Tales of Aztlan; The Romance of a Hero of Our Late Spanish-American War, Incidents of Interest from the Life of a Western Pioneer and Other Tales Read online

  CHAPTER II.

  PERILOUS JOURNEY

  After several days I arrived at the end of my railway journey, JunctionCity, without delay or accident. The trip was not lacking ininteresting details. The monotony of the never ending prairie was attimes enlivened by herds of buffalo and antelope. On one occasion theydelayed our train for several hours. An enormous herd of thousands uponthousands of buffalo crossed the railroad track in front of our train.Bellowing, crowding, and pushing, they were not unlike the billows ofan angry sea as it crashes and foams over the submerged rocks of adangerous coast. Their rear guard was made up of wolves, large andsmall. They followed the herd stealthily, taking advantage of everyhillock and tuft of buffalo grass to hide themselves. The gray wolf orlobo, larger and heavier than any dog, and adorned with a bushy tallwas a fierce-looking animal, to be sure. The smaller ones were calledcoyotes or prairie wolves, and are larger than foxes and of agray-brown color. These are the scavengers of the plains, and dividetheir prey with the vultures of the air.

  At times we passed through villages of the prairie dog, consisting ofnumberless little mounds, with their owners sitting erect on top. Whenalarmed, they would yelp and dive into their lairs in the earth. Theselittle rodents share their habitations with a funny-looking little owland the rattlesnake. I believe, however, that the snake is not there asa welcome visitor, but comes in the role of a self-appointed assessorand tax gatherer. I picked up and adopted a little bulldog which hadbeen either abandoned on the cars or lost by its owner, not thenthinking that this little Cerberus, as I called it, should later prove,on one occasion, to be my true and only friend when I was in diredistress and in the extremity of peril.

  The town of Junction City, which numbered less than a score ofbuildings and tents, was in a turmoil of excitement, resembling a nestof disturbed hornets. Several hundred angry-looking men crowded theonly street, every one armed to the teeth. The great majority weredark-skinned Mexicans, but here and there I noticed the Americanfrontiersman, the professional buffalo hunter and scout. These were menof proved courage, and I observed that the Mexicans avoided lookingthem squarely In the face; and when meeting on the public thoroughfare,they invariably gave them precedence of passage.

  I found opportunity to hire out to a pleasant-looking young Mexican asdriver of a little two-mule provision wagon. In this manner I earned mypassage across the plains. Don Jose Lopez, that was his name, said thatI need not do much actual work, as he would have his peons attend tothe care of the mules and have them harness up as well. He also told methat we would have to delay our departure until every team present inthe town had its cumulation of cargo. They dared not travel singly, hesaid, for the Indians were very hostile. In consequence whereof ourdeparture was delayed for six weeks. I camped with the Mexicans andaccustomed myself very soon to their mode of living. The fact that Iunderstood their language and spoke it quite well was a never-endingsurprise and mystery to them. I took dally walks over the prairie tothe junction of two creeks, a short distance from the town, bathed andwhiled away the time with target practice, and soon became veryproficient in the use of firearms.

  The banks of these little streams would have made a delightful picnicground, covered as they were by a luxuriant growth of grasses andbushes and some large trees also, mostly of the cottonwood variety. Butthere were no families of ladies and children here to enjoy the lovelyspot. A feeling of intense uneasiness seemed to pervade the very airand a weird presentiment of impending horror covered the prairie aswith a ghostly shroud. The specter of a wronged, persecuted race everhaunted the white man's conscience. In vain did the red man breast therising tide of civilization. In their sacred tepees, their medicine meninvoked the aid of their great Spirit and they were answered.

  The Spirit sent them for an ally, an army of grasshoppers, whichdarkened the sun by its countless numbers. It impeded the progress ofthe iron horse, but not for long. Then he sent them continued drouth,but the pale face heeded not. "Onward, westward ever, the star ofempire took its course."

