"over The Border."
Fort Sbbbuan, Idaho. May li, 1890. Ed. CoURIEB: - O ld BOldlen are credited wltll a fondness for fightinp thr-ir battles over, nnd the different experiences wbicb they ha?e paned tlirousrh, whether of a pleamnt or uupleasant chitracter, come b;.ck to their inlnds years after tlie eventB. It my wish to give to tlie readers of the COübier a few remiuisences of an [iidlan raid in Old Mexico, hopiug tlint it wlll Interest at least some of ts readers. ETaving been a memoer of the 4th U. S. Cavalry for ten years, and during tb. at linie my comiades and inyself have sten gome hard service on the frontier, against the wllly indiana - the Sioux, Cheyennes and the Apaches - our subers were never allowed t rust for want of employment, whlle ander the command of the active muí restleea Col. Maokinzle. (At that time colón el of the 4th cavalry.) The spring of 137,5 live troops of the 4th cavalry lf ft Kort Kichardson, Texas, on the 5th of Maruli and taking the road via. Fort. Oriffin, Phantom llill, Concho and McKavIlD reaohed Fort Clark, Texa?, on the Brst ot april, having marcbed over 4U0 miles. The Wives and chlldren of the ollicers nd men, some sixty or scvehty In number, accompanted the command clnrinj; this marcïi. Shortly after the arrlval at Fort Clark the troops were sent out of tho Fort to grazing camps, innn seven to fourteen miles, where the men were drllled, practiced at target-flrÍDg and subject to rigid discipline. Fort Clark is situated on the banks of Las Moras creek, which heads In a beautilnl sprlDg, about 200 yards from the fort. One cüii look down in the clear water len or fifteen feet where the view lsclosed by luxuriant water plante, and in its dppilis line bass, euuflsli and catflsh e;iti be ic(n BWimlng among the plants, disd.iining the most tempting baits of the disgosted angler. Tlie pool of the spring is some sixty feet across, alTording a volume of water about eight feet wille and lifteen feet deep, with ratlier a swift current. At Clark there is scarcely any soil but feeb'e patehes of grass rest the eye and a few ftunted trees bear faithful testiinony to the ulier barreness of the plAteau. Wind stonns of great vlolence vi-it tliis vlclnity, demolishing lijjlit frame Lnlldlngs and doin other dnmage. 'c.-t of Fort Clark and the Rio Grand, In OU Mexico, lies the Bolsón DeMapim, a dreary, waterless waste of mountains and tnickless deserts. The Apaches lor centurlea luhabtted this wild región, COmmittlng bloody and cruel deeds among the helpless civilized inhabitants. So little was known of this región by the white seltlerg, it was conildered a dangerous undertakiiiff to penétrate it, and in 1873 a rem Dan t of the once powerful Apaches, who dwelt aniong iti mountains, changed the scène of their depicdations to the soil of Tixas. They hnd a good market in Mexico for their stolen nuiles horses and fat cattte. Tlii?, however, was In strict obeilience to the law of eompensation, for it was not over 20 yciirs before tliat lime when powerf al bands of Comanehes and kindred thieves, vvhose bands llned tlie banks of tlie Plano-san-gaba and Concbo rivera, plundered the frontier scttlements of Mexico and found a niarket in Texas. There are living old cltlzens wlio bave witnessed the return of bands of plunderen?, exultiny in their tine sliow of liorses, cattle and scalps of women and cbildren. loined wilb the Apaches were bands of Lipaus and Kickapoos. All nctuated by deadly bostility to tlie Texaus. Issuirig from their mountain retreite, tliey traveled by nlyht across the pUiins and mountains, liid by day atnong tlie nwines or eediu-brakes wliicii abound, siuldenly swoopinfr down Dpon sume utiDrotected ranch, cruelly murdering lts inhabitants, driviii" off the stock and sometimos c-irried women and chlldren luto captivity. Small parties would drive off the stock from different prt3 of tlie country and asaemble f ar out on the staked platas, wliere white men huil seldom been, and where want if water m&kra it danjfsrou to penétrate without a guide. Here tliey would rest auJ leisutely return iito Mcxico. Shortly after the arrival of the troops at Fort Clari;, Colonel Macklnzie souglit cvery nieans to il[?cover the Iiidian villafres whlcli were In sonie secluded place in Old Mexico. Spies were sent out, stunulated by offers of large rewardí, but weeks went by uil tl] the thought ot' lociiting them was disuppearing from mimiof the tioopa, but tliey were qntckly aroused from their fancied seeurity as one uigbt, while the sokliers were c.ilnily sleeping and the sentlnel walking his lonely post, a Sharp challenge ran; out in the