THE ADVENTURES OF
BIG-FOOT WALLACE 
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"BIG-FOOT'WALLACE" 
THE ADVENTURES OF
BIG FOOT WALLACE
THE TEXAS RANGER
AN D H U NTER
BY
JOHN C. DUVAL
Author of "Jack Dobell, or, A Boy's Adventures in Texas"
"The Young Explorers, or Boy-Life in Texas," Etc.
With Tortrait and Engravings
J. W. BURKE & CO.
1870 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by
J.'W. BURKE & CO.
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Southern District of Georgia 
PREFACE
1       HE writer of this little book is well aware that
it will not stand the test of criticism as a liter       ary production. A frontiersman himself, his opportunities for acquiring information, and for supplying the deficiencies of a rather limited education, have
of course been "few and far between;" and therefore
it cannot reasonably be expected that he could make a
book under such circumstances which would not be
sadly defective as to style and composition. However, it can justly lay claim to at least one merit, not
often found in similar publications-it is not a compilation of imaginary scenes and incidents, concocted
in the brain of one who never was beyond the sound
of a dinner-bell in his life, but a plain, unvarnished
story of the "'scapes and scrapes" of Big-Foot Wallace, the Texas Ranger and Hunter, written out from
notes furnished by himself, and told, as well as my
memory serves me, in his own language.
"Big-Foot Wallace" is, perhaps, better known
throughout Texas as an Indian-fighter, hunter, and
ranger, than any one now living in the State; which is
saying a good deal, when the great number who have
acquired more or less notoriety in that way is taken
into consideration. Few men now living, I am confident, have witnessed as many stirring incidents, had
more "hair-breadth escapes," or gone through more
of the hardships and perils of a border life. He was a
participant in almost every fight, foray, and "scrimmage" with the Mexicans and Indians that took place
in Texas after he first landed on her shores in I836.
vii 
PREFACE
Pioneers, or frontiersmen, are a class of men pecu liar to our country, and seem to have been designed
especially to meet the exigencies of the occasion. With
their "iron nerves," great powers of endurance, and
indomitable "go-a-headativeness," they have been
essentially useful in clearing the way through the wil derness from such obstacles as would have been per haps insurmountable to those coming after them.
Their mission has been very nearly accomplished.
Like the flatboat-men of the Mississippi, who have
entirely disappeared as a class since the introduction
of steamboats on that river and its tributaries, their
numbers are steadily decreasing before the extension
of railroads and the area of civilization. Only here
and there one is still found in our midst, whom disease,
wounds, or old age have rendered incapable of further
con-tests with the Indians and other denizens of the
forests and plains, and of enduring the hardships and
exposure of a life in the wilderness. As a class, frontiersmen are observant and knowing in all that pertains to their peculiar mode of life, and as deeply
versed in all the mysteries of woodcraft as the wily
savage himself; but they are guileless and unsuspicious
as a child, and whenever they come in conflict with the
shrewd, calculating man of business, they are as helpless as a "stranded whale."  For this reason, they
seldom accumulate property, and those who follow
after them generally reap the reward of all their
perils, toils, and hardships.
Wallace is no exception to this rule, and the best
days of his life were freely given to the service of his
country.
THE AUTHOR.
viii 
CONTENTS
Page
_.1
CHAPTER I. —Introductory —--------------------- 1
CHAPTER II.-Wallace's Initiation into the Mysteries
of Woodcraft ---------------------------------- 4
CHAPTER III.-On the Route-The Old Lady and the
Truck-Patch —-------------------------------- 6
CHAPTER IV.-A Rattlesnake Bite-Singular Spring  Wild Artichokes-Indian Art Gallery-Wallace's First
Bear ---------------------------------------- 11
CHAPTER V.-Buffalo-Fine Grove of Pecan Trees  The First Buffalo-Bit by a Rattlesnake-The Taran  tula-Traveling Under Difficulties-A Free Serenade —-  15
CHAPTER VI.-The Palo Pinto at Last-The Camp in
the Valley-Wallace's Last Look at the Camp-The
Indians-A Tight Race-Wallace Kills His First Indian 19
CHAPTER VII.-Lost Among the Ravines-A Lucky
Shot-Comfortable Quarters-A Petrified Forest-The
Mexican Gourd-Wallace Makes a Friend ----------- 26
CHAPTER VIII.-My Little Valley-A Sad Accident  Wild Turkeys-On Crutches-On the Tramp Again  A Last Look   __ ---------------------------------- 35
CHAPTER IX.-Gold-Indian Smokes-Comanche Un  easy-Captured by the Indians-Mysterious Movements
-The Old Squaw-What Next?__ ------------------- 40
CHAPTER X.-Led Out for Execution-Saved at the
Last Moment-A New Mother and a New Home-Co  manche in Luck Again-"Lobo-lusti-hadjo" ---------- 46
CHAPTER XI.-Black-Wolf's Indian Legend-Determi  nation to Escape-Back in the Settlements ----------- 51
CHAPTER XII.-Belated in the Woods-Wolves on the
Track-One Fellow Out of the Way-Reinforcements
Coming Up-A Hand-to-Hand Fight --------------- 58
CHAPTER XIII.-A Struggle for Life-Fight With the
"Big Indian"     ____ ---------------------------------- 64
CHAPTER XIV.-A Tight Place-Indian Signs-Ben
Wade's Motto-Ben and the Buffalo Ribs-"Ingins
About"-Here They Come ---------------------— 71
ix 
Page
CHAPTER XV.-A Warm Reception-"Fire and Fall
Back"-Hot Work-A Natural Coward-Four at a Shot
-Lassoing Dead Indians ------------------------ 77
CHAPTER XVI.-More Comanches on the War-Track Keeping a Stiff Upper Lip-On a False Trail-Ben
Wade Wants His Dinner-"Mr. John" Outwitted ------ 81
CHAPTER XVII.-A Night Visit From the Indians Afoot, and Ten Miles to Travel-On the Trail-A Curi ous Specimen           _ -------------------------------— 85
CHAPTER XVIII.- Story of the Indian-hater - The
Move From Kentucky-New Home in Texas-Wife and
Children Murdered by the Indians-Terrible Revenge   A Dangerous Companion-The Indian Camp ---- 93
CHAPTER XIX.-Attacking the Indians-Narrow Es   cape-The Indian-hater at Work-Forgot to Untie His
Horse-A Dying Struggle-Worse Scared Than Hurt   Dinner Ready Cooked-Return to the Settlements, and
Disappearance of the Indian-hater ----------------- 98
CHAPTER XX.-Wallace Makes a Treaty With the
Lipan Indians-The Indians Break It-Preparation to
Punish Them-First Appearance of a Live Author_____ 103
CHAPTER XXI.-The Author Again-The Boys Make
Fun of His Umbrella-His Pistol "Goes Off" and Cre  ates an Excitement-Mr. Cooper's Indian Characters  Some Sage Reflections on Character-The Author Wants
a Bed, and Gets Tige's Buffalo Robe-"Something Like
a Pillow"-Troublesome Bedfellows-The Start After
the Indians ---------------------------------- 111
CHAPTER XXII.-The Sudden Storm-Sad Fate of the
"Author's" Umbrella-What He Thought of Mr. Cooper
-The Author Goes a-Hunting, and What He Found  He Pronounces Mr. Cooper a Humbug -       _    118
CHAPTER XXIII.- Our Author Has an Appetite  Scarcity of Water-The Author Takes Notes, and the
Men Get Riled-The Mud-Puddle ----------------- 125
CHAPTER XXIV.-Plenty of Water-A Halt for Re freshments-Our Author Among the Rocks-He Meets
With an Adventure-Treed by Mexican  Hogs-He
Grows  Desperate-Is Released at Last-Adventure
With a Rattlesnake-More Scared Than Hurt _ —------ 130
CHAPTER XXV.-Another Rattlesnake-How to Man age Rattlesnakes-Terrific Adventure With a Grape vine Rattlesnake            ----------------------------— 143
x
CONTENTS 
CONTENTS
Page
CHAPTER XXVI.-Fresh signs of the Indians-Our
Author in Trouble Again-Scatter Guns Compared
With Bows and Arrows ------------------------- 149
CHAPTER XXVII.-The Indians Overtaken-Desperate
Fight-The Author Proves Himself a Good Soldier The Indian Girl-The Author Has a Race for His Life The Umbrella Comes in Play-Gathering Up the Spoils
-The Horses Recovered-Farewell to the Author ___ 154
CHAPTER XXVIII.-Wallace Surprises a Party of In  dians \Who Were Making Themselves "Comfortable"
near His Ranch --------------------------------- 163
CHAPTER XXIX.-The "Mier Expedition" ---------- 167
CHAPTER XXX.-Over the Rio Grande Again-A Cost  ly Exchange-Reception by the Mexicans-Firing an
"Escopeta"-Fighting  in Earnest-Captain  Cameron
and the Mexican Soldier --------------------------- 172
CHAPTER XXXI.-Surrender to the Mexicans-General
Green's  Proposition-Marched  Off to  Prison-The
Mexican Maiden-Off for Camargo-A Short Stay, and
Off Again-Reinosa _ —-------------------------—.  179
CHAPTER XXXII.-Off for Matamoros-Distinguished
Reception at Matamoros-An  Oratorical Display  Again on the Road-A Serious Loss-Goat or Dog? —-- 185
CHAPTER  XXXIII.-Still  on  the  Road-Inhuman
Treatment-Wallace Uses His "Big Foot" to Advan  tage-Planning an Escape-Disappointment-Monterey
-The Tarantula-Change of Commanders, and Off
Again-Rinconada-Another Plan of Escape, and An  other Disappointment-Arrival. at SaItillo, and a Deter  mination __ —-------------------------------- --—.  191
CHAPTER XXXIV.-Successful Attack on the Mexican
Guard Bravery of Colonel Barragan-Retreat From
Salado-Rapid Traveling-Bad Counsels-Suffering for
Water-In Difficulties-Water at Last-The Horses
Killed and Eaten ----------------------------— 197
CHAPTER XXV.-A Dreary Prospect-No Water  Dying by the Wayside-Hunger and Thirst-Dreaming
of Water-Hopes and Disappointments-Captured by
the Mexicans-Water at Last-Wretched Condition of
the Survivors -------------------------------— 205
xi 
CONTENTS
Page
CHAPTER XXXVI.-Encampment at the Water-Hole Wretched Appearance of the Men-March Back to Sal tillo-Mexican Vermin-How Wallace Was Dressed Mexican Vegetation-The Tiger Thorn-Conflicting
Rumors ----------------------------------------- 213
CHAPTER  XXXVII.-Sudden Change of Quarters Rancho Salado Once More-Brutal Order-The Draw ing of the Beans-"Dip Deep, Boys"-The Baboon faced Mexican Officer-Indifference of the Men-The
One Exception-Wallace Draws a White Bean-"Ould
Ireland Forever'-Speedy Execution-A  Miraculous
Escape, and Subsequent Death___ ------------------- 220
CHAPTER  XXXVIII.-San  Luis Potosi-Queretaro Tuli-The Black Hole of Calcutta-Murder of Captain
Cameron-Arrival at the City of Mexico-put to Work
on the Public Road-How Wallace Got His Pay-How
One of the Men "Played Horse"-Escape of Prisoners Why Wallace Was Called "'Big-Foot"-"Texas Canni bals" __ ------------------------------------------------— 231
CHAPTER   XXXIX.-Puebla-Perote-Wallace   Has
"Jail Fever"-The Surgeon-General Saves His Life-See ing the Animals-More Men Escape-Final Release, and
Start Home-Stopped by Robbers, Who Prove to Be
Very Clever Fellows- Yellow Fever-Home Again --- 238
CHAPTER XL.-Wallace Hears from Virgiania-Civil ized Compared With Uncivilized Life-He Determines to
Take a Trip to the "Old States"-Lays in a "Civilized"
Wardrobe-An Old Friend Finds Him Disguised in His
New Cloths-Starts on His Journey-Wallace's Opin ion of the Sea-At New Orleans, and What He Saw
There -------------------------------------------- 244
CHAPTER  XLI.-Wallace Goes to the Theatre-His
Opinion of "Play-Actors"-The Dancing Woman Wallace Gets Excited-The St. Charles "Tavern"-How
He Registered His Name-Wallace is Afraid of a Fire He Breakfasts at the St. Charles, and Gets Up an Ex citement-The Bill of Fare-Fried Bullfrogs              252
CHAPTER XLII.-Wallace Meets With an Adventure Goes to a Quadroon Ball and Teaches Them "The
Stampede"-Wallace Takes a "White Lion," and Pays
for It-Has His Fortune Told-What Followed ------- 260
xii 
CONTENTS                       xiii
Page
CHAPTER XLIII.-Wallace in Trouble-Leaves New
Orleans-On the Mississippi-A Boat Race-Wallace
Roars Like a Mexican Lion-He "Sells" a Dandy "Running Against a Snag"-Anchored on a Sand-bank
-Damage Repaired, and Arrival at Cincinnati ------- 272
CHAPTER XLIV.-Cincinnati-Waiter Girls at the Hotel
-Wallace Discourses on Politeness-Southerners and
Yankees-A Little Dish of Politics-Goes to Dan Rice's
Circus-Rides a Refractory Horse, and Makes Twenty
Dollars-What Wallace Thought of Cincinnati___ ------- 280
CHAPTER XLV.-Off for Wheeling-Everybody Smok ing-Wallace's First Trip in the Cars-What He
Thought of Railroad Traveling-Richmond-The Dime
Restaurant-Wallace Goes to a Fire, and Gets "Put Out"
-What He Thought of Prince Albert-Wallace Leaves
Richmond, and Goes to Lexington-What His Relatives
Thought of Him-The "Wild Texan" at a "Fandango,"
Where He Tells Some "Big Stories"-Miss Matilda, and
What She Heard-Wallace Gets Tired of Civilization,
and Goes Back to Texas__ ------------------------ 287
CHAPTER XLVI.-Wallace Gives Jack Dobell His
Opinion of Farming-Uncle Josh-The Jews a Sensible
People-Wallace Makes His Arrangements for a Crop He and "Keechie" Try Ploughing-Both Disgusted Queer Muskmelon-Ruined by the Drougth-How Wal lace Was Cheated Out of His "Roasting-ears"-Living
on Watermelons and "Poor Doe"-Wallace's Future
Prospects-Conclusion -------------------------- 300 
SKETCH OF WALLACE'S LIFE
ILLIAM A. WALLACE was born in Lexington, Rock     bridge. County, Virginia, in the year 1816. He went to
Texas in 1836, a few months after the battle of San Jacinto, for
the purpose, he says, of taking pay out of the Mexicans for the
murder of his brother and his cousin, Major Wallace, both of
whom fell at "Fannin's Massacre." He says he believes accounts with them are now about square.
He landed first at Galveston, which consisted then of six
groceries and an old stranded hulk of a steamboat, used as a
hotel, and for a berth in which he paid at the rate of three
dollars per day. From Galveston, Wallace went on to La
Grange, then a frontier village, where he resided until the
spring of 1839, when he moved to Austin, just before the seat
of government was established at that place. He remained at
Austin until the spring of 1840, when finding that the country
was settling up around him too fast to suit his notions, he
went over to San Antonio, where he resided until he entered
the service.
He was at the battle of the Salado, in the fall of 1842, when
General Woll came in and captured San Antonio. The fight
began about 11 o'clock in the day, and lasted until night. General Woll had fourteen hundred men, and the Texans one hundred and ninety-seven, under Caldwell (commonly known as
"Old Paint"). Between eighty and one hundred Mexicans
were killed, while the Texans lost only one man (Jett). Forty
men, however, from La Grange, under Captain Dawson, who
were endeavoring to form a junction with them, were surrounded and captured by the Mexicans, who massacred them
all as soon as they had surrendered their arms.
In the fall of 1842, he volunteered in the "Mier Expedition,"
an account of which appears in this volume. After his return
from Mexico, he joined Colonel Jack Hays's Ranging Company, the first ever regularly enlisted in the service of the "old
Republic," and was with it in many of those desperate encounters with the Comanches and other Indians, in which
Hays, Walker, McCulloch, and Chevalier gained their reputations as successful Indian-fighters.
When the Mexican war broke out in 1846, Wallace joined
Colonel Hays's regiment of mounted volunteers, and was with 
SKETCH OF WALLACE'S LIFE
it at the storming of Monterey, where he says he took "full
toll" out of the Mexicans for killing his brother and cousin at
Goliad in 1836.
After the Mexican war ended, he had command of a Ranging
Company for some time, and did good service in protecting
the frontiers of the State from the incursions of the savages.
Subsequently he had charge of the mail from San Antonio to
E1 Paso, and, though often waylaid and attacked by the Indians, he always brought it through in safety.
WILLIAM WALLACE
By Dr. F. O. Ticknor
His life is past the forties-his length is six foot twoAnd both his feet import he's not a fly to shoe!
They dubbed him Big-Foot Wallace down in Mexico,
As Liliput would call his Brobdignag, you know.
Straight-as a rifle-rammer, and lightly too he stands,
Tho' weighted with sledge-hammer in each of his great hands!
Grave as his own gun-barrel, yet gracious with the grim,
And when we pick a quarrel we mustn't pick at him!
A plant of the "red ripper," whose level eye-light means
A charge of Chili pepper ballasted with "Beans."
A loyal soul! I'll pound it as ever ruled the ranch;
And so the Doodles found it, and also the Comanche!
And so the little Greasers! They say he used to catch
A score of their Mestizoes to grease his bullet-patch!
May they be bothered wholly-in body and in soul!
For the mills are grinding slowly and Wallace takes the toll.
His features so resemble his sire's, a cycle back,
That curs and tyrants tremble to come upon his track!
Here's Hope's un-Butlered chalice; here's loyalty's last wine!
And here's-To William Wallace the Second, by his-"Sign!"
xv 
I 
THE ADVENTURES OF
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY
I N i867, while temporarily sojourning in the city
of San Antonio, I had a severe attack of fever,
from the effects of which I recovered but slowly.
Thinking that fresh air and exercise would aid me in
regaining my health and strength, I mounted my
horse one fine morning in the latter part of October,
and set out for the "ranch" of my quondam messmate
and cornmpadre, "Big-Foot Wallace," who held an uncertain tenure upon a tract of pasture land, situated
on the Chacon, one of the head-waters of the Attascoso. I say, uncertain, for his right to and possession
of the same was constantly disputed and ignored by
predatory bands of savages, and Mexicans, and horse
thieves of all colors, grades, and nations.
Toward sundown, from the top of a considerable
hill, I came in sight of Wallace's little ranch, snugly
ensconced at the bottom of a valley, near the margin
of a small lake, and protected from the northern blasts
by a beautiful grove of spreading live-oaks. As I rode
up I discovered Wallace under one of these trees,
engaged in the characteristic occupation of skinning
a deer, which was hanging head downward, suspended
from one of its lower branches. Wallace did not 
THE ADVENTURES OF
recognize me at first, for it was many years since we
had last met; but, as soon as I made myself known to
him, he gave me a cordial shake of the hand, and
invited me into his ranch, where, in a short time, he
prepared a supper, to which I sat down, "nothing
loath," for my appetite was sharpened by my long
day's ride.
I staid with Wallace two weeks, or thereabouts,
hunting, fishing and riding around during the day, and
entertained each night with "yarns" of his numerous
"'scapes and scrapes, by flood and field." Many years
previously, when Wallace and I were messmates together, in the first Ranging Company, enlisted in the
service of the "Old Republic," under Colonel Jack
Hays, I asked his consent to write out a narrative of
his "adventures," to be published for the benefit of
the'public generally. But he seemed so much opposed
to my doing so, that I did not press the matter upon
him. His reasons for refusing to accede to my request
were characteristic of the man. He did not think the
public would be interested in the history of one so
little known; and, even if he had vanity enough to
believe otherwise, he had not the least desire to see
himself figuring in print.' I determined once more to
approach him on the subject, and this time I had better success than formerly, for finally, though evidently
with reluctance, he consented that I should publish the
following narrative of his adventures in Mexico and
on the frontiers of Texas.
"There is," I said to Wallace, "one difficulty in the
way of writing out your'adventures,' which I do not
exactly know how to get over; and that is, you do not
murder the king's English with every other word you
2 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
speak. Now, in all the books I have ever read, in
which backwoodsmen or frontiersmen figure, they are
always made to talk without the least regard to the
rules of grammar."
"I know," said Wallace, "that my education is a
very limited one, but do give me credit for the little I
have. People are not such fools as to think that a man
cannot be a good hunter or ranger, merely because
he speaks his own language passably well."
And so, in compliance with Wallace's request, in
the following narrative of his "adventures," I have
ignored the time-honored rule of making him speak
in slang and misspelt words, and tell the story "just as
it was told to me."
3 
CHAPTER II.
Wallace's Initiation into the Mysteries of Woodcraft
OON after I came out to Texas, in I837, said
Wallace, being out of employment, and having
no inclination to loaf around the "groceries" of
a little village, I looked about for something to do;
but for several weeks no "opening" presented itself.
At length a surveyor, who was preparing for an expe dition to locate lands upon the frontier, made me an
offer to go with him, which I gladly accepted. At that
time, as an Irishman would say, I was "as green as a
red blackberry," and I frankly told the surveyor that
I knew nothing about the woods or how to get along
in them. But he said that made no difference, as the
rest of the party were all old frontiersmen, and it was
well enough to have one "green-horn" along to make
sport for the balance.
It was a week or ten days before we were ready to
start, and in the meantime I prepared myself for the
"expedition" as well as I knew how.  I had brought
with me from Virginia a good rifle, a pair of Derringer pistols, and a bowie-knife (that you know was
before the days of six shooters), so that there was no
necessity for my hunting up firearms. I bought a good
stout Spanish pony, with saddle, bridle, etc., and laid
in an ample supply of ammunition and tobacco; and
when the surveying party were ready to start, I joined
them "armed and equipped as the law directs."
Our party consisted of a guard of ten men, well
armed and mounted, together with the surveyor, two 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
chainmen, a marker, a hunter, and a cook, making in
all sixteen men-a sufficient force to travel with
safety, at that day, in the most dangerous part of the
country. At that time, one American, well armed, was
considered a match for eight or ten Indians, with their
bows and arrows and miserable guns; but now, thanks
to the traders, they are well furnished with good
rifles and "six-shooters," and can hold their own, man
for man.
The first day out, we traveled only a few miles, and
encamped on a beautiful little clear stream, where I
killed my first deer. I thought I had performed a
wonderful feat, for I had never killed anything before
larger than a squirrel or a'possum, and I proudly
returned to camp with the deer on my shoulders, trying all the time, though, to look as if the killing of a
deer was no unusual thing with me. But the boys suspected me, and when I owned up that it was the first
deer I had ever shot, two or three of them seized me,
while as many more smeared my face and hands with
the blood of the animal-a sort of ceremony, they
said, by which I was "initiated" into the brotherhood
of "mighty hunters." I suppose I was "initiated," as
they called it, for I have killed many a hundred deer
since that time, to say nothing of buffalo, bear, elk,
wolves, panthers, Mexican lions, catamounts, and
other "varmints" too numerous to mention.
5 
CHAPTER III.
On the Route-The Old Lady and the Truck-patch
l         SHE next day we started just after sunrise, and
traveled twenty-five miles over a beautiful roll      ing country, watered with clear streams, and
encamped at night in a pecan grove near a fine spring.
Just at dark, a large drove of turkeys flew up into the
trees around, and we killed five or six of them, and
spitted them before our fires. These, together with a
fat doe killed by our hunter on the way, furnished us
with an ample supply of provender, while an abundance of fine mesquite grass in the vicinity enabled our
horses to fare as sumptuously as ourselves.
The next morning, after an early breakfast, we
saddled up and again took the road, or rather our
course, for there was no road, and went about twelve
miles to a water-hole, where there was good grass,
and where we "nooned" for a couple of hours. The
country passed over was all high rolling prairie, interspersed with "mots" of elm and hackberry. While all
hands were taking a comfortable snooze here, we
came near losing our horses. A wolf or some other
wild animal gave them a scare and they "stampeded,"
and all broke their halter-ropes, except one, and ran
off several miles. One of the men, however, mounted
the horse that was left, and, after a chase of several
hours, succeeded in bringing them all back. In consequence of the delay caused by this incident, we went
only five miles farther that evening, and encamped in
the edge of the bottom timber, on a small stream. 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
The country we passed over was of the same character as that we had formerly seen. As soon as we had
"staked" out our horses, I rigged up a fishing-line,
and in half an hour caught a fine mess of perch, and
several "Gaspar Goo," a fish found, I believe, only in
the streams of Texas, somewhat similar to the white
perch of the "old States." Great numbers of turkeys
came at dark to roost in the trees in our vicinity, and
they were so tame that we had no trouble in killing as
many as we wanted.
[Here we quote from Wallace's journal.]
October I7th.-Made an early start again, and
went fifteen miles, when we halted to rest on a little
creek, called by the hunters "Burnt Boot." The country passed over high and rolling, and about "half-andhalf" prairie and woodland. Here is the last white
settlement, I am told, we shall see for many a long
day. A man by the name of Benson lives here, and
supports himself and family by hunting and trapping
and cultivating a small patch of land. I went up to
his house to see if anything in the way of vegetables
could be had. Benson was out hunting, but his wife,
a tall, raw-boned, hard-favored woman, as soon as
she saw me coming, stepped to the door with a gun
in her hand, and told me to "stand" —and I stood!
A half-dozen little cotton-headed children, who were
playing in the yard, discovered me at this moment,
and they "squandered," and squatted in the bushes
like a gang of partridges!
"Who are you?" asked Mrs. Benson, pointing her
gun right at me, "and what do you want here?"
"I am from the settlements below, ma'am," said I,
as polite as possible, but keeping a tree between the
7 
THE ADVENTURES OF
good lady and myself all the time; for women, you
know, are very awkward about handling firearms;
"and," I continued, "I want to buy some vegetables,
if you have any to sell."
"Well," she answered, "come in. We hain't no
vegetables left now," she continued, as I walked into
the cabin and took a seat on a bench, "except cowcumbers and mushmillions, and, maybe so, a few'collards,' the dratted'varmints' are so uncommon bad
on'em; but if you want any of them, you can go in the
'truck-patch' and help yourself."
"You seem," I ventured to remark, "from the way
you handled your gun, to be a little suspicious of
strangers in these parts."
"Yes," she said, "I am, and good reason to be so,
too! Only last Saturday was a week ago, some Tonk
Ingens, dressed up like white folks, walked into
Squire Henry's house, not more than two miles from
here, and killed and sculped the whole family; but, as
luck would have it, there was nobody at home, except
the baby and an old nigger woman that nussed it.
And which way are you traveling to?" she asked.
I told her we were going up on the head-waters of
the Brazos to survey lands.
"Well," says she, "you'll be luckier than'most
everybody else that has gone up there, if you'll need
more than six feet apiece before you get back. If I
was your mammy, young man, you shouldn't go one
foot on sich a wild-goose chase"-and she looked so
determined, I do believe, if she had been my mammy,
I should never have got nearer than "Burnt Boot" to
the head of the Brazos.
8 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
After some further questioning on the part of the
old lady, she showed me the way into the "truckpatch," and filled my wallet with "mushmillions" and
"cowcumbers," for which I thanked her, as she would
take no pay, and started back to camp.
"Good-by, young man!" she called after me; "I
feel mighty sorry for your poor mammy, for you'll
never see her again."
"Well," I answered, "if I don't, and you do, you
must be sure and give her my kindest regards."
"You oudacious young scamp," she replied, "put
out from here fast. I'll insure you against everything
but hanging, which you are certain to come to."
The "mushmillions and cowcumbers" were a treat
to the boys, as well as the account I gave them of the
way in which the old lady had made me dodge behind
the tree, when she levelled her gun at me.
After dinner we mounted our horses again, and
leaving the last settlement behind us, we rode on ten
miles farther into the "wilderness," keeping a bright
lookout all the time for "Mr. John;" for we were
liable to meet up with him, now, at any moment. The
country was more broken and rocky than any we had
yet seen. We camped at the foot of a high hill near
a little spring of cold water. Our hunter killed an
antelope to-day, on which we made a hearty supper.
The flesh of the antelope is somewhat coarser than
that of the deer, but I think sweeter and more juicy.
They are much shyer than deer, and it is consequently
more difficult to get in gunshot of them. Some of the
boys found a "bee-tree" just before dark, which we
cut down, and got four or five gallons of honey out of
it, and from this time the boys said we shall have no
9 
THE ADVENTURES OF
trouble in supplying ourselves with honey, whenever
we have time to look for the "trees." "Bear-meat and
honey" is the frontiersman's choicest dish and I would
dislike to say how much of them I have seen an old
ranger "worry down," after a hard day's ride, for
fear people might think I had no respect for the
truth; no one but an old hunter or a starved wolf
would credit my story.
There is something singular about the movements
of bees. They are never found a great way from the
settlements, but usually precede them fifty, sixty, or a
hundred miles, so that whenever they make their appearance among the Indians, they know that the white
people are coming soon-and yet, they do not remain
long in their wild state after the country becomes
thickly settled. In many places where "bee-trees"
were numerous when I first came to Texas, they are
now soldom if ever found.
iO 
CHAPTER IV.
A Rattlesnake Bite-Singular Spring-Wild Artichokes      Indian Art Gallery-Wallace's First Bear.
O CTOBER  I8th.-We  were up "by times,"
and ready to "roll out" at sunrise. Saw some
Indian "signs," but they were all old, except
one camp, which appeared to have been recently occupied. In going through a thick chaparral to-day, my
pony was bitten on the leg by a rattlesnake. An old
hunter told me to chew up some tobacco and tie it on
the wound, which I did, and, except a slight swelling,
no bad results followed from the bite. (I have seen
tobacco used frequently since as a remedy for the bite
of a rattlesnake, and there is no doubt it is a good one,
but not equal to whisky or brandy taken in large quantities.)
Passed over a great deal of broken, rocky country
to-day, watered by little streams that were as clear as
crystal, and filled with trout, perch and other kinds of
fish. We "nooned" for a couple of hours on one of
these streams, in one of the pools of which we all took
a refreshing bath.
In the evening went on perhaps ten miles farther,
and pitched camp on one of the head-waters of Cowhouse Creek. The country passed over is very broken
and rocky, with occasional cedar-brakes and "mots"
of wild cherry and plum trees.
We passed a very remarkable spring to-day. It
beaks out at the extreme point of a high tongue of
land that runs down into the bend of a large creek. 
THE ADVENTURES OF
The water boils up out of a basin the size of a hogshead, which, running over, falls in a beautiful cascade
into the creek below. It looked more like an artificial
fountain than a natural spring. We saw some fresh
Indian signs, but no Indians.
Our camp to-night is under a large, projecting rock,
and very fortunate for us it was; for a heavy rainstorm came up about I2 o'clock, which would have
"ducked" us thoroughly if it had not been for our
stone roof. As it was, we slept dry and comfortably,
notwithstanding the heavy rain that fell.
October i9th, Sunday.-Every little creek and gully
is swimming this morning, and, as it is Sunday, we
have concluded to lay over a day and rest ourselves
and animals. After breakfast, one of the boys went
out-exploring, and in an hour or two came back, bringing with him a large quantity of a vegetable which he
called the artichoke'. We cooked some for dinner, and
found them excellent. It is, I believe, a species of
bear-grass; at least, it resembles it very much, except
that its leaves or spires are notched like a saw. It
grows abundantly everywhere in the hilly and rocky
country. The root is the part eaten, and is roasted in
the ashes like a potato. Since then I have frequently
lived solely on them for days at a time, when out on
expeditions, and I can recommend them as a wholesome and nutritious vegetable to all "wayworn wanderers of the Western wilds."
Near our camp there is a perpendicular wall of
rock, ten or twelve feet high, with a smooth, even
face, on which the Indians have painted, with some
sort of red earth, the likenesses of men and animals.
Some of the animals are well drawn, particularly a
I2 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE 
buffalo; others are imaginary beings, unlike anything
that was ever seen. One picture represents a fight between the Indians and the whites, and, of course, the
Indians are giving the white men a terrible flogging.
One white man is represented kneeling down, with his
hands lifted up, as if begging for his life, while an
Indian warrior stands over him, with tomahawk
raised above his head, in the act of dashing out the
poor fellow's brains.
Near this place I picked up some small pieces of
quartz rock, with shining particles scattered about
through them, which I put in my shot-pouch. I afterward had them examined at San Antonio, and the
shining particles were said to be gold.
In the evening we all went out "berrying," and
gathered quantities of haws, red and black, and a sort
of berry that I don't know the name of, which grows
upon a little thorny shrub, and is very good to eat,
though rather sour.
The weather faired off in the evening, and the night
was clear and pleasant. Slept again under our "rock
house."
October 20th.-We took our course again, which
was about due north, and, crossing a range of mountains at a place called "Walker's Pass," we traveled
over a rough, broken country to the South Leon creek,
a distance, I suppose, of fifteen or sixteen miles, where
we "nooned." We saw some fresh buffalo signs on the
way, and our old hunters began to whet their bills for
fat steaks, marrow-bones, and "humps;" but as yet
we have seen none of the animals. We found the
grass very fine on the bottoms of this creek, and have
concluded to lay over until to-morrow, and give our
13 
THE ADVENTURES OF
horses a chance to recruit, as they have had but poor
grazing for the last forty-eight hours.
We had been in camp but a little while, when one
of the boys found a "bee-tree," which we cut down,
and took from it at least five gallons of honey.
In the evening I went out hunting, but saw no game
to shoot at. On my way back to camp I stopped to
rest for a few minuets in a little canion that lay between two rocky hills, covered with thick chaparral.
After a while, my attention was attracted by a noise in
the bushes, and, looking around, I saw a large bear
coming directly toward me. I sat perfectly still, and
he did not notice me, but came slowly along, now and
then stopping to turn over a stick or a rock, in search,
I suppose, of insects. When within twenty feet of me,
I took sight of his fore-shoulder and fired, and he fell
dead in his tracks. This was my first bear. He was
very fat, and would have weighed, I suppose, three
hundred pounds. I went back to camp, which was not
more than half a mile off, and, returning with two of
the men to assist me, we butchered him, and, packing
the meat on a horse, we soon had some of it roasting
before our fires. What a feast we had that night on
"bear-meat and honey!" If the mess of pottage that
Esau sold his birthright for, was as good as bear-meat
and honey, and he had a good appetite, I believe the
poor fellow was excusable.
In the night we saw a long line of light to the westward of us, and supposed the Indians had fired the
prairie. The night was pleasant and warm.
x4 
CHAPTER V.
Buffalo-Fine Grove of Pecan Trees-The First Buffalo-Bit
by a Rattlesnake-The Tarantula-Traveling Under
Difficulties-A Free Serenade.
O CTOBER  2 i st.-We left camp after break         ast, taking what was left of our bear-meat
along with us, and steered our usual course,
due north, and about I2 o'clock we struck the Leon
River, opposite the mouth of Armstrong's Creek.
The country passed over to-day was very broken, and
but little land on our route is fit for cultivation. We
saw a small drove of buffalo, but our hunters did not
get a shot at them, and the country where we found
them was so broken we could not chase them on horseback. One of our men, who had stopped behind
awhile for some purpose, when he came up, reported
that he had seen an Indian following on our trail; but
he was a "scary" sort of fellow, and we thought his
story very doubtful.
We passed a singular chain of high, bald hills today. Looking at them from a distance, we almost
fancied we were approaching a considerable city, so
much did they resemble houses, steeples, etc. They
were entirely destitute of timber.
The Leon River, where we struck it, is a small,
rapid stream, shut in on both sides by high, rocky
hills. We crossed over to the northern side, and
"nooned" in a grove of pecans. These trees are full
of the finest nuts we had ever seen-very large, and
their hulls so thin we could easily crack them with our 
THE ADVENTURES OF
fingers. Before we left, we gathered a wallet-full of
them, and strapped it on one of our pack mules.
In the evening, we continued our route up Armstrong's Creek, and struck camp a little after sundown
near one of its head-springs. The valley along the
creek is very beautiful, and the soil rich. Our hunter
to-day killed a fat buffalo-cow on the way, and we
butchered her, and packed the meat into camp. That
was the first buffalo-meat I ever tasted, and I thought
it better even than bear-meat. The flesh of an old bull,
however, I have found out since, is coarse, tough, and
stringy, but the "hump" is always good, and so are the
"marrow-bones" and tongue.
Just after we had encamped, one of our men named
Thompson, while staking out his horse, was bitten on
the hand by a rattlesnake. It was a small one, however, and he suffered but little from the effects of the
bite. We scarified the wound with a penknife, and
applied some soda to it, and the next morning he was
well enough to travel. I do not think the bite of the
rattlesnake is as often fatal as people generally suppose. I have seen several men and a great many animals bitten by them, and have never known death to
ensue, except on one or two occasions. Still, I have no
doubt there is great danger, whenever the fangs of
the snake strike a large vein or artery. I believe the
bite of the tarantula is much more fatal. I have seen
two or three persons bitten by them in Mexico, neither
of whom recovered, although many remedies were
used. The Mexicans say they will kill a horse in ten
minutes.
Night clear and cool-cool enough to make it very
pleasant to sleep by our fires. Toward midnight we
i6 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
had an alarm that aroused all hands very suddenly.
The sentry on post fired his gun off accidentally, and
we supposed, of course, that the Indians were upon
us. We were all up and ready with our guns by the
time the sentinel came in and told us it was a false
alarm. I was so completely roused up by the excitement and bustle that I did not get to sleep for more
than an hour afterward. The little breeze that rustled
among the leaves and dead grass the early part of the
night had died away, and a dead silence had settled
over all. Not a sound could be heard, except the howling of a solitary "cayote" far off among the hills, and
the nipping of our animals as they cropped the rank
grass that grew around us. The silence was oppressive, and when one of the men muttered in his sleep, or
one of our animals coughed or snorted, it was actually
a relief. I have frequently observed since, when
camping out alone in the wilderness, the dead silence
that sometimes prevails on a calm night. It is not so
in the "settlements," for there is almost always some
sound to break in upon it-the lowing of cattle, the
tinkling of cow-bells, or the barking of a dog.
October 22d.-After an early breakfast, we saddled up and traveled as fast as the broken and rocky
state of the ground would permit. We intended to
make a "forced march" to-day, as we expected by
night to reach the locality where we were to commence
our operations. Our horses had fared sumptuously
the last two nights, and were in a condition to do a
good day's work, but the farther we went the rougher
and more difficult the way became. Every now and
then we would come to a space covered with "honeycomb rock," where we were compelled to travel our
I7 
THE ADVENTURES OF
horses at the slowest gait. Dense chaparrals, too,
frequently obstructed the way, and we either had to
turn off and avoid them altogether, or else hunt out a
route through them along dim and crooked trails.
These causes delayed us so much that by noon we supposed we had only made about fifteen miles. We
halted for half an hour at a pool of brackish water, to
breathe the horses. We then continued on through
the same sort of country, only more rugged still, if
possible, and at sundown we found ourselves still half
a day's journey from the Palo Pinto, where we expect
to begin our work. Luckily, we found a pool of muddy
water, on the edge of a small prairie, in which there
was excellent grass for our animals, where we unpacked and pitched camp for the night. If the night
before had been unusually still and quiet, this one was
just the opposite. If two or three "menageries" had
been turned loose in the vicinity just before we came,
monkeys and all, there could not have been a greater
variety of sounds. First, a gang of wolves would
serenade us for a minute or two, and then a catamount
would come in on a high key, and, before he had fairly
finished, a panther or a "lobo" would join in the
chorus; and so they kept it up until the broad daylight.
i8 
CHAPTER VI.
The Palo Pinto at Last-The Camp in the Valley-Wallace's
Last      Look at the Camp-The Indians-A Tight Race            Wallace Kills His First Indian.
,CTOBER  23d.-We traveled, I suppose, fif       teen or sixteen miles to-day, over a better and
more open country, and about noon struck a
branch of the Palo Pinto Creek, on which we intended
to begin our work of locating and surveying land.
We passed, on the way, several large Indian camps,
but they were all old. In crossing a little sluggish
stream of water to-day, one of our pack animals
"bogged" down, and it took us a half hour's hard
work to get him out again on firm ground.
Where we struck the south prong of the Palo Pinto
we found a little valley, surrounded on all sides by
high, rocky hills, in the southern extremity of which
we determined to build a permanent camp, as a sort
of base from which to carry on our work. Game was
abundant in the vicinity, and the large pools along the
creek were literally swarming with fish. We selected
a position for our camp in a bend of the creek, the
only entrance to which was by a narrow neck that
could easily be guarded and defended against the approach of an enemy. Approach at all other points was
almost impossible, on account of the high and perpendicular banks of the creek.
In the evening we hobbled our horses and all hands
went to work to build a camp that would afford us
some protection in bad weather. By sundown we had 
THE ADVENTURES OF
it finished and covered in with a double layer of dry
grass. We then covered the floor with a quantity of
the same, on which we spread our blankets, and slept
like "tops" till morning.
October 24th.-It was thought best that all hands
should rest to-day, after our fatiguing journey; so we
had nothing to do but to amuse ourselves as we chose.
Some "lolled" about camp, passing the time in eating
and sleeping. Some rigged up their "tackle" and went
off fishing; while others gathered pecans, of which
there was an abundance in the vicinity. For my part,
I soon got tired of all these things, and determined
that I would explore a little of the country around our
camp. Taking my gun and hunting equipments, I
strolled off in the direction of a pass that seemed to
penetrate the hills toward the northern extremity of
the valley. At the entrance of the pass, there was a
solitary hill, in the shape of a sugar-loaf, which I
climbed up, and from the top of which I had a full
view of the little valley in which our camp lay, and of
the camp itself, about a mile and a quarter off. I could
see the smoke rising from it, and our animals grazing
around. Little did I think this was the last sight I
should ever have of it; but so it was, for I never saw it
again. I descended the hill, and took my way up the
pass, and, after following it perhaps half a mile, it
widened out into a small valley, in which there was a
grove of pecan trees, full of the finest nuts I had yet
seen.
I gathered two or three handfuls of pecans, and
was sitting down at the foot of one of the trees cracking and eating them, when I happened to look down
the pass the way I had come, and saw a party of
20 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
twelve or fifteen Indians riding up it as fast as the
broken nature of the ground would permit. I knew,
if I remained where I was, that they would certainly
discover me, and there was no chance for me to pass
them unobserved. My only hope of escaping from
them was in going ahead until I came to some canon
or ravine making into the pass, into which I might
dodge and "lay low" until they had gone by.
But there was no time to lose, so I seized my gun
and put off up the pass at a brisk trot. The pecan
grove concealed me for a while from the Indians;
but the moment they passed it they caught sight of me
and came yelling and whooping after me as fast as
they could urge on their horses, for the pass was
broken and seamed with deep gullies, and for half an
hour they gained but little, if any, upon me.
All this time I had looked closely on both sides of
the pass for some opening into the hills, but could see
nothing of the sort: on both sides there appeared to
be a solid wall of rock. At length the pass widened
out into a small valley that was smooth and unbroken,
and here the race between me and the Indians was a
tight one, and a very exciting one to me, for though I
didn't take time to look back, I could tell by the sound
of their yells that they were gaining on me.
At length, I saw an opening in the pass on the left,
and made for it as fast as I could, hoping it would lead
me into some canion or ravine that would be impassable for horses, and so it proved; for, after going a
few hundred yards, I found great difficulty in getting
along, even on foot. The Indians were still after me,
I knew from their yells, and would probably dismount
and continue the chase on foot when they could ride
21 
THE ADVENTURES OF
no farther. I had but little fear, however, of their
overtaking me, for, as I have said before, in those
days I could run like a scared wolf when I let out the
kinks.
The canon I had entered twisted and turned about
among the hills in such a way that I could not see the
Indians, but I was satisfied that they were still trailing
me, even after I could no longer hear their yells. For
this reason, I never slackened my speed until I had
penetrated several miles among the hills, when I
halted for a few moments to catch my breath at a
point from which I could see several hundred yards
down the canion, in the direction I had come. I was
just on the eve of getting up to make a start again
when an Indian came in sight, traveling along the trail
in a sort of "dog-trot," and at a rate which I knew
would bring him to where I was in a few moments.
The perseverance of this rascal in following me up so
long, "stirred my gall," and I resolved to make him
pay dearly for it, if I could. Near where I was resting
myself, there was a large rock, just about high enough
to conceal a man effectually when kneeling down, and
behind that I took my position, with the muzzle of my
gun resting on its top.
The Indian came trotting along, totally unsuspicious that the "chase" had turned to bay, until he
was within twenty paces of me, when I gave a low
whistle, and he instantly stopped, looking cautiously
around at the same time. I had a dead-rest for my rifle
and I drew a bead about the centre of his breast and
touched the trigger. At the crack of the gun he sprang
into the air and dropped dead in his tracks. That was
the first Indian I ever killed.
22 
,ASPER,CRE ER~g~
WALLACE KILLS HIS FIRST INDIAN
.!
Icr  
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
I loaded my rifle as quickly as possible, for fear
others were close behind, and continued on up the
ravine. I had gone, I suppose, about half a mile
farther, when I came to another canion, coming in at
right angles to the one I was in, up which I took my
way; for I thought, if the Indians still continued the
pursuit to that point, they would naturally suppose I
had gone on in the straight direction. I do not know
if this "change of base" deceived them, or whether
they followed me so far, but I neither saw nor heard
anything of them afterward.
I kept on up this canion for an hour after the sun
went down and until it grew so dark I found there was
great danger of breaking my neck by tumbling into'
some of the numerous gulches that ran across it, when
I turned aside into a little nook, where I laid down
without making any fire, and where I intended to rest
myself until the moon rose, and then proceed on my
way. But I was so exhausted by the long race I had
had that I went to sleep, and never woke up until the
sun had fairly risen, and was shining above the tops
of the hills.
25 
CHAPTER VII.
Lost Among the Ravines-A Lucky Shot-Comfortable
Quarters-A Petrified Forest-The Mexican
Gourd-Wallace Makes a Friend.
O~CTOBER   25th.-Here  I am, miles away
t J from camp, and not the slightest idea of the
direction I ought to travel to reach it. Not
daring to go back by the way I had come, for fear of
being waylaid by the Indians, who, I was satisfied,
would make every effort to capture me, after they
found out I had killed one of their party, I scarcely
knew which way to turn.
(At that time, you must remember, I was as "green
as a cut-seed watermelon," and had no knowledge of
the woods, and knew not how to steer my course
through them. Under the same circumstances now, I
should be as much at home as I would be here in my
little ranch. )
I had not a mouthful to eat, nor had I drank a drop
of water since the day before, and I was suffering exceedingly from thirst. Upon investigating the extent
of my wordly goods and chattels, I found they consisted of the clothes I had on, my rifle, shot-pouch, a
steel for striking fire, a butcher-knife, powder-horn
(filled with powder), and a memorandum-book and
pencil.
Before I left my hiding-place, I reconnoitred the
pass cautiously,  and seeing nothing suspicious, I
started off in the direction I supposed our camp to be.
I was suffering very much from thirst, and when I had 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
gone a few hundred yards, I thought myself fortunate
in finding a little pool of rain-water in the hollow of a
rock. It was clear and cool, and I took a hearty drink
of it, which refreshed me exceedingly, and gave me
new life and strength.
The whole of the country I traveled over was a
succession of rugged, rocky hills, separated from each
other by narrow gulches and canons, and almost impassable even for a man on foot.
About I2 o'clock, tired out and very hungry, I
stopped in one of these canions to rest myself by the
side of a small creek that ran briskly for a few steps,
and then disappeared in the sand. I had been there
but a little while when a large buck came down to the
creek to drink, within twenty yards of where I was
sitting. -I raised my rifle cautiously and fired at him.
He ran off a short distance, as if he wasn't hurt at all,
when he stopped and began to reel from side to side,
and in a moment or so dropped down dead. I dragged
him to the bank of the creek, where I skinned and cut
him up, and in a little while had a side of his ribs
roasting before a fire. He was one of the fattest deer,
I ever saw, and as I thought jt very uncertain when I
would reach camp, I concluded it would be good
policy to remain where I was the balance of the day,
and jerk up as much of the flesh as I could conveniently carry. So, after I had made a hearty dinner on
my roasted ribs, I went to work and cut up a quantity
of the meat into thin slices, which I placed on a low
scaffold made of little poles, and then built a fire under
them, and before sundown I had enough meat nicely
"jerked" to last me for several days. I then looked
around for secure quarters for the night, and a few
27 
THE ADVENTURES OF
yards below where I had butchered the deer, I found
a shallow cave in a cliff, into which I carried my dried
venison and some dry grass for a bed. I was very
lucky in finding this cave, for that night a torrent of
rain fell, which would have made camping out of
doors extremely unpleasant, especially as it was accompanied by a strong and chilly wind; but as it was
I slept as "snug as a bug in a rug," and didn't mind the
howling of the wind any more than that of the wolves,
who were holding a "jubilee" over the remains of the
deer I had killed.
October 26.-When I awoke in the morning, it was
broad daylight. The rain had ceased, but it was still
cloudy and misty, and I couldn't see the sun, which
was the only guide I had to indicate the direction I
ought to go.
