Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-06-25

equally dry Caballos. and the Bis
Canon of the Rio Grande.
Perhaps no road in the world has
been marked by such disa strous am
bushes, Notwithstanding the plain is
never more than slightly undulating.
and for wide areas Is even level as a
floor, while it bears no growth taller
than the short. curling grama grass.
But the ranges to east and west CT
the tornado del Murete are purely
eruptive. and in ancient days some
eruption, probably that which created
the ranges themselves. blanketed the
plain from end to end with flow OF
lava. ten to twenty feet in thickness.
Then, later, came a CONFUSION OF
the earth's crust that compressed into
great folds this vast field OF lava and
ultimately broke these folds asunder.
Today they stand out of the surface
Of the plain in great lodges. sometimes
running many miles in length and five
to twenty feet in height. They form
prodigious natural trincheras, under
shelter Of which an army corps could
be extended in line of battle.
It was through mazes like this. or
parallel to and within a few yards Of
long reaches Of continuous lodges, that
the road ran. The straight lodges
could, of course, be fairly well secuted
by an advance guard, but against am
bush at deadly short range in the pas
sages through the mazes no safeguard
was possible.
This was the problem that Lieuten-
ant Fountain and Juan Arollo con-
fronted, plainly impossible Of solution
except by following the band. That
would be dangerous undertaking,
where wide reaches of level plain
had to be crossed, where from any
crest horsemen would be visible miles
away. But follow the Indians they
must, until their objective point could
be determined. and then make dash
for the nearest post, be it Fort McRae
Of Mesilla. It was the only chance Of
checking the savages' design and the
scouts were not long in reaching a
mutual agreement to take 1t.
Since God alone knew what tests
Of endurance both men and beasts
must encounter the following day, the
horses must have food and the men
rest So they muffled their animals
hoofs in strips of blanket cut from
their saddle cloths, and led them back
farther into the hills until they found
a small open glade where they could
soon get their fill of the juicy mountain
grasses. Then. passing into the
shadows Of the heavy timber that sur
rounded the glade. one man slept while
the other kept an alert watch.
Thus the chill mountain night
passed without incident, until, when
the stars told him of the near ap-
proach of dawn. Fountain reused
Arollo and told him to saddle their
Fountain stole back down to-.
ward the spring and concealed himself
in a good position to observe the
enemy. ...
AS dawn was breaking the Indians
night guard brought the pony herd
up the gulch, and quickly
the camp was afoot. No time was
wasted feeding.
slender packs adjusted, and the war
riors mounted when, each gnaW1ng a
chunk of the cold meat cooked the
night before, the band filed off down
he gulch, CHASTITY gray figures that
looked in the half-light like savage
spirits risen from their graves for
haunt of their ancient war trails.
Fountain returned to Arollo and
hey brought their horses down to the
spring. Then down the gulch on the
heels of the Navajos they proceeded,
Arollo two hundred yards In the lead,
afoot, Fountain following with the
horses; for there was no telling what
rear guard might be lurking behind
the column, or what halts might be
made. Still, any halt was improbable,
'or the hurried start and saddle break
last left it sure they had struck out for
1 long march.
The sun rose clear, blazing ball of
ire, uncurtained by intervening mists,
IS usual in those arid, high attitudes
warrant of a blistering day, notwith-
the season was early autumn.
they plodded.
Gradually the canon widened and
he hills sunk to ever lower elevations,
Until now and then they began to catch
glimpses of the plain below, and of the
hill crests of the White
Sands, long strip running north and
south through the scar yellow grama.
For several hours they were out OF
sight of the quarry. But when at
ast the trail left the canon at point
where it wound away into the south
and bore straight westward across the
summit of lofty outpost of the range,
far out on the plain below them
column of dust located the position
and progress of the Navajos.
There Fountain and Arollo stopped,
and waited until the band was well
within the hummocky belt of the
White Sands, when, sure their dust
could not be seen, they galloped for
ward without a break until they had
entered the shelter of the Sands.
Then, forward through the Sands
they plowed, distressing heavy going
for their horses, finally reaching the
westernmost outposts of the sand hills
and again sighting the Indians, stick
Ing to the trail and still marching
straight on into the west.
And thus for hours they plodded on,
hanging back within shelter when on
" naked plain lay before them, gallop-
ng their best to make up lost distance
whenever intervening lava bikes per-
mitted, over low pass in the Oscuros
and out upon the tornado del Muerte.
1J;ob noon came at last and even