the afternoon, and a
lookout could see me five miles away. |
Half mile from the spot however \
was wooded ridge to hide my i'm
mediate approach and this ridge ran
around to the canyon.
Moderating the pace of the horse to
suit my plans, | approached the valley
half an hour ahead Of my usual time.
When three miles away / dismounted,
tied string tightly around my horses
right knee and then advanced, leading
him The cord caused him to limp
as If he had gone lame suddenly. !
slouched along as careless as possible
until | reached the ridge. Then / sent
my horse forward alone, knowing he
would halt at the spring and wait for
me
AS soon as he was gone | struck into
the timber and circled around to get
as close 10 the mouth OF the canyon
as possible The last 200 feet OF the
distance | crawled upon hands and
knees
My horse had stopped by the way
to catch up a mouthful of grass here
and there. and got my first look into
the mouth of the canyon just as he
the spring. For a moment
! was ready to acknowledge that | was
beaten at my line of reasoning as
could not see redskin, but while the
horse was drinking the would-be assas-
sins came into view each with his rife
for use.
They waited three or four minutes
to see why ] did not come up. and
then were about to move forward when
! opened fire | dropped Half Moon in
his tracks, tumbed Cloudy Day over
as he sprung for shelter. and fired
upon but missed Red Earth as he
lodged behind a great bowlder Had
he jumped backward into the canyon
he would have had all the advantage,
but in his sudden surprise he made
three or four leaps and took shelter be.
tween me and the spring.
| should not have fired upon him had
he run off and If he had asked for
truce / would have come out had we
been left undisturbed. but the horse
presently came to my aid The firing
excited him, and he had been trained
10 look upon an Indian as an enemy
he saw the redskin behind rock and
charged him savagely The fellow
iprang up. thus exposing himself and y
was waiting for the opportunity.
The three Indians had come TO the .
ambush on horseback. took their :
'ifes. ponies and other truck 10 the a
post. and turned them over to the com .
nandant He sent word TO the head u
men OF the tribe at the agency of what 8
lad happened and three men came for 2
he goods. but never one of them had e
my complaint TO make, il being well (
Understood that I simply defended my !
elf {
a Hopeless Case. s
think Of your duty to- the public r
laid the earnest man.