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 heard Uncle Kit tell of lying on his back and loading his rifle,
when in a close place, so I did likewise and crawled up to my log
again. The remaining two Indians, having looked all around and
seeing no one, had got on their feet again, and were standing with
bow and arrow in hand, each having a quiver full of arrows on his
back, and if they had got sight of me that would have been the
last of Young Kit. But I took aim at one of them and fired, with
the same result as before. As my second Indian fell, the third one
started back up the ridge, in the direction from which they had
come, and if I ever saw an Indian do tall sprinting, that one did.
I watched him until he was out of sight, and then loaded my gun,
shouldered my deer and went to where the two Indians were lying.
They were both as dead as dried herring.
I had never seen an Indian scalped, but had often heard how it was
done, so I pulled my hunting-knife and took their top-nots, and
again started for the dug-out, a great hunter and Indian fighter,
in my own estimation.
I hung the scalps up inside the dug-out, directly in front of the
door, so that Uncle Kit and Mr. Hughes would see them the first
thing on entering the cabin. Then I set about getting supper, all
the while thinking what a mighty deed I had done in saving our
cabin, which was probably true.
The two men did not return until after dark and they were very
tired and hungry, having walked forty miles that day, carrying on
the return trip a hundred pounds each. That is a heavy load for a
man to carry twenty miles, but they did it, and it was no uncommon
thing for the hardy frontiersmen of that day to perform like feats
of strength and endurance.
When they pushed open the heavy log door, the scalps were almost
in their faces.
"Who did this?" said Uncle Kit, as he threw his heavy pack on the
dirt floor.
I told him and he was very much astonished.
"How was it, Willie?" he asked, and I told him the whole story.
While I was telling him the story, as briefly as I could, he
showed more agitation than I had ever seen him exhibit.
During all the time I had been with him, he had never spoken a
harsh word to me, up to this time. But while we were at supper he
said to me:
"My boy, don't let me ever hear of you taking such chances again.
Not that I care for you killin' the Injuns, but you took great
chances for losing your own hair, for had them redskins got sight
of you, by the time they had got through with you, your hide
wouldn't have held corn shucks. And it's a mystery to me that they
didn't see you."
The following morning after breakfast we all took a trip up the
canyon, where I had gone the morning before, and we took with us
twelve beaver traps that they had brought up from the cache, and
these we set at different places along the stream.
After they were set Uncle Kit asked me if I thought I could find
all of them again, and I said I thought I could.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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