THE PURSUIT.
Lasar and I were occupied for several weeks on the settlement of Messrs.
Clifton and MacDonnell and a Mr. Wilson. The latter had arrived from
Georgia with a considerable fortune and numerous negroes, and the three
young men settled together on Turkey Creek, in the neighbourhood of
Widow White. We helped them by word and deed, and in a short time a very
large lot of ground was cleared and sown with maize, although it was
late in the year for it, and a large garden laid out, and the necessary
buildings erected at a spot where very recently an axe had never been
laid against a tree, or a plough had turned a furrow in the earth. The
three young men set eagerly about the heavy work which such a new
settlement demands, and were busy the whole day in the garden or the
field, or else in felling wood. While doing so, they often forgot that
they and not we were now living on the outermost Indian frontier, and
constantly went from home unarmed. They went into the woods with an axe
to fell trees, or rode without any weapons into the prairie, to drive
home their milch kine, or fetch their draught oxen. Lasar and I had
frequently blamed them for this negligence, but it was of no use, and
often when we visited them, one or the other was away from home unarmed;
while we, during the years, that we had no neighbours, when working in
the field, chained up our dogs round it, in order to be informed of the
approach of stalking Indians, and carried our rifles either on the
plough or on our backs, they ploughed and worked for days without a dog
or any other weapon but their hands. Their dwelling stood on the south
bank of the river where it joined the prairie; but they had their field
on the northern side in a wood, which extended for a considerable
distance.
At an early hour one morning they all three crossed the river with a few
negroes, in order to thin the growing maize crop, which operation is
generally performed in the morning, as you are obliged to stoop
constantly, which is very fatiguing in the hot sun. All three took their
weapons into the field, and rested them against the fence, as they
thought it too much trouble to carry them on their backs. They followed
the rows of maize, one behind the other, from one end of the field to
the other, and were again nearing the spot where they had placed their
rifles, when suddenly some fifty Indians dashed over the fence with a
loud war yell and attacked them. They could not think of flight, as the
Indians surrounded them before they could recover from their first
terror. Resistance was equally impossible, as they were quite unarmed,
and hence the sole chance of escape lay in the mercy of the barbarians
to whom they surrendered. The two negroes were accidentally at the other
end of the field, and, at the first glimpse of the Indians, leapt over
the fence into the woods, to save themselves by hiding in its recesses;
on looking round, they saw that each of the three young men was
surrounded by a party of Indians busied in tying his arms behind his
back. They ran through the wood to the river, swam across it, and on
reaching the houses, leapt with the other negroes on horses and mules,
fled with the utmost speed toward the south across the prairie, and
reached my Fort before sunset, horrified and half frightened to death.
The terrible news aroused all my people. I at once sent a negro to
Lasar's to tell him of what had happened, and at the same time beg him
to join me as speedily as possible, in order to pursue the Indians, and,
if possible, save the prisoners, during which time we made our
preparations for immediate departure. I had provisions got ready and
packed on a mule, which this time was not faithful Jack, as he had been
galled by a badly fastened saddle; after this a stock of ammunition was
laid in, and we sat down to supper, which meal we had hardly finished
when our friends from Mustang Creek, eight in number, galloped over the
prairie, led by old Lasar himself, who was fire and flame, and vowed
revenge like the youngest of us. Tiger, Antonio, Koenigstein, and one of
the colonists of the name of Lambert, accompanied me, and we were soon
urging our horses at full speed through the gloomy forest.
