USA > Nebraska > Antelope County > A history of Antelope County, Nebraska, from its first settlement in 1868 to the close of the year 1883 > Part 6
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While Mr. Horne and his family were waiting, undecided what to do, and not knowing what to think of it, Mr. J. H. King, who was located about three miles northeast, came along and at once discovered moccasin tracks in the flour. A number of the neighbors were called together as quickly as possible, but the Indians had so cunningly concealed
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their tracks that nearly a day was spent before any definite conclusion could be reached as to which way they had gone. A plain trail struck out from the house toward the south- west, where they had gone back and forth in the grass, but after crossing a dry branch of the creek, about thirty rods distant, it entirely disappeared. Here they had evidently scattered, and could not be trailed.
Finally, about half a mile from the house a camp was found in a large thicket of plum brush, where they had cooked their supper and sorted over the stolen goods, throwing out such things as they did not want. They also threw away a lot of squaw corn which they had been carry- ing for their provisions, as they now were fully supplied with something that suited them better. This corn was gathered up by the whites and planted the next spring, be- ing used in place of sweet corn. At this camp they had also roasted a piece of fresh pork by placing it on sticks with the flesh side to the fire. As fast as it cooked they had eaten it off, and finally had thrown away the skin, still covered with bristles. This pork, no doubt, they had obtained by killing a hog in some other settlement, as none were missed here. No trail left this camp in any direction. Finally, after circling around the camp in constantly in- creasing circles, the whites found an occasional moccasin track in the gopher mounds. These all pointed northwest, and by following on in that direction, examining every place where fresh dirt had been thrown up by the gophers, a track was found occasionally, but not often. These tracks showed plainly that the Indians had spread out over the prairie so as to make no trail, that they had left some time during the night, or they would not have betrayed the course taken by stepping on the soft earth, and that they were Sioux Indians, as no others were located in that direc- tion. From certain other indications observed at the camp it was supposed that there were ten of the Indians.
Early the next morning five of the Cedar Creek settlers started in pursuit, taking a northwest course to the mouth of the Clearwater and picking up one man on the way, mak-
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ing six in all. They took along one team to carry the bed- ding and provisions. Crossing the Elkhorn just below the mouth of Clearwater Creek, they camped for the night on M. L. Freeman's claim, where Mrs. Freeman had her adventure with the Indians some months before, as related in the preceding chapter. In the meantime Mr. E. R. Palmer had been sent from the Cedar Creek settlement to the Snider and Hopkins neighborhood to spread the news and get help to follow the Indians. Just as the Cedar Creek men were breaking camp the next morning, reinforcements arrived. These had started in the night from Crandall Hopkins' place. As soon as the new arrivals could eat breakfast, they all pushed on up the valley. There were now fourteen men, as follows:
Jeptha Hopkins Alex Belmer
Crandall Hopkins
A. H. Palmer
Bernarder Trueblood
C. M. Seeley
R. A. Rollins
S. P. Morgan
Frank Cottle
L. A. Kimball
Allen Hopkins
Wm. H. Hopkins
J. C. Cowin
A. J. Leach
They had one heavy wagon, two light wagons, and three riding horses. The men were armed mostly with shotguns and squirrel rifles, old style and muzzle loaders. There were three exceptions. Trueblood had a fine heavy muz- zle-loading target rifle, and Crandall Hopkins and Kimball each had a breech-loading carbine, one a Spencer, the other a Sharps, both good long-range guns; there were also a few revolvers and single-shot pistols in the outfit.
At noon they halted at Ash Grove, near where Ewing is now located Here it was decided to send Alex Belmer and A. J. Leach across to the south side of the river to look for signs of the Indians on that side, while the main body con- tinued up along the north side of the valley. The party were also anxious to get a deer, as none of them, except part of the Hopkins party, had any meat. Several deer had been started during the forenoon, but every one had gone directly across the river. It was thought that by
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dividing the party there would be a better chance of killing some game.
