Once the firing ceased, we hailed our men under the wagon and returned
to it. Three men were with the commissary, one of whom was a mere boy,
who was wounded in the head from an arrow during the first moment of
the attack, and was then raving piteously from his sufferings. The
darky cook, who was one of the defenders of the wagon, was consoling
the boy, so with a parting word of encouragement we swung into our
saddles and rode in the direction of dim firing up the creek. The
cattle were out of hearing, but the random shooting directed our
course, and halting several times, we were finally piloted to the
scene of activity. Our hail was met by a shout of welcome, and the
next moment we dashed in among our own and reported the repulse of the
Indians from the wagon. The remuda was dashing about, hither and yon,
a mob of howling savages were circling about, barely within gunshot,
while our men rode cautiously, checking and turning the frenzied
saddle horses, and never missing a chance of judiciously throwing
a little lead. There was no sign of daybreak, and, fearful for the
safety of our commissary, we threw a cordon around the remuda and
started for camp. Although there must have been over one hundred
Indians in the general attack, we were still masters of the situation,
though they followed us until the wagon was reached and the horses
secured in a rope corral. A number of us again sought the protection
of the ravine, and scattering above and below, we got in some telling
shots at short range, when the redskins gave up the struggle and
decamped. As they bore off westward on the main Clear Fork their
hilarious shoutings could be distinctly heard for miles on the
stillness of the morning air.
An inventory of the camp was taken at dawn. The wounded lad received
the first attention. The arrowhead had buried itself below and behind
the ear, but nippers were applied and the steel point was extracted.
The cook washed the wound thoroughly and applied a poultice of meal,
which afforded almost instant relief. While horses were being saddled
to follow the cattle, I cast my eye over the camp and counted over two
hundred arrows within a radius of fifty yards. Two had found lodgment
in the bear-skin on which I slept. Dozens were imbedded in the
running-gear and box of the wagon, while the stationary flashes from
the muzzle of the cook's Creedmoor had concentrated an unusual number
of arrows in and around his citadel. The darky had exercised caution
and corded the six ox-yokes against the front wheel of the wagon in
such a manner as to form a barrier, using the spaces between the
spokes as port-holes. As he never varied his position under the wagon,
the Indians had aimed at his flash, and during the rather brief fight
twenty arrows had buried themselves in that barricade of ox-yokes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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