Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1914-11-27
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lone picket vi Z !
Apache and stabbed q

made about 1t. All that was done
when the matter was finally taken hold
Of was to put two, three and four men
un u post in place Of one and to send
out small parties to look for a needle
In a haystack, as 1t were.
That all these murders had been
committed by one single hand no one
doubted. A knife had been used in
every instance.
On the night that the order was Is
sued to double the men on the posts |
/. was Ill in my tent with a sore throat
aud fever. My tent mates were on
guard or detail, and realized that
was light headed. could not fall into
a sound sleep, but dozed at intervals.
I. and the noises Of the camp were con-
fused with queer dreams. OF a sud.
den this confusion cleared away, and
lshad what you call either a dream or
vision. l saw man in the uniform
Of Federal captain, mounted on a
dark bay horse, ride up to farm
house. The face and form Of rider and
horse were as plain to me as If had
seen them In my normal state of health
at noonday. The captain was man
of'about thirty. blue eyed. with brown
hair. brown mustache and front
tooth filled with gold. AT the corner
Of the left eye was small scar from
wound inflicted years before.
As the officer descended from the
saddle and hitched his horse to the
fence I'saw wOmun's face ut the
window for II moment The same face
opened the door for the captain. She
was tall. dark haired woman. and
the face bore smile.
AS suddenly sas the vision came II
was blotted out. but 1t returned again
This time the captain was mounted.
and II Twas night. 1t was the same
house, and his horse wanted to speed
too fast and was pulled in | could not
make out how followed on, but fol
low l did, and We had just descended
\ hill and were crossingaa creek by a
plank bridge when there came red
fash. followed by the report of a fire.
arm, and the captain threw up his
arms and lurched to the right and fell
out Of the saddle. The horse sprang
to the left Off the bridge. which had no
rail. landed In the creek and went off
among the underbrush. | saw that the
officer was dragged along with his foot
In the stirrup. ! also saw the man
who had fred the shot. He was tall and
gaunt faced, with long black hair and
glittering black eyes and dressed in
the rough clothes OF farmer.
When one of my tent mates came in
] at once related the dream or vision
Importance to 1t. One with fever al
ways has queer dreams and fancies
A week had gone by and | WAS all
right again when read in Wash
ington paper of the singular disappear
ance OF captain in our brigade. This
officer, SO 1t was stated. had left camp
on certain afternoon on his horse and
had not been heard OF since. My vi
sion came back to me 80 clearly and 1
was SO sure that 1t furnished clcw
that ! reported to my captain. HI
ridiculed the idea. but sent me to the
colonel My statements were received
with smile, but | was given pass
and note to the brigadier general
He was gruff old dog. and he called
me a fool before | had spoken ten
words. When I had given n close de-
scriptiOn Of the missing officer he be-
gan to listen. and the result was that
went out with squad to search
] We passed for two miles over road
had never set foot Oh before. We
came to farmhouse had never seen
In my waking moments. We found the
black haired woman, and she cOrrobo
rated my story Of the captains arrival,
She was a widow. living with her
mother. and the captain had been call
ing for many weeks, and it was a case
of7l0ve. A horse had gnawed a fence
rail; horse had paved up the earth;
the captains horse was bay. When
We returned to the bridge we found
the marks where the bushwhacker had
Jumped. We found where the iron
shoes Of the horse had scraped the
stones and where he had clambered
out: In the woods, mile away. we
found the horse and the rider.
The captain had been shot through
the body. He had been dragged by the
stirrup until his body had become tan.
gied among the underbrush. The horse
bad eaten every bush and limb within
reach, but had been without water and
was just able to stand. His rider was
probably dead within FIVE minutes aft
or being shot. You may have made up
your mind to hear that the assassin
was also discovered through my dream,
but he was not I have always believ-
ed that 1t was his hand which knitted
r. the pickets, but 1t Is only my belief.
No one charged with any of the crimes
was ever brought TO book so far as
. know. | could have identified the BUSH
whacker among thousand men. but
never had the opportunity. A week
after the finding of the captains body
, our brigade was marching and fighting
forty miles away. and II the assassin
was, a farmer living In the neighbour
hood Of HIS crimes he was safe from
discovery.