\ 



228 THE CADDO INDIANS. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



The Caddo Indians. Story of their chief and the Comanches. An insolent 

 blacksmith. His punishment, Our camp tired into. Discovery of the 

 culprits. Their punishment. Leave Fort Arbuckle. Chase of a wolf 

 by a pointer. Difficulty of crossing- the Red River. I return for 

 provisions. Difficulty of carrying eggs on horseback. An Indian 

 reservation. Incivility of an Indian. We become better friends. 

 Thirsty oxen. Our party breaks up. 



ON arriving at the fort we called on the commanding officer, 

 and found that he was away on leave, but the officer acting 

 for him kindly gave us an order to have our horses shod by 

 the cavalry smith. The garrison consisted of one company 

 of white infantry, and two of white and one of negro cavalry. 



We next rewarded the Caddo who had ridden to fetch us 

 help, and had a talk with him about his ride. He said he had 

 never ridden so good an animal as my mare, and that after the 

 first two miles she had run away from the Comanches without 

 any need of a whip. He then tried to buy her of me, but of 

 course I would not sell her. We found that there were 

 forty Caddos in the service of the Government here as scouts, 

 who were paid, armed, and mounted as soldiers; and most 