midnlght air. A courier has Just arrivcd from old Fort Duncan. '"We are to niiirch as soon as possible, pack anti Siiddle up at once, fot we must cross the San-Felipe road before daylight, (SanFilipe, a town on the Hio Orand! rlver, poopled mostly by Mexicano,) take live days nitions, leave all property and teuts standing and to be in charge of one man, everythiog will be sent for from Kort Clark in the morning." Such was tlie order. In a few moments the shrill sharp notes of the bugle disturbed the sleepers of the camp. The companies were formed, the orders jjiven and the camp s all life anil activity. The cooks are :iatily preparing breakfast, the troops laddllng up their horses or mikiug liaste to lio so, while patiënt pack-mules are receivin their loads and hard names from the sleepy soldien. An officer calis out : 'All ready old fellow,''and was answered by:"A!l hombre." "Well, tuen nount your men at once and follow my company, for we are bomid over the border." Ñu unnecessary noise marked the eparture of the regulara trom their beauiful camp upon which tuey had given so nnch labor, but they hardly tliink of it now, as the prospect of action 8t:fle3 all regrets. Whei) the day bo'e, the column liad crossed the Baa-Flltpe road and was wending its way alóng the little valeys whioli cut the country south-west of DIark. About 8 a. m., after a march of öurteen milts, the command reached the banks of Las-Moraa creck, where"C" sompany was basking in the sun, (this ïas beeu their sammer camp.) Haltlng ïere, thecompanies unpacked and nnsaildled, to await the arriva] of other corapanies from their campa. Col. Mackinzie mïved soon, with " I '' company, and at Hoon " K " and " AI " companles, with a detachment of Seminóle-:, under Lieutenant Bulles of the 24th Infuntry, made tlieir appejrance, alter a fatlguing maruh, havnj; gone some miles out of their way. i'he six conipanies of caralry, guide9, Seminóles and detached meu of other companies made a total force of neatly 'our hunOred, well mom ted, and In fine ighting trim. About ]: JU p. m. ander a blnziog san, marcli commenced, the Seminóles eadlng, then the compartes m to rank, 'ollowlng the course of the Las-Moras, which gradually dvvindled to a nnnkly ditch, difllcult to cross. The Rio Grande was reached aboul 9:00 p. m. The lia.il on the Mexican Mde had been washed away by high water and it was with dificulty that a place cou'd be found wheie He column COUld uet out of the liver. The doublé line of hor.-es made a living dam across the stream, while the treacherous qutck gnnds would ive away and ïllow tlie poortired hore.se tosink to their (irths and some had toswim; wlthin two lours all were ssembled on the Mexicau ihore, in an open buttom land, surrounded )y tall reeds and thick uodergrowth ; ïere we'dlsmounted and awalted the siiïal to move on ome smoking their pipes, other3 eatlng thoir lunch, carried in their saddle-bngs, while all were quietly discussing the object of the expedition and he chances of success. At 10:00 o'elock the head of the column emerged from the rlver bottom and winding throu;h a rocky ravine, ascended to open, rolling grotind, wlien the order to trot was giveu nul away sped the sombre troopirs, startIng the dweilen in the lonely ranches, when the dull tlmnder of tramplog hoof rose and feil as the rapld human torrent jonred across the plaius or plunged into ■avines. Llghta disappeared from dwellngs as If by majiic It soon became evtlent that the laden mules could not keep lp at this gait of travel and a halt was called, the men were ordered to take what liey could in their pocket and saddleDags so as to lightcn the load on the now ilowing mules; the halt occupied but a 'ew moments and away daslied the umn tljroügli bllnding duat al) (glit. Olí, fora'good drink of cool water forman and tired horses. Once a part of the column was misled by a pack train, wliicl had stopped to water without orders anc apon Issuing from a ravine, the advance bad disappeared. The moon had risen and looked blood-red, but by its light a faiiit line of dust was feen and following lliis at a gallop tbr two miles, the columi was overtakec It secmed as though the long nlght of fHtigue, discomfort aiu tliirst would uever end, but day ligh found the troops descending into a beau tiful valley. Whcn day breaks upon the prallie, nature appears the personificatioi of death, - cold, motionless, dreary ani hopeless, - the faees of the worn and tirec troopers are pallid and corpse-like; bu hen the glorlous sun pours lts golden tl'iotl ot' light upon the pl.iin, the eartl BMDia to sinile, and üfe and hope icturn