Traveling Over Forgotten Trails. III

Traveling Over Forgotten Trails

By Hon. Anthony W. Ivins

3 —Navajo Depredations in Southern Utah Among the many beauty spots which are to be found in the mountains of Utah, there is none which surpasses Pine Valley, in Washington county. Situated in a basin, in the very tops of the Pine Valley mountains, the extreme southern end of the Wasatch range, it is surrounded by timber-covered peaks. One who,on an autumn day, looks down upon its fields of ripening grain, meadows of red top and timothy, with the stream, the headwaters of the Santa Clara, wind- ing through the valley, and the vil- lage of comfortable homes in the cen- ter, can never forget nature's canvas which is spread out before him. About three miles southwest from the town, on a high plateau, where the ground is covered with great granite boulders, which have rolled down from the mountain above, there is a place called the Mahoganies, be- cause of the heavy growth of these trees with which the mesa is covered. Running off to the north is a depres- sion known as Indian Hollow. The name is suggestive, and an "old set- „ „ , • . . tier," if asked why this particular Cyrus Hancock, who mir- c j f . ^ , S V°\ of ground was so christened, aculously escaped death at , the hands of the Navajos at would relate the following incident: the Mahoganies, and brought On the afternoon of December the news that the IndUms 27, 1866, Cyrus Hancock, a young were raiding s the neighbor- nn years, and j -j c noo(j & man ofe 27 a resident, of Pine Valley, saddled his little mare, Nell, and rode out to the Mahoganies to look for a horse which was ranging in that neighborhood. He reached the flat, and was riding among the boulders, many of which are of immense size, and heavy growth of trees, when he was suddenly con- fronted by three Indians. The latter were on foot, but the posi-

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tions which they had chosen made escape, on his slow, tender- footed mare, impossible. He spoke to them, and they replied with signs of friendship, and made him understand that they wanted tobacco. He snowed them that he had none. One of them, under pretense of looking for tobacco, searched him, and discovering that he carried no arms, the Indians became inso- lent. One of them took hold of his bridle, another stood in the

AMMON M. TENNEY Who acted as scout and interpreter for Captain Andrus, and whose) timely warning probably saved the life of his commander. So far as the writer is aware he is the only man living who took part in the battle of Bull Rush.

trail before him, while the third stood by the side of his horse, with an arrow fixed to his bow. The man who appeared to be the spokesman gave him to understand that it was the intention his body with the dry to kill him, take his horse, and cover leaves which were piled in the hollow.

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Finally the chief spoke to the young man who stood beside the trail, and he drew his bow, aiming his arrow at Hancock, but when the latter made a gesture, and shouted to him to de- sist, lowered his weapon. An angry command from the chief, and the boy again drew his bow, this time to the head of the arrow, which was aimed at the neck of his intended victim. As the bow-string twanged Hancock threw himself from the saddle, and the arrow passed over him. Dashing into the under- brush of the hollow, the man ran toward Pine Valley, the In- dians in hot pursuit, and sending a shower of arrows after him, one of which passed through his arm, above the wrist, and an- other through his beard. A full mile the race continued, when the Indians, as they approached the wagon road, gave up the chase. Exhausted, and suffering from his wound, Hancock reached the road, the arrow still in his arm. Fearing that it was pois- oned, he endeavored to draw it out, but only succeeded in breaking it off. At the road he met a Mr. Coachee, with an ox- team, which was hurried on to Pine Valley with the wounded man, where, through the efforts of a strong man and a pair of bullet molds, the arrow was extracted, and under the primitive treatment which those early days afforded, the wound soon healed. In 1866 there were no. telegraph or telephone lines, no rail- roads; the quickest way to transmit a message was by an ex- pressman, mounted on a good horse. Soon after the return of Hancock to his home, such a messenger started for St. George, and the following day there was great activity among the local militia. Captain Copeland hurriedly mobilized a small force to take up and follow the trail of the marauders, while Captain Freeman, with a detachment of men from Washington, hurried on to Virgen City, on the upper Rio Virgen, where he joined Captain James Andrus, who had collected a force at the latter place, the combined strength of the two detachments numbering about eighty men. This force moved rapidly forward, hoping to cut off the retreat of the Navajos toward their own country, and by a forced march, night found them camped on the Cedar Ridge, about eight miles west from Pipe Springs, with Ammon M. Tenney standing the last guard. About 4 o'clock a. m., Tenney saw, away off across the plains, near Bull Rush, on the west side of the Kanab Gulch, a light which he thought was a fire. He awoke Sixtus E. Johnson, corporal of the guard, and after consultation they called Captain Andrus. The latter unhesitatingly declared that the light was reflected from a fire, and that there were — Indians there he could smell them.

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Orders were immediately issued, and the men were soon mounted, and moving noiselessly toward the light which shone in the darkness, several miles away. A convenient wash, or • gully, made it possible for the militia to approach to within one hundred and fifty yards of the unsuspecting Navajos, who were busily oc- cupied with their breakfast of broiled beef. Dismounting his men, Captain Andrus, to whom — W i fw« ' •

the direct command had been intrusted by Col. J. D. L. :i Pierce, who was present, left a detail to hold the horses, and with the remainder of his forces attacked the camp. At the first fire, the Navajos scattered^ but as the com- mands of their chief rang out IF- Bifflr * JB they came together and faced their assailants, notwith-

red standing the great odds ar- rayed against them. Slowly they retreated to the top of a neighboring ridge, where, they made a stand, return- ing shot for shot. Captain The type of man who fought Captain Andrus now ordered his men Andrus and his militiamen at Bull Rush. i remount, and take the po- A worthy foeman on any field. gition which ^ Indian8 were holding by assault. Charging straight up the bluff, the captain rode, leading his men. As he rushed up the slope toward the rocks above, Ammon Tenney, who was at a different angle, saw an Indian on the crest of the ridge, one knee on the ground, his bow bent to the arrow head, waiting for the captain to appear. Frantically Tenney shouted, "Look out, Captain; that Indian will kill you." Instantly Captain Andrus reined his horse, a high-spirited one, which threw up its head and received the arrow intended for the rider in its forehead. The arrow was so deeply imbedded in the skull of the horse that it could not be removed until the settlements were reached, when it was extri- cated with a pair of blacksmith's shoeing pincers. As Charley Hilton, from Virgen City, dashed between Ten- ney and the Indians, the latter shouted, "Charley, dismount and

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take shelter under your mare." Hilton instantly threw himself from his horse, and as he did so, an arrow struck, quivering, in the saddle. The battle was soon over. The Indians were either killed or scattered, and when Captain Andrus called his men together none were missing, notwithstanding the stubborn resistance of the enemy, and many hairbreadth escapes. What shall we say of the Indians? At a later date, when treaties of peace were made with them, it was learned that thir- teen Navajos participated in this battle, against sixty well armed frontier militiamen. Thirteen against sixty, and they fought until but one man remained to carry the sad news of the battle back to his home and people. It is related of a wounded Nav- ajo that he shot at Captain Freeman until he was so weak that he could not put force enough behind them to carry the arrows to his enemy. While the captain dodged the slow-moving ar- rows, his men looked on and laughed at what they called his war dance. Alarge number of horses and cattle were collected and returned to the settlements, among them Nell, the little mare ridden by Hancock when he met the Indians at the Mahog- anies.