Tiger led our party, who trotted on as long as the moonlight lasted, but
then fell into a walk, and towards morning reached the deserted
blockhouses of the prisoners. We expected that the Indians would have
burnt them down, but found them uninjured, which proved to us in what
haste they must have departed with their quarry. We rode through the
river into the wood, and found the spot where the savages had lifted
their prisoners over the fence, and led them to its northern end. Here
we found the traces of numerous horses galloping in the direction of the
northern mountains. Tiger examined all the signs very carefully, and
after we had followed the trail for about an hour, dismounted and sought
about in the grass. Ere long he stretched out his arms and parted
fingers to the north and north-west, and told me that the fellows we
were pursuing had divided here, and were pursuing different routes,
which fact I was also able to recognise after a slight investigation. I
asked Tiger what we were to do, but he laughed, and joining his hands
together and pointing to the north, he stated that the Indians would
come together again on the other side of the mountains in two days.
We now followed a trail which ran along a deeply-trodden buffalo-path,
and reached before sunset a spot in a valley covered with isolated
rocks, trees, and bushes, which was bordered on both sides by steep
hills. Here Tiger suddenly stopped and leapt from his horse. I rode up
to him, and he showed me on the bare rocks that several horses had left
the track and turned off to the left down the glen. He showed me several
pebbles which had been turned over by the horses, and on the rocks the
graze of their hoofs, as well as here and there a trampled leaf or a
broken blade of grass. He followed this trail carefully, and requested
me to follow him, while making a sign to the others to remain on the
path. A few thousand yards farther on the track wound between large
masses of stone till we reached a clearing, on the other side of which
we found signs of an extinguished fire near a spring. Tiger picked up a
blackened bit of wood and showed me by rubbing it with his finger that
the wood was still wet, and hence, as it lay in the open sunshine, must
have gone out shortly before. He now begged me to call up our comrades,
so that we might rest ourselves and our tired horses here for a little
while. I rode up to them, and when we returned to Tiger, he showed us
behind the spring the shambles where one of the unhappy prisoners had
ended his life. On a large flat stone we saw a quantity of curdled,
half-dry blood, and behind it lay the entrails of a man. Round the stone
we found marks of boot-heels, which had probably belonged to the
murdered man, and had been put on by one of the savages. Our fury
against them was terrible, and we would gladly have pursued them without
resting had our horses been able to carry us, but they were too tired,
and greatly required a rest.
We supped, and slept till near day, and by dawn we were following the
trail again, along the path which we had quitted on the previous
evening. Without halting longer than was necessary, we rode hard all day
through the most impassable regions of the San Saba mountains, and
reached in the evening the prairies on their north side. We were still
on the same trail, which had been made by five or six horses, and
unsaddled when the sun had long disappeared behind the hill, and Tiger
was unable to follow the trail. We had ridden very sharply, so that our
horses would hardly touch the good fodder here offered them, and we had
no sooner watered them in an adjacent stream, than they lay down in the
grass with a long breath and fell asleep. We did not tie them up, so
that they might graze directly they awoke, but kept up a good fire the
whole night, and posted a sentinel.
At daybreak we were _en route_ again and hurrying after Tiger, who led
us along the foot of the mountains. About noon we rode through one of
the streams that flow into the Colorado, and found in the wood on its
bank a deserted camp, from which the fugitives could not be gone long,
as the bushes and weeds trampled by the horses were not dry yet. We
merely watered our horses and then urged them on, for Tiger believed
that we must catch up the Indians that same evening, as their horses
were tired and did not raise their feet high from the ground. Evening
arrived, and in the distance another forest rose out of the prairie,
which we reached with night; but our foe had gone farther on, and we
were compelled to halt again, as we could not follow their trail. Our
guide consoled us with the morrow, and said their horses could not last
out any longer. We rode the whole day, however, without seeing anything
of the Indians, save the track of their horses. About sunset we rode
into another forest, in which we hoped to find running water: we soon
halted on its bank and noticed on the other side the last camping-place
of the Indians, for several of their fires were still burning, and Tiger
said that they now supposed themselves out of danger and would not ride
so fast. We crossed the stream, in order to occupy the deserted camp,
but had scarce reached it when Tiger called to me and pointed to a young
tree, with a smooth shining bark, the lower part of which was dyed with
blood. He told me that one of the white men had been murdered here: the
Indians had tied him up to the tree and fired arrows at him, and the
bark displayed numerous marks of their points. At the height of a man
the tree was sprinkled with blood, and over it we found a deep cut,
which appeared to have been made by a tomahawk. The Indians seemed to
have come together again here, for a number of fires had been lighted,
and the trampled ground indicated a large troop of horses. We all
insisted on riding on at once, but Tiger reminded us that it was
impossible to follow the trail, and by overriding it we might easily
lose much time, and give the cannibals a chance of escape.
