History of Barton County, Kansas

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

BARTON COUNTY, KANSAS

Fourteen miles southwest of Great Bend, in one of the richest agricultural sections of Barton County is the town of Pawnee Rock. It derives its name from the historic cliff of sand-stone that for countless ages has stood a silent sentinel of the plains, just north of what is now the townsite. It was a stopping place for the hardy men and women who came from their eastern homes to find wealth and fortune in the boundless west, and the entire length of the Santa Fe Trail, noted for its historic points of interest affords no spot that has woven around it more real history of the early days than this old pile of rock.

Before the advent of the white man it marked a way for the Indians in their periodical migrations from what is now Southern Kansas to the valley of the Platte river in Nebraska. For years and years Pawnee Rock was a point at which the Comanche, Kiowa, Arapahe and Cheyenne Indians held their councils of war and peace. Within the shadow of Pawnee Rock many famous Indian battles were fought, battles that never found a place in United States history, but were described to the early white settlers, by descendants of the noble warriors of the plains who took part in them. Countless bones have been dug out of the soil adjacent to the Rock, and they bear witness to the bloody history that was made before civilization claimed it for the abode of the white man.

The first building to be erected on the site in this part of the Great American Desert, of the town of Pawnee Rock was the Rock Hotel which still stands today and has been the stopping place of hundreds of old timers who came to this part of the country in the early days, and it has housed some famous men and women since it was built in 1874.

The town grew in population and area, slowly at first but in 1887 the progressive citizens of the town began the work that resulted in the town being incorporated. The first set of officers were elected April 1, 1887. Previous to the election a rather exciting campaign was carried on by the two opposing factions, the main issue being pool rooms, and whether or not they should continue in the town. There were two tickets in the field and after the votes had been counted it was found that a part of each ticket had been elected and the first council of Pawnee Rock was composed of the following gentlemen, all of them men who had an interest in the town and stood for progress and growth: William Bunting.

At one of the first meetings of the council the following city officers were named and sworn in to serve: J. D. Welch, city clerk; J. W. Ratcliff, city attorney; Alvin Iles, city marshal; Earnest Smith, city treasurer.

This administration laid the foundation for the building of one of the most important small towns on the main line of the A. T. & S. F. Railroad.

The first elevator in the town was built in the year 1878 by W. H. Bowman, Aaron Garvick and Eli Bowman. They also built a flour mill and operated it until 1899 when it was purchased from them and moved to Garfield, near Larned. The year 1878 was a good one for the town, many new buildings having been erected, some of them fine residences.

At this writing Pawnee Rock has three general stores, two banks, two furniture stores, two hardware stores, five elevators, a fine electric light and ice plant, owned and operated by home people, three churches, Christian, Methodist, New Jerusalem, fine public schools and everything and more than is found in many towns of twice its population.

The present officers of Pawnee Rock are: John Bowman, mayor; A. S. Gross, clerk; R. G. McDougal, E. L. Robinson, W. C. Lamb and Grant Lippincott, councilmen.

Pawnee Rock contains some of the nicest and most modern residences in Barton County. It is a supply point for a large territory in Barton, Pawnee and Stafford counties and as a shipping point for grain, cattle and other live stock it ranks well up among the best in this part of the state.

From Inman's Tales of the Trail: "If this sentinel of the plains might speak, what a story it could tell of the events that have happened on the beautiful prairie stretching out for miles at its feet. All over its scarred and weather beaten front, carved in quaint and rude letters, are the names of hundreds who in early days made the dangerous and exciting passage of the Santa Fe Trail. Some names are roughly chiseled there, too, who were not ambitious at the time of more enduring fame, and gave no further thought of their effort than was concentrated in the bare idea of relief from the ennui of the moment, while their horses and mules were resting, but who will go down to history cursed or praised - as viewed from varying aspects - long after the storm of centuries shall have obliterated ever mark of this isolated mass of sandstone. Conspicuous among these is that of Robert E. Lee, the famous leader of the Confederate armies, who, in 1843, crossed into the borders of Mexico as an officer of the Mounted Rifles. Under the shadow of Pawnee Rock, perhaps Coronado, the celebrated Spanish explorer, and his little band of faithful followers rested on their lonely march in search of the mythical Quivira. The Rock alone is all that remains, in all probability, upon which the Spaniards looked, for the mighty interval of nearly four hundred years relegated all else - trees, water courses and the entire landscape, that the hardy adventurers looked upon, to the domination of vast modification - and this iron-bound hill - whose insusceptibility to change is almost as the earth itself - the only witness of their famous march.

