IN SOCIETY SOME MORE.--A VERY TIGHT PLACE.--TEN PAIRS OF YANKEE
EARS.--BLACK BESS SHAKES HERSELF AT THE RIGHT TIME.--A SOLEMN
COMPACT.
I remained in Jacksonville until about the first of December,
1874, when I received a letter from Lieut. Jackson, who was yet at
Fort Yuma, Ariz., stating that there was an opening for me there,
and asking me if I knew where George Jones was at that time, and
telling me if possible to have him accompany me, as he would
insure us both employment in the scouting field upon our arrival.
George was now living twelve miles from Jacksonville. Being sick
and tired of idling away my time around town, I rode out to pay
George and his parents a friendly visit before taking my leave for
Arizona. I found them in rather good circumstances on a small farm
on Bear creek, near Phoenix, and a pleasant visit I had with them
at their beautiful little home, during which time I showed the
letter to George that I had received from Lieut. Jackson. He
expressed a desire to accompany me on the trip, but as his parents
were now getting old and childish, he did not like to leave
without their consent, he being their only son.
Two days later George informed me that he had the consent of his
father and mother to go to Arizona, to be gone one year, after
which time he was going to quit the business for all time. But we
have quit the business before, and then I related the conversation
I had with Jim Bridger some years previous at the time I first
made up my mind to quit the scouting field.
The time being set for the start, I returned to Jacksonville for
my other two horses, clothing, bedding and other traps such as
belong to an old scout. All being in readiness, we bade Mr. and
Mrs. Jones good-bye and started on our way for Arizona and aimed
to reach San Francisco by Christmas. We had five horses in our
outfit, I having three and George two. We arrived in San Francisco
on the twenty-first of December.
The next morning we were walking up Kearney street near the Lick
House when we met the reporter for the Chronicle who I had ridden
for at the time of the hanging of Captain Jack and associates at
Fort Klamath. The reporter expressed himself as being very glad to
meet us, and insisted on our taking a stroll over to the Chronicle
office and meet the proprietors of the paper, whose names were
DeYoung, their being three brothers of them.
As we had not changed our clothing, having our traveling suits on
I insisted on deferring the matter until the next day, but this he
would not hear to. As that would not work I tried another plan by
telling him that we had not yet had our breakfast, but he told us
that he had not yet been to breakfast, and proposed that the three
of us take breakfast together, or rather invited George and I to
take breakfast with him, which we did, seeing that there was no
chance to evade him.
After breakfast we accompanied him to the CHRONICLE office, which
at that time was located on the corner of Kearney and Pine
streets, and here we met all three of the DeYoung brothers. After
being introduced to them and spending some two hours with them,
Charles DeYoung, the eldest of the three brothers, gave us a
cordial invitation to take dinner with him at his own residence,
saying that dinner would be ready at six o'clock. This, I think,
was the first time in my life that I had ever heard a six o'clock
meal called dinner. Thanking him for the kind offer I excused
myself as I was in my traveling suit, and the very thought of
entering the private residence of one of the popular men of the
city almost paralized me. But my excuses were all fruitless. He
would not even consider "No" as answer, and some of them were with
us until time for dinner, as he termed it, but what I would have
called supper.
With as bold a front as possible we accompanied Mr. DeYoung to his
residence, which we found to be a fine mansion on California
street. On arriving at his residence we met there some ten or
twelve other guests, both ladies and gentlemen. Now the reader can
have a faint idea of the embarrassing position in which we were
both placed at that moment, and I can truthfully say that at the
moment I entered that mansion I would have given three months'
wages to have been away from there. George Jones had on buckskin
breeches and I had on a buckskin suit, while the guests were
dressed in style. I tried to offer some apology, but at every
attempt it seemed that I only made a bad matter worse.
We were treated with the greatest respect while at this place, and
were asked many questions by the other guests relative to the
Modoc war, the capturing of Captain Jack, etc., and the following
morning quite an article came out in the Chronicle concerning
George Jones and myself relative to the position we held in the
Modoc war.
