CHAPTER VI
THE STORY OF THE MASSACRE ON SPILLMAN CREEK--SCOUTS GO TO THE RESCUE--JOE AND ROB TALK OVER THE HORRID WORK OF THE SAVAGES--THE DOG SOLDIERS--CHARLEY BENT--PLACE OF RENDEZVOUS--PARTY STARTS OUT--JOE'S OPINION IS ASKED
THE family had lived on their comfortable ranche on the Oxhide fornearly three years. During the whole of this period the valley had beenmost happily exempt from any raid by the hostile Indians farther west,who for all that time had made incursions into the sparse settlementsnot a hundred miles away, devastating the country from Nebraska on thenorth to the border of Texas on the south.
General Sheridan had been ordered by the Government to the command ofthe Military Department of the Missouri, with headquarters at FortLeavenworth. The already famous General Custer with his celebratedregiment, the Seventh United States Cavalry, was stationed at FortHarker, recently established on the Smoky Hill, about four miles fromErrolstrath ranche, so the settlers on the Oxhide, and through thevalley, felt comparatively safe from any possible raid by the savagesinto that region.
One beautiful Sunday afternoon in the middle of the May following theautumn in which Joe had received his present of a full Indian dress fromthe friendly Pawnees, the family were sitting on the veranda of thecabin. Dinner was long since over, and Mr. Thompson was reading aloudfrom their weekly religious journal, when a horseman suddenly appeared,coming toward the ranche on the trail which led from the mouth of theOxhide where it empties into the Smoky Hill. He was hatless andcoatless, his long hair was streaming in the wind, and his heels wererapping his horse's flanks vigorously, and its breast and shoulders werecovered with foam from the desperate gait at which it was urged.
The reading was instantly suspended, and every eye strained toward theunusual object coming toward the house at such a breakneck speed.
"I wonder who that is, and why he rides so fast," inquired Mr. Thompson,addressing himself to no one in the group in particular.
"Something unusual must have occurred," suggested Mrs. Thompson; "someone of the neighbors taken ill suddenly, maybe."
"It's no one we know," spoke up Joe. "I never saw that man before," theindividual under discussion having come near enough now for his featuresto be distinguished, "nor the horse he's on, and I know every man andhorse in the whole settlement. There's some trouble not far away, Ithink, or he would not run his animal that way."
In less than three minutes more, the stranger horseman rode up to thefront of the house and jumped off his horse. Hurriedly tying him to thehitching-post, he ran up the steps of the veranda, and in the mostexcited manner, his eyes wearing a wild look and his breath coming withgreat difficulty, told Mr. Thompson, who had walked forward to meet him,that the Indians had completely destroyed the little settlement ofSpillman Creek that morning about daylight. He alone, as far as heknew, had escaped the massacre. He said that luckily he happened to bedown in the timber, getting some wood for his morning fire, and thesavages did not see him. He had his pony with him, and when he saw theIndians all dressed in their war-bonnets and hideously painted, he rodeto the river and across country as fast as his animal could carry him.
"How many families are there in the settlement?" inquired Mr. Thompson.
"About ten," answered the stranger; "forty individuals, perhaps, and allof them, I feel satisfied, have been murdered and their cabins burnt,because I saw the smoke and flames from the trail on the south side ofthe Saline as I rode hurriedly on."
"Had you no family?" asked Mrs. Thompson, excitedly, in her sympathy forthe unfortunate people who had been so cruelly massacred.
"No, ma'am," answered the stranger. "I was living all alone on my claim,which I had taken up only a week ago, on the edge of the timber. Myfamily are still back in Illinois, thank God! or they, too, with myself,would have been butchered with the rest, for I would never have leftthem."
"Do you think the savages will continue on their raid, and come furtherdown the Saline valley?" inquired Mr. Thompson, who now for the firsttime since he had been on his ranche, felt a little alarmed for hisfamily.
