68 
[Jan. 25, 1880. 
WITH A SURVEYING PARTY IN THE 
INDIAN TERRITORY. 
BY FRANK WINCHESTER, ONE OF ITS GUESTS. 
Part I. 
When in 186- Congress granted a right of way over all 
Government and Indian lands in the Indian Territory, 
from the Bouth line of the State of Kansas to the north 
line of the State of Texas, for a north and south line of 
railway, in the latter part of that year the incidents took 
place which will be narrated in this series. 
On the 10th day of October of that year a small caravan 
of four prairie schooners (covered farm wagons), each 
dr*awn by four horses, was fording the Arkansas River, 
two miles south of the frontier village of Arkansas City. 
The coverings of the wagons had been partly rolled up 
on the sides of each, exposing the bags and boxes with 
which each wagon was loaded, showing four men seated 
in each wagon and a number of guns tied to the bows 
holding the wagon coverings in place, while between the 
two colored men seated in the rear wagon a fine large 
water spaniel was to be seen. In front of the teams were 
four men riding upon Indian ponies, and hanging from 
the horn of each saddle was a short repeating rifle of large 
caliber, of a model then very popular upon the frontier 
and known by the name of "saddle gun." The horseman 
upon the right was a man of the age of 35, of a tall, mus- 
cular frame, answering to the title of Captain; next to 
him rode a large, robust man of 45, of a very dignified, 
sedate manner; the rider upon his right was a young man 
of about 25, bearing the appearance of a student; and the 
horseman upon the extreme left could not have exceeded 
40 years, of a very spare yet muscular frame, with long 
dark hair and copper-colored face and hands, that showed 
him of part Indian blood; while gamboling in front of the 
horsemen were three large foxhounds. 
A stranger to pioneer ways looking at the party, each 
dressed in a brown duck hunting coat and corduroy pants, 
with a broad-brimmed brown felt hat, would have asked, 
"What band of border ruffians is this and on what plun- 
dering expedition are they bound?" 
A preliminary survey had been ordered of the line of 
railway to which the right of way had been granted for 
the north and south line of railway through the Indian 
Territory, and the horseman addressed as Captain was 
the engineer in charge of this party; the one riding on 
the extreme left was a noted half-blood hunter and guide, 
whose father, a white trapper, had married a woman of 
the Chickasaw tribe, and the son was one of the best 
hunters and guides to the Indian Territory then known 
on that frontier, having been named by his mother's tribe 
the King of Buck Hunters from his early success in deer 
hunting, which name had been shortened by the whites 
to Buck King or King, a name very pleasant to him and 
by which he was generally known all over the Territory. 
The sedate looking horseman was an eminent Western 
lawyer, who had very lately resigned from a district 
judgeship of one of the Western States; while the young 
horseman, the historian of the party, was a lawyer with 
a good practice, a former law student in the office of the 
Judge, and the occupants of the wagons were the axe- 
men, Surveyor Cook and other employees of the party, 
nad the servant of the Judge. 
This surveying party was one of the many engaged in 
the preliminary survey, the object of this party being to 
find a suitable crossing of the South Fork of the Canadian 
River in the southern part of the Indian Territory, and 
the Judge and young lawyer, intimate friends of the Cap- 
tain, were accompanying the surveying party as his 
guests to enjoy a much-needed vacation in the sports of 
the field, hunting and fishing, with the hunter King as 
guide to the party. 
Our march to the southward was relieved, for us horse- 
men, of its tediousness by the daily excursions parallel to 
the line of march in pursuit of deer and antelope, with 
which the uplands of the Territory at that time abounded; 
or after our arrival at our evening camping ground the 
Captain, Judge and I would shoot grouse, quail and 
prairie chickens over the spaniel Carlo, who was a fine bird 
dog either setting game or retrieving. In the bird shoot- 
ing King never joined, having, as he said, "No use for 
the scatter guns," as he termed our breechloading shot- 
guns, but he gave us an evidence of his skill as a sports- 
man that won the admiration of the rest of the party and 
left the Captain, Judge and I badly defeated at our camp 
on the second, day's close upon the banks of the Red Rock 
Creek. 
