The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1934-06-15

started to get his horse he looked down the val
lev and there through the dim light Of the
morning, he saw sight which almost paralyzed
him for a moment.
A dark mass of horsemen was moving swiftly
up the valley and the next moment it had spread
out like fan and a mighty war-whoop shat
tered the stiffness. Isatai was coming with his
host of wild tribesmen to make good his prom
Use to wipe out the buffalo hunters at Adobe
Walls Throwing his rifle to his shoulder, Dixon
fred one shot, then turned and sped toward the
Hanrahan saloon as the wild charge Of the
Indians swept down upon him. But this hasty
warning was enough to bring the occupants OF
the saloon who were already awake and dressed,
to the windows with their big buffalo guns In
their hands.
ave were scarcely inside before the Indians
had surrounded all the buildings and shot out
every window pane" Billy Dixon says. For the
first half hour the Indians were reckless and
daring enough to ride up and strike the doors
with the butts of their guns" And Andrew john
son has recorded how the savages backed their
horses up against the doors of the buildings
and tried to push them in, showing willing
ness to fight at close quarters almost unpar-
alleled in Indian warfare.
But the steady fire of the buffalo hunters soon
discouraged this and after beating of several
attacks, the white men had a chance to take
stock Of their losses. Strange to say, there were
only three. The two Shadler boys asleep in
their wagon outside the stockade, had been
killed and scalped Their big Newfoundland dog
had evidently put up a fight, for he was also
killed and "scalped"-a piece of hide having
been cut from his side. Billy Tyler, one of the
defenders Of the Leonard and Myers store, was
killed early In the fighting and except for some
minor wounds these were the only casualties.
Time after time the Indians charged, but az
their ponies were knocked down by the heavy
slugs of lead from the buffalo guns and more
and more of their warriors were killed or
wounded, 1t began to dawn upon them that 1sa-
tai had been a false prophet SO the charges
ceased During one of these lulls young Co
manche, gorgeouslys appareled in war bonnet
and scalp shirt and mounted ON a fine pony,
made lone charge toward the buildings In
the face of hot fire from the hunters Riding
up close to one of the buildings, he leaped from
his pony, thrust six-sheoter through a port
hole and emptied it. He then attempted to
retreat but was shot down. This daring war
rior who had hoped to make a great name for
himself by his lone charge was Pe-ah-rite, the
son of Horseback, of the leading chiefs of
the Comanches.
By late afternoon the Indians had given up
hope of wiping out the defenders of Adobe
Walls and began to withdraw. After an anxious
night of watchfulness the buffalo hunters dis
covered the next morning that only few Indians
were lingering around the place and they were
soon driven off by some long distance shots
During the second day hunters from some of the
outlying camps made their way unmolested into
Adobe Walls and that night one Of them, Henry
Lease, was sent to Dodge City for help.
On the third day party of about Is Indians
appeared on a high bluff east of Adobe Walls
but they were quickly dispersed by a shot from
wh n IA
savages from his horse. 1t Is this incident that
gave rise to one Of the oft-repeated myths
about the Adobe Walls affair, different accounts
of 1t placing the distance of the shot all the
way from a mile to a mile and half By
Dixon's own testimony 1.-The distance was not
far from three-fourths of a mile was
admittedly a good marksman, yet this was what
might be called a Scratch shot"
More hunters came in on the third day and
by the sixth day there were fully hundred
men gathered there. It is among these late
corners that so many of the survivors" Of later
years were numbered. But by this time the
danger from the Indians had passed. The red
men had departed for series Of raids In Kan
sas and Texas which soon brought the military
into the field and resulted In their eventual de
feat But before the affair at Adobe Walls ended
there one more tragedy one which dark
ened the life of the brave woman defender, Mrs
Olds. On the fifth day her husband was coming
down ladder with gun in his hand when it
went off accidentally, and she rushed from an
adjoining room In time to see his body roll from
the ladder and crumple at her feet.
Today three monuments stand on the site of
Adobe Walls. One is small slab of granite
which marks the grave of William Odds. An
other marks the last resting place of the Shad-
Ter brothers. The third is huge red granite
monument which tells that Here on June 81,
1874, about 700 picked warriors from the Co
manche, Cheyenne and Kiowa Indian tribes
were defeated by % brave frontiersmen" and
1t bears the names of the IS who truly 'fougin
at Adobe Walls"