  We camped out on the prairie within a short distance and in full sightof the town. I made the acquaintance of a merchant, Mr. SamuelDreifuss, who kept a little store of general merchandise. Thisgentleman liked to converse with me in the German tongue and was verykind to me, even offering to employ me at a liberal salary, which I, ofcourse, thankfully declined. One morning after breakfast I went to thisstore to purchase an article of apparel. The door was unlocked and Ientered, but found no one present. I waited a while, and as Mr.Dreifuss did not appear, I knocked at the bedroom door, which wasconnected with the store. Receiving no response to my knocks, I openedthe door and entered. There was poor Mr. Dreifuss lying stone dead onhis couch. I knew that he was dead, for his hands were cold and clammyto the touch. I was struck with astonishment. The day before had Ispoken to him, when he appeared to be hale and hearty. There were someugly, black spots on his face, and I thought that it was very queer. Idid not see any marks of violence on his person and nothing unusualabout the premises. I looked around carefully, as a boy is apt to dowhen something puzzles him. Then I thought I would go up-town and tellabout this strange circumstance.

  The store was the first building met with in the town if a person camefrom the railway station. As I went toward the next house, which was ashort distance away, I was hailed by a tall, broad-shouldered man withlong hair, who commanded me to halt. I kept right on, however, meaningto tell him about my gruesome discovery. As I advanced toward him heretreated, and I called to him to have no fear, as I did not intend toshoot. The big man shook with laughter and cried, "Hold, boy, stopthere a minute until I tell you something. They say that 'Wild Bill'never feared man, but I fear you, a mere boy. Did you come out of thatstore?" "Yes, sir," I said. "And did you see the Jew?" "Yes, sir," Ianswered; "Mr. Dreifuss is dead." "How do you know that?" hequestioned. "His hands feel cold as ice," I said, "and there is a blackspot on his nose." Again the man laughed and said, "Do you know whatkilled him?" "I do not know, sir," I answered, "but I was going uptownto inquire." "Well," said the scout, "Mr. Dreifuss had the cholera.""That's too bad," said I; "let us go back and see if we can be of anyassistance." "No, you don't," said the long-haired scout; "I have beenstationed here, as marshal of the town, to warn people away from theplace. You take my advice and go to the creek and plunge in with allyour clothes and play for an hour in the water, then dry yourself, goback to camp, and keep mum!" This was the year of the cholera. Itstarted somewhere down south, and many people died from it in the cityof St. Louis, and it followed the railway through Kansas to the end ofthe track. Many soldiers died also at Fort Harker, which was fartherout West on the plains.

  At last we started on our perilous journey, an imposing caravan of onehundred and eighty wagons, each drawn by five yoke of oxen. Our forcenumbered upward of two hundred and fifty men, the owners, teamsters,train masters or mayordomos and the herders of the different outfits;all were Mexicans except myself.

  Several days were spent in crossing the little stream formed by theconfluence of two creeks. The water was quite deep and had to becrossed by means of a ferryboat. Here I met with my first adventure,which nearly cost me my life. My wagon was loaded with supplies andprovisions and with several pieces of oak timber, intended for use inour train. When I drove down the steep bank on to the ferryboat, thetimbers, which were not well secured, slid forward and pushed me off myseat, so that I fell right under the mules just as they stepped on theferry. The frightened mules trampled and kicked fearfully. I lay still,thinking that if I moved they would step on me, as their hoofs missedmy head by inches only. I thought of my mother and how sorry she wouldbe if she could see me now, but I was thinking, ever thinking and layvery still. Then my guardian angel, in the person of a Mexican, crawledunder the wagon from the rear end and pulled me by my heels, back tosafety under the wagon. When I came out from under I threw my hat inthe air and gave a whoop and cheer, at which the Mexicans were greatlyenthused. They yelled excitedly and our mayordomo exclaimed: "Caramba,mi
ra que diablito!" (Egad, see the little devil!)

  We traveled in two parallel lines, about fifty feet apart and kept thespare cattle and remounts of horses, as also the small provision teamsbetween the lines. A cavalcade of train owners and mayordomos wasconstantly scouting in all directions, but they never ventured out ofsight of the traveling teams. We started daily at sunrise and traveledtill noon or until we made the distance to our next watering place.Then we camped and turned our live stock out to rest and crop theprairie grass. After several hours we used to resume our journey untilnightfall or later to our next camping ground. Every man had to takehis turn about at herding cattle and horses during the nighttime. Onlythe cooks were exempt from doing herd and guard duty.

