Year: 1868

ulOOH HdU Srduudlly uisdppodreu WuoH
we were aroused by the sharp exclama-
ton of the sentinels, Indians - In an
instant the whole camp was alive; every
man seized his weapons and went for his
horse. It was, however, ascertained
very soon that the men, who had aroused
the attention of the sentinels, were not
Indians, but two messengers from the
Colonel, informing Captain N, with a
few lines, that the Indians had been found
in force by Lieut.. B., driving him back
to the fort, and were now supposed to in
tercept us by crossing the river at the
point which we had passed on the pre-
vious evening. The two herders had
been found, pierced with an arrow,
dead, but not scalped, on account of
being Mexicans, certain Indian tribes
in those regions take that trophy only
from white men, and there is supersti-
tion ON their part said to be attached to
that practice After having left three
men behind, to take care of the dead
bodies. Lieut.. B. pursued the track of the
Indians and succeeded in recovering
some of the cattle which the latter had
to abandon; he found, however, within
twenty miles from the fort, gang of one
hundred and fifty red warriors. in thea
of roasting several heads of cattle, sto-
len from the man who had first discov-
cred their presence. 1t was useless for the
officer to engage in fight against such
a superior force and he therefore turned
round with his command, trusting that
the promised cavalry reinforcements
would soon enable him to rout the sava-
ges. The latter. however, no sooner dis


covered the weakness of their enemy,
when they all mounted their ponies and
chase of twenty miles commenced ; up
hill and down hill. through sand and
bushes, over bitches and cactuses, and
never ended until the handful of men
had actually reached the fort about nine
o'clock in the evening, with the whole
Indian force behind them.


Our infantry had unfortunately missed
them in the dark and if the savages
had known how few men were left at
the fort, they would certainly have ta-
ken possession of all that was in it and
killed the guard and families of the
officers. As it was, they turned
round at the sight of the fort, and it was
but natural to suppose that they
would now cross the river and discover
our detachment. The Colonel was de-
termined not to leave us without infor-
nation and therefore called for volun-
teer messenger, when a citizen, connect
ed with the fort as beef contractor, a
brave soul, by the name of Jack Martin,
whom have respected highly ever since,
stepped forward and offered to carry the
message. A soldier then volunteered to
accompany him, and thus the two men
left, without, of course, knowing the ex-
act direction we had taken, to hunt us
up, and with almost certainty of meet
ing the Indians before reaching u.s.
Mr.. Martin discovered our tract, how
ever, and found us, as above described
There was nothing else for us to do
but to turn back to San Diego
crossing, and either make an at
tack on the redskins or fight oul
way through to the fort. When all was
ready it was discovered that two horses
frightened by the noise caused by the
arrival of the messengers, had run away
and after half an hours vain search we
had to leave without them, taking the
two dismounted men "en Group" We
arrived at the crossing, but no Indian
was visible; SO we waited in ambush
and discovered at sunrise that our in
fantry had arrived at the opposite side
| of the river during the night and made
halt, likewise with the intention of in
tercepting the redskins. We. were sat.
isfed by that time that the latter had
avoided us, and were perhaps informed
of our numeric superiority. Several men
were sent out to find our lost horses and
their efforts were crowned with success
Immediately after our return to the fort
another detachment was sent out to find
the abode of the Indians; they returned
two days afterwards with the informa
tion that the savages had evidently hid
den themselves at the top of hill in the
immediate vicinity of the crossing anc
ing for them, but they had known 81
| skillfully how to conceal all tracks
from the eyes of the white men, that they
were able to make their escape between
the time of our return to the fort and the
arrival of fresh troops. They had ever
watched our movements and had the in
fantry not prevented their crossing thu
river, without being aware of it, the an
ticipations of the Colonel would hav,
been fully realized, and a hot skirmish
probably the massacre of our small mi
nority, would have been inevitable.


The Indians disappeared temporarily
but they infest the. territories of New
Mexico and Arizona, and will do SO un
til higher degree of civilization ant
the locomotive render that whole regiol
accessible and inhabitable to the whit


settler of the East. A.
| WATCHES AND JEWELRY.