The Backwoodsman; Or, Life on the Indian Frontier

by Unknown

After a long ride over the open prairies of Western America the comfort of a spot like this is very great and almost indescribable. The eyes are refreshed by the rich green, after the continued view of the horizon, which is rendered still more painful by the quivering sunshine of these plains. The breeze under the trees is most refreshing, while on the prairie it is dry and oppressively hot: we felt very jolly and comfortable in our hut, roamed about the neighbourhood, which was very rich in game; went along the streams and caught magnificent trout, or destroyed colonies of bees and plundered their rich stores of honey. To the south small prairies continually alternated with narrow patches of wood, through which the streams that spring up in them run under cover to join the Kansas.

After resting our cattle for some days, I went out one morning after breakfast to hunt and have a nearer view of the country round. I rode in a southern direction, followed by Trusty, and in going off, said to my comrades that if I lost my way, I would follow the course of one of these streams till it joined the river; then I would wait till they came to me, in which they could not fail, as we knew that all these small streams joined.

In a few hours I had crossed several of these streams, and had ridden out of a wood into a small prairie glade, when suddenly a horse Indian darted toward me with a furious yell from a thicket of tall oaks and swung his bow over his head, while his long lance hung on his right arm. It was too late to dismount and make use of my rifle. I quickly drew my revolver, put Czar at a gallop, and flew towards the Indian, turning my horse to the left, as he on his right side could make less use of his bow than I could of my revolver. However, he soon perceived my object, guided his chestnut to get on my left hand, and we galloped on in the same direction some distance out of shot. Suddenly, however, he turned and dashed toward me with his bow raised over the head of his rapid steed. I too had urged Czar to his full speed, and when we were about sixty yards apart, I fired. I had not expected to hit, still it was possible, and I had five shots left in my weapon. The savage's horse leaped on one side, stumbled and fell forward on its chest. A few blows of the whip forced it to make a last effort, but it then sank lifeless under its rider, who disappeared like lightning in the not very high grass behind it.

At the moment when I saw his horse fall, I turned mine away and pulled up about one hundred yards distant. The horse lay with its back turned to me, and the Indian was concealed behind its belly. I took out my telescope to try and get a better sight of my enemy, but it was of no use, he had disappeared. All at once I saw an arrow shoot up behind the horse and fly toward me in a large curve, but I easily pulled Czar out of its way and it sank harmless by my side with its point in the grass. While the Indian was firing the arrow I distinctly saw his hands holding the bow projecting above the horse's belly. I leapt from Czar's back, threw the bridle over his shoulder, and fired with my rifle at the horse's back. I heard the thud of the bullet, but the savage did not show himself. I reloaded both rifle and revolver and walked at the same distance round the dead horse till I got to the side on which its hind-quarters lay. I could now look under its belly and saw the Indian creep under the animal's chest and roll himself up behind it in a ball: still the surface by which he was hidden was now too small to cover him entirely, and I could distinguish the upper part of his body. I fired again and noticed a quick convulsive movement on the part of the foe, but only at the moment of firing. I had recourse to my glass once more, and saw that his head was now under the horse's chest, but his legs lay behind its neck, and he was peeping at me between its forelegs. I reloaded, and now having become much calmer, I aimed again at my mark; I fired and at once saw the savage throw up his legs, then try to rise but fall back again. I drew closer to him and watched him through the glass, as he had got a little way from the horse. He did not stir and lay on his back, but he was an Indian, and such a man a white man must not trust even in death. I fired again and heard my bullet go home, but he remained motionless. After reloading, I walked with cocked rifle nearer and found that life had left him, and that he had my second bullet in his right hip, the third in his head over the right ear, and the last in his chest, while I found one bullet in the horse's chest and another in its back. He was a man of about thirty years of age, tall and powerfully built, of a very dark colour and with sharply marked features; his remarkably long hair hung wildly round his head, with two eagle plumes thrust into the topknot, while his neck was decorated with a necklace of bears' claws, and his arms with brass rings. The lower part of his face and the eyelids ruddled with vermilion, and his forehead and cheeks painted black, gave him a terrific, uncomfortable aspect, which was heightened by the dazzlingly white teeth visible between his drawn-back lips. I only gazed for a few minutes at the corpse, took his bow and quiver of arrows, hung them on my horse and speedily beat a retreat, as the comrades of the dead man were certainly not far off, and might very easily be on the road to the spot, guided by my shots. I rode back on my trail and soon reached camp, when I told my friends what had happened.

Tiger was out hunting and not yet returned. I ordered a rapid start, had the horses packed and everything ready to be off. We had scarce completed our preparations when Tiger, bathed in perspiration, came back along my track, and said he had heard my shots, followed their direction, and found the Indian and his horse. He was a Pawnee, whose tribe was certainly close at hand, and when his companions missed him they would seek him and easily find us too, in which case we should run a great danger, as they were brave men. He quickly packed his horse, and in a few minutes we left camp. Tiger rode ahead into the stream, and we followed him, riding singly down the water, which offered us no obstacles beyond here and there a fallen tree, as it ran over pebbles, was nowhere deep, and had flat banks. Evening arrived, and the sun was already low on the western horizon. We marched almost constantly in the stream till we found on its right bank a wide plain covered with pebbles, when we turned off to the south at a right angle. We reached on the other side of the plain a similar stream, which was also overshadowed by trees, entered a thicket and dismounted to let our horses graze without unsaddling them, and to await nightfall. The moon was already up, and though her light did not brilliantly illumine the country, it was sufficiently strong to enable us to distinguish objects at a slight distance. We then left our hiding-place, marched out of the thicket into the prairie, and urged our horses on at a quick pace. Without interruption, we hurried on through the silence of the night, which was only disturbed by the howling of the countless wolves and the roar of the buffaloes we put up, until shortly before daybreak the moon withdrew her light from us and the darkness did not allow us to advance. We sat down on the damp grass round our cattle and waited till the first new light appeared on the eastern horizon, then we remounted and hurried on toward a distant strip of wood which rose before us on the prairie. The sun was standing high in the heavens when we reached it and led our wearied animals to a stream. Here we unsaddled and let them graze, hobbled, in a small glade, while we prepared breakfast at a small fire.