We remained there until the last day of December, on which day we
started again on our journey for Arizona, via Salinas, Santa
Barbara and Los Angeles. Here we lay over and let our horses rest
four days, after which we proceeded on our journey via San Diego,
which at that time was a very small place. From there we struck
for the Colorado river and followed down the river to Fort Yuma.
This route we took in order to avoid crossing any of those sand
deserts. We were about five weeks making the trip, and reached
Fort Yuma without any accident or mishap whatever, and learned
that the Indians were worse in Arizona than when we left them
several years before, as they were most all armed with rifles,
instead of bows and arrows, and many of them had pistols.
Lieut. Jackson told me he had lost more men the last year out than
in any other two seasons since he had been in Arizona. He had
received orders to take four hundred cavalrymen and one hundred
infantrymen and go into the mountains and follow the Indians from
place to place the coming season. The Lieutenant told me that
there had been a settlement started the last year about ninety
miles from the line of Arizona and Sonora, Mexico, and they were
not only troubled with the Indians, but the Mexicans also came in
there and stole their stock and run it across the line.
Gen. Crook was still in charge of the command, and wanted me to
accompany Lieut. Jackson, saying: "I do not expect you to do any
hard service yourself, but want you to take charge of the scout
force and handle it to suit yourself."
If my memory serves me right, it was in the latter part of March,
1875, when we made the start for the mountains. For the first
hundred miles our supplies were hauled on wagons, but the balance
of the way they had to be packed on animals.
On our way out we passed near Salt River Valley, that being
settled up now with Americans. I started to ride out to the
settlement to ascertain something of the nature of the
depredations committed there lately. I dressed in teamster's
clothing and tied a pair of blankets behind my saddle before
starting to the settlement. It was late in the evening, just about
sunset, and I was riding leisurely along, being within six or
seven miles of the settlement, when suddenly I came upon three
Mexicans, just cooking supper. They saw me as quick as I saw them,
and I thought I was in for it. I was too near them to attempt to
get away, so all that I could do was to make the best I could of
it, take my chances and trust to luck. When I rode up I spoke to
them in my own language and one big burley looking Mexican said:
"No indetenda English," meaning I don't understand English. They
then asked me in their tongue if I spoke Spanish, which I
understood as well as they did, but I shook my head as if I could
not understand a word they said.
I dismounted, untied the blankets from behind my saddle, threw
them down near the fire on which they were cooking supper, but did
not unsaddle my mare. I was riding Black Bess, and one of them got
up and walked around her and examined her closely, and when he
returned to the fire he said: "Esta ismo muya wano cavia," meaning
that is a good horse. Another one in the crowd said he had in his
pocket just ten pairs of ears that he had taken from the heads of
Yankees, and this would make the eleventh pair. Now I thought my
time had come, but I had been in tight places before and had
always managed in some way to get out.
While it looked very blue, still I made up my mind that when it
came to the worst I would get at least one or two of them while
they were doing me up. I did not pretend to pay any attention to
their conversation, yet at the same time I could understand all
that was uttered by them. I learned that there were ten in the
gang, and the other seven had gone that night to the settlement
for the purpose of stealing horses, and were liable to return at
any time. While I was lying there on my blankets I heard them lay
their plans to kill me in case I went to sleep, or if I got up and
started to my horse they were to shoot me before I got away. Now
the reader can rest assured that this was getting to be a serious
affair with me, for I knew that these Mexicans could handle a
pistol with good success, while they are as a rule experts with a
knife, the latter being a Mexican stand-by. This was a little the
closest place that I had ever been in. If I attempted to leave
they would kill me as sure as I made the start; if I stayed there
until the other seven returned, then I would not have a ghost of a
show for my life.
I laid there by the fire as though I was worn out entirely,
listening to their talk, and more than once heard the big rough-
looking Mexican boast of a pair of Yankee ears that he would take
from my head.
