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502
agent by President Grant and served in this capacity in Kansas and the Indian Territory, for the Cheyennes, Arapahoes, Kiowas and Comanches, which tribes frequently went on the warpath in those days, making it very dangerous for the trail drivers. We met Colonel Miles the next day after the Indians had attacked our herd, and he made a note of the number of beeves they had killed belonging to us, and said he would report it to Washington, and we would receive pay for all we had lost. He was traveling alone in a hack on his way to some fort, and to me he looked very lonely in that wild and woolly country.
When we reached the Canadian River we found it on a big rise, so we decided to stop there a few days and allow our herd to graze while waiting for the river to go down. While we were there a man came along one day and warned us to be on the lookout for Indians, saying they were liable to attack us at any time. He passed on, and the next day we crossed the river and after traveling about ten miles we came to a pool of water where we found this man's clothes on the bank. Investigation revealed that he had been stripped and dumped into the pool.
We reached the Arkansas River, where we had a little trouble getting across. There were a few houses on the Kansas side, and we began to rejoice that we were once more getting within the boundaries of civilization. Here we found a store and plenty of "booze," and some of the boys got "full." After leaving that wayside oasis we did not see another house until we were within ten miles of Abilene. We had several stampedes in that region.
One evening Monte Harrell said the prospects were good for a storm that night, and sure enough we had a regular Kansas twister. We had prepared for it by driving a long stake pin into the ground, to which I chained the wagon, and making everything as safe as possible. At midnight the storm was on, and within a moment