"During the half century included between the years 1823-73 - which latter date marked the advent of the railroad in this portion of Kansas - Pawnee Rock was considered the most dangerous place on the central plains for encounters with the Indians, as at this particular point on the Trail the Pawnees, Kiowas, Comanches, Arrapahoes and Cheyennes made their not infrequent successful raids upon the pack and wagon trains of the freighters across the continent. I well remember, in the earlier geographies, that most exciting and sensational of all the illustrations - to my boyish mind at least - which depicted the Santa Fe traders attacked by Indians, but that was long ago, and such scenes have passed away forever.

"In those primitive days of the border, Kit Carson, Lucien B. Maxwell, John Smith, the Bents and the Boones, with other frontiersmen, commenced their eventful lives in the far West - mere boys then - but whose exploits have since made for them a world-wide reputation. Kit Carson, Maxwell, Smith and Bents are all dead with the harness on, and on the confines of the civilization which is rapidly closing up the gap at the foot of the mountains, amidst which there would have been nothing congenial - so they passed away while there still remained fresh prairies and quiet streams.

"Kit, one of the most noble men it has been my fortune to know, is sleeping peacefully under the gnarled old Cottonwoods at Fort Lyon, on the Arkansas that river he loved so well - every foot of whose silent margin could tell a story of his daring. It was at Pawnee Rock many, many years ago, that Kit, then a mere boy, had his first experience with the Indians, and it was because of this fight that the Rock received its name.

"In those days the Pawnees were the most formidable tribe on the eastern plains, and the freighters and trappers rarely escaped a skirmish with them either at the crossing of the Walnut, Pawnee Fork, or at Little or Big Coon creeks. Today the historic hill looks down only upon peaceful homes and fruitful fields where for hundreds of years it could tell of nothing but death; where almost every yard of the brown sod at its base covered a grave; where there was nothing but shadow, now all is sunlight. In place of the horrid yell of the savage, as he wrenched the reeking scalp from his vanquished victim, the whistle of the locomotive and the pleasing whirr of the reaping machine is heard; where the death cry of the painted warrior rang mournfully over the silent prairie, the waving grain is singing in beautiful rhythm as it blows to the summer breeze. Almost every day in the opening spring, or before the grain planting in the early fall for several years during the first settlement of the country in the vicinity of Pawnee Rock, the skeletons of those killed there in the long years gone by sometimes the bones of the white man, sometimes the bones of the red man were plowed up; and even now where new fields are opened, the Rock thus gradually unfolds the sphinx - like secrets of its dead."

In the year of 1908, the Women's Kansas Day Club contracted with the owner of Pawnee Rock, to raise $3,000 to improve Pawnee Rock, and he was to deed about five acres to the state park to be open to the public at all times. The monument was to cost not less than $1,500. The entire expense has been about $4,700 and the citizens of Pawnee Rock have raised $1,500 of this amount Pawnee Rock covers about four acres and rises abruptly from the surrounding valley. It is about fifty or sixty feet in height and on its summit stands a granite shaft, towering thirty feet in the air, placed in honor of these who in the long ago blazed the way for civilization.

Pawnee Rock has changed through the agency of man, much since the advent of the railroad. Its once lofty summit has been stripped and the stone used for all sorts of purposes by the railroad and others, until now, if some of the old scouts and Indian hunters were to review it, they would not recognize it as the scene of their earlier lives.

On May 24, 1912, the monument situated on Pawnee Rock, was unveiled and dedicated to the State of Kansas, of which event, a program of the services will be found elsewhere in this book.

With the coming of the Santa Fe Railroad, began the destruction of the Rock, much of it having been moved by the railroad company to build foundations for water tanks, depots, etc. A great deal of the Rock was used in the construction of buildings by the early settlers, but early in this century the patriotic people of Pawnee Rock realized that if something was not done soon the Rock would have been entirely obliterated from the landscape. In 1905 and 1906, a movement began that had for its purpose the creating of a public park to be composed of the land surrounding the Rock and being about five acres in area. The matter was taken up with the governor, and members of the state legislature. However the owner of the land wanted too much money to relinquish his title and in spite of all these patriotic citizens could do the matter dragged along until 1911, when with the aid of the Womans Kansas Day Club, the Womans Relief Corps, Daughters of the American Revolution, State Federation of Womans Clubs and individual citizens, the land was finally obtained. On May 24, 1912, a magnificent monument was unveiled in the park in the presence of 8,000 people from all parts of the State of Kansas.