Our impatience had attained the highest pitch, all were ready to start,
but it was still too dark: we stood by our grazing cattle and counted
the minutes till dawn appeared, and allowed us to see the track of our
enemies once more. Then we hastened on, and joyfully greeted every
thicket in front of us, as we hoped to find the cannibals in it and be
able to take vengeance on them for our friends. Our hopes were
frequently disappointed, and the sun was approaching the western hills
when we still urged on our awfully tired horses, following the trail of
the Indian horses, which could not possibly be far from us, as their
excreta on the path plainly indicated. Once again a wood rose before us
on the prairie, but it was still so distant that we could not hope to
reach it before dark. Tiger told me that we must either ride very
sharply so as to reach the wood by daylight, or camp on this side and
approach the wood at dawn, as we should get the worst of it if we came
upon the savages in the darkness. We resolved on the former course, and
collected the last strength of our animals. Spurring and flogging we
went on at a trot or a gallop, as if certain of reaching our destination
to-day. One of our friends might possibly be saved by a few minutes'
sharp riding, and so we paid no heed to the fatigue and pace of our
horses. We rapidly approached the wood, but so did the sun the hills,
which soon spread their lengthened shadow over the plain. The country
before us became more uneven and covered with large blocks of stones,
and here and there rose an isolated clump of trees and bushes, while the
forest appeared to be half an hour's ride distant. The darker it grew
the sharper we rode, and we dashed at a gallop between the rocks toward
a patch of young oaks, with Tiger some distance ahead of us. While
galloping round some rocks I saw him suddenly turn his piebald towards
us and halt in the clump of trees, which we reached in a few minutes,
and Tiger informed us that the savages were sleeping no great distance
ahead on the barren bank of a river.
Our excitement was frightful; trembling with eagerness we fastened our
steaming horses to the long branches of the young oaks, thrust our
holster pistols in our belts, and advanced, leaving Antonio with the
horses, silently and noiselessly after Tiger, when it had been arranged
that I should give the signal for a general attack by firing first. The
moon was high but lighted us poorly; the daylight, however, had not
quite faded away when we emerged from the rocks and reached a small
knoll, over which we saw almost invisible columns of smoke rising at
various points. We spread out here in a long line, and crept up the
hill, covered by some isolated rocks. When we reached the top, we saw
the savages about thirty yards from us collected round several fires. A
deadly silence brooded over the slightly illumined landscape, which was
only broken by the rustling of the rapid stream, on whose banks the
Indians were encamped. The glow of the fires cast a dark red reflection
over the brown bodies of the reclining savages sufficient to enable us
to see them more distinctly, while the light of the moon illumined the
sights on our rifles.
All our barrels were pointed at the cannibals, and we could hear our
hearts beating, while they did not suspect the approaching vengeance,
and were most of them asleep. The wide chest of one of the ruffians was
lit up by the fire right in front of me, while he was gazing into the
ashes with his head resting on his right arm. The sight of my rifle was
pointed at his heart when I pulled trigger. At the same moment the
rifles of all my comrades cracked, and directly after we fired our
second barrels among the rising Indians, who for a moment raised their
war yell, but then fled in great confusion and dashed into the river,
beneath the fire of our revolvers and pistols. In this faintly lighted
scene of fury and terror, the long red and white striped silk
handkerchief on Tiger's head waved, the broad blade of his heavy knife
glistened in his right hand, his shrill voice filled the ears of the
cannibals with the war cry of the Delawares, and immediately after the
first shot he flew, worthy of his name, among them, and spread death
among their ranks. Trusty, too, forgot his usual obedience, and pinned
one of the savages by the throat who had fired an arrow at him; he
killed the Indian in a few minutes, and then dragged him about in the
grass, satiating his fury. In a short time the battle field was deserted
by the enemy, with the exception of two-and-twenty killed and wounded
they left on it, the latter of whom Tiger soon sent to join the former
with his tomahawk. His war axe flew from skull to skull, and with every
blow drove a soul out of its earthly tenement, after which he raised the
hair of several whom he had killed in action.
