The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 12, July 1908 - April, 1909 Page: 307
332 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Reminiscences of Jno. Duff Brown.
307
the northeast of us. We had only one skirmish with the Indians.
Lieutenant Riggins and Orderly Sergeant John R. King, together
with another officer and an unarmed man, were out some ten or
fifteen miles buffalo hunting. While at their dinner, they saw
what they imagined to be buffaloes on the crest of the hill at
whose base they were eating. Hastily rising, they looked again,
when one of them exclaimed "My God! They are Indians, and
they are charging down on us." It was frightfully true. iMount-
ing instantly-for their horses were saddled-they made for a
thicket two or three hundred yards distant. Some one cried "Stick
together," and they fled at full speed. Riggins was mounted on a
fiery, high-headed horse, on which he was compelled to use mar-
tingales. The ring on one side caught the bridle, causing his
horse to run obliquely from the party. Detaching this ring de-
tained him only a moment, when the race was resumed at the
utmost speed. Riggins was going so fast, in fact, that his horse
nearly buried himself in the thicket before it was possible to stop;
and, when he did, it was so suddenly that the officer was tumbled
over the horse's head. Grasping his rifle and righting himself
like a flash, Riggins looked up just in time to see an Indian with
a lance leaning to plunge it into him. As the gun went up, the
Indian retreated in haste. The little party managed to reach the
center of the thicket with their horses, and there they hitched
and left them in charge of the unarmed man, while they stood
ready at the two opposite sides of the thicket to defend it. Mean-
while the Indians were rushing round and round, whooping, yell-
ing, and shooting, and protecting themselves with their shields,
which they kept constantly in motion, making it very difficult to
aim accurate shots at them. There were from twelve to twenty
Indians-I do not recall exactly how many. They set the grass
on fire on the windward side, hoping to drive out the men, or
their horses at least. The man in charge of the horses, however,
was courageous and of fine intelligence. He coolly raked away
the leaves and combustibles from near the horses, thus protecting
them from the fire, which crackled furiously and made a great
smoke. Under cover of this the Indians approached tIhe thicket
closer, when a well directed shot dropped one of them from his
saddle. In a little while, another, 'evidently a chief, slightly un-
covered his person and was also shot and fell to the ground. In
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 12, July 1908 - April, 1909, periodical, 1909; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101048/m1/345/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.