Life and adventures of "Billy" Dixon of Adobe Walls, Texas panhandle : $b A narrative in which is described many things relating to the early SouthwestDixon, Billy
History
Life and adventures of "Billy" Dixon of Adobe Walls, Texas panhandle : $b A narrative in which is described many things relating to the early Southwest
Dixon, Billy
Frontier and pioneer life -- Texas; Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.); Indians of North America -- Wars -- 1866-1895
About 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the day in to the Walls, seeing
that night would come before we arrived, Baldwin ordered "Bat"
Masterson and myself to ride ahead and tell the boys that the troops
were coming. This precaution was taken lest the buffalo-hunters might
mistake us for Indians and fire into us. I rode up within speaking
distance and hollowed to the men and waved my hat, to let them know
who I was. Recognizing me, they gave me a hearty reception.
There were a dozen or more men in the buildings, where they had been
shut up for about two months. At no time had they ventured far away.
They had kept their horses in the stockade, fearful of an attack by
Indians; hay for the horses had been cut in the creek bottom. When Tom
Nixon and his men came down from Dodge, Mrs. Olds and the greater part
of the men went back with him. A number, however, preferred to remain
at the Walls, however great the risk, and did so. The boys cooked me a
hot supper and I was telling them stories of the outside world when
the soldiers arrived about 9 o'clock.
The water in Adobe Walls Creek was now so low that there was not
enough for the horses, so we pulled over on Bent's Creek, and camped
on a mesquite flat, just north of the old Adobe Walls ruins.
Next morning Lieutenant Baldwin asked me to walk over the battleground
with him. Practically all the men went with us, the distance being
about a mile. The coming of the soldiers had given a feeling of
security to the men at the Walls, who now turned out their horses to
graze. Everybody was laughing and talking and telling jokes, without
the slightest thought of danger. Some mischievous fellow had stuck an
Indian's skull on each post of the corral gate.
Tobe Robinson and George Huffman, civilians, rode down the valley
toward the Canadian River to hunt wild plums which at that time were
ripe and plentiful. They had been gone only a short time when our
attention was drawn to two horsemen riding at top speed from the
direction of the river toward the Walls. Behind them came ten or
fifteen Indians quirting their ponies at every jump. The two men were
Robinson and Huffman. They had unexpectedly run into this band of
Indians who were doing their best to circle and cut off the two white
men. There we stood a mile from camp where our arms lay, unable to
render these men any assistance in their desperate straits.
Robinson and Huffman were riding side by side and were able to
maintain this position until they were rounding a little knoll just
beyond the old ruins. Here an Indian managed to ride up near enough to
run his lance through Huffman's body. Huffman fell dead from his
horse.
The riderless horse continued running beside Robinson's, the Indian
still pursuing, grabbing again and again at the rein of Huffman's
horse. Finally, he seized the rein, checked the horse, and rode back
at full speed toward his companions. All the Indians now galloped away
and disappeared among the sand hills.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account