The fight was hardly over, when a familiar voice called several of our
names, especially Lasar's, mine, and Tiger's. It came from a little way
off the camp and reached us but faintly. We ran in the direction, and to
our joyful surprise found MacDonnell bound hand and foot lying on the
grass behind a rock. His bonds were quickly cut, but he was unable to
get up; we bore him to the nearest fire, blew it into a bright flame,
and now looked at the death-like face of our poor friend, who since his
captivity had endured death in a thousand shapes, and envied his two
comrades their release from torture. He was so fatigued that he was
unable to sit up. The joy at our appearance, and the fear lest we might
go away again without finding him, had given him the strength to raise
his voice, but now a greater faintness naturally set in, and he could
scarce make signs to us to give him water. The fresh draught was handed
him, then we laid him on a bed made of buffalo skin and left him to
sleep, which, with the consciousness that he was saved and among
friends, did him more good than anything else we could have offered him.
The large fire lit up the plain around us, and displayed the victims we
had sacrificed to the blood of our friends: farther on it shone on the
great number of utterly exhausted Indian horses, most of which were
lying fastened to lassos among the large stones in the grass. Although
we did not apprehend any attack from the fugitive savages, many of whom
had doubtless killed themselves by leaping off the high banks into the
river which dashed over rocks, and who too possessed no weapons that
could be dangerous to us, we still posted sentries on both sides of the
camp, and lit large fires in order to be able to watch the horses, as it
was very probable that the Indians would attempt to recover them toward
morning, after the moon had gone down. Our own horses we tied up in the
grass close to camp, and then lay down by turns to rest as far as our
state of excitement permitted it.
Morning dawned without our having been disturbed, and with the growing
light we began to survey the field of battle and investigate the details
of the events of last evening. The savages were a tribe of Mescaleros,
and as we afterwards learned the same who had made the attack on Mrs.
White a few months before. Among the dead was their chief, who had been
killed by the first shot fired, which was the principal reason why the
assailed did not offer a greater resistance, for they only discharged a
few arrows, one of which hit Trusty, while another passed through
Koenigstein's thigh. The weapons lay scattered about the battle-field. On
the lofty bank were distinct signs where the fugitives had leapt off it;
but we found below no signs of them on the rocks jutting out of the
river, as they had apparently fallen into the deep water between them.
For all that, there was no doubt but that many had not reached the
opposite bank alive, for the stream was too rapid for a man to swim
across it.
