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
I had made up my mind to fight them to the last and kill as many
as I could before they got me. They made three desperate charges
for me before dark, but as luck would have it I was always loaded
for them. I piled up rocks as I could get them loose in a manner
to give me protection from every quarter, but expected they would
reinforce and attempt to starve me out.
Just as it was getting dark, two of the Indians crawled up to
within thirty feet of my rock pen. I was watching them, and just
as they rose up to fire I fired and brought one of them to the
ground, thereby making another good Apache. The other one ran
away, and it being somewhat dark, I did not get him.
This made the fifth Indian I had killed since I had been in my
little rock pen and I had fired eleven shots. After it was good
and dark I made up my mind that I would get out of there sometime
during the night, for to remain there till the morrow only meant
death, and I might as well lose my life in trying to get away that
night as to remain there and be killed the next day. I felt sure
they had a guard around me, but I made up my mind to make a
desperate effort to get away. I crawled to where my dead horse was
laying, which was only a few feet from my rock house, cut the
latigo, removed my saddle from the dead horse, lashed it to my
back, taking the mochilar or covering for a saddle, which I have
described heretofore, I took my knife and cut a hole in the front
portion of the mochila where the pommel of the saddle protrudes,
so that I was able to stick my head through. The mochila was good
as a shield, for an arrow would not go through it except at very
short range. I cut the reins off of the bridle, and as the bit was
a very heavy one, I thought it would answer pretty well as a sling
shot in close quarters.
I had no idea of getting out without a desperate fight with
ninety-nine chances against me to one in my favor. After I had my
rig complete I started to crawl away flat on the ground like a
snake, I would crawl for a short distance, then stop and listen.
It was very dark, there being no moon in the fore part of the
night. I was expecting every minute to feel an arrow or a tomahawk
in my head. After working my way down the hill some hundred yards
or so, I came to a tree and raised up by the side of it. I stood
and listened for some time, but could not hear anything of the
Indians, so I struck out in the direction of camp, walking very
cautiously for some little distance.
After traveling about six miles I felt comparatively safe, knowing
they could not do anything toward tracking me until morning and
did not think they would even be able to track me then.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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