| Show HAD BEEN A FIGHTER PARSON HIGGINS HAD A HISTORY BUT WAS MODEST no ile fought a depointe Depoi ate battle with the sioux and the tha tribe from extermination was WasSo verely wounded Wo ANY times I 1 have rap wondered it if willard P higgins V who was once a 11 e t h odist circuit rider and preached ay in a little schoolhouse near lincoln k valley neb Is yet living and a nd well Z our meeting took plada at the residence of II arrison hall on tho the platte river late one evening in october I 1 was then a boy but it was riot not difficult to tell at a glance that mr higgins was a man mac with something of a history there were e several long deep scars on his face and but the thumb and part of the little finger remained on his left band ile he was accompanied by his wife then a young woman it was soon evident that mr bir higgins was not disposed to talk about himself the women ot or the hall household undertook to learn something of the manner in which he received so many injuries and he told them that lie he preferred not to discuss that matter further than to ferate that he had been wounded in a battle fought between the pawnee and the sioux indians some years before and not far from the locality where we then vere I 1 happened to be able to render g V jakl 4 f NA A DESPERATE CHASID CHASE mr higgins a favor the next day and from that time on piecemeal piece meal I 1 picked up considerable of his history the battle which so nearly cost him his life was fought some thirty years yeara ago across the river and several miles above grand island the pawnee indians were returning from their annual fall hunt and accompanied by their squaws squads and papooses oses they were camped between two sand hills about daylight a large herd of buffaloes were wera observed coming toward the camp and in spite of the advice of the ol 01 old indians and NT mr higgins all the young braves mounted their ponies and started in pursuit As soon as they were well vell scattered a large body of sioux who had driven the buffaloes ahead of them dashed down on the camp while another body looked after the paw nees who were chasing the buffalo meantime tearing fearing just what happened mr air higgins and the old indians had the on the move in the direction ot of the pawnee reservation some rome twenty rive live or thirty miles to the north while they prepared to defend the rear the battle however was a long rout for the pawnees Paw nees the sioux were poorly armed which tact fact helped to prevent them from exterminating the pawnees Paw nees mr higging was well armed and the sioux soon learned to respect his deadly rifle ile he kept well in the rear a hazardous thing to do A party of indians attracted hi his s attention by making repeated dashes while a daring chief crawled up on him through the grass and was justin the act of bringing his foma tomahawk hawk down on the white while mans head when the latter saw him he threw up ills his left hand to break the blow and his fingers were cut off is as the blade descended with his right hand he grabbed the tomahawk and then men followed a desperate struggle for its possession the indian dreva dri ills long knife and slashed mr higgins arross across the taco face three times and eleven times across the breast but still the brave white man held on to the tomahawk finally ho he wrenched it away from the indian and knocked his brains out with it lie ho then climbed on his bis pony and rode away it was a long and desperate ride to the reservation and many of the paw nees nover reached it alive badly wounded as he bo wai was mr higgins made the trip and fought all along the bloody trail there was probably a romance connected with his marriage though I 1 never learned the facts it seems that she had come west to do a little missionary work among the indians I 1 was never informed as to how many she converted but she succeeded in converting one white man and making a pi preacher out of him |