With the experience I now have, I could have pursued my course with as perfect a certainty as if the
sun had been visible, for I can tell the points of the
compass very nearly at all times, by the bark on the
trees, which is generally thicker on the north side, and
by the moss growing upon them, or by sticking a pin
perpendicularly into a piece of white cloth or paper.
In the cloudiest day, the pin will cast a dim shadow
opposite the sun, and thus point out its position. But,
you see, at that time I was ignorant of all these things,
and had to steer my course by guess, when the sun
could not be seen; and, unfortunately for me, a spell
of misty weather had set in, that lasted for more than
a week.
28 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
However, when I had made a breakfast off of my
venison, and taken a drink of water from the creek, I
packed up my jerked meat, tying it firmly together
with thongs of bear-grass, and set out again in the
direction I supposed the camp to be. The country continued exceedingly rough and broken, and I was frequently headed off by impassable gulches and canons,
that I could only avoid sometimes by going a long
distance out of my course.
Toward noon, I came to a little valley, in which
there was a beautiful bold spring bursting out from
the foot of the hills, and around it four or five large
pecan trees, filled with fruit. Here I rested for an
hour or so, and made a hearty dinner on venison and
pecans, the pecans answering pretty well in the place
of bread. In the bed of the little creek formed by this
spring I picked up some curious-looking pebbles,
about the size of buckshot, and put them in my shotpouch. They proved to be "garnets," and I have no
doubt that a quantity of them might be collected in
that locality; but I am told they are not a very valuable stone. I have found them in several other places
in Texas; and at one point on the road from San
Antonio to El Paso, I found a number of rubies, but
I was ignorant of their value at the time, and only
picked up two or three as curiosities.
Near the spring where I had stopped there was a
petrified forest. The trees were all lying upon the
ground, as if they had been blown down by a heavy
wind, but in some instances they were nearly whole,.
even the small twigs and branches being petrified.
Toward evening I continued my route, and never
stopped for a moment until the sun was about setting,
29 
THE ADVENTURES OF
when I began to look out for a convenient place for
camping. I had already passed several deep gulches
or hollows, in which I expected to find water, but they
were all dry. I went on until it grew so dark it was
with great difficulty I made any headway at all, and
at last I was compelled to stop without finding water.
Although pretty hungry, I did not venture on my
dried venison, for fear of increasing my thirst, and,
having started a small fire, I lay down under a spread
ing live-oak, and soon forgot all my troubles in a
sound sleep.
October 27th.-I woke just at daylight. The morning was cloudy and still, and the first thing I noticed
was a pattering sound, as if made by a small stream
of water falling from a precipice. I got up and went
in the direction of the sound, and in forty or fifty
yards from where I had slept I came to one of the
finest springs I had ever seen. It broke out at the foot
of a huge cliff, in a stream as large as my body, and,
after running a little way it fell fifteen or twenty feet
into the bottom of the ravine below, forming a beautiful cascade. Where the stream came out at the foot
of the cliff, there was a deep pool of clear, cold water,
out of which I took a hearty drink; and after I had
bathed my face and hands, I built up a small fire, and
roasted some of my venison, and though I had neither
bread, nor salt, nor coffee, I made a satisfactory
breakfast upon it, with a few of my pecans.
There were one or two Indian camps near this
spring, but they did not seem to have been occupied
for some time. In one of them I picked up a Mexican gourd that would hold about two quarts of water,
which the Indians had evidently forgotten when they
30 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
left. To my great joy, I found, on examining it, that
it was not broken or cracked in any way. I had suffered a good deal for the want of something in which
to carry a supply of water along with me, and I looked
upon this gourd as a valuable addition to my worldly
effects. I fastened a band of bear-grass around it, so
that I could carry it conveniently when travelling.
And here, most unexpectedly, I met up with a companion that was never separated from me afterward,
(except on one occasion for a few days,) during all
my wanderings. While I was sitting down eating my
breakfast, I saw some animal poke his head out of a
hollow in a rock, a few feet distant, and gaze at me,
apparently with considerable curiosity. At first I took
it to be a wolf, but, upon closer inspection, I saw that
it was a dog, and I whistled and snapped my fingers
at him to coax him out of his den. For a while he paid
no attention to this, but at length he ventured out, attracted more, I think, by the smell of roasted meat
than by the signs I made him. He approached me very
cautiously, however, frequently stopping and looking
back at his den; but he finally came up to me, and
I gave him a piece of venison, which he eagerly devoured. He was the most wretched specimen of a dog
I had ever seen. Both of his ears were cut off close to
his head, and he had been starved to such a degree
that he looked for all the world like a pile of bones
loosely packed in a sack of hair and hide. He was too
weak to hold his tail up, which dragged upon the
ground like a wolf's. I suppose he had been left behind by the party of Indians whose camp I had seen
near the spring. I gave him as much venison as I
thought he ought to eat at one time, which he swal
31 
THE ADVENTURES OF
lowed so greedily that he choked himself several
times. I named him "Comanche" on the spot, and we
were soon upon the most friendly terms.
Comanche's  company,  ugly and wolfish as he
looked, was very acceptable to me, and relieved me,
to some extent, from that feeling of loneliness usually
experienced by one like myself, unaccustomed to the
solitude of the wilderness. I believe the company of
a dog, next to that of a man, and more than that of
any other animal, seems to satisfy that longing for
companionship we feel when curcumstanced as I was
then.
After breakfast, I filled up my gourd with water
from the spring, and took my way again across
the hills, Comanche following at my heels. By this
time, the breakfast of venison I had given him had
improved him amazingly, and his tail began to curl in
its usual style.
To-day I passed over the roughest and most desolate-looking country I had seen yet-rocky hills, some
of which were entirely bare of all vegetation, and
others covered with dense chaparral and thorny
bushes, through which I sometimes found it almost
impossible to force my way. Game of all sorts seemed
to be exceedingly scarce here, for except two or three
antelopes I saw no animals on my route; but rattlesnakes were more numerous than I ever saw them
elsewhere. I stirred them up every few yards as I
walked.
My gourd proved very serviceable to-day, for I
did not see a drop of water, after leaving the spring,
until night, and we would have suffered without it.
32 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
Ever since I had left the pass wfiere the Indians
gave me the run, I had scarcely had a glimpse of the
sun, for it had been misty and cloudy all the time, but
to-day it shone out for a little while, and, to my great
disappointment, I found I had been traveling nearly
due north, instead of south, which was the direction I
ought to have taken. This was exceedingly vexatious,
and from that time I abandoned all hope of finding
the surveyors' camp. However, I did n't despair of
making my way back into the settlements in the course
of time, provided the Indians, or the snakes, or the
"varmints" didn't get me on the route. I immediately
changed my course, steering due south instead of
north, passing over a desolate and barren tract of
country.
Toward sundown, I came to the top of a high ridge,
at the foot of which there lay a little grassy valley,
surrounded on all sides by steep rocky hills similar to
the one on which I stood. I descended into this little
valley just as the sun was setting, and, to my great
joy, nearly the first thing I saw after entering it was
a fine spring of water, breaking out from the foot of
the hill I had just scrambled down.
Near this spring, in a ledge of rocks, I found a sort
of shallow cave, walled up in front with loose stones,
through which there was a narrow entrance. Inside
there was a comfortable little room about twelve feet
square, perfectly protected from the weather, and
with a smooth, dry rock floor. It had evidently been
built and used by the Indians long ago; but there was
nothing about it to indicate that they had occupied it
for years.
33 
THE ADVENTURES OF
After supper, I cut a few armfuls of dry grass,
which I carried into the cave, and with which I made
a soft bed on the floor for myself, and another for
Comanche near the entrance, and we slept soundly
till morning.
34 
CHAPTER VIII
My Little Valley-A Sad Accident-Wild Turkeys-On
Crutches-On the Tramp Again-A Last Look.
CTOBER 28th.-I was up by daylight this
morning, and ready to start in half an hour,
for it took me but a little while to cook and
eat my breakfast, and clear away the dishes.
As I passed through the little valley, I could not
but admire its seclusion and beauty. It was shut in on
all sides by high hills, covered with cedars and other
evergreens. I suppose it was about half a mile long
by a quarter in breadth, and a clear, rapid little
stream ran through the centre of it. Scattered over it
were many beautiful clumps of live-oaks, pecans, and
other trees. I saw several flocks of deer grazing
among the trees, and a great many wild turkeys, but
I did not try to shoot any, as I had some of my jerked
venison left, and did not want to waste my ammunition. I had passed through the centre of the valley,
and was in the act of climbing up the hill on the opposite side, when my foot slipped on a loose stone, and
sprained my ankle badly. I attempted to go on, but
the pain was so great, whenever I put my foot on the
ground, that I found it impossible to do so.
Here was a pretty fix. As the backwoodsman said,
when the Indians attacked his house just as he had
filled his gun with water to swab it out, "It was very
ridiculous." But I saw there was no alternative but
to stop and remain patiently where I was until my
ankle got well enough to enable me to travel again; 
THE ADVENTURES OF
so I hobbled back with great pain and difficulty to the
little cave on the side of the valley I had started from.
By the time I reached the cave, I was suffering very
much, and my ankle had swollen out of all shape. I
pulled off my shoe, and bathed my foot for half an
hour in the cold spring-water, and the pain left me
in a great measure. However, I knew it would be
days, perhaps weeks, before my ankle would be well
enough for me to continue my journey, and knew not
how to subsist in the mean time, without being able to
hunt for game. This thought was anything but agreeable, and I felt rather despondent that night as I lay
down upon my bed in the little cave.   I thought,
though, after all, I had much to be thankful for; for,
if this accident had happened to me anywhere in the
barren and desolate country I had lately travelled
over, where there was neither water to be had nor
game to be found, how much more hopeless and miserable my condition would have been. So I made myself as contented as I could, and was soon fast asleep.
October 29th.-I awoke about daylight, and the
first thing I heard was a gang of wild turkeys clucking
in the pecan-trees that grew a few steps from my
cave. I seized my gun and crawled to the door. The
trees were crowded with them, and selecting one of
the largest gobblers, I fired at him, and he tumbled to
the ground. "Comanche" seemed to understand
thoroughly what was up, for as soon as the turkey
struck the earth, he pounced upon it, and dragged it
up to the mouth of my cave, where I picked and
cleaned him nicely, and soon had him spitted before
my fire, and in a couple of hours he was done to a turn.
After breakfast, being uncertain as to the length
36 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
of time I should be compelled to remain here, I took
another "account of stock" on hand, and found that
I was the fortunate owner of the following property,
viz.: one rifle in good condition; one shot-pouch, and
powder-horn filled with powder; one butcher-knife;
twenty-six bullets; steel for striking fire; one Mexican gourd; one memorandum-book and pencil; two
plugs of tobacco, and a pipe.  Pretty "well to do,"
thinks I to myself, considering the "tightness of the
times." I found it impossible to put my lame foot to
the ground at all, without suffering great pain, so I
concluded I would try and make a sort of crutch, that
would enable me to hobble about on my sound foot.
So I crawled out to where there was a bunch of young
saplings growing, and, with much labor, at length
cut down a forked one with my butcher-knife,
which I thought would answer my purpose. By night
I had it finished, and, on trial, I found that I could
get along with it, after a fashion, on level ground.
I have not much fear of starving now, for with my
crutch I can follow any game that may come into the
valley.
After night, a heavy rain came up from the north,
accompanied by much thunder and lightning. The rain
never ceased falling till near daylight, but my cave
did not leak a drop, and the wall in front prevented
the wind from driving it in on me.
From this time, as long as I stayed in the valley,
which was until the 20th of November, nothing of
importance occurred, and as one day was pretty much
like another, I made but few notes in my memorandum book, only enough to keep from losing the day
of the month. On the 2d of November, "I killed a
37 
THE ADVENTURES OF
deer;" on the 5th, "gathered about a bushel of pecans;" on the 7th, "killed another deer;" on the ioth,
"my ankle improved so much I can walk a little without my crutch," etc.
I never suffered a moment for food the whole time
I was in the valley, for I could kill a deer or turkey
whenever I wanted one, and could gather, with but
little trouble, an abundance of pecans, and various
kinds of haws and berries. It was truly lucky for me
that the accident happened to me at this place. Had
it occurred at almost any other on my route, the probability is I should have starved to death, in my helpless condition.
The day before I left the valley, I jerked up as
much venison as I could conveniently carry along with
me, and, on the morning of the 20th of November,
I bade farewell to my little cave. Before leaving, I
carved my name on a rock in front of my old quarters
with my butcher-knife, together with the day of the
month and year. I felt right sorry to leave my little
valley, where I had passed so many peaceful, quiet
days. My ankle had got entirely well, and, shouldering my rifle and pack of provisions, and, with "Comanche" following at my heels, I started off across
the valley in a southern direction. "Comanche" had
lived on the "fat of the land" since he had fallen in
with me, and was now quite a respectable-looking
dog, and his tail had a fierce and defiant curl.
The sun shone brightly, and I had no difficulty in
keeping the course I wanted to go. When I had
ascended to the top of the opposite ridge of hills, I
turned to take a last look at my little valley. I could
see the entrance of my cave, the grove of pecans in
38 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
front of it, and the smoke still curling upward from
the fire I had left burning.
The settlements have now extended beyond this
point, and probably by this time some advocate of
"squatter sovereignty" has taken possession of it;
but when I was there, there was not a log cabin, I
suppose, within a hundred miles of it.
I travelled about ten miles this morning, over a
very rough and rugged country, covered with thick
chaparral, when I halted to rest for an hour or so.
There was no water near, but I had a supply along
with me in my Mexican gourd, which I had filled from
the spring before leaving.
After Comanche and I had eaten a bite, and rested
ourselves sufficiently, I continued my route over the
same sort of country till near night, when I encamped
on the banks of a considerable creek-one of the head
branches, I have supposed since, of the Palo Pinto. A
small gang of buffalo were grazing in the creek velley,
but they discovered me and ran off before I could get
a shot at them. I, however, killed a fat doe after I had
struck camp, which furnished me with an abundance
of fresh meat. I also found some of the "wild artichoke" growing near, which afforded an agreeable
addition to my usual bill of fare.
I saw fresh Indian "signs" near my camp, which
caused me some uneasiness, and I kept a good lookout for them. Comanche woke me several times
during the night with his growling, but I supposed
there was nothing more dangerous about than a cayote
or catamount, attracted to the camp by the smell of
fresh meat.
39 
CHAPTER IX
Gold-Indian Smokes-Comanche Uneasy-Captured by the
Indians-Mysterious Movements-The Old Squaw                    What Next?
OVEMBER  2ISt.-Clear and cold. After
breakfast I crossed the creek and went on
five or six miles, through the most singularlooking country I ever saw. At a little distance, a
person would have supposed on approaching it that
it was a level plain, but on nearer inspection, though
there were no hills or elevations of any size in it, he
would have found the whole surface broken and ruptured as if by an earthquake, and seamed with deep
gulches and canions that interlaced and crossed each
other at all sorts of angles. I had more difficulty in
making my way over these five or six miles than I
ever had experienced elsewhere in the same distance.
I noticed in the bottoms of many of these gulches a
great deal of quartz rock and black sand, which I had
been told indicated the presence of gold, and I determined, from mere curiosity, that I would "prospect"
a little in one of the gulches, and see if I could not
find some of the precious metal itself. I followed
one of them down several hundred yards, and
amongst a pile of broken rocks and gravel, thrown
together by the violence of the torrent that rushed
along the bed of the gulch in rainy weather, I picked
up three pieces of pure gold, the largest of which
weighed nearly a quarter of an ounce. 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
I have often thought since that, some time or other,
I would return to that place and "prospect" it thoroughly, but something has always prevented me from
doing so. However, I am determined, just as soon as
I can, that I will explore that region of country. I can
find it again readily, I know, and I feel confident, from
the little examination I made when there, that gold
exists there in abundance.
After leaving this locality, I struck a fine open
prairie country, through which I travelled without
difficulty for twelve or fifteen miles, when I came to
a heavily timbered bottom on a considerable stream,
which I have since supposed was the Leon.
I saw half a dozen "Indian smokes" on the way,
and once I crossed a considerable trail, which was
quite fresh. I pitched camp on the edge of the bottom,
under the shelter of a spreading live-oak. After dark,
Comanche appeared to be very uneasy and watchful.
He woke me several times during the night, snuffling
and growling, but I paid no particular attention to his
movements, supposing his watchfulness was owing to
the presence of wolves or other animals in the vicinity
of the camp.
About daylight, I was suddenly roused by his furious barking, and looking up, I was horrified to see a
dozen Indians coming rapidly toward me, and not
more than forty or fifty yards distant. I always slept
with my gun by my side, and I seized it instantly, and
sprang behind the tree under which I had been sleep ing. As I did so, I saw that I was completely sur rounded by Indians, and that there was no chance of
making my escape. I resolved, however, to sell my
life as dearly as I could, and as the circle of warriors
41 
THE ADVENTURES OF
drew closer and closer in upon me, I kept dodging
from one side of the tree to the other, keeping my
gun pointed all the time towards those that were
nearest to me. Presently one of the Indians, who
I supposed was chief, said something in a loud
voice, to the balance, and they all halted.  He  then
advanced a few steps toward me, and asked, in the
Mexican language, "who I was, and what I was
doing there?" I had picked up a smattering of
Mexican after I came out of Texas, and by signs
and such phrases as I knew, I told him I was an
American, that I had got lost from my party, and
was on my way back to the "settlements." He then
made signs to me to put down my gun, which I did,
for I saw plainly that resistance was hopeless against
such numbers, and I thought if I surrendered it was
possible they might spare my life. As soon as I laid
my gun upon the ground, the chief came up and took
possession of it, and then calling to the rest, they all
advanced, and one of them seized my hands and
bound them firmly with deer thongs behind my back.
Bitterly did I regret that I had not fought it out
with them to the last, instead of surrendering, but it
was then too late to repent, and I made up my mind
to meet my fate, whatever it might be, with as much
courage as I could "screw up" for the occasion.
Comanche, however, with less discretion than valor,
"pitched into" the whole crowd while they were tying
my hands, and it was only after they had kicked him
and beaten him severely with their spear-handles, that
he gave up the contest and retired to a safe distance
in the rear.
42 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
As soon as my hands were tied, the chief ordered
one of the Indians to pick up my shot-pouch and other
equipments, and we all started off at a brisk walk up
the river, keeping a little trail just outside of the
timbered bottom.
We had travelled in this way, I suppose, four or
five miles, when the Indians gave three or four loud
whoops, which were answered by similar whoops
apparently about half a mile ahead, and in a little
while we came in sight of the lodges of a large encampment. When within a short distance of the encampment, a mixed crowd of old men, women, and
boys came out to meet us, who soon surrounded me
in a dense mass, screaming, yelling and hooting, and
calling me, I suppose, all sorts of hard names, but of
course I couldn't understand their "lingo." I was glad
when my guard took me away from them and carried
me into one of the lodges, where they untied my hands
and made signs for me to sit down.
I took a seat on one of the skins scattered over the
floor, in no very pleasant frame of mind, as you may
well imagine, for I was pretty well satisfied, from the
manner in which I had been treated by the Indians
since they captured me, that they intended to put me
to death. In a little while an old squaw came into the
lodge, bringing with her some buffalo-meat, and a
gourd of water, which she put down by me, and made
signs to me to eat and drink; but I had no appetite,
and merely took a drink of the water.
I could only see imperfectly what was going on outside of the lodge, but I knew from the whooping and
yelling, and the running to and fro that something was
up, and I was very much afraid that my arrival had a
43 
THE ADVENTURES OF
good deal to do with it. However, everything quited
down in an hour or so.
A strong guard was placed at night around the
lodge in which I was confined, and this confirmed me
in my suspicions that foul play was intended me, and
at the same time precluded all hope of escape. My
reflections during that night were anything but agree able, as may well be supposed, and my sleep was
broken and disturbed.
About sunrise the next morning, the old squaw
came into the lodge again with some provisions, which
she placed near me on the floor, and then she seated
herself and looked at me a long time without saying
a word. After a while, she took one of my hands in
her wrinkled paws, and rubbed and patted it all the
time humming, in a sort of "bumble-bee tone," one of
the most mournful ditties I ever heard. At length,
she got up to leave, but before she did so she tried
very hard by signs to make me comprehend something
she wished to say, but I couldn't understand what it
was. She was as wrinkled and ugly as an old witch,
but still there was something benevolent and kind
about her features, that made me think she would
willingly befriend me if she had it in her power.
Not long after she had left the lodge, I heard a
great "pow-wowing" outside, and then the most terrible racket commenced I ever listened to, yelling,
whooping, and beating of drums, and rattling of
gourds and the large shields made of dry hides,
hung around with bears' tusks and pieces of metal,
which the Indians make use of to stampede horses
when on their stealing expeditions. In a few moments
after the row commenced, several warriors came into
44 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
the lodge, and one of them proceeded to blacken my
face and hands with a mixture he had in an earthen
vessel. When they had painted me in this way, they
made signs to me to follow them, which I did very
unwillingly, for I had no doubt they were going to
put me to death, with all the tortures to which I had
been told the Indians usually subject those who are so
unfortunate as to be made prisoners by them.
45 
CHAPTER X
Led Out for Execution-Saved at the Last Moment-A New
Mother and a New Home-Comanche in Luck
Again-"Lobo-lusti-hadjo."
M          OrY guard led me out into a sort of square
between the lodges, in which all the In           dians belonging to the encampmentmen, women, and children- were assembled, and
proceeded to bind me hand and foot to a post firmly
fixed in the ground. I was convinced then what my
fate was to be, especially when I looked around and
saw the terrible preparations that had been made for
the ceremony of burning a prisoner at the stake. Near
me there was a great heap of dry wood, and a fire
burning, and twenty or thirty grim warriors stood
around, painted and blacked up in the most fantastic
way, with their tomahawks and scalping knives in
their hands, who, I supposed, were to act as my
executioners.
When they had fastened me securely to the stake,
the chief to whom I had surrendered rose up from a
sort of platform, on which he had been sitting, and
made a speech to the crowd. He spoke in his own
language, and of course I could understand but little
of what he said, but it seemed to me he was telling
them how the white people had encroached upon them,
and stolen from them their hunting-grounds, and
driven them farther and farther into the wilderness,
and that it was a good deed to burn every one of the
hated race that fell into their hands. After he had 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
finished speaking, the painted warriors formed a ring,
and while one of them heaped up the drywood on all
sides of me as high as my waist, the balance danced
around me, singing the "death-song" and brandishing
their tomahawks and knives.
I thought, sure enough, my time had come, and I
tried to summon up courage enough to meet my fate
like a man. I don't know how far I would have succeeded in this, for just at this moment the old squaw
I had seen in the lodge rushed through the crowd of
painted warriors, and began to throw the wood from
around me, all the time talking and gesticulating in
the wildest manner. One of the warriors seized her
and put her out of the ring by main force, but she
addressed herself to the crowd, and made them a regular setspeech, during which she every now and then
turned and pointed toward me. I was satisfied that
for some cause, I knew not what, the old squaw was
doing her best to save me from burning at the stake,
and it is hardly necessary to say I wished her success
from the bottom of my heart. The crowd listened to
her in silence for some time, when some began, as I
thought, to applaud her, and others to cry out against
her; but it seems that she at last brought over the
majority to her side, for after a great deal of jabbering, a number of women rushed in between the warriors and untied me from the stake in a moment, and
handed me over to the old squaw for safe-keeping;
and somehow, though I had understood but little of
all that had been said on either side for or against me,
I knew that I was saved, at least for the time. I felt
as much relieved in my mind as when I drew the
"white bean" at the city of Saltillo.
47 
THE ADVENTURES OF
I learned afterward that the old squaw had lost
one of her sons in a fight with some of the neighboring
tribes, and that she had set up a claim to me, according to the Indian custom in such cases, as a substitute.
But the Indians, I suppose, were bent on having a
little fun, in which I was to play the part of frog,
and they the pelters, and, as you have seen, it was
only by the "skin of her teeth" that she came out
winner at the last quarter stretch. But I -was very
glad, I can tell you, that their frolic was stopped in
this way, for I had n't the least ambition to perform
the part they intended for me in the ceremony.
My adopted mother conducted me to her lodge,
patted me on the head, and sang another "bumblebee ditty" over me, to all of which I made no objection, as I was very glad to get off from being roasted
alive on any terms. She then, as I supposed, made
signs to me to "consider myself at home," and "as
one of the family" from that time. In a little while
afterward, some squaws brought me my gun and all
my equipments, even to my Mexican gourd, and gave
them to me. Even Comanche was hunted up and
brought to the lodge, and delivered up to me as part
of my property. Poor Comanche had seen a rough
time, as well as myself, since we were separated. He
was half starved, and looked as if he had been beaten
unmercifully by every urchin in the encampment. He
was real glad to see me again, and I "made myself at
home" at once by giving him all the cold victuals I
could find about the premises.
The old squaw, my mother now, had one son still
living with her, "Lobo-lusti-hadjo," or the "Black
Wolf," and of course, according to the Indian laws,
48 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
he was now my brother, and, Indian though he was,
be proved a brother to me as long as I lived with the
tribe, which was about three months; and when I left,
it was with his knowledge, and he did all that he could
to aid me in effecting my escape. I have met with few
men anywhere that I liked better than Black Wolf.
He was a man of good natural sense, and as brave as
the bravest, and there was nothing cruel of bloodthirsty in his disposition, and, what is very unusual
among the Indians, he was very much attached to his
old mother, and did everything he could to make her
comfortable in her old age.
I might lengthen out my story a good deal by telling of all that occurred to me while I was with these
Indians-how I went with them upon their buffalo
hunts, and once upon a "foray" with them into Mexico, where I acquired a considerable reputation as a
promising young warrior in a hard fight we had there
with the Mexican rancheros, etc.,-but I am afraid
I should grow tiresome, and for this reason, I will
bring this part of my story to an end as soon as
possible.
The old chief to whom I surrendered in the first
instance, for some cause had taken a great liking to
me, and offered me his sister for a wife, and a home in
his own wigwam; but I preferred staying with Black
Wolf and his old mother, for, in fact, the chief's sister was n't as attractive as some women I have seen.
She was tall and raw-boned, and her cheeks looked
like a couple of small pack-saddles, and her finger
nails were as long as a catamount's claws, and not
overly clean at that, and I had no doubt she could
have used them just as well "on a pinch"-at least
49 
THE ADVENTURES OF
that was my private opinion, though I did not tell the
chief so.
When I had been about two months with the tribe, I
learned to speak their language pretty well, and Black
Wolf never tired of asking me questions about the
"white people," and their big canoes, steamboats,
railroads, etc., for he had heard about all these things
at the trading posts he had occasionally visited. I told
him that the white people were so numerous that they
had many "permanent camps" in which there were
forty, fifty, and a hundred thousand inhabitants, and
one in which there was more than half a million.
He said he knew they were a powerful people, but
he had no idea before that their number was so great,
But he said what I had told him about them confirmed
him in the opinion he had had for a long time, that
the white people would gradually spread over the
whole country, from ocean to ocean, and that the day
would soon come when there would be nothing left
to show that the Indians had once occupied all this
vast territory, except here and there a little mound
built over their graves, or a stone arrow-head,
ploughed up by the white people where they had once
hunted the buffalo or the grizzly bear. And as his
reason for thinking so, he related to me the following
legend, which he said had been told him by his father
when he was a little boy.
so 
CHAPTER XI
Black Wolf's Indian Legend-Determination to Escape              Back in the Settlements.
GREAT many years ago," said Black Wolf,
"a young chief, belonging to one of the most
powerful tribes of Arkansas, concluded that
he would visit one of the nearest white settlements,
and see some of the people of whom he had heard so
much. So he took his gun and dog, crossed the'father
of waters' in his canoe, and travelled for many days
toward the rising of the sun, through a dense forest
that had never echoed to the sound of the white man's
axe. One day, just as the sun was setting, he came to
the top of a high hill, and four or five miles away, in
the valley below, he saw the smoke curling up from
the chimneys of the most western settlement, at that
time, east of the Mississippi river.
"As it was too late to reach the settlement before
dark, the chief sought out the thickest part of the
woods, where he spread his blanket upon the ground,
and laid himself down upon'it, with the intention of
passing the night there. He had scarcely settled himself to rest, when he heard a'halloo' a long way off
among the hills. Supposing that some one had got
lost in the woods, he raised himself up and shouted
as loud as he could. Again he heard the'halloo' apparently a little nearer, but it sounded so mournful
and wild, and so unlike the voice of any living being,
that he became alarmed, and did not shout in return.
After awhile, however, the long, mournful'halloo-o-o' 
THE ADVENTURES OF
was repeated, and this time much nearer than before.
The chief's heart beat loudly in his bosom, and a cold
sweat broke out upon his forehead; for he knew that
the unearthly sounds that met his ears never came
from mortal lips. His very dog, too, seemed to under stand this, for he whined and cowered down at his
feet, seemingly in the greatest dread. Again the pro longed and mournful'hallo-o-o' was heard, and this
time close at hand, and in a few moments and Indian
warrior stalked up and took a seat near the chief, and
gazed mournfully at him out of his hollow eyes, without uttering a word.
"He was dressed in a different garb from anything
the chief had ever seenwornbythelIndians,andheheld
a bow in his withered hand, and a quiver, filled with
arrows, was slung across his shoulders. As the chief
looked more closely at him, he saw that his unearthly
visitor was, in fact, a grinning skeleton; for his white
ribs showed plainly through the rents in his robe, and
though seemingly he looked at the chief, there were
no eyes in the empty sockets he turned toward him.
Presently the figure rose up, and, in a hollow voice,
spoke to the chief, and told him to return from
whence he came, for their race was doomed- that
they would disappear before the white people like dew
before the morning sun-that he was the spirit of one
of his forefathers, and that he came to warn him of
the fate that awaited him and his people-that he
could remember when the Indians were as numerous
as the leaves on the trees, and the white people were
few and weak, and shut up in their towns upon the
sea-shore-now they are strong, and their number
cannot be counted, and before many years they will
52 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
drive the last remnant of the red race into the waters
of the great western ocean.'Go back,' said the figure,
advancing toward the chief, and waving his withered
hand,'and tell your people to prepare themselves for
their doom, and to meet me in the "happy hunting
grounds," where the white man shall trouble them
o0 more.'
"As he said this he came up close to the chief, and
placed his skeleton fingers on his head, and glared at
him out of the empty sockets in his fleshless skull!
'Son of a fading race, the last hour of your unfortunate people is fast approaching, and soon not a vestige of them will be left on all this wide continent.
They and their forests, their hunting grounds, their
villages and wigwams, will disappear forever, and the
white man's cities and towns will rise up in the places
where they once chased the buffalo, the elk, and the
deer.'
"The chief was as fearless a warrior as ever went
to battle; but when he felt the cold touch of that skeleton hand, a horrible dread took possession of him, and
he remembered nothing of what happened afterward.
In the morning, when he woke up, the sun was shining brightly over head, and the birds were whistling
and chirping in the trees above him. He looked
around for his gun, and was surprised beyond reason
when he picked it up and found that the barrel was all
eaten up with rust, and the stock so decayed and rotten
that it fell to pieces in his hand. His dog was nowhere
to be seen, and he whistled and called to him in vain;
but at his feet he saw a heap of white bones, among
which there was a skeleton of a neck, with the collar
his dog had worn still around it! He then noticed
53 
THE ADVENTURES OF
that his buckskin hunting-shirt was decayed and mil dewed, and hung in tatters upon him, and that his
hair had grown so long that it reached down nearly
to his waist. Bewildered by all these sudden and
curious changes, he took his way toward the top of
the hill, from which, the evening before, he had seen
the smoke rising up from the cabins of the frontier
settlement, and what was his astonishment when he
saw, spread out in the valley below him, a great city,
with its spires and steeples rising up as far as his eye
could extend; and in place of the dense, unbroken
forests that covered the earth when he came, a wide,
open country presented itself to his view, fenced up
into fields and pastures, and dotted over with the
white man's stately houses and buildings.
"''As he gazed at all this in surprise and wonder, he
could distinctly hear, from where he stood, the distant
hum of the vast multitude who were laboring and
trafficking and moving about in the great city below
him. Sad and dispirited, he turned his course homeward, and travelling many days and nights through
farms and villages and towns, he at length reached
once more the banks of the mighty Mississippi. But
the white people had got there before him, and in
place of a silent and lonely forest, he found a large
town built up where it had once stood, and saw a huge
steamboat puffing and paddling along right where he
had crossed the'father of waters' in his little canoe.
When he had crossed the river, he found that the
white settlements had gone on a long ways beyond it,
but at length came to the wilderness again, and after
wandering about for many moons, he at last came up
with the remnant of his people, but now no longer a
54 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
powerful tribe, such as he had left them, for they had
dwindled down to a mere handful. His father and
mother were dead, his brothers and sisters were all
dead, and no one knew the poor old warrior that had
appeared so suddenly among them. For a while he
staid with them, and talked, in the strangest way,
about things that had happened long before the oldest people in the tribe were born; but one day, after
telling the story I have told to you, he took his way
towards the setting sun, and was never seen more."
When I had been about three months with the tribe,
I began to long exceedingly to be once more with my
own people. I lost all relish for "forays" and "hunting expeditions," and thought only of effecting my
escape,-and making my way back to the "settlements."
I became moody and discontented to such a degree
that Black Wolf and his mother at length took notice
of it. One day, when Black Wolf and myself were
alone together in the lodge, he said to me,  " My
brother, what is it that makes you so unhappy and
discontented; for I have seen for some time that you
have had something on your mind? Has any one
mistreated my brother?"
"No," said I, "'every one has treated me well; but
I tell you frankly, my brother" (for I knew he would
not betray me), "I am pining to see my own people
again, and I am determined to attempt to make my
escape into the settlements, if it should cost me my
life."
"My brother," said Black Wolf, "I shall be very
sorry if you leave us, and so will my old mother; but it
is not strange you should wish to see your own people
55 
THE ADVENTURES OF
again, and you must go. I will help you all that I can
to reach the settlements in safety. But be careful,"
said he, "not to say a word about this to anybody,
for if you should attempt to escape and be recaptured,
nothing could save your life, and I should be put to
death for having aided you."
As Black Wolf advised me, I said nothing to any
one ofmy intention of leaving, except to his old mother.
She tried very hard to dissuade me from going, but
finding I was resolute in my purpose, she gave up
the point, and sang two or three more of her "bumblebee" ditties over me at parting, which seemed to
lighten her grief considerably. She also made me a
present of a dried terrapin's tail, which she said
would protect me from all danger from bullets in
battle. I have kept the terrapin's tail, out of respect
for the old squaw, but I must say, in the many "scrimmages" I have been in since then with the Mexicans
and Indians, I have had more faith in the efficacy of
a tree or a stump to protect me from bullets, than in
the charm she gave me. She also gave me a necklace
made of the claws of the grizzly bear and porcupine
quills, and a large copper ring to wear in my nose.
Black Wolf and I made our preparations quietly
for the journey, but without exciting any suspicions
on the part of the other Indians that I had any intention of quitting the tribe, as we told them we were
going into the "hills" to take a bear hunt, and would
be absent possibly several days. Black Wolf led the
way, and Comanche and I followed, and the first day
we travelled at least thirty miles from the village,
and camped together that night for the last time. In
the morning, before we separated, Black Wolf traced
56 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
out upon the ground a map of the route I had to go,
marking down upon it accurately all the ranges of
hills and watercourses I would pass on the way. He
then bade me good-by, and shouldering his gun, sorrowfully took his course back toward the village, and
was soon lost sight of among the hills.
During my stay with the Indians I had acquired
considerable knowledge of the woods, and how to
steer my course through them even when the sun
was not visible, and, in eight days after parting from
Black Wolf, I arrived safely at the "settlements,"
and thus ended my first expedition into the "wilderness." Comanche lived with me until he died of old
age, and left a progeny behind him, that, for trailing
and fighting "varmints" and "sucking eggs," can't be
beat by any dogs in the State of Texas.
57 
CHAPTER XII
Belated in the Woods-Wolves on the Track-One FelIow
Out of the Way-Reinforcements Coming Up-A
Hand-to-Hand Fight.
U  _   AVE I ever told you, asked Big-Foot, about
the "tussle" I had with the wolves a short
J   time after I came to Texas? It was a sort
of initiation fee paid for my entrance into the mysteries of border life, and I don't think I have ever
been as badly frightened before or since. It happened
in this way:
One very cold evening, two or three hours, perhaps, before sundown, I concluded to take a little
round in the woods, by way of exercise, and bring
home some fresh venison for supper; so I picked up
"sweet-lips" (his rifle) and started for a rough
broken piece of country, where previously I had always found deer in abundance. But, somehow, the
deer did nit seem to be stirring that evening, and I
walked two or three miles without finding a single
one. After going so far, I hated to return without
meat, and I kept on, still hoping to find the deer before it go too dark to shoot; but at last I had to give
it up, and turned my course back toward home again.
By this time the sun was setting, and I hurried up
as fast as possible, to get out of the chaparral and into
the prairie before night came on. All the evening I
had heard the wolves howling around in an unusual
way, but I had no fear of them, as I had been told
they seldom, if ever, attacked a man in Texas. When 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
I had gone back perhaps a half mile or so, a large
gray wolf trotted out into the path before me, and
commenced howling in the most mournful manner;
and, in an instant, he was answered by a dozen other
wolves in the hills around us. Thinks I, old fellow,
if you are hatching a plot for my benefit, I'll make
sure of you anyhow; so I brought "sweet-lips" to
range on his shoulder-blade, and at the crack of the
gun he gave one spring into the air and dropped as
dead as a hammer in his tracks.
But, somehow, although I can't say I felt any fear
of them, my suspicions were aroused as to foul play
on the part of the gentlemen who were answering
him from the hills, and I loosened "old butch" in the
sheath, and rammed another bullet down "sweet lips"
and as soon as I had done so, I put out for home again
in double-quick time. But the faster I went the faster
the wolves followed me, and looking back after a
littlewhile, I saw twenty-five or thirty:"lobos" (a large,
fierce kind of wolf, found only in Mexico and Texas)
trotting along after me at a rate I knew would soon
bring them into close quarters; and in the bushes and
chaparral, that bordered the.trail I was travelling, I
could see the gleaming eyes and pointed ears of at
least a dozen others coming rapidly toward me.
I saw in a minute that they meant mischief, but I
knew it was useless to try to beat a wolf in a footrace. However, I resolved to keep on as long as they
would let me, and when they closed in, that I would
give them the best ready-made fight I had "in the
shop." So I stepped out as briskly as I could, and the
wolves trotted after me, howling in a way that made
my hair stand on end and my very blood run cold.
59 
THE ADVENTURES OF
A dozen times I wished myself back again safe in
"old Virginny," where a man might travel for a hundred miles without meeting up with anything more
dangerous than a'possum; but wishing didn't stop the
wolves, so I let out my "best licks," hoping that I
could make home before they could muster up courage
enough to attack me.
But, I "reckoned without my host," for one big
fellow, more daring or hungry than the rest, made a
rush at me, and I barely had time to level my gun and
fire, for he was touching the muzzle of it when I
pulledl the trigger. He fell dead at my feet, but, as
if this had been a signal for a general attack, in an
instant the whole pack were around me, snarling and
snapping, and showing their white teeth in a way that
was anything but pleasant.
I fought them off with the breech of my gun, for
they did n't give me any chance to load it, retreating
all the while as rapidly as I could. Once so many of
them rushed in upon me at the same time, that in spite
of all my efforts, I failed to keep them at bay, and they
dragged me to the ground. I thought for an instant
that it was all up with me, but despair gave me the
strength of half a dozen men, and I used "old butch"
to such a good purpose that I killed three outright and
wounded several others, which appeared somewhat
to daunt the balance, for they drew off a short distance
and began to howl for reinforcements.
The reinforcements were on their way, for I could
hear them howling in every direction, and I knew that
I had no time to lose. So I put off at the top of my
speed, and in those days it took a pretty fast Spanish
pony to beat me a quarter when I "let out the kinks."
- 60 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
I let'em out this time with a will, I tell you, and fairly
beat the wolves for a half mile or so, but my breath
then began to fail me, and I could tell by their close
angry yelps that the devils were again closing in upon
me.
By this time I was so much exhausted that I knew
I should make a poor fight of it, more especially as I
could perceive, from the number of dark forms behind me, and the gleaming eyes and shining teeth that
glistened out of every bush on the wayside, that the
wolves had had a considerable addition to their number. It may be thought strange that I didn't "take to a
tree," but there were no trees there to take tonothing but stunted chaparral bushes, not much higher than a man's head.
I thought my time had come at last, and I was almost ready to give up in despair, when all at once I
remembered seeing, as I came out, a large lone oaktree, with a hollow in it about large enough for a man
to crawl into, that grew on the banks of a small canion
not more than three or four hundred yards from
where I then was. I resolved to make one more effort,'
and, if possible, to reach this. tree before the wolves
came up with me again; and if ever there was good,
honest running done, without any throw-off about it,
I did it then. The fact is, I believe a man can't tell
how fast he can run until he gets a pack of wolves
after him in this way. A fellow will naturally do his
best when he knows that, if he does n't, in twenty
minutes he will be "parcelled out" among as many
ravenous wolves, a head to one, a leg to another, an
arm to a third, and so on. At least that was the effect
it had on me, and I split the air so fast with my nose
6I 
THE ADVENTURES OF
that it took the skin off of it, and for a week afterward
it looked like a peeled onion.
However, I beat the wolves once more fairly and
squarely, and not much time to spare either, for just
as I crawled into the hollow of the tree, which was
about as high as my head from the ground, the ravenous creatures were howling all around me. At the
bottom of the hollow  I found a "'skunk"  snugly
stowed away, but I soon routed him out, and the
wolves gobbled him up in an instant. He left a smell
behind him, though, that was anything but agreeable
in such close quarters. However, I was safe there, at
any rate, from the attacks of the wolves, and all the
smells in the city of New Orleans couldn't have driven
me from my hole just at that time.
The wolves could only get at me one at a time, and
with "old butch" in my hand, I knew I could manage
a hundred in that way. But such howling and yelling
I never heard before or since but once, and that was
when I was with the Keechies, and a runner came in
and told them their great chief "Buffalo Hump," had
been killed in a fight with the Lipans! They bit, and
gnawed, and scratched, but it was n't any use, and
every now and then a fellow would jump up and poke
his nose into the hollow of the tree; but just as sure
as he did it, he caught a wipe across it with"old butch"
that generally satisfied his curiosity for a while. All
night long they kept up their serenade, and, as you
may well suppose, I did n't get much sleep. However,
the noise did n't matter, for I had got several
severe bites on my arms and legs and the pain I suffered from them would have kept me awake anyhow.
Just at daylight the next morning the wolves began
62 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
to sneak off, and when the sun rose not one was to be
seen, except three dead ones at the root of the tree,
that had come in contact with "old butch." I waited
a while longer, to be certain they had all left, when I
crawled out of my den, gave myself a shake, and
found I was all right, except a pound or so of flesh
taken out of one of rry legs, and a few scratches on
my arms. I hobbled back home; and for a long time
afterward, whenever I heard the howling of wolves,
I always felt a little uneasy.
I found out, the next day, why the wolves had attacked me in the way they did. I had a bottle of assafretida in my trunk, which somehow had got broken
and run out among my clothes, and when the wolves
pitched into me I had on a coat that had been wet
with the confounded stuff, and smelt worse than a
polecat. I had often heard that assafetida would attract wolves, but I always thought, before this, that
it was a sort of old-woman's yarn; but, it's a fact, and
if you don't believe it, go some dark night into a thick
chaparral, where wolves are numerous, and pour about
a gill over your coat, and then wait a little, and see
what will turn up; and if you don't hear howling and
snapping, and snarling, I'll agree to be stung to death
by bumble-bees.
63 
CHAPTER XIII
A Struggle for Life-Fight with the "Big Indian."
ELL,  how was it, Big-Foot," I asked,
\\/\\/ "about that fight you had with the big
V    Indian in the canion?" "The fact is, sir,"
said he, "I caught a tremendous cold last night, and
I'm so hoarse now I can hardly talk at all. I've got
this cabin chinked entirely too tight, (looking around
at the cracks, through which the stars could be seen
twinkling in every direction), and I shall have to
knock out some more of the'daubin.' Nothing like
a tight room to give a man a cold. When I went on
to the'States,' five or six years ago, I had a cold constantly from sleeping in rooms that were as tight as
a bottle. People want a supply of fresh air just as
much as they do their regular meals, and occasionally
something to clear the cobwebs out of their throats;"
and as he said this, Big-Foot looked longingly toward
the corner of the cabin in which the jug was deposited.
I took the hint, and handed over the "red-eye,"
when he glued the mouth of the jug affectionately to
his lips, took observation of the stars through one
of the chinks for about half a minute, and then setting
it down with a long breath, he wiped his lips on the
cuff of his hunting-skirt, deliberately drew his butcherknife from its sheath, cut a section from a plug of
tobacco, crammed it into his mouth, and giving a preliminary squirt, to see if his spitting apparatus was
all in good trim, he began his yarn of the "struggle
for life." 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
In the fall of'42, the Indians were worse on the
frontiers than'they had ever been before, or since. You
could n't stake a horse out at night with any expectation of finding him the next morning, and a fellow's
scalp was n't safe on his head five minutes, outside of
his own shanty. The people on the frontiers at last
came to the conclusion that something had to be done,
or else they would be compelled to fall back on the
't4settlements," which you know would have been reversing the natural order of things. So we collected
together by agreement at my ranch, organized a company of about forty men, and the next time the Indians came down from the mountains (and we had n't
long to wait for them) we took the trail, determined
to follow it as long as our horses would hold out.
The trail led us up toward the head-waters of the
Llano, and the third day out, I noticed a great many
'"signal smokes" rising up a long ways off in the direction we were travelling. These "signal smokes"
are very curious things anyhow. You will see them rise
up in a straight column, no matter how hard the wind
may be blowing, and after reaching a great height,
they will spread out at the top like an umbrella, and
then, in a minute or so, puff! they are all gone in the
twinkling of an eye. How the Indians make them, I
never could learn, and I have often asked old frontiersmen if they could tell me, but none of them could
ever give me any information on the subject. Even
the white men who have been captured by the Indians,
and lived with them for years, never learned how
these "signal smokes" were made.
65 
THE ADVENTURES OF
Well, as I was saying, on the third day out, we
found Indian "signs" as plentiful as pig-tracks around
a corn crib, and I told the captain we would have to
move very cautiously, or we would be apt to find ourselves, before long, in a hornet's nest. That night we
camped at a "water-hole," and put out a double
guard. Just before the sun went down, I had noticed
a smoke, apparently about three miles to the northeast of us, and felt satisfied that there was a party of
Indians encamped at that place. So I went to the captain and told him, if he would give me leave to do so, I
would get up an hour or two before daylight and reconnoitre the position, and find out whether there were
any Indians there or not, and if so, to what tribe they
belonged, what was their number, etc. He was willing
enough to let me go, and told the guards to pass me
out whatever way I wanted to leave.
I whetted up "old butcher" a little, rammed two
bullets down the throat of "sweet lips," and about two
hours before daylight I left camp, and started off in
the direction of the smoke I had seen the evening before. The chaparral, in some places, was as thick as
the hair on a dog's back, but I "scuffled" through it in
the dark, and after travelling perhaps a mile and a
half, I came to a deep canion, that seemed to head up
in the direction I had seen the smoke. I scrambled
down into it and waited until day began to break, and
then slowly and cautiously continued my course along
the bottom of the canion.
The canion was very crooked, and in some places so
narrow that there was hardly room enough in it for
two men to travel abreast. At length I came to a place
where it made a sudden bend to the left, and just as
66 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
I turned the corner I came plump up against a big
Indian, who was coming down the canion, I suppose,
with the intention of spying out our camp. We were
both stooping down when we met, and our heads came
together with considerable force, and the Indian rolled
one way and I the other.
Both rose about the same time, and so unexpected
was the encounter, that we stood for a moment uncertain what to do, and glaring upon each other like two
catamounts, when they are about to dispute the carcass of a dead deer. The Indian had a gun as well as
I, but we were too close to each other to shoot, and it
seemed we both came to the same conclusion as to
what was best to be done at the same instant, for we
dropped our rifles and grappled each other without
saying a word.
You see, boys, I am a pretty stout man yet, but in
those days, without meaning to brag, I don't believe
there was a white man west of the Colorado River
that could stand up against me in a regular catamount,
bear-hug, hand-to-hand fight. But the minute that I
'hefted" that Indian I knew I had undertaken a job
that would bring the sweat from me (and maybe so, I
thought, a little blood too) before it was satisfactorily
finished. He was nearly as tall as I am, say six feet
one or two inches, and would weight, I suppose, about
one hundred and seventy-five pounds net, for he had
no clothes on worth mentioning. r Sad the advantage of him in weight, but he was as wiry and active
as a cat and as slick as an eel, and no wonder either,
for he was greased from head to foot with bear's oil.