Our friend MacDonnell still lay motionless asleep, and we did not
disturb him. It was bright daylight when John Lasar summoned us to the
fires of the savages, where we found the roasted and partially-gnawn
bones of one of the murdered men, while Koenigstein discovered other
remains of the dead bodies behind a rock. At about ten o'clock,
MacDonnell woke and felt greatly strengthened; we gave him food and a
cup of wine to drink, but he was very weak and terribly excited, so that
we prohibited him from talking about his own sufferings or those of his
own comrades. About noon, we prepared to start and carry off the horses,
of which we had captured forty-six, among them being several first-rate
animals. Tiger at once sought out the leader of the troop, an old mare,
whose head and tail were hung with all sorts of ornaments, and so soon
as he led it away all the others would follow it. He bound the mare to a
tree, let loose the other horses and wound the lassos round their necks,
upon which they all collected round the old mare. We then saddled our
horses, selected the best saddle of the savages, very handsome Mexican
one, for MacDonnell, put it on one of the captured horses which appeared
good-tempered and safe, and covered it with a buffalo hide, a large
quantity of which we also found, then we lifted our suffering friend on
the horse. Tiger marched ahead of us, leading the mare behind us by a
lasso and followed by all the Indian horses, while we rode behind and
drove on the laggards. Thus we rode slowly to the south, and camped at
sunset in a narrow strip of wood on a stream, where we found good
pasture for the numerous horses. We merely fastened up the leading mare
and our own cattle near the fire. MacDonnell rapidly recovered; the ride
had done him good, and he was now able to walk again. We made him a soft
bed by the side of the fire, and he told us the chief events of his
captivity.
No sooner had the savages seized the three young men in the field than
they bound them, lifted them over the fence, and then carried them to
their horses. Here three Indians took them before them, and the whole
band flew out of the wood into the prairie, where the savages soon
halted and went off in different directions. MacDonnell was taken off to
the right with ten horsemen, while Lyons followed the path, and Clifton
was carried to the left. The savages rode without halting all that day
and the next night with MacDonnell, without giving him water or food,
until they allowed their horses to graze for a few hours the next
morning, when they gave him some roast meat. Then they hurried on with
him again, and only stopped to water their horses, until the latter,
toward evening, refused to go any farther, in spite of the incessant
blows. They unsaddled in a wood by a stream, and roasted meat at a fire,
after laying him with his feet bound among the bushes. His hands had
swollen through the bonds, and pained him terribly, but his complaints
and groans were unheeded by the cannibals, and it was only after long
entreaty that they gave him a drink of water. Toward morning, they rode
on, and reached in a few hours a river, on whose bank they unsaddled in
a thick wood, and rested with the utmost carelessness, while he was
placed with his back against a tree near the fire.
Soon after, another troop of Indians came up, and MacDonnell recognised
the man who had given orders at the outset, and whom he took for the
chief. He was now wearing a portion of Lyons' clothes and had put on his
boots. This savage brought his horse to the fire, and to his horror,
MacDonnell saw the severed limbs of his unhappy companion hanging from
the saddle, which the Indians now unfastened and threw near the fire.
The savages then gathered together and the chief placed bits of the
flesh of the unfortunate Lyons on spits and devoured them when roasted.
The Indians seemed to pay no attention to MacDonnell, but to listen to
every sound, and several times the chief laid his ear on the ground in
order to hear more distinctly. Ere long, other Indians arrived, and at
noon the last of them with Clifton. He looked at MacDonnell inquiringly,
but neither had the heart to utter a word. Clifton's feet were also
bound, and he was placed against a tree, while all the savages lay
around the fire and talked with much animation, pointing first to Mac
and then to Clifton. At last the chief stretched out his hand toward
Clifton and said several words in a commanding voice, upon which several
men leaped up, carried the prisoner to a tree a little lower down the
wood, and fastened him to it in a standing position with leathern
thongs. Most of the young Indians, in the meanwhile, assembled with bows
and arrows about fifty yards from Clifton, and awaited the chief's
signal to commence firing. The signal was given, and the first arrow was
buried in the entrails of the unhappy victim, whose cries of agony made
the forest ring. Thus one fired after the other, till Clifton's whole
body was pierced with arrows and his head hung down. Upon which the
chief leapt up, swung his tomahawk over his head, and hurled it at the
murdered man. It flew into the tree close to Clifton's head and remained
imbedded. The chief went up to Clifton, plucked the hatchet out of the
tree, and buried it deeply in the unhappy man's skull. After this the
cannibals fell upon the corpse, which they cut up and each carried a
piece to the fire. MacDonnell witnessed the whole fearful scene, and now
the chief came up to him and said something he did not understand, while
pointing to the north, whence Mac assumed that the same fate awaited him
farther on in that direction. The savages started again ere long and
rode by shorter stages to the camp where we surprised them, and where
they had arrived but a few hours before us.
