THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL by COLONEL HENRY INMAN (best fiction novels of all time .TXT) 📕

And A

Large Number Of Scalps.  Although His Tribe Fairly Worshipped him,

He Was Not At All Satisfied with Himself.  He Could Look Into The

Future As Well As Any One, And From That Time On To His Tragic Death

He Laboured most Zealously And Earnestly In connection With The

Indian Agents To Bring His People To Live On The Reservation Which

The Government Had Established for Them In the Territory.

 

 

 

At The Inauguration Of The So-Called "Quaker Policy" By President

Grant, That Sect Was Largely Intrusted with The Management Of Indian

Affairs, Particularly In the Selection Of Agents For The Various

Tribes.  A Mr. Tatham Was Appointed agent For The Kiowas In 1869.

He At Once Gained the Confidence Of Kicking Bird, Who Became Very

Valuable To Him As An Assistant In controlling The Savages.  It Was

Through That Chief'S Influence That Thomas Batty, Another Quaker,

Was Allowed to Take Up His Residence With The Tribe, The First White

Man Ever Accorded that Privilege.  Batty Was Permitted to Erect

Three Tents, Which Were Staked together, Converting Them Into An

Ample Schoolhouse.  In that Crude, Temporary Structure He Taught

The Kiowa Youth The Rudiments Of An Education.  This Very Successful

Innovation Shows How Earnest The Former Dreaded savage Was In his

Efforts To Promote The Welfare Of His People, By Trying To Induce

Them To "Take The White Man'S Road."

 

 

 

Batty Succeeded admirably For A Year In his Office Of Teacher,

The Chief All The Time Nobly Withstanding The Taunts And Jeers Of

His Warriors And Their Threats Of Taking His Life, For Daring To

Allow A White Man Within The Sacred precincts Of Their Village--

A Thing Unparalleled in the Annals Of The Tribe.

 

 

 

At Last Trouble Came; The Dissatisfied members Of The Tribe, The

Ambitious And Restless Young Men, Eager For Renown, Made Another

Unsuccessful Raid Into Texas.  The Result Was That They Lost Nearly

The Whole Of The Band, Among Which Was The Favourite Son Of Lone Wolf,

A Noted chief.[34]  After The Death Of His Son, He Declared that He

Must And Would Have The Scalp Of A White Man In revenge For The

Untimely Taking Off Of The Young Warrior.  Of Course, The Most

Available White Man At This Juncture Was Batty, The Quaker Teacher,

And He Was Chosen By Lone Wolf As The Victim Of Savage Revenge.

Here The Noble Instincts Of Kicking Bird Developed themselves.

He Very Plainly Told Lone Wolf, Who Was Constantly Threatening and

Thirsting For Blood, That He Could Not Kill Batty Until He First

Killed him And All His Band.  But Lone Wolf Had Fully Determined

To Have The Hair Of The Innocent Quaker; So Kicking Bird, To Avert

Any Collision Between The Two Bands Of Indians, Kidnapped batty

And Ran Him Off To The Agency, Arriving at Fort Sill About An Hour

Before Lone Wolf'S Band Of Avengers Overtook Them, And Thus The

Quaker Teacher Was Saved.

 

 

 

One Day, Long After These Occurrences, A Friend Of Mine Was In the

Sutler'S Store At Fort Sill.  In there Was A Stranger Talking To

Mr. Fox, The Agent Of The Indians.  Soon Kicking Bird Entered the

Establishment, And The Stranger Asked mr. Fox Who That Fine-Looking

Indian Was.  He Was Told, And Then He Begged the Agent To Say To Him

That He Would Like To Have A Talk With Him; For He It Was Who Led

That Famous Raid Into Texas.  "I Never Saw Better Generalship In the

Field In all My Experience.  He Had Three Horses Killed under Him.

I Was The Surgeon Of The Rangers And Was, Of Course, In the Fight."[35]

 

 

 

When Kicking Bird Was Told That The Texas Doctor Desired to Talk With

Him, He Replied with Great Dignity That He Did Not Want To Revive

Those Troublous Times.  "Tell Him, Though," Said Kicking Bird, "That

Was My Last Raid Against The Whites; That I Am A Changed man."

 

 

 

The President Of The United states Sent For Kicking Bird To Come To

Washington, And To Bring With Him Such Other Influential Indians As

He Thought Might Aid In inducing The Kiowas To Cease Their Continual

Raiding On The Border Of Texas.