"I don't know," was the reply, "but I'm afraid they will. The Elkhorn isfairly settled, but the cabins are widely scattered; the Indians knowthat, and before the neighbors could rally for mutual defence, thesavages might be able to murder them in detail. I have come down here towarn the settlers on this creek, and if I can, to get a party to go tothe rescue of those on the Elkhorn. I stopped at Fort Harker on my wayand reported to the commanding officer the state of affairs, but he saidthat he had only part of a company of infantry at the post, all thecavalry being out under General Custer, looking after the Indians 'wayup the Smoky Hill. He suggested that I should come here to inform youpeople of the danger, and that, if I could muster up a crowd of men, hewould furnish all the arms and ammunition necessary for them. He alsosaid that General Sheridan was coming to Fort Harker in a few days toestablish his headquarters there, and that a general Indian war wasimminent."
"Have you any idea how many of the savages there were in the band thatraided Spillman Creek settlement?" inquired Mr. Thompson.
"I think there must have been about fifty. I counted their pony tracksin the soft mud at the ford of the Saline where they crossed it; theywere very plain, and I was enabled to come close to their probablenumber. If you could muster twenty or thirty men, well armed, who arebrave, and good shots with the rifle, I believe that if they start forthe Elkhorn to-day, they could circumvent the savages before they reachthe creek, or at least drive them out of the neighborhood. I am ready togo back with them and act as guide, for I know every foot of thecountry, having spent a whole year out there before I settled upon alocation. Who are the best men in this settlement, and where shall I goto warn them?"
"Well," replied Mr. Thompson, "I am willing to go for one. I guess therewill be no difficulty in gathering as large a force as isnecessary--good shots, too; for no one will hesitate a moment when itcomes to defending his family from an Indian raid. It will take a coupleof hours to ride around the neighborhood to the several ranches tonotify the men. My boys, here, can go to the nearest, while you and Iride to the most remote and get as large a crowd as possible. Boys,"continued he, turning to his sons, who stood with eyes wide open andmouth agape as they listened with astonishment to the terrible story ofthe stranger, "get your ponies at once; saddle them as quickly as everyou did in your lives, and ride to the nearest ranches on the creek; upone side and down the other. Tell all the folks the dreadful news, andtell them to have the men meet here at Errolstrath as quickly as theycan, and to bring their rifles with them. All are well armed," said he,turning to the stranger, "and they will respond in a hurry."
"Now," said Mr. Thompson, as the boys jumped off of the veranda to carryout their father's order, "I will go with you to old Tucker's ranche. Heis a man of most excellent judgment, and a trapper; has fought Indiansall his eventful life on the plains and in the mountains, so we cansafely rely on his advice in regard to what is best to be done." Lookingat his wife he said, "Won't you get this man a bite to eat while I'mcatching another animal for him? Yours is tired out," continued he,addressing the stranger again; "you must have a fresh horse. I've gotlots of them."
While Mr. Thompson went to the stable, and the stranger to the spring towash the dust off himself, Mrs. Thompson, assisted by Gertrude and Kate,made ready a cold lunch for the half-famished man, who told them, whenhe returned to the dining-room, that he had not eaten a morsel since theevening before.
By the time he had finished his meal, Mr. Thompson returned to the frontof the house with two animals, and taking the stranger's horse to thestable, after the saddle had been put on the fresh one, he returned tothe house. He gave his wife some advice about the boys and theirmission, then he and the stranger mounted their animals and loped off ata good gait for the ranche of old Mr. Tucker, three miles away.
The boys had started some while before their father, as it only requireda few minutes to catch and saddle their ponies that were picketed in
front of the house, on a patch of buffalo grass not twenty yards away.In less than half an hour they were at the nearest ranche, and haddelivered their message. They then rode on and made the rounds of thecircuit assigned them, relating the bad news as they travelled fromcabin to cabin as quickly as their hardy little Indian ponies couldcarry them.
While on their mission the boys talked over the story of the massacre,Joe explaining many things in connection with the savage method ofmaking a raid on a white settlement. Those were things which Rob did notfully understand, but with which Joe was familiar, having been told allabout them by the friendly Pawnees. He told Rob that he was crazy to goon the little expedition, but did not dare ask permission.
"Father might be willing, maybe," suggested Rob, "though I'm sure thatmother and the girls would object."
"I'll bet that I can find the trail of the Cheyennes, for I know betterthan any one who is going along, that they were Cheyennes who made theattack," said Joe. "That man who came down with the news don't know muchabout Indians; I could tell that by the way he talked; he's a'tender-foot.' He admitted to papa he'd only been in the country a veryshort time."
