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
About a week or ten days later George and I were coming in just
before daylight, when we heard a baby cry on the hillside only a
short distance from us. We stopped and listed until we had located
it. George dismounted, and I held his horse while he crawled up to
see where it was, and found that there was quite a number of
squaws and children there. I told him that it would be a matter of
impossibility for them to get away from us and the grass so high,
for we could track them easily, so I left him there to keep watch
and see which way they moved so that we would know how to start
after them, and I would ride to headquarters, about two miles
away, for assistance to help capture them when it was daylight. I
rode slow until so far away that I knew they could not hear the
clatter of my horse's feet, and then I put spurs to my horse and
rode with all speed to headquarters. When I passed the camp guard
he challenged me and I gave my name. I could hear it carried down
the line from one to another, "There comes the Captain of the
Scouts, there is something up." Rather than wake up a commissioned
officer, I woke up my entire scout force, and was back to where
George Jones was just at daylight. He said that the squaws had
moved in the direction of Clear Lake. There was a heavy dew and we
had no trouble in finding their trail and following it; in fact,
at times we could ride almost at full speed and follow without
difficulty. We had only gone about four miles when we came in
sight of them, six squaws, a little boy, a little girl and a baby.
When they saw me coming they all stopped. I rode up and asked them
where they were going. They could all speak a little English.
There was one in the crowd named Mary, with whom I was well
acquainted, who said: "We heap hungry, too much hungry, we go
Clear Lake catch fish." I told her that we would have to take them
prisoners and take them all back to headquarters and keep them
there until we got all the Modoc Indians and then they would have
to go on to the reservation. "No, too much hungry, you all time
fight Captain Jack, Injun no catch fish. All time eatem hoss. No
more hoss now; Injun eatem all up, eatem some cow too. No more
hoss, no more cow. Injun all heap hungry."
It was some time before I could make them believe that they would
be fed when at headquarters, but they being acquainted with me and
knowing that I had been a friend to them in time of peace. I
finally succeeded in getting them to turn and go to headquarters.
These were the first prisoners that had been taken to the
General's quarters during the Modoc war.
Gen. Wheaton was away from his quarters, so I left the prisoners
in charge of George Jones and the other scouts, with instructions
to let no one interfere with them while I went to hunt the
General.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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