A WICKED LITTLE BATTLE.--CAPTURE OF ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-TWO
HORSES.--DISCOVERY OF BLACK CANYON.--FORT YUMA AND THE PAY MASTER.
We traveled very slowly and cautiously, and at the foot of the
mountains, one hundred and fifty miles from Fort Yuma, we met a
freight train from Santa Fe loaded with flour and bacon,
principally, bound for Tombstone, Arizona. This train was owned by
a man named Pritchett; but he was generally known as "Nick in the
Woods." His party had had a fight with the Indians in the
mountains the third day before we met him, and he had lost several
mules killed and two of his teamsters were wounded. He informed us
that the mountains were swarming with Indians, so the Lieutenant
sent one company ahead of the command, George Jones and I going as
scouts.
The advance company was under command of an orderly sergeant, who
was instructed that if we met no Indians before reaching our old
quarters we were to stay there until the command came up. On the
third evening, just as our company was going into camp, and Jones
and I were taking a survey from the hill near by, we saw a band of
Indians coming leisurely along and evidently bound for the same
camp ground that the soldiers were. Jones hurried down to inform
the sergeant of the situation, I tarrying long enough to become
positively convinced that the reds might get their camp fixings
mixed with ours. So I put spurs to my horse and rode down to camp
as quickly as I could. During this time the sergeant was flying
around like a chicken with his head cut off to have his company
ready to meet the Indians, and he barely had time to get his men
all mounted when the reds came in sight, not forty rods away.
George and I had ridden our horses very hard all day, consequently
took no hand in this engagement, but rode to the top of a little
hill close by where we could see the whole affair.
In this fight the Apaches showed their blood by standing their
ground better than any Indians I have ever seen in a battle. They
did not offer to retreat until the soldiers were right up among
them, there being some sixty Indians and one hundred soldiers.
This was beyond doubt the wickedest little battle I had ever
witnessed, but it did not last long. In the engagement three
soldiers were killed and five wounded, and nine horses killed and
nine wounded. There were twenty-seven good Indians left on the
battle-field, and none of the Indian horses were captured. Those
that the Indians did not drive away took fight and ran after them.
The soldiers followed until after dark, but did not find any more
dead Indians. We remained in this camp until the Lieutenant came
up with his command. He regretted that he did not come on himself
ahead of the command, thinking that had he been there the result
would have been quite different.
On his arrival he made a detail of eight men to assist in
scouting, informing them that they were relieved of all guard
duties while serving in that capacity, which is a great relief to
a soldier, especially when in an Indian country. I was appointed
captain or chief of scouts and George my first assistant The
Lieutenant selected what he thought to be the best men he had in
his command and they afterwards proved themselves to be just what
he had expected. On starting out I did not make any reserve of
scouts, but sent four with George and took the other four with me.
The fourth day after starting, about noon, I saw a band of Indians
in camp ten miles from the Lieutenant's quarters. I knew this to
be a new camp, as I had been over the same ground only two days
previous. The Indians were camped in a valley nearly a mile wide
that had not a stick of timber on it, except the few small willows
that grew along the little rill that ran through the valley,
consequently I could not get close enough to ascertain the number
of the Indians until after dark. In the meantime I telegraphed the
Lieutenant to hold his men in readiness or to move on at once as
he thought best.
As soon as he received my message he mounted two companies of
cavalry and pushed on to the place where I had told the messenger
to meet me on his return.
While the messenger went to headquarters, in company with one of
my scouts I went down near the Indian camp to try to ascertain if
possible their number, leaving the other two scouts in charge of
the horses. The only way we could get at the number was to count
the fires and make an estimate in that way. The Indians seemed to
be nervous and much disturbed that night from some cause;
continually little squads of them would walk from one fire to
another. After we had crawled around something like two hours and
made our estimate, we returned to our horses and comrades, and I
never was more surprised in my life than when I got back and met
Lieut. Jackson there with his command, for I did not think
sufficient time had passed for him to come that distance. I sat
down and explained the lay of the ground as best I could, nothing
being in the way except the little creek that carried the water
across the valley, and I told him that about one hundred and fifty
yards below the Indian camp the horses would be able to jump it. I
also told them that I estimated their number at two hundred.
The Lieutenant said: "I think I will attack them at once," and
asked me if I had their horses located. I told him I had. He then
gave orders for all of the men to muffle their spurs, and he asked
me to take my four men and as soon as the charge was made to make
a dash for the horses, cut them off and stampede them. So we made
the start, my scouts and I on the extreme right of their entire
command. The Lieutenant had explained to the command that he would
give the word in an undertone, each corporal to take it up, and
they also had orders to hold their sabres up in a way that they
could not make any noise. Being good starlight that night, one
could see fairly well. We rode within less than one hundred yards
of the Indian camp before the word was given to charge. When we
were in sight of the horses we raised the yell and they all
started, and we did not let them stop until at headquarters the
next morning at daybreak. At this haul we got one hundred and
eighty-two horses.
