| Show RAMBLING THOUGHTS OF A by frank Cont luedi from last week J fusi usi at it sundown billy ala may and his fol follower lowdis s arrived too late to aid catain captain dawson and his men may said they had traveled many miles along the rim of little castle valley but hid had found no trail off so they returned many old pioneers of western colorado we have talked to severely c condemned billy may for this act but he perhaps should not be condemned too harshly early the following day the he so called cowboy bunch followed the indians indiana around the south and west side of the blue mountains Moun taina this bunch of men consisted of the cowboys of spud hudson and associate cattlemen with a few prospectors and miners making their total number about thirty five some were leading almost played out and tenderfoot horses and all were in half starved condition owing to their long chase and grub running out they told a story of hardships a and vast new country they hai had seen west at of the blues they had bad not heard yet of the killing of may and others but had missed a sot lot of B horses and others the day following the theft a half dozen cowboys followed the tracks racks to the indians camp near dodge spring finding the camp deserted and tracks leading westerly and knowing the number of indians and that they were more than likely on tile the warpath karpath they thought it best to get as large a number of men as they could before attempting to follow the indian trail returning to the double cabins riders went out in many directions lo 10 get volu volunteers it took three days to get a bunch together that were willing to go and they had in all about thirty five cowboys prospectors an and miners the indians then had a start of four lays days but hampered as they ware were by their goats squaws squads pa gooses and extra cronies their progress must of necessity be slow their trail headed westerly around the south louth side of the blue mountains then turned in a northerly direction A lot of this district was rough and many canyons and rim rocks made ideal places for a stand by the indians to trap the lW whites hites where a half dozen indians could trap and kill off or stand off for a time a r 1 regiment egi ment of the whites why they did not do this is unknown but it is likely J they did not at this time care toi lill any more white men and only wanted to shake them off their track in the rims and get away with their stolen stock the cowboys lid did not at that time talie know the country so were big eyed but kept follow ini ing g steadily the trail that each day grew fresher crossing indian creek and valley the trail now led up a side canyon named a year later hart draw canyon here the almost cliffs rise to a of two thousand feet or more and the canyon in places is narrow and the trail dan gerou gerotis about six miles from the in mouth auth of this canyon a mule shoe of about a amile mile is made in order t ta io a 1 place for foi a trap by the indians and the cowboys and prospectors fully realized this and a number wanted to turn back john E brown biown who was a Mount Pleasant utah boband kad fiad worked for spud hubo 4 since 79 and had always been fearless now urged all to go fo forward iward I 1 will take the lead some distance ahead and you fellows follow me two of the boy oy volunteered to go with lini all then followed and soon came ou on to top p to an open country near hatt ranch brown once told the writer ter that they arrived at the big spring of water afa ab hatch ranch in an almost exhausted condition both man and horse they had run out of grub two days before reaching hatch and their horses were nearly all tender footed and all in the indians had hadl camped here a few hours houis ahead of them and the men eagerly caari lyate ate scraps of meat tile the indians had left around their heir camp fire again they slowly to took 1 ok up the indian trail and finally reached the battle ground too late to be of aid to captain dawson and his men bu but t 1 they tried to do their part and without a question endured more bard hardship shii than any of the other banda of white hite men pursuing the he india indians aei leaving the wounded men un under il a strong protection guard captain dawson and his men now reinforced by billy may z and rii men and the cowboys detoured detour cd and cautiously ad danced as they feared another ambush I 1 in the distance they saw a number of goats and horses but no indians hi the trail beyond the battle ground they saw wick i up pole tracks and were sure the indians had aaen taken up the trail northward ponies and cow horses in larye numbers were scattered over the hill bill 1 a side ide as well as a large band of goats upon investigating it was found that a number of the manchi and dolores also the B hudson horses stolen by the indians were found here with a considerable number of indian ponies all worn out nor sore backed and d here all agreed that their first duty was to cok after the wounded and bury the ile d dead e ad 0 on n va battlefield d they no wounded but six deij in ill the ful h and four in the I 1 park nark to tho the westward about a half h alf mil found tile the bodies I 1 of two unknown men ft t was laened I 1 later that they were the wilson brothers of moah moab and it was surmised that they heard tile the firing firine and out of curiosity had bad come up to investigate since they were warred warned about a month previous to this that their brother toe joe had been severely wounded and left for dead near pack creek at head of moab valley so this family waff in nannc for their lost all were buried near where they fell feh in lie ilie I best manner possible unclog und r advirse adverse circumstances cli so died twelve pincers ervins to do their dr d it ac 8 I 1 llie saw it arid liay may their souls forever rest in peace and happiness ao to be 10 continued |
