Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-07-02
ruAprER VJII-Con,inue

out. as one could persuade himself to
travel
And It was right in there near the
head Of the river that hell began pop
ping for us little faster than we
could take care Of 1t.
Below, at the ranch, Chisholm had
warned us to look out for big bunch
OF bandits who, without much trying,
had contrived to earn the name or
Border Ruffians, led by Major Bolen.
Composed Of the worst elepents the
break-up of the Confederacy had
turned loose along the western frontier
they had been raiding ranches, rob-
bling along the highways. sparing none,
but with keen preference for Yank-
ees. Chisholm told us.
At the time Bolen had three hun
dred and fifty followers, a force IT.
resistible in that thinly settled region,
and so strong that our only hope or
setting through safely with our cattle
lay in the of chance their scouts might
miss us.
But there was no such luck. Wind
Ing through some open glades thickly
dotted with live oaks, fire opened on
us from all sides, it seemed.
Scattered along the line of our trav-
elinK herd, as we were, was probably
all that saved us. Had we been march
INK in body, at least half Of us would
have gone down at the first fire.
As It was, one man was killed and
two badly wounded; and, what was
worse from the viewpoint of all OF US
but the dead and wounded. our wild
cattle stampeded in every direction.
We scarcely had time to note IN
which direction our dollars were rae
ing away from us-never, we we'll
knew, to return
Cover we must have. and, bun ching
and drawing our pistols, we managed
to shoot our way through the scattered
skirmish-line on the north, and TO win
up into the cliffs: and there. half-Wav
up to the summit. we did hold luck
enough to find some big cavelike re-
cesses in the limestone, shelter that
let in our horses, fairly well screened
in front by cedars.
II was New Years Day, 1865, and
Major Bolen and his bunch made II
their business to turn it into far hot
ter day for us than our New Years
Cmy at Fort Stanton, and, in back
handed way. made it last even longer
thanslfs predecessor.
Lord! but wouldn't the old Fort
Stanton suffer have danced himself to
death with Joy Of our plight if he could
have looked In on us-with the Ruf-
fans creeping along under cover to
closer range on our front. getting in SO
close that they might easily have car
ried ua nv a charge if they had had
the nerve.
Others climbed aloft of our position.
rolling boulders down upon us, Wnlle
part Of the band rode off to round up
our sstampeded cattle.
s&hAfa we we're, cleaned out OF all
oEsrf0perty in few minutes, and
near bankrupt Of any show to
escape with our lives as we'll.
Although the fire never slackened
until toward evening, the fact Bolen
withheld a charge convinced us ne
made sure of starving us out for water,
forcing us to come out fighting or to
a surrender, in either Of which alterna-
tives he would be certain to get our
arms all he could expect to get off
bunch that had just blown their com
bined wad buying cattle.
/ OF course. he little knew us II ne
thought we might be driven to sur
render. II the worst had come, we
would have dashed out, shooting, even
though the odds we're twenty to one
against US.
The long day wore on. Now and
then one of us managed to wing or
bore one Of the Ruf1ans, without FUR
ther casualty on our side.
Naturally there was plenty OF coun.
Cling among us as the fight went on.
Finally after a powwow among them.
selves, the nine renegades proposed
that. since they themselves were Tex
ans, they should 60 down under
white nag and try to make treaty.
I'VE had no objections, for We had
found them lot Of ours. In fact. they
did not fool us as to their real mo-
tive. which was that their surrender
a. Texans would be received, their
lives so be saved, and we might then
shift for ourselves.
So, sure of getting on better with.
out them by the reduction of our party
to none but men whom we knew would
scrap as long as they could pull trlg'
ger, we boosted their plan.
At the first futter Of their white flag
fire stopped; doubtless they thought
they had u.s. Then down into Bolen's
lines the Texans filed. But within
half an hour fire on our position broke
out again.
Long afterward we learned why.
Learning the true character of the
-enegades after a short cross-examina.
ton. Bolen had hanged every mothers
son of them among the live oaks.
Night came We redoubled our
watchfulness, as We thought it likely
they would try to rush us. But ap'
parently they were playing other tao.
tics, tempting us to try for an escape,
as not shot was fired after night fell,
although there could be no question we
were surrounded.
Our cattle we had heard them round
ing UP and bedding down alongside OF
their camp in the valley beneath us,
and through the early evening we
could family hear their rude jest and
revelry over their days good luck.
But Just in the gray of dawn some
thing plenty redder than his own
Humans few I'D and struck Major