At it we went, in right down earnest, without a
word being spoken by either of us, first up one side of
67 
THE ADVENTURES OF
the canion, then down in the bottom, then up the other
side, and the dust and gravel flew in such a way that
if any one had been passing along the bank above,
they would have supposed that a small whirlwind was
raging below. I was a little the strongest of the two,
however, and whenever we rose to our feet, I could
throw the Indian easily enough, but the moment he
touched the ground, the "varmint" would give himself a sort of a squirm, like a snake, and pop right up
on top of me, and I could n't hold him still a moment,
he was so slick with bear's grease. Each of us was
trying to draw his butcher-knife from the sheath all
the time, but we kept each other so busy, neither could
get a chance to do it.
At last, I found that my breath began to fail me,
and came to the conclusion, if something was n't done
pretty soon, I would "have my note taken" to a certainty, for the Indian was like a Lobos wolf, and was
getting better the longer he fought. So, the next time
we rose, I put out all the strength I had left in me,
and gave him a "back-handed trip," that brought his
head with great force against a sharp-pointed rock
upon the ground. He was completely stunned by the
shock for an instant, and before he fairly came to, I
snatched my knife from the sheath, and drove it with
all my strength up to the hilt in his body. The moment
he felt the cold steel he threw me off of him as if I had
been a ten-year-old boy, sprang upon me before I could
rise, drew his own butcher-knife, and raised it above
his head with the intention of plunging it into my
breast.
I tell you what, boys, I often see that Indian now in
my dreams, particularly after eating a hearty supper
68 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
of bear's ment and honey, grappling me by the throat
with his left hand, and the glittering butcher-knife
lifted up above me in his right, and his two fierce
black eyes gleaming like a panther's in the dark!
Under such circumstances, it is astonishing how fast
a man will think. He thinks faster than the words can
fly over those "new-fangled" telegraph lines. I looked
up to the blue sky, and bid it a long farewell, and to
the green trees, the sparkling waters, and the bright
sun. Then I thought of my mother, as I remembered
her when I was a little boy, the "old home," the apple
orchard, the brook where I used to fish for minnows,
and the "commons," where I used to ride every stray
donkey and pony I could catch; and then I thought
of Alice Ann, a blue-eyed, partridge-built young
woman I had a "leaning to," who lived down in the
Zumwalt Settlement. All these, and many more
thoughts besides, flashed through my mind in the little
time that knife was gleaming above my breast.
All at once the Indian gave a keen yell, and down
came the knife with such force that it was buried to
the hilt in the hard earth close to my side. The last
time I had thrown the Indian, a deep gash had been
cut in his forehead by the sharp-pointed rock, and the
blood running down into his eyes from the wound
blinded him, so that he missed his aim. I fully expected him to repeat his blow, but he lay still, and
made no attempt to draw the knife from the ground.
I looked at his eyes, and they were closed hard and
fast, but there was a devilish sort of grin still about
his mouth, as if he had died under the belief that he
had sent me before him into the "happy hunting
grounds."
69 
THE ADVENTURES OF
I threw him off of me, and he rolled to the bottom
of the canion "stone dead." My knife had gone directly to his heart. I looked at him some time, lying
there so still, and stiffening fast in the cold morning
air, and I said to myself, "Well, old fellow, you made
a good fight of it anyhow, and if luck hadn't been
against you, you would have'taken my sign in,' too,
to a certainty, and Alice Ann would have lost the best
string she's got to her bow."
"And now," said I to myself, "old fellow, I am
going to do for you what I never did for an Indian
before. I am going to give you a decent Christian
burial." So I broke his gun into a dozen pieces and
laid them beside him, according to the Indian custom,
so it might be handy for him when he got to the
"happy hunting grounds" (though if they have n't
first-rate smiths there, I don't think it will be fit for
use soon) and then I pulled up some pieces of rock
from the sides of the canion, and piled them around
and over him until he was completely covered, and
safe from the attacks of cayotes and other animals,
and there, I have no doubt, his bones are to this day.
This is a true account of my fight with the big
Indian in the canion.
70 
CHAPTER XIV
A Tight Place-Indian Signs-Ben Wade's Motto-Ben and
the Buffalo Ribs-"Ingins About"-Here They Come.
HAVE  been in many tight places, said, "Big     Foot," but when I was in charge of the mail    coach, running from San Antonio to El Paso, I
got into one I thought I should never squeeze out of
with a whole hide, but I did.
In all the rows and scrapes I've been in since I
came to Texas, I have never been seriously wounded
either with an arrow or a ball, which, considering I
am a good-sized mark to shoot at, is something
strange.  I have known a great many men who, as
General Scott said of General Johnston, had an "unfortunate knack" of getting wounded in every fight
they went into, but I have-not been one of that sort.
They say those who are born to be hung won't be
shot or drowned, and perhaps that may account for it.
But I am flying off from my story before I have
fairly commenced it. We had been traveling hard ever
since 12 o'clock at night, in order to make the watering-place at Devil's River, where I intended to "noon
it" and graze our aminals for two or three hours.
After daylight I noticed several "Indian smokes"
rising up and disappearing; but apparently they were
a long ways off, and once we passed a considerable
"trail," where at least fifteen or twenty horses had
crossed the road. Altogether, I did n't like the sign,
and I told the boys to keep a bright look out, as I
felt sure the Indians were hatching some devilment 
THE ADVENTURES OF
for our benefit. However, we reached the "waterhole" in safety about noon, watered all our animals,
and hobbled them out to graze. I had eight men with
me, most of them old frontiersmen, who had seen
much service, and were as good fighters (with one
exception) as ever drew a bead upon an Indian, for I
had seen them tried on several occasions before.
Near the watering-place there was about a quarter
of an acre of very thick chaparral, and after we had
taken a bite to eat, I told the boys to drag the coach
up to the edge of it, and that they could then spread
down their blankets and take a "snooze," for they had
been up all the night before, and were prettywell"beat
out." I was considerably "fagged" myself, but somehow, although I had seen nothing in particular to excite my suspicions since we stopped at the wateringplace, I felt uneasy, and determined to keep watch
while the balance slept.
If there had been nothing else, the appearance of
the country around our encampment was enough
to make one uneasy, for it had a real "Inginy look"
- broken rocky hills, covered here and there with
clumps of thorny shrubs and stunted cedars, and
little narrow valleys or canlons between them, in
which there was nothing but a few patches of
withered grass, from which our poor animals were
picking a scanty repast. On all sides these rugged,
rocky hills shut in the little cainon where we were encamped; so that we could see but a short distance in
any direction. I picked up my rifle and walked off to
a little knoll about fifty or sixty yards to the right of
our encampment, from which the best view could be
had of the approach of an enemy, where I seated my
72 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
self, resolved that I would watch everything closely
that looked at all suspicious.
I don't know how it is with others, but with me
there are times when I feel low-spirited and depressed,
without being able to account for it, and so it was on
this occasion. The breeze rustled with a melancholy
sound through the dead grass and stunted bushes
around me, and the howling of the solitary cayote
among the hills appeared to me unusually mournful.
Nothing else could be heard except the snoring of
Ben Wade in camp, who was one of the most provident men, where eating and sleeping were concerned,
I ever met with. Ben's motto was, "Never refuse to
eat or sleep when you are on the'plains,' if you should
have a chance forty times a day, for you can't tell
how soon the time may come when you will have to
go forty days without any chance at all. In that way,"
says Ben, "you can keep up and stand the racket a
good while." Ben was n't like a good many people I
have known, whose preaching and practice did n't
agree; he was always on hand when there was any thing to eat, and the minute he was off guard, you
might hear him snoring like a wild mule.
One night, when Ben and I were on a spying ex pedition in one of the Waco villages, the dogs discov ered us, and soon roused the whole tribe with their
barking. In a little while, the warriors began to pour
out of their lodges, with their bows and arrows in their
hands, and we concluded we could find a healthier
locality a few miles off, and made tracks for the bot tom timber, about two miles from the village. But
just as we were passing the last lodge, Ben discovered
73 
THE ADVENTURES OF
a side of buffalo ribs roasting before a fire in front
of it.
"'Cap," says he, "let's stop and take a bite; there's
no telling when we may get another chance," and at
that very minute we could hear the red devils yelling
behind us like a pack of hungry wolves.
"Well," said I, "Ben, if you are willing to sell your
scalp for a'mess of pottage,' you can stop, but I set a
higher price on mine, and can't tarry just now."
"But," says he, "Cap, it's a rule I've always stuck.
to, never to let slip a chance of taking a bite when I'm
'on the war-path,' and I don't like to break through it
this late in the day."
Seeing I made no signs of stopping, for some of the
Indians were then within a hundred yards of us,
screeching like so many catamounts, he said:
"If you won't wait, I must take the ribs along with
me," and I wish I may be cut up into bait for mud cats
if he did n't grab them up and sling them over his
shoulder, though half a dozen of the foremost In
dians were in sight of us.
Ben and I were both pretty hard to beat in a foot.
race at that time, but for about a mile and a half, the
Indians compelled us to put in our best licks to keep
ahead of them: still the darkness of night was in our
favor, and we got safely into the bottom. As soon as
I thought we were out of immediate danger, I stopped
to catch my breath a little, and said to Ben:
"Ben, as you would bring those ribs along, I believe I'll take one of them now. My run has given
me an appetite."
"I'tn sorry," says he, "Cap, but you spoke too
late; I've polished them all."
74 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
And, if you'll believe me, it was a fact! While we
were running for dear life, with a dozen red devils
screeching after us, Ben had picked the ribs as clean
of meat as the ivory-handle of my six-shooter.
Notwithstanding all this, Ben was as true blue as
ever fluttered, and would do to "tie to" when danger
was about. Feeling pretty sure that it was about now,
though I did not know exactly why, I determined to
go and wake Ben up, and get him to help me bring
in the horses and mules. Just at I came to this conclusion, I saw one of the horses raise up his head and
look for a long time in a certain direction, and a few
minutes afterward a deer came running by as if it had
been frightened by something behind it. I waited long
enough to see that no wolves were after it, and then
hurried to the camp and gave Ben a shake by the
shoulders.
"Get up, Ben," said I, in a low voice, for I did n't
want to wake up the other boys.
"Hello!"  said he, raising himself up with one
hand and rubbing his eyes with the other.-"Hello,
Cap, what's the matter? Dinner ready?"
"No," I replied, "you cormorant, it has n't been
half an hour since you ate dinner enough for six men.
(Get up and help me bring in the horses."
"Injins about?" says Ben.
"I have n't seen any yet," I said, "but they are
about here, certain."
"Why, Cap," said he, "if I did not know you so
well, I should think you were a little too cautious;
but if you say fetch in the horses, here goes."
And between us we brought them all in, and tied
75 
THE ADVENTURES OF
them securely in the chaparral, without waking up
any of the other boys.
After we had got them all well fastened, Ben laid
down again to finish his nap, but had scarcely coiled
himself in his blanket when he sprang up as suddenly
as if a stinging lizard had popped him.
"Crackey!" says he, "Cap, they are coming! I hear
their horses' feet!"
I listened attentively,'and sure enough, I could hear
the sound of horses' feet clattering on the rocky
ground, and the next minute we saw twenty-three Comanche warriors coming as fast as their horses could
bring them right for our camp.
76 
CHAPTER XV
A Warm Reception-"Fire and Fall Back"-Hot Work-A
Natural Coward- Four at a Shot-Lassoing Dead Indians.
-N an instant we had roused up the boys, and were
ready for them. They evidently expected to take
us by surprise, for they never checked their horses
until they had charged up within a few feet of the
chaparral in which we were posted, and began to pour
in their "dogwood switches" as thick as hail. But we
returned the compliment so effectually with our rifles
and six-shooters, that they soon fell back, taking off
with them four of their warriors that had been
"emptied" from their saddles. They wounded one of
our men named Fry, but not badly, and killed a packmule.
The Indians went off out of sight behind a hill, and
most of the boys supposed that they had left for good,
but I told them they were mistaken, and that we
should have a lively time of it yet; that the Indians
had only gone off to dismount, and would come back
again soon and give us another "turn." And so it
turned out, for we had scarcely got our guns and pistols loaded again when they rose up all around the little thicket in which we were, yelling and screeching as
if they thought we were a set of "green-horns" that
could be frightened by a noise.
But I saw plainly they were in earnest this time, and
told Ben Wade to take three of the boys and keep
them off from the far side of the thicket, while I kept
them at bay with the rest from the side next the coach. 
THE ADVENTURES OF
We both had our hands full, I can tell you. I rather
think we must have killed some noted warrior in the
first charge they made upon us, and that they were
bent on having revenge, for I never saw the red rascals come up to the "scratch" so boldly before. Three
or four times they charged us with great spirit, and
once they got right among us, so that it was a handto-hand fight; but the boys never flinched, and poured
the six-shooter bullets into them so fast that they
could n't stand it long, and retreated once more out of
sight behind the hills.
During the time the Indians were charging on us
so fiercely, I saw one of my men skulking behind a
bunch of prickly-pear. I won't mention his name, for
the poor fellow could n't help being afraid any more
than he could help feeling cold when a hard "norther"
was blowing.
"Come out of that," said I, "and stand up and fight
like a man."
"Cap," said he, "I would if I could, but I can't
stand it."
I saw by the way his lips quivered and his hands
shook that he told the truth, so I said, for I really felt
sorry for him:
"Well, stay there, then, if you must, and I'll say
nothing about it."
But some of the other boys noticed him too, and I
actually believe, if I had not interfered, they would
have shot him after the fight was over, and I might
just as well have let them, for the poor fellow had no
peace of his life after that.
I have seen two or three men in the course of my
life who were naturally "scary-like," and they could
78 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
n't help it, any more than they could help having
bandy legs or a snub nose. They were made that way
from the jump, and they are more to be pitied than
blamed. You might just as well blame a man because
he is n't as smart as Henry Clay, as because he is n't
as brave as Julius Cesar. However, it is mighty aggravating to have them act in that way when the service of every one is needed, as it was on that occasion.
And, after all, they are generally more unlucky than
those who are braver and expose themselves. With
the exception of Fry, this man was the only one in the
crowd that was wounded. An arrow went through
his arm and pinned him hard and fast to the pricklypear behind which he was skulking.
After the Indians had retreated the second time,
the boys concluded, of course, that they had given up
all idea of attacking us again, but I told them that I
did n't think so; that I thought they would wait for
us to make a start, when they intended pouncing upon
us at some place where we could get no shelter.
"But," said I, "boys, we can soon satisfy ourselves
about this," and I ordered every man to take his gun
and lie flat down under the coach, and keep perfectly
quiet. The boys had begun to get a little tired of this
position (except Ben, who was fast asleep) when suddenly we saw an Indian cautiously poke his head out
of the chaparral, about seventy yards from where we
were lying. He looked for a long time toward us, and
seeing no one moving he ventured out, and stood
straight up, to have a better view.
"Don't fire at him boys," I said; "there will be
some more of them directly, and we may get two or
three."
79 
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In a little while, another Indian stepped out by the
side of the first, and then another and another, until
five of them were standing side by side, all looking
intently toward the coach, and wondering, I suppose,
what had become of us.
"Now score'em, boys," says I, and we let them
have it.
Four fell dead at the crack of our guns, and' the
fifth scrambled back into the chaparral as fast as if
he had had a heavy bet on doing it inside of a second.
I told the boys to load up again as quick as possible, for that more of them would be sure to come out
to take off the dead ones; but I made a miscalculation
this time to a certainty. Not a thing could be seen or
heard for fifteen or twenty minutes, when all at once
we saw an arm rise up out of the bushes on the edge
of the chaparral, and make a sort of motion, and the
next instant one of the dead Indians was "snaked"
into the thicket; and I wish I may be kicked to death
by grasshoppers, if they did n't rope every one of
them and drag'em off in that way, and we could never
see a thing except that Indian's arm, motioning backward and forward as he threw the lasso.
"Boys," says I, "that gets me! I have been in a good
many'scrimmages' with the Indians, but I never saw
them'snake off' their dead in that way before. However," I continued, "it shows they've had enough of
the fight, and I think now we may venture to make a
start, without any fear of being attacked by them
again." But there was new danger ahead, as you
will soon see.
80 
CHAPTER XVI
More Comanches on the War-Track-Keeping a Stiff Upper
Lip-On        a False Trail-Ben Wade Wants His Dinner                "Mr. John" Outwitted.
HILE the boys were harnessing up, I took
my rifle and stepped out a short distance
to reconnoitre, and well for us that I did,
for on reaching the top of the little "rise" where I
had first taken my stand, I saw and counted forty
warriors coming down a cainon not more than four
hundred yards off. I was satisfied it was not the same
party we had been fighting, but a reinforcement coming to their assistance. They rode slowly along directly toward me, and when within about one hundred
yards  of me, I rose up from where I was sitting
and showed myself to them. They halted instantly,
and one of them, who I supposed was the chief, rode
thirty or forty yards in advance of the rest, and in a
loud voice asked me in Mexican (which most of the
Comanches speak) what we were doing there?
There is nothing like keeping a "stiff upper lip"
and showing a bold front, when you have to do with
Indians; so I told him we had been fighting Comanches, and that we had flogged them genteelly, too!
"Yes,' said he, "you are a set of sneaking cayotes,
and are afraid to come out of the brush. You are
afraid to travel the road. You are all squaws and you
don't dare to poke your noses out of the chaparral."
"If you will wait till we eat our dinner," I answered, "I'll show you whether we are afraid to travel 
THE ADVENTURES OF
the road. We shall camp at the California Springs
to-night, in spite of the whole Comanche nation!"
And with this I turned around and walked slowly
back to the coach, as if I did n't think they were worth
bothering about any further.
I was satisfied if I could only make them believe we
had no fear of them, and that we would take the road
again that evening for the California Springs, they
would hurry on there for the purpose of waylaying us
at that place; and so, it turned out, for they immediately put off for the Springs, eight miles distant,
leaving only three warriors behind to watch our
motions.
When I got back to the coach I told the boys what
I had said to the Indians, and that I had no doubt
they would hurry off to California Springs, with
the intention of waylaying us there, and that when I
thought they had had time enough to make the distance, we would put out and take the back track to
Fort Clarke.
"They are too strong for us now, boys," said I,
"for they have had a reinforcement of forty warriors,
and they will fight like mad, to revenge the death of
those we have killed."
"Cap," said Ben Wade, "I heard you make one
sensible remark to that Indian you were talking with."
"What was that?" I asked.
"Why," says Ben, "you told him as soon as we got
some dinner we would go to the California Springs,
in spite of the whole Comanche nation."
"'Yes," I said, "I told him that because I wanted
him to think we were delaying here of our own accord,
and not because we were afraid of him and his war
82 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
riors, and I believe they have gone off under that
impression."
"It was a pretty smart dodge in you, Cap, to put
rem on the wrong scent in that way, I'll admit, but
you see, as we may not be able to get to California
Springs after all, and we can get dinner, we had better make sure of doing what is in our power; besides,
Cap," he continued, hauling out a chunk of venison
and some hard-tack from his wallet, "they have probably left a spy to watch us, and I'll'make pretend' to
eat a bite, so he won't have any reason to think we
are'throwing off' on them."
"There'11 be no danger of that Ben," said I, "if
he's where he can get a good look at you. There's no
'throw off' in you when eating and sleeping is to be
done."
"Nor fighting either," he said. "If I hadn't shot
that Indian on the last charge they made on us, just
as he was drawing his bow on you, not six feet off,
you would have had a quill sticking out of your back
now as long as a porcupine's."
"That's a fact, Ben," I replied, "and it is n't the
first time you have done me a good turn in that way,
and I ain't the man to forget it; and when we get back
to Fort Clarke, I will stop over a day, just to give you
a fair chance to lay in a good supply of provender."
Ben was "mollified," and as soon as he had finished
'the venison and hard-tack he tumbled over on his
blanket, and was fast asleep in two minutes.
After waiting about half an hour longer, we took
the road back to Fort Clarke, instead of going on to
the Springs, and traveled as rapidly as we could urge
on the animals. Just as we started, we saw two of the
83 
THE ADVENTURES OF
warriors that had been left behind to watch our movements put off at full speed toward the Springs, no
doubt with the intention of letting the Indians know
we were taking the back track. The other-for they
had left three behind-followed on after us at a safe
distance from our rifles, for seven or eight miles, when
we lost sight of him.
We had so much the start of the Indians, and the
road was so firm and good, and we rattled along at
such a rate, they had no chance to overtake, even if
they pursued us, which I suppose they did. At any rate,
we saw nothing more of them, and the next morning
reached Fort Clarke safely, where our wounded men
were taken care of. We had outwitted "Mr. John"
completely.
The commandant at Fort Clarke furnished us with
an escort of twelve men and a sergeant, and we made
the trip back to San Antonio without any further
trouble from the Indians at that time.
84 
CHAPTER XVII
A Night Visit From the Indians-Afoot, and Ten Miles to
Travel-On the Trail-A Curious Specimen.
]      OVID I ever tell you, asked Big-Foot, about a
I Icurious sort of character I fell in with at the
"Zumwalt Settlement," on the La Vaca, a
year or so after I came out to Texas? I have met with
many a good honest hater in my time, but this fellow
hated Indians with such a "vim" that he hadn't room
left even for an appetite for his food. But he had a
good reason for it and if they had served me as they
did him, I am afraid I should have taken to scalping
Indians myself for a livelihood, instead of being satisfied with "upping" one now and then in a fair fight.
A party of eight of us had been out on an exploring expedition to the Nueces River, which was then
almostunknowntotheAmericans,and the night we got
back to the La Vaca we encamped on its western bank,
and all went to sleep without the usual precaution of
putting out a guard, thinking we were near enough to
the settlements to be safe from the attacks of Indians.
I told the boys I thought we were running a great risk
in not having any guard out, as I had already found
that when you least expected to meet up with Indians,
there they were sure to be; but the boys were all tired
with their long day's ride, and said they did n't think
there was any danger, and if there was they were
willing to take the chances. So, after we had got some
supper and staked our horses, we wrapped our blan 
THE ADVENTURES OF
kets around us, and, as I have said before, were all
soon fast asleep.
I was the first one to rouse up, about daylight the
next morning, and, looking in the direction we had
staked our horses, I discovered that theywere allgone.
I got up quietly, without waking any of the boys, and
went out to reconnoitre the "sign." I had gone but a
little ways on the prairie when I picked up an arrow,
and a few yards farther on, I came across one of our
horses lying dead on the grass, with a dozen "dogwood switches" sticking in various parts of his body.
This satisfied me at once that "Mr. John" had paid
us a sociable visit during the night,, and, with the exception of the one they had killed (he was an unruly
beast), had carried off all our stock when they left.
I went back to camp and stirred up the boys, and
gave them the pleasing information that we were ten
miles from "wood and water" and "'flat afoot."' But
there was no use in crying over the matter, so we held
a "council of war" as to what was the best to be done
under the circumstances; that is, flat afoot, with all
our guns, saddles, bridles, and other equipment on
hiand, and ten miles to the nearest settlement.  At
length, it was decided that each man should shoulder
his own "plunder,"or leave it behind, as he preferred,
and that we should take a "bee-line" to the "Zumwalt Settlement" above the river, borrow horses if we
could, follow the Indians, and endeavor to get back
from them those they had stolen from us. So we took
a hasty snack, and, each man shouldering his pack, we
put out on a "dog-trot" for the settlement.
It was a pretty fatiguing tramp, hampered as we
were with our guns and rigging, but we made it in
86 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
good time. Fortunately for us, a man had just come
into the settlement, from the Rio Grande, with a
large "caballado," (drove of horses), and when we
made known our situation to him, he told us to go into
the corral and select any of the horses we wanted.
They were only about half broke, and it took us fully
an hour to catch, bridle, and saddle them, and fifteen
minutes more to get on their backs. I was more lucky
than most of the boys, for I only got two kicks and a
bite before I mounted mine.
When all was ready, we put spurs to our steeds and
galloped back to our encampment of the night previous, where our horses had been stolen, and took the
Indian trail, which was plainly visible in the rank
grass that grew at that day along the bottoms of the
river. Several men belonging to the settlement had
volunteered to accompany us, so that our number
(rank, but not file, for we were all colonels, majors
or captains, except one chap, who was a judge)
amounted to thirteen men, well armed and mounted.
As long as the Indians kept to the valley we had no
trouble in following the trail, and pushed on as rapidly as we could. When we had travelled perhaps
eight or ten miles, I had to halt and dismount for the
purpose of fixing my girth, which by some means had
become unfastened. While I was engaged at this, I
heard the tramp of a horse's hoofs behind me, and
looking back the way we had come, I saw a man riding up rapidly on our trail. When he got up to where
I was he reined in his horse, evidently intending to
wait for me, and I had a chance of observing as
curious a looking "specimen" as I ever saw before in
any country. He was a tall, spare-built chap, dressed in
87 
THE ADVENTURES OF
buckskin hunting-shirt and leggings, with a coonskin
cap on; a long, old-fashioned flint-and-steel Kentucky
rifle on his shoulder, and a tomahawk and scalpingknife stuck in his belt. His hair was matted together,
and hung around his neck in great uncombed "swabs,"
and his eyes peered out from among it as bright as a
couple of mesquite coals. I have seen all sorts of eyes,
of panthers, wolves, catamounts, leopards, and Mexican lions, but I never saw eyes that glittered, and
flashed, and danced about like those in that man's
head.  He  was  mounted on a raw-boned, viciouslooking horse, with an exceedingly heavy mane and
tail; but notwithstanding his looks, any one could see,
with half an eye, that he had a great deal of "let out"
in him on a pinch.
As soon as I had patched up my girth, I mounted
my horse again, and rode along sociably with this
curious specimen for a mile or so, without a word
passing between us; but I got tired of this, and, although I felt a little "skittish" of this strange-looking
animal, I at length made a "pass at him," and inquired if he was a stranger in these parts.
"Not exactly," said he. "I have been about here
'off and on' for the last three years, and I know every
trail and'water-hole' from this to the Rio Grande,
especially those that are used much by the Indians
going and coming.
"And ain't you afraid," I asked, "to travel about
so much in this country alone?"
He grinned a sort of sickly smile, and his fingers
clutched the handle of his tomahawk, and his eyes
danced a perfect jig in his head.
88 
THE INDIAN HATER  
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
"No," he answered; "the Indians are more afraid
of me than I am of them. If they knew I was waylaying a particular trail, they would go forty miles
out of their way to give me a wide berth; but the
trouble is, they never know where to find me. And,
besides," he continued, "the best horse this side of
the Brazos can't come alongside of'Pepper-Pod'when
I want him to work in the lead."
As he said this, he touched up Pepper-Pod smartly
with his spurs, who gave a vicious plunge, and started
off like a "shot out of a shovel." But he soon reined
him up, and we rode on together again in silence for
some time. Finally, I said to him:
"Man of family, I suppose?"
Gracious! if a ten-pound howitzer had been fired
off just -then at my ear, I could n't have been more
astonished than I was at this chap's actions. He,
turned pale, and his lips quivered, and he fumbled
with the handle of his butcher-knife, and his eyes
looked like two lightning-bugs in a dark night. He
did n't answer me for a while, but at length he said:
"No, I have no family now. Ten years ago, I had
a wife and three little boys, but the Indians murdered
them all in cold blood. I have got a few of them for
it, though," he went on, "and if I am spared, I'll get
a few more before I die;" and as he said this he
clicked the triggers of his rifle, and pushed the
butcher-knife up and down in its scabbard, his eyes
danced in his head worse than ever, and he gave
Pepper-Pod another dig in the ribs, who reared and
plunged in a way that would have emptied any one
out of the saddle, except a number-one rider.
9I 
THE ADVENTURES OF
After a while, he and Pepper-Pod both quieted
down a little, and he said to me:
"You must n't think strange of me. I always get
in these'flurries' when I think of the way the Indians
murdered my poor wife and my little boys. But I will
tell you my story.
92 
CHAPTER XVIII
Story of the Indian-Hater-The Move From Kentucky-New
Home in Texas-Wife and Children Murdered by the
Indians-Terrible Revenge-A Dangerous Com              panion-The Indian Camp.
EN  years ago," said the strange-looking man,
"I was as happy a man as any in the world;
but now I am  miserable except when I am
waylaying or shooting or scalping an Indian. It's the
only comfort I have now.
"I had a small farm in Kentucky, not far from the
mouth of the Beech Fork, and though we had no
money, we lived happily and comfortably, and had
nothing to fear when we laid down at night. But, in
an unlucky hour for us, a stranger stopped at myhouse
one day on his way to Texas, and told me about the
rich lands, the abundance of game, and the many fortunes that had been made in this new country. From
that time I grew restless and discontented, and I determined, as soon as possible, that I would seek my fortune in that'promised land.'
"The next fall I had a chance to sell my little farm
for a good price, and we moved off to Texas, and,
after wandering around for some time, finally settled
on the banks of a beautiful little stream that runs into
the Guadalupe River.  My wife had left Kentucky
very unwillingly, but the lovely spot we had chosen
for our home, the rich lands and beautiful country
around, and the mildness of the climate, at length
reconciled her to the move we had made. 
THE ADVENTURES OF
"One lovely morning in May, when the sun was
shining brightly, and the birds were singing in every
tree, I took my rifle and went out for a stroll in the
woods. When I left the house, my wife was at work
in our little garden, singing as gayly as one of the
birds, and my three little boys were laughing, and
shouting, and trundling their hoops around the yard.
That was the last time I ever saw any of them alive.
I had gone perhaps a mile, entirely unsuspicious of
all danger, when I heard a dozen guns go off in the
direction of my house. The idea flashed across my
mind in a moment that the Indians were murdering
my family, and I flew toward the house with the speed
of a frightened deer. From the direction in which I
approached it, it was hid from view by a thick grove
of elm-trees that grew in front of the house. I hurried
through this, and rushed into the open door of the
house, and the first thing I saw was the dead body of
my poor wife, lying pale and bloody upon the floor,
and the lifeless form of my youngest boy clasped
tightly in her arms. She had evidently tried to defend
him to the last. The two older boys lay dead near by,
scalped, and covered with blood from their wounds.
"The Indians, who had left the house for some
purpose, at that instant returned, and, before they
knew I was there, I shot one through the heart with
my rifle, and, drawing my butcher-knife, rushed upon
the balance like a tiger. There were at least a dozen
of the savages, but if there had been a thousand of
them it would have made no difference to me, for I
was desperate and reckless of my life, and thought
only of avenging the cruel and cowardly murder of
my poor wife and children.
94 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
"I have but a faint recollection of what happened
after this. I remember hearing yells of fright and
astonishment the Indians gave as I rushed upon
them, and that I cut to pieces several of them with
my butcher-knife before they could escape through
the door-and then all was a blank, and I knew nothing more. I suppose some of those outside fired upon
me, and gave me the wounds that rendered me senseless, but I gave them such a scare it was evident they
never entered the house again, as otherwise, you
know, they would have taken my scalp, and carried
off the dead Indians.
"Some time during the day, one of my neighbors
happened to pass by the house, and noticing the unusual silence that prevailed, and seeing no one moving
about, he suspected something was wrong, and came
in, and the dreadful sight I have described to you met
his eyes.
"He told me afterward he found me lying on the
floor, across the body of an Indian, still grasping his
throat with one hand, and with the other the handle
of my knife, which was buried to the hilt in his breast.
Near by lay the bodies of three: other Indians, gashed
and hacked with the terrible wounds I had given
them with my butcher-knife. My kind neighbor, observing some signs of life left in me, took me to his
house, dressed my wounds, and did all that he could
for me.
"For many days I lay at the point of death, and
they thought I would never get well; but gradually my
wounds healed up and my strength returned; although
for a long time afterward I was n't exactly right
here (tapping his forehead) and even now I am more
95 
THE ADVENTURES OF
like a crazy man than anything else, when I have to
go a long time without'lifting' the scalp from the
head of an Indian; for then I always see, especially
when I lay down at night, the bloody corpses of my
wife and poor little boys."
"I hope, my friend," I replied, for I didn't like
the way his eyes danced in his head, and the careless
manner he had of cocking his gun and slinging it
around-"I hope you have had your regular rations
lately, and that you don't feel disposed to take a white
man's scalp when an Indian's can't be had handily."
The fellow actually chuckled when I said this, the
first time I had heard anything like a laugh from him.
"Oh, no," he said; "I have been tolerably well supplied of late, and could get along pretty comfortably
without a scalp for a week or so yet. I have forty-six
of them hanging up now in my camp on the Chicolite, but I shan't be satisfied unless I can get a cool
hundred of them before I die; and I'11 have'em, too,
just as sure's my name is Jeff Turner."
Again his eyes glared out of his bushy locks, and
his fingers again began to fumble about his knifehandle, in a way, that, if I had had a drop of Indian
blood in my veins, would have made me feel exceedingly uneasy. At last, to change the subject, I asked
him which way he was traveling, though, of course, I
knew very well he was going along with us.
"Any way," he replied, "that these Indians go. I'd
just as soon go in one direction as another. I always
travel on the freshest Indian trail I come across. You
and your company may get tired and quit this trail
without overtaking the Indians, but I shall stick to it
96 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
until I get a scalp or two to take back with me to my
camp on the Chicolite."
By this time we had come up with our companions,
and all rode on in silence. At length we came to a
hard, rocky piece of ground, where the Indians had
scattered, and we lost the trail altogether, for not the
least sign was visible to our eyes. At that time, you
see, none of us had had much experience in the way of
trailing and fighting Indians, except Jeff Turner, the
"Indian-hater."
We soon discovered that he knew more about following a trail than all of us put together, and from
this time on, we let him take the lead, and followed
him everywhere  he  went.  Sometimes, where the
ground was very hard and rocky, and the Indians had
scattered, he would hesitate for a little while as to
the course to pursue, but in a moment or so he was
all right again, and off at such a rate that we were
compelled to travel at a full trot to keep up with him.
About half an hour before sundown, he came to a
halt, and when we had all gathered around him, he
told us to keep a sharp lookout, and make no noise, as
the Indians were close by; and, in fact, we had scarcely
travelled three hundred yards farther when we saw
their blanket tents on the edge of some post-oak timber, about a quarter or a mile to our right. We put
spurs to our horses, and in a few moments we were
among them.
97 
CHAPTER XIX
Attacking the Indians-Narrow Escape-The Indian-Hater at
Work-Forgot to Untie His Horse-A Dying Struggle    Worse Scared Than Hurt-Dinner Ready Cooked      Return to the Settlements and Disappearance
of the Indian-Hater.
HE Indians did n't see us until we were with        in fifty yards of their encampment, but still
they had time to seize their guns, and bows
and arrows, and give us a volley as we charged up;
but luckily no damage was done except slightlywounding one of our horses. We dismounted at once and
commenced pouring a deadly fire into them from our
rifles.
Just as I sprang from the saddle to the ground, a
big Indian stepped from behind a post-oak tree and
drew an arrow upon me that looked to me as long as
a barber's pole. I jumped behind another tree as spry
as a city clerk in a dry-goods store when a parcel of
women come around shopping, and not much time
had I to spare at that, for the arrow grazed my head
so closely that it took off a strip of bark from it about
the width of one of my fingers. I levelled my rifle and
drew a bead upon him as he started to run, but his
arrow had rather unsettled my nerves, and I missed
him fairly.
The fight was kept up pretty hotly on both sides
for fifteen or twenty minutes, when the Indians
C'soured on it," and retreated into a thick chaparral,
leaving seven of their warriors dead upon the ground.
I noticed my friend Jeff several times during the 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
fight, and each time he was engaged in "lifting the
hair" from the head of an Indian that either he or
some one else had shot down. They say that "practice makes perfect," and it was astonishing to see how
quickly Jeff would take off an Indian scalp and load
his rifle in readiness for another. One slash with his
butcher-knife and a sudden jerk, and the bloody scalp
was soon dangling from his belt. At the same time,
he never seemed to be in a hurry, but was as cool and
deliberate about everything he did as a carpenter
when he is working by the day and not by the job.
When the Indians began to retreat, one of them
jumped on one of our horses, (which they had tied
hard and fast to post-oaks near their camp), forgetting in his hurry, to unfasten the rope, and round and
round the tree he went, until he wound himself up to
the body, when just at that instant Jeff plugged him
with a half-ounce bullet, and had his scalp off before
he had done kicking.
After the, Indians had retreated to the chaparral,
a little incident occurred that shows the pluck of these
red rascals when they have been "brought to bay."
We were standing all huddled up together, loading
our rifles, for we did not know but that the Indians had
retreated on purpose to throw us off our guard, when
all at once we were startled by a keen yell and the firing of a gun, and at the same instant a tall chap by
the name of B, who had come with us from the
settlements, dropped his rifle, and, clapping his hands
to his face, cried out:
"Boys, I am a dead man!"
I looked around to see from whence the shot had
come, and discovered an Indian lying on the grass,
99
e.
~    ~ 
THE ADVENTURES OF
about thirty yards off, with his gun in his hand, slowly
sinking back upon the earth again, from which he had
partially raised himself by a dying effort to take a last
pop at the enemies of his race. I had seen this Indian
fall during the fight, and supposed, of course, that he
was dead-as he was, in fact, an instant after he gave
the yell and fired his gun; for I went up immediately
to where he lay, and found that he was dead as a door
nail, with his gun still tightly clasped in his hands; and
yet at the time he fired at B     he had no less than
seven rifle-balls through various parts of his body, for
the wounds were plainly to be seen, as he had nothing
on to speak of, except his powder-horn and shotpouch.
Our "Indian-hater," Jeff, came up to him about the
same time I did, and lifted the hair from his head before you could say "Jack Robinson," and strung it on
his belt to keep company with three other scalps that
were already dangling from it. The scalps seemed to
ease the mind of Jeff considerably, as he told me they
would, and he got quite sociable with the boys after
the fight, and once actually laughed outright, when
one of them told a funny story about shooting at a
stump three times for an Indian before he discovered
his mistake; but either the unusual sound of his own
laugh frightened him, or else he had used up all his
stock on hand, for I never saw him crack a smile
afterward.
As it turned out, B        was worse scared than
hurt, for the Indian's bullet had only grazed his head,
but, striking the black-jack tree near which he was
standing, it had thrown the rough bark violently into
IOO
.'n1: - *: 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
his eyes, the pain from which led him to suppose "he
was a dead man."
The Indians had killed a fat buck, and when we
pounced upon them they had the choice pieces spitted
before the fire, and after the fight we found them
"done to a turn." We hadn't eaten a bite all day,
and seized upon the venison as the lawful spoils of
war, and made a hearty supper upon it, together with
some hard-tack which we had brought along with us
in our haversacks. While I was eating supper, I
could n't help feeling a little sorry for the poor creatures who had cooked it only an hour before, and who
were now lying around us cold and stiff on the damp
grass of the prairie, so soon to be devoured by vultures and cayotes. However, this thought did n't take
away my appetite, or, if it did, a side of roasted ribs
and about five pounds of solid meat disappeared along
with it.
As soon as we had finished supper, we changed our
saddles from the horses we had ridden to those the
Indians had stolen from us (which had been resting
for some time), and mounting, we took the trail back
towards the settlement, where we arrived about sun up the next morning, malking seventy-five miles we
had travelled in part of a day and night, without ever
getting off our horses except for a few moments, when
we fought the Indians.
Jeff, the Indian-hater, left us here for his camp on
the Chicolite, and I never saw him again. I was told
when I was at the settlement several years after this,
that he staid around there for a good while, occa sionally coming into the settlement for his supplies
I0I 
THE ADVENTURES OF
of ammunition, etc., and always bringing with him
four or five scalps. At length, he went off and never
returned, and it is supposed that the Indians finally
caught him napping. At any rate, that was the last
that was ever seen or heard of Jeff Turner, the "Indian-hater."
I02 
CHAPTER XX
Wallace Makes a Treaty with the Lipan Indians-The Indians
Break It-Preparation to Punish Them-First
Appearance of a Live Author.
FEW months after I had settled on the Me        dina River, I concluded that it would be good
policy to enter into a regular treaty with the
Lipans, who, at that time, occupied all the adjacent
country. So I made my preparations for a grand dinner, to which, upon a certain day, I invited all the
chiefs, and after I had feasted them to their heart's
content, on "bear-meat and honey" and "sweetened
coffee," of which they are exceedingly fond, I
broached the subject to them, stating briefly that I
was a lone man, and they were a powerful tribe, and
that I wanted to make a treaty with them, by which
they should guarantee never to interfere with me or
my stock so long as I conducted myself peaceably
toward them!
Whereupon, the head chief, Coyo-lopto-hajo, or.
literally, "Smells-bad-when-hie-walks," (I suppose he
had some Congo blood in him), rose up from the
buffalo robe on which he was sitting, and made a
speech in reply, in which he praised me in the highest
terms, saying I was a great warrior and hunter, and
a good friend to the Lipans; that I did not have two
faces, like a great many of the white people, and that,
therefore, they had confidence in what I told them;
that they knew no Lipan had ever come to my ranch
and gone away hungry, but that I had always filled 
THE ADVENTURES OF
their stomachs (patting his own) with fat bear-meat
and honey, as I had done that day.
He then turned to the other chiefs, and asked them
if they were willing to enter into the treaty I pro posed, and they all grunted out their readiness to do
so. So the treaty was formally made and ratified, and
though the expenses attending it were much less than
the cost of a majority of the "treaties" made by
"Uncle Sam," it was probably as faithfully keptat
least for a long time.
When the chiefs got up to leave, they all shook me
by the hand, and told me that henceforth I was just
the same as a Lipan in their estimation, and that I
must steal plenty of horses and cattle, (the only mode
as they supposed, of getting them,) and that they
would never steal them from me; and that no other
Indians would dare do so on their "hunting-grounds."
But before the chiefs left, in order to "clinch" the
treaty effectually, I produced a jug of whisky, and
told them they had to take a parting drink with me.
From the length of time that " Smells-bad-as-hewalks" held the jug to his lips, I think he must have
swallowed at least a pint-indeed, I am certain of it,
for before they were out'of sight, I saw him charge
his mustang over the other chiefs, and go off whooping and yelling like a maniac.
Well, for several years, the "treaty" was faithfully
kept on both sides, and I never lost a horse or a hoof
of any sort, although my neighbors (for after a while
several families settled withn six or eight miles of me)
could not keep an animal on their ranches. But, in
the course of time, the Lipans concluded to emigrate
from that part of the country to the head-waters of
104 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
the Guadalupe River, and as I had then collected
quite a stock of horses and mules around me, the
temptation to steal from me was too great to be resisted; and a night or so after the tribe had left they
sent back a party of warriors, who made a clean sweep
of everything I had in the shape of a horse on my
ranch. At first I did not suspect the Lipans, supposing that the stealing had been done by other Indians;
but on following their trail a short distance the next
morning, I picked up an arrow, which I knew, from
its peculiar make, had belonged to a Lipan; and also
a tail of a fox fastened to a carved wooden handle,
such as the chiefs of that tribe generally carry with
them on all occasions of public ceremony. I was indignant,of course,at being served such a scurvy trick
by my old friends and allies, particularly as I had always kept the "treaty" made with them in good faith
myself, and I determined to make them pay dearly for
it if I could. So the next morning I went into San
Antonio, where there was a ranging company stationed, in which I had many old acquaintances, and I
told them how the Lipans had served me, and proposed that we should make up; a party and follow the
Indians, and give them a lesson that would teach them
that they could not break their "solemn treaties" with
impunity.
The captain of the company, who was an old friend
of mine, readily consented that any of his men should
go with me who desired to do so, and about thirty of
the "right sort" volunteered at once, by whom I was
unanimously elected "commander-in-chief" for the
expedition. The captain also furnished us with four
fine pack-mules, and rations enough to last us a month.
ios 
THE ADVENTURES OF
Just as we were leaving San Antonio for my
"ranch," a queer-looking customer rode up to me,
and introduced himself by saying:
'Captain Wallace, I believe."
"At your service, sir," I replied.
"Well," said he, "captain, I have understood you
were about starting on a trip into the'wilderness,' and
if you have no objection, I should like to go along with
you. I am an author, sir, and am now engaged in
writing a novel entitled the'Wayworn Wanderer of
the Western Wilds,' and never having, as yet, been
outside of the'settlements,' I am anxious to accompany you on your trip, in order to acquire some practical information of the subjects to be treated of in it."
"Well," I replied, "Mr. Author, I have not the
least objection to your going with us, if you wish it;
but I will tell you beforehand, that you will have a
very rough road to travel, and no taverns on the way
to put up in at night."
"Oh!" said he, "I understand all about that, and if
it is agreeable to you I shall certainly go along."
Seeing that it was evidently his intention to go
along with us at once, I said to him:
"Of course, Mr. Author, I have not the least objection in the world to your company; but you surely
do not think of starting on such a trip in the dress you
have on."
He was dressed in a stove-pipe hat, light cloth coat
and pantaloons, and patent-leather gaiter shoes. Just
think of a fellow, will you, in that costume, among the
chaparrals on the head-waters of the Guadalupe
River, one of the roughest little scopes of country in
all the borders of Texas.
io6 
AUTHOR RIDING UP TO WALLACE'S RANCH  
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
"Why," said he, looking down at himself, in an
admiring sort of way, "what is the matter with my
dress?"
"Oh, nothing now," I replied, "but by the time you
get through the first chaparral on the way, you will
not have a rag on you big enough to patch a bullet
with; and besides," I continued, "you ought, by all
means, to have your'implements' with you," (meaning, of course, a rifle and revolver).
"Oh, I have got them," he said, hauling out of his
pocket a portable ink-stand and a memorandumbook. "I always carry them with me."
I could not, to save my life, help laughing right
out in the fellow's face. It was too ridiculous to think
of a man starting out on the "war-path" without a
gun or a-pistol, or even a butcher-knife-with nothing, in fact, except an "ink-bottle" and a memorandum-book.
"My friend," I said,. "if you are determined to go
on this trip, take my advice, and go back to San Antonio, and get you a gun and pistol, and a buckskin suit
of clothes, and then join us at my ranch on the Medina, where we shall remain until to-morrow evening."
"Captain," he replied, "I reckon you are right, and
I will go back into town and'fix up' as you advise, and
then meet you at your'ranch' at the time appointed,
provided I can find my way out there."
"Oh, there will be no trouble about that," I said,
and then gave him the necessary directions to enable
him to find the road.
"Well, good-by, captain," he said; "you may look
for me to a certainty, for I am resolved to go along
lo9 
THE ADVENTURES OF
with you, and pick up all the information I can on the
subjects I shall treat of in my great novel of the
'Wayworn Wanderer of the Western Wilds.'
"All right, Mr. Author," I replied; "and I have no
doubt you will be able to pick up a good deal before
you get back;" and with that, he turned his pony and
cantered off toward town. I was rather anxious that
the fellow should go with us, for it struck me there
was considerable fun to be had out of him, if he was
rightly "handled," and I hoped what I had told him
of the dangers and hardships of the trip would not
prevent him from meeting us as he had promised.
IIO 
CHAPTER XXI
The Author Again-The Boys Make Fun of His Umbrella His Pistol "Goes Off" and Creates an Excitement-Mr.
Cooper's Indian Characters-Some Sage Reflections on
Character-The Author Wants a Bed, and Gets Tige's
Buffalo Robe-"Something Like a Pillow"-Troublesome
Bedfellows-The Start After the Indians.
URE enough, late in the evening our author
rode up to my ranch dressed in a suit of buck   skin, with a little double-barrel gun on his
shoulder, and an umbrella strapped behind his saddle!
He came up to me smiling, and shook me by the hand.
"Well, captain," said he, "you see I am'up to time,'
and'armed and equipped as the law directs.'"
The men gathered around him as he dismounted
from his pony, to see, as I overheard one of them remark, if they could make out what sort of a "varmint" he was.
"I am glad to see you, Mr. Author," I said, "and
in a few days I think I can promise you a little insight
into the ways of the wilderness."
"Hello, stranger," said one'of the men, pointing to
the umbrella, "what's that you have got strapped to
your saddle there?"
"That," said our author, "is what is commonly
termed an'umbrella,' and is used as a protection
against the sun and rain."
"Run here, everybody!" cried the fellow. Here's
a man going on a scout with an umbrella."
"Yes," says another, "and when he gits it'histed,'
he won't care a snap if it rains Injins." 
THE ADVENTURES OF
"Hurray, boys!" said another, "if we can only
come up, with them thieving Lipans, they might as
well'knock under' at once, for we have got a man and
his'umbrell' along with us. It's worth a dozen of
Uncle Sam's mountain howitzers."
"I'd rather have it," said another, "than that
bird-gun he's got on his shoulder, for if he was to open
it suddenly on an Injin, he would run certain, thinking it was some new-fangled,'weepin' of the white
people; at least, I know his horse would."
"My friend," said I, seeing nothing like a revolver
buckled around him, "why didn't you bring a pistol
with you?"
"Pistol," he answered, rummaging about in his
pockets; "I have got one somewhere, I know."
I wish I may be kicked to death by grasshoppers if
he didn't fish up out of his breeches pocket a little
pepper-box of a thing about the size and length of my
big toe.
