Capt. W. F. Drannan, Chief of Scouts, As Pilot to Emigrant and Government Trains, Across the Plains of the Wild West of Fifty Years Ago

by William F. Drannan

CHAPTER VIII

The next morning my packers and myself were up early and ready to be off for the Indian village. I told the boys to be sure and take a plenty of rope as all the hides would have to be baled before they could be packed on the horses. One man said, "I have four sacks full of rope, and I reckon that will be enough."

Col. Bent asked me how many hides I thought I could pack on the horses. I told him I could put twenty hides on each horse, and that would make four hundred and forty hides in all. He said, "That would be a big load, and I am afraid you cannot do it. Besides, it is early in the season for the Indians to have so many robes. But do the best you can, and I shall be satisfied." I bid the Col. and Capt. McKee good bye, and we were off.

The second night out we camped near a little village. I told the boys to get supper, and I would go over to the village, and have a talk with the Indians. As soon as the Indians saw me, they thought I had come to trade with them. I told them that I was on the way to the main village and for them to come there tomorrow, and I would be ready to trade with them.

[Illustration: The next morning we struck the trail for Bent's Fort.]

We landed at the main village about noon the next day, making the trip in a half a day less than I had planned to do. We camped near the old Chief's lodge. The boys commenced to get dinner, and I took the two knives that I had promised the Chief and went to his wigwam. I greeted him with a handshake and handed him the knives wrapped in a paper. He opened the package, and I never saw such a smile on a face before as the one that beamed on that Indian's. He examined the knives carefully, and then he told me how proud he was of them and said in his own language he would always be white brother's friend.

I told him that I would be ready to trade with his people the next morning and asked him to inform them of the fact.

The boys had dinner ready when I went back to our camp. I told the boys when I would commence to trade with the Indians, and that I wanted them to be in readiness to begin packing the robes as soon as the Indians gave them to me.

That afternoon I went around among the wigwams and visited the Indians, and they seemed as pleased to see me as children are with a new toy. I showed the squaws the rings and beads I had with me, and I showed the knives to the braves also, and they could hardly wait until morning to trade their Buffalo robes for them.

The squaws showed me the robes they had dressed since I was there the last time, and I saw that they were in a fine condition.

The next morning they commenced coming very early, hardly giving me time to eat my breakfast, and I fixed my price when I bought the first robe, which was one string of beads for one robe, or two rings or one butcher knife, and the reader can rest assured that the Indians kept me busy handing out my goods and taking the robes in payment for them.

About noon one of the packers came to me and said, "Will, I think you have all the robes the horses can carry." I told him to count them, and then we would know, and in a short time he came back with the report that we had bought four hundred and eighty-nine robes. I said, "That is a few more than we can find a place for, isn't it?"

He said, "I reckon we can get them all on, and we will finish baling as soon as we can, but don't trade for any more," and the boys certainly did prove themselves to be expert balers as well as packers.

The next morning as they finished packing a horse, I had to hold him, and so on until the horses were all packed. It was my job to take care of them, and when the horses were all ready for the trail, they surely were a sight to look at. Each horse was completely covered. All there was to be seen of him was his head and his tail.

The next morning amidst the lamentations of the Indians because we could not exchange more of our goods for robes, we struck the trail for Bent's Fort, and we had the extraordinary good luck to cover the distance in three days, and Col. Bent, and Mr. Roubidoux were very much surprised to see us, as well as pleased.

They did not expect to see us in four days more, and when I told them how many hides we had brought, they were more than pleased. Col. Bent said, "Did you have any goods left over?"

I answered, "Yes sir, almost enough to have loaded another pack train."

He said, "Well, well, Will, you can have all our trading to do whenever you want it."

I asked the Col. when he expected the train from Santa Fe. "I don't think it will be here under four or five days," he answered, "and I want you to make yourself at home and be easy until the train comes. You have done enough to lay over awhile, and the rest won't hurt you."

The fourth morning after this I was saddling my horse to ride out on the trail and see if I could see anything of the Government train when Col. Bent asked me where I was going. I told him I was going to see if the train was in sight, "and what is more important to me, I want to find out whether I am going to escort the train through the Comanche country or not."

