The chronicle=news., 1913-05-21
"reminiscences of
The Frontier Days
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was worked out In the affair thar is
hereby told for the first time In
print. The beginning OF all the wars
In Colorado occurred In II fight
which took place on May l1ih. 1853.
Just sixty years ago today. the date
of this journal, |, seems as II In
thos. far Off times when Franklin
Pierce WAS president the government,
had rather striking military or
eanlzaiioh in II regiment ot tour
riders known as the First United
States dragons under command "a
Colonel l., l.. Fauntlcroy.
This funny reg imcnt built old Fort
Massachusetts, among the moot owi'
on u" creek TT the foot of Nj.
Blanca In the san Luis valley nf-
teen miles northeast of the subs"'
qucni Fort Garland and for several
years this temporary post WIS the
headquarters for the Dragons. On
the occasion now under considcra-
,ion Kit Carson and n d";ar hmcnt o:
his New Mexico volunteer militia
had followed up band of rtc and
Navajo warriors who had been pill
ln@lng III" Mexican settlements In
the Taos valley. CaTsnn wanted to
gir" them u diubblng for their dep
Rotations uuon his peaceful preserves
around Santa F". Nftcr Joining
force. at Port NHuaCNuFctiss tli" bg-
lnllIun. wrll mounted and FUN 81
ginger. took the old indian trail
over p0nrhn rnss to the south Nrkuu-
sl,s where they ram" upon the mar
aplluE band In camp ~ Punch9
SPRINGS. now IN Chaff." county u
fcw miles wC-t Of SaIida. IS Rich
ard III one" remarked Titus faE
into the bowels Of the land had th"y
marched on without impeachment.
When tn. fish, opened It was n
.TlrrlnF battle for thirty miles back
ever The pr"cIpi;ouS ;rai! by which
they had come The mountain how
!iT.rs somitcd forth their deadly
sm.ti. aud the old Belgian rifles oi
III. Dragons threw ont their i.ai.n
pills. all the while keeping the buck
on til. run mp tn" canon and over I'll"
pas. which was heavily wooded ant
very rough In ihos" days. Nions
about four O'Clock in the afternoon
III. braves made their las, stand In
the open at Round Niii but were
soon charged and routed. In their
mad frenzy to get away they left
many OF the dead and wounded be-
hind them but tho sIuaws succeeded
in packing along eight or min" dead
bodies which they buried N, the ~.
yid. between Kc-bcr and lin creeks
= I.t a d..
there today.
In Colonel aunticroy's official re-
por, s,iii on file In the war office n,
Warrington may he found til" a"-
coun, Of the ba'ti" written with II
quill pcn on blue paper with pink
rulings and anybody can see II. AZ
tor the scrimmasc. in which the dra.
goon losses were only casual. th" bat
talon returned Ia For, Massachusetts
and spent the following winter there.
One day the order cam" for the boys
to go ont into tn" timber and cut n
supply Of pinon wood for the camp.
Some of them huckcd as they always
did when manual work was to he
done aud then there was u great fus
in the barracks. Little Lord Faunt-
leroy ordered n drumhcad court mar
iiai and number OF the dragons
were bob-tailcd IA that they NO lon
ger bor. the bcar-skin coss,cks aud
hors. sabrcs of their intrepid caval.
ry aud had TO hoof 1t ont over the
hills to Santa Fc and the sunny
sou, hiand. In 1859 the First United
States dragons. Colonel Faunilcroy
commanding. was ordered from Fort
Dodge to Fort Lcavcnwor,h and mus
tered out forever more. and from that
time to jhis we have never had such
n military organization In America.
|, was like the kings army that
marched up the hill. then turned and
marched righ, down agnin.-ficld
aud Farm.