Six Years with the Texas Rangers, 1875 to 1881Gillett, James B.
History
Six Years with the Texas Rangers, 1875 to 1881
Gillett, James B.
Frontier and pioneer life -- Texas; Gillett, James B., 1856-1937; Texas -- History -- 1846-1950; Texas Rangers
Each morning at roll call the orderly sergeant detailed a guard of nine
men and one non-commissioned officer to guard for twenty-four hours.
When ready to begin our day's journey the company was formed in line
and the men counted off by fours. On the march Major Jones and Dr.
Nicholson rode in front, followed by the captain of the company, the
orderly sergeant and the men in double file. Following these came the
wagons. An advance guard of two men preceded the column about one-half
mile. Four men, known as flankers, two on each side of the company,
paralleled the column at a distance of one-half to one mile, depending
on the nature of the country. In a rough, wooded section the flankers
traveled close in, but in an open country they sometimes spread out
quite a distance. The non-commissioned officer with the remaining guard
covered the rear and brought up the pack mules. Thus protected it was
almost impossible for the command to be surprised by Indians.
At one time Major Jones had with him two Tonkawa Indians as guides. For
protection this tribe lived near Fort Griffin, a large military post.
One of these old braves known as Jim had been given an old worn out
army coat with the shoulder straps of a general upon it. Jim wore this
coat tightly buttoned up and marched at the head of the column with as
much dignity and importance as a general-in-chief. His companion wore
a high crowned beaver stove-pipe hat with the top gone, and carried an
old umbrella that someone had given him. Fitted out in this ridiculous
and unique manner he marched for days with the umbrella over him. Think
of an Indian shading himself from the sun!
Major Jones never paid much attention to these Indians unless he wished
to inquire the lay of the country or the distance to some water hole.
They did pretty much as they pleased, sometimes riding in front with
the major, sometimes with the guard and at others with the men. These
old redskins were a constant source of amusement to the boys. Jim and
his pal were good hunters but as lazy as could be. They got into the
habit of killing a buffalo late in the evening when they knew it was
almost time to pitch camp, cutting out just enough meat for themselves
and letting the remainder go to waste. The major told these lazy-bones
when they killed a buffalo he wanted to know of it so he could secure
the meat for the company. The Tonks paid no attention to this request
and late one evening came into camp with five or six pounds of buffalo
meat.
The orderly sergeant spied them, so he walked over to Major Jones and
said, "Major, those two old Tonkawas are back in camp with just enough
meat for themselves."
"Sergeant, you get a pack mule, take a file of men with you and make
those Indians saddle their horses and go with you to get that buffalo,"
the major commanded, determined that his order should be obeyed by the
Indians.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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