The following table shows how the money was raised that made the preservation of what remained of the Rock possible.

Mrs. S. S. Simmons, president, 1908, and members of the Park Board to 1912 $2738.31
Mrs. A. H. Horton, president, 1909 100.00
Mrs. E. W. Hoch, president 1910 200.00
Mrs. Cora G. Lewis, president 1912 55.00
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Total $3093.31

Daughters of American Revolution, one Bronze tablet valued at $50, cash $155, total $ 205.00
Woman's Relief Corps, the flag that veiled the monument and 159.00
State Federation of Womens' Clubs 50.00
W. C. T. U. $50.00
Citizens of Pawnee Rock 1359.34

Money paid into the fund from sales of "Echoes of Pawnee Rock," compiled by Miss Margaret Perkins, and all expenses of publishing, shipping, mailing, etc., paid for by Mrs. J. S. Simmons, president of W. K. D C., with money from proceeds of sale of said book, approximately $800 above all expenses.

The following letter from Governor Hoch written in 1905 shows how the interest in the matter was aroused in the state's chief executive. It required years of hard work after this time however to get the matter adjusted in a way that brought the work to such a successful conclusion on the date mentioned:

Mr. T. H. Brewer, Pawnee Rock, Kansas. My Dear Sir: I share most heartily with you the sentiment of your letter concerning the preservation of what remains of old Pawnee Rock. I remember it well as I first saw it in the spring of 1872. Hundreds of names had been carved upon it, some of them dating back, I remember, as far as 125 years ago. It seems incredible that people should be so devoid of sentiment as to blast and destroy a historic monument like this for ballast and other commercial purposes. Better, a thousand times to have hauled the stone a thousand miles than to have done this.

I was one of 14 young fellows who built the first house and dug the first well in Pawnee Rock, and will be glad to do anything I can to preserve what remains of the historic relic of the old trail.

The unveiling of the monument erected in Pawnee Rock park to the memory of the pioneers who withstood the hardships and fought the battle that resulted in making this part of the State of Kansas one of the leading agricultural sections of the world was witnessed by fully 8,000 people. Some of them came from distant states to take part in the celebration and as was truthfully said by one of the speakers of the day, "It is Pawnee Rock's supreme moment, and the greatest day in her history." May 24, 1912, was the date chosen by those who had the arrangements in charge, and the elements seemed to enter into the spirit of the occasion and it resulted in an ideal day. All day long the air was filled with music and promptly at 1:30 in the afternoon, the big flag that had been wound around the shaft was pulled aside and the park became the property of the people of the State of Kansas, a permanent memorial had been erected to the memory of the pioneers and what remained of Pawnee Rock was protected for all time against further destruction and will remain to attract the eyes of countless thousands yet to come.

F. C. Woodbury, one of the leading citizens of Pawnee Rock and to whom great credit is due for arranging and carrying out the celebration program gave the address of welcome. He paid a beautiful tribute to the pioneers and welcomed the people to the city in a way that made a deep impression.

Mr. Woodbury introduced Mrs. George Barker of Lawrence, Kansas, who told in an interesting manner the part the women had played in securing the ground for the park and the money for the monument. She compared the old and the new Pawnee Rock, and while she spoke the words that made this historic spot and the beautiful monument the property of the State of Kansas, the ropes were pulled that released the flag and it fell away.

Lieutenant Governor Richard Hopkins followed Mrs. Barker and accepted the park and monument on behalf of the people of the state. He painted a beautiful word picture that made a lasting impression on those who heard it.

The young people were afforded all kinds of entertainment. There was a Ferris wheel, a merry-go-round, a balloon ascension, a base ball game and dozens of other features to make the day one of fun and frolic.

The speech of Mrs. Milo D. McKee of Independence, who acted in lieu of Mrs. George Guensey, state president of the D. A. R. of Kansas who followed Governor Hopkins was especially fine. She brought greetings from 1,500 women, and she asserted that in the history of battle fields, there was record of no greater one than Kansas. The best money a state can spend, she said, in closing, is that used in inculcating patriotism and reverence.