Col. Bent said, "I thought that was understood. If I thought you were not going to be the escort, I certainly would not trust my freight with the train."

I said, "Col. Bent, I have not made any positive bargain with Col.
Chivington, and after Capt. McKee tells him what I said about the price
I intend to charge him for my services this trip, he may decide not to
employ me."

Col. Bent said, "Would you be offended if I asked you how much money
Col. Chivington paid you for that work, Will?"

I said I would not, and I then told Col. Bent the whole transaction, and I also told him what I would charge to escort the train back through the Comanche country, and that I would take the whole responsibility myself without any helpers. Col. Bent said, "Col. Chivington was not fair to you in offering you so small a sum for what you done to protect the Government property, not speaking of the lives you probably saved from the savages' arrows or tomahawks, and I think you charge a very reasonable price if you undertake the job over again and you don't want any one to help you, for they might upset all of your plans by doing something to anger the Indians."

I answered, "Well, Col. I will soon settle the matter if I meet the train."

I then struck out and had ridden perhaps ten miles when I met Capt.
McKee and the wagon master coming just ahead of the train.

Capt. McKee said, "Why, Mr. Drannan, I thought you were at the Indian villages trading for Buffalo robes."

I told him that I had been to the Indian village and bought all the robes we could pack back to Bent's Fort and had been waiting for the train to come four days.

Capt. McKee said, "And I expected to have to wait for you four days." I said, "Now tell me what Col. Chivington had to say about my escorting the train."

The Capt. laughed and said, "After the Col. had studied the matter over for about twenty-four hours, he came to the conclusion that he could do no better than employ you. So the job is yours, and Mr. Drannan, can you tell me just about how long you will be gone so I can lay my plans to meet you here at Bent's Fort?"

I said, "Capt., I want about twenty-five days to complete the trip, and as soon as I return, Capt, I will be ready to join you in the expedition to Texas, and Capt., I would like for you to bring my pay here so I shall not have to go to Santa Fe after it when I come back from escorting the train."

He answered, "I will arrange the matter so Col. Bent will settle with you here."

The next morning Col. Bent had his men commenced to load the train, and they put the entire day in this business. That evening the Col. said to me, "Will, if you had a half a dozen more hides, we could not have put them on the wagons."

When we were all ready to pull out, Col. Bent said, "Now Will, I want to give you some presents to give to the squaws."

We went into the store room, and he gave me a dozen butcher knives, saying, "The bucks will be jealous if they don't have something too," and he gave me a dozen rings, and a hand full of strings of beads and said, "Now, Will, you can give these trinkets where you think best and the knives too. I know the Comanche Indians are all friendly to you, but these little trifles will cement their friendship."

I bid everybody at the Fort good bye, and we were off on the journey east.

Everything passed along smoothly for the next two days. We did not see an Indian, and nothing happened to interfere with our progress. The third evening we went into camp near a small Indian village. I rode over to see the Indians and took a couple of knives and a few rings and strings of beads with me. When I entered the village, I inquired where the Chief's wigwam was. A couple of young bucks showed me where it was.

As soon as I saw the Chief, I knew him at once. He was "White Bird," and he had not met me in a year, but he recognized me as quickly as I did him. He invited me into his wigwam and asked me to eat supper with him, which was ready in a short time. As we sat eating, two young squaws came into the wigwam, and White Bird said they were his sisters. I took out a butcher knife and gave it to him, and I gave a string of beads to his squaw and one to each of his sisters. They all jumped up and commenced to dance, and I think they kept it up for half an hour. Then White Bird said in the language of his race, "White Bird and all the Indians of the Comanche tribe always be pale face brother friend."

His sisters said they had some skins of the young dog which they would tan and give to me so I could make some new clothes for myself.

The train pulled out from there, and the third day we came to the main village. Before the train went into camp for the night, I told the wagon boss that I was going to the Indian village and that he need not expect to see me before midnight as I was going to have a good time with the Indians.

