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
"On my trip for the horses," said Carson, "I saw some Injuns of
the Comanche tribe, and they told me that them and the Utes war
goin' to have a battle as soon as the Utes can cross the
mountains, and the place for the battle decided on is in the south
end of the park." He also said that with all the Indian fighting
he had been mixed up in he had never before had an opportunity to
see two tribes come together, and that he would not miss seeing it
for any consideration.
In those days each tribe of Indians had their own scope of hunting
and trapping ground, and if one tribe was caught intruding upon
the rights of another tribe it was apt to cause trouble.
As I have said before, South Park was a hunter's paradise in the
winter, and added to this, in the summer almost the entire valley
was covered with wild strawberries. Along the many little mountain
streams were abundance of wild gooseberries, blackberries and wild
currants, while on the hillsides were acres of wild raspberries.
In fact almost every variety of berries that there grew west of
the Missouri river could be found in South Park; while the streams
were full of the finest quality of mountain trout as well as many
other kinds of fish.
The two tribes of Indians mentioned had been in dispute for a
number of years as to their boundary line, each claiming South
Park, and this battle had been arranged the fall before by the
chiefs, also the place decided upon for the battle, which was to
be on a little stream in the extreme south end of the park, that
has since gone by the name of Battle Creek.
Battle Creek heads in the Pike's Peak range of mountains, and runs
almost due west. The particular spot selected for this battle was
on this creek, about two miles from where it empties into the
stream that runs through the park.
No better place could have been selected for the fight. There were
scattering pines here and there, with not a bush of any kind to
interfere with their wild charges, and a gentle slope from each
side to the stream which we might call the dead line.
The Comanches were to occupy the south side, while the Utes were
on the north.
As this battle was to settle for all time the long-disputed right
of these two powerful tribes, it was likely to be no tame affair.
This was what might be called a civil war between two tribes of
Indians. They had quarreled so long over this portion of the
country that the two chiefs had met and decided to have it settled
for, and the conditions of the battle were as follows: In the
event of the Comanches being victorious they were to have South
Park; the summit of the Rocky Mountains to be the boundary line.
And in the event of the Utes being victorious, the boundary line
was to be at the foot of the Rocky Mountains on the eastern slope,
the country in dispute comprising all of the territory between the
Arkansas river and South Platte, including South Park.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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