un City lonesome trail, on a journey which was to prove the
most eventful of my life up to now.

A few miles out we encountered some of the hardest hail storms I ever
saw, causing discomfort to man and beast, but I had no notion of getting
discouraged but I resolved to be always ready for any call that might be
made on me, of whatever nature it might be, and those with whom I have
lived and worked will tell you I have kept that resolve. Not far from
Dodge City on our way home we encountered a band of the old Victoria
tribe of Indians and had a sharp fight.

These Indians were nearly always harrassing travelers and traders and
the stock men of that part of the country, and were very troublesome. In
this band we encountered there were about a hundred painted bucks all
well mounted. When we saw the Indians they were coming after us yelling
like demons. As we were not expecting Indians at this particular time,
we were taken somewhat by surprise.

We only had fifteen men in our outfit, but nothing daunted we stood our
ground and fought the Indians to a stand. One of the boys was shot off
his horse and killed near me. The Indians got his horse, bridle and
saddle. During this fight we lost all but six of our horses, our entire
packing outfit and our extra saddle horses, which the Indians stampeded,
then rounded them up after the fight and drove them off. And as we only
had six horses left us, we were unable to follow them, although we had
the satisfaction of knowing we had made several good Indians out of bad
ones.

This was my first Indian fight and likewise the first Indians I had ever
seen. When I saw them coming after us and heard their blood curdling
yell, I lost all courage and thought my time had come to die. I was too
badly scared to run, some of the boys told me to use my gun and shoot
for all I was worth. Now I had just got my outfit and had never shot off
a gun in my life, but their words brought me back to earth and seeing
they were all using their guns in a way that showed they were used to
it, I unlimbered my artillery and after the first shot I lost all fear
and fought like a veteran.

We soon routed the Indians and they left, taking with them nearly all
we had, and we were powerless to pursue them. We were compelled to
finish our journey home almost on foot, as there were only six horses
left to fourteen of us. Our friend and companion who was shot in the
fight, we buried on the plains, wrapped in his blan