I gave my horse into the herders' care and struck out on foot for the Indian village, which was about a half a mile from our camp. Before I reached the Chief's wigwam, I met several Indians, and they accompanied me to the Chief's lodge. Chief Light Foot saw me before I did him and commenced to shout at the top of his voice, and as I reached his wigwam the Indians were coming from every quarter.

As soon as Light Foot and I had shaken hands, he said, "Stay to supper, and we have a peace smoke and peace dance tonight."

By the time we had finished that meal there was a dozen or more of his uncle Chiefs at the wigwam, and we took our places for the peace smoke.

I will explain to the reader what the peace smoke is. We all took seats in a circle around the head Chief. He lighted the peace pipe, which is a special pipe kept to use on these occasions alone. He took the first whiff himself, blowing it up into the air, and the second whiff he blew into my face. I being his guest of honor, I sat at the right of him. The third whiff he blew into the face of the Chief who sat on his left, and then he passed the pipe to me. I went through the same performance and passed the pipe to the next, and so the pipe went around the circle until all had smoked, and in all the time this smoking was going on there was not a smile or a grunt or a word spoken. Every motion was in the most solemn way throughout the whole performance. As the last one finished smoking, he passed the pipe to the head Chief, and all of the Chiefs sprang to their feet and shook hands with me, from the head Chief down, and the peace smoke was over.

I will say here for the instruction of the reader that the Indians never held a peace smoke with others than the members of their own tribe, without they had perfect confidence in the outsider, who always occupied the seat of honor at the right side of the head Chief of the tribe.

After the peace smoke was over, everybody left the wigwam and everyone, Chief, warriors, and squaws, all joined in the peace dance, I of course taking a part with the rest. I never knew how many took a part in the dance that night, which is always danced in a circle, and every Indian has his or her own way of dancing, and all, old and young, male and female, that take a part are singing.

It would be impossible to explain to the people of this age so they would understand just what a peace dance is and how the people who took part in it looked with the camp fires throwing their lurid light through the darkness of the forest, lighting up the savage faces of the red men, and the not-much-less wild faces of the squaws. It was a strange sight then. How much more strange it would look to the people of this later civilization.

The dance lasted half an hour or more, and all the Indians of both sexes then shook hands with me. I shook the Chief's hand last of all, and as I did so, I gave him the other knife I had brought with me. He took it and, brandishing it over his head, he shouted as loud as he could yell, which was a signal for all the others to yell too and shake their hands towards me. By my giving these knives to the head Chief of the tribe, I cemented the friendship of him and through him of the whole tribe more than I should if I had presented each one of his warriors with a knife.

Amidst the yells of the warriors and their squaws, I left them and walked back to camp, well satisfied with what I had done towards protecting the train as it passed through the Comanche country, for I knew we would not have any trouble with the Indians of that tribe.

The wagon boss and several of the drivers were sitting at the fire waiting for me. As I came up to the fire, the wagon boss said, "What in the name of common sense was the racket about? Why, some of the time this evening there was such a noise over there that we could not hear ourselves think, much less talk."

I answered, "Why, I was just having a good dance with the squaws, and as they all wanted to dance with me first, they made a little noise over it."

He asked, "How many squaws were there in the dance?" and I told him I reckoned there were about a thousand in the crowd.

"And did you dance with a thousand squaws?" he inquired.

I answered, "Why, I certainly could not show any partiality there, could
I?"

He said, "Well, if you have danced with that many squaws, I guess you are tired enough to sleep sound."

So we bid each other good night and turned in, and in a few moments silence reigned over the camp.

We pulled out of this camp the next morning and did not see an Indian for the next three days. On the third evening, as we were getting ready to camp for the night, I discovered a small band of Indians coming directly towards us. I told the wagon master where to corral the train, and I then left him and rode on to meet the Indians. As I drew near them, I saw that I knew them all. They were a small band of Comanches, and when I met them they told me that they had been on a visit to the Kiawah tribe and were hurrying to get back to the main Comanche village. I told them of the peace dance I had taken a part in at the main village a few nights before, and they expressed much regret that they had missed the fun.