Where we camped the Red Rock was but a succession 
of deep, rocky poolB, connected by a small flowing stream 
of clear, pure, sweet water — sweet, because the alkali 
which impregnated the waters of the Arkansas and the 
Salt Fork of the Arkansas River, both of which streams 
we had forded, on our march, rendering them unfit for 
use, was entirely absent from the waters of the Red Rock, 
and its pools were filled with a great number of large- 
mouthed black bass of large size. Within a few minutes 
after halting, the Captain, Judge and I, equipped with our 
jointed rods, reels and fly-books, were industriously at 
work "having some fun with the bass," as the Judge had 
expressed his intent as soon as he saw them in the pools; 
but if there was any fun, the bass had it all, for with all 
our skill not one of us could cause a "bass to rise" with 
the most tempting of artificial flies, although we worked 
until we were called to supper just at dark. And on enter- 
ing camp we met King just coming in, with the haunches 
of a fine fat doe and a pair of antelope hanging to his 
saddle, the result of his afternoon's divergence from the 
line of march. 
Why smoking after supper should be the almost univer- 
sal rule of life in camping out is left to be answered by 
some person more inclined to inquire after the cause pro- 
ducing this effect than I am; but my experience, after 
thirty years of annual vacations spent camping out, is that 
the weed never gives as much solace and satisfaction as 
when at the close of a day spent on the tramp or in the 
saddle, after the supper is ended and a well-seasoned brier- 
root pipe is filled, a congenial party of hunters or fisher- 
men surround the camp-fire for a talk and smoke. 
After our pipes were lighted the Judge told King of our 
fishing experience, and opening his fly -book showed him 
the flies that had been used by him without success. 
A smile overspread King's face as he said, "Those pretty 
things were only made to catch the men who buy them. 
The Red Rock bass are no fools; wait till morning and I 
will show you how to catch bass." 
The glowing accounts of past achievements with bass 
caught with such bait related by the Captain and . the 
Judge produced no effect on King further than to cause 
him to shake his head and say, "Wait till morning." At 
early dawn we three were again at work with our flies, to 
meet with no better success than the night before, when 
King approached us prepared to fish. His pole was a 
young sapling to which was fastened a large line and 
hook, of which the best description was afterward made 
by the Judge to me when lamenting over the result, "To 
think that we should be beaten by a half-breed Indian with 
a pole just the right size for a liberty pole, a line large 
enough for a picket rope, and a hook just fit to fish for 
alligators with." Putting a large grasshopper upon the 
hook, King lightly cast it upon the surface of the water, 
when to our surprise and disgust a rush was made for it 
by a dozen or more of the largest bass, and King swung 
one out on the bank of about 4lbs. weight, with two more 
soon following it, with the same bait. It is needless to 
say that our flies were quickly consigned to our pockets, 
and we began work with grasshopper baits, but King's 
hook seemed to be charmed, as he caught more than the 
three of us put together, until about twenty beauties had 
been caught, when he wound up his line, saying, 
"Enough now; leave rest for next time," the truth of 
which was so plain that we reluctantly followed his ex- 
ample, the Judge speaking the intent of each of us three, 
"that we would yet beat King catching fish if it took till 
Christmas," which we never did, for he always "had such 
good luck" that we were fortunate if all of us together 
could equal his catch in the many contests we had that 
fall. At our camp upon the North Fork of the Canadian, 
where we were delayed a day by the straying of some of 
our stock, King badly beat us again by shooting more wild 
geese with his rifle than the three of us did with our 
"scatter guns." While it seemed as if the number of 
geese could only be computed by millions, they would 
only stop upon the sand bars in the middle of the river, 
and we could only use our shotguns, as they flew over us 
going out of the river to feed at daylight in the morning, 
returning to the river from the feeding grounds at 10 
o'clock, going out again at 2, and returning again just at 
dusk, which gave us four flights a day; while he went 
some distance above us and waded out and secreted him- 
self in a tuft of willows at the head of a sand bar 
about three acres in extent, erecting the ones he shot for 
decoys, and I have never seen his equal in arranging a 
dead wild goose as a decoy. 
On the afternoon of the eighth day out from Arkansas 
City we approached the South Fork of the Canadian, and 
King led us down from the upland prairie into a gently 
sloping park region with a few trees, from fifteen to 
twenty-five to the acre, scattered over its surface, the 
varieties being the white, jack, burr, red, yellow, chin- 
quaquin and post oak, mixed with a large number of trees 
of pecan and shellbark hickory, with the surface of the 
ground broken occasionally by ravines — mere depressions 
of the surface at the upper side of the park region, be- 
coming deep, rocky canons at the lower side of the park 
land, which ended in an abrupt rocky precipice from 30 
to 50ft. in height. 
