Forty Years Among the Indians: A true yet thrilling narrative of the author's experiences among the nativesJones, Daniel W. (Daniel Webster)
History
Forty Years Among the Indians: A true yet thrilling narrative of the author's experiences among the natives
Jones, Daniel W. (Daniel Webster)
Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.); Indians of North America; Latter Day Saint pioneers -- Biography
they never stole anything from the settlements like the other soldiers
did. The Mormons are honest and have no bad habits like other people.
I came back with some of them to Salt Lake and remained there last
winter. I traded with the Indians and Mormons, and lived with them.
The Mormons have no harlots or bad people among them, and all those
stories are lies; why do you speak so about them?" The old fellow
seemed terribly offended at my words. I felt there was something wrong.
I told him I knew nothing about the Mormons, that I had only told him
what others said. He replied, "Then wait and see for yourself; they are
the best people you ever saw." This caused me to reflect and wonder why
such stories were told of the Mormons, for I not only had confidence
in the old guide's truthfulness, but I believed he had been with the
people enough to know them.
A frame was made and placed upon the back of a good stout mule, the
foundation being a Mexican Apparejo. I had to sit entirely above the
mule, as the wound would not allow to sit in a saddle. This made the
load top-heavy. The trail from Green river down Spanish Fork canyon,
was quite rough and steep in many places. Guy ropes were rigged, and
three men took care of me, and I must say that after taking the labor
in hand to bring me in, all hands became interested and I was treated
with great kindness.
I suffered a great deal during the fifteen days I thus journeyed, but
I never lost courage. Our drives were short; sometimes being two days
in a camp engaged in cutting roads through the brush for the sheep to
pass. This gave me a chance to rest. I attended to my wound myself,
as I could not bear anyone else to touch it; neither would I take any
one's advice about dressing it. I felt like being my own doctor. I have
always believed that if I had been, in a good hospital, I would have
been "done for," as the wound was terrible. I starved myself almost to
death--an idea obtained from two men's experience in southern Arizona.
These two men, Green Marshall and Robert Ward, left Santa Fe with a
party going to California by the Southern Trail. Close by where Silver
City now is, the party was attacked, as supposed, by Apache Indians;
all were left for dead. The surprise occurred early in the morning.
About noon Marshall and Ward recovered consciousness. They were
stripped and both wounded in several places and almost perishing for
water, they being in a dry camp. They started for water and after going
a short distance they separated, each in time finding water, but they
never met until reaching settlements.
According to the account given by each of them, on arriving at the
Mexican settlements, they were out some twelve days with scarcely
anything to eat, each one supposing the other dead; and it was several
days before they heard of each other, having come into settlements that
were some distance apart. The wounds of each had seemingly dried up and
healed for the want of something to feed on.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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