The Lieutenant returned with his command at ten o'clock the same
morning, and he told me that he didn't think a dozen Indians
escaped.
In this engagement he did not lose a man, and only a few were
wounded, but five horses were hurt, and those he had killed after
returning to headquarters, claiming that in this warm climate,
where the flies were so bad, it took too much attention to cure
them.
The two days following were days of rest with us, very little
being done in the way of scouting. On the morning of the third day
after the battle, George and his force went out to make a tour
around the camp, and Lieut. Jackson, myself and four scouts went
out to try to kill some deer, as we were getting very hungry for
fresh meat, having been so long on bacon that we were all sick and
tired of it. That day we killed four deer, and that night we
camped six miles from our quarters. The next morning the
Lieutenant sent to headquarters for ten pack animals, and we
remained to hunt. In two days we killed all the game we could pack
to camp on the ten animals. On our return the Lieutenant said to
me: "This part we will have to keep to ourselves, for if we tell
the General that we were out hunting and spent three days on the
trip he would swear until everything around would turn blue."
After this we made two and three day scouting trips. While out on
one of these, I found where the Apache stronghold was; down in a
deep canyon, which since then has been known as Black canyon. From
all appearance the greater part of the tribe was there. This
canyon was tributary to the Colorado, and the hardest place to get
into I have ever seen in the Rocky Mountains.
After making as good an investigation as the surroundings would
permit, I returned with my scouts to the command to report. In
making my report I said: "Lieutenant, I cannot half describe that
canyon to you, for it is beyond any doubt the blackest looking
place I have ever seen in all my travels." I told the Lieutenant
that I would like to have him go with me and view the place before
he moved his command. The canyon was fifty miles from our
quarters. That same night George Jones returned with his four
scouts, and the morning following we started out with the entire
scout force, taking four days' rations with us. On the morning of
the second day we came in sight of the canyon. The Lieutenant took
a good look at it through his glasses, after which he said:
"Captain, I think you named it well when you called it a Black
canyon, for it looks as if it would be impossible to enter it on
horseback." That day and the next was spent in trying to find
where the Indians entered the canyon, and we at last discovered
that they entered it from the east and west with horses, by
descending a very abrupt mountain, and they were strung up and
down the canyon for five miles. After the Lieutenant had made
examinations of the location we started back to headquarters.
The Lieutenant and I fell back to the rear in order to have a
private conversation relative to the situation. He said: "To be
honest with you, I don't think it safe to go in there with less
than two thousand soldiers, especially at this time of the year.
If the Indians are as strong as they look to be, and have the
advantage of the ground that they seem to have, it would only be
sport for them to lie behind those rocks and shoot the soldiers
down as fast as they could enter the canyon. This is the first
time I ever went out hunting Indians, found them, and had to go
away and let them alone. To tell the truth, I don't know what to
do, for if I report to the General he will come at once with all
his forces and accomplish nothing when here."
The Black canyon is in the northwest corner of Arizona, where it
joins on to California and Nevada. Since that time there have been
more soldiers killed in that place than in all the balance of
Arizona territory.
After he had thought the matter over for a day or so he decided to
move the command up near Black canyon, catch small parties out
from there, and try in that manner to weaken them, or he might
succeed in drawing them out, and in that way be able to get a
fight out of them on something like fair ground. But in this the
Lieutenant was very much disappointed, for they were too smart to
come out.
George Jones and myself, each with our company of scouts, started
out to locate some place suitable for headquarters, with
instructions that anywhere within twenty miles would be
satisfactory. I was out six days but did not find what I
considered a suitable location. Jones was more successful. Within
about ten miles of the canyon he found what he thought to be a
suitable location, but said it would be impossible to get to the
place with wagons. So the wagons were corralled and left at our
present location in charge of a sergeant, with thirty infantrymen.
Loading the entire pack train, we started for Howard's Point, that
being the name George had given the new camp.
Upon arrival at our new camp the Lieutenant put out pickets all
around camp one mile away, keeping them there day and night while
we remained. The scouts for the next six weeks were almost worked
to death, without accomplishing much of anything, from the fact
that we were too close to the main body of Indians to catch them
in small squads, for in going out to hunt they would not go into
camp until twenty or thirty miles from their headquarters, and our
plan was to catch them in camp and attack them either in the night
or just at daybreak in the morning.
One morning after being here ten days, the whole scout force
started in two squads, with the understanding that we keep in
about one mile of each other, so that if one squad should
encounter a band of Indians the other could come to the relief.
