Show otolre t t 4 It4 4 tt ti tti k tt t i ttt fili ough 15853 igotes a How I Found the Indians idapt With w ma or or By CABIA BLANCO rslet gimp mrororoocromromrn rnmq ffirn m wm mtr ps play ffi rHIHmm mm1mHiBimHim nli l erinl BOUT the middle of Mnrch tOJ olero I r yd AZ 1870 > our cavalry tooov wns lered Blch Fort AS 1 0 A 0 sent out from rchld I JR ardsou Texas to scout for dec wOW a few weeks through the blue country west of that and ts of look for Indians I found there the Indians We had with us as a guest an English Eng-lish tourist who was anxious to see all orm this country he saw some of It before i are we returned When I saw him ready Fto start I thought that about n week of I this trip would be nil he would need of it but he roughed It with the rest of fus add I never heard him complain He messed with the Captain a brevet major the only officer we had with us When he was in the field the Captain lived exactly as we did he carried no canned goods but ate what wo did bacon and bread black coffee and bean soup and what game we could kill buffalo were still very plentiful The Captain carried no canvas but slept as we did under the saddle blanket This would be no picnic looking at It from an English point of view I thought i We had been out a week when one I afternoon we went Into camp on a small creek that ran north and south and across It to the west about a mile and a half away a low hutte stood out on the prairie and beyond It a mile still to the west was a rather high roll Jn the prairie that ran north and south Before we had taken our saddles off I is d tho Captain told me to ride over to the ed butte stake my horse out at It then stop on top of the butte until sundown in and keep n good outlook for Indians In We have seen no signs of them as La I yet he said but this Is about where I expect to see them if we see them at all I started nnd found the ground between a be-tween the camp and the butte to be Id badly cut up with narrow ravines e which the water In the wet season had t made on Its way to the creek nnd on d getting to the foot of thp butte I r found another ravine here It seemed s to head at this ridge west of me and a run straight to the creek Crossing d it I staked out my horse here leaving o on the saddle and bridle I rode with 11 n snntlle bit that would not prevent the horse to graze 1 might need him d in a hurry I had a short heavy Marlin rifle that I carried instead of the Spencers we were armed with Climbing up on r the butte I found a flat place of about two acres that had a high coat of last years dry grass on it I could lie down In it and not bo seen There was not a breath of air stirring i nnd the afternoon was warm for this t time in the year I hall been lying here about half an hour watching that ridgeit would be on It that I would first see the Indians If I saw any when a buck anti a doe climbed up a the butte and began to graze not 100 yards from where I lay They never noticed me at all I had hard work to keep from shooting the buck but dared not fire a shot here for It would notify any Indians who might be in the country just where I was So raising rais-ing my head above the grass I spoke to the deer They gave me one frightened fright-ened look then left In about two jumps I lay for another hour then just after I had look at my watch to note the time passing I gave the ridge another look and saw n man on n pony ride up on top of It from behind it and stop In n moment another man joined him then n third one and they kept on coming until there wcro five of them They sat on their ponies there nnd seemed be watching our I tamp which was In plain sight over two miles away Crawling through the grass and hugging time ground I mad my way to the edge of the butte then slid down It in a hurry got my rope tied to the saddle and mounted and now I was struck wltn an Idea The Major wanted Indians but there were not enough of them hero to bother the troop with I would fight these myself my-self with this rifle of mine nnd the horse I had under me 1 did not think I it n big contract to shoot tho whole of them or try to I got my horse down In the ravine then rode up It I meant to keep In it If It headed up at the ridge as I thought It did then whet I had got close enough turn the rifle loose I had gone up the ravine iOO yards or more and had left the butte behind me when I noticed that tin ravine ahead of me was about running out If I kept on I would soon have to ride out In plain sight of the Indians JThey were still where I had first seen ilUUiHlHIHiBIHilm k mmll mmllmBiHlmws them I could still see them but they evidently had not seen me yetI yet-I turned now and going back at a gallop passed the butte then kept on down In the ravine to where it entered the small timber that fringes the bank of the creek then got into the timber and kept on to camp but before I had got there I had to ride out into the open > again In order to cross n ravine that I could not cross at the creek Going into camp I found every one nt supper or dinner rather we only ate twice n day when on the march this way I told the Captain I hind his Indians out here waiting for him Are you sure now that they are Indians and not buffalo he asked You remember that stampede we had after the buffalo last fall Yes sir but I did not send you after the buffalo I know an Indian when