Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 August 1876 — A Frightful Recital—The Story of a Black Hills Miner. [ARTICLE]

A Frightful Recital—The Story of a Black Hills Miner.

The reporter m hie round# this morning dropped in at the Keokuk Northern Packet Line Company’s office. There lie found a small crowd assembled listening to the recital of a returned Black Hiller, William Jenkins, by name. He tells a frightful tale, and exhibits a wound in his left side which must extend into the transverse colon, to corroborate it; He tells it in a rambling yet graphic, manner, the substance of which we endeavor to give: On the eighth of last August a party of Pennsylvania miners, underthe command of Cant. Olin, of Oil City, started out from St. Louis for the Black Hills, There were fifty-two men in the party, including our informant who went with them in the capacity of steward. We shall attempt no description of the route they pursued. Suffice it to say that they arrived in the Hills about six weeks after leaving St. Louis. After prospecting about for some time, finding no traces of gold, they finally found a spot in the western portion of that disastrous country, where they found a stream, supplied from five constantly flowing springs, and traces of the precious metal. There they decided to halt. The captain of the party gave the place the name of Missouri Springs. They went to work, huilta large log house of two rooms, Capable of accommodating the entire party, and after its completion began the search for gold. They met with good success;‘and soon made a shipment to the East. There occasionally appeared at the settlement a white man whom our informant calls a “ silent hunter,” who acted .iah friendly manner. From what escaped him at different times, they learned that Ijfcwas a fugitive from justice, and .had been roving about for years. No sign of Indians was seen until the 17th of last month, (jin the evening of that day Jenkins was out behind the house preparing supper, when suddenly from some unseen hand, an arrow was discharged, which struck him in the side at the place previously mentioned. He ran into the house, and the arrow was withdrawn by

one of the men. ns related what had happened. A portion of the party immediately started out and scoured the surrounding country for two mih* about, but no traces of friends or foes coaid be found. A short distance from the house was a cave in the bluff, which had been used as a habitation during the building of their rough edifice. The wounded man said he thought the arrow came from that quarter, but a thorough search failed to reveal anything that would corroborate his suspicion. The party repaired to rest as usual, the wounded man climbing to the roof to escape the mosquitoes, he said. He soon fell asleep. During the night lie was awakened by noise of a scuffle in the room below. He glanced down through the cracks in the roof, which was made of logs, and a scene of horror met his gaze. The room was filled with Indians, engaged in slaughtering his companions. He became so frightened that he was powerless to move, and so remained until long after the fiends had departed. During the frightful slaughter lie noticed four white men among the assailants, who numbered ‘between forty and fifty, one of whom was the stranger who had frequented the house so often under the guise of friendship. The fiends, when they had completed their work of destruction, gathered up the clothing of their victims, their arms, fourteen head of horses and three wagons, and carried them away. They made no effort to destroy the building, and did not even enter the store-room of the place, which was a small room at the back of the main portion. Some two hours after the departure of the destroyers, two men crawled out of the bushes in the vicinity, and approached the house. They called to Jenkins, who descended to the ground and joined them. They related the story of their escape. During the struggle they had jumped out of a back window and had hidden themselves, the Indians not following, either because they did not see the flight, or because they were satisfied with the work within. The three then entered the house and surveyed the scene. Forty-seven men lay dead upon the floor, some of them horribly mutilated. Two were missing, and they proceeded to search for them. They entered the store-room, where they found the objects of their search, one of them unharmed, the other slightly wounded. Only one of these two had been in the store-room during the attack; the other had sought refuge there during the slaughter. We remarked to the narrator at this pointthat it seemed rather singular that forty or. fifty Indians could overpower fifty-two white men and not receive any injury themselves. He said that the attack was a complete surprise. The Indians had broken in on them while they were asleep, and killed most of them before they were awake. After deliberating for some time the survivors decided what to do. The Indians had overlooked three horses and a wagon. These they would make use of, and start for home. Traveling in the wagon until their horses were nearly played out, they abandoned it, and proceeded, after a day or two of rest, on horseback. After enduring groat hardships, they finally reached Council Bluffs, with the assistance of some returning pilgrims like themselves, who overtook them’. The party reached the Missouri River on the 3d of July. On the route they met no hostile Indians, and but few friendly ones. At Council Bluffs, they remained together for some time, but finally divided, Jenkins and his companions keeping together. They had a quantity of gold, which they disposed of, and started on their joufney homeward again, going as far as Cedar Ranids, when Jenkins’ wound became so bad that lie was unable to ride in the cars. They hired a room, and the services of a pliyaican were secured. There they remained until Jenkins was told he could bear a ride as far as this city, when they again resumed the homeward journey. They arrived in this city yesterday, and will depart for St. Louis on the first boat that goes down. The story is not half told as it was related to us. There are many things about it that seem improbable; but we shall not enumerate them. We cannot vouch for the truth of it, but we can say, from personal observation, that Jenkins is most dangerously wounded. The food he eats furnishes but little nourishment for his body because he has but little chance to digest, owing to the nature of his injury. He is very poor inilesh, and would look like a corpse were it not that his skin Is tanned to the color of that of an Indian. He certainly is an object of pity.—Burlington {lowa) Gazette.