 

 

 

In Due Time Kicking Bird Left For The Capital, Taking With Him

Lone Wolf, Big Bow, And Sun Boy Of The Kiowas, Together With Several

Of The Head Men Of The Comanches.  When The Deputation Of Savages

Arrived in washington, It Was Received at The Presidential Mansion

By The Chief Magistrate Himself.  So Much More Attention Was Given

To Kicking Bird Than To The Others, That They Became Very Jealous,

Particularly When The President Announced to Them The Appointment

Of Kicking Bird As The Head Chief Of The Tribe.[36]  But Lone Wolf

Would Never Recognize His Authority, Constantly Urging The Young Men

To Raid The Settlements.  Lone Wolf Was A Genuine Savage, Without One

Redeeming Trait, And His Hatred of The White Race Was Unparalleled

In Its Intensity.  He Was Never Known To Smile.  No Other Indian Can

Show Such A Record Of Horrible Massacres As He Is Responsible For.

His Orders Were Rigidly Obeyed, For He Brooked no Disobedience On

The Part Of His Warriors.

 

 

 

In The Summer Of 1876, A Party Of English Gentlemen Left Fort Harker

For A Buffalo Hunt.  They Soon Exhausted all Their Rations And Started

A Four-Mule Team Back To The Post For More.  Some Of Lone Wolf'S Band

Of Cut-Throats Came Across The Unfortunate Teamster, Killed him,

And Ran Off The Team.  After The Occurrence, Kicking Bird Came Into

The Agency At Fort Sill And Told Mr. Haworth, The Agent, That He Had

Given His Word To The Great Father At Washington He Would Do All He

Could To Bring In those Indians Who Had Been Raiding By Order Of

Lone Wolf, Particularly The Two Who Had Killed the Englishmen'S Driver.

 

 

 

He Succeeded in  Bringing In twelve Indians In all, Among Them The

Murderers Of The Driver.  They, With Lone Wolf And Satank, Were Sent

To The Dry Tortugas For Life.  The Morning They Started on Their

Journey Satank Talked very Feelingly To Kicking Bird, With Tears In

His Eyes.  He Said That They Might Look For His Bones Along The Road,

For He Would Never Go To Florida.  The Savages Were Loaded into

Government Wagons.  Satank Was Inside Of One With A Soldier On Each

Side Of Him, Their Legs Hanging Outside.  Somehow The Crafty Villain

Managed to Slip The Handcuffs Off His Wrists, At The Same Instant

Seizing The Rifle Of One Of His Guards, And Then Shoved the Two Men

Out With His Feet.  He Tried to Work The Lever Of The Rifle, But

Could Not Move It, And One Of The Soldiers, Coming around The Wagon

To Where He Was Still Trying To Get The Gun So As He Could Use It,

Shot Him Down, And Then Threw His Body On The Trail.  Thus Satank

Made Good His Vow That He Would Never Be Taken To Florida.  He Met

His Death Only A Mile From The Post.

 

 

 

After The Departure Of The Condemned savages, The Feeling In the Tribe

Against Kicking Bird Increased to An Alarming Extent.  Several Times

The Most Incensed warriors Tried to Kill Him By Shooting at Him From

An Ambush.  After He Became Fully Aware That His Life Was In danger,

He Never Left His Lodge Without His Carbine.  He Was As Brave As A

Lion, Fearing None Of The Members Of Lone Wolf'S Band; But He Often

Said It Was Only A Question Of A Short Time When He Would Be Gotten

Rid Of; He Did Not Allow The Matter, However, To Worry Him In the

Least, Saying That He Was Conscious He Had Done His Duty By His Tribe

And The Great Father.

 

 

 

In A Bend Of Cash Creek, About Half A Mile Below The Mill, About Half

A Dozen Of The Kiowas Had Their Lodges, That Of Their Chief Being

Among Them.  At Ten O'Clock One Monday In june, 1876, Mr. Haworth,

The Agent, Came In haste To The Shops, Called the Master Mechanic,

Mr. Wykes, Out, Told Him To Jump Into The Carriage Quickly; That

Kicking Bird Was Dead.

 

 

 

When They Arrived at The Home Of The Great Chief, Sure Enough He Was

Dead, And Some Of The Women Were Engaged in folding His Body In robes.

Other Squaws Were Cutting Themselves In a Terrible Manner, As Is Their

Custom When A Relative Dies, And Were Also Breaking Everything

Breakable About The Lodge.  Kicking Bird Had Always Been Scrupulously

Clean And Neat In the Care Of His Home; It Was Adorned with The Most

Beautifully Dressed buffalo Robes And The Finest Furs, While The Floor

Was Covered with Matting.

 

 

 

It Seems That Kicking Bird, After Visiting Mr. Wykes That Morning,

Went Immediately To His Lodge, And Sat Down To Eat Something, But

Just As He Had Finished a Cup Of Coffee, He Fell Over, Dead.  He Had

In His Service A Mexican Woman, And She Had Been Bribed to Poison Him.