"By jolly! I'll bet he was scared when he saw those Indians," said Rob;"he wasn't used to such sights!"
"How he must have ridden his horse," said Joe. "I never saw an animal sofrothy in my life before; did you, Rob? You could have scraped awash-tub of lather off him!"
"If the Cheyennes have left any kind of a trail after them, I can telljust how many there were of them," continued Joe, "but they are ahead ofall other Indians in covering up their tracks; old Yellow Calf has toldme so a dozen times. I expect that it was Charley Bent's band of Dogsoldiers that made the raid."
"What are Dog soldiers?" inquired Rob.
"Why, the young bucks of a tribe who will not obey the orders of theirchief; renegades who will not be controlled by any custom. Those Indianswho have not done anything yet to make them warriors, and who go off ontheir own hook to murder and steal, and to fire the cabins of the poorsettlers, thinking that if they can get a few scalps of women andchildren they will be recognized by the rest of the tribe as braves.Sometimes there are 'Squaw-men' among them, that is, white men who havemarried Indian women; generally bad men who have committed some crimewhere they used to live and dare not go back to where they came from."
"Who is Charley Bent?" asked Rob. "That is not an Indian name, surely!"
"I know it isn't," answered Joe. "He's a half breed; half white and halfCheyenne. His mother was a Cheyenne squaw, and his father was ColonelBent, one of the most celebrated frontiersmen of his time. Charley waswell educated in St. Louis, but when he returned to his father's home,at Bent's Fort, way up the Arkansas River, in what is now Colorado, hethrew off the white man's dress and manner of living, joined theIndians, and became, in his devilishness, the worst savage to be foundin the whole Indian country. The United States Government has offered athousand dollars for him, dead or alive. Somebody will catch him yet;the army scouts are after him red hot, so the Pawnees told me."
"I wish the Pawnees, lots of 'em, were back on the creek, Joe," saidRob, continuing the lively conversation they had been keeping up eversince they started from the ranche; "wouldn't they like such a chance togo after their old enemies?"
"I expect they will be here sooner than usual, this coming autumn; oneof the boys told me so when the band left; but it will be four monthsyet before we may look for them."
"Are you going to ask to go with the party to the Elkhorn, Joe?" askedRob of his brother.
"No, I think not. I intend to be still unless some of the crowd drop ahint they'd like to have me along; then I'll speak out."
By four o'clock the boys returned to the ranche, having warned twelvefamilies of the impending danger. All the men expressed their readinessto go with Mr. Thompson and the others to circumvent the savages ontheir raid. When Joe and Rob had turned their ponies out to graze andwent back to the house again, they found a dozen men there already,waiting for the return of their father and the stranger. The anxiousgroup sat on the veranda, discussing the state of affairs, suggesting toeach other what course should be pursued concerning those settlers whowould have to remain in the valley with their wives and children. UncleDick Smith, as he was familiarly called, an old man with white hair andlong white beard, who had had some experience with the savages in hisearlier days in Wisconsin, suggested that while the scouting party wereabsent, Job Wilkersin's stone corral would be the best place for thesettlers to rendezvous in case the Indians came down into the valley ofthe Oxhide. After some discussion, however, it was agreed to let thequestion remain open until Mr. Thompson and the other men should arrive.
A short time before sundown a group of horsemen could be seen comingdown the trail from the north. They were those for whom the crowd atErrolstrath were anxiously looking. When they rode up to the house,headed by Mr. Thompson, they dismounted, fastened their horses to trees,and after a hurried meal which the girls had been getting ready duringtheir father's absence, they all adjourned to the lawn outside of theveranda, and the subject was renewed as to what those should do who werecompelled to remain behind on the Oxhide. Mr. Wilkersin was among them,and as he stated his house was the largest in the neighborhood, and hisbig stone corral a grand place for defence in case the savages continuedon their raid, it was agreed to rendezvous there. Twenty determined menin the corral could keep off a hundred Indians, and besides there wasfood enough at his house for every one who should go there. He furthersaid that he would be glad to assist his friends thus much in tryingtimes like these.