Mrs. Cora Deputy, a past state president of the Womens' Relief Corps, speaking in behalf of Mrs. L. A. Mendricks, the president, gave a patriotic address and presented a flag to the city, a gift of the state W. R. C.

Perhaps no speech of the afternoon was better received than that made by Mrs. W. D. Atkinson of Parsons, President of the State Federation of Womens' Clubs. Six thousand women she represented, and as a native Kansan she spoke with feeling and authority on pioneer life as lived by her parents. The keynote of her speech was the keynote of the afternoon: "We necessarily are living largely in the past today, with Coronado, in Quivera, with Pike, the emigrants, the '74ers, the pioneers."
Mrs. C. W. Mitchner, state president of the W. C. T. U., told how proud she was to bring the best wishes of the 10,000 women of the state union to Kansas, "higher in per capita, lowest in death rate, lowest in illiteracy, highest in college education; the state where 25,000 school children never saw an open saloon."

History and reminiscences of remarkable interest filled the remarks of Mike Sweeney of Pawnee Rock, who has lived 4 years in the western land, and saw the Rock in all its original highness. He introduced ex-Gov. E. W. Hoch, who gave the address of the afternoon.

In the beginning Governor Hoch took occasion to say how much he disliked the task of following his feminine predecessors, and trying to "live up to them."
"If I had not been for suffrage before (as I always have been,") he asserted, "I should certainly have been converted this afternoon, for such eloquent speeches argue as intelligent use of the ballot as man can exercise."

Judge D. A. Banta of Great Bend closed the speaking program with a few remarks which were well received. He told how the men should feel ashamed that they had allowed the women of the state to accomplish something in the way of preserving the Rock which should have been done before it had been despoiled of a great deal of its beauty and historic features.

It was old Jim Gibson - poor fellow - he went under in a fight with the Utes over twenty years ago, and his bones are bleaching somewhere in the dark canyons of the range, or on the slopes of the Spanish Peaks. He used to tell of a skirmish he and another fellow had on the Arkansas with the Kiowas in 1836. Jim and his partner, Bill - other name unknown - had been trapping up in the Powder river country during the winter, with unusual good luck. The beaver were mighty thick in the whole Yellowstone region, in those days. Jim and Bill got an early start on their journey for the river in the early spring. You see they expected to sell their stuff in western Missouri, which was the principal trading point on the river then. They walked the whole distance - over fifteen hundred miles - driving three good mules before them, on which their plunder was packed, and they got along well until they struck the Arkansas river at Pawnee Rock. Here they met a war party of about sixty Kiowas, who treed them on the Rock. Jim and Bill were brave and dead shots.

"Before they reached the Rock to which they were driven they killed ten of the Kiowas, and had not received a scratch. They had plenty of powder and two pouches full of bullets. They also had a couple of Jack rabbits for food in case of siege, and the perpendicular walls of the Rock made them a natural fortification, and one that was almost impregnable. They succeeded in securely picketing their animals on the west side of the Rock, where they could protect them by their unerring rifles, but the story of the fight must be told in Jim's own way. He was a pretty well educated fellow and had been to college. I believe in his younger days he lost the girl he was going to marry, or had some bad luck or other and took to the prairie when he was about twenty years of age. I will try to tell it as near as possible as he told it to me.