This description had recalled to Mac's mind all the scenes of horror,
and he fell back exhausted on his bed. We restored him with a little
wine-and-water, and begged him to hold his tongue and rest while we got
supper ready and looked after the horses. During the night we posted
four sentries and lit up the Indian horses with large fires. It passed
without disturbance, and the next morning we continued our progress to
the south. We now made but short marches, as our own horses were very
tired, but the captured ones were so exhausted that we could hardly
drive them on with long sticks. We on several occasions unsaddled at
noon because we found good pasturage on water, and rested till the next
morning, so that we might not have to spend the night at a worse spot.
[Illustration: THE TORTURE. _p. 422._]
One evening we found ourselves in the middle of an open prairie, on
which only isolated mosquito trees could be seen, and camped at a spot
where there were several ponds, and an old fallen mosquito-tree lay,
which, judging from the fire marks, had offered burning materials to
earlier travellers across this plain. The nearest woods to the south lay
on the remotest horizon on the San Saba Mountains, and we did not
calculate on reaching them till the next day. We lay in a hollow of the
prairie, between two small elevations, and fastened our riding-horses
and the leading mare to lassos driven into the ground, while the
captured horses grazed on the bottom. The evening was splendid, and as
Mac was all right again, we were in the best spirits. After supper the
conversation turned on the captured horses, and we resolved to throw
dice for them. The mare was allotted to me without throwing, as I gave
up my chance of all the rest. Ere long all the horses had owners.
Antonio and Lambert resolved to try theirs the next morning, as they
were not very well mounted, and everybody praised the good qualities of
his horse, and expounded how the animals must be treated and ridden to
make first-raters of them. Thus the night arrived, during which we again
posted sentries on the nearest mounds, but it passed without any alarm.
Day dawned; we blew up our fire and got breakfast ready, while the
horses were grazing around us. The sun rose while we were lying
carelessly on our buffalo robes round the fire and drinking coffee, when
suddenly a fearful yell reached our ears over the next height, and a
band of thirty horse Indians thundered down the hill-side towards us,
waving in one hand their buffalo-robes over their heads, shaking in the
other tin pots, gourds, and buffalo-bladders filled with pebbles, and
uttering the strangest and most awful yells. In an instant the troop
passed us, and dashed right through our fire and camp. They went over us
like a tornado, and our terrified horses, which had torn themselves
loose, dashed over the prairie in front of them, trailing the broken
lassos after them. Before we had seized our rifles, the Indians were so
far off that the bullets we sent after them produced no effect, and we
silently stared after them till they disappeared from sight over the
last rising ground on the prairie. We asked each other, with our eyes,
what was to be done, but no one was yet able to speak, the fright and
the heavy loss had fallen upon us too unexpectedly, and it was long ere
we could think of the immediate future: at length all eyes were turned
to me, as if I could help them. This confidence restored my power of
speech, and I told my companions in misfortune that I was able to lead
them home without horses, and that MacDonnell's life was worth more than
our animals.
I had hardly spoken to this effect, when Koenigstein shouted to me, and
pointed in the direction where the horses had disappeared; and though it
was so far off, I recognised Czar and the cream colour flying over the
prairie, pursued by five Indians. I ran towards them as fast as my legs
would carry me, and fired a bullet at the Indians long out of range, but
which they must have heard "pinging," for they gave up their pursuit and
merely fired a few harmless arrows after the horses, which now dashed up
to me and stopped panting and snorting. Czar came up to me and laid his
head on my shoulders while looking round in wild terror after his
pursuers. I led him into camp, where both the horses were greeted with
loud shouts of joy. We now held a grand council, and soon agreed to
cache our baggage in a hollow near at hand, cover it with turf, and then
start for home on foot, in which, of course, we could only cover short
distances; at the same time we arranged that Mr. Lasar should ride the
cream colour, and Mac Czar, while we also packed our food on the
animals.