I see one This was a slap at lie Sergeant who had sent him after the buffalo The Indians were not In sight from here but picking up his field glass he nnd I went up on higher ground and I pointed the Indians out to him lIe just leveled his glass at them then called out Saddle up and pack upl Do it In a hurry now The saddles were on In a hurry the men having to leave the rest of their dinner here on the grass Then leaving leav-ing the pack train to follow up we started I told tho Captain that the column could not take the route I had taken the ground was too much broken so ho bore off to the left through a lot of chaparral on our side of the creek going go-ing through nt ns fnst a gallop as the bushes would let us Then after going n mile we turned to the right and after crossing the creek he put us on front into line nnd we went to the ridge at a fast gallop but the Indiana had left It was nearly dark but n few of us scouted to the front but could see nothing noth-ing of the Indians Then going back to the nearest point on the creek we went Into camp again for the night the Major buying that he would hunt up those fellows tomorrow he knew now where to look for them The men were In a bad humor They had lost half their supper I had lost all of mine or thought I had but the Major sent orders down to the cook to get me mine right away and while I was eating It the men kept up their growling they knew what was going to happen when they saw me leave camp today I never was sent anywhere any-where but I found Indians or their trail or some other blanked thing Why did I not lire a shot at the Indians In-dians when I saw them then let them go to Ilndcs and not get the troop out after them We have not lost any Indians we lost our supper all right though I let them keep at this for a while then said That will do now Adjourn this debate and hunt your saddles for the night I dont want to have to hunt a rope and a tree for any of you I found those Indians because I was sent to find them and had I not fount them when I did they would have found you tonight and you would have lost part of your horses If you have not lost any Indians This settled It I could inn one of those men up to the nearest tree tie him up to It by the wrists then report it to the Major when I had go ready to do it I wns Senior Corporal then but did far less of this tying up than any noncom we had did nUll these men would obey me far quicker than they would some of the others who were continually tyIng ty-Ing them up for anything or nothing Next morning while we remained in camp here the Major sent a sergeant and detail over to examine the place where the Indians had been They cume back In an hour and reported that there must have been at least thirty Indians there judging from the rail they had made when leaving and the men brought back an old broken rawhide lariat and a wornout pistol holster These the Indians had thrown away but the sergeant had a new butcher knife and Its sheath that hoc been lost by home of them The troop going over now started to follow the trail hut after a few miles it ran out the Indians having split up hey were going in every direction now except ex-cept toward us This was done to prevent pre-vent us following them We might have followed any single pony track of course but it would not lend us I anywhere I We scouted through that country for the next few days but did not find their camp although as their chief told the ytars utter this the camp was only forty miles awny I thought nt tho time that these Indiana In-diana were the Cohattl Comanchcs They were about the only Indians that ran loose at nil times then and these md never been on n reservation and lid not go on one until two years after this when this troop of ours shot about onehalf of them and drove the rest on a reservation Several years after this when I had become well acquainted with the Co manches nnd was living with them part of tho time I told tho Cohattle chief about this affair mid asked him It he knew anything nbout it Yes he kneW nil about It It was he who had been there He had about thirty of his men out hunting when one of its scouts saw us going Into camp and riding back to him told him of It Call lug In his men he brought them behind lint ridge meaning to stop there until after dark then jump our camp and run off our horses If he could do noth lug i else If you had jumped that camp you would have found n hornets nest In It I told him We had men enough there to cat you up You had bout fifty men he re tiled I counted you before I left while you were mounting and It I hall had as many of my men there as you had I would have waited for you behind that ridge then let you do the charging But when I saw you start and knew that I had been seen out there I left My camp was only two sleeps away and you might find and destroy it When wo did destroy It the chief wns iway on another hunt that Is what saved him I told the chief where I had been when I first saw him and asked him If lie had seen me while I fooling around that ravine trying to get n shot nt him No the first he saw of me was when I rode out into the open near my camp Then he walled to see if I had seen him and seeing us get ready to leave he concluded I had seen him So he left then he could not surprise us now nnd had not men enough to fight usForest and Stream |