The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-02-26

stUffs and clothing of all kinds and /
leave buffalo hides. This post was the
center of the historical adobe wall
struggle, famous inasmuch as it was
redskins were pitched against mere
/ handful OF civilians.
Tells of Long Fight.
! June II, 1874. began one of the most |
notable fights recorded in history Mr.. /
Hanrahan gives a good account of this
/ fight. which lasted until July 81
/ There were but tWenty-seVen of US
in the post and one was a woman, the
/ wife, of one of the hunters" he said
| last evening, in response to questions.
| THE men were living in two or three
! big log houses built like regular forts
with lOopholes, and barricaded win
! dows and doors. On the morning of
June q, was awakened by the logs
| ereaking overhead. Long logs had
been laid across the top of the house,
forming the ceiling and roof. These
! had been covered with dirt to keep the
/ interior dry. Thinking the weight of
| the soil was caving the roof in. I
| dressed, and in a short time several of
/ the men were with me shoveling the
dirt away To this creaking of the
logs every man in the post owed his
life. While we were shoveling, two of
the boys went down to a creek near
| by for water. Suddenly we heard a
screech-one of those unearthly yells
| that send fear down your backbone
breaking the stiffness of the morning
The cray dusk Of approaching day
gave everything a WeirdnesS. No
sooner had the yell reached US than
we saw solid band Of Comanches
galloping down upon U.S.
They had planned the coup the night
before and from witching us they had
planned to come in on us before we
were awake. The creaking of the logs
had given a twist to their scheme. We
dropped into the houses and behind
| barricaded doors watched them through
the iOopholes. When they were close
enough we opened fire upon them.
| In our hut there were eight of US, and
we fired all together. We were sup
piled with fine rifles and when we
! blazed loose at them there was a slight
hesitation in their advance. Horses
dropped, carrying their painted riders
with them. / don't believe | ever saw
: a finer band Of Indian fighters in my
life. Each one had the feathered head
l regalia which was the Indian mark OF
rank There were about 500 bucks in
the bunch, and they rode twenty-five
abreast"
Mr.. Hanrahan admitted at this point
: in his story that "he did some work
with his gun" A portion of this
= work" was the dropping of a Chey-
CHIC lIISuiClIe HAIL. VINO TOOo upon q
pure white horse, painted with ochre
9 spots about four inches in diameter
: Fifty Heads on Poles.
[ THE fight continued until o'clock, "
: he continued. The devils showed
i themselves regardless Of life. Despite
; the fact that we were behind log walls
q and could watch their every move they
5 would ride right up within a few yards
L of our buildings LangtOn had a bunch
= OF buffalo hides hanging at the rear OF
y his buildings and a bunch of redskins
: made a rush for these. They were
= | fought back. We were never able &c
t learn how many Indians we killed, as
T they carried many Of their dead with
i them when they left. An Indian will
y expose himself to all kinds of danger
: to get the body of a dead comrade and
O carry it to safety. After this first bat
: tie we found twenty-seven dead horses
I and"
e Didn't they leave you a dead man %
Z interrupted Judge Colborn-
L Yes admitted Mr.. Hanrahan re-
> luctantIy. ct sounds barbaric, but
there were fifty Indians heads stuck
up on poles in the post as a warning
But instead of filing the devils with
Y fear, the sight of these CHASTITY heads
I Infatuated them.
!, For two weeks they kept coming
: back at US. Many peculiar scenes were
K being enacted daily under our eyes, bu
n we were content to keep our rifles load
IS ed and our doors barricaded. The brav
e est suicide l ever saw committed wa!
IS performed by a young buck who's
$ feathers proclaimed him a warrior O
al rank He had fallen at LangtOn's gait
IN when the rush was made to get thu
ir buffalo hides. He was left dying b!
n his brothers with a bullet hole through
er his hip and several other wounds OF
Is him. When the young fellow realized
l. that he was dying he summoned all hi
lie remaining strength and uttering tn
T. war cry of his tribe pulled out re
> volver and shot himself. Death, self
N inflicted. was preferable to the nurs
le ing of white men to him.
ar Another fearless young buck rod
e down along into the post and, wavini
IS his lance and shield, uttered shrieks o
l. defiance to US inside. The shields use
y by the Indians were made from buf
le faIo's neck and tOughened until the,
% were as hard of flint. Whether he knew
- how to use his shield with wonderful
III cleverness or had a charmed life W
% never knew, but not a shot struck hin
II After We had all taken a pop at him h
III III rode away as good and whole as ever
ready for another fray.
f NEGRO in War Paint.
n zone of the most startling episode
1S of this two-weeks' fight was a discOv
re erv made by some of the boys afte
~ they had killed a fellow who ha
II fought with unusual bravery He wa
. found dead after a skiTmish, bedecke
70 with all the feathers and marks of
II head warrior. Imagine the boys SUI
10 prise when they stripped this fellow {
), his regalia and discovered that he wa
r9 a fuIl-blooded negro. 1t may have bee
40 that he was a deserter from the arm!
10 but a more likely explanation was OF
o. fered when some one suggested tha
% he might have been kidnapped when a
't. infant. There have been white me
of Iil.,,-,5 figb+fne, with the redskin,
Fl and these men were kidnapped when IN
- fants and raised by their strang
| guardians. The ''dobe WALL struggl
| - the death-hloW TO the Indian oppC