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
Ever since we had left Dodge City Fairchild had been eager to get into
an Indian fight, and had bragged about what he would do when the time
came. He said that he would not allow an Indian to do or say the least
thing to him without his killing the Indian. He was bad medicine from
the forks of the creek, a wolf with hydrophobia, a blizzard in July.
We fully understood the fact the Fairchild did not realize how much
trouble a break on his part might bring to the whole outfit. We really
feared that he might fire upon a peaceable Indian, and cause all of us
to be massacred.
So it was thought best by several practical jokers among us to take
time by the forelock in the particular case of the bloodthirsty
Fairchild. We waited until we had reached the South Canadian before
dosing out the medicine to him.
Fairchild loved to hunt, and would ride away from the outfit nearly
every day, after deer and antelope. Some of the men had made Fairchild
believe that he could kill an antelope at a distance of two miles, and
he would blaze away as far as he could see them.
By "scratch" shots, Fairchild managed to kill several antelope and he
swelled up with pride until he was almost unrecognizable. What finally
happened to him will be told later.
After leaving the Cimarron, we crossed "No Man's Land." In the brakes
of the Cimarron we had the hardest kind of pulling, as there was lots
of sand and the country rough. The fourth day brought us to the
Beaver, the main prong of the North Canadian, its other branch being
Wolf Creek. Both the Beaver and Wolf Creek unite at Camp Supply, the
point to which I had helped haul supplies for the Custer expedition,
with the outfit of mules that stampeded in harness as we were
returning to Fort Hays.
This time we struck the Palo Duro at its mouth, where there was plenty
of water. Here we camped and then moved into the Panhandle of Texas.
Now we began striking camps of buffalo-hunters who had prepared to
stay on the Plains during the winter. They were as glad to see us as
we were to find them. The coming of more hunters made everybody feel
more secure, if there should be an outbreak by the Indians.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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