"After the derned red cusses had treed us, they picked up their dead and packed them to their camp, at the mouth of the creek a little piece off. In a few minutes, back they all came, mounted with their fixings and war paint on. Then, they commenced to circle around us coming closer, Indian fashion every time, until they got within easy rifle range, when they slung themselves on the far sides of their ponies and in that position opened on us. Their arrows fell like a hail storm around us for a few minutes, but as good luck would have it none cf them struck. I was afraid that first of all they would attempt to kill our mules, but I suppose they thought they had the dead wood on us and the mules would come mighty handy for their own use, after our scalps were dangling at their belts. We were taking in all the chances and whenever we saw a leg or head we would draw a bead on it and would tumble its owner over every time, with a yell of rage. Whenever they attempted to carry off their dead, that was the moment we took the advantage, and we poured it into them as they rallied for that purpose, with telling effect. We wasted no shots, and we now had only about twenty bullets between us, and the miserable cusses seemed as thick as ever. The sun was nearly down by this time, and at dark they did not seem anxious to renew fight. I could see their mounted patrols at a respectful distance watching to prevent our escape. I took advantage of the darkness to go down and get a few buffalo chips to cook our supper as we were mighty hungry, and we changed the animals to where they could get a little more grass. I got to our camp on top without any trouble, when we made a little fire and cooked a rabbit. We had to go without water and so did the animals, though we did not mind the want of it ourselves. We pitied the mules which had had no water since we broke camp that morning. It was no use to worry about it as the nearest water was the spring at the Indians' camp, and it would be certain death to attempt to get there. I was afraid the red devils would fire the prairie the next morning, and endeavor to burn us out. The grass was in a condition to make a lively blaze. We might escape the flames and we might not. We watched with eager eyes the first gray streaks of dawn, that would usher in another day. Perhaps the last one for us. The next morning the sun had scarcely got above the horizon when, with an infernal yell the Indians broke for the Rock and we knew that some new idea had entered into their heads. The wind was springing up fresh and nature seemed to conspire with the red devils if they really meant to burn us out, and I had no doubt from their movements that that was what they intended doing. The derned cusses kept at such a respectful distance from our rifles that it chafed us to know that we could not stop the infernal throats of some of them with our bullets. We had to choke our rage and watch events closely. I took occasion during the lull in hostilities to crawl down to where the mules were and shift them to the east side of the Rock where the wall was the highest, so that the flames of the smoke might possibly pass by them without so much danger as on the exposed other side. I succeeded in doing this and also in tearing away the grass for several yards around the animals, and was just starting back when Bill called out, "They have fired the prairie." I reached the top of the rock in a moment and took in at a glance what was coming. The spectacle for a short interval was indescribable. The sun was shining with all its power on a huge cloud of smoke as it rolled down from the north. I had barely time to get under the shelter of the Rock when the wind and smoke swept down to the ground and incidentally we were enveloped in the darkness of midnight. We could not see a single object, neither Indian, horses, prairie or sun and what a terrible wind. I have never experienced its equal in violence since. We stood breathless, clinging to the mass of rock and did not realize that the fire was so near until we were struck in the face by the burning buffalo chips that were carried towards us with the rapidity of the wind. I was really scared as it seemed we must suffocate, but we were saved, the sheet of flame passed us twenty yards away, as the wind fortunately shifted when the fire reached the Rock. Yet the darkness was so perfect that we did not see the flames. We only knew that we were safe as the clear sky greeted us behind the dense cloud of smoke. Two of the Indians and their horses were caught in their own trap and perished miserably. They had attempted to reach the east side of the Rock where the mules were, either to cut them loose or crawl up on us while we were bewildered in the smoke. They had proceeded only a few yards when the terrible darkness of the smoke cloud overtook them. The fire assumed such gigantic proportions and moved with such rapidity before the terrible wind that even the Arkansas river did not stop it for a moment, and we watched it carried across the water.

"My first thought after the danger had passed was of the poor mules. I crawled down to where they were and found them badly singed. They were not seriously injured however, and I thought so far so good. Our traps and things were all right so we took courage and began to think that we could get out of the nasty scrape. In the meantime the Indians with the exception of four or five, left to guard the Rock, had gone back to their camp on the creek, and were evidently concocting some new scheme to capture or kill us. We waited patiently for two or three hours for the development of events, snatching a little sleep by turns until the sun was about four hours high, when the Indians commenced their yelling again, and we knew they had hit upon something, so we were on the alert. The devils this time had tied all their horses together, covered them with branches of trees that they had cut on the creek, packed all the lodge skins on these and then driving the living breast works towards us themselves followed close behind on foot. They kept moving in the direction of the Rock and matters began to look serious.

"Bill put his hand in mine and said, "Jim boy, we gat to fight, we ain't done nothin' yet, but this means business." I said, 'Bill, you are right, old fellow, but they cannot get us alive. Our plan was to kill their ponies and make them halt. As I spoke, Bill, who was one of the best shots on the plains, threw his eye along the barrel of his rifle and one of the ponies tumbled over in the blackened sad. One of the Indians ran out to cut him loose, as I suspected, and I took him clean off his feet without a groan. Quicker than it takes to tell it we stretched out twelve of them on the plains and then they began a council of war. We watched the devils' movements far we knew they would soon be busy again. The others did not make their appearance immediately from behind their living breastworks, so we fired and killed some of the horses. The Indians drew away and after holding a consultation we saw one of their number approaching. He held aloft a part of his white blanket, in token of peace. He came within hearing and asked us to talk with him. We answered yes. We could expect very little and were surprised at the proposition made to us.

