Barton County KS Archives History - Books .....Scouting Adventures In 1853 1912 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ks/ksfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@gmail.com July 23, 2005, 1:00 am Book Title: Biographical History Of Barton County SCOUTING ADVENTURES IN 1853 By James M. Fugate of Barton County INDIAN FIGHT AT THE ARKANSAS IN April, 1853, young, vigorous, and never having seen as much of the world as generally fills the ambition of fellows in their early days of manhood, I engaged as teamster to drive through with a train of ox-wagons loaded with merchandise for the Santa Fe trade. We left La Fayette County, Missouri, the 24th day of April; our company comprised 45 men, armed with the old-fashioned long-range rifles, each, a Colt's navy revolver and bowie knife. Our teams numbered 210 head of cattle in all. Kansas was then one vast wild plain, over which roving bands of hostile Indians were constantly cutting off emigrant and freight trains on their way to New Mexico and the Californias. After leaving the settlement some distance, we overtook twelve men with three wagons, who had discovered there was danger ahead and were awaiting reinforcements before venturing farther. This increased our fighting force to 57 robust, well-armed men. Our first serious trouble began after reaching the Arkansas Valley, at a point near where Hutchinson now stands, and where we had gone into camp about noon of May 21st. While at dinner we were suddenly startled by the alarm cry "Indians!" Before we had got our teams and wagons fairly in corral, they were charging around us on their horses, yelling and firing like demons. Taken at such a dangerous disadvantage and surprise, we were just in that position which makes men fight with desperation, and instantaneously our rifles were pealing forth their notes of defiance and death to the dusky murderous foe. We were completely encircled by the savages, who proved to be Comanches, swinging upon the opposite side of their ponies exposing but little of themselves to our aim by firing under their horses' necks. Their deadly missiles were soon playing havoc among our cattle. The creatures were madly surging and bellowing around, endangering us to a death beneath their feet, worse to be feared within the enclosure than the foe without. This new danger soon drove us outside the enclosure of wagons, in full view of the Indians. We had now fairly got our hands in and were tumbling their ponies at a rapid rate. Few Indians after their ponies fell, escaped a rifle bullet. The Indians were narrowing their circle until twenty-five yards scarcely intervened between us. But the motion of their steeds unsteadied their aim until it was but random, while the closer they pressed us the more destructive became every shot we fired. Such fighting could not last long. After the first few rounds the savages mostly substituted the gun with the bow and arrows. Finding themselves getting most terribly worsted in the combat, they made a dash to ride down and tomahawk us all in one death struggle. I tell you, then, we had no child's play. Outnumbering four or five to one in a hand-to-hand fight to the death, is a serious thing. We were soon mingling together, but driven against the wagons, we could dodge or parry their blows with the tomahawk, while the rapid flashes from the celebrated "navy" in each man's hand, was not so easily avoided by the savage warriors. We made the ground too hot for them, and with yells of baffled rage, they broke and fled, carrying off all their killed and wounded but three, which they had to leave. Now for the first time since the fight began we had time to take in our situation. One of the bravest and best of our comrades, young Gilbert, was shot through the heart while fighting the savages back with clubbed rifle, his revolver having missed fire. He lay as he fell, with his hand clenched around the stock of his gun as though he would take the weapon with his departed spirit to the other world where he might avenge his death upon the savages who had paid such a dear penalty for their last work. Many others of our company were wounded, two of them severely. The dead and dying ponies were scattered about on the prairie with the arms and accoutrements of their savage owners about them; while several of our cattle were also dead and dying from wounds made by missiles aimed for us. The remainder of the day was spent, in burying our poor comrade on the spot made sacred by his life's blood (which we did as well as we could under the circumstances,) caring" for our wounded, and gathering up the spoils of the fight. We destroyed everything belonging to the Indians that we could not carry away, and along towards night-fall moved a mile up the river, where we went into camp. After the excitement consequent upon the fight began to subside, we had much to talk over about our chances of fighting our way with such a small force through the entire boundless plains before us to New Mexico. The future looked hopeless indeed, but J. W. Jones who commanded the outfit, swore he would go to Santa Fe or go to ______. We dare not show the white feather, then. FIGHT ON THE WALNUT OUR progress was necessarily slow. No adventure of any consequence happened until we reached the Walnut Creek. Here we camped some 200 or 300 yards below the old trail, in a horse-shoe bend, on the west side of the creek. No event occurred during the night to show the pre&ence of Indians; but about dawn of the next morning, as the guards were turning the cattle out of the corral to graze, the Indians—Cheyennes, some 500 of them, some mounted and more afoot,—immediately tried to get possession of the cattle. Those on foot engaged the guards, while those . mounted tried to get between the cattle and the corral, thus cutting them off. The firing immediately roused the camp to arms; and in the face of the firing by the Indians we surrounded the cattle, and drove them back into the corral. Then the fighting began in goad earnest. At first we proved too much for them, and they retreated into a low sag