In the Stronghold of the Piutes [pp. 583-593]

8In the Stronghold of the Fiutes.
from either the Uncompahgre or the
Los Pinos (Southern Ute) Indian Agen cy. These horses were in charge of
John Thurman, Dick May, and Byron
Smith, the first two being part owners
of the herd. They were equipped with
all the necessities of camp life, provis ions, rifles, ammunition, and besides
had with them at the ranch about one
thousand dollars in money.
So far the depredations of the Indians
in that immediate neighborhood had
been confined to killing and maiming
cattle and running off horses. It was
the brutal custom of the Indians to ride
into a bunch of cattle with their rawhide
lariats awhirl, rope a victim, and butcher
it, while yet alive, in the most cruel
manner their savage instincts could sug gest. Poor tottering brutes bawled ev erywhere in pain upon the prairie, hair
clotted with blood from gaping crevices
upon their hips, or with flesh exposed
in strips where rawhide had been torn
in ribbons from their sides. Sometimes
an animal was found knee-deep in the
luxuriant bunch-grass of the foot-hills,
making pitiful efforts to graze upon the
abounding richness, yet starving because of the severing of its tongue by an
Indian hunting knife.
Communication between the ranches
of the country was dependent upon accidental means; and one afternoon early
in May. a prospector on his way to the
placers of the Lower Miguel, made his
way to the J B horse ranch, preferring
its hospitalities to his usual lonely camp
upon the trail. On striking down into
the valley, his eye sought the cabin,
which could ordinarily be seen a halfmile or more from the point where the
trail passed over the ridge, but the descending sun shone on a plain unbroken
by any habitation.
A rapid ride of a few minutes brought
him upon the charred remains of the
logs which had formed the home ranch.
The ruins were cold, and all about the
corral were the barefoot tracks of In
dian ponies, perhaps fifty in all. Some
two hundred yards out in the sagebrush
was found the corpse of Dick May, his
sombrero at his side, and the string of
his quirt still circling his wrist,- the
blood-stains on the ground indicating
that he had not moved from the spot
where he fell, no doubt dropped from
his horse by the Indians ambushed at
the corral, as he returned from a ride
after his stock. Thurman was found
some distance away. The coyotes had
been busy here, and probably for two
nights had snapped over their unholy
feast. The flesh was stripped from the
bones, except where protected by his
boots and the less yielding portions of
his clothing. A hasty search failed to
locate Smith, and his fate was uncertain
until he was found, years afterward, un der an assumed name in Santa Fe. He
then explained that after a day's ride up
one of the neighboring creeks he re turned to the ranch and found it burned
and Thurman and May dead; that he
started for the nearest ranch and was
attacked by the Indians and pursued by
them for twenty miles or more. He
foolishly reasoned that his escape might
be regarded as an indication that he
was in league with the Indians, and
keeping straight on, avoided the settlements for two hundred miles, and so
escaped from the country undiscovered.
The J B horses had all been rounded up
and driven off by the Indians.
After protecting the bodies of May
and Thurman from further mischief
from animals, the prospector, made a
night ride to the Big BenJd of the Dolores, to notify William May of the
death of his brother. The settlers were
aroused, and May undertook the organization of a party to take the trail of the
Indians and recover the stolen stock,
although it was well understood that
revenge for the death of his brother was
the principal object sought.
This was no easy task. A renegade
band of Indians for years had their
[Dec.
584