Over the greater portion of the surface a fire had swept, 
long enough before our coming for the new grass to cover 
the ground with a soft carpet of emerald green, while the 
unburned surface was covered by a growth of blue-stem 
prairie grass from 3 to 4ft. high. 
After a march of more than a mile through this park 
region King suddenly stopped his pony, and springing 
from his saddle said, "Here we camp." The Captain in 
surprise asked, "Where will we get water?" For a reply 
King walked a few steps to an outcrop of rock, and point- 
ing below it with his hand said, "There." Gushing from 
beneath the rock was a stream of clear, soft, cold water, 
sufficient in quantity to have supplied the wants of a good 
sized army. Our stock was soon hobbled and turned out 
to graze, the tents erected, a camp fire burning, and we 
were settled in the camp which was to be our temporary 
home for nearly two months. 
Camp life seems to bring out the best there is in a man 
and has no equal in rubbing off the dignity of official 
position, creating a freedom of intimacy, cementing 
friendships that time cannot break, as well as giving 
appetites and. digestive powers to those suffering with 
dyspeptic stomachs and livers. The chief of the party, 
addressed as Captain on the first day's march, had be- 
come plain Cap; the writer, who had on the first day's 
march been called Son by the Judge, had become Son to 
all the members of the party; while the Judge had 
entered the abandon of camp life with a joyousness that 
would have badly shocked his city friends, while his 
dignity had disappeared with his dyspepsia and no one 
of the party was better liked; while the hardest worker 
of the party could not dispose of a quart of coffee, black 
and strong, drank out of a tin cup clear and accompanied 
with a ration of 21bs. of bacon or game and three or four 
half-loaf sized biscuits made after the recipe of "7 parts 
flour, 3 lard and 2 of baking powder, with water enough 
to mix, with abetter appetite than the surfeited Judge 
of the first day's march. 
While the others of the party were arranging camp, the 
Judge, Cap, King and I walked a short distance from the 
camp to a little knoll, and seating ourselves upon the green 
sward drank in the beauties of the scene before our de- 
lighted eyes. From our feet the land, with a very slight 
and gradual descent, could be seen through the openings 
among the trees for a distance of over a mile, seeming to 
blend with the forest of heavy timber skirting the cane- 
brakes along the river, over two miles away, across the 
grassy bottom lands, between the park lands and the 
heavy-timbered land by the river. The Judge broke the 
silence, saying, "We ought to be in a game paradise, 
King. What kinds of game can Son and I find about to 
here to hunt?" 
"Bear, panther, bobcat, wildcat, deer, opossum, coon, 
wild turkey, pigeon, duck, geese, chicken, and more wild 
hog than the rest put together," was the reply. 
"Why do you put wild hog last?" asked Cap. 
"Wild hog is a devil, and won't let us alone if we leave 
him alone. He is only good for coyotes to eat, unless you 
get a young one, and an old sow can whip the devil. We 
will have trouble in camp till we kill a lot of them," was 
the answer. 
" "Hadn't we better build a fort about the camp, King, to 
keep wild hogs out?" smilingly asked the Judge. 
"You'll see," was the reply. 
But the second and third days following, when the wild 
hogs did charge our camp, a fort would have been very 
acceptable even to the Judge, the account of which we 
will give in its proper place. 
The wild hog, or razorback, of the Southwest is of an 
unknown origin, those best acquainted with them con- 
tending that it is descended from tame hogs lost or loos- 
ened by the Spaniards during the period of American 
discovery, aa it presents many of the characteristics of 
the tame breeds, and will not mix with the smaller native 
wild hog, the jacquil or peccary, of the timbered lands of 
the Southwest, with which it seems to be engaged in an 
endleBS war, soon destroying or driving it out of whatever 
region the razorback preempts for its home. 
Seated about the camp-fire that evening, King stated 
that we were in a region more infested with razorbacks 
than any other part of the Indian Territory, due to the 
abundance of food in the acorns, pecan and hickory nuts, 
with which those trees were loaded, and he further said, 
"You hunters are likely to run against them everywhere, 
and they are devils, worse than panther and bear, and 
when you shoot at them, or they charge you without 
shooting, climb a tree as quick as you can, and shoot 
them out of the tree." To which the judge replied, "I'd 
like to see anything in the shape of a hog that would 
make me climb a tree," and he saw it next day, four of 
the party being treed by the devils, and he was one of the 
treed. 
Next morning the Judge, Cap, King and I, taking our 
rifles and followed by the hounds, left camp to examine a 
large ravine, described by King as being about two miles 
from camp, to see if the same could be used by the rail- 
way to make a descent through the rocky boundary of the 
park region to the bottom lands below, and incidentally 
to take care of anything in the shape of game we might 
meet with on our travels. 