Rob, who was familiar with the location of every cabin in thesettlement, was immediately despatched on a fresh horse to call on thepeople and communicate the result of the conference. He was to tell themwhere to go in the event of the Indians coming into Oxhide valley afterthe scouting party had left for the Elkhorn.
There were about thirty men who were obliged to remain at home; too oldto undertake the fatigue of the long night's ride contemplated. Theywere all excellent shots, many of them having been pioneers in thesettlement of the states east of the Mississippi when they constitutedthe far West.
When all the men who could be mustered for the expedition had arrived atErrolstrath, there were about fifty. Old man Tucker was unanimouslychosen for their leader, with the title, by courtesy, of captain. He wasa man nearly sixty-five years old, but had been early recognized by thesettlers of the valley as one to whom they could look whenever theaffairs of the neighborhood demanded the exercise of good judgment orsound advice. He was well educated, having graduated at Yale, but aftergraduation a quarrel with his father resulted in his drifting out on thefrontier, where his life had been that of a trapper and hunter. He wasas active as any of the young men, so his age in this case did notmilitate against him. He was the best rifle-shot in the valley, and if,like Davy Crockett, he failed to hit a squirrel in the eye, "it didn'tcount!"
The stranger from Spillman Creek was named Alderdyce, as he had informedMr. Thompson while on the trip with him, and, as many of those who nowmet him for the first time desired to hear his story, he related thedetails of the horrid massacre again. At its sickening recital amajority became impatient of delay, and wanted to start on the trail ofthe savages at once, although the whole valley was flooded with thegolden glow of sunset.
Joe stood modestly in the crowd, eagerly drinking in the awful storytold by Mr. Alderdyce, and he noticed how anxious the scouting party wasto get away. He knew that this would be the height of absurdity untilnight had closed in, and in all probability would defeat the very objectof the expedition, so he ventured to suggest that it would be better towait until after dark.
Old Mr. Tucker knew as well as the boy's father that Joe's judgment inmatters relating to savage methods when on the war-path was far inadvance of his sixteen years. His ideas and opinions commanded aconsideration his age did not otherwise warrant, so the keen observationhe had developed since his intimacy with the Pawnees, and the astutenesshe ha
d imbibed from them, caused Mr. Tucker to ask the boy's reasons forhis suggestion.
Joe replied hesitatingly: "I believe it's better to wait until dark. Therunners, as their spies are called, of the hostile band, are, Ihonestly think, at this moment stationed on some of the highest pointsof the valley. They are watching to learn if there will be anydemonstration made against the raiding band from this settlement. Ifthis is true, and I believe it is, they should not be permitted to seeour party start out. If they do discover that a number of mounted menare riding on the prairie, they will hang on their trail, keep the mainband warned of every movement, and you could not effect anything. Inthat case you might as well stay at home."
Upon these hints so forcibly thrown out by Joe, nearly every one at oncecoincided with his opinion, and the captain decided to act upon theboy's judgment.
Joe, who was always an attentive listener, rarely obtruded his ideasinto the conversation of his elders; in reality he was of rather areticent disposition, a trait generally indicative of bravery, but hewas ever ready to venture an opinion when asked for it, fearlessly andin great earnestness. So during the discussion of the supposed detailsof the morning's massacre, Captain Tucker asked him what he thought ofthe probability of the savages coming down to the Elkhorn from thescene of their raid on the Spillman.
"Well, Mr. Tucker," replied Joe, "distance is never considered by anIndian. If a band start on a raid and are successful at the beginning,they will keep on a dozen miles or five hundred; it makes no differenceto them; they'll wear out any animal but a wolf. If the massacre wascomplete, as Mr. Alderdyce thinks, they will probably keep right onmurdering, scalping, and firing the cabins, until they get a setback. Myown opinion is that they will go down to the Elkhorn or some other placewhere there is a settlement, and if successful again, will continue onand come to the Oxhide, perhaps, now they have tasted blood. But if theyhave met with a repulse anywhere, or learn that the United States troopsare after them, they may abandon their raid and be now a hundred mileson the trail to their village."