Their supper being ready, they sat down to eat, but did not invite
me to sup with them. They all three ate out of the same frying pan
and poured their coffee out in tin cups. Two of them had their
backs turned toward me, while the other one sat on the opposite
side of the frying pan that they were eating out of and facing me,
but they were paying but little attention to me. Black Bess was
feeding close by and on the opposite side of them from where I
lay. Now I made up my mind that I would make a desperate effort to
extricate myself from this trap, for to stay there I knew meant
death and I would rather take my chances with those three than
with the entire gang. They were all sitting flat on the ground,
each had a pistol on him and their guns all lay within a few feet
of them. My only show for escape was to kill two of them at the
first shot and then I would have an equal show with the other one,
but now was the particular part of the work. Just one false move
and the jig was up with me, but it was getting time that I should
be at work for the other seven were likely to be there at any
moment. I carefully reached around under my coat tail and got hold
of both of my pistols, and just as I did so, as good luck would
have it, Black Bess shook herself very hard and caused them to
turn their eyes toward her, and it could not have happened in a
better time. I was on my knees in an instant, and leveling a
pistol at each of the two with their backs towards me, I fired,
and being almost near enough to have touched either of them with
the point of the pistol, it was a sure thing that I would not miss
them. After firing the first two shots I was on my feet in an
instant, by which time the third man had taken a tumble to himself
and was on his knees and had his pistol about half out when I
fired both pistols at him and he fell back dead. By this time one
of the others had staggered to his feet and had his pistol out,
but, fortunately, he seemed to be blind, for he fired his pistol
in the opposite direction from where I stood. I turned and dealt
him his fatal dose.
I tried to catch their pack horses but missed one of them, and as
time was precious, for I did not know what moment the seven would
come, I took their rifles, broke the stocks off of them, took
their pistols along with me, mounted Black Bess, rounded up their
horses and started for the train, and I lost no time in getting
there, and as I sped across the country on Black Bess after the
nine captured animals I felt that I could congratulate myself on
getting out of the tightest place I had ever been in, without even
a scratch.
When I arrived at camp and reported to the Lieutenant he at once
started two companies of cavalry out to try and cut the other
seven off, instructing them to watch every trail and every
watering place within fifty miles, closely.
I changed horses and started with George Jones and six other
scouts, and the last words that Lieut. Jackson said to me as I was
ready to ride away was: "Don't spare horse flesh, but run them
down Cap, if it is possible, and let us break up this thieving
band. I would rather kill one Mexican any time than two Apaches."
Across the country we rode at a rapid rate, but were not able to
reach the spot until after daylight. The Mexicans had been there
ahead of us and removed everything but their dead comrades, those
they did not attempt to remove or even bury, leaving them for the
wolves that roved the country in search of food.
We were soon on their trail, which was easily followed, as they
were driving a large band of stock. About the middle of the
afternoon we came in sight of them. When they first saw us we were
so near them that they deserted their band of stock and ran for
their lives. We gave chase, but could not get any nearer. We
followed them until dark, our horses being badly jaded, and I had
now been in the saddle for two days and one night in succession,
so we made camp for the night. The next morning a detail of six
men was made to drive the stolen stock back to the settlement
where it belonged, there being some forty head of horses and
mules. The balance of us returned to the trail, lay over and
rested one day. This put a stop to the Mexicans troubling the
settlement for some time.
Pulling on for the mountains, the second day we saw the ruins of
two wagons that had been burned, but could get no trace of the
teamsters. The supposition prevailed that they were taken
prisoners by the Apaches. The Lieutenant established his
headquarters fifty miles from where he had his quarters when we
were out before, and now active work commenced, for there was
plenty of it to be done.