About an hour before sundown, as those on the north side were making toward a grove in a bend of the river, about a half-mile distant, where they intended to camp for the night, two or three of the men thought they saw smoke, as of a camp-fire just started. A halt was called and all looked for the smoke and examined the grove with a glass, but nothing unusual could be seen. Allen and Jeptha Hopkins and Kimball, being on horseback, rode on in ad- vance to reconnoiter. Kimball, having the best mount, rode rapidly into the thicket and, coming back, soon re- ported that he saw one squaw fording the river, but saw no other signs of Indians. Allen and Jeptha Hopkins rode on slowly into the brush, near the river bank, and when near the middle of the bend in the river Jeptha Hopkins saw an Indian's head through the brush. Looking care- fully, he discovered several Indians lying down flat upon the ground behind a bank of sand screened by willows. He called out "How," but there was no response. Again he called, "How," when one of the Indians answered, and all got up and showed themselves, there being eleven of them. By this time the other men and the teams had come up. The Indians could not understand English, or pretended they could not. Trueblood, who could speak the Omaha language, addressed them, but they made no reply. He knew something of the sign language and made use of it. One large, athletic Indian said he was a chief. He held up three fingers on one hand, saying in sign lan- guage that he was good for three white men. They were the right Indians, without doubt, for Palmer and Seeley recognized some of the garments they were wearing as those belonging to Mr. Horne; several Indians were wearing leggins made from the skirt of Mrs. Horne's black and orange ladies' cloth dress. They were armed with bows and arrows and some had guns.
CHAPTER XIII
A TALK WITH THE INDIANS - INDIANS BEGIN THE FIGHT - THEY ARE DRIVEN BACK - RESULT OF THE FIGHT - RETURN TO THE SETTLEMENTS - MILITARY COMPANY ORGANIZED - INDIAN VERSION OF THE FIGHT
W HILE the chief was talking with the whites the others scattered out, and, slipping quickly behind the brush, forded the river. The chief was told to bring them back. This he agreed to do, and started very deliberately to the other side of the river, not trying to keep out of sight as the others had done. The opposite bank was five or six feet high and quite steep. On reaching the other side he shook the water from his leggins, climbed the bank, faced the whites, and, stooping forward, made ready to fire.
All the Indians began at once to jump from side to side so as to make it more difficult for the whites to hit them if they should fire. Just then Rollins called out, "Halt! Halt!" The Indians, not regarding the command or not understanding it, continued to jump from side to side and immediately fired on the whites. Several of the whites at once returned the fire, two or three firing at the chief. The chief fell forward on his face, his head lying near the edge of the high bank. This was the one who held up three fingers, saying he was good for three white men. The Indians then retreated a few rods, turned, and charged up to the bank, giving the war-whoop and shooting their arrows. Again they retreated and again charged up to the bank. Before the first charge the whites had found cover behind the trees and wagons, or their loss would no doubt have been very serious. The Indians made a mis- take when they charged. At least three of them fell from the return fire of the whites, one on the bank and at least two farther back, and some of the others were
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wounded. Belmer and Leach were hunting for a deer they had wounded when they heard the firing and the war-whoop of the Indians. They were on low, swampy ground covered with willow brush and tall grass, and could see nothing, but could distinctly hear the noise of the fight. They came out on the run, and as soon as they reached higher ground could plainly see the Indians shoot- ing their arrows, but the whites, being lower down, could not be seen.
The Indians soon retreated in haste, carrying with them one of the wounded, and one of them was limping badly. When back some distance from the river they dropped the wounded one in the grass and went on about a quarter of a mile to the top of a knoll, where they sat down and began singing their death song, supposing, no doubt, that their chief was killed.
The whites suffered considerably. Crandall Hopkins was shot with an arrow through the upper muscle of the right arm while drawing an arrow from a wounded horse; S. P. Morgan was shot with an arrow in the right hand while loading his gun; John Cowin had a slight wound in one finger; Jeptha Hopkins had a fine young horse killed, having been struck both by arrows and buckshot; A. H. Palmer and Crandall Hopkins each had a horse wounded with arrows. The Indians made a mistake when they charged. Had they continued to retreat, as at first, prob- ably only the chief would have been hurt. The whites had time to take cover, and were ready when the Indians charged back. The Indians probably expected to stam- pede the horses, but did not succeed.