Joe was evidently fidgety; he wanted to go along, and as the captain andhis father had questioned him so earnestly on such important matters, hethought he had a right to be one of the party; still, he said nothinguntil Captain Tucker, noticing the boy's anxious countenance, asked himif he would like to go with them.
Joe answered very quickly in the affirmative, but it was with muchhesitancy that his parents gave their consent. The neighbors gathered atthe ranche, however, importuned very earnestly in his favor, declaringthat the success of the expedition might depend materially upon theirdecision whether the boy should go or not. Of course, to resist such anappeal was out of the question, coming as it did almost unanimously fromtheir friends, so Joe was permitted to accompany the party.
Hurriedly did the delighted boy go out to the corral and saddle hisfavorite pony, a coal-black little animal, very swift, full ofendurance, sure-footed as a mule, and as obedient to the touch of itsyoung master's hand and legs as a well-trained circus horse. Soonreturning, he tied him with the other animals to a tree and then wentinto the house to prepare himself for the venturesome trip.
Coming back on the veranda in a few moments dressed in the buckskin suitgiven him by the old chief Yellow Calf, he looked the veryimpersonation of a veteran frontiersman, and but for his childish facemight have passed for a veritable army scout. He slung his rifle acrossthe horn of his saddle; its complement of bullets in his pouch hefastened to the cantle, while the powder-flask was suspended by a cordthrown over his shoulder. He also carried his flint and steel, thinkinghe might have occasion to use it, and with a small lantern was ready forwhatever he might be called upon to do.
As the welcome darkness would not come for an hour yet, the party kepttheir animals concealed in the thick timber near the cabin. They satquietly in the shadow of the veranda, so that if there were any of thehostile spies in the vicinity, as Joe had suggested there might be, theywould not be able to observe any unusual demonstration on the place, asthe house was completely masked by the giant trees surrounding it.
"He looked the very impersonation of a veteranfrontiersman."]
By eight o'clock it was dark enough to venture out, and the partyquietly mounted their horses, and strung out in single file down thenarrow trail leading from the ranche to the ford of the Smoky Hill.Tucker, Joe, and Alderdyce were at the head of the line. Every one wasfamiliar with the trail as far as the river, for it was the maintravelled track to the village of Ellsworth. It was six miles fromErrolstrath, and contained a general store, a blacksmith shop, and thepost office for all the surrounding country.
The ford crossed the Smoky Hill about two miles east of the littlehamlet, but the party did not follow the trail up the river. They took ashorter cut over the hills bordering the stream where there was a seriesof buffalo paths running northward in the direction they wanted to go.They thus saved a detour of three or four miles, an importantconsideration where time was of the greatest consequence. The buffalopaths all came out on the other side of the high divide separating theSaline from the Smoky Hill. A short distance beyond the summit of theridge, and down a gradual slope, was one of the valleys of the severaltributaries which gave the many-branched stream called the Elkhorn, itssuggestive name.
After the party had forded the Smoky Hill, the country was unknown toall excepting Alderdyce and Joe. The latter had often accompanied thePawnees on their hunts as far as the Saline and Paradise creeks,twenty-five miles from the Oxhide.
All had been travelling up to that point in groups of twos and threes onthe flat river bottom, but now again they strung out in Indian file,following Joe and Alderdyce slowly up the divide and down on the otherside. They then all moved out more rapidly into a short, quick lope asthe ground was more level for several miles. At the end of the levelstretch they halted, as they were approaching the beginning of thelimestone region.
Following Joe's advice they dismounted and muffled the hoofs of theirhorses with gunny sacks which they had brought for that purpose, inorder to prevent the sound of the animals' feet from being heard by anyof the savage runners.
This wise precaution was frequently employed by the scouts of the armywith General Sheridan during his celebrated winter campaign against theallied tribes of the plains, when the troops were obliged to travel atnight through the enemy's country.
It was soon after they had passed the limestone region that a heavyrolling prairie, over which the trail ran up one slope and down anotherof the rocky divides, separated the narrow intervales between. Most ofthe time it was a hard, killing pace for the poor horses, as they hadtravelled for hours continuously without a halt, excepting to muffletheir feet. The settlement must be reached before daylight, or perhapsit would be too late to thwart the murderous schemes of the Indians, whoalways chose the early hours of the dawn in which to commit theiratrocities. At that time when sleep oppresses most heavily, life anddeath were the issue, and the tired animals could not be mercifullyspared. Would they be able to hold out with ten miles of the same cruellope ahead of them, before the breaks of the main Elkhorn would bereached?