Dayllght disclosed a creek in the valley which was followed for slx miles, whei four more in advance the hostlle villages were discovered. Dropping out the pack trains and forming fours, the column took the gallop and charged down upon the hostile villages of savage Kickapoos, Li paUS and Apaches. With a wild "hurrah,1 we iliisheil iuto the. high grass huta, shoot ing rlgut and Ie ft at the Indiana, whn simt iu hand, ruslied out to escape, Th Kickapoos were struck firstand tlie firiiii. alanned the Vlllagee, whose inhabitunts" had time to encape to the ravines, thick ets and uiarshes which enciicled Ibell homes, but not belore overthirty of theil warriors had paid the penalty of theil brutal crimes. Two or three compunies were deployed und circllng around the villages, captured some two hundred heai of horses and about forty squaws and children. The villagea were sald to contain nearly two hundred lighting men, but at the time of the attack, a large party was absent on a thieving expedition and escaped unpunished; it was hoped that we would find all at home and strike a blow that would paraljze these marauders forever. How many iudians were wounded is unknown to us, as the country allbrded excellent facilities for concealment. The troops had two or three men wounded. Kcsting men and horses for about live hours, while tlie captured stock, mostly of Tixas brands, were gathered, litteis were prepartd for the wounded aDd ponics were sulected for the prisoners to i ide. The torch was applied to the grassiiii f 1 huls and canvas shelters and iu a short time the villages were iu a heap of ashes. Soon after, two of our Seminóle scouts brought in a wounded Indian whom tliey had not disarmed, but allowed to carry liis rifle in hls hand, benig in the milist of troops and seeing the villages burninjr, women and children standing under guard, he realized that he was atnong enemies and uttering a feeble yell, aimed his rifle at an officer who hadjust ridden up, as quiek as thought the offleer threw himself behind his horse's shoulder, when the Indian changed his alm and lired without effect at one of the Seminóles; the nexl instant the captive feil froni his horse dead, plerced by fouror live bullets. Although we had jusl defeated them, danger lurked in tlie homeward march, for, a íew hours march distaut, was a Mexic .111 town and a well settled district, which would likely sencl their ranchers to avenge the insult to their territory. Col. fifacklnzle undeitood the situation and after careful arrangements for the transport of the woiiüded and prisoners, we took up our march for the Kio Qrande. During the afternoon, a few ranches were passed wüose inhabitantsappeared anything but pleased at seeing United States troops on iheir soil and occasionally horsemen could be seen observing the column. At sun-set the troops halted for water and theil comuienced another long nlght of fatigue to the troops and suffering for the wounded and captives. The children woru out with terror and fatigue, could hardly be kept on their ponies and frequent halts had to be made to close up tlie column and arrange the litters. Iloth ollicers and men, woru out by three "ights marches, would fall asleep In their i-addle?, or while awake, Iinmagined tliej' lleard mon conversing, and that tlicy were passing through towns. Woe betide the sleeper who might be left behind for the rear was dogged by merciless foes who had their homes and kindred to uvenge. Hour aftcr hour dragged its low length along, until fourleen had pasee!, fiually the rising sun ofMy 19th disclosed t):e welcome waters of the Blo Grande, whicli must be passed ere rest could be liad. Descending frora the ridjte whlch bounded the val ley, the column passpd throusrh shaded roads, bordered by dense thickets, until a ranch, with a clearing to the river was reached ; following a narrow path the horses soon buriert their nose9 in the wide and rapid stream. Men and horses seemed to {et new strengih from the refreshing waters and puslied f'orward with animation ncross the deep ford. The eastern bank was soon climbed and the welcome order to go into camp was given. The saddles were stripped from the tlred horees for the first time in forty or more hours. Suppües came to us from fort Duncan in in a short time and messengers were sent to announce the safe arrival of the corumnnd upon the American side. The next day the troops separated, soms for Fort Clark and the remainder for Fort Duncan. Tuis raid brouht the Indians to terms but was not loting, as later events proved. Very rpspectfiilly.
Article
Subjects
Old News
Ann Arbor Courier