The horse this chief was riding was extremely
fleet. I determined to capture him if possible, but I was afraid to
fire at the rider lest I kill the horse.
Often the Indian, as he rode around the skirmish line, passed the head
of a ravine. It occurred to me that if I dismounted and crept up the
ravine, I could, as he passed, easily drop him from the saddle with no
fear of hitting the horse. Accordingly I crept into the ravine and
secreted myself there to wait till Mr. Chief came riding by.
When he was not more than thirty yards away I fired. The next instant
he tumbled from the saddle, and the horse kept on his way without a
rider. Instead of running back to the Indians, he galloped toward the
soldiers, by one of whom he was caught.
Lieutenant Mason, who had been very conspicuous in the fight and had
killed two or three Indians himself, came galloping up the ravine, and,
jumping from his horse, secured the elaborate war-bonnet from the head
of the dead chief, together with all his other accoutrements.
We both rejoined the soldiers. I started in search of the horse, and
found him in the possession of Sergeant McGrath, who had captured him.
McGrath knew that I had been trying to get the horse, and he had seen
me kill its rider. He handed the animal over to me at once. I little
thought at the time that I had captured the fastest running horse west
of the Missouri River, but this later proved to be the fact.
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