Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains, Or, the Last Voice from the Plains: An Authentic Record of a Life Time of Hunting, Trapping, Scouting and Indian Fighting in the Far WestDrannan, William F.
History
Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains, Or, the Last Voice from the Plains: An Authentic Record of a Life Time of Hunting, Trapping, Scouting and Indian Fighting in the Far West
Drannan, William F.
Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.); Indians of North America -- Wars
It was twenty-five miles from here to the next place where we
could find water and a suitable camping place where we would also
have a good chance to protect ourselves from Indians. So we pulled
out early, I distributing my scouts as usual, only that I went
alone and had a hard ride for nothing.
After I had gone quite a distance I saw what I supposed to be
Indians; but they were a long way off. The thought struck me that
it was the was the same band we had seen before and that they were
sneaking around intending to steal a march on us and attack the
train while traveling and stampede the stock, which was often done
when no scouts were kept out for their protection. I started to
follow them up and did not find out my mistake until I struck the
trail of my supposed band of Indians which to my surprise proved
to be a buffalo trail and instead of Indians I had been following
a band of buffalo all day.
That night I laid out and the people in camp were very uneasy
about me, thinking I never would return, as they thought I must
have been killed by Indians. Jim told them not to be alarmed as I
would turn up all right the next day.
On a trip of this kind I usually took a lunch along with me; but
not expecting to be out long this time I did not take anything to
eat, so I had to starve it out until I got back to the train,
which was the next day at noon.
I did not see any fresh Indian sign on the entire trip; neither
did the other scouts see any sign of them, and we concluded that
if we did not have any trouble for three days, we would be out of
danger of the Sioux, for by that time we would be out in the
Bitter Creek country and there was no fear of Indians there.
All went along smoothly and we did not see or hear of any more
Indians until we got to Fort Bridger. Here I met one of Gen.
Connor's men who told me that the Utes were very bad in the
vicinity of Fort Douglas near Salt Lake, that being the place
where Gen. Connor was stationed at that time. He said that they
had not been able to get a fight out of the Indians yet, although
they had followed them around a great deal.
We decided to take Sublet's Cutoff, leaving Salt Lake City about
one hundred miles south, as Jim said he would rather fight Indians
than Mormons.
Six days after leaving Fort Bridger I met two of Gen. Connor's
scouts in Cash valley, and they told us the Utes were very bad
farther West, and advised us to take the Goose Creek route to
avoid the Indians. We took their advice.
Here was a scope of country that neither Jim nor I had ever been
over, it being a new road just made the year previous.
After traveling four days on this road, late in the evening of the
fourth, I discovered a little band of Indians about six or eight
miles from the road on a stream that I have since heard called
Raft river, which is a tributary of the Snake.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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