In June, 1863, just
before the call for volunteers to subdue the Indians, Isaac P. Vanwomer
had his cattle and horses on the range in the Coal creek country.
Hungate, with his family and five hired men, were living at the Vanwomer
camp, as Hungate was looking after the cattle and horses.
About
four o'clock one afternoon, Hungate and his men were on the west side of
the creek when the Indians attacked the cabin. Knowing that his wife and
children were in the cabin alone, Mr. Hungate hurried across to their aid,
but was too late, as the Indians had already murdered them. He then tried
to make his escape, but had only gone a few miles before the Indians
overtook him. His companion stood on the opposite bank of the creek and
witnessed the scene. Realizing that he could do nothing to help his
friend, he hurried into Denver with the news of the uprising.
After riding forty-five miles, with dangers on every side, and expecting
to fall into the hands of the dreaded redskins at any moment, he finally
arrived at Vanwomer's home a little after midnight.
The report was
not a surprise to the citizens of Denver, as there had been so much
trouble with the Indians.
It did not take long for these brave,
stouthearted and strong frontiersmen to get ready for a start towards the
camp, where they hoped to trail the Indians and rescue their friend and
avenge the terrible death of his wife and children.
About noon
that day, sixty-four heavily armed and well mounted men bid their families
and friends goodbye and turned onto the trail leading to the scene of the
massacre. It took a great deal of courage to start on such a mission, for
these men of the plains, being familiar with the treacherous habits of the
Indians, knew that when they ventured out on such an undertaking they were
in great danger, not only from exposure and hunger, but captivity by the
Indians, which meant suffering and torture, eventually ending in death.
It was the knowledge of the terrible agony a captive must suffer
at the hands of the bloodthirsty savages, that urged the unselfish and
never fearing pioneers to forget their danger and hurry to the rescue of
Hungate.
After traveling all that afternoon and far into the
night, some on account of exhaustion, or horses giving out on them, and
for different reasons, one by one they were compelled to turn back. When
at last, worn out, they decided to camp for the night, only four were left
to go on with the work. Three of these were Alston Shaw, Dave Armstrong
and Isaac Vanwomer. We are unable to learn the name of the fourth one.
Despite the many dangers surrounding them, they made camp just two
hundred yards from where the Hungate cabin had stood. After a hasty
breakfast, early the next morning, these four men began to investigate the
horrible massacre. They found the bedding all torn up and the feathers
from the bed ticks scattered all over the yard; the cabin was burned to
the ground; a few feet away they found the body of Mrs. Hungate; it was
lying with face downward and her throat cut from ear to ear. In one arm
she was holding the body of her little girl, whose throat was also cut.
Clasped in the other arm was her little boy with his throat cut and
scalped as well. Their bodies were placed in a conveyance, brought for the
purpose, to take the dead back to Denver for burial.
Vanwomer,
Shaw, Armstrong and their companion went on to trail the Indians. They
soon found thirty head of horses that had been stolen from Vanwomer's
camp.
Hungate's saddle horse was shod, so by noticing the tracks,
it did not take long to get onto his trail and also made it easy for them
to follow it. After going about two miles from where the cabin stood, Shaw
found Hungate's cow quirt. The stalk was all bloody, which indicated a
struggle, so they were prepared for the worst.
A mile or two from
where the quirt was found they came upon his body. Such a sight! No wonder
these strong men were unnerved, for lying before them, stretched on the
ground, horribly cut up, was their old friend Hungate. He had an arrow in
each breast, his heart cut out, scalped, his throat cut and otherwise
greatly mutilated and the wounds all fly blown.
The body was sent
into Denver and buried by the side of his wife and children.
Vanwomer, Shaw and Armstrong continued their search for the horses. After
looking several days without success they returned to Denver, none the
worse for their adventure.
A band of Indians raided up the
Fountain River, followed up Monument creek over the divide, stealing
horses or whatever they could get their hands on. On Monument creek they
took about sixty head of horses from Teachout. At the foot of the divide
on the south side, they stole a number of McShane's horses; crossing the
divide and going down on the head of Plum creek; they stole a large bunch
of horses from Wakeman and his two sons, Mose and Wash. Then they headed
for Cherry creek.
Henry Teachout raised a band of fifteen or
twenty men in Colorado Springs and started in pursuit. They trailed the
Indians over on to the Bijou Creek, but were unable to recover any of
their horses.
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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