"Here it is," said he, fingering at the trigger as he
pulled it out, when "pop" it went, right in the midst
of the crowd. This frightened or excited our author
so much that he kept on pulling the trigger, and bang!
bang! it went, until all six of the barrels were emptied,
when he dropped it like a hot potato, and made tracks
for the house. While it was firing off the men dodged
behind everything that was handy, some of them hallooing, "Hobble the thing," "Rope it," "Pitch it into
the creek," etc.
Fortunately, there was no one hit, which was a wonder, for things of this sort, I have noticed, are very
apt to hurt somebody when they go off accidentally,
I I2 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
but you cannot strike the side of a house with them at
ten paces when you shoot at it on purpose.
The men were tickled to death with our author, and
some of them proposed having him out of the house
again for their further amusement; but I objected to
this, and told them that he belonged to me, for I had
"found him first," and that it would not do to use him
too extravagantly, for fear he wouldn't last us the trip
through. They thought this was reasonable enough,
and let him alone the balance of the night.
After supper, as the weather was pleasant and dry,
the men spread their blankets under the trees around,
and soon a general snoring gave evidence that they
had all emigrated to the "land of Nod."
"Captain," said our author to me, when we were
left alone in the ranch, "you have read Mr. Cooper's
novels, of course: what do you think of his delineation of the Indian character?"
"Yes," I replied, "Mr. Author, I have read some
of his novels, and from my recollection of them, I
rather think his Indian characters are a little too
highly colored. His Indians stalk about in a lofty sort
of way, wrapped up in their robes, with an eagle's
feather on their heads, and talk in a manner that the
Indians of this country couldn't comprehend at all.
Besides, his Indians, if I remember well, never laugh,
nor steal horses, while I have always found Indians
to be uncommonly fond of a joke, especially of a certain kind, and the most arrant and expert thieves that
ever went unhung. I believe they could almost steal
a horse out of a'corral' if there had not been one in
there for a week."
"You astonish me greatly," said the author; "and
I I3 
THE ADVENTURES OF
if what you tell me about the Indians be true, I have
been cruelly deceived by Mr. Cooper, and shall have
an immense deal of work to do in writing over the
characters of those that figure in my novel of the
'Wayworn Wanderer of the Western Wilds,' for they
are drawn after his models. I shall hate to'rub out'
myprincipal hero, particularly'Hopa-Tuki-lika-hajo,'
or the'Rushing River,' for he is my beau ideal of an
aborigine-haughty and reserved and always dressed
in fringed hunting-shirt, beaded moccasins and wampum-belts, and never says two words without beginning,'Brother, listen.' Oh, it will be too bad," he continued, "if I shall have to blot out my'sheff-duvver'*
(whatever he meant by that), Hopa-Tuki-lika-hajo,
after all the trouble I have had to fix him up to my
notion; but I'll do it if I find his character overdrawn,
for the'Wayworn Wanderer' is not intended for a
sensation novel, and its scenes and characters must
be true to nature."
Our author and I sat up, I suppose, till Io o'clock,
talking on various matters, and though he was as
green as a "cut-seed watermelon" on everything pertaining to a frontier life, I found him to be well informed upon many subjects of which I was totally
ignorant. I am not in the habit of "putting a man up"
as an ignoramus merely because he is verdant in some
things which my profession or peculiar mode of life
has given me thorough knowledge of, and yet I know
there are many men who judge of one entirely by this
standard. If a man is ignorant of woodcraft, a poor
shot with a rifle, and cannot manage a wild mustang,
* "Chef-d'oeuvre," French for "master-piece."
II4 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
backwoodsmen are very apt to think he is "no great
shakes" any way.
After a while, our author said to me: "Captain,
I'm not much used to riding on horseback, especially
on such horses as you have here in Texas, that'pitch,'
as you call it, half the time, like a boat beating against
a head sea, and I feel a good deal worried in conse.
quence; so if you will show me my bed, I believe I'll
retire for the night."
"A bed," I replied, "Mr. Author, is a piece of furniture that has never darkened the doors of this ranch
yet; but there is a buffalo robe in the corner yonder,
where you can lie down, if you can get'Tige' off of it;
but I see he has'nine points of the law' in his favor."
"Captain," said our author, after he had with some
difficulty ousted Tige, "I hate to trouble you, but if
there is anything in the shape of a pillow about the
ranch, I should like to get it, as I cannot sleep well
without something of the sort under my head."
I stepped out into the yard, and picked up a wooden
maul, which I brought in and stuffed under his buffalo
robe, telling him there was something in the shape of
a pillow, though not quite so soft as it might be, and
that I hoped he would rest well, as he had a long ride
before him the next day.
In a little while he was sound asleep, and dreaming,
I suppose, of his novel, for I heard him muttering
something about the "Wayworn Wanderer of the
Western Wilds."
In the morning, as soon as he awoke, he said:
"Captain, this is a substantial pillow of yours here;
they must last a long time."
I Is 
THE ADVENTURES OF
"Yes," said I, "they do, when you are careful to
keep them out of the weather, and don't split more
than two hundred rails a day with them. And how did
you rest last night?" I asked.
"Well, only tolerable," says he; "I've got a'crick'
in my neck this morning" (and no wonder, for the
maul was made of ebony wood, and was as hard as a
flint rock), "and besides, there was some sort of an
insect here that bit me cruelly during the night."
"Did they seem to hop, or did they appear to
crawl?" I asked.
"I think," he replied, "that they did more crawling
than hopping, and more biting than either."
"Where did you get that buckskin suit you had
on?" I inquired.
"From a Mexican," said he, "who sold it to me as
a great favor."
"Then," said I, "Tige isn't to blame! you are lousy,
sure!"
"What!" he cried, jumping up as if a stinging
lizard had popped him in the back. "You don't say
so! What am I to do, for I've nothing else here to
wear but that miserable buckskin suit?"
i "Oh," I said, "they are all off of the clothes by this
time, and on you, and if you will step down to the
creek and take a good wash, you will be all right
again."
Away he went, as if he had been on fire, or had
swallowed a dose of No. 6, and pitched headforemost
into the water, where he washed, combed, and
scrubbed faithfully for half an hour. All the while I
knew very well that Tige was at the bottom of his
troubles, but of course I didn't tell him so.
i i 6 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
After we had got some breakfast, we saddled up
our horses and mounted, and took the trail of the In.
dians. Our author rode alongside of me, on a whiteeyed "paint pony," with his bird-gun slung across his
shoulders, and his "umbrell" tied behind him.
He didn't present a very formidable appearance,
as you may well suppose, and the men were highly
amused at the figure he cut; but they held in as much
as possible on my account.
Notwithstanding all this, we found out afterward
that the little author was as "true blue" as ever fluttered, though of course he couldn't do much damage
with his bird-gun and pepper-box.
I1I7 
CHAPTER XXII.
The Sudden Storm-Sad Fate of the "Author's" Umbrella  What He Thought of Mr. Cooper-The Author Goes
a-Hunting, and What He Found-He Pronounces
Mr. Cooper a Humbug.
WAS satisfied, the Indians having had so much
the start of us, that it was useless to "hurry up"
with the expectation of overhauling them before
they reached the country they intended to occupy permanently, and I determined to travel along leisurely,
and keep our horses in as good plight as possible for
the long "scout" that I knew was ahead of us; so we
traveled only about twenty-five miles that day, and
encamped just before sundown in a little valley where
there was a bold running creek and plenty of good
grass for our horses. When we had got some supper,
we staked out our animals, placed the usual guard
over them, and laid down under the trees upon our
blankets, the author and I occupying one bunk together.
In a little while after we had "gone to roost," the
author said to me:
"Captain, what is that roaring I hear like a charge
of cavalry??"
I rose up and saw a dense black cloud coming rapidly toward us from the north, and I knew we were
about to have one of those sudden squalls common at
that season of the year in the hilly country, and invariably accompanied by a heavy fall of rain. 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
"We are in for a ducking, my friend," I said,
unless you can manage to protect us with your umbrella."
"Oh, I can do that," said he, jumping up; "and
you will find that an umbrella is not such a bad article
to have on a scout, after all."
So he unstrapped it from his saddle and hoisted it
over us; but scarcely had he done so when the squall
struck us with the force of a tornado, and the first
gust of wind turned the umbrella wrong side out,
wrenched it from his hand, and carried it out of sight
in a moment.
"Captain," said he, "what's to be done now? The
umbrella has been whisked off like an old witch upon
a broomstick, and we shall be drenched to the skin."
"I know it," I replied, "but there's no help for it,
and all we can do is to'lay low' and take it quietly."
"Why, captain," he answered, "it will be the death
of us! I never caught a wetting but once in my life, and
then as soon as I got home, I didn't feel safe until I
was tucked into bed with the'sheets aired,' and had
swallowed a couple of hot toddies. Oh, dear! the
water is running down my back in a stream now, and
I shall certainly perish from such horrible exposure."
"Not a bit of it, Mr. Author," I replied, "you'll
wake up as fresh as a lark in the morning. There's a
stream running down my back, too, but it isn't quite as
big as the Colorado, and I'm not the least afraid of its
drowning me. All you've got to do is to keep quiet,
and you will very soon be comfortable enough."
"Well," said he, after a while, "if this is what you
call'comfortable,' your ideas and mine differ very
widely on the subject. The water is half-way up my
II9 
THE ADVENTURES OF
sides. I begin to think," he continued, shivering and
scrouging closer up to me, to borrow a little of my
warmth, of which in fact I hadn't much to spare "I begin to think there was a good deal of humbug
about Cooper, after all, for in all his descriptions of
the woods and frontier life, he never says a word
about a fellow's having to sleep in a puddle on the
ground, with a damp blanket smelling of horses over
his shoulders, and a stream of cold water trickling
down his back. When people'bivouac' in his novels,
the nights are always serene and clear, the stars twinkle overhead, the turf is green and soft (there's a
bowlder as big as my first exactly under my hip), and
everything is pleasant and-agreeable. I'm losing my
confidence in Mr. Cooper rapidly."
In about an hour the rain ceased, the puddle disappeared from around us, and notwithstanding his "uncomfortable" situation, our author slept like a top the
balance of the night.
The first thing we saw in the morning, when we
woke up, was the "umbrell"on the top of a mesquite
bush where the wind had lodged it, about fifty paces
from where we had slept. The men discovered it
about the same time, and as they wanted to fire off
their guns and pistols, which had got damp in the rain,
they pretended to think it was a turkey on its roost,
and every one took a crack at it. As soon as the firing
ceased, our author went out and lifted it from its
roost with a long pole, and though sadly damaged by
the bullets and wind, he carefully strapped it on his
saddle again.
That day we traveled only about twenty miles on
the trail, to a small creek where I thought it advisable
120 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
to camp, as I knew it was doubtful about finding any
water for a long distance beyond it. The sun was two
or three hours high when we got to the creek, and
several of the men went out hunting, and so did our
author, though what he expected to kill with his little
bird-gun is more than I can say. He had been gone
but a short while when we heard both barrels of his
gun go off quickly one after another, and soon afterward we heard him halloo a dozen times in rapid
succession.
Supposing something extraordinary had happened
to him, I seized my rifle and hurried off in the direction of the sound. When I had gone about half a mile,
I came to the top of a ridge, and looking over in the
valley beyond, I saw our author dodging from one
side to the other of a small mesquite-tree, while a big
buck trotted around it, every now and then making
furious lunges at him with his horns. Our author,
however, displayed more activity and skill in dodging
than I had given him credit for, and thinking he was
in no immediate danger, I walked along very leisurely
toward him.
When I had got within about fifty yards of him, he
sang out to me, in the most pleading tones, "to make
haste and shoot the buck."
"Hurry, captain," said he, "and shoot the outrageous thing, for I can't keep up this dodging much
longer."
But the fact is, I was in no hurry to shoot, for it was
rather a funny sight to see how spry the little author
would "'squirrel" round the tree whenever the buck
made a pass at him. At last he lost all patience, and
sang out:
I2I 
THE ADVENTURES OF
"Captain, why in the world don't you shoot?
Shoot, and that pretty quick, if you don't want to see
me murdered in'cold blood' by this horrid beast."
"That's hardly possible, Mr. Author," I said, "as
you certainly have taken exercise enough to warm it
up a little."
But the buck kept him so busy he paid no attention
to anything I said, but continued to sing out:
"Shoot, captain! shoot the horrid beast."
The little author was amazingly expert and nimble
at dodging, but, fearing he might accidentally get hurt
if the game was kept up too long, I raised my gun,
deliberately took sight at the buck, and fired. At the
crack of the rifle, he made one last and desperate
plunge at the author, grazing him so closely that he
carried away a piece of the tail of his hunting-shirt on
his horns, and then fell as "dead as a door nail" a few
feet from the root of the tree.
Our author threw himself on the ground, completely "beat out," and panting and blowing like a
stag-hound after a long chase. I walked up to where
he lay, and as soon as he could catch his breath a
little, he said:
"Captain, will you please tell me exactly how long
it took you to walk from the top of that hill to this
place, and how long you took sight at that buck after
you got here? I am anxious to know, for I wish to
make a note in my book of the'slowest time on
record'."
I saw in a minute that our author was as mad as a
hornet (and no wonder, either), so I said:
"Until I got up close to you, I actually thought you
were after the buck, and not the buck after you; that
I22 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
it was the buck dodging round the tree, and you were
trying to get hold of him to cut his throat."  [BigFoot "stretched his blanket" considerably here.]
"Well," he replied, "it may have looked so to'a man
on a hill,' but it was just the contrary, I can tell you.,
If you had put off shooting one moment later, the
world would never have seen the conclusion of the
'Wayworn Wanderer,' and you would have been responsible to posterity for the loss they would have
suffered in consequence.  But it's all owing to Mr.
Cooper," he continued, "for I never would have ventured to attack a beast with such a head of horns if it
had not been for him. In all his novels he describes
the deer as'a timid, innocent animal, that is startled
at its own shadow in the sun.' I only wish he had been
here in my place! Why, sir, I never saw so furious a
beast in all my born days, and I am pretty well convinced now that Mr. Cooper was a humbug; and as
certain as I live I will expose all his fallacies in the
'Wayworn Wanderer.' He has imposed on the world
quite long enough."
"That's all right, Mr. Author," said I; "but how
do you intend to describe the deer?"
"just as he is," said he, "a peaceable-looking animal enough before you attack him, but, the moment
you fire upon him, a great fierce creature, with a head
of horns like a brush-heap, eyes as green as grass, and
his hair all turned the wrong way, and so active that
nothing but a monkey or a squirrel can dodge fast
enough round a tree to keep out of his way."
"That's a description, sir, that for truth and correctness would do to go in'Goldsmith's Animated
Nature'."
I23 
THE ADVENTURES OF
While our author was running on in this style, I
proceeded to skin the buck, and to cut off some choice
pieces to carry back with us to camp. When I got
through, I pretended just then to discover the tail of
our author's hunting-shirt hanging to the buck's
horns.
"Hello!" said I, "what's this?"
"Oh, that," he said, is nothing but the tail of my
hunting-shirt, which that'timid, innocent animal, that
is startled at its own shadow in the sun,' carried away
on its horns when he made the last furious lunge at
me. I'll thank you to hand it over to me, if you please,
and I'll splice it on when we get to camp. Mr.
Cooper's a humbug, sir!"
124 
CHAPTER XXIII.
Our Author Has an Appetite-Scarcity of Water-The Author
Takes Notes, and the Men Get Riled-The Mud-Puddle.
HEN    we  got back to camp with our
author's venison, we found that some of
the boys had cut down a "bee-tree," from
which they had taken five or six gallons of excellent
honey, and with some of the steaks from the buck that
had exercised our author so much, we made a bountiful supper. I never in my life saw a man eat heartier
than the author.
"Captain," said he, as he sat sipping his coffee,
after having stowed away about five pounds of venison, not to mention "hard-tack" and other things,
"this wandering about in Western wilds seems to give
one a wonderful appetite. I feel like a frog that had
swallowed shot, and I should make a poor out at
dodging a buck now, for I should have him on both
sides of me at once, inside and outside."
"Oh, my friend," said I, "you have not come fairly
to your appetite yet. When you have been out a couple
of weeks or so, and have exercised yourself at dodging bucks a few times more, you will be very nearly
able to eat a'mule and a hamper of greens' at a single
meal."
"I shall not take any more exercise in that way," he
replied, "particularly if I've got to depend upon you
to help me out of the scrape. I shall certainly not interfere again with Mr. Cooper's'timid, innocent animals, that are frightened at their own shadows in the
sun'.
After a while, our author took out his memoran 
THE ADVENTURES OF
dum book and pencil, as was his custom every night,
and noted down all that had happened during the day,
which he said was the "material" for the revised
edition of the "Wayworn Wanderer."
The night passed off quietly, and the next morning
we were again on our way by the time the sun had
fairly risen.
We had entered upon a country that at that time
was entirely destitute of water, and we traveled all
that day and until an hour after dark without finding
any. As the weather was warrm, men and animals
suffered severely for want of it. The next morning
we were up betimes and again on the road, but mile
after mile was passed over, and still not one drop of
water could we find in the bottoms of the deepest
gullies and canons that lay on our way.
Toward sundown, both men and horses were suffering severely from thirst, and I began to feel some
uneasiness at the prospect of having to pass another
night without water. Our author stood the "racket"
like a man; in fact, he seemed rather to enjoy the
situation than otherwise.
"Captain," said he, riding up to me, "I wouldn't
have missed this for a great deal. I can work up from
the material I have collected in the last twenty-four
hours a thrilling chapter on the suffering produced by
intense thirst, that will add much to the interest of the
'Wayworn Wanderer.' But, I have one thing to ask
of you, which will enable me to complete the information I want, and make this chapter (unlike Mr.
Cooper's) true to nature. Will you please order the
men to halt for a moment?"
Not having the slightest idea what he wanted, I did
I26 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
as he requested, and called out "Halt!" The men
drew up very unwillingly, for they were parching with
thirst, and were anxious to get on as fast as possible,
in the hope of finding water before night.
As soon as they had come to a halt, our author rode
out in front of them, like an enrolling officer, and deliberately drawing forth his memorandum book and
pencil, he said to them:
"My friends, I hope you will not think I have taken
too great a liberty in halting you in this way, and I am
sure you will not, when I explain to you my reasons
for so doing."
"Well, say it out quick," said some one in the crowd,
"for this is no time for long talks, and we are in a
hurry to get to water, if there is any left in this miserable country."
"Well, my friends," said our author, "I will not detain you more than ten minutes. All I want of you is
to keep still long enough to enable me to get a correct
expression of the human countenance when distorted
by the pangs of intense thirst, which will aid me materially in working up one of the most thrilling chapters of my forthcoming novel, the'Wayworn Wanderer'."
And I wish I may be kicked to death by grasshoppers if he didn't ride along the line, every now and
then stopping before a fellow and putting down in his
book such notes as these: "Eyes inflamed and bloodshot," "Lips purple and contracted," "Countenance
pale and anxious," etc.
The men, for a little while, didn't seem to understand what he was up to, but when they did, I verily
believe they would have murdered him on the spot if
I27 
THE ADVENTURES OF
it had not been for me. As it was, they contented
themselves with giving him a hearty cursing, and,
wheeling their horses, rode on rapidly, to make up
for lost time. Said one of them to another:
"If that fellow hadn't been a sort of pet of the captain's, if I wouldn't have shot him off that wall-eyed
'paint' of his'n! Only think of the fellow's impudence,
will you, to stop the whole crowd when we haven't had
a drop of water for two days, just to see how a man
looked when he was dying from thirst!"
Said another: "If I had only suspicioned what he
was up to at the start, he would have heard a gun fire
certain; but when he came out in that way, with his
book in his hand, I made sure he was going to tell us
where there was a gold mine, or at least that he had a
'way-bill' to some water-hole."
Our author seemed a little disconcerted at first by
the unceremonious manner in which the men had
treated him, but he soon recovered his usual selfcomplacency, and took it all in good part.
"My friend," said I, as I rode up to him, "the men
didn't seem very well pleased at your halting them in
the road to make a note of their looks."
"No," he replied, "and I can't blame them much
for being a little impatient, under the circumstances;
but if I had only taken the precaution to read them a
chapter or two from the'Wayworn Wanderer' before
I told them what I wanted, I have no doubt they
would willingly have put themselves to some inconvenience to aid me in perfecting such a work."
"Oh, no doubt of that," I answered.
"The fact is," continued the author, "I'm beginning to lose some of my interest in the book myself,
I28 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
for this wretched thirst torments me so I can think of
nothing but water, in some shape or other-river
water, lake water, spring water, or even a duck-puddle
would have more interest for me now than I ever took
in one of Cooper's novels before I found him out.
Captain," he went on, "don't you see any signs of
water hereabouts at all?"
"No," I answered, "but I hope we won't have to
pass another night without it, for if we should, our
animals will be seriously injured, to say nothing of
what we will have to suffer ourselves."
Luckily, just before night, we struck a sort of
lagoon, or the dry bed of a branch, which we followed
down for some distance, and at length came to a little
pool of muddy water. With great difficulty, we kept
our horses from plunging into it until we had filled
our canteens, when we turned them loose, and in a
few moments they drank it dry. They did not get half
as much as they wanted, but still there was enough to
partially slake their thirst.
What we had taken up in our canteens was so thick
with mud that we could scarcely pour it out, and yet
our author declared it was the best water he ever
drank, and that the flavor of' the mud was rather an
addition to it than otherwise; of which fact he said
he intended to make a "note," as it controverted the
popular idea that the water of "crystal streams" and
"purling brooks" was the best.
We encamped near this lagoon for the night, and at
daylight the next morning we were on the way again,
for we did not wait for breakfast, as there was not
water enough left in our canteens to make a cup of
coffee.
I29 
CHAPTER XXIV.
Plenty of Water-A Halt for Refreshment-Our Author
Among the Rocks-He Meets with an Adventure-Treed by
Mexican Hogs-He Grows Desperate-Is Released at Last
-Adventure with a Rattlesnake-More Scared Than Hurt.
E had traveled but a few miles, when our
trail led us into a narrow pass in the hills,
and after going up this two or three miles
farther, we came to one of the most beautiful little
valleys I had ever seen, through the midst of which
there ran a bold stream of water, bordered by fine
large cypress and pecan trees. The grass in this valley
was luxuriant, and the Indians we were following
had stopped in it some time to recruit their horses,
after passing over the desert country we had just come
through, as was evident from the quantity of bones
and other offal around their camps. As our horses had
had but little grass for the last two days, I thought it
would be good policy to follow their example, and
rest them here until the next day. So we picked out a
suitable place for a camp-ground, in a grove of pecans,
and staked the animals out to graze.
Our author was a great geologist, I think he called
it, as well as a book-maker, and would frequently talk
to me about the "stratas" and the "primary" and "tertiary" formations, though I told him I did not know
anything of such matters; and whenever we stopped
to camp, he would frequently "boge" about for hours
among the caverns and gulches, hunting what he called
"specimens," and come back with his pockets filled 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
with rocks, which he would sort out and label, and
then store them away carefully in his saddle-bags. On
one occasion I heard one of my men say to another,
"Bill, what in the thunder do you suppose the'author'
has got in his saddle-wallets, that makes them so
heavy?"
"Don't know," said Bill, unless they are nuggets."
"Nuggets?" said the other; "they are rocks just
like these you see laying all around here. I know it is
so, for I looked into them this morning!"
"Why," answered Bill, "what do you reckon the
fool is packing them about.for?"
"No idea," said the other, "unless he has no faith
in that'bird-gun' and'pepper-box' he totes, and intends to fight with them when we catch up with these
Ingens. The truth is, Bill," he continued, "the fellow
is as crazy as a bed-bug, sure, and if he only had any
weepins about him that could hurt a body, I should
keep my eye skinned on him, certain."
In fact, by this time the belief was prevalent among
the men that our author was really "unsettled" in his
mind, which supposition proved, in the end, of service
to him, for of course they could not hold a crazy man
responsible for anything he did.
As soon after our halt as he had unsaddled and
staked his horse, he went out, as usual, hunting "specimens" in the ravines and gullies among the hills. I
was just settling myself upon my blanket, to take a
comfortable snooze, when we heard him "halloo"
repeatedly about half a mile from camp.
"There," said one of the men, "there is that crazy
chap got into a scrape with another buck, I suppose,
and somebody will have to go and help him out of it."
I3I 
THE ADVENTURES OF
"Yes," said another, "and the first thing he knows
he will have his'hair lifted,''boging' about alone,
with nothing but that'pop-gun' of his to fight with.
He had better trust to his'umbrell'."
I was satisfied, however, it could not be a buck that
was after him this time, for I had noticed, when he
left camp, that he did not take his "pop-gun" along
with him, and as he continued to "sing out" louder
and louder, I at length picked up my rifle, and started
off to see what sort of a scrape he had got into. At
the bottom of a deep ravine, I found him sitting on
the top of a chaparral bush, with his memorandum
book in his hand, and about a dozen Mexican hogs
around him. He was barely out of their reach, and
every now and then, one of them would make a pass
at his legs, whenever he stretched them down to relieve them a little from the constrained position in
which he was compelled to keep them.
As soon as I appreciated the situation of affairs, I
scrambled up into a mesquite-tree, about thirty paces
from where our author was roosting, for I knew very
well these "havilinas," when excited and roused, were
the most dangerous of all our wild animals. When in
considerable numbers, they frequently attack a man
with great ferocity, and are almost certain to cut him
to pieces with their terrible tusks, unless he can effect
a timely retreat, for they are much more active and
swift on foot than the common wild hog.
When I found myself safe from their attacks, I
called out to our author to know what he was doing
on that bush.
"Hallo! Captain!" he called out, "is that you?"
(for the hogs had kept him so busy he had not noticed
I32 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
me till then). "I am as glad to see you as I was when
the buck was after me. I hope, though, you will not
be quite so deliberate as you were on that occasion."
"Yes," I answered, "but what are you doing on the
top of that bush?"
"Doing!" said he. "Can't you see that I am trying
to keep my legs out of the reach of these outrageous
wild pigs, and it is as much as I can do at that. There!
did you see that scroundrel make a pass at me?"
"Why don't you drive them away?" I asked.
"Drive them away!" replied our author. "I have
thrown all my specimens at them, and everything else
I had about me except my memorandum book, and it
only makes them worse. They are not afraid of anything."
Said I,''"Mr. Author," fixing myself comfortably
on a limb, "this reminds me of a scrape I once got into
with these'havilinas,' that would do for a chapter in
the'Wayworn Wanderer;' and as we are comfortably
fixed out here, all by ourselves, I could not have a
better chance of telling it to you."
"Comfortable!" he exclaimed. "You have strange
ideas of it, if you think a man can be comfortable,
sitting on the top of your abominable Texas chaparral, with his knees drawn up to his chin, a thorn in each
leg as long as my finger, and a dozen wild hogs making lunges at them whenever he stretches them down
for a moment's ease. For heaven's sake, shoot them,"
he implored, "and let me out of this nest of thorns."
"I can't," I replied. "I have only the bullet that is
in my gun, and if I shoot one of them, it will make the
rest ten times worse."
I33 
THE ADVENTURES OF
"You don't tell me so, captain," he answered;
"then what in the world shall we do?"
"Why," said I, "the only thing we can do now, is to
be patient, and wait until the moon rises to-night, and
I think then the'havilinas' will leave us."
"Oh! don't talk to me about the moon's rising. It
won't be up till I2 o'clock, at least, and I can't stand
this fifteen minutes longer, no how. Crackey! that
fellow gave me a grazer! He has taken off the heel
of my boot on his tusks!"
"You see, Mr. Author," I continued, pretending
not to hear what he said, "it was about six years ago,
that Bill Hankins and I were out'bear-hunting' on the
head-waters of the Leon, when-"
"Plague take that fellow, he brought blood that
time, certain!" said our author. "Their teeth are as
sharp as razors."
"As I was saying," I went on, "it was about six
years ago that Bill HIankins and I were out bear-hunting on the head-waters of the Leon, when we fell in
with a large drove of these'havilinas'."
"They are gnawing my bush down," said our
author, in a pitiable tone; "they will have it down in
less than ten minutes."
"As I was saying," I continued, "it was about six
years ago that Bill Hankins and I were out bear-hunting on the head-waters of the Leon, when we fell in
with a large drove of havilinas, and before we were
aware of our danger "
"Shuh! you devils," said our author, flinging his
last missile, his memorandum book, at the hogs, as
they made a general rush on his bush.
I34 
TREED BY MEXICAN HOGS
or _  
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
"Mr. Author," I said, in an offended tone, "you are
not paying the slightest attention to what I am telling
you. You might learn something even from the Indians in this respect, for, according to Mr. Cooper,
they never interrupt a man when he is talking.
"As I was saying," I continued, "it was about six
years ago that Bill Hankins and I were out bear-hunting on the head-waters of the Leon-"
"Oh! bother Mr. Cooper and Bill Hankins and the
head-waters of the Leon," said our author, losing his
temper at my persistence in relating the anecdote.
"Cooper's a fool. Oh, my! there's a thorn clean
through my back, into the hollow!"
"But, my friend," said I, changing my tactics, "you
ought to bear your troubles with patience, for you
should remember what a thrilling chapter you will be
able to make out of this adventure for the'Wayworn
Wanderer'."
"Oh, yes," said he; "but who will there be to write
it, when I am chawed up by these infuriated pigs like
a handful of acorns?  Oh, dear! they'll have me
directly. I can feel the bush giving way now. Captain," said he, "you will find the manuscript of the
'Wayworn Wanderer' in my saddle-bags. Take it,
and publish it for the benefit of the world, and tell
them of the melancholy fate of the poor author. But
tell them, for mercy's sake, that I was devoured by a
lion, or a panther, or a catamount, or some other decent sort of a beast, and not by a gang of squealing
pigs. It won't sound romantic, you know."
"I'll do it, Mr. Author," said I; "but I hope you
will live long enough yet to tell them all about it your
137 
THE ADVENTURES OF
self. You have a first-rate chance now to study the
habits and appearance of these'havilinas,' and can
write a chapter on them that will be very interesting,
and true to nature. How will you describe them?"
I asked.
"They look to me," he answered, "like a couple of
butcher-knives about as long as my arm, stuck into a
handle covered with hair and bristles!"
"And can you tell me," I said, "what particular
tribe of animals they belong to?"
"Captain," he answered, "I don't feel inclined to
discuss the subject just now, particularly as the subject
is so eager to discuss me; and besides, to tell you the
truth, I think you have selected a most unsuitable
time for propounding your questions in natural history. Oh, my! there goes the leg of my pants, and a
strip of the hide with it!"
"Mr. Author," I said, pretending not to hear his
remarks, "I recollect once reading a chapter in one of
Mr. Cooper's novels, in which he gives a very interesting account of the immense droves of wild pigeons
that were migrating from one part of the country to
another, and-"
"Oh, bother Cooper, I say!" said our author, becoming perfectly frantic, as a thorn touched him up in
the rear, and a pig made a dash at his legs in front.
"Cooper is an unmitigated humbug, and I begin to
think you are not much better. Oh, I can stand this no
longer," said he, "and I'll make a finish of it at once;"
and I verily believe he would have jumped down
right among the hogs in another moment; but just
then I saw several of my men coming toward us from
camp, and said to him:
I38 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
"Hold on a minute, Mr. Author; there come some
men to help us, and we'll soon rout the beasts now."
Seeing that we were both treed by some sort of
"varmints," the men hurried up, shot several of the
hogs, and the balance, finding we mustered too strong
for them, quickly retreated into the chaparral.
Our author came down from his roost, and threw
himself at full length upon the ground, for the purpose, as he said, of getting the tucks out of his legs.
After he had rested himself for awhile, and picked
out all the thorns that had been left sticking in his
flesh, he rose up considerably refreshed in mind and
body, and we walked back toward camp.
"I am afraid, Mr. Author," said I, as we sauntered
along, "you will begin to think you are paying pretty
dearly for the information you are collecting in the
wilderness."
"Not at all, captain," he answered, "for I know
that no great undertaking was ever accomplished
without labor and many difficulties to be overcome. A
novel such as I intend the'Wayworn Wanderer' to be,
cannot be written except by one thoroughly posted on
the subjects of which it treat s. I will confess, however, that once or twice since I came out (particularly
when I was in that disagreeable position on top of the
chaparral-bush) I have wished I had never undertaken the job; but that, you see, was only a momentary weakness, and I shall not give way to it hereafter.
'Richard's himself again,' "he said, flapping his arms
across his breast like a play-actor.
Now, there was one thing of which our author was
exceedingly afraid, and that was a snake. He was in
I39 
THE ADVENTURES OF
constant fear of them, day and night, and, like all.
people who have a great dread of snakes, he could
find more of them in the course of the day than any
six men in the company. He was forever finding
snakes, at all times, and in localities, where nobody
else could have found one if he had hunted closely for
a week. Now, it so happened that just as he made
this last heroic speech, and in the very act of flapping
his arms against his breast, he put his foot upon a
large rattlesnake that was coiled up in a bunch of
grass. The snake rattled, and struck his teeth into his
buckskin leggings.
"Oh! oh!" he sang out, dropping his feathers like
a strutting gobbler when he hears a gun go off, at the
same time making a most extraordinary leap to one
side; "I am gone now to a certainty. This reptile has
bitten me to the bone."
When the snake struck him, the fangs penetrated
partially into the tough, spongy buckskin of his leggings, and as our author sprang off he dragged the
snake along with him. The moment he discovered
that the snake was fastened to him, he kicked out
frantically with his legs, and exclaimed, in the most
piteous accents:
"Take him off, captain, for heaven's sake; take him
off before he swallows me alive."
The snake was torn loose after the first vigorous
kick; in the excitement of the moment, however, our
author never noticed it, but continued his kicking until
at last he fell to the ground from pure exhaustion,
where he lay rolling and squirming apparently in the
greatest agony. I ran up to him, and taking hold of
him, said:
I4o 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
"Mr. Author, are you bit?"
"Bit!" said he; "you can't put your finger on a place
that isn't bit. I'm poisoned from head to foot by the
reptile! The jig is up with me now, certain. Oh!
what a fool I was to venture out into this howling
wilderness, where you can't go forty yards from camp
without running a great risk of being devoured by
some wild beast, nor put your foot down without
treading on a snake."
I really feared at first that the snake had bitten him,
and I hastily rolled up his leggings and looked for the
wound, but couldn't find the slightest sign of one, except some scratches made by the thorns of the chaparral bush.
"Mr. Author," said I, "you are all safe; the snake
hasn't even grazed the skin."
"Are you sure he hasn't bit me?" he asked.
"Yes," I replied, "I'll warrant your life for a gingercake. Why, Mr. Author," I continued, "you are
in luck to-day. You have scarcely finished your adventure with the havilinas when here you are collecting material enough for another thrilling chapter of
the'Wayworn Wanderer'."
"Yes," said he, "that's true enough, and I can work
up a very interesting chapter on'snakes' out of this,
there is no doubt; but, let me tell you, I don't want to
collect'material' quite so rapidly. I would rather
these incidents would occur a little wider apart, and
give me time enough to catch my breath.'Enough is
as good as a feast.' I am willing to make a martyr of
myself now and then for the sake of immortality, but
I can't afford to do it every fifteen minutes in the day."
I4I 
THE ADVENTURES OF
We got back to camp without any further incident
happening on the way, but I caught an idea from the
last which I resolved to carry out for the benefit of our
author, the first good opportunity that might present
itself, and thus furnish him with the "material" for
another thrilling chapter of the "Wayworn Wanderer."
I42 
CHAPTER XXV.
Another Rattlesnake-How to Manage Rattlesnakes-Terrific
Adventure with a Grape-vine Rattlesnake.
T'-AHE next day I rode along with our author,
knowing if there was a rattlesnake on the road
he would be sure to find it; and in fact he soon
stirred up one, and I got down and killed it and pulled
off its rattles, which I slipped into my pocket, unnoticed by our author. "Captain," said.he, as I remounted, "how in the world have you managed to live
so long and camp out so much at night in this wilderness without ever having been bitten by a rattlesnake?"
"Why, you see," I answered, "if you don't lose
your presence of mind, there's very little danger of a
rattlesnake's biting you, even when he crawls to bed
with you at night. When you discover one crawling
under your blankets, all you've got to do is to lie still
and let him fix himself to his notion (and they always
pick out the warmest places), and as soon as he is fast
asleep, you can jump up without the least danger of
being bitten; but if you should move a peg before he
has settled himself, he'll'nip you' to a certainty."
"Yes," replied our author, "but who could lie still
under such circumstances?"
"I have," said I, "a hundred times. One dark night,
about a year ago, when I was camping near the edge
of a thick chaparral, I felt a fellow crawling under my
blanket. I lay perfectly still, and let him select his own
locality, and nothing would do him but a place right 
THE ADVENTURES OF
along side of my face. I tell you it was pretty hard
work to keep quiet when I felt his scaly sides rubbing
up against my neck and face, as he slowly wound himself in his coil. After he had fixed himself to his
notion, I lay perfectly still a few moments longer, to
make sure he was asleep, and then sprang up suddenly,
and striking a light, soon had the gentleman's head
mashed as flat as a pancake. Remember, Mr. Author,"I continued, "there's no danger at all of a rattlesnake's biting you at night, if you only lie still and
keep quiet until he settles himself."
"Yes," said our author; "but who could lie still and
keep quiet (unless he was made out of cast-iron) while
a rattlesnake was slowly coiling itself up in his bosom?
Ugh! the bare idea makes me shudder from head to
foot."
I saw that my "snake story" had produced the desired effect upon him, and for the time I dropped the
subject. The next night we encamped in a very snakylooking locality, and I cut off a piece of grape-vine
about as thick as an ordinary rattlesnake, which I
slyly slipped under the edge of our blanket just before
we "turned in." About half an hour after we had lain
down, I drew out the slip of grape-vine and ran it
slowly along the author's back, at the same time
gently shaking my rattles, which I held in the other
hand. He was just on the eve of dropping off to sleep,
but the crawling motion and the "rattling" aroused
him in an instant.
"Oh! murder, captain," said he, "there's a rattlesnake crawling along my back! What in the world am
I to do?"
I44 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
"I know it," I answered, "I hear him rattling now
(and I gently shook the rattles I held in my hand).
Lie still, and don't move a muscle until he coils up."
"Oh, yes," said the poor fellow (and his teeth fairly
chattered from fright), "it's easy enough for you to
say lie still when I am between you and the snake, but
it isn't so easy for me, for I can feel him squirming
along my back now."
"I know that," said I, "but you must lie still, for the
first motion you make, he will have his fangs into you,
sure."
"Oh!" said the poor fellow, as I gave the vine
another serpentine twist along his back, "this is more
than human nature can bear-ugh! ugh! Captain,
can't you do anything for me?"
"There's no danger at all," I said, "if you will only
keep still; he will soon settle himself, and then you
can jump up without the least risk of being bitten.
When he quits rattling altogether," said I, shaking
the rattles in my hand, "you will know that he's
asleep."
"Captain," he replied, in a faint and husky voice,
as I gave the vine another twist and shook the rattles,
"this is past endurance. I must get out of this at all
hazards."
"Unless you want to die," said I, "don't do it, but
lie as still as a mouse when puss is about. By the way,
Mr. Author," said I, "can you tell me whether the
rattlesnake is confined to the American continent, or
if he is to be found also in other countries? I have
heard a great many opposite opinions on the subject,
some pretend to think," I continued, giving the vine
I45
I..
X  a e:@ 
THE ADVENTURES OF
another twist, "that they are a species of the Cobra di
Capello, the most poisonous serpent in the world."
"Captain," said our author, getting the better of
his fright for the moment, in his indignation at being
asked such an untimely question, "I like an inquiring
mind, but I must say that you select the strangest occasions imaginable for obtaining information upon such
subjects. Why, man," he continued, in a rage, and
totally unsuspicious that I was playing upon him, "do
you suppose a man is in a condition to anwser any
question rationally with a rattlesnake spooning up to
his back?"
"There is no doubt," said I, pretending not to
notice what he had said, and giving the vine another
rake along his back, "that if they are not a species of
the Cobra, they are just as poisonous, for I have seen
a man die in twenty minutes after he had been bitten
by one of them. There was Jake Thompson, who was
bit on the foot by one, when we were scouting a year
or two ago on the Nueces, and he didn't live long
enough to say'Jack Robinson, Junior;' and yet in that
little time he turned as black in the face as a negro,
and his body swelled up till he was as big as a'skinned
horse'."
"Captain," said he, "will you do me the favor to
postpone the balance of that interesting story for another occasion? I'll back you against the world for
picking out the most unsuitable times for telling your
yarns."
"Oh! I beg your pardon," said I, "I forgot you
wasn't broke into the ways of the wilderness yet.
When you have'bunked' with a hundred rattlesnakes,
as I have done, you won't mind it a bit. I recollect
I46
. 4e 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
about six years ago, when Bill Hankins and me were
out hunting on the head-waters of the Leon, we
camped one night-"
"Oh! good gracious," said the author, "Bill Hankins again, and the head-waters of the Leon! Captain, I want you to distinctly understand that I've
heard just as much as I desire of Bill Hankins and the
head-waters of Leon, and-"
"Oh! very well," I said, interrupting him in turn,
and shaking my rattles, and screwing the vine into the
small of his back, "I've no wish at all to force my
stories upon you."
"Ugh!" said the poor fellow, "this is past all endurance. Captain, remember me to all inquiring
friends, and don't forget that the manuscript of the
'Wayworn Wanderer' is in my saddle-bags. Give it
to the world with all its imperfections!"
"Hold on just one minute longer," I said, giving
the rattles a vicious shake, "and you will be all right."
"Not another second," he cried, "it's no use talking, I may just as well die one way as another," and
he made a desperate bound from under the blanket,
and pitched head foremost on the ground ten or
twelve paces off.
I seized a bottle of "Chili pepper-sauce" and ran to
where he was lying. "Here, Mr. Author," I said,
"drink this quick!" He took it, and in the hurry and
excitement of the moment, hastily swallowed about a
pint of the contents.
"Gracious," said I, "you have made another wonderful escape."
"I don't know so well about that," said he, sputtering and gasping for breath. "I'm afraid I'm bit."
I47 
THE ADVENTURES OF
"Do you feel," I asked, "as if you were up to your
waist in a kettle of melted lead?"
"Not exactly," he replied, drawing his breath
through his teeth, "but I feel as though I had swallowed a quart or so of it."
"Then," said I, "you are all safe, and you have
made the most wonderful escape on record. No one
before has ever missed being bit, who sprang off as
you did, before the snake had coiled himself up. A
most extraordinary escape, truly," I continued.
"What in the world," said he, "was that stuff you
gave me just now?"
"That," replied I, "is an antidote I always keep for
the bite of snakes. I got it from'Puppy's Foot,' the
Tonkawa chief, and if taken in time it will kill the
poison of the most venomous snake."
"I have no doubt of it," said our author; "it would
kill old Satan himself. It is hot enough to scald the
throat out of a brass monkey. For mercy's sake, give
me some water to cool my coppers."
I handed over the gourd to him, and he took a long
swig at it, then seating himself on a log by the fire, in
spite of my remonstrances, he persisted in sitting up
the balance of the night.
I48 
CHAPTER XXVI.
Fresh Signs of the Indians-Our Author in Trouble Again      Scatter Guns Compared with Bows and Arrows.
-.HE  next morning, the little author looked so
pale and haggard, after his terrible encounter
with the snake, I really felt sorry for him, and
inwardly resolved that I would play no more such
practical jokes upon him. However, he had got such
a scare that from that time until his return to the
"settlements," he never slept again upon the ground.
By means of a blanket and a staking rope, the first
thing he did of an evening when we stopped to camp
was to rig up an impromptu hammock, which he would
stretch between two trees, out of the reach of snakes
and other varmints, and in this airy roosting-place he
would safely swing till morning.
Day after day, we followed our Indian trail with
dogged perseverance, never leaving it for a moment,
except when we were in search of a suitable campingplace for the night. On the morning of the fifteenth
day after leaving my ranch on the Medina, we struck
the range of high hills in which the head-waters of the
Guadalupe take their rise. Here, the trail was so
fresh, and other indications of the proximity of the
Indians were so apparent, that I determined to move
forward with the utmost caution, as I could hope to
effect nothing of importance with the small force I
had with me, except by taking the Indians by surprise.
I therefore struck camp in a little valley, shut in on 
THE ADVENTURES OF
all sides by high hills, and sent forward, on foot, two
of my most experienced trailers to reconnoitre.
I had issued strict orders against the firing of guns,
for fear some straggling Indians might be in the vicin ity and give the alarm, and I was, therefore, much
astonished when, a short time after we had halted, I
heard the report of a gun in camp; and looking round
I discovered our little author running toward me for
dear life, and a big fellow by the name of Bill Hawkins in close pursuit of him, with a poking stick in his
hand, which he evidently intended to make use of as
soon as he could get within striking distance. It was
"nip and tuck" between them, but the little author
fairly kept the lead until he reached me, when he
jumped behind my back as nimbly as he had done
behind the tree when the buck was after him upon a
former occasion.
"Hello!" said I to Hawkins, as he came up, puffing
and blowing, "what's the row now?"
"Look here, captain," said he, pulling at a few
crisped remnants of hair that still hung to one side of
his head, "look what that dratted author has done to
me! He's let off his little'scatter gun' right into my
face, and hasn't left hair enough on my head for a nit
to hatch in. Phew! I smell worse than a singed'possum! The little varmint ain't no more fit to handle a
gun than a ribbed-nose baboon."
"See here, my friend,"' said our little author, stepping boldly forward, and beginning to shuck off his
coat, "the firing of my gun was entirely accidental,
and I am sorry I singed your hair off in that way; but
if you are determined to make a fighting matter of it,
you can'pitch in' as soon as you please."
ISO 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
Bill weighed about two hundred pounds, exclusive
of accoutrements, and was known all over the country
as the toughest hand in a bear-fight west of Colorado
River; but when he saw the little author spunking up
to him in that way, and beginning to peel in readiness
for a fight, his anger was gone in a moment, and a
good-natured smile spread over his weather-beaten
features.
"Well," said he, "my little fellow, I'spose the gun
did go off accidentally, but I've noticed they always do
so (unless they snap) when they are loaded and somebody cocks'em and pulls the trigger. However, we'll
not fight about it this time, for the fact is," Bill continued, winking at me, and looking down upon the
"scant pattern" of the little author, "you rather'oversize my pile;' so you kin just put on your coat agin for
the present. I'm snapped, though, if you ever git another showing at my head with that pop-gun of
yourn;" and saying this, Bill stalked back to his camp,
smoothing down as he went along the singed and
crisped remnants of his yellow locks.
'"It's too bad," said the little author, in a vexed
tone, "but that is certainly the most perverse gun of
mine that was ever made. Whenever I want it to
shoot, I can't get it to go off unless I stick a chunk of
fire to the touch-hole; but when I least expect it, bang!
it goes without the least provocation in the world. I
wish I could swap it for a good bow and arrows!
They never go off till you are ready; and, besides,
there is a sort of romance associated with archery that
carries one back to the days of chivalry-of clothyard shafts, and the good old times of Robin Hood."
"Well," said I, not understanding exactly what our
I 5 I 
THE ADVENTURES OF
author meant by all this rigmarole, "I have seen a
great many men in my time spitted with'dogwood
switches,' but I never heard one of them yet complain of feeling anyways romantic under the circumstances. But the truth is, Mr. Author, if you only
understood the use of'em, you might have a worse
weapon than a good bow and arrows; at least, I know
they are pretty dangerous in the hands of an Indian.
They can shoot their arrows faster than you can fire
a revolver, and almost with the accuracy of a rifle at
the distance of fifty or sixty yards, and with such force
that I have frequently seen them drive a shaft through
and through a full-grown buffalo.
"I remember once, in a little scrimmage we had
with the Indians on the head of the Leon ('Oh, my!'
exclaimed the author,'there's the head of that Leon
again!'), I saw one of them drive an arrow through
a man at the distance of seventy-five or eighty paces,
and into another, who was standing just behind him;
and there they were, fastened together like a couple
of Siamese twins. The man in front was killed instantly, but the one behind at length kicked loose from
the traces and eventually got well, though he carries
the head of the arrow in his breast to this day.
"The heads of the arrows used in war are barbed,
and fastened on very slightly with deer sinews, so that
when an attempt is made to extract them from anything into which they may be driven, they are almost
always left behind in the wound. The only alternative
is to push them through, whatever may be in their
way-heart, liver, or lungs; but this, as you may well
suppose, is a very dangerous operation, and besides,
not a very pleasant one, even when not followed by
I52 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
fatal consequences. There is one serious drawback,
however, to the bow and arrows in the hands of the
Indians, and that is, that they are almost useless in
very damp or rainy weather, owing to the fact that the
strings they use are made of deer sinews, which
stretch so much when wet that it is almost impossible
to keep the bow properly strung; and, for this reason,
it is always most prudent to attack an Indian force in
misty or rainy weather, for they have to rely, then,
mainly upon their old flint-and-steel guns, which are
poor weapons except at very close quarters. There,"
said I, "Mr. Author, are some facts in regard to
archery which you may note down in the'Wayworn
Wanderer' as beyond dispute."
