"Selecting barely fifty men, but those the most daring braves of the tribe, I left the valley by the eastern entrance, and crossing the desert, struck southward into the Lipan country. With this tribe we were at the time at peace, but I cared little for that, and the warriors of my party were equally unscrupulous. I sent forward a dozen spies, and moved forward cautiously with the main body. My reputation was committed to my present success, and I took more than ordinary pains to sustain it. Every man of my band was well armed and mounted, and I had full confidence in our ability to overcome double our number. One of the spies now returned and informed me that they had discovered a Lipan village of seventeen lodges, situated on the banks of a small stream. I directed them to return and watch them closely, and to apprise me of any movement they might make. The spy went back, but soon returned and informed me that they had moved down the creek, which was a tributary of the Pecos, had passed through a small cañon, and were encamped near its mouth. I ordered him to send in all the spies except three, and direct these to keep a sharp look-out.
"I then determined to follow them down the cañon, and attack them at its mouth, thus cutting off all chance of their retreating into the cañon; but a spy now brought me word that they had moved further down and encamped on the edge of the timber, with the evident intention of remaining there. I then made a wide circuit, and crossed the ridge lower down with the largest division of my party but left about twenty warriors ambushed in the cañon.
"From the summit of the hill I had an excellent view of the enemy's position, and my plans were quickly formed and executed with almost equal rapidity. Under cover of the timber I led my party until we gained the rear of the encampment. Then spreading out widely, we advanced to the edge of the timber, and shouting our savage war-whoop, rushed upon the Lipans. They were so completely surprised that we were among the lodges before they could make scarcely a semblance of defense, and many of them were cut down as they emerged from the lodges.
"Those who escaped the first attack retreated towards the cañon, but on attempting to enter it were met by my detached party and repulsed with considerable loss. They then retreated to the west and gained the shelter of the woods, while we hastily collected our plunder and prisoners and retraced our steps towards our village, our spoils consisting of thirty-nine scalps, forty-eight captives, women and children, and over two hundred horses; and this notable victory was gained without the loss of a warrior, although we had twenty-three wounded.
"The Lipans gathered reinforcements from other bands, and followed our trail, but did not succeed in overtaking us before we reached our village; and here we are too strong to be attacked. Great was the rejoicing upon our return; the scalp-dance was performed, feasts prepared in our honor, and I found myself looked upon as a greater brave than ever.
"This expedition was but the prelude to a series of similar ones, and as my luck did not desert me, I soon found that more than half the tribe were anxious to accompany the war parties which I led. It suited me better, however, to operate with comparatively small parties, say of fifty or sixty men, and to take only those who would render unquestioning obedience to my authority. For this reason I selected men of no great prominence in the tribe, but whom I knew to be good fighters, to accompany me on these expeditions, so the victories we achieved might redound mainly to my credit.
"One day I started out to hunt, accompanied by only five young warriors. After five days journey, during which we found no game, we ascended a slight eminence, and saw before us a large prairie. At some distance out a party of about thirty Indians were engaged in killing buffaloes. We could also see their village at about four miles distance. Here was an opportunity not to be lost. We passed along behind the crest of the hill until we had gained a position between them and their village, and then passed through a gully and concealed ourselves in the path they must necessarily take. We were able to discover by their costume that they were Pawnee Picts, a tribe with whom we were generally at peace, but I considered that fact of no importance.
"The unsuspecting hunters, having finished butchering and dressing the buffaloes they had killed, began to approach us in straggling parties of four or five, their horses loaded with meat which they were bearing to the village. When the first of them came abreast of us, I made a signal, and five of them fell before our arrows. As the next party came up we brought down three more, and then rushed from our hiding place, and some began scalping the dead, while the remainder were cutting the lashings of the meat in order to secure the horses. Having taken eight scalps, we sprang upon the horses we had freed from the packs, and retreated precipitately, fearing to be overpowered by numbers. We made direct for the timber, and having secreted our horses, took refuge in a rocky place in the mountain, where we felt protected for a while from their attacks. To attack us in front they had to advance right in the face of our fire, while to reach our rear they had to take a circuitous route of several miles around the base of the mountain.
"The enemy had now gathered in force, and displayed the utmost bravery, for they made repeated assaults nearly up to the position that sheltered us. Their arrows showered around us without injury, but we could bring one man down at each shot. To scalp them, however, was impossible. One of the enemy, who seemed to be a great brave, charged right into our midst and inflicted a severe wound on one of my party. Before he could retire, I cut him down with one stroke of my battle-axe, and added his scalp to those we had already taken. By this time the enemy had nearly surrounded us, which led me to believe that retreat would be our safest course; so when night came we evacuated our fortress unperceived by our enemies.
"They, deeming our escape impossible, were quietly resting, intending to attack us with their whole force in the morning, and take our scalps at all hazards. Moving with the stealth of the cougar, we proceeded along the summit of a rocky cliff until we came to a ravine, through which we descended to the plain below, which was here covered with heavy growth of timber. We reached the spot where we had concealed our horses without difficulty, and made the best of our way home. In order to avoid hostile war parties we were obliged to take a roundabout course, and it was not until the eighteenth day after our departure that we reached the village. The tribe had given us over for lost, but when they saw us returning with nine scalps and with but one of our party hurt, their grief gave way to admiration, and we were greeted with shouts of applause.