The whole day passed before we had cached our baggage, so that we slept
another night at this inhospitable spot. The next morning we saddled and
packed, and after carefully taking the direction of the nearest tree
with the compass, we began our wearisome journey. On reaching the tree
we blazed it with a knife, and then started for another, and so on,
carefully marking each, so that we might be able to find our way back to
our traps from tree to tree. The road to the San Saba Mountains through
the tall prairie grass was one of the unpleasantest I ever followed.
There, however, the ground, though hilly and stony, was still adapted
for human feet, and we soon grew accustomed to walking. Tiger had not a
word to say for himself, he was revolving vengeance on the Lepans, who
had stolen his faithful piebald, and swore that the Delawares should
take many of their scalps in return.
After several weeks of unspeakable fatigue and privation, we at length
arrived one evening at Widow White's, who received us with great
cordiality and delight. We at once sent her son to the Fort to fetch
riding horses for all of us, as we had had quite enough walking, and
stopped the while with our kind hostess. Late the next evening the
long-looked-for horses arrived from the Leone; we let them rest for the
night, and on the next morning said good-bye to the widow, and started
for home, which we reached at an early hour and found horses there for
Lasar and his companions to carry them at once to Mustang River. The
loss of Lasar's handsome horse and of John's mare again caused fresh
sorrow in the family, with whom they had been favourites; but I
willingly put up with the loss of my two horses and mules, and
considered myself remarkably fortunate in recovering Czar and the cream
colour. The last lesson which we gave the Mescaleros seemed to have had
an intimidating effect on the Indians generally, as we neither saw nor
heard anything of them for several months.
Tiger, during this period, rode a splendid black horse of mine, which I
had been always obliged to leave at home, as it was too timid and
impetuous for hunting purposes. Now that it was ridden daily, it became
a first-rate horse, and Tiger often said that it was better than his
piebald. Great was my surprise when Tiger knocked me up early one
morning, and on going out of my house I saw the piebald quietly
grazing: on waking Tiger had found it tied up in front of his tent, and
told me that the Lepans were frightened, because his tribe would come in
the autumn and learn their hostile behaviour. With a sad look he
remarked that he would now be obliged to give me back the black horse,
he supposed, and was quite beside himself with joy when I told him that
I made him a present of it.
In the course of the summer friendly Indians visited me, but never
stopped long, and gave me to understand that I lived too much among the
white men. It would be much better for me to move nearer to them and
then they would visit me more frequently. Thus arrived one evening just
before sunset my old friend Pahajuka, accompanied by his good old squaw,
and his granddaughter, and a few Comanches. The joy of the old folk was
great, and they said that had not the white men blocked the road to me,
they would willingly stay some time with me, but as it was we were daily
more separated. Tahtoweja said nothing, but her black eyes plainly
expressed that she too felt happy at being with me again. She could not
in her silent admiration gaze sufficiently at the decorations of my
room; and for hours she would gaze at the pictures on the walls, or turn
over the sketches in my portfolio, when business prevented me from being
with her. Music seemed to be her delight, and she often came late at
night into the gallery and begged me to play the guitar, when she seemed
to fall into a happy dreamy state and entirely forget the world. She too
begged me to come away from among the pale faces and settle nearer to
them: the Comanches loved me more than they did. The people remained
some weeks with me, but one morning they came into my room, and the old
lady said with tears, that this was the last visit they would pay me, as
the road to me was growing too narrow. I was obliged to promise them a
visit at the parts where the buffalo still grazed, and the antelopes and
stags had not so many feet as here.