I53 
CHAPTER XXVII.
The Indians Overtaken-Desperate Fight-The Author Proves
Himself a Good Soldier-The Indian Girl —The Author Has
a Race for His Life-The Ujmbrella Comes in Play-Gath ering Up the Spoils-The Horses Recovered-Farewell to
the Author.
LITTLE before sundown, the trailers I had
sent out reported that they had discovered
a large Indian camp about six miles beyond
where we were, and that they were confident the In dians had no suspicion of our proximity. I at once
determined to make an early start next,morning, so
as to reach the Indian camp about daylight. Every thing was got in readiness for the move, and by 3
o'clock we were all mounted and on trail again. There
was no moon, and the night consequently was very
dark, but we found no difficulty in following the trail,
as our guides had so recently passed over it.
Just as the first streak of daylight became visible in
the east, we came in view of the Indian encampment,
situated in a pecan grove in the centre of a beautiful
valley, which was hemmed in by high rugged hills on
all sides, except in the direction we were approaching
it. The smokes from their smouldering fires rose up
in slim straight columns above the trees, and not a
sound disturbed the deep silence that reigned around,
except the occasional yelp of a cur in the encampment,
or the distant howling of a wolf among the hills.
The Indians evidently had had no notice of our
approach. As I gazed upon the quiet and peaceful
scene, I could not help feeling some compunctions of 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
conscience for the "bloody awakening" that was soon
to rouse up my old friends and allies from their morning slumbers; but then, when I thought of the
"scurvy," rascally trick they had played me, I dismissed all such ideas from my mind, and made my
arrangements for an immediate attack upon the encampment.
About one-half of my men, led by Nathans, an old
Rocky Mountain hunter, I sent around to the left,
under cover of a low range of hills, with instructions
to attack the Indians in the rear, whilst I slowly moved
forward with the balance to assail them in front. A
discharge of guns from the first party was to be a
signal for a general assault.
I advanced my party to within one hundred and
fifty yards of the encampment under cover of a thicket
of dogwood, and there halted to wait for the concerted signal. In a few minutes the keen report of a
dozen rifles was heard on the opposite side of the encampment, warning us that the time for action had
arrived, and putting spurs to our horses, we dashed
furiously into the Indian village, and dismounting
from our horses, we poured in a deadly fire from our
rifles and "repeaters" upon the warriors, as they
rushed out, confused and frightened, from the doors
of their lodges. But, although taken completely by
surprise, they fought with great desperation and obstinacy, and for half an hour the possession of the
camp was hotly contested by both parties. At one
time I thought I should be compelled to beat a retreat,
for the Indians greatly outnumbered us, but just at
this juncture the fall of one of their head chiefs threw
them into momentary confusion, and taking advan
I 5 S 
THE ADVENTURES OF
tage of it, we charged them so vigorously that they at
length slowly and sullenly retreated into a thick chaparral in the vicinity of their camp, leaving twentyseven of their warriors dead upon the ground. Their
wounded they carried off with them.
During the fight, I noticed our author several times
busily "pegging away" with his little bird-gun, and
every now and then yelling like a "tiger cat," whenever he saw an Indian fall, but I am very sure
(although I believe his will was good) that nothing
ever fell before his fire, except the top of a mesquitebush, a few feet from the muzzle of his gun. He was,
however, evidently under the impression himself that
everything depended upon his personal exertions, and
he "blazed away" and hurrahed, and jumped around,
ordering this one to do that, and that one to do this,
until he was in a lather of sweat, and looked like a
stunted coal-heaver, on account of the way in which
he had smeared his hands and face with gunpowder.
The men, of course, paid no attention to his orders;
nevertheless the little author evidently had risen a
hundred per cent in their estimation from the courage
he displayed, and the recklessness with which he exposed himself to the fire of the Indians.
In the very height of the engagement, and just at
the time I began to think seriously of quitting the field,
I heard a shrill voice exclaim, "Oh, que, Wallace!"
and a young Indian girl darted out of a lodge near by,
and seizing the skirt of my hunting-shirt, she clung to
it frantically until the fight was over, and the warriors
were in the act of retreating.
I felt sorry for the poor little thing, and tried my
best, by keeping her behind me, to shield her from the
I56 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
bullets and arrows that were flying about thick and
fast; but unluckily, in the very last volley the Indians
gave us, a stray bullet struck her full in the breast, and
she sank to the ground. I dropped my rifle and raised
her up in my arms, but I saw in a moment that she had
received a fatal wound, for her eyes were already
glazing, and she was gasping for breath.  I laid her
down upon the soft green grass at the foot of a pecantree, and for an instant she seemed to revive. Looking sorrowfully at me, she said, in broken English and
Spanish:
"Oh, Capitan Wallace, I know you. Mi madremi pobrecito padre-no kill'em-adios"-and then
a slight shudder passed over her, her head gently fell
back upon my arm, and the poor little thing was beyond the trials and troubles of this wicked world.
The sort of life that I had led had not been one
particularly to soften a fellow's heart, but I am not
ashamed to own, as I gazed upon the stiffening form
of this forest child, so cruelly cut down by the hands
of her own friends and relatives, that my eyes were
dimmed with tears, and I sincerely wished on her
account that I had permitted her tribe to go unpunished for breaking the treaty they had made with me.
However, it was too late then to indulge in useless
regrets; and in fact I had no time to do so, for the
Indians, when they retreated, had quickly made off for
some place in the vicinity where their horses were
staked out, and mounting them, they returned and renewed the fight with greater obstinacy than ever. We
mounted our horses, also, and in this way the contest
for the possession of the village was continued for
half an hour longer. But, although they outnumbered
I57 
THE ADVENTURES OF
us still at least two to one, the superiority of our
weapons, especially our revolvers, which at that time
were almost unknown to the Indians, more than made
up for our deficiency in numbers, and they at length
gave way. Breaking up into little squads, they fled in
every direction before my men, who followed them in
the same disorderly manner.
Just at this stage of the game, having seen nothing
of our little author for some time, I looked around to
ascertain what had become of him. Casting my eyes
up the open valley to our left, I saw him coming "full
split" toward me, on "Old Paint," bare-headed and
apparently unarmed, and a half dozen mounted Indians in close pursuit of him. Two or three of us, who
happened to be near by, immediately spurred our
horses and galloped out to meet him, to help him in
any way we could in making good his retreat, although
from the rapidity with which the Indians lessened the
distance between the little author and themselves, I
had but faint hopes that we could reach him before
they came up with him. "Old Paint," however, held
his own much better than any one would have supposed possible; but at length the foremost Indian rode
up so near that we saw him draw back his lance, for
the purpose of driving it through our little friend. At
that moment I gave him up for lost, but the little
author, it seems, had his wits fully about him, and had
been closely watching the motions of the Indians over
his shoulder, for just at this crisis he snatched his
"umbrell" from behind his saddle, and suddenly
wheeling old Paint, he flopped it open right in the eyes
of the Indians' horses.
I58 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
The effect of this masterly movement was instantaneous and magical. The Indians' horses stopped
for a second as suddenly as if they had been turned to
stone, and gazed with terror and astonishment upon
the strange-looking object presented toward them;
then wheeling as quack as lightning, in spite of all the
efforts of their riders, they dashed off like mad in the
direction they had come. In a few minutes the little
author trotted up to where we were, looking as pleasing as a basket of chips, and smiling as complacently
as if he thought it no ways strange at all that he
should have routed a half dozen warriors with no
other weapon than his much-abused "umbrell."
The men were so much "tickled" with his recklessness and daring (for by this time a crowd had gathered around us, who had witnessed the whole proceeding) that they welcomed him as he rode up with a
shout that might have been heard for a mile.,
"Darn my hind sights," said Bill Sykes, an old frontiersman and Indian-fighter, "ef this ain't the first time
I ever knowed or hearn tell of a gang of Ingins bein'
whipped with nothing but an'umbrell.' I never seed
horses so badly'stampeded' before in my life! They'd
just as soon run over a bluff forty feet high as up a
tree, any way to git out of reach of that'umbrell.' Ef
the fellow would only put it up at auction, I'd bid high
on it myself, I would; I'd rather have it than a pair of
Derringers, any day."
"And who'd have thought it?" said another; "the
little cuss has got sand in his craw certain, and backbone enough for a feller three times his length. If
Big-Foot gits'upped' [killed] on this scout, or resigns, I'll vote for him to be captain of this squad,
I59 
THE ADVENTURES OF
sure-don't care if he does fill his saddle-wallets with
rocks, and totes a'pepper-box' for a repeater. He's
true blue and no mistake."
"Well, Mr. Author," said I, as he rode up, "you
have had a closer shave for your life this time than
you did when the buck was after you. I began to think
sure enough that you would never live to finish your
great novel of the'Wayworn Wanderer'."
"Yes," he answered, "I was in a pretty tight place
for a while, and I began to think myself that the world
would never see the revised edition of the'Wayworn
Wanderer.' The fact is though, captain, this'scrimmaging,' as you call it, with the Indians, is a very exciting business, and forgetting the old saying'that discretion is the better part of valor,' I followed a party
of them too far, and before I was aware of my danger, they turned upon me; and dropping my gun and
pistol, which were both empty, I had, as you saw, to
depend on the heels of'Paint' to take me out of the
scrape. But, didn't I send'em to the right-about
though, when I unmasked my'battery' on them?
They went back a good deal faster than they had
come!"
"Yes," said I, "Mr.' Author, you have saved your
scalp pretty cleverly this time; but I would advise you
not to be so venturesome in the future, for fear your
'umbrell' might not serve you as well on another
occasion."
When we got back to the village, we found the men
busily engaged in collecting the "plunder" the Indians
had stowed away in their lodges, and piling it up in the
centre of the square, previous to distribution, and the
amount of it was truly astonishing. Kegs of powder,
i6o 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
sacks of lead, bales of blankets, dry goods, brass kettles, beads, skins, and buffalo-robes, cutlery and hardware of various sorts, and a great variety of camping
and hunting equipments, mostly of their own manufacture. About this time a party of my men came in
from following the retreating Indians, bringing with
them one hundred and seventy head of horses and
mules, which they had found penned up in a corral
near by, and among them were most of those that had
been stolen from me.
Whilst the men were engaged in dividing out the
"plunder" among themselves, or such of it as they
could carry along with them, the little author and I
took an old spade we picked up near one of the lodges,
and going to where I had left the lifeless form of the
Indian maiden, we dug a grave at the foot of a pecantree, and wrapping her up in a clean white blanket, we
gave her as decent a burial as we could. The little
author seemed very sorry when I told him how she
had been accidentally killed in the fight by her own
people, but said he would make her all the amends in
his power for the melancholy fate, by immortalizing
her under the name of "Pa-ha-tal-ca" or the "Soft
Wind," in his great novel of the "Wayworn Wanderer."
In the second fight with the Indians, they lost
twenty-one warriors, making altogether forty-eight
of them killed and left upon the ground. I had but
two men killed and five wounded. The Lipans never
recovered from the fatal blow we gave them on this
occasion. From having been, up to this time, a formidable tribe, able to send out six or eight hundred
warriors into the field, they rapidly dwindled away
I6I 
TIIE ADVENTURES OF
until now they scarcely number a hundred souls, men,
women, and children, all told..
Nothing worthy of note occurred on our way back
home. I parted with our little author at San Antonio,
and he promised me faithfully to send me a copy of
his book as soon as it was published; but I never got
it, nor do I know to this day whether or not he has
ever exposed, as he threatened to do, the "humbugeries" of Mr. Cooper, in his great novel of the "Wayworn Wanderer of the Western Wilds."
i62 
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Wallace Surprises a Party of Indians Who Were Making
Themselves "Comfortable" Near His Ranch.
' NDIANS are sometimes monstrous impudent and
will run the greatest risks without anything to gain
by it. Would you believe, that not more than six
months ago a party of five Tonkawa warriors came
within half a mile of my ranch, and in broad daylight
killed one of my fattest "mavericks," pitched their
camp, and set in for a general jollification?
It happened that morning that Tom Jones, Bill
Decker, Jeff Bonds and myself were out looking after
the stock, when all at once Jeff remarked that he smelt
meat roasting on the coals. I then turned up my nose
to windward and smelt it, too, as plainly as I ever
whiffed fried middling of a frosty morning with the
breeze dead ahead, when I've been coming into camp
after a three-hours' hunt before breakfast. Talk
about your "Hostetter's Bitters," and your "patent
tonics!" the best tonic I know of is a three-hours' hunt
among the hills on a frosty morning. It gives a fellow
an appetite that nothing less than a "mule and a hamper of greens" can satisfy.
Well, as I was saying, just as soon as I smelt
roasted meat, I knew there were Indians about,
although the last place I should have looked, if I had
been hunting for them, would have been the vicinity
of my ranch. Still, I was certain they were there somewhere, for wolves, and panthers, and catamounts, and
other varmints, you see, always take their meat raw; 
THE ADVENTURES OF
so I told the boys to keep quiet and get down and
fasten their horses. We then recapped our guns and
revolvers, and cautiously crept along through the
bushes until we discovered the Indians, not more than
fifty yards from us, where they were making them selves as much at home and as comfortable around
their fire as if they were in the mountains about the
head of the Guadalupe River, which is undoubtedly
the roughest little scope of country to be found in the
State of Texas.
I whispered to Jeff, who was nearest to me:
"Well, don't this beat you? Did you ever know
such impudence before in your life? To kill one of
my fattest'mavericks' and barbecue it in broad daylight, within half a mile of my ranch! Well, if I don't
let'em know I am the landlord of these'diggins' yet,
and bring in a bill for the entertainment they have
had, you may call me'short stock,' if I am six foot
three in my stockings!"
All this time the Indians never suspected we were
near them. There was one big fellow among them,
who must have been six feet two or three inches high
in his stockings (though of course he never had on a
pair in his life), and he was making himself very
prominent around the fire, broiling the fat steaks of
my "maverick" upon the coals, and turning and basting the joints of meat on the spits, all the while laughing and talking just as if he didn't know he was within
a mile of Big-Foot's ranch.
I don't think I ever felt less like giving quarter in
my life but once, and that was when a big buck-nigger,
with a nose like a "dormant" window, and a pair of
lips that looked like he had been sucking a bee-gum
i64 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
and got badly stung in the operation, objected to my
registering as a voter. He was one of the Board of
Registrars at Castroville, but he wasn't in a condition
to object to any one else registering that day, and
probably the next, for I took him a "clue" over the
head that would have stunned a beef, but he never
winked; and changing my tactics, I gave him twelve
inches of solid shoe leather on the shins that brought
him to his milk in short order. The "Buro" fined me
fifty dollars and costs, but the amount isn't paid yet,
and probably won't be until they can get a crowd that
is good at trailing and fighting Indians to pilot the
sheriff to my ranch.
But, to come back to the Indians that were barbecuing my maverick; I determined to take the impudent
chap that was making himself so "prominent" around
the fire into my especial keeping, and I whispered Jeff
to draw a bead on the one sitting down, and to tell Bill
and Tom to shoot at the three standing up. At the
word, all four of our rifles cracked like one gun.
Just as I drew the trigger on him, the big Indian
was lifting a "chunk" of my maverick from the fire.
At the crack of the rifle, the "chunk" flew up in the
air, and the big Indian pitched headforemost on his
face right among the hot coals and ashes, and before
we left there was a stronger smell of roast meat than
ever; but it wasn't my maverick.
Jeff also killed his Indiant dead in his tracks, but
only one of those that Bill and Tom fired at was
wounded, and not very badly at that. They retreated
into the thick chaparral, and we never saw them
again. However, we got all their bows and arrows,
and one first-rate new flint-and-steel rifle, to say noth
I65 
THE ADVENTURES OF
ing of the maverick, which was done to a turn, for, to
give the scamps their due, they do understand roasting meat to a fraction.
The big Indian that I got must have been a sort of
chief, for he had about twenty pounds of brass rings
on his arms, and a "cue" that reached down to his
heels, that "nipped and tucked" in the hot ashes like
a burnt boot. The other Indians took the little hint I
gave them, and have never camped on my premises
since.
I66 
CHAPTER XXIX.
The "Mier Expedition."
}LTURING the fall of 1842, the "Mier Expedi       tion," as it was called, was set on foot by the
authorities of Texas, in retaliation, I suppose,
for the then recent invasion of the Republic by General Woll, and the capture of the city of San Antonio.
Of course, I was "on hand," as usual, and volunteered
my services. Young men are always ready to volunteer on "wild goose" expeditions, and I was no exception to the rule; but as we grow older, we learn a
thing or two, look some time before we leap, and don't
"fly off the handle" quite so easily.
The place of rendezvous was the city of San Antonio, and the volunteers that assembled there for the
expedition were placed under the command of Brigadier-General Somerville, an officer of good standing
and considerable reputation. A motley, mixed-up
crowd we were, you may be certain-broken-down
politicians from the "old States," that somehow had
got on the wrong side of the' fence, and been left out
in the cold; renegades and refugees from justice, that
had "left their country for their country's good," and
adventurers of all sorts, ready for anything or any
enterprise that afforded a reasonable prospect of excitement and plunder. Dare-devils they were all, and
afraid of nothing under the sun (except a due-bill or a
bailiff), and if they had been managed with skill and
judgment, they would undoubtedly have accomplished
all that was expected from the expedition; but dis 
THE ADVENTURES OF
sension, that bane of raw troops, which has so
often brought to grief expeditions of this kind, pre vailed among our leaders, and in a short time after
we had marched on and taken possession of Laredo,
a little village on the eastern shore of the Rio Grande,
the greater portion of our men became dissatisfied
with the way in which matters were managed, and
returned home.
We found no troops in Laredo, and no attempt was
made by the inhabitants to defend it. By the time we
reached the place we had run short of provisions, and
a requisition was made upon the citizens for a supply,
and after obtaining a small quantity in this way, we
marched out of town, and encamped for the night
about three miles below it.
On our way to camp, a man named De Boyce was
accidentally killed by the discharge of a gun in the
hands of a messmate.
We remained at this camp all the next day, and the
day after we took up the line of march down the left
bank of the Rio Grande, keeping well to the eastward
of the settlements on the river, so as to conceal our
advance as much as possible from the enemy's scouts
We continued on southwardly for several days,
through thickets of mesquite and other thorny shrubs,
with which this country is covered, and then turning
due west, soon struck the Rio Grande, about ten miles
above Guerrero. Here we found two or three small
boats, and at once proceeded to cross our whole force,
now less than five hundred men, as Colonel Bennett,
with all the "drafted men," had left us previously,
and taken the "back track" toward home. The boats
were quite small, and but few men could go in them at
I68 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
a time, and the day was pretty well gone before onehalf of our force had landed on the opposite side.
About this time, General Green, who had been sent
forward with a small force to reconnoitre in the direction of Guerrero, came back, closely pursued by a considerable body of Mexican cavalry. The men that
had landed were at once formed in line of battle by
Colonel Cook, and awaited the anticipated attack of
the Mexicans; but, after circling round us and watching our movements from a respectful distance, they
galloped off, and we saw them no more that day.
The next morning, the balance of our men were
crossed over to the western side of the river, and we
marched at once upon Guerrero.- When within half a
mile or so of the town, the alcalde came out to meet
us, and beggd us not to enter the place, as the citizens
had been informed we intended to burn it and put
them all to the sword. His request was complied
with, and we encamped on the Salado, a small stream
about a mile from the village.
The next morning, when we were all anticipating
every moment the order to advance upon the town, we
were astonished by receiving an order from our commander to "prepare to retreat, and to recross the
river as soon as possible." We supposed, however,
that of course our commander had received some information of the movements of the enemy that rendered this sudden retreat necessary, and we were soon
in motion, and never halted until we were all safely
landed again on the eastern bank of the Rio Grande,
where we encamped for the night.
Rumors were rife among the men as to the causes
of this retrograde movement, but nothing definite in
I69 
THE ADVENTURES OF
regard to it seemed to be known to any one. Some
said that our commander, General Somerville, had re ceived orders from the President of Texas to abandon
the expedition, but whether this was so or not I never
knew; at an rate, he left us the next morning, and
took back home with him a considerable number of
the men. I had good reason afterward to regret that
I had not continued my retreat with this crowd, for
verily "discretion is the better part of valor."
Those of us that remained behind (I think, about
two hundred and twenty-four, all told) determined,
as far as possible, to accomplish the objects of the
expedition, and Colonel Fisher, an accomplished and
tried officer, was selected for our "commander-in chief."
The morning after our new organization we re crossed the Rio Grande again, eight miles from Mier,
and marched at once upon the town, which we took
possession of without any opposition. We found no
troops there. The inhabitants were quite friendly
apparently, and readily furnished us with such supplies as we needed; but had I known the Mexican
character as well then as I do now, I should have suspected their sincerity precisely in proportion to the
friendly manner in which they welcomed us. When I
was at school, I learnt a Latin phrase,"Timco Danaos
et dona ferentes" (I fear the Greeks and the gifts they
bring). And beware of the Mexicans, when they
press you to hot coffee and "tortillas." Put fresh caps
on your revolver, and see that your "shooting-irons"
are all in order, for you will probably need them before long. They are a great deal more treacherous
than Indians. If you can manage to get into an In
170 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
dian's camp before he kills you, and can surprise him
into offering you any little hospitality, even a drink of
water, you are safe from him and his clan as long as
you are with them. No temptation would induce him
to "lift your hair."'
But not so with the Mexican. He will feed you on
his best, "senior" you, and "muchas gracias" you, and
bow to you like a French dancing-master, and wind it
all up by slipping a knife under your left shoulderblade! And that's one reason I hate them so. I have
respect for a bold and open enemy, but I despise your
sneaking sort, who are forever hoisting "white flags"
for the purpose of throwing you off your guard.
I171I 
CHAPTER XXX.
Over the Rio Grande Again-A Costly Exchange-Reception
by the Mexicans-Firing an "Escopeta"-Fighting in
Earnest-Captain Cameron and the Mexican Soldier.
WT HEN  we had got all the supplies we
\   needed from the citizens of Mier, we re       V V crossed the river once more and pitched
our camp about four miles east of the town. No plundering was permitted while we were in Mier, and
everything we took from the inhabitants was duly
paid for according to our own estimate of its value,
and of course the prices were quite reasonable.
The next day after our return to the east side of the
river, some of the scouts we had left on the west side
to watch the motions of the enemy, came into camp
and reported that a large body of Mexican troops
were marching into Mier. This we regarded as a
banter for a fight; so we struck tents, crossed the river
once more and for the last time, and marched on the
city, which, as our spies had truly reported, we now
found strongly garrisoned by a considerable Mexican
force.
Before we crossed the river, a certain number of
our men were detailed to remain at camp as a guard
for our horses and baggage, and it was my luck to be
chosen one of them. But I did not fancy that sort of
business, and resolved, by some means or other, to
make one of the detachment that was to advance on
Mier. As it happened, one of my messmates, who had
as little inclination for the front as I had for guarding 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
horses in the rear, proffered to exchange places with
me, to which I, of course, readily consented, and at
the time we were both, no doubt, well satisfied with
the arrangement; but it wasn't a great while before I
rued the trade I had made with him, and would gladly
have swapped back again and given considerable
"boot."
Between 3 and 4 o'clock in the evening, our whole
detachment had crossed the river, and we at once took
up the line of march for Mier. WVe saw no signs of
the enemy, except a few mounted scouts, who  retreated expeditiously as soon as we came in sight,
until we came to the Alcantero, a little stream a few
hundred yards from the town.
Here we made all necessary preparations and advanced to the attack; but in place of hot coffee and
tortillas, as in the former instance, we were received
by the Mexicans with shouts of defiance, and heavy
discharges from their "escopetas."
These "escopetas" are a short bell-mouth, bulldoggish looking musket, carrying a very heavy ball,
which is "death by the law" when it hits, but that is
seldom, for they shoot with little accuracy. They are
good for nothing, except to make a noise, and a volley
from them always put me in mind of the old saying
about shearing hogs-"Great cry and little wool."  I
never fired one of them but once, and that was at the
battle of the Salado, near San Antonio.
During the fight, I came across a dead Mexican
with one in his hands, and as my rifle was empty at
the time, I hastily caught it up, placed the breech
against my shoulder, as I was in the habit of doing
with my own gun, and fired at a party of the enemy
I73 
THE ADVENTURES OF
who were retreating from the field. My first impression was that I had been struck with a nine-pound
cannon-ball. It kicked me heels over head, and I suppose kept on kicking me after I was down, for when
I "came to" I found that my nose was unjointed and
two of my ribs stove in. I have since found that the
Mexicans never place them to the shoulder, but hold
them with both hands above their heads and fire at
random, which accounts in a great measure for the
little execution done by them.
But to come back to my story. The Mexicans received us, as I said, with heavy discharges from these
escopetas, and after some sharp skirmishing we got
possession of a portion of the town, and the fighting
began in earnest.
Among us there were some of the best marksmen
in the world, backwoodsmen from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas, and every "greaser" that ventured
to peep at us above the parapets of the houses, and
round the corners of the streets, was sure to get a
bullet through his head.
In the meantime, with crowbars and picks, some of
us were busily engaged in breaking through the stone
walls of the buildings, and in this way we were rapidly
advancing toward the "square," in the centre of the
town. Night, however, came on and put an end, for
the time, to the contest.
So far, we had lost but one man killed (Major
Jones, former Postmaster-General of the Republic).
The Mexican loss must have been considerable, but
we had no means of ascertaining the extent of it.
Just as the fight ended, two or three of us had
picked our way into a room, where we found a table
I74 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
well covered with various sorts of eatables-"chili con
carne," "tortillas," etc., several bottles of "pulque,"
and a box full of fine "puros," or Spanish cigars. At
first, we were a little suspicious of these things, thinking the Mexicans might have left them on purpose,
for the benefit of the "gringos," and we touched them
sparingly. But hunger at length got the better of our
suspicions, for we had not eaten a bite all day, and we
pitched into them, regardless of consequences, and
made a jolly night of it.
At daylight the next morning the Mexicans began
to blow their bugles and beat their drums, and to
make a great to do generally; but Tom Hancock, a
messmate of mine, who had been among the Mexicans
a long time, and knew their character well, told us not
to be ala-rmed, as they were merely playing a "game
of bluff," and that he had always noticed that the
more noise they made the less stomach they had for
fighting. But it seems that the garrison had been
greatly reinforced during the night, and, confident in
their numbers, they charged us in the position we
occupied with more spirit than we had given them
credit for. The fire from our rifles, however, was so
rapid and deadly that they at length fell back in confusion, leaving the streets and plaza strewed with
their dead and wounded.
For some time after this repulse they contented
themselves with firing upon us at "long taw," from
their port-holes and the flat roofs of their houses, but
gradually growing bolder, as reinforcements came in,
they charged us again and again with great impetuosity and courage, but each time with the same result.
The last time, they pressed us so closely that our men,
I75 
THE ADVENTURES OF
in many instances, after discharging their guns, fought
them with rocks, which they tore up from the streets,
and from the walls of the surrounding buildings.
Captain Cameron, a man of extraordinary strength,
having just discharged his rifle, was observed by several of us to seize a rock and dash out the brains of a
Mexican soldier who was in the act of charging upon
him with his bayonet.
Some of the Mexican soldiers told us subsequently
that they were all drunk, having been furnished by
their officers with as much "pulque" as they could
drink, in order to stimulate their courage, which will
account for their unusual intrepidity and daring.
I had a very narrow escape myself in this fight.
After one of their charges upon us, in the excitement
of the moment, I followed too far a party of retreating soldiers, when they suddenly turned upon me, and
before I was aware of my danger, I was surrounded,
and escape was apparently impossible. I was determined, however, to retreat at all hazards, and turned
and dashed through their line. One fellow, as I
passed, made a lunge at me with his bayonet, slightly
wounding me in the left arm; but I made good my
escape and rejoined my comrades, who had given me
up for lost.
The adventure had the effect of cooling my courage
considerably, and during the rest of the fight I kept
within supporting distance of my comrades.
The battle continued with great obstinacy on both
sides, until perhaps one or two o'clock in the evening,
when a temporary cessation took place of an hour or
so, apparently by the tacit consent of both parties.
And then affairs took a turn I have never been able to
I76 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
account for satisfactorily to this day. Everything
seemed to promise us a complete victory, for we had
evidently been getting the best of the fight all day
long, when the Mexicans hoisted a "white flag," and
sent it into our lines by a Dr. Sennickson, one of our
men that had been previously captured by them. Sen.
nickson was accompanied by two Mexican officers,
Algereto and Carasco. They bore a message from
General Ampudia, requesting an entire cessation of
hostilities for an hour longer.
This request was readily acceded to by our commander, for no doubt he was fully under the impression that the Mexicans intended surrendering the
town to us. You can form some idea of our astonishment, then, when in a little while another officer came
into our lines, with a message from General Ampudia
to the effect "that it was a useless waste of life for us
to contend longer against his greatly superior force;
that he had received large reinforcements, and had us
completely in his power; and if we would surrender at
discretion, he pledged us his word we should be
treated with liberality and clemency, but that if any
further resistance was made, every one of us should
be put to the sword without mercy."
I had but little knowledge at that time of the Mexican character, but I have since learned whenever they
hoisted the white flag and succeeded in persuading the
Americans into a "parley," they invariably got the
better of them in some way or other. It was so at the
storming of Monterey, during the Mexican war.
There, after three days' hard fighting, and just when
we got the whole Mexican army completely in our
power, they hoisted that same white flag, and "bam
I77 
THE ADVENTURES OF
boozled" General Taylor into a "parley," and then
into an "armistice" of thirty days, and finally into a
"capitulation," which enabled them to march out with
the "honors of war," and with all their arms and
equipments; and he had to fight them over again at
Buena Vista under the most disadvantageous circumstances.
178 
CHAPTER XXXI.
Surrender to the Mexicans-General Green's Proposition  Marched Off to Prison-The Mexican Maiden-Off for
Camargo-A Short Stay and Off Again-Reinosa.
LONG "talk" followed between our officers
and the messengers of General Ampudia,
going and coming. Some of our officers were
in favor of fighting to the last, but the "white flag"
had produced its usual effect upon the majority, who
were in favor of surrendering, providing General
Ampudia would grant us such terms as they thought
honorable and reasonable. These terms were at
length decided upon, written out on paper, and forwarded to General Ampudia. After some further
parleying, General Ampudia finally consented to
ratify the capitulation upon the terms demanded.
It was at this stage of the proceedings that General
Green stepped out of the ranks, and called for a hundred volunteers to go with him and cut their way
through the Mexicans. But the attempt seemed such
a hopeless one, that no one responded to his call, and,
mortified, the gallant soldier dashed his rifle to pieces
against the ground, and resigned himself to his fate.
We delivered up all our arms to the Mexicans, who
marched us off in double file to our quarters in some
deserted stone buildings. Never shall I forget the
humiliation of my feelings, when we were stripped of
all our arms and equipments, and led off ignominiously by a numerous guard of swarthy, bandy-legged,
contemptible "greasers." There we were, two hundred 
THE ADVENTURES OF
good men and true as ever shouldered a musket (for
we had lost only about thirty men killed and wounded
in the fight), for no earthly reason that I could see,
bound hand and foot, and delivered over to the ten der mercies of these pumpkin-colored Philistines, and
all through the workings of that miserable little
"white flag." I could have cried with a right good will
if I hadn't been so mad.
The force opposed to us in Mier, at the time of our
surrender, as stated by the Mexicans themselves,
amounted to something over three thousand men. Of
these, upwards of five hundred, according to their
own estimate, were killed in the fight. How many
were wounded we never knew. In no other battle with
the Americans, before or since, have the Mexicans
ever displayed as much intrepidity and daring, and I
have no doubt myself, that, as some of them told us,
the greater portion of their soldiers were drunk on
"pulque," with which they were liberally supplied by
their officers during the fight.
The guard we had left on the east side of the river,
in charge of our horses and camp equipage, it seems
got information of our surrender, by some means, in
time to effect their escape. They made their way
safely back to Texas.
As I have before stated, as soon as we had surrendered, they fastened us up in some deserted stone
buildings, like so many pigs, where we were kept for
five or six days with nothing to eat except a little dried
beef, which was so tough I gave one-half of my
rations to a messmate, who had a remarkably strong
set of teeth, to chew the other half for me; and, to
wash this down, we were furnished with a limited sup
I8o 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
ply of muddy water from the Rio Grande. However,
there was no use to complain; we knew we were "in
for it," and principally through our own stupidity and
folly, and we resolved to make the best of the worst
situation in which we might be placed. As for myself,
I was somewhat better prepared for this course of
dieting than most of the men, having had, as I have
already mentioned, a good meal the night before we
surrendered.
Besides, on the morning of the second day after we
were imprisoned, while I was sitting in front of a small
grated window, looking out ruefully and hungrily
upon the passers-by, a little Mexican maiden-bless
her little tawny hide-came tripping alone, and suspecting, from my woe-begone visage, the empty condition of -my stomach, made signs to me to know if I
didn't want something to eat. I could not speak a
word of Spanish at that time, but I easily made her
understand that she had guessed how matters were
with me precisely, and she forthwith tripped off, and
soon returned with a batch of the inevitable tortillas,
some red peppers, and a considerable chunk of roast
kid-meat, which she handed to me through the little
window.
I made her a low bow, pulled my forelock, and
smiled as sweetly and as amiably as I could with my
powder-burnt and dirt-begrimed countenance. She
went off laughing at my grimaces, and turning a corner, I lost sight of my little pumpkin-colored angel
forever.
The tortillas were cold and tougher than army
"flap-jacks," and the red pepper was as hot as mesquite coals; but I was as sharp-set as a new saw, and
I 8 I 
THE ADVENTURES OF
of course not inclined to "look a gift horse in the
mouth." I felt just as grateful to the little saffroncolored maiden as if she had feasted me on roast turkey and plum pudding, and I hope her lot has been a
happy one-tortillas, Chili pepper, and black-eyed
papooses in abundance.
For five or six days we were kept closely guarded
and watched in these miserable quarters, until the
morning of the 28th of December, when a pompous
little Mexican official came into our prison and told
us to get ready immediately for a march, as we were
to start at Io o'clock that day for Camargo.
But this intimation was hardly necessary, for we
were prepared to start at a moment's warning, as
everything we had in the world was upon our backs.
The extra wardrobe of our whole force could easily
have been packed in a lady's bonnet-box.
At the hour designated by the little official, our
Mexican guard made its appearance. It was commanded by General Ampudia in person, and consisted
of about six hundred infantry and a considerable body
of cavalry, and a small company of artillery, with two
six-pound field-pieces. Certainly a most ample guard
for two hundred half-starved, unarmed prisoners.
After a fatiguing march of twenty-five or thirty miles;
we reached the town of Camargo, and encamped in
the vicinity, in commodious and well-ventilated quarters, at a corral or cattle-pen.
Camargo differs in nothing from every other Mexican town I have seen-the inevitable square in the
centre, enclosed by lines of low, flat-roofed houses,
with wretched "jacals" [pronounced "hakals"], built
I82 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
of sticks and mud, scattered promiscuously about the
suburbs.
Nothing that I remember now worthy of note occurred on our route to this place. Sometimes we were
very roughly treated by the guard. Whenever a poor
fellow lagged behind the column for an instant, they
seemed to take an especial pleasure in accelerating his
speed by the vigorous application of a bayonet. A
bayonet is-undoubtedly a powerful persuader. I have
seen men when broken down and "beat out" by a hard
day's march, wake up to new life and energy on the
receipt of some welcome news, and, under like circumstances, I have seen renewed vigor instilled into them
by the spirited strains of a fine band of music; but
nothing is so effective in this way as one or two inches
of cold steel in the body. I know this is so, for I speak
from sad and personal experience of the fact.
In the morning, after our guard had paraded us
several times around the public square, to give the
good people of Camargo a chance to look at the "wild
Texans," we bid them farewell, and again took the
road down the river. Occasionally we were halted
to rest for an hour or so at the "haciendas" and
"ranchos" on the way.
In some places the inhabitants, and especially the
women, seemed to compassionate the miserable condition of the "Gringos," as they called us, and gave
us water to drink, and sometimes more substantial
refreshments. In others, we were hooted at by the
mob, that was sure to collect around us whenever we
stopped for a few moments, who would call us by all
sorts of hard names, and pelt us with stones and clods
of earth, and stale eggs.
I83 
THE ADVENTURES OF
Foot-sore and weary, we at length reached Reinosa,
a town about fifty miles below Camargo. Here we
were received with discharges of musketry, and a general ringing of cracked bells, and as we were marched
"triumphantly" into the public square, where banners
of all kinds were flaunting in the air, the flat roofs of
the houses and the porches and the balconies were
thronged with women and children, anxious to get a
peep at the "terrible Gringos." It made us feel quite
proud, to think that we were the cause of all this noise
and bustle.
When they had paraded us around the square often
enough to satisfy the curiosity of the good people of
Reinosa, we were marched off to our quarters, in some
old buildings just outside of the town.
I84 
CHAPTER XXXII.
Off for Matamoros-Distinguished Reception at Matamoros  An Oratorical Display-Again on the Road-A Serious
Loss-Goat or Dog?
E remained at Reinosa a day or two, and
then took the road again for Matamoros.
We never halted except at night, when we
were "corralled," like so many cattle, on the bleak
prairies, without any shelter, and scarcely food
enough to keep body and soul together, until we
reached the "Heroic City."
Is it any wonder, with the recollection of such treatment still fresh in their memory, that in the war which
subsequently took place between Mexico and the
United States, the Texans should have sent many a
"greaser" "up the spout," without the formality of a
court-martial to decide upon his guilt or innocence?
However, I can say for myself that I never killed one
in cold blood. I always turned them loose first and
gave them a chance for their life; nevertheless, very
few of them ever were heard of again, as in those days
I was hard to beat in a "foot-race."
As we approached the city of Matamoros, a great
crowd of men, women, and children came out to meet
us, who were so anxious to get a look at the "wild
Texans," that they couldn't await our arrival. Some
were in vehicles of various kinds, some mounted on
mustang ponies, and not a few upon the backs of the
little "burros," or jacks, that were hardly as tall as a
good-sized Newfoundland dog. Escorted in this way, 
THE ADVENTURES OF
we entered the city of Matamoros, as at Reinosa,
amid the firing of muskets, the waving of flags, and
the clanging of bells, and after parading us, as usual,
several times around the public square, we were
marched off to our quarters in the outskirts of the city.
Our men were so worn down by fatigue and "short
commons" that it was found absolutely necessary to
remain in the city for a few days, to give them a
chance to recruit. But our stay there could hardly
have been considered an entire respite from the hard ships and discomforts of the road, for at that time
the lower classes of the citizens of the "heroic city"
were exceedingly bigoted and intolerant toward all
"heretics," and especially the Texans, and, conse quently, whenever an opportunity offered, they never
failed to render our situation as disagreeable as pos sible. Some among the better class of inhabitants,
however, were very kind to us, as were many of the
foreign residents, and furnished us with occasional
supplies of food and clothing; indeed, if it had not
been for these charitable individuals, we might have
suffered considerably during our stay in the city, as
the rations furnished us by the "commissariat" were
remarkable neither for quantity nor quality.
One morning, a little bow-legged chap, dressed in
uniform, and covered with stars and spangles, came
into our quarters, and made us a regular set speech,
which was interpreted to us by an attendant. What
was his purpose I could never understand, unless, like
some of our politicians, he was resolved to neglect no
opportunity of bringing himself prominently before
the public. He told us, among other things, what a
great and magnanimous people the Mexicans were;
I86 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
that but for this fact, we would all have been taken
out and executed as soon as captured, etc.; and he
finally wound up by saying that if the United States
did not cease giving "aid and comfort" to the rebels
of Texas, this great and magnanimous nation would
collect an irresistible army, that would march from
one victory to another, until the Mexican flag would
float proudly from the dome of the Capitol at Washington City!
Here some fellow in the crowd sang out, "Oh,
spare the women and children!" and another, "You
had better whip Texas first, before you tackle Uncle
Sam!" But the little hero paid no attention to them.
He continued in the same strain for some time, and
then with a "grand flourish" turned on his heel, and
stalked away majestically, his spurs clanking and his
little sword trailing on the pavement behind him.
I wonder what he thought of the "magnanimous
nation" when, a few years afterward, General Scott
planted the Stars and Stripes on the "Halls of the
Montezumas," with only ten thousand raw troops to
back him!
Before we left Matamoros, a rumor reached the
city in some way that General Rusk, with a considerable force of Texans, was on his way to attack it. In
consequence of this report, General Ampudia and the
detachment of troops that had guarded us from Mier
were ordered away, and another guard of raw recuits,
under General Canales, was substituted for it. This
substitution of new levies for the regular soldiers, of
which our previous escort was composed, emboldened
us afterward to concert a plan to surprise them, and to
make our escape into Texas.
I87 
THE ADVENTURES OF
The officer in command of our guard (General
Canales) was well known to many of us by reputation
as a cruel, cowardly tyrant, and we knew very well we
had no favors to expect from him, or from the ignorant, undisciplined recruits of which his force was composed. We were detained at Matamoros for six days,
and on the morning of the seventh took up the line of
march again for Monterey. With all its hardships
and discomforts, I much preferred being on the road
to confinement in the filthy prisons and quarters of the
towns and villages through which we passed. While
marching, I could, at any rate, breathe the pure, fresh
air of heaven without being hooted at and reviled by
the mob or rabble that always collected around us
whenever we were halted on the way.
On the first day's march I met with a serious misfortune in the loss of my "fine-tooth comb," which I
had safely kept until then, in spite of our thievish
Mexican guard, and which was my only "ark of
safety" against the swarms of vermin with which they
were infested. I have since lost articles of a thousand
times more intrinsic value than that little horn comb,
but never anything the want of which I felt so sensibly. The want of many things may be supplied by
tolerable substitutes, but nothing will answer in place
of a "ridding comb," under such circumstances.
Neither is there any substitute for tobacco. I have
tried all sorts of leaves, herbs, and roots, and have
never yet found anything that would take its place.
Ever since we were captured we had suffered as much
for the want of tobacco as for lack of sufficient and
healthy food. The miserable little "cigaritos," with
which we were occasionally supplied by the Mexicans
I88 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
(each containing about a good "pinch" for a snufftaker), only served to tantalize us. No one except an
habitual consumer of the weed can appreciate or
understand the soothing effects, after a hard day's
march, of a pipe full of the genuine Virgina "cut and
dried." It will even mitigate, to a considerable extent,
one's grief for the recent loss of dear friends. But
these wretched little cigaritos always reminded me of
the old saying of "feeding a hungry man on soup with
a fork." I never got a chance at a good old solid plug
again until after we were liberated and landed at New
Orleans, on our way home.
We encamped, the first night out from Matamoros,
near a forlorn-looking little Mexican "ranch," where
nothing was to be had to eat except a few scraggy
goats, and naked, sore-eyed dogs. Even the inevitable tortillas could not be had for love or money.
Some of the boys pressed one of the little naked dogs
into service for supper, but according to their report
(for I did not taste it myself), it must have been a
poor substitute for roast pig. They said it was exceedingly tough, and when cooked, that "it smelt worse
than a wet dog." The mess, however, to which I belonged was fortunate enough to kidnap one of the
goats, which furnished us with a tolerable meal. If
that goat has ever been paid for yet, I am not aware
of the fact. The inhabitants of this "ranch" were
certainly the most wretched-looking specimens of humanity that I had ever seen, except perhaps the Digger Indians of California. Men, women, and children
were squalid and filthy beyond description, and one
would have supposed that the very height of their
ambition, in a worldly point of view, was to make
I89 
THE ADVENTURES OF
shuck cigaritos and smoke them, and loll all day upon
a beef-hide, eating dried meat and red pepper. But
this will apply equally as well to all the lower classes
of the Mexican people as to the inmates of this ranch.
If you wish to bring a Mexican to the lowest depths
of despair, cut him off from cigaritos, red pepper, and
tortillas. He might sustain existence for a little while
under such distressing circumstances by the stimulus
of gambling, but even that would afford him but a
temporary respite.
If I were fishing for men, and wanted to catch an
Englishman, I would bait my hook with the "TIMES,"
and a bottle of "Brown Stout;" if for an Irishman, I
should use a small bit of the "blarney stone," and a
"drop of the crathur;" if for a Frenchman, the customary frog and a little "eau sucre;" and for a Yankee I should put on a new copper cent and a "Congress
penknife" for whittling; but if I wanted a "greaser,"
a cigarito, a pod of red pepper, and a tortilla would
insure a bite at any stage of the tide.
I9o 
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Still on the Road-Inhuman Treatment-Wallace Uses His
"Big Foot" to Advantage-Planning an Escape-Disappoint ment-Monterey-The Tarantula-Change of Commanders,
and Off Again-Rinconada-Another Plan of Escape, and
Another Disappointment-Arrival at Saltillo, and Our De termination.
V    -IHE  last chapter left us on the road to Mon       terey. One day's march was pretty much the
counterpart of another, ending at night by our
being driven into some corral or other enclosure, like
so many cattle, where we were left to recruit our exhausted energies as best we might, without any protection from the weather, and with barely enough
food to keep us from an absolute state of starvation.
On one occasion, while passing through a little village
on the way, the customary crowd of men, old women,
and boys flocked around us, shouting "death to the
ladrones" (robbers), and "down with the hereticos"
(heretics). One little scamp, in the excitement of the
moment, ventured within reach of my foot, which you
see is a No. I2, and I gave him a kick which would
have done credit to a vicious mule, and of which, no
doubt, he has a distinct recollection to this day. He
went off howling like a full-grown cayote, but, fortunately for me, none of the guard noticed this little byplay, as otherwise I should certainly have been punished for it with a thrust from a bayonet, or cut from
a broadsword.
When shivering around our miserable camp-fire at
night, exposed to the cold winds or pitiless rains, we 
THE ADVENTURES OF
frequently debated among ourselves the possibility of
surprising and capturing our guard, and, with the
arms and ammunition we expected to secure in this
way, of effecting our retreat into Texas before a sufficient force to retake us could be collected together.
We at length agreed that the attempt should be made
at a little place called Sacata, one day's march ahead
of us, and where we expected to be quartered for the
night. Captain Cameron was chosen for our leader in
the perilous undertaking, and it was understood, when
the propitious moment for the attack should come,
that he was to notify us of the fact by the command
"draw," the usual order given when we were formed
in line to receive our rations.
On our arrival at Sacata, we were turned into the
corral as usual, and the guard took up their usual positions on the outside around us. Our plan for the
attack was all arranged, and late in the evening, when
our rations were brought in, every one fixed his eyes
upon Captain Cameron, momentarily expecting him
to give the wished for signal, but when he stepped out
and said, "Draw your rations first," the men concluded that something had gone wrong, and every one
quietly kept his place. The rations were then distributed to us, and the attack postponed for a time.
I never understood what reason Captain Cameron
had for giving up the attempt of surprising the guard
at Sacata, but I have no doubt it was a good one, for
he was as reckless of danger as any man that ever
lived.
The next day we continued our march, and at
length, wearied and worn down with the fatigues and
hardships of our tramp, we reached the city of Mon
I92 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
terey. A great crowd of persons, as usual, came out
to meet us as we approached, by whom we were
escorted into the city, but though they evidently regarded us as a species of wild cannibals, they treated
us with more courtesy and respect than we had met
with elsewhere, and on our arrival in the city we were
at once conducted to our quarters. They were much
more cleanly and comfortable than those that had
been allotted to us in other places. Still they were not
such quarters as one gets, for instance, at the St.
Charles Hotel, in New Orleans. No sofas, no lounges,
no chairs, no tables, nor even a common stool to
dignify with the name of furniture-nothing, in fact,
but bare stone walls, marked and scribbled over with
pieces of charcoal by former occupants of these luxurious abodes.
Here one of our guard was bitten the first night of
our arrival by a tarantula, a sort of large venomous
spider, and although the Mexicans tried many kinds
of "remedios" to relieve him, they all failed, and he
died in a few hours. I can't say I lost much sleep from
grief on account of his death, for he was a noted
tyrant, and treated our men most cruelly whenever he
could do so with impunity. Only a day or two before,
I saw him cut one of our men severely with his sword,
merely because he had loitered a moment behind the
rest to tie his shoestring. On another occasion, when
some of us were complaining of the scantiness of our
fare, he went out and collected from the back-yard a
quantity of old bones and other filthy offal, and return ing, threw them on the ground before us, bidding us
eat, as that was good enough for such abominable
heretics as we were. Before he died, the priest was
193 
THE ADVENTURES OF
sent for to "confess" him, and if he only owned up to
a tithe of the rascalities and crimes he had committed,
I am sure the long list must have astonished even a
Mexican padre.
Monterey was the handsomest Mexican town we
had yet seen. It is situated in a rich and fertile valley,
watered by clear cold streams that take their rise in
the adjacent mountains.
In the suburbs I noticed a number of handsome
private residences, with beautiful grounds and gardens attached, in which the orange, and the lemon,
and the fig, and many other tropical fruits and plants
were growing luxuriantly. The city seemed to be well
fortified, and some years subsequently, when General
Taylor attacked the place with his forces, I had the
satisfaction of seeing them pretty well battered by our
artillery. They would, no doubt, have been demolished if it had not been for that "same white flag"
which the Mexicans always hoist when in a tight place,
and with which they "bamboozled" General Taylor
on that occasion in the same way they had so often
done the Texans before him.
