"No danger of that," said I; and then I rode on, leaving him to return to
the command. As I had predicted, we found water seven or eight miles
farther on, where we came upon a beautiful little stream, a tributary of
the Beaver, hidden in the hills. We had no difficulty in selecting a good
halting-place, and obtaining fresh spring water and grass. The General,
upon learning from me that the stream--which was only eight or nine miles
long--had no name, took out his map and located it, and named it Cody's
Creek, which name it still bears.
We pulled out early next morning for the Beaver, and when we were
approaching the stream I rode on ahead of the advance guard in order to
find the crossing. Just as I turned a bend of the creek, "bang!" went a
shot, and down went my horse--myself with him. I disentangled myself, and
jumped behind the dead body. Looking in the direction whence the shot had
come I saw two Indians, and at once turned my gun loose on them, but in
the excitement of the moment I missed my aim. They fired two or three more
shots, and I returned the compliment, wounding one of their horses.
On the opposite side of the creek, going over the hill, I observed a few
lodges moving rapidly away, and also some mounted warriors, who could see
me, and who kept blazing away with their guns. The two Indians who had
fired at me, and had killed my horse, were retreating across the creek on
a beaver dam. I sent a few shots after them to accelerate their speed, and
also fired at the ones on the other side of the stream. I was undecided as
to whether it was best to run back to the command on foot or hold my
position. I knew that within a few minutes the troops would come up, and I
therefore decided to hold my position. The Indians, seeing that I was
alone, turned, and charged down the hill, and were about to recross the
creek to corral me, when the advance guard of the command put in an
appearance on the ridge, and dashed forward to my rescue. The redskins
whirled and made off.
When General Carr came up, he ordered Company I to go in pursuit of the
band. I accompanied Lieutenant Brady, who commanded, and we had a running
fight with the Indians, lasting several hours. We captured several head of
their horses and most of their lodges. At night we returned to the
command, which by this time had crossed the creek on the beaver dam.
We scouted for several days along the river, and had two or three lively
skirmishes. Finally our supplies began to run low, and General Carr gave
orders to return to Fort Wallace, which we reached three days afterward,
and where we remained several days.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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