consternation at washakie's declaration—people hurry across the river—the writer is asked to attempt a reconciliation—night too dark to travel—chief washakie and braves appear at sunrise—the chief notes that the people are terror-stricken, and decides that he will be their friend—troublous exploits of mountain men—sheriff's plan of arrest—how the scheme worked—desperadoes freed by the court—chasing an offender—surrounded by his associates—coolness and pluck of the sheriff win—ready to return home—a trying experience.
as might have been expected, i lost no time in apprising the people of the indian threat, and the white population promptly complied with the order to move; so that by daylight there was little of value on that side of the river. there was great consternation among the people, and captain hawley was quite willing to send a fifty-dollar slug to the chief; but it was late in the evening, and no one to go but myself. there was no telling how much liquor there might be in the indian camp, so it was not a pleasant job for either friend or foe to approach the savages on such a dark night as that was. although i had washakie's promise of friendship, i knew that when the indians were drunk they were not good company, and i did not care to expose myself to unnecessary danger.
individually i had nothing at stake, but there were others who had their families and thousands of dollars' worth of property at the mercy of the enraged red men. in this crisis, when i was asked if i would take the risk, and what amount i would give my service for, i said i would undertake to go that night and attempt a reconciliation, and charge fifty dollars, if they would provide me with a good horse. that they agreed to do. the night was so dark, however, that it was impossible to get hold of a horse, so we had to move all of value that could be taken across the river. we also made every preparation for defense that was possible during the night.
next morning, true to his promise, chief washakie, with fifteen well armed men, came up, just at sunrise. i went out to meet him, and found him perfectly sober and friendly, as also his men. the chief rode up and glanced at the desolate appearance of everything, and saw that the women and children were greatly frightened. his companions sat on their horses and looked across the river. finally the noble chief said, referring to those who had left their homes. "tell them to come back. we will not hurt them. we will be good friends."
thus ended the big scare, and the people returned. but there was another stir to come; for in a few days the ferryman from the upper ferry, ten miles above the middle ferry, told judge appleby that a party of rough mountaineers had driven him off, threatening his life if he did not leave immediately. they had taken charge of the ferry, and were running it and pocketing the money. there were twenty-eight of them, determined "cut-throats," a part of the desperado band i have referred to before. the judge ordered the sheriff to summon every available man, and go at once and ascertain who the leaders were, then arrest them and bring them before the court. there were only fourteen men obtainable for the posse, and this number included the ferryman. the sheriff delegated me to take charge of the posse and go up on the east side of the river, ahead of him and the ferryman, who would come up on the west side some time after, so as not to create any unnecessary suspicion. he instructed us to be sociable with the outlaws, treat and be treated, and join in any game that might be engaged in. said he, "we will get them drunk and divided among themselves, and then i think we can manage them."
the plan was laid, and every man being well armed, we set out on our hazardous mission. we had with us one man who could drink an enormous amount of whisky and yet not get drunk, for he would turn around and put his ringer down his throat and vomit up the liquor before it would affect him much. he said, "boys, i can make a dozen of them drunk, and keep straight myself." he was asked how he would go about it, and replied, "well, i will offer to drink more whisky than any man on the river, and we will drink by measure; then i will slip out and throw it up. to hide the trick you must push me out of doors roughly, as if mad. at other times jam me up in a corner, so i can throw up. thus i will have half of them so drunk that anyone of you can handle half a dozen of them at once." his statement of his ability to drink and empty his stomach of it being corroborated, he was assigned that part of the strategy. then another man, who had been a soldier in the mexican war, said, "well, if you will get them drunk, i will win the money from their own party to buy the whisky, for i know just how to do it." he was given that part, for whisky was fifty cents a drink.
when we had perfected arrangements as far as possible, we rode up, dismounting as if we had just happened to call and knew nothing of the trouble. each man took his part, and played it well. to our surprise, we found their leader, l. b. ryan, apparently in a drunken stupor; he was the same person i had met in the shoshone indian camp, five or six weeks before. as he and the sheriff had been on good terms, they drank together and appeared to be quite friendly; but the ferryman and one of the band of outlaws got into a fight, and revolvers and bowie knives were drawn. twenty-five or thirty of the mountain men, with deadly weapons flourishing, rushed into the saloon in front of which the fight began. one man slashed the other with a knife, and one of them fired two shots, but some bystander knocked the weapon up, so it did no harm. the prompt action of the sheriff and his supports, together with the aid of a number of immigrants, stopped the row. if it had not been for that, a dozen men might have been slain in as many minutes. some of the men were of the most desperate character, and swore and made terrible threats of what they would do.
at last the combatants drank together, while a number of others got so intoxicated they could scarcely stand alone. then the sheriff called ryan to one side and quietly arrested him, placing him under ten thousand dollars bonds for his appearance in court on a certain date. the ferryman and some of the more moderate of the outlaws compromised their difficulties, and business settled down to a normal condition. we went back to the middle ferry, and the sheriff made his returns on the official papers.
at the time appointed for ryan to appear in court, he was there, with seven young, well-armed warriors and a number of his band, who sauntered around the court room. ryan was so desperate and so well supported by his clique that the court was glad to let him down and out as easily as possible; for it was evident that the court must do that or die. so ryan and his gang returned to their haunts more triumphant than otherwise.
so we had to deal with desperate men every day or two, and it was seldom indeed that we could effect an arrest without a determined show of arms. yet, we were not compelled to use them. the offenders must see that we had them, and had the nerve to use them, before they would yield. in one instance i was ordered by the sheriff to take a man who had broken from the officer. the man was running, and i followed, revolver in hand. as the fugitive ran, he drew his weapon and wheeled around. i was so near as to place my revolver uncomfortably close to his face before he could raise his weapon. he saw at once that i had the "drop" on him, as we used to say, and delivered his revolver to me. the next moment the sheriff and posse had their backs together and weapons raised, while twenty-four armed men appeared on the scene and demanded the man. but when they looked into the muzzles of fourteen colt's revolvers with bright, shining, waterproof caps exposed, and the sheriff called out in a firm and decisive voice, "i am the sheriff of green river county, and have a writ for this man," they paused, though some of them swore the officers could not take the man from camp, and advanced in a threatening manner. then the sheriff commanded, "halt! the first man that advances another step, or raises his weapon, is a dead man. stand! i, as sheriff, give you fair warning." at that some of the more cautious said, "hold on, boys! we must not oppose an officer," and all concluded they must give up the man and submit to the law for that time. the offense of the accused was shooting the ferryman's dog, while the latter was eating something under the table, and while the ferryman's wife and daughter were standing at the table washing dishes; and when the ferryman remonstrated at such conduct, threatening to shoot him. ultimately the matter was compromised, the culprit and his friends paying the costs.
on the 7th of july, i began preparations to return to fort supply, as my real missionary labors seemed to have come to an end in that part, and i was glad of it. from may 13 to july 8, 1854, had been one of the most hazardous, soul-trying, disagreeable experiences of my life, for the short period it occupied. i have written a very brief synopsis of it in the foregoing account; for it might seem impossible to the person of ordinary experience for so many thrilling incidents as i had witnessed to happen in so short a time.
