, we unrolls de blankets and sleeps under de
trees, sometime under de brush.

"For rations we got canned beans, milk and hardtack. De hard tacks is 3
or 4 in a box, we wets 'em in water and cooks 'em in a skillet. We gits
meat purty often. When we camps for de night de captain say, 'You'all
kin go huntin'.' Before we git to de mountains dere's deer and rabbits
and dey ain't no fences. Often in de dark we sees a big animal and we
shoots. When we bring 'im to camp, de captain say, 'Iffen de cow got
iron burns de rancher gwineter shoot hisself a nigger scout.' But de cow
ain't got no iron, it's--what de name of de cow what ain't feel de iron?
Mavrick, yahsur. We eats lots of dem Mavricks. We's goin' 'long de
river bottom, and before we comes to Fort Duncan we sees de cactus and
muskeet. Dere ain't much cattle, but one colored scout shoots hisself a
bear. Den we eats high. Fort Duncan were made of slab lumber and de roof
was gravel and grass.

"Den we's ordered to Fort Davis and we's in de mountains now. Climb,
climb all day, and de Indians give us a fit ev'ry day. We kills some
Indians, dey kills a few soldiers. We was at Fort Clark a while. At Fort
Davis I jines de colored Indian Scouts, I was in Capt. George L.
Andrew's Co. K.

"We's told de northern Cheyennes is on a rampus and we's goin' to Fort
Sill in Indian Territory. Before we gits to Fort Concho (San Angelo) de
Comanches and de Apaches give us a fit. We fitten' 'em all de time and
when we gits away from de Comanches and Apaches we fitten de Cheyennes.
Dey's seven feet tall. Dey couldn't come through that door.

"When we gits to Fort Sill, Gen. Davidson say de Cheyennes is off de
reservation, and he say, 'You boys is got to git dem back. Iffen you
kill 'em, dey can't git back to de reservation.' Den we goes scoutin'
for de Cheyennes and dey is scoutin' for us. Dey gits us first, on de
Wichita River was 500 of 'em, and we got 75 colored Indian Scouts. Den
Red Foot, de Chief of de Cheyennes, he come to see Capt. Lawson and say
he want rations for his Indians. De captain say he cain't give no
rations to Indians off de reservation. Red Foot say he don't care 'bout
no reservation and he say he take what we got. Capt. Lawson 'low we
gotter git reinforcements. We got a guide in de scout troop, he call
hisself Jack Kilmartin. De captain say, 'Jack, I'se in trouble, how kin
I git a dispatch to Gen. Davidson?' Jack say, 'I kin git it through.'
And Jack, he crawl on his b