 

 

 

An Expensive Coffin Was Made At The Agency For His Remains, Fashioned

Out Of The Finest Black Walnut To Be Found In the Country Where That

Timber Grows To Such A Luxuriant Extent.  It Was Eight Feet Long

And Four Feet Deep, But Even Then It Did Not Hold One-Half Of His

Effects, Which Were, According To The Savage Custom, Interred with

His Body.

 

 

 

The Cries And Lamentations Of The Warriors And Women Of His Band

Were Heartrending; Such A Manifestation Of Grief Was Never Before

Witnessed at The Agency.  A Handsome Fence Was Erected around His

Grave, In the Cemetery At Fort Sill, And The Government Ordered

A Beautiful Marble Monument To Be Raised over It; But I Do Not Know

Whether It Was Ever Done.

 

 

 

Kicking Bird Was Only Forty Years Old At The Time Of His Sudden

Taking Off, And Was Very Wealthy For An Indian.  He Knew The Uses

Of Money And Was A Careful Saver Of It.  A Great Roll Of Greenbacks

Was Placed in his Coffin, And That Fact Having Leaked out, It Was

Rumoured that His Grave Was Robbed; But The Story May Not Have Been

True.

 

 

 

One Of The Greatest Terrors Of The Old Santa Fe Trail Was The

Half-Breed indian Desperado Charles Bent.  His Mother Was A Cheyenne

Squaw, And His Father The Famous Trader, Colonel Bent.  He Was Born

At The Base Of The Rocky Mountains, And At A Very Early Age Placed

In One Of The Best Schools That St. Louis Afforded.  His Venerable

Sire, With Only A Limited education Himself, Was Determined that

His Boy Should Profit By The Culture And Refinement Of Civilization,

So He Was Not Allowed to Return To His Mountain Home At Bent'S Fort,

And The Savage Conditions Under Which He Was Born, Until He Had

Attained his Majority.  He Then Spoke No Language But English.

His Mother Died while He Was Absent At School, And His Father

Continued to Live At The Old Fort, Where Charles, After He Had

Reached the Age Of Twenty-One, Joined him.

 

 

 

Some Washington Sentimentalist, Philosophizing On The Indian Character,

His Knowledge Being Based on Cooper'S Novels Probably, Has Said:

"Civilization Has Very Marked effects Upon An Indian.  If He Once

Learns To Speak English, He Will Soon Forget All His Native Cunning

And Pride Of Race."  Let Us See How This Theory Worked with Charley Bent.

 

 

 

As Soon As The Educated half-Breed set His Foot On His Native Heath

He Readily Found Enough Ambitious Young Bucks Of His Own Age Who

Were Willing To Look On Him As Their Leader.  They Loved him, Too,

If Such A Thing Were Possible, As Fra Diavolo Was Loved by His Wild

Followers.  His Band Was Known As The "Dog-Soldiers"; A Sort Of A

Semi-Military Organization, Consisting Of The Most Daring,

Blood-Thirsty Young Men Of The Tribe; And Sometimes "Squaw-Men,"

That Is, Renegade White Men Married to Squaws, Attached themselves

To His Command Of Cut-Throats.

 

 

 

At The Head Of This Collection Of The Worst Savages, Hardly Ever

Numbering Over A Hundred, Charles Bent Robbed ranches, Attacked

Wagon-Trains, Overland Coaches, And Army Caravans.  He Stole And

Murdered indiscriminately.  The History Of His Bloody Work Will

Never Be Wholly Revealed, For Dead Men Have No Tongues.

 

 

 

He Would Visit All Alone, In the Guise Of Plainsman, Hunter, Or

Cattleman, The Emigrant Trains Crossing The Continent, Always,

However, Those Which Had Only Small Escorts Or None At All.  Feigning

Hunger, While His Needs Were Being Kindly Furnished, He Would Glance

Around Him To Learn What Kind Of An Outfit It Was; Its Value, Its

Destination, And How Well Guarded.  Then He Would Take His Leave With

Many Thanks, Rejoin His Band, And With It Dash Down On The Train And

Kill Every Human Being Unfortunate Enough Not To Have Escaped before

He Arrived.

 

 

 

He Was Indefatigable In his Efforts To Kill Off The Whole Corps Of

Army Scouts.  He Would Pass Himself Off As A Fellow-Scout, As A

Deserter From Some Military Post, Or As An Indian Trader, For He Was

A Wonderful Actor, And Would Have Achieved histrionic Honours Had

He