We had only been there a few days when two of my scouts came in
one evening and reported having seen about twenty Indians ten
miles from camp and traveling west. The scouts all being in,
George Jones and I and four other scouts and one company of
cavalry started in pursuit. We had no trouble in striking their
trail, and there being a good starlight that night and the country
somewhat sandy, we were able to track them easily. We had not
followed the trail more than two miles when we passed over a
ridge, and I looked down the valley ahead of us and could see the
glimmer of their fire. Here the soldiers stopped, and I and my
scouts went on in the direction of the fires, which we supposed to
be about half a mile away but which proved to be nearer two miles.
When we were near the camp we dismounted and crawled up. We
located the horses, which were mostly standing still at the time
and two or three hundred yards from camp. I "telegraphed" the
soldiers to come at once.
Taking the balance of the scouts we rode slowly and carefully
around, getting immediately between the Indian camp and their
horses, I telling George Jones that as soon as the soldiers
started to make their charge to follow me with the horses. But
this time the Indians were awake before the soldiers were on them
and opened fire on them, killing three horses and wounding two the
first round, but only one soldier was wounded, and the sergeant in
charge told me afterwards that he got eighteen Apaches out of the
crowd, and we got twenty-seven horses. We got back to headquarters
about noon the next day and learned that Lieut. Jackson had gone
in a different direction after another band of Apaches, which he
overhauled and got twelve scalps from their number.
Now we started for a trip on the east side of Black canyon, six
scouts and one company of cavalry, with twenty-two pack animals,
calculating to be gone about ten days. On the fifth day of our
trip George Jones, myself and two other scouts were riding
leisurely along about one mile in advance of the command when just
as we raised to the top of a little rocky ridge we came face to
face with a band of Indians, making a surprise to both parties. I
could not tell which party fired first, but we gave them one round
and seeing that there were too many of them for us, we wheeled and
started back down the hill. As we did so George sang out: "My
horse is shot," and just at that time the horse fell. George threw
himself clear of the horse and when he struck the ground he lit
running, and at his best licks, too. The rest of us dropped behind
George to protect him until we were off the rocky ground. The
Indians held their distance all the way down the hill, not
stopping to reload their When we were at the foot of the hill the
three of us that were mounted, in order to give George Jones a
chance to ascend the hill, turned and gave them another volley.
Here I fired three shots and got two Indians and then spurred up
by the side of George and gave him a chance to jump on behind me,
which he did. Just as we raised to the top of the hill we met the
command, who had heard our firing and came to our relief, and they
met the Indians face to face. At this the Indians changed their
minds very suddenly, and it is useless to say that they were on
the back track much quicker than I could tell it. The soldiers
went in hot pursuit of them and got nine of their number. From
there we struck off in a south-westerly direction, thinking that
when we struck the main road we might run on to some emigrants en-
route for California.
We struck the main road fifty miles south of the Lieutenant's
quarters. Here we laid over two days, thinking that there might be
an emigrant train come along that we could escort through to
headquarters, this part of the road being in the heart of the
Apache country, and the most dangerous for emigrants from the fact
that it is all a timber country and over mountains which, in
places, are very rocky, thereby giving the Indians all advantage
over the emigrants.
The evening of the second day, just as we were sitting down to
supper, I received a message from Lieut. Jackson for George Jones
and myself to come to headquarters at once, but he did not state
why he required our presence there. As soon as supper was over we
started. The dispatch bearer thought it was at least sixty miles,
but we had supposed it was not more than fifty, each of us having
two saddle horses.
At one place on the road the cayotes turned loose, and it sounded
as if there must have been a hundred, all barking at once, and
George Jones remarked: "Above all things that I have dreaded while
in this business is being shot down and left on the plains for my
bones to be picked up by those sneaking wolves, and now Cap, I
will make this agreement with you; in case that either of us
happen to be killed, which is liable to happen any day, the
surviving one is to see that the other is buried if in the bounds
of possibility."
I said: "George, we will shake hands on that," which we did, and I
added: "You can also rest assured that if ever you are shot down
while in company with me, no Indian will ever scalp you as long as
I have the strength to stand over your body, nor shall the cayotes
ever pick your bones if I live long enough to see that you are
buried," and the reader will see later on that I kept my promise.