  We pitched our nightly camps by forming two closed half circles of ourwagons, one on each side of the road so as to form a corral. By meansof connecting the wagons with chains, this made a strong barricade,quite efficient to repulse the attacks of hostile Indians, if defendedby determined men. Every freight train when in camp was a little fortin itself and an interesting sight at nighttime, when the blazing fireswere surrounded by men who were cooking and passing the time in variousways. Some were cleaning and loading their guns, others mended theirclothes. Here and there you would find some genius playing dreamy,monotonous Spanish airs on the guitar, in the midst of a merry group ofdancing and singing young Mexicans, many of whom were not older than I.Card-playing seemed, however, to be their favorite pastime; allMexicans are inveterate gamesters, who look upon the profession ofgambling as an honorable and desirable occupation.

  After the first day out I did not see an inebriated man in the wholeparty. The Mexicans are really a much maligned and slandered people.They are often charged with the sin of postponing every imaginablething until manana, but, to do them justice, I must say that they drankevery drop of liquor they carried on the first day out; also ate allthe dainties which other people would have saved and relished for daysto come. Surely, not manana, but ahora, or "do it now" was theirsoul-stirring battle cry on this occasion.

  After several days of travel we encountered herds of buffalo andmustangs or wild horses, and when our scouts reported numerous Indiansigns, we advanced slowly and carefully, momentarily expecting anambuscade and attack. Our column halted frequently while our horsemenexplored suspicious-looking hillocks and ravines.

  A dense column of smoke rose suddenly in our front, and I saw severaldetachments of Indian warriors on a little hill, who were evidentlyreconnoitering, and spying our strength, but did not expose themselvesfully to view. Simultaneously columns of signal smoke arose in alldirections round about. Instantly our lines closed in the front andrear and we came to an abrupt halt. What I saw then made my heart sink,for the drivers seemed to be paralyzed with terror. The very men whohad heretofore found a great delight in trying to frighten me withtales of Indian atrocities were now themselves scared out of theirwits. Young and inexperienced though I was, I realized that to be nowattacked by Indians meant to be slaughtered and scalped. Some of themen were actually crying from fright, seeming to be completelydemoralized. I noticed how one of our men in loading his musket rammedhome a slug of lead, forgetting his charge of powder entirely. Thesight of this disgusted me so that I became furious, and in the measurethat my anger rose my fear subsided and vanished. I railed at the poorfellow and abused and cursed him shamefully, threatening to kill himfor being a coward and a fool. I made him draw the bullet and reloadhis musket in a proper manner.

  When I grew older I acquired the faculty to curb the instinctivefeeling of fear which is inborn in all creatures and undoubtedly is awise provision of nature, necessary to the continuance of life andconducive to self-preservation. Knowing that all men who ever lived andall who now live must surely die, I failed to see anything particularlyfearful in death. I may truthfully say that I have several times metdeath face to face squarely and feared not. On these occasions I triednot to escape what seemed to be my final doom, but in the dimconsciousness of mind that I should be dead long enough anyway, I triedto delay my departure to a better life as long as possible, exertingmyself exceedingly to accomplish this purpose. Undoubtedly this musthave made me a very undesirable person to contend with in a fight.Luckily for me, I have never been afflicted with a quarrelsome orvindictive mind. This is not a boastful or frivolous assertion, but isuttered in the spirit of thankfulness to the allwise Creator of Heavenand earth.

  Looking around, I beheld a sight which cheered me mightily. There, afew yards ahead of my wagon, was a great hole in the ground, made bybadgers; or it may have been the palace of a king of prairie dogs.Quickly I drove my team forward, right over it. Then, pretending to berearranging my cargo, I took out the end gate of my wagon and coveredthe hole with it. Next, I wet some gunny sacks and placed them on theground under the board. Now, thought I, here is my chance for anhonorable retreat if anything should go wrong. I intended to close upthe hole behind me with the wet sacks, taking the risk of snake bitesin preference to the tender mercies of the Indians. As these groundlairs take a turn a few feet down and are connected with variousunderground passages and have several outlets, I had a fair prospect toescape should the Indians discover my whereabouts, for they couldneither burn nor smoke me out, and were not likely to take the time toreduce my fort by starvation. It took me but a very short time to makemy preparations, and I did it unnoticed by my companions, who seemedfully preoccupied with their own troubles.

  A horseman galloped up to our division, a great, swarthy,fierce-looking man, bearded like the pard. This man did not act like ascared person. One glance at the frightened faces of his countrymensufficed to enlighten and also to enrage him.

