rocks
on either side of the road. The savages, as the carriage neared their
hiding-place, fired with such accuracy of aim that they killed, by
their first volley, all of the men who were with the carriage before
they were aware of the danger which surrounded them. Mrs. White and
her child were reserved for a worse fate. They were carried off
into captivity. The child proved to be a source of annoyance to the
blood-thirsty savages, and its angel spirit was released from earth by
their cruel ferocity. Before the eyes of its captive mother the fatal
tomahawk was raised, and by one dastard blow its keen edge was made to
mingle with its brains. The horrid work failed not to bring the bitter
woes and anguish of despair to the breast of the unhappy mother. It
was then thrown into Red River, which was the stream nearest to the
scene of the bloody tragedy.

Red River and its great canon has always been to the Apache Indians a
favorite haunt of refuge, either when pursued, or after the committal
of some terrible crime. There are several streams in the West called
by this name. The one here referred to is the Red River of the plains,
and is one of the upper tributaries of the Arkansas River. In olden
times it went by the name of the Canadian River. Several sharp
conflicts have occurred on this stream between the Apache Indians and
parties of United States troops. It has also formed the stage of many
an Indian tragedy in conflicts between the mountain Indians and the
Indians of the plains. Quite recently, attempts have been made by
whites to use its banks for grazing purposes, but every enterprise
which has been set on foot to establish ranches in its vicinity,
have been warmly contested by the Camanches, who have killed several
persons who have dared to essay such attempts.

The intelligence of this terrible butchery having been carried to New
Mexico, a command was organized in hot haste, which had for its object
the immediate rescue of Mrs. White from her bondage, worse than death.
Two men went with this party as guides, named Leroux and Fisher.
Watkins Leroux is an old and famous trapper and mountaineer, whose
reputation and skill as a guide in the far West, is second only to Kit
Carson's. A few of his warm partisans, who are ever very warm in their
praise of their friend, at one time considered him superior even to
Kit Carson; but, when the skill of the two men came to be tried in
the same cause, the palm was yielded to Kit