We were very tired and after the meal could hardly keep awake. We posted sentries in turn to watch the plain behind us, and kept lively by smoking and telling stories. Our cattle wanted sleep more than grass, and we were sorry at being obliged to saddle them after a short rest, but Tiger and Owl insisted on our going on, as we were certainly pursued by the Pawnees, and could only escape them by keeping the start we had on them. It was hardly noon when we started again and spurred our horses on toward the southern prairie. They only moved because they felt the sharp steel in their sides, and we were obliged to lead the mules by lassos and appoint a man to drive them, as they refused to follow. The heat was oppressive, there was not a breath of air, and the plants on the plain we crossed hung their leaves in exhaustion, an incessant buzzing of the insects in the grass filled the motionless air, and a trembling dazzling light lay on the wide expanse around us. The sweat ran in streams from our cattle, and was mixed with the blood which the countless musquitos sucked from their coat, so that under their belly their colour could not be distinguished. But not noticing their sufferings or fatigue, we urged them on and looked back at the distant horizon to see whether our pursuers appeared on it, till the sun sank and in the distance a wood rose, which crossed the prairie to the east like a mist. Tiger said that we should be safe there; this was the wood running along the Arkansas, and the horses of the Pawnees could not go so far without a rest. The sun mercifully withdrew its beams, and the moon's cool light showed us our road, when we expended the last strength of our cattle and so reached the forest.

We had ridden for over fifty hours since yesterday morning, a greater part of the distance without any path, through rather tall grass and over stony soil. On the whole route we had been exposed to the burning sun, and only once had been able to cool our fevered lips at a stream. For our cattle, it is true, we had more frequently found water, though only standing rain, which collects in large hollows on the prairie, but at this season is more mud than water; at the same time it is almost boiled by the sun, and if it can keep a man alive it does not refresh him. We as well as our cattle were utterly exhausted to such a degree that we would incur any danger for a few hours' rest. We rode into the wood and followed a buffalo path, but had not ridden far when Tiger, who was ahead, stopped, saying he had lost the path and could go no farther. The foliage over us was so thick that only here and there the moon's pale light stole through it, and only a few leaves and small spots on the branches glistened like silver in the obscurity. We turned our horses in all directions seeking the path, but after going a few yards were continually stopped by the hanging creepers. Tiger now leapt from his horse and sought in the darkness dry grass, which he twisted into a torch and came to me to light it. It soon spread a light around, and while I held it up Tiger collected a larger stock of dry grass and made a thicker torch, which we lit, and soon found an issue from this impenetrable thicket.

We soon reached a small arm of the Arkansas, on whose fresh, cool water we and our cattle fell insanely. We now lit a fire, though there was no grass for the cattle near at hand, as the small, open spot on the bank of the rushing stream was surrounded by a dense wall of forest. At this moment, however, rest was more necessary than food, and our cattle had scarce been freed from their load when they all sank on the ground and fell into a deep sleep; we did the same, and, after drinking several draughts, fell back on our saddles and forgot that we still stood a risk of being caught up by the Pawnees. We had collected our fire into a small pile, so that it only coaled, and spread no light over the crests of the tall trees, which might possibly have been noticed from the prairie. We slept without moving a limb till the turkeys in our neighbourhood awoke us, and, though Tiger and Owl protested most strongly against it, we shot four of the birds, resolved to defend ourselves to the best of our ability if the shots betrayed us to our pursuers.

Tiger now mounted his piebald, rode through the river, and soon disappeared in the forest on the other bank, where he sought pasture for our cattle. In half an hour he returned and told us that between this wood and the Arkansas there was a fine prairie, on which we should find excellent grass for them. We followed him across the river and out of the wood to a small glade, which was overshadowed by close-growing trees. Here we camped and prepared breakfast, while our cattle greedily browsed on the fresh, dewy grass. We rested here till the sun cast the shadow of the forest far across the prairie; then we set out again and rode to the Arkansas, which here rolls its foaming waters between low banks. We reached the opposite forest and rode into its cool shade before sunset, so that the last beams still lighted us as we marched over the next prairie and hurried to a low scrub, from whose centre several tremendously tall poplars rose and announced water near their roots.

The sun had just set when we came to a stream running toward the Arkansas, and covered on this side with bushes, while on the other the most splendid grass hung over its crystalline waters. We watered our cattle and then rode down stream on the other side, as the pasturage seemed more luxuriant lower down. In a few minutes we reached a small cascade, where the stream fell over rocks about ten feet, and below this fall formed a deep basin, whose bottom was also composed of stone slabs, and on one side was overhung by rock strata about twenty feet in height, which covered a considerable space near the basin, whose bottom and sides also consisted of bare stone. We camped on the top of this overhanging ledge, as a number of medlar-trees grew there, to which we could fasten our horses at night round the camp, and at the same time the richest grass grew all around. We unsaddled, hobbled the horses in the grass, lit a fire, and put the supper before it, and then went to bathe in the basin under the rock. After we had cooled and refreshed ourselves we supped and then prepared our resting-place; but John took his weapons and skins and said he would sleep on the stream under the crag, as it was much cooler and pleasanter there, and he should not feel the heavy dew so much as in the grass. We wished him pleasant dreams and shouted to him not to let himself be devoured by a bear.