red
upon them. Mrs. Wood fell from the mule, fatally shot. Mr. Wood's mule
was shot under him, and dropped; next Mr. Wood received a bullet in
the right arm, that opened the flesh from wrist to elbow. That or
another shot killed the child. Amidst a shower of bullets, Mr. Wood
ran in the direction taken by his ox wagons. Getting past the point of
the low hill that lay just before him without being struck again, he
was then beyond range of the firing, and soon overtook his wagons. His
men, with all the guns they had, returned, to find the woman and child
dead on the ground. One of the mules was dead, one wounded, the other
two gone. The wagon had been ransacked of its contents, and the band
of assassins were making their way back into the hills whence they
had come.

This small wagon, Mr. Wood said, had contained the family effects; and
among them were several articles of considerable value, all of which
had been taken. Among his property were pieces of English gold coin,
the equivalent of fifteen hundred dollars. It had been concealed in
the bottom of the wagon-box, and he had supposed the band would
overlook it; but that, too, was gone.

Such was the plight in which our company found the man, soon after
this tragedy was so swiftly enacted, and which so effectually bereft
him of all, his family and his property, leaving him wounded, and
dependent on the mercy of strangers.

The dead were placed in mummy-form wrappings and buried, mother and
child in one, unmarked grave.

When the manuscript of this narrative was first made ready for the
printer, the description of the calamity which befell Mr. Wood and his
family ended here. There were other details, as clearly recalled as
those already recited, but so atrocious and devoid of motive, that it
was a matter of grave doubt whether the facts should be given. It
seemed too deplorable that such an occurrence could be recorded as the
act of human beings; furthermore, would it be credible? It has been
intimated that the present endeavor is to give a complete history of
events as they occurred: no material item suppressed, nothing
imaginary included; therefore the remaining details are given.

Incredible as it may sound to civilized ears, after the bodies of Mrs.
Wood and her child had been interred, hardly had those who performed
this service gone from the spot when a part of the savage band that
had murdered those innocent victims, rushed wildly back to the place,
disinte