I asked them if there were many more of their tribe down the country they had come from. They answered, "No more Comanches that way, all gone to village," which proved to be a fact, for we did not see another Comanche Indian on this trip.

I remained with the train four days after this, and, seeing that my services were no longer needed, I told the wagon master that the train was out of danger, as we had passed through the Comanche country, and there would be nothing to interfere with their progress, so I would leave them the next morning.

In the morning, when the wagon boss told the men that I was going to leave them, a number of them came to me and insisted on my taking at least ten dollars from each of them in payment for the bargain I had made with the Comanche Chief regarding the passage of the train on its way to Santa Fe.

Of course, I did not accept their hard-earned money. I told them that
I was glad of the privilege of saving their lives. And besides, the
Government would pay me for my services.

Cook John had a nice sack of bread ready for me, and I accepted his gift gladly. I bid them all good bye and struck out for Bent's Fort, and it was about as lonesome a journey as I ever made in my life. I avoided the Indian villages when I could, for I knew that the Indians would take more of my time than I could spare if I stopped at all.

I made a rule with myself when I first left the train to ride eight hours and then stop and let my horse rest and feed four hours. This rule I followed day and night, except a few times I overslept, but I gave my horse his feed and rest just the same, and I was back at Bent's Fort on the twenty-third day after leaving there with the train.

The next morning after I got there, Capt. McKee arrived, and he was very much surprised to find me there before him. He had made arrangements for Col. Bent to pay me for piloting the train through the Comanche country, and Col. Bent settled with me that day. The next morning Capt. McKee and I began our preparations for our journey to Texas. He had thirty-two men with him when he came to the fort, and eight more joined us there, making forty in all. Each man had two saddle horses, and there was one pack horse to every four men. Everything being ready, we left Bent's Fort on what would be considered in these days of rapid transit a long and tiresome journey on horse back, over trackless mountains and plains, through valleys, across rivers, in danger of attacks from wild animals and still wilder red men.

I think we traveled between four and five hundred miles without seeing a white person. We camped and lay over one day to give our horses rest where the thriving little city of Amarillo now stands. At that time we had no idea that vast prairie would ever be inhabited by the white race. That part of Texas was the greatest country for Antelope at the time I am speaking of that I had ever seen. Some days we saw a thousand or more Antelope in one drove.

We now began to see plenty of Indian signs all along where we traveled. There were no roads or trails to guide us. We had traveled down what is now called the Pan Handle country, to where the city of Bowie now stands, before we saw a white person after we left Bent's Fort. We met three men there. They were going around through the country hunting for men to assist them to look after a settlement that had been attacked by the Indians the night before. They did not know what tribe had made the attack. Capt. McKee said, "We will go with you and assist you if you will lead us to the place."

We all struck out with the men, and after riding perhaps five miles, we came to the settlement and found that one man had been killed and all the horses and cattle belonging to the people had been driven off.

Capt. McKee asked if they knew what tribe of Indians had made the attack. They answered that they did not know, as it was very dark when the Indians first came, and they could not see them, but they had a skirmish with them, and one man was killed, and the Indians drove the horses and cattle off in a southerly direction. The Capt. asked me if I thought it would be best to follow the savages and try to take the horses and cattle away from them.

I said, "Capt., these people have lost everything they had to depend on to get a living, and what will they do if someone does not do something to help them? And all the way to do that is to get their horses and cattle and return them to the owners."

He answered, "Well, if you will take the lead and do the scout work, we will strike the trail of the Red devils at once."

I said, "All right, Capt., you pick out two good men to assist me, and we will be off at once, for the sooner we are after them the quicker we may overhaul the Red murdering thieves."

In a few minutes the Capt. came to me, and with him were two men. He said, "These men say they are willing to do all they can to help." I said, "I will take the lead, and don't you pay any attention to my movements. You take the trail and follow it as long as you can see it, and when it is too dark to see, go into camp, and if I locate the Indians, whether they are in camp or on the move, I will inform you at once."

