Chapter 12

It may seem strange that a 9-year-old Indian boy would be included in the active defenders of a fort against attacking Indians, but the attackers were Chiricahua Apaches and the 9-year-old was a Mescalero Apache, two people who have been hereditary enemies for longer than history records. Thus, the officials at the fort would have been hard pressed to keep Running Bear from joining in the fight. On the other hand, they were not so stupid as to turn down the services of a experienced Indian-fighter, no matter what his age or race.

When the gate opened and the fighters ran out, Running Bear had more weapons than either side could imagine, he had his rifle, his pistol, and his 4 dogs. The dogs wanted to charge the Chiricahuas, but Running Bear kept them at his side until the attackers got close. He did not want to take a chance on a dog being killed by accident by friendly fire, so he kept them out of the way of the Gatling gun and close to the wall so that the men on the wall would not be aiming in their general direction.

Once the Gatling gun began to fire, its major flaw became apparent. The pall of smoke generated by the rapid firing of that many black powder cartridges made it very difficult for the gunner to see what he was shooting at, so he had to fire with a lot of faith that the enemy was where he was shooting. He had to depend on another person standing outside the smoke to tell him where to shoot. This problem significantly cut into the effectiveness of the Gatling gun, but it could still cut down anyone who was so unlucky as to be standing in front of one of it bullets.

Running Bear and the three cowboys with him were all using Winchester repeaters, and they were free to move as much as they wished. They just didn't want to get left outside after the gate was closed! Once the charging attackers got within 100 feet, Running Bear turned his dogs loose. The dogs had the effect of a small tornado as they swept through the Chiricahuas, never staying long, and killing virtually every one they chose to attack.

The Chiricahuas were fearless when facing the guns of the soldiers, but they quickly panicked when they were attacked by the dogs, which were obviously demons in disguise! The dogs moved too fast for the rifles carried by the attackers to be swung around and aimed, and the dogs moved too cleverly to be much affected by the knives carried by the attackers. The dogs knew what to do when facing a knife-wielding enemy: crush the hand holding the knife and then go for the throat. The dogs were so strong that they never had to bite more than three times, and, often, the one bite at the throat was all that was needed to eliminate an opponent.

Of the 109 attacking Chiricahuas, 37 were eliminated by the Gatling gun and the rifles, and 14 were eliminated by the 4 dogs. All of this with no fatalities among the defenders, though one dog did have a bullet scar along his back. The Chiricahuas would have to do a lot of soul searching before they made another attack like that first one. The battle lasted only 17 minutes, from the opening shot to the last shot, and the Chiricahuas had nothing to show for their effort.

The dogs were the heroes of the hour. The soldiers made a big to-do over the dogs, and the dogs loved the attention. The fort commander was especially interested in the story of the dogs and wanted to know where he could get some of his own. Running Bear said that he would have to talk to Otto, since Otto was the one who owned and trained the dogs. The Army was not interested in war dogs, officially, but would not complain if an individual unit procured its own dogs at its own expense. The major planned to follow up on the dogs as soon as the present emergency was over.

The Chiricahuas did not retreat much beyond rifle range. They set up camp close enough to keep an eye on the fort and to intimidate the soldiers inside. Running Bear saw this as too good an opportunity to miss, so he convinced the soldiers to let him out of the fort after dark. He left his rifle behind, but he took his knife, his pistol, and his 4 dogs on a raid against the hostile encampment.

As the first step in his battle against the Chiricahuas, Running Bear planned to steal their horses. The Chiricahuas had traveled to the fort on horses, even though they planned to fight on foot. Running Bear realized what a great psychological blow it would be to them if their enemy stole their horses; being on foot in this country was no joke! All 109 horses were probably too many for one boy and 4 dogs to capture, but he would try for as many as he could get; he would try to chase off any that he couldn't take back to the fort.

Running Bear led his dogs to the rope corral where the horses were being kept. There were 6 guards spaced out around the corral, so it was relatively easy for the dogs to take out the guards one at a time. Once the guards were eliminated, Running Bear cut the rope forming the corral and had the dogs drive the horses through the gap. This was done so quietly that the Chiricahuas never noticed what was going on. Running Bear jumped aboard the last horse out of the corral.

This was when the plan took a sudden change. Running Bear had originally planned to capture the horses as quietly as possible and then sneak into the camp and kill as many warriors as he could. However, the opportunity for a lot of fun presented itself when he actually had the horses at his command. The arrangement of the camp had the corral on the side directly opposite the fort, so Running Bear decided to stampede the horses through the camp and drive them directly to the fort.

He managed to get everything arranged to his satisfaction, and he suddenly yelled out a blood curdling war whoop and fired off his pistol. Meanwhile the dogs started barking and nipping at the heels of the horses. The horses took off in a frightened run right through the camp full of sleeping Chiricahuas. It pained Running Bear to have wasted that first bullet, but he needed to get the horses moving. However, he used his other 4 bullets on the first 4 Chiricahuas who reacted to the running horses. He was already through the camp before he had time to reload, so he concentrated on getting the horses steered toward the gate of the fort.

The soldiers at the gate knew that he had planned to run some horses back to the fort, they just never expected to see so many. They heard the shooting and saw the horses coming at them, so they acted according to plan. They opened the gate and let the dogs guide the horses into the fort. A few horses were lost in the dark and the confusion, but a later count showed that Running Bear had captured 93 horses!

The Army was always in the market for quality remounts, so Running Bear was able to sell every one of the horses the next day at $10 a piece. Running Bear knew that he was being robbed, but he really didn't have the means to get that many horses home nor keep them safe once they reached the ranch. At last, he could really appreciate the concept of the White man's money. He put 45 double-eagles in his money belt and bought a round of beer for every soldier from the change he had left. This made Running Bear an even greater hero than before.

The loss of the horses was the final straw, and the Chiricahuas straggled home, soundly defeated. However, they saved some face by attributing the loss to the intervention of 4 demons who took the guise of monster dogs. If the soldiers at the fort had any say in the matter, Running Bear could have easily been elected President; he was the toast of the fort for days afterward, and a welcome visitor for years.