south of the corral; but quickly returned with more desperate energy than at first. Then forming solid lines, six or eight deep, made a forced charge on the wagons from the south, yelling like demons, and firing through under the wagons. It never seemed as if so few men could stand such an assault. Our men were prepared for them, however, and, firing from behind and under the wagons, gave them a warm reception as they came up. At the east end they broke through and came into the corral; but of those who came through it is a question if any ever returned. They were immediately shot and clubbed with the guns. I broke my own gun-stock over the head of one of the miscreants. There were nine of them left within the corral dead. The Indians, seeing the fate that had befallen their comrades who went through under the wagons, began a hasty retreat, and were quickly followed by the entire pack as fast as they could run. They took refuge in a low range of sand hill along the Arkansas river, some 60 or 80 rods to the south, from which they emerged occasionally during the morning to harass us. We followed them up toward the sand hills, firing at them to the best possible advantage; but when we had got as far as the low sag, we were ordered to retreat to the wagons. Our wagon master, after the dead Indians, outside and in, were all counted, reported 60 Indians killed. Our own loss was five killed and several wounded, none mortally. There was another camp of 35 men, sent out by Majors & Russell of Missouri, about half a mile west; and about 9 or 10 o'clock they formed a line and came down toward the Indians. Seeing this we formed a line and advanced to join them, and move together upon the Indians. They, upon the other hand, seeing our movement, beat a hasty retreat across the river. We buried our dead on a point between two draws a little southwest of camp; and about 2 o'clock broke camp, and in company with Majors & Russell's outfit, started westward. About 5 or 6 miles west we had a slight brush with the Indians, but nothing serious until we arrived at Pawnee Rock, which we reached about 2 or 3 o'clock next day. FIGHT AT THE ROCK WE camped about 200 yards to the south of the rock. Nothing unusual transpired during the night. About 8 o'clock next morning, just as we had brought our cattle up to the corral, and were yoking them up, a band of Cheyennes, to the number of about 300, suddenly made a dash from the north, part of the Indians coming in on each side of the Rock, and immediately surrounded our corral of wagons, with a terrible war-whoop. The usual manner of making such a corral was to form a circle with the wagons, running them as close behind each ether as possible, with the left-hand or driver's side innermost. When the circle was complete, an opening the size of a wagon was left for a gate, which was closed by a single wagon just inside the circle, so placed that it could be run aside or back into the gap, or "gate," during the night, and times of danger, the cattle are kept within this enclosure or "corral," as it is called; at other times they were turned out to graze, in charge of several men. On the left-hand side of the wagon bed, above the wheels, there was a small box about five feet long, prepared with a hinged cover that pitched so as to shed rain. This box contained, in a convenient position, the arms, ammunition, lunch, trinkets, etc., of the driver. Leaving our cattle as they were, some yoked, some partly yoked, we instantly seized our weapons and pitched in vigorously to repulse the assault. The Indians opened a heavy fire from the start. They made strainers of our wagon boxes by perforating them with bullets and arrow heads. The Indians who were mounted fired high, and may possibly sometimes have hit some of their own men on the opposite side of the corral. After firing in this way for a while, and finding they could gain nothing, they beat a hasty retreat to the south, taking with them their dead and wounded, who were in nearly all cases tied to their ponies, as was shown by the thongs that lay by some of the dead ponies, where the riders had cut loose and got away. In this fight we had one man wounded, and several cattle killed. From here on we had to fight the Indians every few days. We had engagements at Pawnee Fork, again near Dodge, again at Cimarron, here by the Apaches and Arrapahoes, again at Mount Aubrey, Kearney County. FIGHT AT MOUNT AUBREY AT this place we arrived the next day after the slaughter of a party of Spaniards who were going east from Santa Fe, to purchase goods. We found ten dead Spaniards, and one wounded, still living, with his scalp off, though he died the morning after. At the first peep of day, the next morning after we arrived there, the Indians—Apaches and Arrapahoes attacked us, first firing on the guards, and then coming up by slow, cautious movements, seeking every buffalo wallow, or other slight protection to cover themselves. So stealthily and steadily did they advance that almost before we were aware of it we had eight men lying dead. All this time we kept up a vigorous and pointed fire, always aiming and firing with intent to kill. About 10 o'clock, finding they could not capture our train, they retreated the way they came, leaving their dead on the ground. These, amounting to between 50 and 80, we piled up on the plain and left for the coyotes and buzzards. We remained here four days, and buried our dead and the Spaniards—19 in all—in one trench. In the meantime—and this we tell in a whisper—we amused ourselves at target shooting, using for a target the head of some luckless Indian, which would be placed in all conceivable positions to be shot at. We had some more fighting now and then until we reached Fort Bent, after which we were out of the hostile country; and reached Santa Fe in safety, with what we had left of men and animals. We lost no wagons, and carried our cargo entirely through. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ks/barton/history/1912/biograph/scouting19ms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/ksfiles/ File size: 12.5 Kb