Chapter 8

Colorado Territory, June, 1872

Cletus asked the chiefs' council to call everybody together for a pep talk. "By now you all know that the Utes are very near. Tomorrow, we will have to begin moving into the fort. You have been calling it 'Fort Cletus, ' but I would like to call it 'Fort Defiance, ' because it is proof that nobody can push us around! Will you join me in changing the name?" After the cheering had died down, Cletus went on, "We are greatly outnumbered, but we can win if we all stick together and depend on each other. Don't let your dreams of personal glory get in the way of defending your families! The Utes outnumber us by 4 to 1, but remember that we Cheyenne are more than 4 times better then the Utes!" This time the cheering was deafening. Cletus hoped that they would remember his words once the fighting started.

The next morning after breakfast, the women started moving all of the household goods they could into Fort Defiance. They knew that anything that they didn't move would either be destroyed or be stolen by the Utes. The men had strung a rope corral within the inner wall and were moving the horses there as quickly as they could. It was tough getting the horses to cross the two ramps, but it was finally done. The women had filled all of the water skins and had distributed them around the fort so that none of the defenders would have far to go for a drink. Likewise, the ammunition had been spotted around the outer trench, between the trench and the wall, so that it would be easy for the riflemen to reach. The women had not said anything to the men, but had moved their weapons to the inner trench.

Cletus spaced the six backup riflemen equally around the outer trench with instructions to use their rifles as they could, but to be ready to take up a Spencer if one of the regulars was killed or injured too much to use it. Everyone realized that a position in the outer trench was a dangerous place to be, so there would be a lot of glory in just being there. The wall and trench were some protection, but they would not stop all bullets, and there would be real trouble if the enemy managed to jump the wall in any strength. The watchwords were "be alert, be careful" and "kill the Utes, don't let them kill you!"

The men with the Spencers were told, "You are the main line of defense. If you die, so will the women and children! Don't expose yourself to unnecessary danger! Don't try to be a hero! You already are a hero to everybody and they don't want you to be a dead hero! Let the Utes strut and taunt all they want to; just don't let them draw you from behind the wall. They will call you cowards for not coming out to face them, but they are the cowards for attacking us with so many warriors. Remember, it's you who are the heroes because you stay at your post and kill the enemy, not because you let a coward trick you to your death. Be strong and live for you women and children!" Cletus didn't know how much good his speech would do, but he hoped that it would help.

He then went to the women and said, "You know what will happen if the Utes break through even with only a few warriors. Keep behind the wall, but be ready to defend your children. Have your rifles ready and easy to reach, for we can never predict how a battle will run. We depend on you, for you are the last line of defense. Keep your heads and we will prevail!"

Cletus called together the unlucky 23 who had not been issued the Spencers and said, "You think that you will be cheated out of a chance to fight. I tell you now, you will get a chance to fight and cover yourselves with glory! You will be the mobile reserve who will be rushed to trouble spots to relieve the pressure on your compatriots. Utes will get over the wall; it will be impossible to keep them out. It will be up to you to kill all that do not escape by running back over the wall. But you must not follow them back over the wall. If you do, you will die a fool's death, not a hero's death. Stay within the wall and help kill Utes; don't cross the wall and give glory to some undeserving Ute by letting him kill you. I know it will be hard to stay back, but, remember that you are defending your women and children, not giving in to a childish impulse. We are depending on you. Deserve our trust!"

Cletus had placed his 47 riflemen equally around the circle. Thirteen feet apart was woefully thin, but he had no choice. Each man was told to remember his place and to stay in it, even if somewhere else along the wall was under attack and he was not. The Utes would try to trick them into leaving a section of wall undefended so that they could break in. They must not fall for that trick! If a man saw his neighbor start to leave, he must call him back. The lives of their women and children depended on their discipline! There was a reserve who would be rushed to help where needed. That was not their job. They must stay at their post, no matter what happened!

Cletus wished to God that he could depend on his men doing what they were told, but their whole lives had been spent in the search for personal glory and he couldn't help worrying that old habits would win through. If only they would remember that the women and children were depending on them!

There was no sign of the Utes and it was late in the day. There was no reason to expect a night attack, so Cletus had everyone stand down and eat supper. The women fixed a communal meal and the atmosphere was almost like a party. So much so, that Cletus suggested a round of singing and dancing. This idea was met with considerable enthusiasm and the party started. Cletus had a hard time putting a lid on the festivities when he thought it was time to get some sleep. Everybody had been having so much fun that Laughing-Eyes said that she would bet that a lot of pregnancies would be started tonight. In fact, she was interested, but she couldn't get any more pregnant than she was; she hoped that Cletus didn't mind! He laughed as he led her toward their sleeping pallets.

The next morning, about the time they were finishing breakfast, one of the lookouts reported seeing a dust cloud on the western horizon. This gave them plenty of time to get ready for the first attack, so everybody relaxed, instead of rushing about. It was amazing to Cletus how calmly the Indians could take the prospect of dying. A bit later, Cletus asked everybody to take their positions and he made a round of inspections. As far as he could tell, everything was ready and the start of the battle just depended on when the Utes would get their collective ass in motion.

About two hours later, a large body of Indians rode up with a great deal of noise and frantic waving of fists. They obviously expected to see an undefended Indian village just ripe for the picking. Instead, they were met with a rattle of gunfire. The Utes were nonplussed by this turn of events, they never expected to have this happen. A few of the Utes were wounded, but they were really out of range. The defenders knew that; the gunfire was just a show of defiance. Cletus called for his men to stop shooting and they did; however, a few climbed onto the wall and made obscene gestures toward the Utes. This resulted in a roar of rage from the Utes and a great laugh from the Cheyenne.

The Utes talked among themselves for a while; they were obviously surprised by the fortifications. They rode around the fort well out of range and just looked at the structure. Cletus suddenly realized that he had made a mistake in the design of the wall and the trench. He should have made the wall 5 feet high and put the trench on the outside of the wall. He resolved that he would do it that way, if the situation ever came up again. His current problem was that the horses could jump a 2 1⁄2 foot wall. Fortunately, the 20 feet between the two walls was not enough of a run for the horses to jump the second wall.

The Utes could see that the wall was not high enough and prepared to charge the fort. They gathered into a bunch on the south side of the fort and started to gallop toward the Cheyenne. Cletus ran to the south side and ordered the men to hold their fire until he told them to shoot. Then they should empty their rifles into the charging Utes as fast as they could shoot. While there was still a pause in the action, Cletus ordered his mobile reserve to gather, half on the east and half on the west side of the fort. They were to wait until he ordered them to attack any horsemen who made it into the fort.

Cletus ordered his men to shoot when the charging Utes were about 50 yards away. There was a crash of sound and six Utes fell to the ground to be trampled by the charging horses. The horses in the back of the bunch swerved to the side to avoid the bodies on the ground; this unseated some of the riders, who added to the crumpled masses on the ground. Meanwhile, the riflemen continued to pour shots into the remaining charging Utes. Many were hit, but there were so many men that it was impossible to shoot them all. Several horses jumped the wall and skidded to a halt when they came up to the inner wall that they had not seen before. The Cheyenne to the right and left jumped at the Utes and dragged them off their horses. There was no more shooting as knives and hatchets flashed in the sun. The Utes were all killed with only minor wounds to the defenders.

The problem was now what to do with the horses milling around between the two walls. Cletus shouted to the women to tear a hole in the wall wide enough to get a horse through. They did and passed the unhurt horses through the wall and into the corral with the other horses. The injured horses had their throats cut and were left where they lay. If worse came to worse, the Cheyenne could eat them.