There was no one to command the whites; no consulta- tion was had as to who should command in case a fight occurred. This was a mistake. They should have elected officers after all were together, before going on up the val- ley. Only one command was given to the whites during the fight. When Crandall Hopkins was shot, he said, "Give 'em h-11, boys, I am shot!" The command [was obeyed. It was now beginning to be dark. The fight
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was over, but the Indians might be only a few of a large party, and they might soon be reinforced. An election was held and Jeptha Hopkins was made captain. He gave orders to move down to the French settlement, where the wounded men and horses could be cared for, and stated that he would get reinforcements and come back next day. The party started down the valley just after dark, leaving the Indians singing their death dirge. They reached Louis Contois' place about eleven o'clock P. M. and re- mained there until morning, keeping a guard out during the night. The settlers all followed down to Contois' place and remained through the night. Of course the settlers were badly frightened, the women and children crying and not daring to go to bed for fear of an attack. There was good reason for this. These settlers in Frenchtown had not forgotten their experiences with the Indians the previous February. All the men who were not wounded were ready to go back up the river the next day, and Ber- nard Whitwer and Pat Ford, who were there, were ready to join them. But the French settlers were unwilling to take the risk, and declined to furnish horses, fearing they would lose them. It was therefore decided to come on down the valley and arrange a meeting for the next day to organize a military company to protect the settlements.
On the next day, therefore, a meeting was held and a company organized, twenty-six men joining the company the first day, and in a very few days nearly every able- bodied man in the settlements had enrolled his name. The company, which was named the Elkhorn Guards, was con- stituted as follows:
Jeptha Hopkins, Captain R. A. Rollins, First Lieutenant E. R. Palmer, Second Lieutenant Bernarder Trueblood, First Sergeant A. J. Leach, Second Sergeant A. M. Salnave, Third Sergeant D. V. Coe, Fourth Sergeant Allen Hopkins, Fifth Sergeant
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Wm. H. Ives
George Inman
I. E. Keith
F. M. Snyder
James H. Smith
W. W. Putney
J. C. Cowin
Wm. H. Hopkins
Crandall Hopkins
Aaron Hollenbeck
Chas. M. Wyman
J. Saxton
T. P. Trask
Louis Patras
M. L. Freeman
Chas. T. Gunter
Robert Marwood
J. C. Bradeen
Alex. Belmer
Geo. W. Ives
Frank Patras
A. H. Palmer
C. M. Seeley
J. H. King
S. P. Morgan
J. T. Bennett
W. Nunnaly
Elias W. Ives
John W. Ploof
L. A. Boyd
Frank Cottle
Chas. E. Belmer
John F. Rollins
Wm. P. Clark
Louis Contois
R. Beckwith
W. H. Brown
Patrick Ford
J. E. Richey
Arthur O'Neill
L. A. Kimball
Bernard Whitwer
In this fight the Indians did much greater execution with their bows and arrows than with their guns. Only one gunshot took effect, the one that struck the horse that was killed. After discharging their guns they did not reload, but began immediately to shoot arrows. This they could do as rapidly as one can fire a Winchester magazine rifle, and the arrows flew very thickly for a little while.
The white men's version of this fight has been given; it will now be only fair to give the Indians' version. Frank Cottle, one of those participating in the fight, afterward went to South Dakota and located near the Brule reserva- tion, where he engaged in trade, a part of his business being with the Indians. He became acquainted there with some of the Indians who were on this raid. They claimed that none of their number were killed, but admitted that several were wounded. The horse the whites supposed was dead
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was only badly wounded. They went back to where the fight occurred after the whites had gone, and finding the horse still alive and able to travel, they took him along with them, and he finally recovered. The wounded Indians also all got well.
A few months after this fight occurred Jeptha Hopkins, Ben Trueblood, and Allen Hopkins took a trip to the place and looked over the battle-field. They found a great many arrows on the ground held by the whites during the fight, every one of which was broken in two. They also found a bundle of sticks, eleven in number, one large one, nearly an inch in diameter, the others considerably smaller. These were about eighteen inches long, each one painted red and blue in spiral stripes, and to each one was tied a little sack filled with tobacco and kinnikinick, and all were bound together with strings. On the side of the river where the Indians were when the fight occurred, there were nine sods of turf turned over. Where the chief fell the sod was a large one, about a foot square; the other eight were smaller and farther back from the bank.
