A NOTEWORTHY RIDE 79 



In 1873 Colonel Mackenzie rode liis command into 

 Mexico after Lepan and Kickapoo Indians, beat them in 

 a sharp fight, and returned across the border, making one 

 hundred and forty-five miles in twenty-eight hours. In 

 1874 he again rode his command into Mexico after horse- 

 thieves, making there and back, eighty-five miles, in fif- 

 teen hours. In 1880, Captain A. E. Wood, Fourth Cavalry, 

 one of the most thorough horsemen I have ever known, 

 rode, with eight men, in pursuit of a thieving deserter, one 

 hundred and forty miles in thirty-one hours. Let him tell 

 his own story. It shows just how the trick is done : 



"In the month of September, 1880, I was stationed at 

 Fort Reno, Indian Territory ; the paymaster had visited 

 us, and in those days, after such a visit, some desertion 

 was expected. 



" About noon one day the latter part of September, the 

 post commander sent for and astonished me by stating 

 that the first sergeant of his company — Twenty-third In- 

 fantry — had deserted, taking with him a considerable 

 amount of the compan}^ fund, and he wanted me to catch 

 him if possible. He had discovered that the sergeant had 

 bought one strong Indian pony and had stolen another. 



" The direction taken by the sergeant was not known, 

 but under the circumstances I thought that he intended 

 to reach the railroad as soon as possible. The nearest 

 railroad was in Southern Kansas — ^the nearest point Ar- 

 kansas City, one hundred and forty miles as the trail then 

 went. I took a detail of two non-commissioned officers 

 and six men from G troop. Fourth Cavalry. 



" The detail was taken from the roster, except the first 

 sergeant of G troop, who asked to go with me ; the horses 

 belonged to the riders ; none were selected as especially 

 qualified for the trip. I rode the same horse that I had 

 been ridino: for months. 