After traveling about ten miles we heard shots in the direction
where I knew George was with his four assistants, and turning in
that direction, we put our horses down to their best speed, and
were soon at the scene of action, but owing to the roughness of
the ground we could not make as good time as we desired. When in
sight of the contestants I saw that George was on foot, a comrade
on each side of him, and they were firing as fast as they could
load and shoot. He had run into those Indians, about twenty in
number, hid in the rocks, and they had opened fire on the scouts,
killing two of his men the first shot, and shooting George's horse
from under him, leaving him afoot. When we arrived I ordered my
men to dismount and take to the rocks, leaving the horses to take
care of themselves, as the Indians were on foot and we could make
better time in that immediate vicinity than we could on our
horses. We had a hot little fight, but succeeded in driving the
savages back. After the battle was over we tied our dead comrades
on one horse and packed them to camp, changing off with George and
the scout whose horse the dead bodies were tied on, letting them
ride our horses part of the time. That night we dug graves and
gave the two comrades as decent a burial as circumstances would
permit. George felt very sorry over losing the two scouts because
they were in his charge, but he was not to blame in the least.
In this little battle we got six Indians, and they killed two of
our men and three horses. Lieut. Jackson thought it would now be
advisable to increase the number of scouts and have a sufficient
force together to be able to protect ourselves, for we were to
remain here a month longer, and if in that time we were not able
in some way to get at the Indians we would return to the fort and
wait until spring.
Two weeks later I was out on a scouting tour when I saw a small
band of Indians coming out of Black canyon and making their way
westward. When they were within ten miles of our headquarters I
got to count them, finding there were forty in the band, all on
foot. I decided that they had started on a hunt and I would keep
my eye on them to see where they would camp for the night. By this
time I had all the water in this region located, and when I would
see a band of Indians late in the evening I could tell about where
they would camp.
As soon as I had decided where those would camp I telegraphed to
Lieut. Jackson the situation. Where these Indians camped was
within six miles of our quarters, but a miserable place to enter
with horses, but I thought we could ride within a mile of the
place on horseback.
The Lieutenant, however, was well acquainted with the ground, and
as soon as he read my message he mounted his cavalrymen and
started, and met me within a mile of the Indian camp. Dismounting,
he and his men started on foot to the camp, and he told the
soldiers to walk lightly, and when in sight of the camp to get
down and crawl, but to be very careful not to break a limb or
twig. I was very much disappointed in not getting to see this
fight, for after I had sent my message to headquarters my horse
fell with me and dislocated my right knee.
Lieut. Jackson said that he had never seen Indians fight harder in
the dark than they did. He had three to their one, and said if it
had been daylight he thought they would have held the soldiers in
check for some little time. He did not think that he got all of
them. In this action he lost--two men killed and seven wounded,
two of whom died afterwards from their wounds.
I was laid up for a month with my knee, having to go on crutches
most of the time, and it has given me more or less trouble since,
even up to the present time. After we had arrived at our
headquarters the Lieutenant concluded that as it was getting late,
we had better move in the direction of the fort, and we started,
making ten miles a day, and keeping out a strong force of scouts,
thinking they might be able while in the mountains to capture
small bands of hunting Apaches, but no more Indians were seen.
When we were out of the mountains we doubled our distance, making
about twenty miles a day. Having no other way to travel than on
horseback, my knee swelled badly, and when we got to Mr. Davis'
ranch, which was forty miles from Fort Yuma, I had to stop and
rest a few days. This was, however, a very desirable place for an
unmarried man to stop, for Mr. Davis had some young daughters who
were very attractive. I remained there a week, until I got the
swelling reduced in my leg, and Mr. Davis hauled me to the fort in
a wagon, taking at the same time a load of watermelons and
tomatoes, which grew abundantly in that country. When I arrived at
Fort Yuma Gen. Crook told me to take good care of myself, also
saying he was highly pleased with the success of the past season,
and he said: "If I live until spring I am going to see that Black
canyon of yours that Lieut. Jackson has told me so much about."
During this winter we got a weekly mail established from Fort Yuma
to Los Angeles, I had been here over eight months and had not seen
a newspaper since I came, and when this mail line was established
nearly every man subscribed for a paper of some kind, and the fort
for the first time was blessed with plenty of reading matter, and
we were able to gain a little knowledge as to what was going on in
the civilized parts of the United States.
In the fore part of the month of December the officers put the men
to work cleaning and straightening things up in general about the
fort. We were all confident there was something up, but just what
was not known. After everything was in proper shape it was
whispered around that the paymaster would be in in a few days. On
hearing this I asked Lieut. Jackson if it was true, and he said it
was, and he also informed me that from this on we would have a
regular pay day; and this was not all either, but that we were to
have two more companies of cavalry and one of infantry, and said
he: "The General is talking of sending you and me to California to
buy horses, but that will not be decided upon until the paymaster
comes."
It was the twentieth of December when the paymaster came, and also
the three companies of recruits spoken of by the Lieutenant. This
was the first pay day the soldiers had had for over a year, and
the boys all had plenty of money, but a-poor show to spend it, as
there were no saloons or gambling houses there, so they amused
themselves by gambling among themselves, and one could go all
around the fort and see all kinds of games running, and there was
money flying in the air.