  "Senores," he said, "I perceive you are anxious and ready for a fight.I hope the Indians will accommodate us, as we are greatly in need of alittle sport. It may happen that some of you will lose your scalps, andI hope that it is not you, Senor Felipe Morales. I should be very sorryfor your poor old mother and your crippled sister, for who will supportthem if you should fail them? As for you, Senor Juan, it does notmatter much if you never again breathe the air of New Mexico. Youryoung little wife has not yet had an opportunity to know you fully,anyway, and your cousin, the strapping Don Isidro Chavez, will surelytake the best care of her. They say he calls on her daily to inquireafter her welfare. Senor Cuzco Gonzales, as you might be unlucky enoughto leave your bones on this prairie, I would advise you to make me heirto your garden of chile peppers. To be sure, I never saw a moretempting crop! Mayhap you will have no further use for chile, as theIndians are likely to heat your belly with hot coals, in lieu ofpeppers."

  Then he called for the cook. "Senor Doctor," he said, "prepare themedicine for this man, who is too sick to load a musket properly, andhad to be shown how to do so by a little gringo, as I observed a whileago. Hold him, Senores." And they held him down while the cookadministered the medicine, forcing it down his unwilling throat. Themedicine was compounded from salt, and the prescribed dose was ahandful of it dissolved in a tin cupful of water. This seemed to revivethe patient's faltering spirit wonderfully. The cook, a half-wittedfellow, was another man who seemed to have no fear. His eyes shonewickedly and he was stripped for the fight. A red bandanna kerchieftied around his head, he glided stealthily about, thirsty for Indianblood as any wolf. They told me that his mother and sister had died atthe hands of the cruel Apaches.

  To me the rider said, "Senor Americanito, I know your gun is loadedright and is ready to shoot straight. Look you, if you plant a bulletjust below an Indian's navel, you will see him do a double somersault,which is more wonderful to behold than any circus performance you eversaw."

  Here was a man good to see, a descendant of the famous Don FernandoCortez, conquistador, and molded on the lines of Pizarro, the wilyconqueror of Peru, and he heartened our crew amazingly. He exhorted themen to be brave and fight like Spaniards, and he prayed to the saintsto preserve us; and piously remembering his enemies, he called on thedevil to preserve the Indians. Such zealous devotion foun
d meritedfavor with the blessed saints in Heaven, for they granted his prayer,and the Indians did not attack us that day.

  On the following day, Don Emillo Cortez came again and asked me to ridewith him as a scout. He had brought a young man to drive the team in mystead. Gladly I accepted his invitation. He arranged a pillion for hissaddle and mounted me behind him, facing the horse's tail. Then hepassed a broad strap around his waist and my body and armed me with aHenry repeating rifle, then a new invention and a very serviceable gun.In this manner I had both hands free and made him the best sort of arear guard. We cantered toward a sandy hill on our left. A coyote cameour way, appearing from the crest of the hill. The animal was lookingback over its shoulder and veered off when it scented us. Don Emiliohalted his horse. "That coyote is driven by Indians," said he; "do youthink you can hit it at this distance?" I thought I could by aiminghigh and a little forward. At the crack of my rifle the coyote yelpedand bit its side, then rolling on the grass, expired. "Carajo! a deadshot, for Dios!" exclaimed Don Emilio. "That will teach the heathenIndians to keep their distance; they will not be over-anxious to meetthese two Christians at close quarters!"

  We were not molested on this day nor on the next, but on the daythereafter we were in terrible danger. The Indians fired the dry grass,and if the wind had been stronger we must have been burned to death. Asit was we were nearly suffocated from traveling in a dense smoke forseveral hours. Then, fortunately, we reached the bottom lands of theArkansas River and were safe from fire, as the valley was very wide andcovered with tall green grass which could not burn; and no sooner wasthe last wagon on safe ground than the fire gained the rim of the greenbottomland. Our oxen were exhausted and in a bad plight, so wefortified and camped here for several days to recuperate before weforded the river. This took up several days, as the water was quitehigh and the river bottom a dangerous quicksand. To stop the wheels ofa wagon for one moment meant the loss of the wagon and the lives of thecattle, perhaps. The treacherous sands would have engulfed them. Fortyyoke of oxen were hitched to every vehicle, and we had no losses. Onthe other side we found the prairie burned over, and we traveled allday until evening in order to reach a suitable camping place withsufficient grass for our animals. As there was no water and the cattlewere suffering, we were compelled to drive our herd back to the riverand return again that same night. The rising sun found us under wayagain, and by noon we came to good camping ground with an abundance ofgrass and water.