We were much more kindly treated while in Monterey than we had been in'Camargo, Matamoros, and
other places on our route. We were indebted particularly to many of the foreign residents in the city, who
took pity on our forlorn condition, and supplied us
with provisions and such articles of clothing as we
stood most in need of. Among our men there were
a few Roman Catholics, and we noticed, as a general
thing, that they fared better and were allowed more
privileges by the guard than the rest of us. Several
sudden conversions to the Catholic creed were the
I94 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
result of this, but I remained constant to my "heretical
opinions;" for I did not think it right to assume the
garb of religion for such purposes.
Before leaving Monterey, to our great joy, Colonel
Barragan, a kind and humane man, was placed in
command of our guard, and the cowardly tyrant
Canales assigned to some other duty. We remained
in Monterey three or four days, and then took up the
line of march once more-this time for Rinconada, a
large hacienda about thirty miles distant, situated
near the river San Juan.
On the route, the question of attacking our guard
was discussed, and we determined to make the attempt
the first good opportunity that might present itself.
We knew that the farther we penetrated into the country the poorer would be our chances of making our
way back safely to Texas after we had effected our
liberation.
On our arrival at Rinconada we were quartered in
an old building, and our guard in two adjoining ones,
one on each side. After supper, our project of attack ing the guard was talked over again, and it was re solved to carry it into execution at that place. The
attack was to be made at daylight in the morning.
At the appointed time we were all up and ready for
the fray, but just then we heard the rolling of the
Mexican drums, and, looking through the chinks in
our quarters, discovered the whole Mexican force
filing out from the rooms they had occupied, and in a
few moments we were ordered to fall into line and
prepare to march.
There was no doubt in our minds that our plans had
been divulged to the Mexicans by some one, but who
I95 
THE ADVENTURES OF
it was we never knew to a certainty. What could have
been his motive for betraying us it is hard to say,
unless he thought by so doing he would secure better
treatment from the Mexicans for himself. Had not
our secret been divulged, it is more than probable we
would have effected our intended surprise of the
guard at Rinconada, from whence the chances are we
could have made good our retreat into Texas, before
a sufficient force of regular soldiers could have been
collected to stop our advance. What a number  of
lives might have been saved, and what an amount of
suffering avoided, if we had not been thus basely
betrayed.
We at length reached Saltillo, without anything of
particular interest transpiring on the way. Saltillo is
a city of considerable importance, containing, I suppose, some ten or twelve thousand inhabitants. Here
our guard was considerably reinforced, which satisfied us all the more that our intention of attacking
them had been divulged by some one.
. We remained at Saltillo but a day or two, and then
continued our route through a desolate and barren
country, toward the city of San Luis Potosi. Our
guards were so wary aind vigilant that we had no
chance of surprising them, until we came to Salado,
a little place about one hundred and twenty-five or
thirty miles from Saltillo, near which we were quartered for the night. We were confined in some old
adobe buildings, and our guards, as usual, were posted
in front of us. Here we were resolved to carry our
plan of attack into operation, no matter what might
be the result.
i96 
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Successful Attack on the Mexican Guard-Bravery of Colonel
Barragan-Retreat from Salado-Rapid Traveling-Bad
Counsels - Suffering for Water - In Difficulties      Water at Last-The Horses Killed and Eaten.
E next morning about sunrise, observing that
the guard had stacked their gunswhile engaged
.  in cooking their breakfast, we held a hurried
consultation as to what was best to be done, and proceeded at once to put it into execution.
Our plan was for Captain Cameron to "raise the
yell" when he thought the proper moment for the
attack had arrived, and at this signal our men were
to rush out suddenly, knock down the sentinels stationed at the doors, and hasten to seize the guns that
were stacked in front of the Mexican camps-all of
which we hoped to accomplish before the Mexicans
could recover from the disorder into which we thought
the suddenness of our attack would throw them.
Captain Cameron took his seat near the open door,
for the purpose of watching the movements of the
Mexicans, who were scattered about here and there,
busily engaged in cooking their breakfast, and totally
unsuspicious of our designs. We anxiously waited for
the concerted signal from him, and when it was given
a "yell was raised" that might have been heard for
miles, and out we poured from our dens like a pack of
ravenous wolves. In an instant, the sentinels who
were stationed at the doors were knocked down and
trampled under foot, and we dashed forward as rap 
THE ADVENTURES OF
idly as possible to where the guns were stacked. The
Mexican soldiers made a rush for them at the same
moment, and a fierce struggle took place for their
possession. But the Americans generally had the ad vantage over their foes in strength and weight, and
the contest was of short duration.
As soon as we had secured the guns, the Mexicans
fled in the wildest confusion, leaving ten of their num ber dead upon the ground. Our loss was five killed Dr. Brennan, Fitzgerald, Rice, Lyons, and Haggerty;
wounded-Hancock, Captain Baker, Sansbury, Har vey, and another, whose name I have now forgotten.
Colonel Barragan made every effort to rally his
men after they were thrown into confusion by the
suddenness of our attack. He exerted himself man fully to retrieve the fortunes of the day, but without
success, for the Mexican soldiers were thoroughly
"stampeded," and nothing could stop their precipitate
flight. At length he succeeded in rallying a small party
of the fugitives, and with these he returned. Advancing fearlessly up to our lines, he addressed himself to
Captain Cameron, telling him that if we would surrender ourselves to him, he pledged his word that we
should be treated kindly, and not be punished for anything we had done. He said a good deal more to the
same purpose, but we were deaf to all his arguments,
and he finally rode off and left us.
Before Colonel Barragan left, in consideration of
his bravery and of his kind and humane treatment
when in command of our guard, Captain Cameron
ordered his horse, sword, and other equipments,
which we had captured, to be returned to him.  Captain Cameron then recommended our wounded men to
I98 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
his care, and he promised us he would take charge of
them and protect them to the extent of his power, and
this promise we afterward learned he faithfully kept.
And I here take great pleasure in giving my testimony
of the fact that this Colonel Barragan was a clever
fellow and a gentleman, although he had the misfortune to be born a Mexican. He was another example
of the truth of the old saying, that bravery is always
an ingredient of a magnanimous disposition. The
domineering, tyrannical man is generally, though not
always, a coward at heart. I have seen but few exceptions to the rule.
We captured all the guns the Mexicans had, and
ninety-seven horses and mules, and all their baggage
and equipments. Having selected the best guns for
our own use, we broke up the balance. I think I destroyed nearly a cart-load myself. I took an especial
pleasure in demolishing the "scopets," remembering
the kicking I got from one of them on a former
occasion.
After destroying the arms, and burning up all the
tents and camp-equipage belonging to the guard, we
put out from Salado with as little delay as possible,
taking the road to Agua Nueva, and riding and walking by turns, as we had only one animal for every two
men.
About midnight we stopped for a few moments at a
"ranch" on the road, to get something to eat, and then
continued our route and traveled until about sunrise
the next morning, when we halted for several hours to
rest ourselves and our jaded animals, having made
upward of seventy miles from Salado, our starting
point.
I99 
THE ADVENTURES OF
On the road we went at a full trot the whole time,
those on foot keeping up with the horsemen at that
gait until exhausted, when they would take their turn
in riding. The Mexicans, who are hard travelers
themselves, particularly when an enemy is behind
them, could scarcely believe we made so great a dis tance in such a short time, and under such circum stances. Our object, of course, in making this forced
march, was to get so far ahead on the road as to
render it next to impossible for a Mexican force to
pursue us with any chance of overtaking and recapturing us; and had we followed the road from this on,
as we ought to have done, there is every probability
we would have succeeded in making our way back to
Texas; but, as will be seen hereafter, rash counsels
prevailed among our leaders, and we were persuaded
to leave the high road and take our course through an
unknown and barren country, in which neither food
nor water could be found.
We remained but a short time at our halting place,
and then took up the line of march again. After traveling some eighteen or twenty miles, we quit the road,
and turning to the left, entered a deep ravine that ran
up toward the mountains'. Passing for some distance
along this, we at length came out upon an open plain,
in which we discovered a ranch in the direction we
were traveling. We hurried forward toward it, hoping to get a supply of water, but as we approached it
more nearly, we saw that the housetops and windows
were crowded with soldiers. We concluded it would
be paying too dearly for a little water to storm such
a strong position to obtain it, so we passed on. After
crossing a spur of mountain we came to a little pool
200 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
of muddy water, from which we procured enough to
quench our thirst.
Some miles further on we came to a ranch, and finding out from the people living there that we were considerably to the east of the course we wished to pursue, we turned more to the west and traveled on till
night overtook us, when we encamped at the foot of
a mountain.
The next morning we were on the way again by
sunrise, and after going some distance we came to the
road running to Monclova. This we followed for a
few miles, when we met an Englishman (an old
acquaintance of Captain Cameron), who advised us
to go with him to a ranch he owned near by, where he
told us he could furnish us with provisions, of which
by this time we were nearly destitute  He urgently
advised us not to leave the road and go off into the
mountains, as the majority of our men and officers
were in favor of doing, and told us there were no
troops along the road to intercept us, and that if we
abandoned it and turned off through the desolate and
mountainous country that lay in the direction we proposed traveling, we would inevitably perish for want
of food and water. Well would it have been for us
if we had done as this Englishman advised, for I am
satisfied now that he was truly anxious to aid us in
effecting our escape into Texas; but somehow the ma.
jority of us came to the conclusion that he was not to
be trusted, and that he was merely seeking to delay us
on the way until a sufficient force should have time to
pursue and overtake us. So we declined accepting the
friendly offers and advice of the Englishman, and continued our route until late at night, when we came to a
201 
THE ADVENTURES OF
little place called San Felipe, where we left the road
and encamped at the foot of the mountains.
The next morning, we continued our course over
the dreary-looking mountains that rose up before us,
and their barren and desolate appearance disheart ened even those who had been the warmest advocates
for seeking the protection of their solitudes. All day
long we toiled through this sterile region, until night
overtook us again, when we encamped at the bottom
of a "barranca" or deep canion.
Several times during the day our progress was im peded by deep gulches and almost perpendicular walls
of rock, through and up which we found it nearly impossible to force our jaded and broken-down hacks.
Not a single drop of water had been seen upon the
whole route, and, thirsty and dispirited, we wrapped
our scanty covering around us and lay down upon the
cold ground, and endeavored to forget our troubles
in sleep.
Some time during the night, a small party, that had
been sent in advance of the main body to reconnoitre,
came into camp and reported an abundance of water
within two or three miles of us. This was joyful news
to us, and all hands were at once roused up, and without attempting to preserve any order in our line of
march, we stumbled along in the darkness among the
gulches and ravines, each one for himself, until we all
safely reached the desired locality, and, after slaking
our thirst with hearty draughts of the grateful fluid,
we lay down once more and slept soundly until morning. We then went back to our first halting-place,
gathered up our half-starved, broken-down horses,
202 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
and such of our equipments as had been left behind,
and returned with them to our "water-hole."
Here we concluded to remain and recruit ourselves
for the balance of the day, and as it was deemed impossible to take our poor jaded hacks any farther
through the rugged and mountainous country ahead
of us, and as there was not a blade of grass in all that
barren region, we determined, as a matter of humanity, to kill them all, and thus save them from the
miseries of a prolonged death from starvation. This
we proceeded at once to do, cutting the throats of the
poor animals with our butcher-knives, in order to save
our ammunition, of which we had but a limited quantity. This was a job I didn't fancy at all, and when I
came to cut the throat of the wretched "Rosinante"
that had borne my comrade and myself so faithfully
and well ever since our escape from the guard, he
looked at me so knowingly and pleadingly out of his
sunken, hollow eyes, that my heart failed me entirely,
and my comrade, who was not so "squeamish," had
to play the part of executioner.
When the horses had all been killed, we selected a
few of them that were in the best condition (and a
decent Mexican buzzard would have disdained to
whet his bill upon any one of them), skinned and cut
them into small strips, which we "jerked" over fires
made of a sort of weed, the only fuel to be found in
many places in these barren mountains. When we had
prepared as much of the meat in this way as the men
could conveniently carry in their knapsacks, it was
divided out among them, and at daylight the next
morning we were again on the march.
203 
THE ADVENTURES OF
Little did we think, when we left this camp, that we
had tasted the last drop of water that was to moisten
our parched lips for six weary days and nights; but so
it was. Oh, those wretched, wretched days and nights!
I shall never forget them as long as I live. After toiling all day over broken, barren, rugged mountains,
suffering the agonies of torturing, excruciating thirst,
we laid down at night upon our hard rocky beds, to
dream in broken and disturbed slumbers of bubbling
springs and rippling brooks, which somehow always
mysteriously disappeared when we were just in the
act of quaffing their sparkling waters.
204 
CHAPTER XXXV.
A Dreary Prospect-No Water-Dying by the Wayside-Hun ger and Thirst-Dreaming of Water-Hopes and Disap pointments-Captured by the Mexicans-Water at Last. Wretched Condition of the Survivors.
W'~'ITH much difficulty, even on foot, we at
\\/    length forced our way up the almost per         pendicular walls of the mountain that rose
up in the direction we proposed traveling. When, at
length, we had reached the top, we were appalled by
the dreary prospect that presented itself to our view.
Behind us lay the dismal valley from which we had
just emerged, over the surface of which, scattered
here and there as they had fallen, lay the dead carcasses of our animals, looking like little specks in the
distance; and the thin columns of smoke, rising up
from some smouldering fires we had left burning, and
the naked rocky hills that encircled it, gave it a remarkable resemblance to the crater of some slumbering volcano. Before us, as far as the eye could reach,
mountain after mountain, rose up, rough, rugged and
broken, and the total absence of everything like vegetation too surely indicated that no water was to be
found in the parched-up valleys that lay between
them; and over all this dismal prospect a burning sun
poured down its scorching rays from a cloudless sky,
with an intensity that greatly aggravated the thirst
from which we had already begun to suffer excessively, before the toils of this weary day had ended.
We were much depressed in spirits by the barren 
THE ADVENTURES OF
and desolate appearance of the country ahead of us;
still there was no alternative but to go forward, for
we knew if we retraced our steps we would inevitably
be recaptured by our vigilant foes, and anything, we
thought, was preferable to that. And so we went or
all through that weary day, up one rugged, rocky
mountain, and down, and up another, still hoping and
trusting that in some of the ravines or canions that lay
between them (for they could not be called valleys),
we would, at length, come across a stream or pool of
water sufficient to slake our thirst. But everywhere
we were continually disappointed. No murmuring
streams rippled over the sandy beds of the gulches
and canions we passed-all were parched up, and as
dry as if a drop of rain had not fallen in that dreary
region since the days of the Flood. And thus we
struggled on till darkness closed over the scene, when,
abandoning all hope of finding water that day, we encamped for the night among the broken rocks and
debris at the bottom of a deep canion.
In the morning, dispirited and unrefreshed by our
comfortless bivouac in the canion, we again took our
toilsome way over gulches and ravines, and up and
down the steep and scraggy sides of the mountains,
that everywhere impeded our progress. And thus we
staggered on for several days in succession, through
this desolate wilderness, still hoping for, but never
finding, the cooling stream or pool of water, in which
we longed to slake the intolerable agonies of thirst
that was consuming our very vitals.
On the morning of the fifth day we made an early
start, in order to get over as much ground as possible
before the sun should acquire its full power. But, by
206 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
the time it had risen above the tops of the mountains
to the eastward of us, the suffering of the men became
so intolerable that many of them, to relieve themselves of all superfluous weight, threw away'their guns
and equipments, and what remained of their rations
of jerked meat-for hunger was not felt or fearedour whole craving was for water! water'! Many of
the men gave out entirely, and laid down on the wayside to die, but no one paid any attention to them, for
great suffering, such as we were enduring, is apt to
render men callous and unfeeling toward each other.
Still the rest of us struggled on, hoping that our
strength might hold out until we came to water; but
we toiled up one rugged, barren mountain, only to see
another as rugged and barren rise up before us.
The way appeared interminable, and no change of
scenery varied the tiresome monotony, or gave us any
indication of our approach to the long-wished-for
stream or pool of water. Not a tree nor a sprig of
grass was to be seen anywhere. Nothing like vegetation, except in a few localities, where a species of leafless, withered weed managed, in some way, to draw a
precarious sustenance from the parched and gravelly
soil. All was barren, desolate, and scorched up by the
long-continued drought that had prevailed in that
country. Not a living animal was to be seen, nor was
the song of a bird, or even the chirping of a cricket
ever heard during all our wandering in this wilderness which might appropriately have been termed anything but "howling;" for even a "cayote" could not,
by any possibility, have existed there for many days.
Night at length overtook us again, and, worn out,
despairing, and suffering indescribable tortures from
207 
THE ADVENTURES OF
thirst, we threw ourselves upon the ground to pass
away, as best we might, the wretched hours till
morning.
All night long I could hear the men moaning in
their uneasy slumbers, and crying out for water!
water I I had heard that by chewing a leaden bullet
thirst could be partially alleviated, and I tried it upon
this occasion, but without success.  It may afford some
relief when the thirst is not excessive, but in the extremity to which we were reduced for the want of
water, it did not seem to have the least effect.
The suffering caused by hunger is not comparable
to that resulting from long-continued thirst. I had
rather starve a week than go two days without water
in warm weather, especially when compelled to travel
onr foot. Hunger comes by "fits and starts." There
are intervals, even after starving for days, when one
is comparatively free from pain or suffering, and in
sleep one can occasionally find temporary relief from
its pangs. But with thirst it is very different. There
is not a moment's cessation of the suffering, but, on the
contrary, it increases regularly in intensity, until the
tongue becomes black and swollen and protrudes from
the mouth, and the eyes, bloodshot and bleared, seem
as if they are about to start from their sockets. Even
sleep affords no respite whatever from this terrible
anguish. Horrible shapes gibber and moan around
the wretched slumberer, and frighten him away from
the gushing spring or rippling brook, that forever
haunts his mind, waking or sleeping.
One spring in particular haunted me in my dreams
-one that I had often frequented in my boyhood's
days, in one of the gorges of the Blue Ridge in Vir
2'o8 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
ginia. It poured out from the mouth of a small cave,
at the foot of a high bluff, in a bold rivulet larger than
my arm, which ran off through an old mossy trough
six or eight feet long to the edge of a ravine, down
which it pattered and splashed with a musical sound
very agreeable to the ear of the passer-by on a hot
summer's day. During my disturbed slumbers that
night, if I attempted to take a drink at that spring
once, I tried it a thousand times, but something always
prevented me, just as I was on the eve of placing my
parched lips to the mossy spout.
In I8-, many years after this, when I went back
to "Old Virginia" to see my relatives, I visited this
spring again, and there it was, still pattering and
splashing down into the ravine below, just as I had
seen it so often in imagination during my wanderings
in the mountains of Mexico; and I took a last drink
from the mossy spout, though I was not in the least
thirsty, just for old acquaintance's sake.
On the morning of the seventh day after our entrance into these dismal solitudes, we resumed our
cheerless march again, or rather, I should say, those
of us that still remained together under the leadership
of Captain Cameron; for by this time many had fallen
by the way from exhaustion, and others singly or in
small squads had wandered off in various directions
in their search for water. Mechanically as it were,
and scarcely knowing or caring whither we went, we
crawled up the side of the sterile mountain ahead of
us, frequently pausing on the way to recover our
breath and strength. At last, when with much labor
we had gained the top of the mountain, a joyful prospect presented itself to our view, and instilled new life
209 
THE ADVENTURES OF
and vigor into our worn-down frames. Below us lay
an extensive valley, covered in places with thick chaparral, and in others with clumps and groves of trees,
indicating certainly, as we thought, the proximity of
water.
Resting for a few moments, we hastened down the
mountain as rapidly as we could, toward this "land of
promise," but the distance to it, and the difficulties of
the way were much greater than we had at first supposed, and the day was pretty well advanced before
we reached the level plain. But even then, in vain did
we search every gully and ravine for the long-wishedfor element. Not one drop of water could we find.
Some of the stoutest and strongest men now "gave in"
entirely, and dropped down by the way, either exhausted by the fatigue they had undergone, or else
utterly overcome by the sufferings they endured from
the intense thirst that preyed upon them' Others wandered off into the dense "chaparral" in their frantic
search for water, and were lost.
When the sun went down, on this wretched day,
only fifty or sixty men still dragged their weary limbs
after our gallant leader, Captain Cameron, of which
remnant I was one. But'so terrible were our agonies
from the internal fires that consumed our vitals, that
we never thought of halting as usual when night overtook us, but staggered on, like drunken men, scarcely
conscious of what we were doing. Some wandered in
their minds, and prayed, or cursed, or sang, as their
different dispositions prompted.
I noticed one poor fellow, as he stumbled along in
the dark over the stones and bushes that beset our
path, cheerily singing, in a very faint voice, "And
2IO 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
who'll be king but Charlie." He was as crazy as a
bed-bug, of course.
About Io o'clock at night, we discovered some fires
burning ahead of us, and supposed that they were the
signal fires of some one of our straggling parties, to
let us know that water had been found. We pushed on
toward them as fast as we could, and scarcely had the
foremost men reached them, when a large Mexican
force rose up on all sides of us, and enclosed us in
their lines.
No attempt at resistance was made; indeed, we
would have been utterly incapable of anything of the
sort, even if we had been armed, but as well as I remember now not more than ten or a dozen of our men
still carried their muskets with them-the rest having
thrown them away while in the mountains. The
Mexicans seized us at once, tied us in pairs together,
and laid us on the ground. We begged and implored
them, in the most piteous terms, to give us some
water, and they measured out from the gourds they
had brought along with them a very small drink for
each one of us, not venturing to trust them in our
hands for fear we should take too much at one time.
Though not the twentieth part of what would have
been sufficient to quench our thirst, I shall never forget as long as I live the delicious taste and coolness
of that drink of water! If you want to know what that
"nectar" is which is said to be imbibed by the gods
alone, travel for six days under a burning sun, without
a drop of water to cool your "coppers," and then take
a long "swig" at a Mexican gourd, filled to the brim
with the pure element. Then, and not till then, can
2I I 
THE ADVENTURES OF
you fully appreciate its great superiority over all
other drinks.
At early dawn the next morning, the Mexicans un tied us, and we all started for the nearest water.
From the place where the Mexicans recaptured us, as
well as I remember, it was fifteen or twenty miles
distant, and without their guidance and assistance we
could never have made half the distance, even if we
had known in what direction to travel. But such of us
as were the weakest and least able to walk were
mounted on horseback, and in this way we reached
the "water-hole" by I2 or I o'clock in the day. On
the route, the Mexicans gave us two or three times a
small drink of water from the gourds they had
brought along with them, but this only seemed to aggravate our thirst the more, though I have no doubt
it was better for us than it would have been if we had
been supplied with all we wanted at one time. I am
inclined to think so from the fact that, soon after we
were recaptured by the Mexicans, one of them carelessly left his gourd, filled with water, within reach
of one of our men, who instantly snatched it up and
drained it dry before he took it from his lips. He was
seized with terrible pains a little while afterward, and
for several hours we thought he would die; but he
eventually recovered.
2 I 2 
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Encampment at the Water-Hole-Wretched Appearance of
the Men-March Back to Saltillo-Mexican Vermin-How
Wallace Was Dressed-Mexican Vegetation-The Tiger
Thorn-Conflicting Rumors.
HEN at length we came to the water
(which was contained in a sort of artificial
tank or reservoir), we were led down to it
under guard, and only permitted to drink for a few
moments; but before they succeeded in "horning me
off," I am confident I secured at least a gallon "under
my belt." But I experienced no bad results from having drank so freely; on the contrary, my strength was
rapidly restored to me from that moment.
Here we found encamped the main body of the
Mexican cavalry that had been sent in pursuit of us.
The wretched appearance we presented seemed to
touch, to some extent, even the callous hearts of our
enemies, and with the exception of again tying us together in pairs, they offered us no indignity. In truth,
we were as woe-begone a looking set of "scarecrows"
as were ever congregated together, I suppose, at one
time. Some were without hats, some without shoes,
and one could scarcely tell from the shreds of clothing
that still hung about us to what garments they originally belonged.
I noticed one fellow who was hatless, and with but
one shoe on, with one leg of his pantaloons torn entirely off, and nothing left of his coat except the collar
and sleeves, and a few little strips of the lining still 
THE ADVENTURES OF
dangling behind his back. Our beards were rough and
unshaven, and our matted and uncombed locks hung
down in "swads" around our faces, pinched and
sharpened by long abstinence from food and water,
from out of which our sunken hollow eyes glared with
a wild and demoniac expression not at all pleasant or
assuring to the beholder.
We remained at this tank, or water-hole, for three
days, during which time most of the men that had
wandered off from us in the mountains, singly or in
squads, were hunted up by the Mexicans and brought
into camp. Only thirteen, I think, were missing, and
as nothing was ever afterward heard from them, it is
reasonable to suppose they ultimately perished from
thirst, and no doubt their bones are bleaching to this
day-in some of the dreary gulches and ravines of those
inhospitable mountains, from which we had made
such a narrow escape ourselves.
Early on the morning of the fourth day, we were
told by our guard to prepare for the march, and in a
few moments they started off with us on the road
toward Saltillo.
To prevent all chance of another "uprising' on our
part, of which they seemed to be continually in dread,
they tied our hands securely behind us with raw-hide
thongs, and thus "hampered" we had to march all the
way back to Saltillo.
I never knew before how necessary a free use of the
arms was, to enable one to walk with ease and celerity.
A twenty miles' march, with our arms pinioned down
in this way, fatigued us as much as twice the distance
would have done if they had been unfettered.
2I4 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
We were several days on the road, during which
time nothing of interest that I remember now oc curred. On our arrival at Saltillo, we were taken
again to our old quarters, in which we were once more
securely fastened up and closely guarded. I had been
but a day or so in these dirty barracks when I fully
appreciated the extent of the misfortune I had met
with in the loss of my fine-tooth comb.
And here I may as well say to over-sensitive
readers, that perhaps it would be as well for them to
skip to the bottom of this chapter, as it is not my wish
or intention to say anything offensive to "ears polite;"
but I have started out with the determination of telling my story my own way, and I must do it, or abandon the attempt altogether. With this fair warning,
I shall resume the story of what I endured from the
loss of my fine-tooth comb.
Vermin swarmed in countless numbers in the miserable quarters in which we were confined. Even the
bare floors at times were thickly covered with them.
Our Mexican guard did not seem to mind them much;
in fact, I rather think they liked them, and that, in
some way or other, they were.absolutely necessary to
their health and comfort. I verily believe, if one of
them had been suddenly freed from all sorts of the
vermin with which they were infested, that he would
not have slept soundly for a week afterward. They
never use a comb, and of course it is only the larger
and overgrown fellows they succeed in capturing by
the primitive method of "looking each other's heads."
These they "crack" between their teeth, apparently
with much gusto and relish, by way, I suppose, of
retaliation-"bite for bite."
2IS 
THE ADVENTURES OF
For want of a comb myself, I was compelled to
have my hair cut off short and permit my finger nails
to grow untrimmed. With these I became so expert,
after long practice, that I could rake out a fellow
above a certain size with unerring certainty, whenever
by biting or crawling he designated sufficiently his
exact locality. By this primitive method, I kept myself
pretty well rid of all the full-grown chaps, but the
"small fry" dodged the question entirely, and unfortunately it is the nature of the "brute" to commence
the propagation of his species the moment he is
hatched. Often when a fellow, by hard raking and
combing, if lucky enough to be the possessor of a finetooth comb, has come to the conclusion that at last he
has entirely freed his head from these disgusting occupants, he wakes up the next morning to find it as
densely populated as ever. I speak advisedly on this
subject, for I had many opportunities, while imprisoned in Mexico, of studying the "habits and customs"
of all kinds of "vermin."
The evil was aggravated by our want of a change
of clothing and the scanty supply of water furnished
us for our ablutions. As for myself, I had worn from
necessity the same suit of clothes I had on when we
made our escape from the guard, and after traveling
in them all this time over dusty roads, and sleeping
in them at night upon the ground, it can easily be imagined that my costume was not exactly a suitable one
for a ball-room or a fashionable assembly. But little
was left of my shirt. My hat had long since gone by
the board, and in place of it my head was partially
protected from the sun by a red cotton handkerchief,
wrapped around it somewhat in the fashion of a
2I6 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
Turkish turban. I had but one shoe left, which was
in a very dilapidated condition, and in lieu of the
other a raw-hide sandal was strapped on my foot
with leathern thongs. My coat was tattered and torn
by thorns, and like Joseph's, from frequent mending
with all sorts of materials, was of many colors, but
the dirt or drab color predominated over all. It is
impossible to describe the remnant of my pantaloons.
They hung upon me in shreds that were inextricably
bound together by thongs and strings, and upheld by
a system of "tackling" as complicated as that of a
seventy-four gun ship, to compare small things with
great; and from out of these habiliments a countenance presented itself that had been guiltless of a
thorough cleansing for-I am ashamed to say how
long. "Such a beauty I did grow!" If my old sweetheart, Jenny Foster, could have seen me then, I am
sure her heart would have relented, and that she
would have reversed that cruel decision that sent me
"packing off" to Texas some years before.
Everything that grows in Mexico, or at least in that
portion of it in which I had traveled, has thorns upon
it, which will account satisfactorily for the dilapidation of my clothing in such a short space of time.
Even the very grass has thorns or spurs upon it, as we
frequently found to our cost, whenever, forgetful of
the fact, we seated ourselves upon it for a moment's
rest or repose. I remember once seeing a shrub in
Mexico which at a little distance appeared to be covered with dense green foliage, but upon a nearer approach I discovered that it was leafless, and simply a
mass of thorns, thorns growing out of thorns.
2I7 - 
THE ADVENTURES OF
The prickly pear, or cactus, the varieties of which
comprise three-fifths of the vegetable kingdom in that
part of Mexico, are all armed with spears, pikes, and
thorns, of all lengths and sizes, from the minute
prickle, so small that it is impossible to ascertain its
locality when fixed in the flesh, except by the irritation
it causes, to pikes and spears long enough for a buffalo
to impale himself upon.
Everything in this wretched country seems to be
constituted for a state of continual warfare, as if
nature herself sympathized in some way with the nor mal political condition of its inhabitants. The cattle
have the longest horns; the snakes all have fangs;
every insect you touch stings or bites you, or both at
the same time; and, as I have said before, the trees,
shrubs, and grasses are all thorny: even the frogs and
toads, so soft, moist and flabby in other countries, are
here protected by hard, dry, scaly hides, and horns
upon the head.
There was one species of shrub, with long, crooked,
cat4ike talons, which was dubbed by our men the
"tiger thorn," from the fact that its slender elastic
branches were frequently held in a constrained position by the twigs and foliage of other shrubs, and
when loosened by the passer-by, they would spring up
voluntarily, as it seemed, and seize him with their
crooked claws, very much as the tiger springs from
the jungle and seizes upon its prey. I have left many
a rag fluttering in the breeze upon the branches of this
terrible "tiger thorn," proud trophies of the numerous contests we had had, and showing that I had
always retreated from the field with the loss of part
of my baggage and equipments.
218 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
We remained at Saltillo several weeks, awaiting, it
was said, orders from Santa Ana, the President of
Mexico, as to our further disposition. During this
time many and conflicting rumors reached our ears
as to what was to be our ultimate fate. For some days
it was generally believed that we were to be sent on to
the City of Mexico, where we were to be immediately
released or paroled and shipped back home by the
way of New Orleans. Then again it was reported
among us, that a dispatch had been received from
Santa Ana ordering the immediate execution of every
one of us, but that General Mexier had refused to
carry out the barbarous mandate.
I am inclined to think there must have been some
truth in this report, as General Mexier, before we left
Saltillo, -resigned his joint commission of Commandante and Governor of the State. Besides, I learned
afterward, when a prisoner in the City of Mexico,
that all the foreign ministers resident there, as soon
as they heard of this order, remonstrated against it
as barbarous and inhuman, and Santa Ana revoked
the order, substituting in its place the one requiring
the "decimation" or execution of every tenth man.
We had no intimation, however, that any of these
orders had been actually passed until both of the
latter were read to us subsequently at Rancho Salado,
where the "decimation" took place.
219 
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Sudden Change of Quarters Rancho Salado Once More Brutal Order The Drawing of the Beans-"Dip Deep,
Boys" The Baboon-faced Mexican Officer-Indifference of
the Men-The One Exception-Wallace Draws a White
Bean-"Ould  Ireland  Forever"-Speedy  Execution-A
Miraculous Escape and Subsequent Death.
A FTER our long sojourn at Saltillo, we were
\  one morning roused up by our guard, and
)  told to get ready to march, as we were to
start that day to the City of Mexico. A few moments
afterward the guard paraded in front of our quarters.
We were taken out and formed into line, and marched
off on the road back toward Rancho Salado, where,
some weeks previously, we had risen upon and surprised the guard under the command of Colonel Barragan. Handcuffed and bound together in pairs, to
cut off all chance of our escaping or making another
attack upon the guard, we were driven along the road
at a gait that would have been "killing" even to men
that.were not fettered as we were.
On the evening of the fourth day, I think it was,
after leaving Saltillo, we came in sight, once more, of
the lonely, desolate Rancho Salado. The officer now
in command of the guard, Colonel Ortez, had spoken
kindly to us frequently during the day, telling us to
"be cheerful and walk up fast, for that the sooner we
arrived at the City of Mexico, the sooner we would
be liberated and sent back home." Notwithstanding
these assurances, from the first moment the men
caught sight of the dismal old ranch, whether it was 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
the dreariness of the locality, or the recollection of
what had happened there when we rose on the guard,
and of the sufferings and disasters that followed in
the wake of that event, or whether it was some dim
foreboding of the "bloody scene" that was to be en acted there again so soon, that weighed upon the
minds of the men, I know not; but not a word was
uttered by any one, as we trudged along silent and
depressed, until we reached the hated spot, and were
once more securely fastened up in the same corral we
had occupied before.
But a few moments elapsed before an officer, accompanied by an interpreter, entered the corral, and
calling our attention, proceeded to read to us from a
paper he held in his hand, a mandate from the "Supreme Government of Mexico," ordering the instant
execution of every tenth man. Some of the more sanguine among us fully thought that the paper contained
an order for our release, and eagerly crowded around
the interpreter to hear the joyful news; but when the
purport of the writing was explained to us by the interpreter, this barbarous decimation of our number came
upon us so unexpectedly that we stood for a moment
stunned and confused by the suddenness of the shock.
Then a reaction took place, and if our hands had only
been unshackled, unarmed as we were, the old Rancho
Salado would have witnessed another up-rising, ten
times as bloody as the first; but when we looked upon
our manacled limbs, and the serried ranks and glittering bayonets of the large guard drawn up around us,
we saw at once that any attempt at resistance would
be utter folly, and we quietly submitted to our fate.
22I 
THE ADVENTURES OF
It was determined that the seventeen men to be
executed should be selected by lottery, and in a little
while a squad of Mexican officers came into the corral,
preceded by a soldier bearing an earthen vessel, which
he placed upon a 16w stone wall bounding the farther
side of the corral, and which was intended to hold a
number of white and black beans, corresponding to
the number of men and officers in our command. The
Mexican officers stationed themselves near the
earthen pot, to overlook and superintend the lottery,
and see that every one had a fair chance for his life.
One of them then proceeded to count out so many
white beans, which he poured into the vessel, and then
dropped in the fatal seventeen black ones on top of
them, covering the whole with a thick napkin or cloth.
We were then formed into line and drawn up in front
of the low wall on which the earthen pot had been
placed.
Before the drawing began, they informed us that if
any man drew out more than one bean, and either of
them should prove a black one, he would be regarded
as having drawn a black one solely, and be shot accordingly.
Our commissioned officers were ordered to draw
first. Captain Cameron stepped forward, and without the slightest visible trepidation put his hand under
the cloth and drew out a white bean. He had observed, when the Mexican officer put the beans in the
pot, that he poured the white in first and the black
ones on top of them, and then set it down without
shaking, possibly with the intention of forcing as large
a number as possible of the black beans upon our commissioned officers, who were to have the first drawing.
222 
DRAWING OF THE BEANS
i
Illli   
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
When he returned to his place in the line, he whispered to those nearest him, "Dip deep, boys," and by
following his advice all the officers drew white beans
except Captain Eastland.
After the officers had all drawn, the "muster-rolls"
of the men were produced, and we were called forward as our names appeared upon them. Some of the
Mexican officers present were evidently much affected
by the courage and nonchalance manifested by the
men in this fiery trial; others, on the contrary, seemed
to enjoy the whole proceedings hugely, particularly
one little swarthy baboon-visaged chap, that looked
as if he had subsisted all his life on a short allowance
of red pepper and cigaritos. He appeared to take an
especial delight in the hesitation of some of the men
when they put their hands into the vessel, for even the
bravest felt some reluctance to draw when he knew
that life or certain death depended upon the color of
the bean he might select. Whenever there was the
slightest hesitation, this officer would say, in apparently the most commisserating tone: "Take your
time, mi nino (my child); don't'hurry yourself, mi
muchaco (my boy); be careful, mi pobrecito (poor
fellow); you know if you get a black bean you will be
taken out and shot in ten minutes"- a fact we had
already been fully apprised of.
"Ah! that's unfortunate," he would say, when a
poor fellow drew a black bean; "but better luck to
you the next time."
Yet, all the while he was talking in this way, in the
kindest- accents, a devilish grin on his baboon-face
indicated the great pleasure he took in the anxiety and
distress of these "poor fellows."
225 
THE ADVENTURES OF
I am not of a revengeful disposition, but if that
Mexican had ever fallen into my power, his chances
of living to a "good old age" would have been miser ably slim, and I could have recognized him among ten
thousand, for his weazen features and his diabolical
grin were indelibly impressed upon my memory. I'll
tell you how I would have served him. I would have
bought a bushel of black beans, cooked them about
half done in a big pot, and made him sit down upon it
and eat until he bursted. I'd have given him a dose
that would have stretched his little tawny hide as
tight as a bass-drum. He should have had his fill of
black beans for once, to a certainty.'
Those who drew black beans seemed to care very
little about it. Occasionally one would remark, as he
drew out the fatal color, "Well, boys, the jig is up
with me;" or, "They have taken my sign in at last;"
or something of a similar character, and then give
way to the next, apparently as unconcerned as if he
had no interest whatever in what was going on
around him.
There was but a single exception to this. One poor
fellow, a messmate of mine, too, appeared to be completely overcome by his apprehensions of drawing a
black bean. He stood until his own time to draw came
round, wringing his hands and moaning audibly, and
continually telling those near him that he knew he
should draw a black bean; that he had a presentiment
such would be his fate. When his turn came, he hung
back, and absolutely refused to go up at all until a file
of Mexican soldiers forced him forward at the points
of their bayonets. He hesitated so long after he put
his hand into the vessel containing the beans that a
226 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
Mexican officer near him pricked him severely with
his sword to make him withdraw it. All this, of course,
was immensely gratifying to the little baboon-faced
official, who "ninoed" and "pobrecitoed" him in his
kindest tones, all the while, though, evidently snickering and laughing in his sleeve at the fears exhibited by
the "pobrecito."
At last the poor fellow was forced to withdraw his
hand, and his presentiment proved too true, for in it
he held the fatal black bean. He turned deadly pale
as his eyes rested upon it, but apparently he soon resigned himself to his inevitable fate, for he never
uttered a word of complaint afterward. I pitied him
from the bottom of my heart.
My name beginning with W, was, of course, among
the last on the roll, and when it came to my turn to
draw, so many more white beans than black had been
drawn out in proportion, that there could have been
no great difference in the number of each. I observed
twenty-four white beans drawn out in succession. The
chances of life and death for me were, therefore, not
so very unequal. I will frankly confess, when I put
my hand into the pot and this fact recurred to my
mind, a spasm of fear or dread sent a momentary chill
to my heart, but I mastered it quickly, and before even
the lynx-eye of the little baboon-faced official detected
any sign of such weakness. At any rate, he bestowed
none of his endearing epithets upon me.
All the time the drawing had been going on I stood
pretty close to the scene of operations, and I thought
I could perceive a slight difference in the size of the
black and white beans-that the former were a shade
larger than the latter. This difference, I know, may
227 
THE ADVENTURES OF
have been purely imaginary, but at any rate, I was
eventually decided by it in my choice of a bean.
When I first put my hand in the pot I took up sev eral beans at once in my fingers, and endeavored to
distinguish their color by the touch, but they all felt
precisely alike. I then dropped them and picked up
two more, and after fingering them carefully for an
instant, I thought that one of them seemed a little
larger than the other. I dropped that one like a hot
potato, and drew out the one left. It was a white one,
of course, or I should not now be here to tell my story
-but not a very white one, and when I cast my eyes
upon it, it looked to me as "black as the ace of spades."
I felt certain for a moment that my fate was sealed,
but when I handed it to the Mexican officer who received them as they were drawn out, I saw that he put
it on the wall with the white beans, and not into his
waistcoat pocket, as he had done the black ones. I
knew then that I was safe, and the revulsion of feeling
was so great and rapid that I can compare it to nothing except the sudden lifting of an immense weight
from off one's shoulders. I felt as light as a feather,
though I weighed at least one hundred and seventy
pounds net (after all my hardship and starvation),
exclusive of the remnant of clothing I had on me.
Among the last to draw was an Irishman, by the
name of W-, a fellow noted for his wit and humor,
as well as for his reckless, dare-devil character. He
put his hand into the pot, and feeling around, discovered that there were but few beans left in it.
"Arrah now, my hinnies!" he said, "and is this the
way you would thry to desave an innocent man to his
228 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
destruction? Faith, and there's not a dozen beans left
in the pot, and I'll not draw one at all."
He was peremptorily ordered to take one out immediately.
"Oh, it's for murtherin' me ye are, ye bloody spalpeens," said Pat, "widout judge or jury. I see that as
plain as the nose on my face. Yees let the ither men
pick and choose as it suited'em, out of scores of beans,
and now there isn't a dozen left in the pot, and I've no
choice scarcely at all. Divil take such a lotthery, say I.
But I suppose there's no help for it, so here goes."
And Pat drew forth his bean, and everybody, even
the Mexican officers themselves, I believe, were rejoiced when it proved to be a white one.
"There, you bloody nagurs," said Pat, handing the
bean to -the officer, "it was a black one, but I offered up
a short prayer to Saint Pathrick, you see, and in the
twinkling of an eye, he convarted it into a white one!
Hooray for Saint Pathrick and Ould Ireland forever."
When the drawing was completed, the white and
black beans were carefully counted over again, and
the number found to tally with that of the men. Those
that had drawn black beans were kept separate from
the rest of us, and, in a few moments after the drawing was concluded, they were marched off in two
squads, and shortly afterward repeated volleys of
musketry were heard, and we knew that their cares
and troubles were forever ended in this world.
One of them, however, a man by the name of Shepperd, as we learned subsequently, made a most miraculous escape for the time being. When they were fired
upon by the guard, Shepperd fell and pretended to be
229 
THE ADVENTURES OF
dead, though, in fact, he was only slightly wounded.
He was left on the ground with the dead bodies of his
companions, and when night came he got up and went
off without being observed. The next morning, when
the Mexicans examined the bodies again, they were
greatly astonished to find that one was missing, and
could not be accounted for satisfactorily in any way.
Shepperd wandered around for several weeks without
being recaptured, but at length he was discovered,
taken back to Saltillo, and shot to death in the public
square, and his body carried out and left unburied on
the commons.
230 
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
San Luis Potosi-Queretaro-Tuli-The Black Hole of Cal cutta-Murder of Captain Cameron-Arrival at the City of
Mexico-Put to Work on the Public Road-How Wallace
Got His Pay-HowOne of the Men "Played Horse"-Escape
of Prisoners-Why Wallace Was Called "Big-Foot" "Texas Cannibals."
1.HE next morning we took up the line of march
for San Luis Potosi, but before leaving the
dreary old rancho, we were taken out and
drawn up in line in front of the bloody and stiffened
forms of our murdered companions. For what purpose this was done I know not, unless it was to inspire
us with a wholesome dread of a similar fate should
we ever attempt to rise upon our guard again.
In four or five days we arrived at San Luis Potosi,
the largest city we had yet seen in Mexico. It has a
population of perhaps fifty or sixty thousand. Here
we remained several days, during which time our
handcuffs or "bracelets," as we termed them, which
we had worn constantly for more than a month, were
taken off.
We then went on to Queretaro, also a considerable
city; and thence to Tuli, a little village, containing a
few hundred inhabitants.
At Tuli we were all crammed into a small room,
without ventilation, and came near suffocating before
we were liberated. It gave me a vivid conception of
the horrors of the "black hole" at Calcutta.
At a little place beyond this, the name of which I
have forgotten, the gallant Captain Cameron was 
THE ADVENTURES OF
taken out and shot by order of Santa Ana. I understood the plea for this second murder was, that in the
lottery of the black and white beans, there was a fractional part of our number (not quite ten men) for
which no additional black bean had been put in the
pot, and Captain Cameron was shot to make amends
for the omission. The truth is, however, the Mexicans were afraid of him, and no doubt had determined to put him out of the way "by fair means or
foul." No braver or better man than Captain Cameron ever lived or died. His death was universally
regretted by the men.
In two or three days we arrived at the City of
Mexico, and were furnished with quarters in the
prison of Santiago, just outside its limits. A description of the City of Mexico has been so often given,
by those better qualified for such a task than I am,
that I shall not attempt it.
We remained at Santiago but a few days, and were
then transferred to the prison of San Angel. Nearly
everything and every place in Mexico is named after
some Saint; and among them, some of the most unmitigated rascals I have ever known have rejoiced in
the patronymic of "Jesus," or "Hasoos," as they pronounce it.
From San Angel, at the expiration of nine or ten
days, we were taken to Molino del Rey, where we
were supplied with picks, spades, and shovels, and put
to work on the public road between Tacubaya and the
Bishop's Palace. We remained in the City of Mexico
from about the first of May until the last of October,
during all of which time we were kept pretty constantly employed on the public works, for which we
232 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
have never received one dime in the way of compensation to this day. On reflection, however, I am wrong
in making such an assertion, as far as I am individually concerned, for when General Taylor captured
Monterey in i846, I was amply repaid for all the
work I had done for the Mexican Government, in
witnessing the defeat and discomfiture of their "grand
army" at that place, to say nothing of a few "pesos"'
I picked up in the row.
If the truth must be told, though, we never injured
ourselves much by work while in Mexico. We resorted to all sorts of expedients that would enable us
to slight the tasks imposed on us. For instance, when
carrying small rocks or pebbles in the sacks furnished
us for that purpose, we would tear holes in them and
let our loads drip out gradually on the way, so that by
the time we arrived at our destination, there probably
wouldn't be material enough left in the sack to make
a "dirt-dauber's nest."
On a certain occasion, when we were all employed
in transporting earth and other materials from one
part of the road to another, the Mexicans hitched up
some of our stoutest men to little carts, to enable us to,
carry on the work more rapidly. Among them was a
stout active fellow by the name of J, who soon
became so disgusted with "playing horse" that he resolved to "fly the track." While the train of carts was
traveling slowly along the edge of the embankment,
he suddenly pretended to "take fright" at some object
on the roadside, and giving a snort that a mustang
wouldn't have been ashamed of, he started off with his
cart at railway speed. In vain the Mexican guard that
were stationed along the road at intervals, hallooed
233 
THE ADVENTURES OF
to him to stop, and even placed themselves in his way
in their endeavors to arrest his flight. But nothing
could stop his headlong career after he had once got
his cart fairly under way, for the road was smooth
and hard and down-hill in the direction he was going.
At length he came to a favorable spot, and kicking
himself out of the traces, he gave the cart a dexter ous twist, that sent it whirling down to the bottom of
the embankment, where it was dashed to pieces on the
rocks. This was all the work of an instant; and con tinuing his flight down the road with increased
velocity, when freed from the cart, he ran on a hun dred yards or so farther, when he suddenly halted,
whirled round, and gave another snort that might
have been heard for a mile.
I verily believe the Mexicans thought at first that
he had run off involuntarily, supposing, perhaps, it
was one of the natural characteristics of the "wild
Texans" to stampede occasionally like wild horses;
but when the fun of the thing gradually dawned upon
them they laughed heartily, and as soon as the runaway was captured and brought back, instead of puns
ishing him severely, as we anticipated, they gave him
his shovel and told him to go, and never afterward
hitched him in the traces again.
While in the City of Mexico, nine or ten of our men
succeeded in making their escape from prison, and
eventually the most of them, in various disguises,
from the country. They got out of their cells through
a small tunnel they had dug with their knives under
the foundations, barely large enough for one man to
pass through at a time. They worked at this tunnel by
turns during the night, packing off the dirt and other
234 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
material excavated in their haversacks, when they
went out to their daily tasks. There is no doubt that
they labored much more faithfully at this little private
job than they ever did upon the public works.