As we approached the upper end of the ravine the Judge 
started the hounds ahead, saying to us, "The hounds need 
exercise, and it will do them good to start a deer and 
make a little sport for us." 
King, with a very serious look, said, "They'll start fifty 
hogs before one deer." 
The hounds crossed the ravine, and as the high grass 
upon its further side had escaped the fire, they at once 
disappeared from our sight. 
In a few minutes we heard the tongue of one of the 
hounds, at which the Judge said with gladness, "That's 
Spot, boys; venison for supper;" but even as he ceased 
speaking we heard the squealing of a young pig, followed 
by the whoops of older hogs and the yelping of the hounds. 
"Tree, tree, git up out of the way of the devils," shouted 
King, as he ran up the slope to a good-sized burr oak tree 
with low limbs, and rapidly climbed up into its branches, 
followed by all of the rest of the party but the Judge, who 
stopped at the foot of the tree and snorted out, "Cowards 
to run from hogs; stand by me and we'll have fresh pork 
for supper," and then faced the hounds, which, followed 
by the hogs, had crossed the ravine and were coming 
direct to our tree. The Judge tried to get an aim at the 
hogs, but dared not shoot for fear of hitting one of the 
hounds, until they had approached within about 100yds., 
when he shouted, "Home, home," at which the hounds 
changed their course and ran toward the camp, and the 
Judge shot three times at the hogs without effect, save 
that they changed their course and charged directly at 
the Judge. Realizing his danger, he dropped his gun and 
climbed up into the tree, just escaping the jaws of the 
foremost hogs. As the Judge placed himself upon a large 
limb Cap pointed down at the upturned heads and foam- 
covered jaws of the hogs and said, "There, Judge, is 
something in the shape of a hog that can make you climb 
a tree. It's a pretty big lot of pork for one supper, ain't 
it?" 
"Don't insult me by thinking I would taste of a piece oi 
one of that drove of devils," was the reply; "but if 1 
hadn't dropped my gun I'd soon be even with the whole 
lot." 
"How many did you kill shooting from the ground 
Judge?" asked Cap, but no answer came from the Judge 
By King's advice Cap and I had followed his exam pit 
and had left the straps fastened to our guns by which w( 
slung them from our saddles, and we had followed hin 
in throwing the straps over our shoulders and taking oui 
rifles up the tree with us, the benefit of which we realizet 
as King said, "Boys, we've got to kill every one of thost 
devils before we leave this tree," as he pointed his gun a 
one of the hogs and fired. Cap and I joined him in th< 
shooting, and in a few minutes we had the entire drov< 
of thirteen stretched out under the tree, and then de 
scended to the ground, satisfied with the result, but no 
very much elated with our new experience in beinj 
hunted in place of being the hunters, and in addition w< 
had to listen to the mirth of the balance of the camp tha 
night when the Judge described our marksmanship, say 
ing, "I never saw such a waste of ammunition; it tool 
five loads to each hog, and they were so close the: 
touched them on the backs with the muzzles of thei 
guns, and yet one of them made a clean miss and eplin 
tered the stock of my gun where it was lying on th 
ground." One of our bullets or a tusk of one of the hog 
had chipped a piece out of the stock of his gun, but h 
always insisted it was done by a bullet. 
Looking over the bodies of the hogs, King pronounce* 
them all old ones but one small sow, which he quick! 
dressed for taking into camp, and while we had "frea 
pork for supper," it had a strange flavor from the maE 
upon which it had been feeding that was entirely new t 
every one of the party but King, and yet it was excellen! 
juicy and tender. 
That night, while taking our smoke around the camj 
fire and laughing about the incident with the hogs, th 
Judge, with pretended seriousness, regretted that the res 
of us had killed all the hogs without giving him a chano< 
and closed by saying, "The most I am sorry for about it 
that I'm afraid you killed all the hogs before the hound 
had got used to them so they could have some fun wit 
them." 
King's reply was, "Wait, our trouble with the devi 
has not yet begun." 
The next day, Sunday, all of us lounged about th 
camp except King and the two darkies. While King le 
camp in the early morning to make a visit to a Chickasa' 
village some miles away, the negroes, taking Carlo wit 
them, took a walk out in the direction of our hog killin 
of the day before. After cleaning and oiling our rifl< 
we leaned them against a pole placed in two crotches s 
