3/8 Reminiscences of 



remove, which they had paid no attention to. A 

 volley of bullets was fired through the tops of the 

 tents and sleeping wagons, from which all of the 

 occupants hastily retired by the rear to the bushes 

 beyond, and although a number of shots were fired 

 in the retreat at the vigilants, none were hit. The 

 town had been prepared and was on guard, and three 

 or four of the Hellers found out in the streets were 

 shot down. I slept so soundly that I did not hear 

 the shots, but in the morning found the little town 

 in agitation. But order was restored, and at an 

 early hour the Hellers removed their effects several 

 miles beyond the town on the line of the building 

 railroad. 



Committees of order and protection were formed, 

 and proper guards were established. All arriving in 

 town were disarmed, and had their weapons returned 

 to them upon departure. The Hellers, well known, 

 gave the town a wide berth. When I returned a 

 few weeks afterward to take the cars for the East, 

 I found the town largely increased and in good order. 

 The "hell on wheels" had gone far on westward. I 

 was shown an adjacent graveyard devoted to the 

 burial of roughs, where I was informed over a score 

 of bodies rested, without one occupant who had died 

 a natural death. 



In the forenoon, about ten o'clock, our convey- 

 ance arrived — an open wagon with four horses — and 

 we were glad to leave the interesting town of Dem- 

 ing, somewhat perhaps to the regret of sundry in- 

 dividuals who insisted upon aiding us in storing 

 away our baggage. A detachment of troops from 

 the Fort Bayard government station, forty miles 