Among the men who escaped was one named
Thompson, who had played "old soldier" upon the
Mexicans the whole time. When we were recaptured
in the mountains, he bound up one of his legs with old
rags, and pretended to be too lame to walk, and the
guard was compelled to furnish him with a horse. He
never walked a foot of the way from there to the City
of Mexico. The Mexicans were, therefore, much
astonished, when these men made their escape from
prison, to find that the "pobrecito coxo," as they called
him (the "poor lame fellow"), Thompson, was one
of the number. I knew all the while there was nothing
in-the world the matter with him, but, of course, I felt
no disposition to betray him.
It was while we were prisoners at the City of
Mexico that I acquired the name of"Big-Foot,"which
has stuck to me like Texas mud ever since. It happened in this way:  Some of the foreign residents of
the city, observing that we were almost in a shoeless
condition, made up by contribution among themselves
a sufficient sum to purchase a pair of shoes for each of
us. Every one was fitted with a suitable pair except
myself; but I searched in vain every shop and"tienda"
in the city for even a pair of No. I I's, though I2'S fit
me best, and finally I had no alternative left me but
to buy the leather and have a pair put up on purpose
for me by a "zapatero," or go barefooted. The Mexicans are generally a small people compared with the
Americans, and their feet are still smaller in propor
23S 
THE ADVENTURES OF
tion; consequently they were much astonished at the
size of mine, and from that time forward, and as long
as I remained in the city, I was known among them
as "Big-Foot."
I flatter myself, however, that my foot is not a very
large one, taking into consideration the fact that I am
just six feet two inches in height, and weigh upward of
two hundred pounds net. But, even if it were otherwise, there is nothing dishonorable in the appellation,
and I would rather be called "Big-Foot Wallace" than
"Lying Wallace," or "Thieving Wallace." Such handles to my name would not be agreeable.
During our stay in Mexico, on one occasion, when
five or six of us were being taken by a guard from one
part of the city to another for some purpose, a mob of
old-men, women, and boys gathered around us, shouting "Muere los Gringos!" "Down with the heretics,"
etc. Our guard endeavored in vain to keep them back,
and they were pressing closer and closer upon us in the
most threatening manner. At last the sergeant in command of the guard told the mob if they did not give
way he would turn the "Texas cannibals" loose among
them. We heard and understood very well what he
said, and to carry out the joke, and make a diversion
in our favor, three or four of us grabbed as many old
women and boys who had ventured in reach of us, and
made out we were going to eat them up at once, without salt or pepper.
I clinched an old wrinkled squaw, who had been
making herself very "prominent" in the "melee," and
took a good bite at her neck, but it was tougher than
a ten-year-old buffalo bull's, and though I bit with a
will, and can crack a hickory-nut easily with my grin
236 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
ders, I could make no impression on it whatever.
However, this unexpected demonstration on the part
of the "Gringos" took the mob completely by surprise, and they scattered like a flock of partridges,
and we were molested no more that day.
237 
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Puebla-Perote-Wallace Has "Jail Fever"-The Surgeon General Saves His Life-Seeing the Animals-More Men
Escape-Final Release, and Start Home-Stopped by Rob bers, Who Prove to Be Very Clever Fellows-Yellow Fever
-Home Again.
various times during our stay in the City of
Mexico, all of our men who claimed to be
British subjects were released, at the request
of the English minister, Doyle. The United States
minister, General Waddy Thompson, I believe made
every effort in his power for our liberation, but for a
long time was altogether unsuccessful.
I could easily lengthen out my narrative of the
"Mier Expedition" by entering into a detailed account
of the cities and countries we passed through while in
Mexico; and by commenting upon, and censuring or
applauding the motives and conduct of the prominent
men or leaders in this disastrous expedition. But I
had no idea of attempting to write a professed history
of the "Mier Expedition." My sole object has been
to describe such scenes and incidents as came under
my own observation, and to relate such anecdotes and
occurrences connected therewith as I thought would
be interesting or amusing to my readers. This I have
done to the best of my ability, and I shall now hasten
to the close of my story.
On the last day of October, we left the City of
Mexico for Puebla, and thence on to Perote. Between
Puebla and Perote we were confined one night in a 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
house in which the small-pox was raging, but, strange
to say, none of us contracted the disease.
At Perote we found the prisoners that had been
captured at San Antonio when General Woll took
possession of that place. Some time after our arrival
at Perote, I had a violent attack of the "jail-fever," as
it was called a sort of epidemic prevailing among us,
produced, I suppose, by confinement in illy-ventilated
quarters, and the want of wholesome and sufficient
food. I soon became delirious, and in that state was
removed to the hospital, with many others suffering
from the same disease.
In the height of my delirium, I am told, I became
entirely unmanageable, and several times "cleaned
out" all the guard and other attendants of the hos pital. They were compelled at last to "lasso" me, and
tie me down to my bed, which was effected with great
difficulty, for my strength (and I am no chicken at
ordinary times) was increased fivefold under the excitement of fever.
One day, after my frenzy had somewhat abated,
one of the attendants of the hospital came to dress
some blisters that had been placed upon me when I
was delirious. The rascal cooly proceeded to handle
me as if I had been as devoid of feeling as a "knot on a
log," tearing the blisters from my arms by main force,
and causing me thereby the most horrible torture. A
heavy copper stew-pan happened to be within reach
of me, which I grabbed instantly, and, exerting all the
strength I had, I gave him a "clew" on the side of the
head with it that knocked him senseless to the floor.
The guard stationed in the room immediately rushed
upon me with their drawn sabres, and no doubt would
239 
THE ADVENTURES OF
have made mincemeat of me, if luckily the surgeongeneral had not at that moment stepped in and interposed his authority in my behalf, and saved my life.
He said that I had served the fellow I had knocked
down exactly right; that he richly merited the chastisement, for the harshness and cruelty with which he had
always treated the sick and helpless.
This old surgeon-general was one of the besthearted men I ever knew, and I shall never forget his
kindness to me when I was sick and a prisoner at
Perote. For some reason, he took a great fancy to
me, and always favored me as much as he could, and
when I left there he made me a handsome present of
money and clothes. He was a Castilian, or Spaniard,
by birth, and not a Mexican, which may account satisfactorily in a great measure for the fact that he was
not a bigoted tyrant in disposition. At any rate I hope
he may live a thousand years and never lose his front
teeth, for a Spaniard or Mexican cannot manage the
"cigarito" very well without them.
While at Perote, the "Dons" of the city frequently
came into our quarters to get a look at the "Texas
barbarians." They would poke us up from our lairs
with their walking-sticks, just as I have seen the beasts
stirred up with a long pole in a menagerie, now and
then applying some such remarks to us as "Carrambo! look at that fellow's teeth, will you!" "Did you
ever see such feet and hands?" "Carrajo! what red
hair that fellow's got! I wonder if he wouldn't give
me a lock to light my cigaros with?" "Cuidado! don't
go too near that chap with the big mouth and bushy
beard; he has a ravenous look!" "I wonder when
they are going to feed them? I should like to see that
240 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
cannibal there devour five or six pounds of raw beef!"
and other like expressions.
Some time in March the Bexar prisoners were released, by order of Santa Ana, and furnished with
passports to go home. We sincerely rejoiced in their
good fortune, but our own lot seemed more cheerless
and hopeless than ever after their departure.
Not long after this, sixteen of our men escaped
from one of the dungeons in which they were confined
in the castle. When the guard entered it in the morning, they were astonished to find a huge black hole
burrowed down in one corner, and leading down beneath the foundations of the castle and out into the
moat or ditch that surrounded it. Most of these men
eventually got out of the country without being recaptured.
For a long time after the escape of these prisoners,
we were much more strictly guarded, and subjected to
harsher treatment than had previously been the case.
I remained at Perote from some time in November
until the 22d day of August, when I was liberated,
together with five or six others, and furnished with
passports to return home. The balance of our men
were, I believe, all set free shortly afterward.
From Perote my companions and myself went on to
Jalapa, where we rested for a day or two, and then
took the road to Vera Cruz.
A few miles beyond Jalapa we were stopped by a
company of robbers on horseback (eleven in number),
who demanded our money. We told them that we had
been prisoners for a long time, and had just been liberated, and of course we were not particularly flush of
funds. The one who seemed to have command of the
241 
THE ADVENTURES OF
party then asked me if we were Texans, and if we had
passports. I told him we were Texans, and handed
him my own passport, signed by Santa Ana. He
looked at it and pronounced it all right, but said that
Santa Ana was a scoundrel, and wished to know why
the Texans did not kill him when they had him in their
power. I told him if I had had the keeping of him, he
never would have troubled Mexico any more.
This reply appeared to tickle them amazingly, and
the robber chief then asked me to what place we were
traveling. I told him to Vera Cruz, and he said they
were going in the same direction, and would keep us
company and protect us from any further molestation on the way. I thought to myself that such protection as they would be likely to give us was of a very
questionable character. However, we traveled along
sociably together for seven or eight miles, and night
coming on, they turned off the main road and conducted us to a large ranch or hacienda, that appeared
to be a sort of rendezvous for gentlemen of their
profession.
The inmates of this ranch seemed to be well acquainted with the robbers, and when they entered, it
was "How are you, colonel?" and "How are you,
major?" from all sides. Titles were as plentiful
among them as they are in Texas when a closely contested election is about to come off. Here an excellent
supper was soon prepared, and we were cordially invited to partake of it. Supper ended, a variety of
fruits and some excellent wines were placed upon the
table. I asked the robber chief if that was their usual
style of living, and when he replied that it was, I told
242 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
him if there was any vacancy in the corps I should like
to enlist.,
This little politic speech of mine appeared to please
the robbers exceedingly, and they drank the health of
the "Gringo" in a full bumper.
After a night of general jollification, the next morning they filled our haversacks with provisions, gave us
half a dollar apiece, and escorted us back to the road,
where they bid us "adios," with many expressions of
good will. I told the boys I wished the robbers would
attack us every day in the same way these had done
until we reached Vera Cruz.
We arrived at Vera Cruz without the happening of
any further incident worth mentioning. A few days
after our arrival I was taken with the "vomito," or
yellow fever, and came very near "shuffling off this
mortal coil" again. When I recovered sufficiently to
travel, we took passage on a vessel bound to New
Orleans, where we landed safely about the 24th of
September. Just as our vessel (which was a crazy old
hulk and totally unseaworthy) was towed over the
bar at the mouth of the Mississippi, a tremendous
hurricane came on, which would assuredly have sent
us all to "Davy Jones's locker" had we been half an
hour "behind time." In a few days I took passage on
a steamer for Texas, and arrived at San Antonio in
December following, after an absence of little more
than two years.
243 
CHlAPTER XL.
Wallace Hears From Virginia-Civilized Compared With Un civilized Life-He Determines to Take a Trip to "The Old
States"-Lays in a "Civilized" Wardrobe-An  Old Friend
Finds Him Disguised in His New Clothes-Starts on His
Journey-Wallace's Opinion of the Sea-At New Orleans,
and What He Saw There.
ME  years after the Mexican war, a stranger
stopped at my "ranch" one night, and gave me
a letter which he said the postmaster at San
Antonio had requested him to deliver. I opened it,
and found that it was from one of my relatives in
Virginia, advising me to come on there at once, as my
presence was necessary in the division of an estate, of
which I was one of the heirs.
I had never been back to the "States" since I left
Virginia in I837, and made up my mind at once that
I would go  not so much for the purpose of securing
what property I might be entitled to, as to see how
people managed to live in those old countries, without
the excitement of an occasional Indian fight, or a
"scrimmage" with the Mexicans, or even a "tussle'"
with a bear now and then to keep their blood in circulation. I thought to myself, it must be a mighty humdrum sort of a way of living, but I suppose custom
enables one to get used to almost anything. The happiest people I ever saw on earth were the Keechies,
who were at war with all the neighboring tribes, and
ran a great risk of having their hair lifted, even when
they went to the spring for a drink of water. 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
I don't say this to recommend a state of warfare,
but only to prove that people can get used to almost
everything but skinning. I once saw the Keechies skin
some of their prisoners alive, and they didn't live
twenty minutes afterward. Nothing can survive that
operation long, except a snake.
But, to come back to my story: It was necessary,
before I started on my trip, to replenish my wardrobe,
as what I had on hand wasn't exactly suitable for civilized countries. Leather hunting-shirts and leggings
are just the things for the prairies and chaparral; but
I had a sort of idea they wouldn't be considered the
"height of the fashion" by the people of the "Old
States."
I had a splendid suit of buckskin given me by my
old friend "Bah-pish-na-ba-hoo-tee" (which means
"Little blue whistling thunder" in the Tonkawa language), made of the skins of the "big-horn," and
rigged off with buffalo tags and little copper bells, that
jingled musically as I walked along; and when I was
dressed up in them, and had my coonskin cap on, with
its tail hanging down behind, I do believe there wasn't
a young woman in the settlement that could look at me
with impunity. But even that, I concluded, wouldn't
be exactly the thing for my travels; so the next day I
got on my horse, and rode into San Antonio, to supply
myself with such articles as I required.
A city friend, who was posted in the fashions, went
around with me to the shops, and bought for me such
things as he said I would want-a stove-pipe hat, and
coat and pantaloons, and a pair of patent-leather
boots that were as slick and shiny as a darkey's face
245 
THE ADVENTURES OF
after a dinner of fat'possum, and a pair of gloves
that I never wore but once, for they "choked" my
hands so that they made me short-winded. He bought
me also a number of other little traps, combs, brushes,
etc., and a two-story trunk to hold them all.
A day or two after I had made my purchases, I
thought it advisable to rig myself out in my "toggery,"
so as to get a little used to their "hang" before I
started on my journey. I squeezed myself into a pair
of pants that fitted as tight as candle-moulds, and into
a blue coat with metal buttons that was tighter still,
and which split from stem to stern the first time I
sneezed, and finally forced my feet into the shiny
boots, without bursting either them or a bloodvessel, which was the greatest wonder of all.
When I had rigged myself out from head to foot,
I felt as I suppose a man would feel who had a layer
of "daubin" plastered over him, that had hardened in
the sun. I couldn't bend my knees, nor crook my
elbows; couldn't do anything except sit bolt upright
in a chair, with my legs straight out before me. Even
when I smiled at the ridiculous figure I cut, no matter
how faintly or sweetly, I could hear a seam crack
somewhere. If the shanty had caught fire just then, I
would have been roasted to a certainty, before I could
have made my retreat.
It so happened that while I was "trussed up" in that
style, a fellow with whom I had a slight acquaintance
came in to see me about buying a horse. I asked him
to take a seat, which he did, all the time staring at me
in a way that convinced me he didn't know me. At
length he inquired if "Big-Foot" was at home. I
246 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
laughed outright, at the expense of two buttons and a
rent in my pants, and he then recognized me at once.
"Why,'Big-Foot'," he said, "what do you mean by
disguising yourself in that way? Are you crazy, or
are you going a-courting?"
"Neither," I replied. "I am tired of tending stock,
and fighting Indians, and intend to play the gentleman
awhile, and as a commencement of my new career, I
have bought this suit of'store clothes' on tick, which
I am trying on to see how I feel in them. Though my
education has been considerably neglected in these
backwoods, just as soon as I can learn to play poker
and cut-throat loo, swear like a trooper, and can run
off with some man's wife, I have some hopes the fraternity will admit me as a member. It is true I haven't
killed a. man as yet in a duel, but I have'got''severial'
in fights with the enemies of my country, and perhaps
they will consider that a fair offset. What do you
think?"
My friend said he had no doubt I would do with a
little training, and asked me when I proposed to make
a start in my new line of business.
"I am off in the morning," said I. "I have just five
hundred dollars in my pocket, and when I have got
through with that and my'inheritance,' I shall come
back to my ranch here, put on my old buckskins, and
run after stock and fight Indians for a livelihood the
balance of my life."
My friend bid me good-by, and the next morning,
leaving my "ranch" in the care of my old compadre,
Jeff Bond, I went into San Antonio, and took the stage
for Indianola. There I got on board a steamer that
247 
THE ADVENTURES OF
was just ready to start, and in two or three hours we
were rolling and tossing on the Gulf.
Anybody can have my share of the sea that wants it.
I had rather have ten acres of the poorest ground in
Texas than the whole Gulf of Mexico. I want some thing solid under me, and not miles of slippery, sloshy
water, that is forever heaving and setting, and swelling, and sinking, and sliding and slipping from under
a fellow, until his head grows dizzy, and his stomach
is turned inside-out.
I am very fond of oysters, and ate about a peck of
'em raw, and four or five dozen fried, for dinner, just
before I left Indianola; but I returned them all to
their native element as soon as we got over the bar.
How the sailors manage to live for six or seven
months at sea, without ever seeing land, is a wonder
to me. Two days were enough for me, and I was
truly glad when at the end of that time I found myself
on the "levee" in the city of New Orleans.
What a sudden change from the quietness and solitude of the little "ranch" on the borders of Texas,
where I had lived so long, to the noise and bustle of a
big city like New Orleans! I put on my "sombrero,"
for I had thrown away the "stove-pipe" as a useless
concern (I would as soon wear a Dutch-oven on the
top of my head), and walked out to see the sights and
lions of the city. Everything was new and strange to
me! The clatter of the hundreds of drays and omnibuses, tearing through the streets; the piles of merchandise and cotton-bales heaped up along the levee;
the long line of steamers and vessels moored side by
side, and loaded with the productions of every quarter
248 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
of the globe; the eager crowds rushing here and there,
as if life and death depended on their reaching some
particular spot at a certain minute- and maybe in
some cases they did, for the "police" were in full
chase after some of them- and the many foreign languages that I heard on all sides, Dutch, French, Spanish, Irish, etc., all brought forcibly to my mind the
fact that I had got a long ways from the prairies and
chaparrals of Texas.
At the corner of one of the streets I stopped to look
at a foreigner of some sort, who was turning a crank
fixed in a hollow box, by which he ground out occasionally a pretty fair tune, but with a sort of drone to
it, like the Methodist hymns that are sung at campmeetin's when the weather is damp and everybody has
got bad colds. On top of the box a monkey sat, making faces at the crowd, and poking the nuts and cakes
into his mouth, which were now and then thrown to
him by the boys. By the side of the man stood a little
girl dressed in a faded, seedy-looking muslin gown,
and beating on a wide hoop covered with a piece of
dried deerskin, and hung round with little metal plates
about the size of those the Indians usually wear in the
nose. They all had a melancholy and jaded look (even
the monkey, except when he cracked a nut), especially
the poor little girl, who beat on the hoop with the
jangles in a mechanical sort of way, as if she was
heartily sick and tired of the whole concern-and no
wonder. I felt sorry for her, and slipped a new fiftycent piece into her hand; but the man with the box
saw me do it, and it enlivened him so that he gave the
thing another screw, and ground out "Hail, Colum
249 
THE ADVENTURES OF
bia" about as easy as I could grind a peck of hominy
on a steel mill.
Just then a tolerable genteel-looking chap, who had
been watching me for some time, stepped up and re quested a word with me in private. We went a little
way off to ourselves, when he told me that he was a
stranger in the city (left there by some accident, I have
forgotten now what), and that he was entirely with out money, and had not eaten a bite for more than
two days; and if I would only give him fifty cents for a
gold ring, which he fished out of his pocket, I would
be doing him a great favor. I told him we didn't
consider a two days' fast, on the prairies of Texas, a
thing of much consequence (and, really, he didn't
seem to be much the worse for it himself), but that if
he was in want of something to eat, I would freely give
him the fifty cents, as I did not want the ring, never
having worn one in my life, except a large copper one
in my nose, out of compliment to my friends the
Lipans, when I was on a visit to the tribe. The fellow,
however, generously insisted on my taking the ring,
and actually forced it on one of my fingers, and as he
did so, he remarked that it was well worth five dollars. It may have been worth five dollars in some
markets, where brass was exceedingly scarce, but in
New Orleans they sell a better quality at about three
cents a dozen, for window curtains. However, the
fellow left me with many thanks, and in a few moments I saw him go into a "saloon," where drinkables
on the "tangle-leg" and "bust-head" order were sold
at five cents a glass to flat-boat-men and men of that
stripe. Two or three hours afterward I found him
250 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
lying dead-drunk in a gutter, and it occurred to me
that perhaps he had mistaken his case-that he had
been two days without drinking instead of without
eating. However, I kept the ring as a memento of the
poor fellow, and have got it yet, though it is now covered with verdigris, and smells louder than an old
brass candlestick.
25I 
CHAPTER XLI.
Wallace Goes to the Theatre-His Opinion of "Play-Actors" The  Dancing Woman-Wallace  Gets Excited-The  St.
Charles "Tavern"-How He Registered His Name-Wallace
Is Afraid of a Fire-He Breakfasts at the St. Charles, and
Gets Up an Excitement-The Bill of Fare-Fried Bullfrogs.
N the evening I went to the theatre, and saw a play
acted for the first time in my life. One or two of
the actors I thought performed pretty well, but
the most of them stormed and blustered out of all
reason. When a man is in earnest he don't generally
say much. Once two fellows that were after the same
young woman came out on the stage and had a regular
"set-to" with their swords. Twenty times a minute
exactly they hit their swords together, first on one
side, then on the other; and never drew a drop of
blood. It was the poorest attempt at a fight I ever
saw, and when at last one of them quit cutting the
other's sword, and stuck his own through his body, I
thought he might just as well have done it at the start
-there was nothing to'hinder him that I could see.
I'll bet a gallon of "bear's ile" I could have given the
Tonkawa war-whoop, jumped on the stage, and
cleaned them both out in two minutes with "Old
Butch," with "ease and elegance." If play-actors generally don't know anything more about fighting than
these did, they ought to come out to Texas and attend
the polls during an exciting election, and they would
learn more about it in a week than they could on the
stage in forty years. It wouldn't be click! click! as 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
regular as the ticking of a wooden clock, and nothing
done for half an hour, but it would be "pop" here, and
over he goes-" bang" there, and down he drops; and
in less time than it takes me to tell it, the whole green
would be covered with "bits of skull and tufts of
hair," and as red with blood as a slaughter-pen.
Between two parts of the play, a young woman
came out on the stage and made a low bow to the
people, who yelled and shouted as if she had done
something extra. Her dress was very low above, and
very high below, and a very scanty pattern in the
middle, and so thin, if it hadn't been for the spangles
on it, you wouldn't have suspected she had on any
dress at all. When the people kept on yelling and
shouting ever so long, she brought a whirl on the tip
of one toe, and made another bow so low that the hem
of-her dress almost touched the floor, and as she
straightened up she stuck one foot straight out before
her, and "pinted" it right at me, and kept on "pinting" it so long, that although I'm not generally a very
bashful man, I rather caved in and drew my sombrero
over my face. All at once she made another whirl and
brought the straight foot down against the other with
a slap, and at it she went in earnest-cross over, right
and left, heel and toe, backward and forward, "likety
clicket," up one side and down the other, till it almost
made a fellow feel dizzy to watch her little feet shuffling in and out so fast, that you could only see them
now and then when the bottoms were turned up toward you.
I thought I had seen pretty fair dancers among the
Mexican senioritas, but none of them could hold a
candle for that young woman. At last she brought
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THE ADVENTURES OF
another whirl on the tip of her toe, made another low
bow, and as she rose stuck her foot out again, and
"pinted" it right at me. The people yelled louder than
ever at this, and threw bouquets and half-dollars on
the stage till the floor was almost covered.
By this time, I had got considerably excited myself,
and as I had no bouquets or money about me, I threw
her everything I had in my pockets, among which was
a plug of tobacco about a foot long, three New York
pippins, and my coarse comb; and not feeling entirely
relieved by that, I jumped up on the seat and gave the
Tonkawa war-whoop till the rafters of the house
fairly shook again. There was a dead silence at once.
The young woman looked frightened and skipped off
the stage, an everybody started at me. Then, such another hurrah began as you never heard, some hollering "Encore! encore!" and others, "Put him out-put
him out!" but just then the little bell tinkled and the
curtain was hoisted, and the play commenced again.
At last it all came to an end, and the young man
married the young woman he had been courting so
long; an old uncle of his fortunately "pegged out"
about that time, and left him a power of money, and
everything else wound up and "dovetailed in" in the
luckiest way for the happy pair.
As soon as the play was over, I went to the St.
Charles tavern, to hunt up quarters for the night, as
I had been told it was the best in the city, and I was
determined to have the best of everything going while
I was on my travels. Some one had pointed the tavern
out to me in the daytime, and as it was but a little way
off, I soon came to it, and went up the broad steps in
254 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
front, and then into a room where several men were
putting their names down in a book.
I asked a fellow standing behind the railing at a
desk, if the landlord was in, as I wanted to see him.
He laughed a little, though I didn't see anything funny
in the question, and told me the landlord was out just
then, but that he would attend to any business I might
have with him. I told him all I wanted was a room
to sleep in, and as much "grub" as I could eat as long
as I staid in New Orleans.
"Certainly," said he, "you can be accommodated.
Will you please register your name?"
I took the pen and wrote down "Big-Foot Wallace"
in the first column, "Buffalo-Bull Ranch, Texas," in
the second, and "Old Virginny" in the third. Then
the clerk, or whoever he was, struck something that
sounded like a clock, and a fellow jumped up from the
corner of the room, and came up to where we were.
"Show this gentleman to No. 395," and he handed
the waiter a little piece of candle that didn't look to
me nigh long enough to last us through three hundred
and nity-five rooms. But the whole tavern was lighted
up with little brass knobs, that made every place as
bright as day.
The waiter took me up one pair of stairs, and then
up another and another, until I thought I was in a fair
way to get to heaven at last, providing my breath
didn't fail me. We then wound about through half a
dozen lanes and alleys, until at last we came to No.
395. The waiter unlocked the door, lit my candle,
and told me good night.
"Stop a minute, my friend," said I; "if this tavern
255 
THE ADVENTURES OF
should catch fire to-night, how am I to find my way
back again to where we started from?
"Oh," said he, "there's no danger of fire, for it is
all built of rock! and besides, it's insured."
"Devil trust it," said I, "with that gas stuff burning
all over it. If it can set fire to a brass knob, why can't
it burn a rock, too? I'd rather trust myself in a dry
prairie, with a stiff'norther' blowing, and the grass
waist high, and hostile Indians all around: my chances
of being roasted alive wouldn't be half as good as
they are up here in No.395; and besides," said I, "I'm
not insured!"
"Well," said he, "if the house catches fire, all
you've got to do is to pull that string hanging down
there with the tassel on the end of it, which rings a
bell, and I'll come up and show you the road down."
"Look here, my friend," said I, "you can't satisfy
me in that way. This is room 395, and I suppose
there's at least 395 more of'em, and when 790 bells
are all ringing at the same time, how are you going to
tell which one is mine? You might as well try to tell
the bellowing of a particular buffalo-bull in a gang of
ten thousand. No, sir; you stay up here with me, and
when the row commences, if you are lucky enough
to find your way down, I won't be far behind you."
"Well," said he, "when my watch is up, which will
be in about half an hour, I'll come back."
"'Nough said," I replied, "and I'll stand treat in
the morning."
So I turned into bed, and in five minutes was fast
asleep. I never knew whether the fellow came back
or not, but I suppose he did, for he claimed the "treat"
off me the first thing in the morning. I gave him a
256 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
brand-new fifty-cent piece, and he said he'd like to
take the job by the week at half the price: so I engaged
him regularly at twenty-five cents a night, and considered it dirt-cheap at that.
I made an early start in the morning, for I knew I
had a crooked way to travel and a dim trail to follow;
and about 9 o'clock I found myself in the room where
I had registered my name the night before, and feeling considerably snappish after my long tramp.
I inquired of one of the porters sitting there, how
long it was till breakfast. He said any time I wanted
it, and showed me the way into the breakfast-room.
It was almost as large as a small prairie, and, instead
of one long table, as we have in our taverns at home,
there were at least forty or fifty little round ones scattered about all over it.
Being of rather a social disposition, although I
have lived so much in the woods by myself, and seeing
a tolerably jovial little party of ladies and gentlemen
sitting around one of these tables, I walked up and
took a seat with them. I saw in a minute I wasn't
welcome, for the gentlemen looked as ill-natured as a
sulky bull, and the ladies all tittered; but I pretended
not to notice it, and called to one of the waiters who
was running round, to bring me a pound or so of
beefsteak and the "condiments."
At this, one of the men spoke up, and said "he presumed I was under a mistake, as that was a private
table."
"Yes, sir," said I, "I am. I presumed you were
gentlemen; and as to this being a private table, all I
have to say is, it's the first one I ever saw in a'public
house.' However," I continued, "I've no wish to force
257 
THE ADVENTURES OF
my company where it isn't wanted," and I got up and
took a seat at another table.
If a man had spoken to me at a tavern in Texas the
way that chap did, I would have introduced him to
"Old Butch" at once; but thinks I, maybe things are
different here, and I bothered myself no more about it.
There was nothing to eat on the table where I had
taken a seat but a plate of butter and a bowl of sugar;
but in a minute or so a waiter stepped up and handed
me a paper. I took it, folded it up, and laid it on the
table.
"My friend," says I, "I'm'remarkable' hungry just
now, and I'll read that after I get something to eat, if
you say there's anything special in it."
After a little while he says, "What'll you have for
breakfast, sir?"
"'Well," I answered, "anything that's fat and juicy.
What have you got cooked?"
"If you'll read the'bill of fare,' "says he, "you can
see for yourself."
"Well! let's have it," said I.
"That's it you have just folded up and laid on the
table there," he replied.
"Oh, yes," said I. "I understand now;" and I
picked it up, and the first thing I saw on it was'Caf'
au lait,' "and it's late enough too, for it, heaven
knows," said I; "for I am used to taking a quart cup
every morning just at daybreak!"
"What else?" said the waiter, and I read on:
"Pate de fois gras" —some sort of yerbs, thought I,
and I never went high on greens, especially for breakfast. I found most of the names of the things on the
'bill of fare' were French, or some other foreign
'258 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
lingo, and they were all Greek to me; but, to make the
waiter believe I knew very well what they were, only
I wasn't partial to their sort of "grub," I told him to
bring me some "crapeau fricassee" and "gumbo filet,"
and I wish I may never take another "chaw" of
tobacco if he did not bring me a plateful of fried bullfrogs' legs, and another full of their spawn, just the
same sort of slimy, ropy stuff you see around the edges
of shallow ponds. I might have known that everything French had frog in it in some shape or other,
just as certain as "Chili pepper" is found in everything the Mexicans cook. However, I made out a
tolerable breakfast on other things, but would have
been much better satisfied if I could have had four or
five pounds of roasted buffalo-meat and a "marrow
gut."
259 
CHAPTER XLII.
Wallace Meets with an Adventure-Goes to a Quadroon Ball,
and Teaches Them "The Stampede"-Wallace Takes a
"White Lion," and Pays for It-Has His Fortune Told What Followed.
AFTER breakfast, I loaded my pipe and took a
\   seat on the front porch, with my legs hoisted
up on the iron railings, and while I was sitting
there puffing away, as comfortable as an old sow in a
mud-hole on a hot day, a young woman came along on
the opposite side of the street, and stopped awhile to
look at some pictures in a window. Presently she
looked up and beckoned me to come to her! I couldn't
believe my eyes at first, but she kept on motioning her
hand to me until I knew there was no mistake about it.
I thought maybe she takes me for some acquaint ance of hers, and I'll go down and let her know she is
on the wrong trail, just to see how foolish she will
look when she finds she has been making so familiar
with a stranger. So I went down the steps and crossed
over to where she was standing. When I got up close
to her I noticed that her dress didn't look overly neat,
and that her eyes were as red as if she had been on a
burst for the last week. I made her a polite bow, however, and remarked that I suppose she was mistaken;
but before I could finish my speech, which I had "cut
and dried," like the politicians, she ran up to me and
grabbed me by the hand.
"Oh, bosh!" said she, "not a bit of it: you are the
hardest fellow to take a hint I ever saw. I've been
beckoning to you for the last half hour. Come along, 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
Johnny Green, I want to introduce you to some particular friends of mine."
"My name ain't Johnny Green," said I, trying to
get my hand loose from her; but she held on to it like
a vise.
"Oh! never mind that," said she; "come along with
me, and we'll have a jolly time of it."
Thinks I, if you ain't a brazen piece I never saw
one; for all the time she was talking she kept dragging
me on, though there were half a dozen fellows on the
stoop of the tavern, killing themselves laughing at us.
This made me desperate, and I jerked my hand away
by main force, though I hated to serve anything like
a woman in such a rough way.
"Won't you go?" said she.
"No," said I, "not just now; I haven't time."
"Well," she answered, "if you won't go, I reckon
you won't refuse to'treat'."
"Certainly not," said I. "What'll you take-a
lemonade, or an ice-cream?"
"To the old boy," said she, "with your lemonades
and ice-cream! I'll take a glass of brandy with a little
schnapps in it."
"There," said I, and I threw her a slick quarter;
"that'll buy you one;" and I turned on my heel and
made tracks for the tavern as fast as I could.
Geminy! what a "cussin' " she gave me as I went!
I thought I had heard the rangers on the frontiers of
Texas make use of pretty hard language, but they
couldn't hold a candle to that young woman. The
farther I went the louder she "cussed," and I never
got out of hearing of her until I found my way at last
26I 
THE ADVENTURES OF
up to 395, where I bolted myself in, and never came
out till dinner-time.
After supper, I fixed up a little, slicked down my
hair with about a pint of bear's grease (some of my
own killing), and went off to a "Quadroon Ball" in
the French part of the city, for I was determined to
see a little of everything going. Just as I entered the
door of the house where the ball was given, a man
stopped me and told me I would have to be searched
before I could enter!
"What for?" said I; "anything been stolen about
here?"
"No," said he; "but if you've got any weapons
about you, you must give'em up to me before you can
go in, and I will be responsible for them."
"Well," said I, "the truth is, I am partially
'heeled'," and I handed him out a pair of Derringers
and'Old Butch.'
"I don't care so much about the Derringers," said
I, "but take good care of'Old Butch,' for I have a
sort of affection for him, on account of the many
scrapes he has helped me out of, and the amount of
hair I have lifted from the heads of Indians with it."
The doorkeeper looked at me and then at'Old
Butch,' as if he didn't know what to make of either
of us exactly; but he took the weapons, and told me I
could have'em when I left; and said he, "If you have
any money about you of account, you had better leave
it with me; else you mayn't be able to put your hand
on it when you want it."
"I've only a few Mexican dollars in my pocket," I
answered, "and if anybody can get them, they are
welcome to them."
262 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
"Very well," said he, you can go in."
So I went up a pair of stairs, and into a long room
filled with people, and lighted up as bright as a prairie
on fire with gas-knobs.'Most everybody had masks
on, so you couldn't tell who they were, but that made
no difference to me, for, of course, all there were
strangers to me.
There were two or three sets on the floor dancing,
besides a great many little squads scattered all about,
laughing and talking, and making fun of themselves
and everybody else. I sauntered about among'em for
some time, amusing myself with looking on as well as
I could.  I had begun to get rather tired of the concern, as I had no one to dance with, when a genteellooking chap with a parrot-bill mask on, came up to
me, and said "he presumed I was a stranger in the
city."
I told him he had hit the nail on the head exactly.
"And how do you like our little fandango?" he
asked.
"Oh! very well," said I; "but I see you haven't yet
introduced the Texas national dance - the Stampede."
"No," said he; "have never heard of it before.
Wouldn't you be kind enough to describe it to me, and
I'll introduce it immediately; we are very much in
want of something new just now."
"Of course," said I, "if you wish me. The'Stam pede' is danced in this way: The ladies range them selves on one side of the room, and the gentlemen on
the other. Then one of the gentlemen-neighs, and if
a lady'whinnies' in answer, they both step forward,
and become partners for the dance. If the gentleman
263 
THE ADVENTURES OF
is very homely, and, after neighing three times, no
lady should answer, he steps out of the'ring,' and
hopes for better luck next time.
"When the couples are all paired off in this way,
the manager calls out,'Gallopade all,' and all'lope'
around the room briskly three or four times. Then
the gentlemen'curvet' to their partners, and the ladies
coquettishly back their ears and kick up at the gentle men. Then the ladies canter up to the gentlemen, who
rear and plunge for a while, then seize the ladies'
hands, and pace gracefully off in couples around the
room. First couple then wheel and go off at a two forty lick, second couple ditto, and so on till the race
becomes general, when the manager calls out'Whoa!'
and everybody comes to a sudden halt. The manager
the calls out,'Walk your partners';'pace your partners';'trot your partners'; and'gallopade all' again,
faster and faster, until the'sprained' and'wind-galled'
and'short stock' begin to'cave in,' when he calls out
'Boo!' and throws his hat in the'ring.' A general
'stampede' follows; the gentlemen neigh, curvet, and
pitch; the ladies whinny, prance, and kick, chairs and
tables are knocked over, lights blown out, and everybody tumbles over everybody else, till the whole set is
piled up in the middle of the room; and so the dance
ends."
"By jingo," said my new friend, grabbing my hand,
"it's glorious! It's the very thing for this latitude,
and will create a sensation, you may depend. I'll
introduce the'Stampede' this very night."
"Very well," said I; "but you had better wait till it's
time to go home, for, generally, things are smashed
264 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
up so after the'Stampede,' that it's hard to get the
ball going again."
My new friend and myself soon got pretty thick
with each other, and before I suspected what he was
up to, he had pumped me dry of all the information
I could give him about myself, where I was from,
what was my name, where I was going to, etc.
After a while, he asked me if I ever indulged. I
told him I was indulgent to a fault, providing the
liquor wasn't certain death, like the most of it in
Texas. (I once drank some in Castroville, that was
so awful bad that it burnt a hole in my sleeve when I
wiped my mouth afterward.) My friend, however,
said they had pretty fair liquor there; and he took me
to a little room off to one side, where refreshments
of all sorts were ladled out to the crowd.
"What'll you take?" asked my new friend.
'-'Well, I don't care," said I; "I'm not particular,
so it ain't stronger that fourth-proof brandy."
"'Spose," said he, "we try a'white lion'?"
"Agreed," says I, off-hand like, just as if I knew
perfectly well what he meant by a'white lion,' though,
of course, I hadn't the least idea what it was.
The bar-keeper took a tumbler, poured a little
water in it, then put some sugar, and a good deal of
brandy, then a little old Jamaica rum, and some
pounded ice, and then clapping another tumbler to it,
mouth downward, he shook'em backward and forward till everything in them was well mixed up. He
then slipped a slice of fresh pineapple into the tumbler
and handed it to me. I put it to my lips, intending
just to take a sip, to see how it would go; but it never
left them till I had drained the last drop.
265 
THE ADVENTURES OF
It was hard to beat, I tell you. I never tasted any thing equal to it but once, and that was a drink of
muddy water out of a Mexican gourd, after having
been without any for five days and nights.  I had
already seen most of the'lions' of the city, but the
'white lion' took the lead of them all. If I had joined
the Temperance Society only the day before, I should
have backslidden at once. There's no use at all of
joining it, when you have to encounter one of these
'lions' in the path every day. Father Mathew himself
couldn't scare one of them out of the way!
Well, I was so much taken up with my "lion," I forgot my new friend for an instant, and when I turned
to look for him he was gone. I started off to hunt him
up, but the bar-keeper called to me and told me I had
forgot something.
"What is it?" I asked.
"To pay for those'lions'," said he.
I handed out the change without a word. In Texas,
when a man asks you to drink, it is expected that he
will pay, of course; in the Old States, it seems the rule
is reversed. But customs differ everywhere. I looked
all around the room, but couldn't find my new friend
anywhere, nor a buckskin "puss," filled with "sixshooter" bullets and percussion caps, that somebody
had cut out of my coat-pocket. I didn't mind losing
the bullets much, for I would freely have given them
to the fellow that took'em, if he had told me he
needed'em, but he had split my new coat about six
inches on the side, and ruined it entirely. I suppose
he thought he had got a purse full of California nuggets, from the weight of it; and I rather think he must
have felt a little disappointed when he emptied it and
266 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
found what it was filled with. I would have given a
"slick quarter" just to have seen how he looked when
the bullets and percussion caps rolled out.
But, he wasn't the first fellow, I thought to myself,
by a long ways, that got only bullets from me when he
expected something more agreeable. A good many
others have carried off my lead with'em, and some
not very far, at that.  I ain't in the habit, you know,
of bragging in this way, but you see it was all owing
to the "white lions" that somehow had got into my
head, for by this time I had "repeated."
Well, I was beginning to get somewhat tired of the
"fandango," and was just about to despatch another
"white lion," with the full intention of exterminating
the breed at once, when a young woman, dressed in a
fanciful sort of costume, came up to me, and said "she
presumed I was a stranger in the city."
"How in the world," thought I, "does everybody
know I'm a stranger in the city? Perhaps it's my
'sombrero,' with its broad brim, and silver tassels
hanging down behind;" and I remembered then I
hadn't seen anyboy else in the city with one on.
"Yes," said I, "Miss; I haven't been in the place
long."
"I thought not," said she; "you look like you had
lately been transported from your native soil; you
haven't wilted a bit yet."
"I am afraid I will, though, now," said I, "since I
have met with you;" for there was something about
that young woman that was'monstrous' taking! She
was built up from the ground, and she walked as
springy as a'spike buck.' Her foot wasn't longer than
267 
THE ADVENTURES OF
my thumb, and the prettiest sort of pigtail curls hung
down all around her neck.
"Cross my hand," said she, holding out a little paw
about the size of a possum's, with a flesh-colored
glove on it, "and I'll tell you your fortune."
"My dear," said I-for by this time I wasn't afraid
to say anything, the "lions" had made me so bold"I don't care about having my fortune told; but I'll
give you a two-and-a-half-dollar gold piece if you
will take off that mask and let me have a peep at that
pretty face of yours."
"Agreed," she answered. "But I must tell you your
fortune first, anyhow, just to convince you that I
understand my trade. Hold out your hand;" and I
poked out a paw that will span the head of a flourbarrel'with ease and elegance.' She took it in both
hers, and examined it closely for some time.
"You are from Texas," she said; and she followed
a wrinkle on my hand with one of her little soft fingers
till my blood tingled all the way up to my elbow.
"That line runs straight back to that State."
"You are a witch, sure enough," said I.
"You are not married," said she, "but you will be
before long, for that line" (following another with
her finger that ran up to the bottom of my thumb)
"reaches all the way to Cupid's dominions."
"Right again," said I; "I see you understand your
'trade,' sure enough."
"And this line," she went on, tracing another from
the middle of my hand till it sprangled out toward
the roots of my fingers, "shows you've roamed about
a great deal in the prairies and backwoods of Texas.
You have been a great hunter, and no doubt have
268 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
taken the scalps from the heads of many an aborigine."
"No," said I, "we haven't any of those varmints in
Texas; but I've lifted the hair from the head of many
an Indian; and if I only had'Old Butch' here, I'd
show you the little instrument I did it with; but the
fellow down stairs has got it. But how in the world
did you find out all this? You are a witch to a certainty."
"Of course I am," she answered, "and therefore I
can easily tell that you are now on your way to'Old
Virginny'."
"That'll do," I said; "I see you know it all; and I
won't let you read any more of the lines on my hand,
for some of'em, you see, run into places where I
wouldn't like to be trailed up. Come, I'm as dry as a
'buffalo chip,' and wish you would ask me to take
something."
"Why don't you ask me?" said she.
"Because," I answered, "it seems to be the custom
here for the one that's invited to pay; and I don't
want you to settle the bar bill."
"Oh, very well," she said, "suppose we do have
something."
So we went up to the bar, and she asked me what
I'd take.
"I'm after big game now," said I, "and we'll take
a'white lion'."
She called for "a lemonade with the privilege," and
the "privilege," I noticed (which was Cognac brandy)
filled up the tumbler pretty well of itself. Well, we
stood there laughing and talking, and sipping our
liquor, until we got on the best of terms, and at length
269 
THE ADVENTURES OF
I ventured to take her hand in mine and give it a
gentle squeeze; but I had drunk so many "white lions"
I couldn't regulate the pressure exactly, and I squeezed
harder than I intended.
The young woman gave a keen scream and jerked
her hand away, and said I had crippled her for life. I
begged a thousand pardons, laid the blame on the
"lions" and "love at first sight," etc.; and finally got
her in a good humor again. A woman will forgive a
fellow anything, if he can only make her believe that
it's all owing to her good looks or winning ways.
"And now," said I, "that we are friends again, I
must have a peep at that pretty face of yours, as you
promised," and I handed her the two-and-a-halfdollar gold piece.
"Well," says she, "it's about time to be going home,
anyhow, and I suppose it will make no difference."
So she took off her mask, and-what do you think?
If she wasn't a full-blooded "mulatto" I wish I may
never lift the hair from another Indian! I was so
astonished I couldn't say a word; and what I would
have done I don't know, but just then I heard a terrible row going on, and looking round, I saw my first
friend sitting on a table, and calling out the figures of
the "Stampede." Nearly everybody in the room had
joined in, and such neighing, curvetting, and prancing,
and pitching, and kicking up, I never saw or heard on
the prairies of Texas. At last the manager threw his
hat among'em and called out, "Stampede all," and
the "rippit" commenced. The women screamed and
made tracks down stairs, while the men kicked over
the chairs and tables and pitched into each other right
and left.
270 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
One fellow came along by where I was standing,
and planted his boot-heel with all his might on the top
of my toes! I gave him three or four pounds of my fist
right in the middle of his forehead, and he tumbled
over on the floor and didn't take any more stock in that
"scrimmage."  By this time the police came in and
took a hand in the row, and things got livelier than
ever. Two fellows grabbed me at once: I took an
"under crop" out of the ear of one of'em, and about
half the hair off the head of the other. (It was well
for him I didn't have "Old Butch" about me, or I
should have got it all.) Pretty soon I saw a mahogany
chair flying straight toward me, and I rather suppose,
from the bump that was on my head the next morning,
that it had finally stopped the chair. At any rate,
that's the last thing I recollect about the "Quadroon
Ball."
27I 
CHAPTER XLIII.
Wallace in Trouble-Leaves New Orleans-On the Mississippi
-A Boat Race-Wallace Roars Like a Mexican Lion-He
"Sells" a Dandy-"Running Against a Snag"-Anchored on
a Sand-bank-Damage Repaired, and Arrival at Cincinnati.
N the morning when I woke up, I found myself
lying on the floor of a room with little grated
windows to it, and two or three policemen walking backward and forward before the door. There
were at least a couple of dozen besides myself in the
room, all looking very much the worse for wear: an
hour or so afterward, the police came in, and took us
all before the justice of the peace. He fined some of
us considerably, especially those that seemed to be
old acquaintances, and sent off all that couldn't pay
to the "calaboose." When he came to me, and found
that I was a stranger in the city, he only fined me five
dollars, and gave me lots of good advice gratis, which
I forgot ten minutes afterward.
This scrape rather sickened me with New Orleans,
and after dinner I paid my bill at the St. Charles
tavern, and hired a porter to take my trunk to a steamboat that was to start up the river that evening for
Cincinnati, and in an hour or two after I went aboard
she raised steam and put out.
She was a splendid boat, and everything belonging
to her was of the finest sort, just as if the owners had
no idea she would ever "bust up," or run into a snag
or a sawyer, which I believe is the end, sooner or later
(generally sooner), of all Mississippi steamboats.
There was a crowd of passengers aboard, and the 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
ladies' cabin was filled with women and children.
Such eating and drinking as there was on that boat I
never saw before! They weren't satisfied with three
meals a day, but had to have another, between breakfast and dinner, they called "lunch." I thought of the
times when I was a ranger, and used to ride hard all
day, and then breakfast, lunch, dine, and sup, at night,
on a little dried beef and a cake of "hard tack," and I
wondered how these city-folks would make out on
such fare!
The river was very high, and had overflowed all
the bottom lands, and it looked strange to see people
going from one house to another in pirogues and yawlboats. I thought I would rather live on one of the
high-and-dry prairies of Texas, where I had to haul
my drinking-water five miles, than in such a place,
where I -could neither ride nor walk, nor do anything
but paddle about in a "dug-out." Water is a good
thing in moderation, but it can be "overdid" like
everything else, just as it is in the Gulf of Mexico, and
in most of the liquors we get in Texas!
The next morning after leaving New Orleans, we
noticed a large steamboat come puffing on behind us.
She appeared to be rapidly gaining on us, and it was
soon reduced to a certainty that if we didn't "hurry
up the cakes," she would pass us before long. I saw
the captain of our boat and the mate with their heads
together, and shortly afterward three or four old tarbarrels and half a dozen sides of bacon were thrown
into the furnace by the firemen. Pretty soon the black
smoke began to rise out of the chimneys, and the old
steamer quivered and shook like a green hunter with
the "buck-ague." By this time the other steamer had
273 
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got nearly opposite to us, and everybody on it and on
our boat hurraed and waved their hats and handker chiefs.