What these things signified is not known. It is strange that they should have come back and have broken all the arrows that they had discharged that could be found, but it probably was in compliance with some superstition. They found no Indians fastened in the trees, as was the Sioux custom of disposing of the dead, nor did they find any signs whatever of the dead horse. It is quite probable, therefore, that the Indian account is correct. The whites supposed surely that the chief, who was lying perfectly still on the edge of the bank, and in plain sight, was killed. He no doubt was badly wounded and had either swooned or was shamming death, believing that if he moved he would be killed. It was at the time supposed that it was for the chief especially that the Indians were singing the death song, and doubtless at that time they did think him dead.
CHAPTER XIV
THE INDIANS CONTINUED - PLANS OF DEFENSE - ARMS AND AMMUNITION FURNISHED - THE CEDAR CREEK SETTLEMENT GUARDED - FALSE ALARM - MORE HORSES STOLEN - END OF THE INDIAN TROUBLES
A T the meeting called to organize a military company as related in Chapter XIII, the question of the best method of defending the new settlements from Indian raids was taken up and fully discussed. Twice within ten months the Indians had raided the settlements. It was believed that they would come again before spring, especially if the winter should be mild and open, and that they would come in force. It was therefore decided to send some one to Omaha to lay the matter before General Augur, the commander of the Department of the Platte, and ask for arms and ammunition and a company of cavalry to protect the frontier settlements. It was decided to send A. J. Leach upon this mission, for the reason that he had resided in Omaha and was therefore somewhat acquainted with some of the leading citizens whose influence could be had in behalf of the settlers, if needed. He started the next morning and drove to Nor- folk, which was at that time the county seat of Madison County. At Norfolk Mr. Samuel Thatch, county clerk of Madison County, drew up a paper setting forth the facts in the case. This paper stated that the settlers were wholly without protection; that they were poorly armed, many not being armed at all; that the settlements were very much scattered, and that they had twice been raided recently by marauding Indians. The paper was signed by Colonel Mathewson and by nearly all the county officials of Madison County. Armed with this document, Mr. Leach drove to Fremont, where he left the team and proceeded to Omaha by railroad. On reaching Omaha he first called upon Brigadier-General O. P. Hurford, who
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was in command of the state militia. General Hurford strongly recommended that the Elkhorn Guards should join the state militia, saying that he could then arm them with Springfield rifles and furnish them with all the needed ammunition. This proposition did not suit, chiefly be- cause the Springfield rifles were old, muzzle-loading guns, and further because there would be a good deal of delay, as the guns could not be issued until the company was regularly mustered in and a second trip would have to be made to get the guns and ammunition. General Hurford then agreed to go with Mr. Leach to see General Augur.
At first the meeting with General Augur was not at all satisfactory. He said he had received orders recently to issue no more arms to the settlers, and that he had no soldiers under his command that could possibly be spared through the winter. However, on hearing that the set- tlers had recently been in a fight with the Indians, and that one or more of the Indians had been killed in the fight, he took a different view of the matter. He said he would do what he could for their protection; that although he could issue no new arms, there were a lot of guns already out that had been issued to the settlers of Merrick County before this order was given, and that he would call these in and ship them to Fremont, with ammunition, at once. He therefore immediately dispatched Colonel Litchfield to Lone Tree to gather up the guns. He directed Mr. Leach to wait at Fremont for them. General Augur, however, blamed the settlers for getting into a fight with the Indians. He said that they should have reported the matter at once to him instead of taking it into their own hands. But since they did follow and overtake the Indians he did not blame the settlers for giving them all the punishment they could. He greatly feared that the Indians would return to Cedar Creek for revenge, and advised that a guard be kept all winter in that neighbor- hood. He also promised to send up a company of cavalry at any time it should be needed and requested, that the set- tlers should keep him posted as to how things were going.
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Only two or three days later fifty stand of needle guns and two thousand rounds of cartridges were shipped to Mr. Leach at Fremont and thence were taken by him to Antelope County by team. These guns were the old-style three-band rifled muskets, caliber 50-70. They had been made over into breech-loading guns and were a very effective arm, but too long to be handily used on horseback. These guns were never recalled by the government, and some of them are still in the possession of members of the old military company and are greatly valued by them as mementoes of the by-gone days. The guns and ammu- nition were left with Captain Hopkins and by him dis- tributed to the members of the company.
