260 



RECREA TION. 



who now rode behind him with a large 

 cactus at the end of a pole, with 

 which Geary would urge him forward 

 when, stiff and sore, the little fellow's 

 steps would lag. " Jack," as the burro 

 was called, lived to " serve " with the 

 troop many years afterward, his son- 

 orous voice in the early morning vying 

 with the notes of the bugle at reveille, 

 in tones both loud and deep. He seemed 

 to have concluded that he was a horse, and 

 would lead the cavalry herd to the picket 

 line at stable call, his tail high in air, 

 while his answering bray could be rec- 

 ognized from afar. 



Towards evening we went into camp, 

 ostensibly making preparations for re- 

 maining during the night ; but when 

 darkness came, we moved on eight or 

 ten miles farther — this as a precaution 

 against the Indians knowing our exact 

 situation, and firing into the camp dur- 

 ing the night, with the hope of stamped- 

 ing the animals. 



A daylight march through a beautiful 

 valley, abounding in rich grazing land, 

 timber and water — now a valuable and 

 well settled country, though then en- 

 tirely destitute of settlers — brought us 

 back to the post. There was but one 

 incident on this day's march worth men- 

 tioning. As we neared the point of 

 rocks where the two bears had been dis- 

 turbed during the night march, the 

 troop was halted, and the doctor and 

 myself rode cautiously forward. As we 

 turned a sharp angle in the trail, 

 there were the two bears again, but 

 provokingly out of range of our 

 rifles. They stood on top of a ledge, 

 apparently watching for us. As we came 

 in sight they disappeared behind the 

 ledge, and we knew that pursuit was 

 useless. As in the case of the Apaches, 



we had been seen and were too late ; yet 

 we might hope to surprise Bruin at some 

 future time in the same place. 



The troop presented an oddly pictur- 

 esque appearance as it climbed down 

 the rocky foothills in rear of Fort 

 Goodwin, in the variegated and un-uni- 

 form " rigs " which had gradually been 

 allowed to make up the individual 

 scouting outfits of officers and men. 

 Added to these, the spoils from the 

 hostile camp with which the saddles 

 were laden, certainly gave the command 

 anything but the conventional appear- 

 ance of the well organized and effi- 

 cient part of the regular army, which it 

 was. Yet, as we dismounted at the 

 picket line, we saw an escort of soldiers 

 just arriving by the Tucson road, with 

 a staff officer from the War Department 

 to inspect the command. We knew the 

 next morning must find everything in 

 readiness for that ordeal. Men and 

 horses must be clean ; arms and equip- 

 ments bright and shining ; not a strap 

 or buckle missing or out of place. 

 Every part of the uniform must be 

 in strict compliance with the regula- 

 tions. It was to be a military day — 

 feathers, brass buttons, tactics, regula- 

 tions and all that sort of thing. To 

 prepare for this the men would have to 

 work far into the night, and I must 

 burn the midnight oil — or rather can- 

 dle — for coal oil was $10 a gallon in the 

 sutler's store, and we only used it on 

 special occasions. I must get ready 

 the numerous reports and documents 

 which compose the " paper work " 

 of the army, and which I knew would 

 be required of me by the inspect- 

 ing officer. But such was army life at 

 a frontier post in the years following 

 the civil war. 