The captain of our boat walked up and down the
guards, and tried to look as unconcerned as if he
didn't know there was another boat in ten miles of
him, but I saw plainly enough that he wasn't easy in
his mind. The mate ran up and down the stairs every
five minutes, till his face was as red as a turkeygobbler's snout, and the firemen poked everything
into the furnace they could lay their hands on. I do
believe if we had taken the brand-new piano out of the
ladies' cabin and handed it over to them, they would
have shoved it in along with the tar-barrels, and never
thought anything strange of it! Some of the passengers were afraid the boat would blow up, but they
soon got over their scare, and "hurraed" as loud as
the rest. And such a fizzing and whizzing and sputtering of steam you never heard. I tell you it was almost
as exciting as a running fight on the prairies with the
Comanche Indians!
At last we began slowly to gain on the other boat,
and as soon as the passengers noticed it, they "hurraed" louder than ever, and I was just as crazy as the
balance. I do believe, if I had known positively that
our boat would have blown up the next minute, I
would have yelled out, "A little more grape, Captain
Bragg,'" to the fellows that were poking the fuel into
the furnaces. I danced the "war dance," gave the
Comanche death-yell, and then roared like a Mexican
lion; and as soon as I saw that we were fairly leaving
the other boat behind us, I ran up to the captain and
grabbed him by the hand. The captain tried to look
274 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
as if he thought the whole affair a small matter, but I
could see well enough that he was tickled to the backbone. However, he was "sensible to the last," for the
first words he said to me were, "Let's go and take
something," and we went.
After we had taken a horn, the captain said to me,
"See here, my friend, what sort of a yell do you call
that you gave just now as we passed the other boat?"
"That," said I, "was the bona fide screech of the
genuine Mexican lion."
"Well," said he, "I wouldn't begrudge five hundred
dollars if I had a steam whistle on my boat that would
blow in that style." From that time the captain seemed
to take a great fancy to me, and always asked me to
"liquor" whenever he went up to the bar, which was
about every half-hour on a "low average," for he
wasn't'a hard drinker by any means.
One day, we stopped a little while at a place called
Vicksburg, in Mississippi, where the gamblers were
all hung some years ago. Pity we haven't got half a
dozen Vicksburgs in Texas! At this place a fellow
came on board and took passage for somewhere up
the river. He was a dandified-looking little fellow,
dressed up in the height of the fashion. How he kept
his shirt-bosom and his clothes so smooth, was a mystery to me. He looked as slick and as shiny all over
as a newly varnished cupboard. He had a great many
rings on his fingers (and on his toes, too, for all I
know), and wore a big gold chain looped up in his
vest pocket, and the half of a pair of spectacles hung
round his neck by a black ribbon. Every now and then
he would put this up to his eye, and take a sight
through it at the ladies in the cabin. He was evidently
275 
THE ADVENTURES OF
laboring under a disease which we call in Texas the
"swell-head," and I saw plain enough if something
wasn't done for him pretty soon, there would be no
chance for him ever to get over it; for it's a hard com plaint to get rid of, anyhow!
The first time he dined on the boat, he happened to
take his seat at the table right opposite to where I sat;
and what do you think he did? He took out a silver
knife and fork from a little morocco case he had
brought along with him, and ate his dinner with them,
instead of the knife and fork by his plate, which were
good enough for anybody. Thinks I, old fellow,
here's a fine chance to do something for your case, and
I'll see if I can't take advantage of it.
The next day we stopped at a wood-yard to take in
fuel, and I went on shore, and, while the deck-hands
were getting in the wood, I whittled out a wooden
case-knife about three feet long, and a fork in propor.
tion. When I had finished them, I hid them under my
coat, and carried them to my state-room without anybody seeing them. There was a gentleman occupying
the state-room with me, and I had to let him into the
secret, but he was mightily tickled at the idea of
"doing the dandy," and lent me the case of his doublebarrel gun, which was just about long enough to hold
my knife and fork.
When the dinner-bell rang, I took my seat at the
table right opposite the chap with the "swell head,"
with my "gun-case" hid away under my frock coat,
and waited for him to begin operations. He carefully
laid the knife and fork by his plate to one side, and
took out his own silver ones from the little morocco
case, and began to eat in a "finniken" sort of way! I
276 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
followed suit precisely, laid my knife and fork to one
side, placed my "gun-case" on the table, and drew out
my three-foot butcher knife and "pitchfork," and began eating with them as sober as a judge. As soon as
the folks at the table saw what I was up to, the ladies
all "tittered," and the gentlemen "haw, hawed," right
out-the captain especially laughed till the tears ran
down his cheeks; but I never cracked a smile, and kept
on eating as "solemn" as a parson at a funeral.
After dinner, the captain came up to me, and says
he, "Texas" (for that was what he always called me),
"you are a trump, sure," and he made me a present of
a fine bowie-knife, which I have got yet, but it don't
lift hair like "Old Butch;" and besides, when I went
to settle for my passage, he knocked off five dollars,
just for the effectual way in which he said I had "done
for" the dandy. What went with "Swell Head"
nobody knows, for he disappeared from the boat that
day, and we never saw him afterward.
The next day, as we were going along "full clatter"
against the swift current of the Mississippi, we ran
head on against a snag, and stove a hole in the bottom
of the boat as big as a flour-barrel. I had often heard
of running against a snag, and I understood the meaning of it pretty well after I tackled an old she-bear
once, and got three hugs and a bite from her before
"Old Butch" had the least show; but this was the first
time I ever actually came in contact with the bona fide
article! I tell you it made everything hop, and the old
boat quivered from stem to stern like a dying buffalo!
The ladies all came pouring out of the cabin, screaming like wild-cats, and some crying out, "Oh! I we are
lost! we are lost!" "The boat is sinking;" and some
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THE ADVENTURES OF
of the men, I noticed, were worse scared than the
women. Such a "hubbub" and "to do" you never saw!
I wasn't the least bit frightened myself, for I
learned to swim (like a puppy or an Indian papoose)
before my eyes were open; and I stood on the guards,
quietly waiting for the boat to sink, when I intended
to strike out for the nearest shore. Most of the
women screamed, and prayed, and wrung their hands,
as if they thought it was the best way to keep the boat
from going down; but I noticed one young woman
that never "took on" at all the whole time; and a
mighty good-looking one she was, too! She was as
pale as a lily, but as calm and quiet as a morning in
May, and didn't seem the least bit frightened for herself, but only on account of a lame old gentleman,
who, I suppose, was her father. She held on to his
hand all the while, and looked up at him so lovingly
and affectionately, I wouldn't have minded being her
"pa" myself for a short time.
I determined, when the time came to "strike out,"
to take that young woman and the old gentleman into
my especial keeping, and see'em safe to shore; but
just then a fat old lady, who weighed perhaps about
two hundred and fifty pounds gross, came waddling
by in a great fright, and grabbed me by the arm; and
then another woman came along and hitched on to
my other arm, while another clinched my coat tall,
and they hung on to me like leeches till the alarm was
over! If the boat had gone down I wouldn't have
had a chance even to kick when I was drowning-they
"hampered" me so!
The minute the boat struck the snag, the pilot
backed her off, and steered for the nearest shore; but
278 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
she filled so fast, we never could have made half the
distance. Luckily for us, though, and particularly for
me, with three women hanging on to me, we hadn't
gone more than two or three hundred yards before we
ran on to a sandbar in the middle of the river, and
settled down on it hard and fast! and that was all that
saved us. We laid there two days and nights, pumping out the boat and stopping up the hole the snag
had made in the bottom. When everything was put to
rights, we raised steam up to the high-pressure point
and backed off, and once more went on our way rejoicing. Two or three days afterward we landed at
Cincinnati, without any further accident.
279 
CHAPTER XLIV.
Cincinnati-Waiter Girls at the Hotel-Wallace Discourses
of Politeness-Southerners and Yankees-A Little Dish of
Politics-Goes to Dan Rice's Circus-Rides a Refractory
Horse, and Makes Twenty Dollars-What Wallace Thought
of Cincinnati.
ARRIVED at Cincinnati, I hired a hack and
\  went up to the        tavern, where I took a
)  room, as I intended to stay long enough in
the city to see all the sights.
Pretty soon the gong rang for dinner, and I went
in and took a seat at the table. A handsome young
woman stepped up to me and asked me "what I'd
take!" I din't understand exactly at first what she
said, and I got up from my chair and offered it to her.
She looked a little astonished, and everybody around
laughed right out. Would you believe it, she was only
a waiter, and I then noticed that every one of the
waiters at the table was a young woman, and all
dressed exactly alike. There must have been twenty
of them at least, and a pretty sight they were, too, and
one well calculated to give a fellow an appetite. No
wonder that tavern was -the most popular one in Cincinnati!
I took my seat again, and of course felt a little foolish, but it didn't take away my appetite; and when the
young woman asked me again what I'd have for dinner, I told her about five pounds of roast beef, rare,
(my usual allowance), and the "condiments." In a
twinkling the roast beef was smoking before me, with
the "condiments" piled up all around it in little dishes,
about the size and mostly in the shape of a big oyster 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
shell. I have seen all sorts of waiters in mytravels,
negroes, Mexicans, French, and Dutch, but these
young women were the spryest and handiest I ever
met with. All I had to do was to wink or make a
motion with my head, and what I wanted was there!
When I had finished the beef and "condiments,"
the young woman asked me what I'd take for dessert.
I looked at her pretty little red pouting lips, and
wanted to say that I'd taper off on them; but I didn't,
for if there's anything in the world I despise more
than anything else, it is a man who will make rude and
insulting speeches to a woman, just because he can do
so with impunity. Such a man is the most contemptible
of all animals, and isn't fit to be cut up into bait to
catch mud-cats with.
Well, I suppose every country has its particular
fashions, but this was the first time I ever was at the
table where the men were waited on by the women!
It didn't seem right to me to hear great, coarse, rough
fellows ordering these nice young women about as if
they had been "niggers." A low-bred dog, that sat
opposite to me, told one of them to bring him some
fried chicken, and because she didn't bring him the
hind leg or some other particular piece he wanted, he
told her she was a "good-for-nothing minx," and sent
her back to get it. If I could have had that gentleman
to myself in the "chaparral" for about five minutes, I
would freely have given a couple of Spanish poniesjust for the privilege of teaching him some of the rudiments of common politeness! You bet I would have
given him a distaste to fried chicken the balance of
his natural life.
I'll tell you what is a fact: The Yankees may brag
28I
I 
THE ADVENTURES OF
as much as they please about their refinement and
education; but with all of it, they are not near so polite
to the women as the Southerners are. They are a "go ahead," energetic, enterprising people, full of vim
and vigor, and shrewd, smart, and calculating, the
very sort of people to get along in this world, the way
it is "put up" at present; but it seems to me they lack
a something that the Southerners have, that is neces sary in the making up of a number-one gentleman. I
can't tell, to save me, what that is (and maybe, after
all, it's only a notion of mine), but at any rate it's one
that can't be changed very easily. I don't say this out
of prejudice to the Northern people, for we have our
faults as well as they; and I think it probable, taking
into consideration the different way in which they have
been taught and brought up, that, if a correct balance
was struck between them and us, the remainder of
sterling, substantial qualities would be in their favor.
But I give this opinion more to let the Southern people
know I've studied arithmetic, than for any great
weight I expect them to place on it. That the Yankees
are an ingenious people, I know all will admit at once.
Give one of them a Barlow knife and a piece of white
pine for his stock in trade, and he'll make money out
of it; if he can't do anything else, he'll whittle it up in
wooden nutmegs, that will be better than the imported
ones, only they won't flavor a toddy or a mince-pie
quite so well!
A great many Southerners are mightily "down on"
the Yankees for the way they have treated us since the
war ended-and the Yankees ought not to be surprised at it. When a fellow comes to your house, and
beats and bangs you about, because he is able to do it,
282
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I
Il 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
and takes the most of your property, and leaves you
as poor as a "church mouse," you ain't going to love
him, that's certain, no matter how much you may have
done to excuse such treatment-it isn't human nature;
and besides, many of the Southerners really think they
were in the right from the start. For my part, I can
forgive them everything they have done since the war
began, except turning the negroes loose among us,
and giving them the right to vote and make laws for
us. I do not mind their being set free, for that was
the natural consequence of the war; but to take four
millions of ignorant darkeys out of the sugar-fields
and cotton plantations, and give'em the right of
voting and making laws to govern this great country
was a crying shame; for hardly one of them could tell
J from a bandy stick, or knew anything more about
the principles of our government than they did about
mathematics or algebra.
Besides, any one who will notice the way in which
the "nigger" is "gotten up," will be satisfied that he
is not the equal of the white man in mind or body.
When we see a white man with a low forehead, pop
eyes, and no chin to speak of, and what head he's got
bulging all out toward the back part, we generally
find he isn't overburdened with sense; but this is the
case with nearly all "niggers;" and, besides, they have
wool on their heads instead of hair, blubber lips, bandy
legs, jaybird heels, thick skulls, and an odor that the
rankest abolitionist I ever saw didn't fancy on a hot
day  "Cuffee" has some good points, I won't deny
(and I hope, since he has been set free, that the white
people will give him all the "showing" he deserves);
but statesmanship, and the abilities necessary for
283 
THE ADVENTURES OF
legislating for this great country ain't among the
number.
But as the French say (which I learnt from'em
when I was in New Orleans), "Revaw noo ah noo
crapo"-"let us return to our frogs." After dinner,
I asked one of the landlords of the tavern (for I believe there were at least six of them), if there was
anything amusing going on in town.
"Nothing just now," said he, "except Dan Rice's
circus."
I had been to a circus once at San Antonio, but as
it seemed there was nothing else on hand, I concluded
to go to this one, too.  So I went, and found that it
was the same old thing over again. The clown had
the same old jokse, cut and dried, I had heard ten
years before, and the "ring-master" walked around
in a circle, cracking his whip, and letting the clown
fool him continually in the same old way, for which
he paid him off every time by a cut upon the shins. A
handsome young woman, dressed in tights and a little
short dress, that looked about as substantial as a puff
of tobacco-smoke, came out, and did some pretty fair
riding on one foot, and jumped over the ribbons and
through a hoop that was held up for her, without ever
making a slip. I thought, how nice it would be if a
man only had a wife like that young woman, to ride
around the yard of a summer's evening, and amuse
him when he felt low-spirited and gloomy. She was
mighty good-looking, too, in the bargain; but when I
came to inquire more particularly about her, of a
gentleman who was well acquainted with all these
circus-people, he told me she had already had three
husbands, and was about through with the fourth, who
284 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
was then on his last legs; so I concluded she wasn't
as interesting and amusing a creature as I had taken
her to be.
I had begun to get pretty well tired of the concern,
when the ring-master led out a horse, and offered ten
dollars to any one who would ride him around the
circle. A negro boy got on him, but had hardly fixed
himself in the saddle when the horse made a lunge or
two, and pitched him right against a Shetland pony
that was hitched near by. Fortunately his head struck
first, and of course he wasn't hurt; but the Shetland
pony was killed dead on the spot, and had to be "drug
out." Two or three others tried to ride the horse, but
he threw them all before they got him half round the
ring. I didn't like to make a show of myself, but then
I hated to see the horse come off winner, when I knew
I could ride him, so I stepped into the circle, and told
the ring-master that I would try him a small "hitch"
myself. I sprang into the saddle, and in a moment
the fellow discovered, from the way I maneuvered,
that I was going to' "stick" him; so he made some
excuse to take hold of the bridle, and said to me, in a
low voice, "Where are you from?"
"From Texas," said I.
"The d-l!" said he. "I'll give you twenty dollars
if you will let the horse throw you."
"Done!" said I, for I knew what he was up to; so
after a pitch or so, I pretended to lose my balance,
and rolled off upon the sawdust. The ring-master
picked me up, and slipped a twenty-dollar gold-piece
into my hand, which paid me pretty well for all the
damage that had been done; but I could have ridden
the lights out of that horse if I had been a mind to,
285 
THE ADVENTURES OF
and he might just as well have tried to pitch his own
hide off, as to "oust" me, after I had once got fixed
in the saddle. The ring-master made me an offer to
join the circus; and if that young woman hadn't had
so many husbands already, I might have "enlisted"
with'em for a spell; but as it was, I declined.
Cincinnati is as handsome a city as I ever saw, and
the streets are as clean as if they were scoured every
Saturday night. The people do a lively business in the
"pig line," and the first question they ask one another
when they meet on the streets, is, "How's pork
to-day?" and they are gay and jolly, or dull and lowspirited, just as "pork" is "lively" and "looking up,"
or "heavy" and "flat." I think a good coat-of-arms
for Cincinnati would be a fat shoat "rooting" upon
an "azure field," and a keg of lard "couchant" on its
side, with bunches of sausages and "adamantine dips"
hanging around, and the motto underneath,
"Root, pig, or die."
I heard that there was one establishment in the city
for packing pork, where they had a sort of mill, into
the hopper of which you can throw a hog alive and
squealing, and by the time you can run round to the
other side a couple of canvas hams will roll out, then
a couple of sides and shoulders, then fifteen or twenty
pounds of souse, and two or three strings of sausages,
and lastly a few dribblings in the way of stearine candles, bar-soap, and bristles done up in bundles ready
for the brush and shoemaker! Everything that went
in at one side comes out at the other in some shapeexcept the "squeal." I didn't see this machine in operation myself, but I was told about it by a member of
the church, and of course it's all so!
286 
CHAPTER XLV.
Off for Wheeling-Everybody Smoking-Wallace's First Trip
in the Cars-What He Thought of Railroad Traveling Richmond-The Dime Restaurant-Wallace Goes to a Fire,
and Gets "Put Out"-What He Thought of Prince Albert Wallace Leaves Richmond, and Goes to Lexington-What
His Relatives Thought of Him-The "Wild Texan" at a
"Fandango," Where He Tells Some "Big Stories"-Miss
Matilda, and What She Heard-Wallace Gets Tired of
Civilization, and Goes Back to Texas.
As FTER I had seen pretty much all the sights in
Cincinnati, I went on board of a steamer and
took passage for Wheeling, where we landed
safely without anything worthy of note happening to
us on the way.  I went ashore at once, and took up
my quarters at          House. Wheeling is a dull,
smoky4-looking town. The air was smoky, the houses
were smoky, the trees were smoky-even the people
were smoky; and when I went into supper I found
that that was smoky, too, particularly the coffee,
which tasted as if it had been boiled on a sobby fire
in a pot without any lid to it. I didn't fancy the
"lay-out" of the place at all, and, finding that the cars
left that night for Richmond, I had my trunk taken
to the depot, and about I2 o'clock I bid good-by to
the city of Wheeling, and if I never see it again I
shan't grieve myself to death, certain!
I never had traveled on a railroad before, and the
whole "lay-out" was new and strange to me-the
puffing of the engines, the clatter of iron wheels, and
the rapidity with which we scudded by every object
on the wayside. I couldn't get over the idea for some 
THE ADVENTURES OF
time, whenever I looked out, that the horses were
running away with the stage! Whenever the cars
gave a harder jolt than usual, I shut my eyes and
clinched my teeth, expecting the next instant I would
be shot to "the other side of Jordan," at the rate of
forty miles a minute. But I noticed that the people on
the cars who were used to railroads, laughed and
talked, and seemed as unconcerned as I would on the
back of a wild mustang; although we had been told
that, only a few days before, a train had run off a
high embankment, and smashed up everything at such
a rate, that one poor fellow who got jammed between
two of the cars, was flattened out so they had to roll
him up like a sheet of paper before they could get him
into his coffin; and another that was caught somehow
endways, was driven up into so small a lump that they
buried him just as he stood, in a box no bigger than a
five-gallon demijohn! I don't know which would be
the most "unpalatable," the "flattening out" or the
"driving up" process; but for my part, even if I was
killed, I should prefer to retain my usual dimensions
six feet four in length by two in breadth across the
shoulders.
There is another thing about this railroad traveling
I don't like at all! They don't give a fellow half time
enough to stow away his "grub" decently at his meals,
but compel him to bolt everything he eats like a
starved coyote. We stopped at a fine tavern for
breakfast, and I paid a man at the door fifty cents to
let me in; but just as I had sweetened my coffee to my
notion, and buttered four biscuits, and peppered and
salted half a dozen boiled eggs I had broke into a,
tumbler, the whistle was blown, and everybody bolted
288 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
for the cars, and I along with them, and I had just
time to jump on the platform when off they started.
I hope some clever fellow got my breakfast, for it was
fixed up "all right," sure-particularly the eggs. But
I concluded that sort of game wouldn't pay in the
long run; so when we stopped for dinner I bolted my
provisions whole (a trick I had learned when I was a
prisoner in Mexico), and trusted to the strength of
my gizzard, which was "equal to the emergency," as
the politicians say.
When I hadn't time to bolt my rations before the
whistle was blown, I grabbed up a plate of fried
chicken, or something else, and a "pone" or two of
bread, and walked off with it, plate and all, and finished my meal at my leisure in the cars. By the time
I reached Richmond I had a pile of dishes and plates
in my corner of the car, enough to have set out a
small table decently, if they had only been washed!
Just before we got to Richmond, a fellow I had got
acquainted with on the cars advised me to stop at the
"Dime Restaurant," where, he said, I would be much
better accommodated, and on more reasonable terms,
than at the "first-class hotels." So, when I got to the
depot, I hired one of the hacks and told the driver to
take me to the "Dime Restaurant." When I got there
I asked the clerk for a room, and he gave me a very
comfortable one, with a good bed in it, and everything else a fellow needed; and for this I paid fifty
cents a day. He gave me the key of this room, which
he said was mine as long as I wanted it, and that I
could go or come whenever it suited me.
After I had washed and slicked up a little, I went
down into the dining-room and took a seat at one of
289 
THE ADVENTURES OF
the tables, and in a minute a waiter brought me a
"bill-of-fare," which is a sort of "muster-roll" of all
the kinds of grub on hand. There was hardly a thing
in the "eating line" that wasn't put down on this
"muster-roll." The only "absentees" I noticed were
"buffalo-hump," "marrow-gut," and bear-meat; but I
suppose they can't always be had in a city like Richmond. On one occasion, out of curiosity, I attempted
to call for all on the roll regularly through, but though
I only tasted a mouthful of each, by the time I had
got half through the list, before I got to "fried oysters," of which I am "remarkably" fond, I "caved in"
completely.
Each separate dish (except bread and coffee, which
weren't counted in) cost a "dime," and from this I
suppose the restaurant took its name. A man could
breakfast, dine, or sup there just according to the
length of his purse. Forty cents would pay for a
dinner good enough for any one, and if a fellow was
getting down pretty near his "bottom dollar," he
might make out to satisfy himself on a single dime. It
wasn't like those big taverns where a fellow has to pay
three or four dollars a day, besides perquisites to
waiters and chambermaids, and shoe-blacks, even if
he should never eat a bite in the house the whole time;
for, at the "Dime" you paid for just what you got,
and no more! It was one of the best taverns I met
with in all my travels, and I only wonder there ain't
more of'em kept on that plan. All the drinkables in
the house were a "dime" a glass also, and it was a
curious thing to me that a man with a common appetite was just able to eat or drink a dime's worth of anything. But I thought, perhaps there might be some
290 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
sort of proportion between a man's stomach and the
tenth part of a dollar!
One night, a house just opposite to the "Dime"
caught fire, and there was such a ringing of bells and
rattling of fire-engines, that it was enough to have
woke up one of the Seven Sleepers. It put me in mind
of a "feast-day" at San Antonio, when the bells on the
old church always set up such a jangle that it invariably put my teeth on edge.
I got up and went out to have a look at the "row."
People were running backward and forward on the
street, hallooing "Fire!" as loud as they could bawl,
and a number of steam-squirts were throwing streams
of water up to the very roof of the building as big as
my arm. I walked up to where one of'em was in
operation, and after watching it for some time, I
thought what a great thing one of'em would be to
water a "truck-patch" with in a dry season; so I asked
the man who was working it, as polite as I knew how,
"how much one of those'steam-squirts' would cost?"
Instead of answering me, he turned the nozzle of the
thing right toward my bosom, and in a second I was
lying on my back in a puddle of muddy water!
I "riz"' with a brick in my~hand, and took him just
on the "burr" of the ear with it, and down he went!
As soon as the other firemen saw this they all levelled
their steam-squirts at me and knocked me over again,
and kept on squirting at me, until they washed me
clean over the curbstone and on to the side-walk, when
I scrambled up and dodged into an alley, and made
my way back to the "Dime," as wet as a drowned rat.
That "soured" me on fires completely, and I went to
no more of'em.
29I 
THE ADVENTURES OF
It was while I was in Richmond that Prince Albert
paid a visit to the city. I only got a sight of him once,
when he was riding in his carriage through the Ceme tery grounds, and I must say that I think I have seen
many a Dutch boy about New Braunfels and Freder icksburg that was better looking. He didn't show the
"bloody-royal" half as much as "Little Blue-Whis tling-Thunder," the young Tonkawa chief. Some of
our good democratic people took on mightily about
this sprig of royalty, and gave him big dinners and
soirees and tea-parties; but for my part, though he
bowed politely to me when I met him in the Cemetery
grounds, I didn't feel in the least "cowed" or confused by the compliment.  I bowed politely back to
him, and wished him well, and hoped he would remember me to his "ma" when he returned home. I
have since heard that the poor young man died soon
after he got back; but his "ma," Queen Victoria, was
a prudent woman, and had made ample provision for
all such accidents, so that even if five or six of the
"heirs apparent" were to die, she would still have
"a few more of the same sort left."
From Richmond I went on to Lexington, where my
relatives lived. They were all glad to see me, and did
all they could to make my time pass pleasantly while
I was with them; though I could see very plainly that
they all looked upon me as a sort of half-civilized
savage that never could be entirely tamed; and perhaps they were right. I had lived too long the free
and independent life of a ranger, to be contented a
great while with the steady habits and humdrum existence of the people of the "Old States." I longed
for the excitement of the chase, an Indian foray, a
292 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
buffalo-hunt, or a bear-fight. However, everything
for a time was new and strange to me, and I enjoyed
myself as much as I could have expected.
A few weeks after my arrival I went to a "fandango" that was given for my especial benefit. There
was a great crowd there, and everybody was anxious
to see the "Wild Texan," as they called me. I was the
"lion" of the evening," particularly with the young
ladies, who never tired of asking me questions about
Mexico, Texas, the Indians, prairies, etc. I at first
answered truly all the questions they asked me; but
when I found they evidently doubted some of the
stories I told them which were facts, I branched out
and gave them some "whoppers," which they swallowed down without "gagging." For instance, one
young woman wanted to know how many wild horses
I had ever seen in a drove. I told her perhaps thirty
or forty thousand.
"Oh! now! Mr. Wallace," said she, "don't try to
make game of me in that way. Forty thousand horses
in one drove! well, I declare you are a second'Munchausen'!"
"Well, then," said I, "maybe you won't believe me
when I tell you there is a sort of spider in Texas as
big as a peck measure, the bite of which can only be
cured by music."
"Oh, yes," she answered, "I believe that's all so,
for I have read about them in a book."
Among other "whoppers," I told her there was a
"varmint" in Texas, called the "Santa Fe," that was
still worse than the tarantula, for the best brass band
in the country couldn't cure their sting; that the
creature had a hundred legs and a sting on every one
293 
THE ADVENTURES OF
of them, besides two large stings in its forked tail,
and fangs as big as a rattlesnake's. When they sting
you with their legs alone, you might possibly live an
hour; when with all their stings, perhaps fifteen or
twenty minutes; but when they sting and bite you at
the same time, you first turn blue, then yellow, and
then a beautiful bottle-green, when your hair all fell
out and your finger nails dropped off, and you were as
dead as a door-nail in five minutes, in spite of all the
doctors in America.
"Oh! my! Mr. Wallace," said she, "how have you
managed to live so long in that horrible country?"
"Why, you see," said I, "with my tarantula boots
made of alligator-skin, and my centipede hunting-shirt
made of tanned rattlesnakes' hides, I have escaped
pretty well; but these don't protect you against the
stinging  scorpions,'cow-killers,'  and  scaly-back
chinches, that crawl about at night when you are
asleep! The only way to keep them at a distance is to
"chaw' tobacco and drink whisky, and that is the
reason the Temperance Society never flourished much
in Texas."
"Oh!" said she, "what a horrible country that must
be, where the people have to be stung to death, or
'chaw' tobacco and drink whisky! I don't know which
is the worst."
"Well," said I, "the people out there don't seem to
mind it much; they get used to it after a while; in fact,
they seem rather to like it, for they chaw tobacco and
drink whisky even in the winter-time, when the'cowkillers' and stinging-lizards are all frozen up!"
I had been introduced to one young woman by the
name of Matilda, who was as pretty as a pink! Her
294 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
teeth were as white as an alligator's, and her eyes
were as bright as two mesquite coals, and her mouth
looked like a little gash cut in a juicy peach. She was
a "deadener," I tell you, and a regular "kneeweakener," in the bargain; and I wanted to have a
little talk with her the worst in the world; but somehow I felt a little afraid to venture. After a little
while, however, she came up to me of her own accord,
and began to ask me a great many questions about
Texas and the Indians, wild horses, and the prairies,
etc. Among other things, she asked me if young
women were in great demand in Texas.
"I should think they were," said I. "The day the
first young woman came into our settlement there were
fourteen Spanish horses badly foundered on sedgegrass, by the young men who flocked in to see her,
from forty miles around; and the next morning she
had seventeen offers of marriage before breakfast!
The young woman was a little confused by so many
applications at once, and before she could make up
her mind which one to take, one of the'rancheros'
watched his chance, and the first time she walked out
he caught her up behind him on his horse, rode off full
speed to San Patrico, drew his six-shooter on the
padre, and forced him to marry them on the spot.
This saved the woman all further trouble on the subject, and they are now living happily together on one
of the finest cattle ranches in the County of Karnes."
"Oh! I declare," said Miss Matilda, "that is delightful! How romantic to be run off with in that way
by a handsome young'ranchero.' I think, Mr. Wallace, I shall have to go to Texas."
295 
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"You might do worse," said I; "and besides, you
would stand a chance of being run away with by some
great Comanche or Tonkawa chief, with a bow and
quiver on his back and eagle's feathers on his head,
and nothing else to speak of in the way of clothes."
Miss Matilda didn't seem to hear the last part of
my speech, for she jumped up and clapped her little
hands: "Oh," said she, "wouldn't that be fine? To
gallop over the flowery prairies, free as the wind,
from morning till night, and listen to the feathered
songsters pouring forth their untaught melodies from
every grove and shady dell! Oh, it would be splendid,
Mr. Wallace!"
"Yes," said I, "it would. One of the handsomest
young women in our settlement was carried off, three
or four years ago, by'He-che-puck-sa-sa,' the'Bellowing Bull,' and when I went on a visit to his tribe, not
long ago, she was the favorite wife and head squaw
of the wigwam, and had brass rings enough on her
arms and legs to have made a pair of'dog irons,' if
they had been melted up, besides one in her nose as
big as the palm of my hand."
"Why! how many wives did the Mormon have?"
asked Miss Matilda, looking a little down in the
mouth.
"Oh! I can't say exactly," I answered; "I only saw
six; but he had another wigwam at the village below.
But," said I, "Miss Matilda, after riding over the
flowery prairies all day, and listening to the coyotes
howling in every grove and dell, where will you put up
at night; and how will you manage to get along without hot rolls for breakfast, and baked custard for
dinner?"
296 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
"Oh," said she, "I don't care for them; I can do
very well without them; all I want is a nice cup of
coffee in the morning, and a biscuit or a slice of toast,
and a little fresh butter, or a few fresh-laid eggs; and
for dinner a few vegetables and wild fruits, and now
and then a nice beefsteak or a saddle of venison
roasted before the fire!"
"Yes," says I, "that's all reasonable enough, and
you could get them, I suppose, at any time; but you
see, the Indians don't cook their meat."
"The cannibals!" exclaimed Miss Matilda; "they
certainly don't eat it raw, do they?"
"Yes," said I, "as a general thing; only sometimes,
when a fellow feels a little squeamish, he fastens a
beef or mule steak under his saddle, and after riding
and jolting on it all day, he finds it nicely'done' when
he stops at night; and it's a very convenient way of
cooking, too, especially when a fellow is in a hurry
(which the Indians always are, for they are always
after somebody, or else somebody is after them); and
besides, they say it is the best thing in the world for
a sore-back horse!"
"Oh!  dear," said Miss Matilda, "I don't believe
I'll go to Texas, after all; for if I do, I must put up
with a'ranchero'-they don't eat their meat raw, do
they?"
"No," said I, "except when they are out on the
plains, and can't find buffalo-chips enough to cook it
with."
"Oh! tell me, Mr. Wallace," said she, "did you
ever see a'mirage' on the plains?"
"A mirage?" said I, rather taken aback, for I
hadn't the least idea what she meant, unless it was a
297 
THE- ADVENTURES OF
drove of mustangs or a herd of buffalo; "why, cer tainly, I have seen a thousand of'em."
"I didn't think they were so common," said she.
"Oh, yes," I answered; "the last one I saw was just
back of Santa Fe, and it stampeded when we got in
about a quarter of a mile of it; and such a dust as was
kicked up you never saw, for there hadn't been a drop
of rain there in six months."
"Well, I declare!" said Miss Matilda; "I always
heard that the mirage would disappear as you approached it, but I never heard of one kicking up a dust
before."
"No," said I; "they don't in other countries, where
the ground is kept wet by constant rain; but in Texas,
you see, it is different."
Just then a dapper-looking young fellow came up
and'asked Miss Matilda if he might have the pleasure
of dancing with her that set, and she walked off with
him. I took a dislike to that young fellow at once, and
felt for "Old Butch," without knowing what I was
about! The fact is, I rather fancied this young
woman, and I determined, the next time I met up with
her, to give her a better account of Texas, and leave
out all about the centipedes and "raw meat."
Well, sir! I staid with my kinsfolk in Old Virginny
till I began to pine for the prairies and woods once
more. They were as kind to me as they could be, but
feather beds, tight rooms, and three meals a day were
too much for me, and, like old General Taylor, when
he was taken from "camps" to the "White House,"
I fell away daily, and "went off my feed" entirely;
and, like him, I suppose I should have gone up the
spout, if I had staid much longer. I helped matters a
298 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
little by taking a camp-hunt of a couple of weeks in the
Blue Ridge Mountains, where I killed the last bear, I
suppose, that was ever seen in that part of Old Virginny, for when his carcass was hauled in, people came
from twenty miles around to have a look at it. But I
never got entirely to rights again till I returned to
Texas and got into an Indian "scrimmage," and lifted
the hair off of one or two of them with the aid of "Old
Butch." That night, for the first time, my appetite
came back to me, and I ate six pounds of buffalohump, a side of ribs, and a roasted marrow-gut, and
ever since I have been "as well as could be expected."
299 
CHAPTER XLVI.
Wallace Gives Jack Dobell His Opinion of Farming-Uncle
Josh-The Jews a Sensible People-Wallace Makes His
Arrangements for a Crop-He and "Keechie" Try Plough ing-Both Disgusted-Queer Muskmelon-Ruined by the
Drought-How Wallace Was Cheated Out of His "Roasting
Ears"-Living on Watermelons and "Poor Doe"-Wallace's
Future Prospects-Conclusion.
OME years ago, while on my way to the city of
San Antonio, I lost my road, and after wander      ing about the prairies till nearly sunset, I concluded to strike camp, and make a fresh start in the
morning. But just as I had made up my mind to pass
the night at "Sprawls," and put up as well as I could
with such accommodations as are usually furnished by
that extensive establishment, I thought I saw some
faint symptoms of a "settlement" ahead of me. Spurring on my jaded horse, I at length came to a sort of
hybrid between a log cabin and a half-faced camp, in
front of which a man was seated on a fallen tree,
busily engaged in rubbing up his rifle.
"Can you give me such. directions, my friend," said
I, "as will enable me to find my way back to the main
road to San Antonio?"
The man looked up as he replied to my question,
and to my astonishment I recognized my old friend
and messmate, Big-Foot Wallace.
"Why, hello, Foot," said I, "have you forgotten
your old'compadre,' Jack Dobell?"
Big-Foot looked at me dubiously for a minute,
then, springing up from the log, he seized me by the 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
hand and gave it such a grip that my fingers stuck
together for five minutes afterward.
"Get down, Dobell," said he, "and rest your face
and hands. You must stay with me all night, and in
the morning I'll pilot you out to the road myself. It's
a fact, though," continued Big-Foot, looking ruefully
around upon the apparently scant accommodations
afforded by his "ranch," "it's a fact, though, I haven't
got much to offer you. Crops have failed entirely,
but there's pretty smart of good grass in that hollow
yonder for your nag; and my partner, Jackson, was
lucky enough to kill a fat buck to-day. So get down
at once, for I have a heap to tell you about what has
happened to me since we last met, and particularly
about a scurvy trick my partner, Jim Jackson there"
(pointing to a remarkably homely individual who was
busily engaged near by in "peeling" the hide from the
aforesaid buck) "played off upon me about a month
ago."
Without further "palaver," I dismounted from my
horse, and, under Big-Foot's guidance, proceeded to
stake him out in a snug little valley, where the mesquite grass grew rank and luxuriantly.
"You needn't be afraid to' stake him so far from
camp-there's no Indians about here now," said BigFoot, with a melancholy expression of countenance,
as if he was heartily sick of "these piping times of
peace," and longed to see once more the stirring
scenes of bygone days. "I do believe there hasn't been
an Indian in ten miles of this place for the last twelve
months."'
"Why, you don't tell me, Big-Foot," said I, "that
30i 
THE ADVENTURES OF
you have been all that time without a single'scrimmage' with the Mexicans or Indians?"
"Yes," said he, "with the exception of a little
'tussle' I had with the'Tonks,' about six months ago,
on the Llafio, I haven't had a row of any sort since I
'drove my pegs down' in this settlement. And no wonder, neither, for the people are'piling in' here as thick
as pig-tracks around a corn-crib door; and they have
fenced up the prairies in such a way that the Indians
won't venture in, for fear of being'hemmed up.' If I
only knew where all these people come from, I'd go
there right off, for there can't be any one left behind,
and a fellow wouldn't be'scrouged' to death, as he is
here now. Of all things in the world, I hate being
'fenced up'; I want plenty of elbow-room and plenty
of'outlet,' but here you can't travel half a dozen miles
in -any direction, without being headed off by somebody's fence."
On our return to the "ranch," we took a seat on the
log which answered Big-Foot in place of a sofa, and
he said to me, "Well, in the first place, I suppose you
would like to know how I came to settle here, and take
up with the business of farming.
"You see, after the Mexican war had ended, and
that chap with the gold epaulets on his shoulders and
the'chicken fixings' on his coat-sleeves had mustered
us out of the service and paid us off, Jackson and I concluded, as we had saved up a smart pile of money between us, that we would try our hands at'ranching.'
Neither of us knew anything about it, but we thought
it would be plain sailing enough, as things appeared
to grow in this country pretty much of their own
accord anyhow, without requiring a great deal of hard
302 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
work, of which neither of us were'overly' fond. So
we bought two hundred acres of land here, from
Uncle Josh (and by the same token, he made us pay a
'swingeing' price for it-twenty-five cents an acre,
half cash down).
"You know Uncle Josh, don't you? There never
was a better-hearted fellow in the world, and he has
but one little failing: whenever he can get to where
there's liquor, either the liquor gives out, or he gets
'Ingin drunk' certain-one or the other. I have often
taken him out in the chaparral, and talked to him with
tears in my eyes as big as glass marbles, about his
carrying on so in that way; but all I can ever get out
of him is,'that it's all owing to the high price of putty,'
which, he says,'riz half a cent on the ton, just as he
had sold out.'
"Buti as I was telling you, after Jackson and I had
bought this piece of land from'Uncle Josh,' the first
thing we did was to build this shanty, and fence in
that'truck-patch' you see yonder; and long before we
got through with the job, I tell you I had taken a perfect disgust for farming. To sit here comfortably on
this log, and look at that little shanty and the truckpatch alongside of it, you would think them a mere
circumstance; and, in fact, they don't make a very imposing show in the way of improvements; but just you
try your hand at riving a few hundred boards out of
these knotty post-oaks, that split just as well crossways as lengthways, and if you don't lather'a few,'
and cuss a few more, then I'm mistaken. And, if that
don't satisfy you, just pitch into that chaparral out
yonder, where the thorns are as sharp and as crooked
as cats' claws, and perhaps, by the time you are tat
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THE ADVENTURES OF
tooed all over like a New-Zealander, and there's nothing left of your pants but the waistbands, and only the
collar of your shirt, you will come to the same conclusion that I did, that farming ain't quite so pleasant
a business as following an Indian trail on an easygoing horse, with a fair prospect of overtaking the
women and children.
"In my opinion, the Jews are the most sensible
people about'farming,' after all. You'll find'em
everywhere making money at'all sorts of trades and
occupations; but whoever heard of a Jew that followed'grubbing the ground' for a living? Even in the
time of Moses, you know, they went'scootin'' around
the country for forty years, living on manna and
grasshoppers, just for an excuse to keep from building
shanties and hoeing corn. They are a shrewd, smart
people, and I'd join'em at once, only I'm opposed to
their'earmarks,' and don't like being circumscribed
and hemmed up, as I told you. Besides, I don't want
to give up old'Ned,'* of which I am remarkably fond.
Take my advice, Dobell, and never do you try'farming,' unless you have got half a dozen darkeys and a
small'trash gang' to clear away the'roughness.'
"Well, as I was saying, after we had worked and
'fussed' around here more than a month, and got the
shanty built and the ground fenced in, I went into
town and bought a plough, shovels, spades, hoes, and
all sorts of farming ammunition, so as to have everything ready when the planting season came around.
I went to a drug-store and bought all kinds of seeds,
done up in little brown paper parcels; for, thinks I,
maybe farming is like shooting at ducks with mixed
*A Southern term for bacon.
3o4 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
shot: if a No. 4 don't hit'em in the body, perhaps a
No.7 will take'em in the head. If parsnips don't do
well, maybe beets will. I didn't forget muskmelons
and watermelons (for I am powerfully fond of'em,
I am); and well it was I didn't, as I'll tell you before
I'm done.
"The first thing I did, when I got back from town,
was to hitch my saddle-horse, old'Keechie,' into the
plough; and if ever I saw a shame-faced brute, he was
one. He looked as if he thought he had got down to
'the lowest notch' at last. He was so cowed he went
off as quiet as a lamb, and never cut up the first'shine.'
I had never tried ploughing before in my life, but I
had seen other people at it, and I thought it was the
easiest thing in the world; but I'm blamed if I have
got the'hang' of it rightly to this day. Sometimes the
crazy thirig would scoot along the top of the ground
for a- yard or so, and then, kerwhoop! it would come
up against a grub, and jar the very nails off my fingers.
Then again it would dive right down into the earth,
as if it thought I was engaged in digging cellars by the
job; and whenever I tried to bring it up, I was sure to
overdo the thing, and away it would go again scooting
along the top of the ground, until another grub would
bring it up all standing. I pledge you my word,
Dobell, after I had run the first furrow, and looked
back at it, it made me dizzy, it was so monstrous
crooked. However, we at last got through with the
job; though, if you had seen the field after we had it
done, you would have thought a gang of wild hogs
had been rooting in it for the last month.
"Well, we planted the most of it in corn, and the
rest we planted with the seeds I had bought at the
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THE ADVENTURES OF
drug-store. Among them was a paper labelled'muskmelon seed' (and I am remarkably fond of muskmelons, I am); so I planted them in the richest part of
the patch, and tended them well till they began to
grow finely. But, one day, as I was passing through
the patch, I saw a young melon sprouting on one of
the vines, and as it appeared to have a rather queer
look, I stooped down to examine it closely, and may I
never scalp another Indian if it wasn't a regular
bottle-gourd! I turned in right away and dug all the
vines up, for fear strangers might think I had a touch
of nigger blood in me, for you know the old saying,
'A poor man for posterity, and a nigger for gourds.'
"Well, everything grew off splendidly for a spell,
and the corn seemed to do just as well in the crooked
furrows as if they had been straight; but after a while
the drought set in, and the drier it got the more the
corn turned'yaller,' until at last it wilted right up. I
tried my best to make it rain, but it was all no use.
Sometimes, the frogs croaked powerfully in the'slash'
over yonder, but it never rained for all that; and at
last the slash went dry, and the frogs would have died
if they hadn't turned to highland toads. Sometimes
the wind was due east, and my corns hurt me terribly,
but still it didn't rain. Sometimes there was a great
'hello' around the moon, as big as a wagon-wheel, and
I made sure we would have rain then; but we didn't,
and never did until everything was as dry as this long
yarn I am spinning now.
"But to cut it short, the crop turned out a perfect
failure. And now I will tell you about the scurvy trick
that Jackson there played off on me, not long ago. I
wish my rifle may snap the next fair chance I get at an
306 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
Indian, if I thought there was as much meanness in
'human natur.' You see, though it is true the crop
had failed teetotally, there were about roasting-ears
enough in the patch to make one pretty fair mess; and
I told Jackson one morning that I would go out and
kill a fat buck, and when I got back we would gather
the crop, and have one good'bait' out of it, anyhow.
So I swabs out old Haco, as I call my rifle, and off I
put, up one side of Doe Run and down the other, then
over to York's Creek, and from there to Little Sandy,
but not a single deer could I find. At last, however,
when I had given up all hopes of killing a deer that
day, and was making tracks for home, just after crossing Burnt Boot, I'upped' as fine a buck as you ever
saw. I peeled his hide off in short order, cut out the
'saddle,' and started for home at a double-quick, for
by this time I was getting as hungry as a coyote. When
I got in about two hundred yards of the camp, I
thought I smelt'fried corn,' and mistrusted something
was wrong immediately; and, sure enough, when I
walked into the ranch, there sat that rascal Jackson
'shoveling' the last grain from the skillet down his
throat.
"He had taken advantage of my absence to gather
and eat up the whole crop we had been working four
or five months to make! He hadn't left a nubbin as
big as my thumb in the field, and consequently all my
share of that crop was just one smell of fried corn;
and I suppose I shouldn't have got that much if I
hadn't happened to have the wind of Jackson as I
came up.
"Well, from this time on, things got worse and
worse. The potatoes took the dry rot-and who
30o7 
THE ADVENTURES OF
could blame'em, as a drop of rain hadn't fallen in
three months?-and everything else we had planted
wilted right up, except the watermelons. They did
finely, I suppose because they carry their own water
along with'em, and of course are independent of the
weather. By this time, what with buying ploughs and
hoes and other implements, etc., our money gave out
entirely, and we were compelled to live on watermelons, with now and then a dish of'poor doe,' which,
as you know, isn't much stronger diet than the watermelons. I admit that watermelons are first rate in
their way, but when a fellow has nothing but watermelons for breakfast, watermelons for dinner, and
watermelons for supper, he fairly hates the sight of
one after a while. I pledge you my word, Dobell, that
after I had lived for a week or so on'em, I could hear
the water'jug' in me whenever I stumped my toe as
I walked along! And then they are such unsatisfying
and'ill-convenient' diet! In fifteen minutes after eating a fellow that would weigh twenty pounds, I was
just as hungry as ever.
"Once there came along some travelers here, who
wanted dinner, and I tell you, Dobell, I have never
felt so mean in my life since the time Polly Jenkins
said,'No, sir-ee, horse-fly, Bob,' to a little question I
asked her, as I did when I took the travelers out to
the'patch,' and, giving them a butcher-knife apiece,
told them to'pitch in,' as their dinner was before
them. However, I see Jackson has got the steaks
ready for supper; so draw up a'chunk,' Dobell, and
take a'bite.'
"No, Dobell," he continued, as he helped my tin
platter to about a pound of juicy steak, "I'd rather
be that old chunk you are sitting on, sailing forever
308 
BIG-FOOT WALLACE
round and round in a'dead eddy,' than live here as I
have done for the last six months."
"But, Big-Foot," said I, "if you are going to give
up'farming,' what will you go at? There won't be
any more rangers wanted, you know, because the
Government has settled all the Indians upon their
'reserves,' where they are learning them to farm and
to eat fat beef in place of horse-meat."
"Yes," said Big-Foot, with a melancholy shake of
the head, "all that is very true, I know, and I hear the
Indians take to it kindly-least ways, to the beef.
However, Jackson tells me there's a couple of'gals'
moved into the settlement down below here, that are
as rich as'cow-yards,' and we have concluded to
'slick-up' a little and hunt stock awhile in that neighborhood. I think I shall stand a pretty good chance
to get one of them, seeing as how there are worselooking chaps than I am; but as for Jackson there, he
is so uncommonly ugly, that if a'gal' was dying of
some sort of sickness that could only be cured by
marrying, I'm doubtful, if he was to offer himself, if
she wouldn't rather'kick the bucket,' and him, too.
Look at them teeth of his, will you, how they stick out
in front, just as if he had been made on purpose to
'eat pumpkins through a fence'."
"But, Big-Foot," said I, "if you should accidentally
fail in the'gal speculation,' what will you do then?"
"That is what I call a'poser'," said he; "but there's
one thing you may depend on: just as soon as I hear
of a Comanche starving to death for want of a horse
to eat, I'll try'farming,' again, and not before. Jackson, bring out the bottle-gourd-there's a little'wake
robin' left in it yet, and I have talked till I am as dry
as a'buffalo-chip'."
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