He came nearer and said the war chief leading them was old O'Ton-Sone-Var and "wants you to come to their camp, and the tribe will adopt you as you are brave men." He also added that they were on their way to the Sioux country north of the Platte and were going there to steal horses from the Sioux. They expected a fight and wanted us to help them. Bill and I knew them too well to swallow their chaff so we told him we could not think of accepting their terms. We told him to go back and tell his chief to begin the fight again as soon as they pleased. He started back and before he had reached the creek they came out and met him, had a confab and then began the attack on us at once. We made each of our four leads tell and then stood at bay almost helpless. We were at their mercy. We began throwing stones and held them off for a short time. Then another white flag appeared and they wanted to talk some more.

"We knew that we must accept most anything they offered. One of their number spoke and told us that the Kiowas were not prisoners and they know brave men. 'We will not kill you, though the grass is red with the blood of our warriors who died at your hands. We will give you a chance for your lives and let you prove that the Great Spirit of the white man is powerful and can save you.' 'Behold,' said the Indian pointing to a cottonwood tree that stood on the bank of the river, a mile or more away. 'You must go there and one of you shall run the knife gauntlet from that tree two hundred steps of the chief towards the prairie. If the one who runs escapes both are free, for the Great Spirit has willed it.

O'Ton-Sone-Var has. said it and the word of the Kiowa is true.' 'When must the trial take place," said I. "When the sun begins to shine upon the western edge of the Rock,' replied the Indian. 'Say to your chief we will accept the challenge and will be ready," said Bill, motioning the warrior away.

"'I am sure I can win, said Bill and can save our lives, O'Ton-Sone-Var will keep his word.' 'I know him.' 'Bill, said I,' 'I shall run that race' and taking him by the hand I told him that if he saw I was going to fail to watch his chance and in the excitement of the morent mount one of their horses and fly to Bent's Fort. He could escape. He was young, it made no difference with my life as it was not worth much, but he had all before him. 'No,' replied Bill, 'my heart is set on this. I traveled the same race once before when the Apaches got me, and their knives never struck me once. I asked this favor for I know how to take advantage of them and can win.' The sun had scarcely gilded that portion of the Rock that puts out toward the west before all the warriors with O'Ton-Sone-Var at their head marched silently towards the tree and beckoned us to come. We soon were beside them when they opened a space and we walked in their center without saying a word. There were only thirty left of the band of warriors. The Indians were worked up to an awful pitch and wanted to avenge their dead but the chief kept them from it. As soon as we reached the tree, the chief paced the two hundred steps and arranged his warriors on either side who in a moment stripped themselves to the waist and each seizing his long scalping knife and bracing himself held it high over his head so as to strike a hard blow. The question of who should be their victims was settled immediately, for as I stepped forward, the chief signaled me back and pointing to Bill told him he should make the trial. I protested but the chief was firm. The two rows of savages stood firm, their knives held high with vengeance gleaming in their eyes. It looked almost hopeless. It was truly a race for life. As Bill prepared himself I wished ourselves back on the Rock. Bill was cool and collected and had a perfect faith in the result. The chief motioned Bill to start. Bill tightened his belt and looked down the double row of Indians with their upheld knives. It seemed an age to me and when Bill started I was forced by an irresistible power to look upon the scene. At the instant Bill darted like a streak of lightning from the base of the tree and cutting at poor Bill the Indians tried their hardest to kill him. Bill evaded their efforts. He tossed savages here and there and now creeping like a snake he squirmed through the lines for a distance, then leaping like a wild-cat he passed more of the red men who were bent on taking his life and finally he reached the place where the chief stood and passed through the terrible ordeal unharmed. I threw myself into his arms and gave thanks. The chief motioned the warriors away and with sullen footsteps followed them. In a few moments we retraced our way to the Rock where our mules still were. We then passed on in the direction of the Missouri. We camped on the banks of the river that night only a few miles from the Rock and while we were resting we could still hear the Kiowas chanting the death song as they buried their lost warriors under the sod of the prairie."