There was no more trouble with the Indians that winter. In the more exposed settlements some of the settlers moved down the valley for the winter, and others got to- gether, two or three families occupying one house, for mutual protection. In the Cedar Creek settlement there were eight men who remained through the winter, six with families and two single men. These got together and occupied three houses in this settlement. A man was sent out on horseback every day all winter to scour the surrounding country, looking for signs of Indians.
But everything passed off quietly, excepting on one occasion. John Beeman of Ord township, while out hunt- ing one day, came in greatly agitated, saying that he had been shot at by Indians. He showed where one bullet had passed through his cap, just missing his head, and one or two others had hit his clothing, but luckily he was not wounded. Captain Hopkins called out thirty-two of his men, and, with Beeman as guide, spent about two days in an effort to trail them, but without success. Finally, on going into camp at night, some of the men, suspecting that it was a "put-up job," placed Beeman on the witness- stand and made him own up that he had seen no Indians. He stated that he had taken that course to get one of the government guns. It was intended to go to a near-by pond the next morning, cut a hole in the ice, and put Bee-
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man under a time or two. However, early next morning he eluded them and was nearly half a mile from camp, pointing for home, before he was discovered. They let him go.
There was no trouble from the Indians from this time on until the spring of 1872, when Richard Moffatt lost three horses and A. H. Brown two, and it was supposed at that time that they were taken by Indians, but there was no positive evidence of it. Sheriff Hopkins sum- moned a number of men and followed the trail to where they had forded the Niobrara River, when the chase was given up. These horses were not recovered. There was at least as much evidence to indicate that the thieves were white men as that they were Indians. Moffatt lived just north of the present site of Oakdale, while Brown lived in Frenchtown, and the country was pretty well settled for twenty-five miles up the Elkhorn River beyond Moffatt's place. No Indians had been seen anywhere in the country, and there were no signs of them anywhere in the settle- ments. Besides, Indians would hardly have ventured twenty-five miles into the settlements to steal horses. They would have taken those nearest to the frontier.
In the spring of 1874 there were six horses taken from the French settlement, three belonging to F. X. Patras, two to Eugene Grenier, and one to A. A. Sloan. They were taken to the Rosebud reservation and the Indian agent, hearing about it, took them from the Indians and turned them over to the military authorities at Fort Ran- dall. They were afterwards turned over to A. A. Sloan, who brought them back and delivered them to the owners. After this there were no more depredations committed by marauding Indians, and all fear of them soon passed away.
CHAPTER XV
"Doc" MIDDLETON MAKES HIS APPEARANCE - THE NIOBRARA GANG OF HORSE THIEVES - THEY ROB A DETECTIVE AND SEND HIM HOME ON FOOT - THEY RAID AN INDIAN CAMP - CHARLEY FUGET, A LEADER, AND TWO OTHERS CAPTURED
S OMETIME during the seventies, probably about 1876, a single horseman, just at evening, rode up to the house of Mr. Caldwell and asked to stop for the night. This request was readily granted, for in those days a trav- eler was always welcome at the home of any of the settlers. Mr. Caldwell lived in Beaver Creek valley, just at the west line of Boone County and about three miles from the south- west corner of Antelope County. The stranger was a good looking young man, of slender build, somewhat above medium height, and had a gold tooth that plainly showed when he smiled or when engaged in conversation. His horse, a good one, appeared tired and jaded, as though he had been ridden a long way. The horse being cared for, and supper served, the young man, complaining of being weary, was shown to his bed. The next morning Mr. Cald- well's son, on going to the stable to look after the horses, found the stranger's horse in the stall all right, but their own riding horse was missing. On going to the house to report the fact, the stranger's bed was found empty. He had gone in the night without disturbing any one, leaving his own tired horse and taking Mr. Caldwell's fresh one instead. Mr. Caldwell, thinking he had no great cause to be dissatisfied, the horse that was left behind being a better one than the one taken, let the matter go and made no effort to recover his own horse.
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