Collection of Nebraska Pioneer ReminiscencesDaughters of the American Revolution. Nebraska
History
Collection of Nebraska Pioneer Reminiscences
Daughters of the American Revolution. Nebraska
Frontier and pioneer life -- Nebraska; Nebraska -- History
When the shades of night of the second day had come we had seen many
antelope and now and then heard the cry of the coyote and the wolf but
we had not seen any sign of buffalo, but we did receive information from
some cattlemen or plain wanderers that there was a band of roving
Indians in that vicinity which created in us a feeling of some
anxiety--not so much for our personal safety as that our horses might be
stolen and we be left in these remote regions without the necessary
facilities for traveling homeward.
Our camp for the night was made upon a spot of low ground near the bank
of a small creek which was bordered by hills on either side and
sheltered by a small grove of timber near at hand. The surrounding hills
would cut off the sight of the evening camp fires, and the timber would
obscure the ascending columns of smoke as they spread into space through
the branches of the trees.
The horses were picketed near the camp around the commissary wagon and
Lieutenant Schwatka placed the cavalrymen upon sentinel duty. The night
was spent with some restlessness and sleep was somewhat disturbed in
anticipation of a possible danger, and I believe that all of us rather
anxiously awaited the coming of the morning with the eastern sunlight
that we might be restored to that feeling of security that would come
with freedom of action and the opportunity for "preparedness." When
morning did come we had the pleasure of greeting each other with
pleasant smiles and a feeling of happy contentment. We had not been
molested by the Indians and our military sentinels had not seen them.
On the afternoon of the third day of our march into the wilderness we
reached the farther margin of a high upland of the rim of a plain, where
we had an opportunity of looking down over a large area of bottom land
covered by vegetation and where there appeared to be signs of water.
From this point of vantage we discovered a small herd of browsing
buffalo but so far away from us as to be beyond rifle range. These
animals were apparently so far away from civilization or human
habitation of any kind that their animal instinct gave them a feeling of
safety and security.
We well knew that these animals could scent the approach of men and
horses even when beyond the line of vision. We must study the currents
of the air and plan our maneuvers with the utmost caution if we expected
to be able to approach within any reasonable distance without being
first discovered by them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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