After breakfast I saddled Czar and rode with my guests to the mountain
springs, where we spent the night, and the next morning we took leave of
one another. I promised to join them the next winter on the Puerco, when
a great council of the Comanches was to take place. They often looked
with tears in their eyes in the direction of the Fort: then they offered
me their hand once again and rode off, never again to cross the
threshold of my house, to which they were so attached.
Tiger too seemed dissatisfied at the new settlements, and could not
understand how people could have an objection to his pulling down the
fences and riding across the fields to save distance. They had also
forbidden him taking dry corn leaves for his horse out of the stacks, or
fastening his piebald to the grand stockade in front of the house, while
he went in to beg a drink of water. What I had long foreseen happened,
he was beginning to feel the trammels of civilization and wrestled
against them, while its comforts still attracted him. Shortly after
Pahajuka's departure Tiger's tribe arrived in the neighbourhood of the
Fort, and the chief paid me a visit with several of his warriors. He
told me that Tiger wished to go home with them, in order to see his
relations and return to me in the following spring. Though I felt sorry
for it, I saw that he could not remain much longer in our settlement
without parting from us on unfriendly terms: hence I offered no
objection, and on the day of their departure I accompanied them as far
as Widow White's, as I wanted to pay a visit to Mac on Mustang River. I
took a hearty farewell of Tiger, as I was really attached to him, and he
was obliged to promise me a visit ere long.
The next day I rode to MacDonnell's, when I found everything prospering.
His field had produced a rich maize crop, and was now covered with
beans, potatoes, melons, gourds, &c. His orchard already contained fine
young trees; his garden supplied him and his negroes with magnificent
vegetables. The yard round his house was crowded with poultry of every
description, and the interior of his blockhouse was very neat and tidy.
A large new patchwork quilt was thrown on his bed; over the mantelpiece
was a handsome looking-glass, and by its side hung the framed portraits
of three men, which are very frequently found in frontier houses, and by
which the Americans do not pay themselves the worst compliment. They
represent the greatest, the best, and the most useful men of our
century--Washington, Alexander von Humboldt and Liebig.
The now frequently traversed road from Turkey Creek to the Leone
shortened the distance between the two rivers much, as the greater
portion of it could be galloped over. I reached the Fort again at an
early hour, and helped Koenigstein in his preparations for a start on the
next morning. He was going with Antonio, Lambert, and several pack
animals to fetch our saddles and traps, which we cached after the loss
of our cattle in the prairie to the north of the San Saba Mountains.
Although we are still living on the frontier of the desert, we have now
in front of us a line of settlements facing the Indians, which keep off
us the ordinary dangers of a frontier life; and we are rarely reminded
by the personal appearance of these savages in our vicinity, that their
hunting-grounds are not a great distance from us.
[Illustration]
Transcriber's Note
Illustrations have been moved near the relevant section of the text.
I have used "=" in the text to denote use of an ornamental font.
The square brackets before page numbers in illustrations have been
removed.
Inconsistencies have been retained in capitalization, punctuation,
spelling, hyphenation and grammar, except where indicated in the
list below:
- Period added after "use" on Page 25
- Period added after "p" on image following Page 26
- "ree" changed to "tree" on Page 56
- Period removed after "valley" on Page 91
- "splended" changed to "splendid" on Page 100
- "roar sand" changed to "roars and" on Page 147
- Period added after "MOUNTAINS" on Page 151
- "apple-grey" changed to "dapple-grey" on Page 215
- "He" added before "was" on Page 230
- "backs everal" changed to "back several" on Page 257
- "unbeams" changed to "sunbeams" on Page 278
- "Norte" changed to "Norte" on Page 364
- "lianas" changed to "llianas" on Page 370
- "Macdonnell" changed to "MacDonnell" on Page 419
- Comma removed after "We" on Page 422
- Period added after "TORTURE" on Page 422
- "Macdonnell's" changed to "MacDonnell's" on Page 424
- "Macdonnell's" changed to "MacDonnell's" on Page 427