It was in the middle of the afternoon when we pulled out on the trail of the Indians. After following them eight or ten miles, I decided in my mind that there were not more than forty Indians in the band we were after.

I said, "Now boys, if we catch these Indians in camp, we can wipe them out and not leave one of them to tell the tale. We have a bright moon tonight, and their trail is so fresh and plain there will be no trouble in following it."

One man asked if I thought we could overtake the Indians in their first camp. I answered, "I think we can, for the Indians will have no fear of being followed and will not be in a hurry and will be off their guard."

We pushed on until about eleven o'clock in the night when we rode up on a little ridge, and, on looking down in the valley beyond, we saw several camp fires, but they were burning very dimly.

I said, "Boys, there are your Indians, and I want one of you to stay here and hold the horses, and the other to go with me, and we will investigate the matter," and said to the man that we left with the horses, "If you hear the report of a gun, mount your horse and lead ours to us at once, for the gun shot will be a signal that we are in trouble and want you to assist us."

My companion and I crawled down near the camp fires, and we saw that all the Indians were lying around the fires asleep, but they were scattered about so that I could not count them.

I whispered to my companion, "Now let us find the stock."

We crept down a little further and found the horses and cattle all feeding quietly, and they were all bunched up together. We went back to the man who had the horses. I told him to mount his horse and take the trail back until he met Capt. McKee and to tell him what we had found, and if it was possible for him to get here by daybreak to do so, "for if we can all be together before daylight, I think we can capture the whole outfit without losing a man."

He mounted his horse and was off at once. He had been gone perhaps an hour, and my comrade and I were sitting talking, when he raised his hand and said, "Hush, I hear something."

"What did it sound like?" I said.

"Like a horse snorting," and he pointed up the trail the way the Capt. should come. We sprang to our feet and listened, and in a minute more we heard the tramp of the horses' feet. We quickly mounted our horses and went to meet them. I told the Capt. what we had found and what position the Indians were in.

He said, "Mr. Drannan, what do you think is the best way to attack them?" I answered, "It is the easiest thing to do imaginable Capt., if we only work the thing right. Dismount all but ten of the men, and we will crawl down and surround the Indians and not fire a shot until daybreak or till they commence getting up, and when we that are on foot commence firing, the ten on horseback must charge down the hill, and if any of the Indians escape our bullets, the mounted men must follow them and shoot them down. When the Indians find that the Whites are after them, they will make a rush for their horses, and that is the time for the mounted men to get their work in."

The Capt. thought a few minutes and then said, "I believe your plan is a grand idea, and we will follow it."

He selected the ten men and then asked me where he should place them. I showed him where I thought was the best place for them to stand. I then pointed to the place where the stock was still feeding and said, "Now boys, when you make your charge on the Indians, charge down between the stock and the fires, and by doing so you will catch the Indians as they run for their horses, and be sure and get every one of them. Don't let one get away."

Everything being understood, we that were on foot commenced to crawl down towards the sleeping Indians' camp. The day was just beginning to break when we got fixed in our positions around them, and it was nearly sunrise before any of the savages crawled out of their blankets. As soon as the first one got out, we shot him down, and we continued to shoot as long as an Indian remained alive. The men on horseback gave a yell and made the charge. When they reached Capt. McKee, one of the horsemen said, "Where is our part of the fight? We didn't get any chance to fire a shot."

The Capt. answered, "It is all over, boys. You will have to wait for the next time for your shot, for I do not think one of this band is alive for you to shoot at. It was one of the quickest-won battles I was ever engaged in," and turning to me the Capt. said, "Mr. Drannan, you ought to join the army, for you would make a first-class General, and I am sure would always lead your men to victory in Indian warfare any way."

We now led our horses down to the Indian camp and staked them out to get their breakfast from the juicy grass that was very abundant in the valley, and then we began to think that we were very hungry ourselves. We had not had a bite to eat since the morning before, and the hard day's ride and no supper and the all-night vigil had about used us up.

Capt. McKee said, "Come, boys let's get some breakfast, for I for one am nearly starved, and we will lay over here until tomorrow morning and let our horses rest and get a little rest ourselves."

