show you whether we are afraid
to meet these pale-faces. Another attack having been decided upon,
the Indians set out and overtook the mail party once more near to this
"Wagon Mound." It was snowing fast at the time, therefore, the white
men were comfortably traveling in their vehicles and had their guns
protected with suitable coverings to prevent their being injured, for
they anticipated no further danger. The curtains of the mail wagons
were all fastened down, and there was no look-out kept, for it was
considered sufficient to prepare for the furies of the storm. The
Indians accordingly approached unperceived and made such a desperate
attack that all the white men were quickly killed. Not one, if the
boasts of the Indians can be believed, had time to get out from his
seat. Several days elapsed and no tidings were heard of the expected
mail party; therefore, a body of men started out in quest of the
missing men and found them sleeping the last sleep which knows no
awakening. The bodies of the dead were decently interred; and, since
that day, the "Wagon Mound" is pointed out to the traveler accompanied
with a historical account of this awful tragedy.

During the campaign under consideration, several Indian children were
captured. These were generally under the age of ten years. They could
not stand the kindly-planned treatment which they received while in
bondage, for many of them died from over-eating, after having so long
been accustomed to Indian frugality. One of the women prisoners
taken, openly declared, and there is no reason why she should not be
believed, that many of the younger children belonging to her tribe had
been strangled by their parents and friends in order to prevent
their becoming an inconvenience, and thus prevent their being able to
prosecute the war, thereby showing that their hatred of the white
man was deeply rooted, and that their anger had been aroused to its
highest degree. On the publishing of peace, those Indian children who
still lived, were collected, and, through the Indian agents, restored
to their relatives and friends. The good effect which the moral of
this campaign had on the surrounding Indian nations cannot be denied.
They soon became loud in proclaiming their friendships for the
Americans. Taking advantage of the now crippled condition of the Utahs
and Apaches, their enemies the Arrapahoes and Cheyennes were ready
to pounce upon them at a moment's warning. The opportunity did