The Indians made a
raid through the country east of the present site of Greeley, stealing
horses and cattle and killing the settlers.
Geary had a hundred
and fifty horses stolen and a large number were taken from Kempton's ranch
at the same time.
Lieutenant J. L. Brush's brother, William Brush,
his cousin, J. L. Conway, and a friend, Carlson, were putting up hay on
Geary's ranch when they were surprised by the Indians. Next day John
Patterson and some of the other neighbors found their bodies lying out in
the hot sun. They were so badly decomposed that a door had to be taken
down to carry them on. The bodies were placed in a wagon loaded with hay
and conveyed to Brush's ranch on Thompson creek for burial.
A
group of three families lived within a quarter of a mile of each other. In
one of these was a widow, who had the only sod house in the neighborhood.
When a report of approaching Indians came to them, these families would
all go to Mrs. Wiley's sod house for protection. They went over nearly
every night, returning to their homes in the mornings.
Owing to
the sneaking and treacherous way the Indians had in coming down on them,
the settlers had to use the utmost precaution. They would take turns about
in going north of the Platte twice a day scouting for signs of Indians.
Little Geary lived down the river about five miles from this
little settlement of three families.
Geary's wife was a squaw, and
was always ready to do anything for him or the settlers. Knowing that the
Indians would not harm her, he would send her down in the river bottom to
set fire to the grass and the smoke would warn the settlers above them to
prepare for defense that the Indians were starting on a raid.
Finally the Indians began to come to Geary's ranch so much that the
settlers grew suspicious and thought that perhaps he was in league with
the Indians. A few men gathered and went down to Geary's one night and
secretly surrounded his house, to see if they could find out why the
Indians came there so much and if he was in league with them.
After waiting outside until the cold got beyond endurance, they left a
guard and entered the house; they kept changing the guard so that it would
not be too hard on any one person.
Geary was told what they were
there for and why they suspected him.
He told the men the Indians
were not there very much when he was home but did not know about it during
his absence. He also told them that just before they came he heard a pole
drop out at the corral and supposing it was Indians sent his wife out to
see, but there was none in sight.
About midnight the dogs began to
bark but the guard was unable to see anything. The dogs' continual howling
showed that something was wrong, and kept the guard on a sharp lookout. At
last, piercing through the dark he could see an object, but was not able
to distinguish what it was, so called out, "Who comes there ?" He repeated
it three times and receiving no answer, he fired. The commotion brought
the others out of the house and the flash of the shot revealed to them an
Indian running away. They all shot at him but the guard's first shot took
effect and the Indian fell after running about twenty-five yards. In the
timber below the house, Indians could be heard moving in the brush and
seen flashing powder to their scout to signal if it was safe for them to
come on, receiving no answer they surmised that something was wrong, so
left.
Geary let the body of the Indian lay out by the house the
rest of the night and the next morning they did not recognize it; he was
of a new band in their vicinity. The men all got souvenirs from the
Indian. I remember my brother, R. Patterson, got a little white stone in a
scabbard. Gerry said that John Kimsey was entitled to the bow and arrows,
since he was the guard who shot the Indian. John is living in Evans and I
presume he still has the bow and arrows in his possession.
A
bridle and several ropes hanging on the trees near the corral showed what
the Indians' intentions had been. The settlers saw that Geary was not in
league with the Indians, so returned home, fully satisfied with his
fidelity.
Grant Ashcroft, a citizen of one of the little
settlements, gathered a small band of about ten men and started on a
scouting trip. He led them down the river until they came upon a trail;
they followed this back into the bluffs and came onto some Indians. The
Indians retreated back down towards the river. It being high water season
they had to follow the river quite a distance before finding a place to
cross. Ashcroft gave them a chase for fifteen miles; about ten miles below
Geary's the Indians went over a high bank and the citizens fearing that
there might be a village, hesitated. There were only a few Indians with
pack horses and the others joined, and all swam across the river together.
The white men fired at them but thought they only hit one.
Little
White Cloud
Some of the Pioneers of Colorado
Source: True History of some of the Pioneers of Colorado, by Miss
Luella Shaw, Press of Carson Harper Co, Denver, Colorado, 1909 |
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