Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-02-03
GATHERING OF
INDIAN FIGHTERS
Quartet of 0Id-Timers Swap
Yarns in Hotel Lobby This
Morning.
FILING PENSION PAPERS.
ToocIc and Bountiful Men Come to
Town and Take Steps to Get Long
Deferred Payments.

A quartet of jolly old Indian war vet
Grams was collected at the New Wind
sor Thursday morning. They were
Maughan of Cache county; Thomas
Atllln of Tooele and Judson Tolman OF
Bountiful They had come TO Salt Lake
to file their papers at the Indian COM
missIoners office, which was opened
for the purpose in the Armory hall
Wednesday.
There in the hotel lobby sat these
old veterans. white haired, yet smiling,
laughing and joking like 80 many boys.
though not one of them was less than
three score and ten.
John Maushan told of how his father
had gone into Cache valley when il was
almost a wilderness; told of their pri-
vatlons and the sufferings of the pio-
neer days One winter the whole
settlement of Wellsville "had about a
and a companion walked through the
mountains to Brigham City for some
flour. Each man shouldered his sack
of 80 to 60 pounds and started off on
the return trip through the mountains,
the snow being from to feet deep.
But it was crasted and bore their
weight, but at times they would strlko
soft place, and down they would go.
II stood 1t pretty WE'LL" said the old
vet, proudly. but my companion-well.
IN, t,o,YpEL t,af L.
had little waterfall of sweat tricklIng
off the end OF his nose. Had 1t turned
cold, he might have had an icicle from
his nose down TO the ground" and tho
old man chuckled with delight
INDIANS IN SKULL VALLEY.
Then the lively old men told OF their
engagement With a band of about 100
Indians out in Skull valley. In the fall
of so a bunch OF Indians swooped
down upon the settlers "dry herd" or
cows and horses which were ranging
near Black Rock, on the borders OF the
Great Salt Lake. They drove off every
thing in sight. The losstwas reported
to Brigham Young at the Village or
Salt Lake. and Immediately posse was
formed to go in pursuit
There We're perhaps 40 or SO Of us :
James Ferguson was In command" said
Mr. Maughan. And We were a COM
pany of soldiers TO be sure; something
to be scared of with our poor equip
ment, hastily gotten together. and
armed as we were with some of those
old muzzle-loaders. But the Indians
were not much better flxed-they had
some guns, but mostly bows and ar
rows VIC overlook them in Skull val
ley, where a fierce battle took place.
Eleven of the Indians were killed before
they surrendered. We lost none of
our men in this fight but some of orr
boys were wounded.
THEIR STOCK ROASTED.
And we found our cattle and horses.
Some had broken away from their CAP.
tors and returned to Black Rock, but
we found the rest They were all piled
up on top of each other. What do you
think of that? Yes they were, for they
had all been killed and smoked They
had the horse meat and the COW meat
all mixed up in big pile. They had
enough roast meat made out of our
stock to feed their band year or two
1t was such mass OF looking stuff
that we burned it up and returned to
the settlement OF Salt Lake. 1t was
some time before that band of Indians
troubled us again.
Yes. we are here to get pensions If
the government wants to give them 10
us. but l tell you when we went out 20
fight the Indians in the early days pom
sions were farthest from our minds.
But times have changed, and we don't
have to fight the Indians any more
but I think we could if we had to,
couldn't we, boys7" and they all
chuckled again.