There was an hour more of severe riding, during which the heels of theriders and the sharp sting of the quirt were often called intorequisition to urge the jaded animals on to their hard duty. They wereflecked with foam, their nostrils distended, and they were almost wornout when the terribly earnest men rode down the last divide into thegrassy bottom of the first branch of the main Elkhorn.
The faintest streaks of the coming dawn were beginning to showthemselves; the summits of the Twin Mounds, capped with white limestone,already reflected the rosy tinge of the rising sun, which was still farbelow the horizon of the valley. The beautiful intervales, through whichthe party urged their horses, were covered with buffalo grass, and atthe farther end, not quite half a mile distant, the fringe of timberbordering the creek could be distinguished as its dark contour cast astill blacker shadow over the sombre valley.
There the party halted
for a few moments to reconnoitre. Captain Tuckeragain had occasion to interrogate Joe. He inquired of the young trailerwhat would be the first acts of the savages when they arrived in thevalley of the Elkhorn, if indeed they came at all.
"Well, Mr. Tucker," replied the boy, "the first thing the Indians woulddo--they'd hide themselves in the timber; lie down in the grass,probably, and then send out one or more of their runners, the very bestthey had with them, to sneak around and watch for a chance to make abreak together on the cabins. Then, if the outlook was favorable, andnone of the settlers were stirring, they'd go from cabin to cabin,murdering, scalping, and firing the buildings as fast as they could."
"Well, then," said the captain, as he took both of the boy's hands inhis own, and gazed into his bright face, "you know that all the settlerson the Oxhide, and your own folks, too, say that you are as much of anIndian as if you had been born in a tepee, so far as savage education isconcerned. Now, I've been talking to your father, and he agrees with me;I want you to do some dangerous work, or at least it is somewhat risky.You are the only one among us all who can do it as it should be done. Itis this. While we remain here in the shadow of the timber to blow ouranimals and graze them a little, I want you to cross the creek on foot,and go up to Spillman Ford with Alderdyce, who will show you where itintersects this branch of the Elkhorn, and try to discover, if you can,by the dim light, any signs of Indians. I'm inclined to think they havenot come down into this valley at all. But I want you to find out wherethey are, if possible. If you do not find any track of them, after wehave rested our horses and warned the settlers of the danger, we willall go on to the scene of the massacre, and there you will be sure tolearn where they have gone."
Joe and Alderdyce turned over their horses to one of the men who were onguard watching the animals while they fed on the rich buffalo grass, andthen started on foot for the ford of the Elkhorn leading to SpillmanCreek. It was about a mile, and during the walk, Joe and Alderdycetalked over the affair of the morning. Joe asked his companion to tellhim exactly what the commanding officer had said to him when he reportedthe massacre to him at Fort Harker.
"Well, Joe, I will tell you just what he told me. He said that GeneralSheridan had ordered a company of Custer's regiment of mounted troopersto be sent to the Elkhorn valley and to remain there until the settlerswere advised to come in, or the proposed Indian war was ended."
"Now I have an idea," said Joe to him. "We shall not find any Indians onthis trip; the cavalry have already started for the valley, and thesavages have got wind of it and have gone back to their village,probably, a hundred miles south of the Arkansas. But, anyhow, we'll goon up to the ford and learn what we can."
When they reached the crossing, not a sign of a pony's hoof could bediscovered, and both gave a sigh of relief as they now knew that none ofthe savages had come down towards the Elkhorn. They hurried back totheir party, and Joe reported that he had not seen a sign.
"Good enough," said Captain Tucker, as he listened to the good news."Now, men," continued he, turning and addressing himself to the partywho had gathered near him to learn what report Joe and Alderdyce mightbring, "we will remain here for another hour, and after warning some ofthe prominent settlers in the valley, we will go up to the head ofSpillman Creek and see what is to be discovered there. Who knows butsome one may be found hidden in the brush, not daring to come out. Wemay be able to save a life or two yet."