Year: 1879

For the first three days Of Paync's fight
with the ute Indians, the situation was
chiefly horrible from the constant wounds
and death struggles of the poor animals,
which they could in no way protect from
the Indian fire. "Evcry few minutes, "
says ono, ''you heard the dying gurglc of
horse or mule, and although we fasten-
| ed them as securely rs possible at night


their pangs were such that they would Oft en-
break away after being hit, threatening the
mems lives in the trenches. Once q wound
cd horse leapcd in his agony right into the
pit we had dug for the wounded, where
Lieutenant Paddock and seven men were
lying at the time. 1t was miracle almost
! that he did nat trample them to death. AS
1t was we all opened Il terrific fire OH The
bluffs, so as to make the Utcs stop firing,
and under cover of this fusi adc a lot of our
boys jumped up and hauled the horse out
of the trench. We had to watch out con-
tinually to give dangerously wounded horses
and mules their quietus. If they got cav
orting after receiving an Indian bullet and
we could see that they were MANNED or
fatally injured, the soldiers would take aim
and finish them. 1t was awfully hard once
in while a friend Of mine got three
flesh wounds in trying to save his horses
life. Finally the horse was shot through
! one Of his forclcgs Instead of wrthing
around like the others he came hobbling up
to the edge of the pit where Joe and were
| and looked down at Joe. as if to say /:
Help me, for Gods sakcl' Joe turned to
him, Hank; can't do it by God, can'tn
and put ball in right behind his left car
nnI l,itN II,of fp1,f ,1,l
him outside with the rest. There were sew
eral pet dogs in the camp, among them a
beautiful greyhound belonging to Lcuten-
ant Cherry. "I used to let him out of my
pit occasionally" says the lieutenant, sto
run down to the water. One night he came
back with one of his paws shot off. 1t turn
cd out that he had been fred on by one of
our own sentincls, who mistook him for a
crawling Indian. There was nothing to do
but kill the poor old fellow to save him
misery. One morning soldier of Payne's
command, wounded in the arm and SO i'll
that he had had no appetite for two days,
turned to negro soldier close by him,
saying "Hcrc, pard, stop shootin at them
bluffs, and for the Lords sake make me a
little coffee" The colorcd hero thus ad- :
dressed, whose name the narrator could not
recall, answered not a word, but set to
work. There was no coffee in the pit, but
there was some in the next one, which was
tossed over. But how to make the filc with
out wood, that was the question. The COL
ored man calculated the chances, made a
break for the suffers wagon, snatchcd a
loose side of provision box and came back
with bullet hole in the board, which was
meant for his own body. Then he made a
fire in q corner Of the pit and prepared the
coffee for his patient. The suffers wagon
was a fair target, and the sutlcr himself was
bit in the leg while making an incaulious ap-
proach to 1t 1t had a limited supply Of
provisions, regulation hard tack and raw
bacon and little liquor, which was of great
service to the wounded. Another vehicle
which was on view here to-day, and will
doubtless be preserved at Fort Steele as a
pet relic of recent history, is the ambulance
taken down by Major Thornburgh 1t stood
out with tho wagons, near the centre of the
oval space occupied by the troops, and is
ventilated by some thirty bullet holes


Rankin, the scout, got under it one day for
a nap and was awakened by ball which
struck one of spokes within two inches Of
the top of his head.