Chapter 9

The information they had gotten about the trail ahead was well neigh invaluable. With it, they were able to avoid several bad places in the trail, and the information about the additional water holes was very helpful. They weren't absolutely sure that the talisman was responsible, but they never saw another Chiricahua Apache for their whole trip.

The wagon train had managed to maintain its schedule because of a mixture of good management by Jed Caruthers, the wagonmaster, and an almost abnormal run of good luck. Therefore, they reached the Colorado River in early September of 1859. Jed dickered with the Yuma Indians for the use of their ferry. Actually, there was little to dicker about, since this was the only ferry across the river for miles in either direction, up or down. But the Indians enjoyed the dickering part of their enterprise, so Jed was able to talk them down a little on the price.

They got across the river all in one day; the Yumans had done such a good job of organizing their operation that the crossing was easy for all concerned. However, now that they were across the river, the most difficult part of the journey was about to begin. For the rest of the time until they reached San Diego, they would be traveling through loose sand, except when they were crossing mountain ridges. This was going to put a heavy work load on the mules, and there was no hard pan to help them out.

On top of everything else, even though it was now September, there was no relief from the summer sun. Heat stroke was a real hazard, and they had to be sure to drink enough water to stave it off. Likewise, they had to make sure that the stock had enough water, because, without the mules, they all would die in the desert. They had bought extra water barrels from the Yumans and had filled them before they left the river, but there was no such thing as having too much water while crossing the desert.

They also had to watch out for Mexican bandits even more than during the early part of the trek. The Mexicans sorely resented the US "seizure" of California and quietly, but unofficially, encouraged anything that harassed or injured the gringos. They hoped that they could make life uncomfortable enough to force the Anglos to abandon California so the Mexicans could reclaim it. This was a forlorn hope, but they stuck with it, anyway.

The wagon train was snaking its way across a particularly God-forsaken stretch of desert whose only purpose had to be to hold the rest of the world together. There were some very high dunes along here and the train was forced to wind its way among them. Suddenly, from the top of two dunes on opposite sides of the trail, there came a hail of bullets. Fortunately for the people in the wagon train, the attackers were using smooth-bore muskets which had a limited range and an even more limited accuracy. Any target over 50 yards away from the musket was perfectly safe, unless God was singling it out for some sort of retribution.

The majority of the people were more than 50 yards from the shooters, and everybody had time to duck under the wagons for safety. Mules were too valuable to injure on purpose, so the shooters were being careful to miss them, though some were bound to be hurt if the shooting continued indefinitely. Keith and Sam were both on guard duty that day, and both happened to be near the rear of the train, though on opposite sides. Based on their experience in fighting Comanches, they both decided that an attack was their best defense. Each one took on the attackers on his or her side of the train.

Keith rode around to the back of the dune on his side of the train and looked up. He saw 17 men hunkered down and firing over the top of the dune. A man would shoot from a kneeling position, back up a few paces, and reload his weapon, before returning to take another shot at the train. Even though the enemy was using muzzle loaders, 17 shooters were too many for one man to take on, alone, unless he could find some edge. If he worked it right, this was the perfect chance for Keith to use his crossbow.

Nobody was looking down the hill of sand, so Keith had not been spotted yet. The silence of the crossbow would help him to avoid detection, but he would have to shoot up the slope—a real problem for the crossbow. Keith would have to keep the extra height in mind when he shot if he was not going to waste a lot of bolts. Also, he would have to be sure of a kill; a wounded man would attract attention as he cried out, so Keith would have to take special care with his aim.

Keith selected his first target as a man who had stepped back to reload. He was standing up, so he presented a relatively large target. Keith aimed carefully, taking note of the fact that he was shooting up. The bolt caught the man in his left kidney, not an immediately fatal blow, but one which caused the man to topple over and roll to the bottom of the dune.

Keith quickly reloaded and looked for his next target. This time, Keith aimed even a little higher and hit the unfortunate man between the shoulder blades. He was killed instantly, and this was the result that Keith was looking for. Keith was able to down 3 more of the Mexicans before he was noticed. Even 12 men were too many for Keith to take on by himself, so he turned his horse and ran; Keith had never dismounted because he knew that he would eventually have to make this sort of escape.

He slung his crossbow across his back and pulled his pistol. The Mexicans who were chasing Keith were all swinging sabers, so Keith knew how much room he was going to have before being seriously injured. To hell with shooting at men, Keith shot at the horses. He knocked down three horses with his first 4 shots—truly phenomenal luck! Nine men were now chasing Keith as he rode headlong toward the wagon train, hoping to get help there. Just as he came even with the last wagon at the end of the line, he turned and fired his last bullet at the men chasing him.

This shot accomplished two things: it alerted the men in the train that he needed help, and it luckily knocked down another horse. Several shots were fired from the train, and another horse fell. This was enough to discourage Keith's pursuers; they turned away lest they be shot, too.

Sam had a different story to tell of her experience with these ambushers. She rode around the dune on her side of the trail and looked up to see 15 Mexicans pouring musket fire down upon the wagon train. Along the way, Sam had acquired a second pistol which she kept holstered on her saddle. Thus, she had 10 shots from her 2 pistols and one shot from her Mississippi rifle before she had to reload.

As with Keith, the Mexicans were so intent in shooting at the train that they did not notice her as she came around the dune to their side. These Mexicans were following the same routine of kneeling to fire over the top of the dune, then backing up to stand and reload before returning to the firing position. Sam came to the same conclusion as Keith, namely that the musketeers were most vulnerable when they were standing to reload.

She had an entirely different plan of attack from the one used by Keith. She climbed the dune about 30 yards away from the Mexicans. She climbed all the way to the top and slipped over the edge so that she was on the opposite side from the Mexicans, but still at the crest of the dune. Sam had brought both her pistols and her rifle with her, but not her crossbow.

She used her rifle for her first shot and killed that man. He fell over backwards and rolled, unnoticed, to the bottom of the dune. She lay down her rifle and took up the first of her pistols. She was lying down on the sand, so nobody saw her, and she had a very steady rest for her arms as she held the pistol in both hands to shoot. She aimed carefully and killed the next man she shot at; this was just like target practice on the shooting range!

There was a steady breeze at the crest of the dune, so she was not betrayed by powder smoke. Therefore, it was only after 4 more shots that she was located. She had killed or wounded a total of 6 men out of the 15 she was facing. She knew that she was a good shot, but she had not realized that she was this good!