After we had satisfied our hunger with a slice of Antelope broiled over the fire and some bread and a cup of coffee, Capt. McKee said to me, "Let us look around and see how many dead Indians we can find."

We struck out together, and we counted thirty-eight, and not one of them had got ten feet from where he had slept, and all their blankets lay just as they had crawled out of them.

I said at the time, and I think now, that that was the most accurate shooting and with the least excitement of any Indian fight I was ever in. It seemed as if every man was as cool as if he was shooting at prairie dogs, and every shot hit the mark. We did not touch the dead Indians but left them as a warning to others who might come that way. We next looked after the stock. By examining the horses, we found that they tallied with the number of Indians, for every horse that belonged to the Indians had a hair rope around his neck, which was a custom followed by all the Western Indians at that time, as by marking a half hitch around the horse's nose he made a bridle of it.

We found twenty-two horses and thirty-two head of cattle that the Indians had stolen from the white settlers. Capt. McKee looked the horses over that had belonged to the Indians and said, "Those are the most valuable horses that I ever saw in the possession of the Indians. They are all good stock, and we will get a good price for them if we take them to Fort Worth, for good horses bring good money there."

When we returned to camp, we saw that two of the young men had their horses saddled. The Capt. asked them where they were going. One of them answered that, as they did not earn any of the honor that morning in killing Indians, they would try to kill some deer for supper, as they knew they would enjoy a piece of good, fat venison and thought the others would, and they believed there was plenty of deer all around there.

Capt. McKee and I spread our blankets and laid down to try and make up for some of the sleep we had lost while in pursuit of the Indians.

About three o'clock one of the boys came and woke us up, saying they had some fine venison all cooked and ready for supper, and that was one of the times that I enjoyed a venison roast. It was as fat and tender as a young chicken.

The next morning we pulled out of there bright and early, and it took us two days to make it back to the settlement that the Indians had robbed and in whose behalf Capt. McKee and I had gone out to punish the thieves, with what success the reader already knows.

As soon as we landed, we sent word to all that had been robbed to come and get their stock. Each owner came and claimed what belonged to him, and when all had taken what they said belonged to them, there were still four horses left unclaimed. These horses we never found an owner for, so we kept them ourselves. The settlers whose property we had returned to them now met and came to find out how much we intended to charge them for what we had done for them. We knew that these people were all poor, and we told them that they might give us what they could afford to pay without distressing themselves. They made up one hundred and forty-four dollars and gave it to us, which was a much larger sum than we expected to receive. After thanking them for their generous payment and refusing their invitation to stay with them longer, we bid them all good bye and continued on our journey to Fort Worth, which had been interrupted by the Indian raid on the settlement.

We had ridden to within ten miles or so of Fort Worth when we met an old acquaintance of Capt. McKee. His name was Reese. There were two other men with him, and they all three wanted to purchase horses. They examined all the horses we had, and then they asked Capt. McKee what we would take for the entire lot. The Capt. asked me what I thought would be a fair price. I answered, "Let the men make an offer before we set a price."

When the Capt asked them what they would give for them, they said they would give a hundred dollars apiece for them if we would help them drive the horses to Dallas.

I told the men that we would let them have the whole bunch and help drive them to Dallas for a hundred and ten dollars apiece. The three men rode off a few yards and consulted together a few minutes. When they came back, they said they would take the horses on my terms.

Capt McKee then told his men to go on to Fort Worth and go into camp, and he told them where to camp and to wait for us and we would come to them as soon as we could. The Capt. then told Mr. Reese to lead on and we would follow.

We drove the horses to Dallas without any trouble and delivered them at Mr. Reese's stable. He paid us the money for them, and we lost no time in pulling out for Fort Worth. It was thirty-two miles from Dallas to Fort Worth, and we passed two houses on the way from there to Fort Worth at the time of which I am writing. I think there were about fifty houses in Fort Worth. I do not know the number there were at Dallas. The place was somewhat larger, but it was a small town.

[Illustration: I took the lead.]