Chapter 16

The Indians finally showed up a couple of hours after we had arrived. They were jogging along, obviously following our trail. One of them noted our position and called out to the others. They practically skidded to a halt and looked over their find. The Indians were apparently pleased at finding us so easily, as if it had taken great skill to hunt us down. That was a rather silly attitude, because any one over three years old could have followed the trail of our horses. Shod hooves leave a very distinctive trail over this type of ground, and we had made no effort to cover our tracks. Oh, well, that was just another indication of their immaturity.

A couple of the more impetuous Indians ran toward us and loosed arrows in our direction. The arrows came close to us, but not dangerously so. It was as if those had been ranging shots, more than true efforts to kill us. Of course, they would not have been unhappy if that had happened, but they really did not expect it. The two Indians were about 50 yards away, so Janet and I did the prudent thing when providence was so kind to us, namely, we killed the two braves who so brazenly had tempted fate. Our rifles made the task easy, but we didn't expect the rest of the war band to be so foolish.

The rest of the Indians were only about 80 yards away, so we took some shots at them, wounding at least three badly enough to get their attention. The rest dropped to the ground as soon as we scored our first hit, so the other two hits were more luck than skill, but the Indians didn't know that. From his actions, the first one hit appeared to have a gut wound which would soon be fatal, but the other two wounds had to be in the upper body, probably in the shoulders, which effectively put them out of action for the duration, if not permanently.

From one point of view, we had some distinct advantages in the upcoming battle. We had plenty of cartridges, while the Indians had only a limited number of arrows. Also, our pistols, even, were more accurate than the bows at the extreme range of 50 yards. Essentially, the fighting would have to be hand-to-hand for the Indians to have the advantage, even with their superior numbers. They weren't going to do it, but the sensible thing for them to do would have been for them to cut their losses and leave us alone. However, I feared that we were going to have to kill them all before we got any peace. These Indians were just too young to have good sense.

To bear out out my musings, they started crawling toward us. At least, they had the sense to stay as close to the ground as possible and to spread out. There were now seven of them creeping toward us, and we could not afford to ignore any of them, no matter what their age.

We began shooting at them with our rifles; pistols would have just wasted ammunition, and we didn't want to do that. They did make small targets, with only a few inches showing above the ground, and they were taking masterful advantage of any irregularities in the ground. Nevertheless, as they got closer, they were easier to hit. As a result, only one was able to get close enough to roll to his feet and charge with a drawn knife. Janet plugged him with her pistol when he was only five feet away, so he would have to be declared the winner of the contest among the Indians, though little good it did him.

There were too many bodies for us to bury, so we just left them where they fell. We were merciful and cut the throats of two who were badly wounded, but not dead, yet. There was nothing worth looting, so we mounted up and rode away.

Late the next day, we got lucky and found a Mescalero village. It was nestled in a little valley with a stream running through it and a few trees for shade. We quickly made friends by giving out some tobacco and a couple of decks of playing cards. The cards were especially appreciated, since the one deck they had was just about worn out.

We asked about a place to settle, and the Indians directed us to a small valley with water and a few trees. It sounded very much like the place where this village was located, and they assured me that it was. The only problem with it was that Comanches and Chiricahuas both claimed it, so we might have to fight for it. They also named another place, but there really was not enough water for more than about 10 people, so they did not recommend it very highly.

We thanked them for the information and headed back to the camp site of our wagon train. Things had gone very well for the few days that we had been gone, and Janet and I were very happy to hear that. I told them of the two places that we were told about, and it was unanimously agreed that we would head for the first place on the list.

It took us three days to get there because of the twists and turns we had to make to get the wagons around some of the obstacles. When we arrived, we were delighted to find that the place was ideal for our needs. Mindful of the warning of potential trouble from Comanches and Chiricahuas, the first thing we did upon arrival was to form our wagons into a defensive box. We straddled the stream and made sure to have enough grass to feed the mules and horses for a few days.

We decided that we needed a fort as long as there were hostile Indians around, and this fort had to be large enough to provide housing for the entire complement of people. It was clear that, for defensive purposes, everybody was going to have to live in the fort and go out in groups to work on the farms and do any of the other chores that had to be done outside its walls. Only when we knew that it was safe, could anybody consider building a separate house.

Since I had been in the Army, it was decided that I knew more than anybody else in the group just what was needed in a fort, so I was delegated to plan and supervise its construction. We needed homes for nine families, immediately, but we had to plan for more if the town was to grow and prosper. It was decided that each family would get a two-room apartment to divide as they desired. There would be a communal kitchen, bath, and latrine. All of this would be built within a wall straddling the stream.

This set of requirements led to a rectangular structure approximately 60 feet square (3600 square feet) with ten two-room apartments spaced along the interior of the wall, along with the other buildings. We'd have just one gate in the wall, 10 feet wide, to allow wagons to go in and out. The first priority would be to build the defensive wall four feet high completely around the proposed site, and then do the rest of the building once that was done.

Everything would have to be made of mud brick (adobe) because there simply was not enough wood to be wasted by using it where it was not absolutely necessary. This meant roof supports, the gate, etc. Everybody, men, women, and children, were going to have to take part in the construction of the fort if we were to have it completed in a reasonable length of time. Jobs were assigned, and work began on the following day.

It took a lot of hard work, but we had the first part of the wall constructed within four weeks. The hardest part was building the portals to allow the stream to enter and leave the fort. Fortunately, we had all of the tools and wagons we needed to get the job done. The wall was an average of two feet thick; eventually it would be 12 feet tall and have a firing platform and crenelations, but we settled for the minimum protection at first just so that we could get it in place.

There was a great celebration with this stage of the wall was finished, and someone asked what we would name the fort. Now, that was something that I had never considered, but another person suggested Fort Hartwick, and the idea passed by acclimation. I have to admit that I was embarrassed, but very pleased, by the honor, and I thanked everybody for it (At least, they didn't name it Snaketown!).

Now that the preliminary wall was built, I started hearing questions about when the houses would be built. A lot of people, especially the women with young children were in a hurry to get into permanent quarters, and I couldn't blame them. But I was worried about what might happen if we were attacked by 30 or 40 Indians at one time. Our wall was not going to stop that kind of attack, so we had to get busy with the rest of the wall. We needed to get it up to at least eight feet as soon as possible. Failing that, we had to finish the four defensive towers projecting from the four corners of the fort's wall.