Blood Feather by Don Bendell Read Free Book Online

by the tens upon tens of thousands, and there was no retribution from Washington. Hides were sent back east daily, and the market demand was driving the need for more. This phenomenon would eventually force all the bison-dependent Plains tribes onto reservations, but for now it was forcing many to flee reservations to join a growing group of discontented warriors who wanted simply to rid their lands of this white menace. It made matters worse that the government promises made during the Medicine Lodge Treaty of 1867 and other treaties, as was becoming the norm, were not honored as they should have been. To slap the faces of the tribes even more, the restrictions and rules were suffocating the normally free people.
    Lucky explained that many engagements had been occurring since earlier in the year, such as the second battle at Adobe Walls. At daybreak, on June 27, some months earlier, Lucky explained, three hundred Comanches, led by a charismatic tribal leader, Isa-tai, and the already-famed Comanche chief Quanah Parker, attacked the Adobe Walls post. The warriors thought they would surprise the twenty-eight buffalo hunters at the post and would simply overwhelm them. However, what they forgot about was that these were men with high-powered, long-range rifles used for buffalo hunting, plus they carried a lot of ammunition. Needless to say, the white men at the post won decisively, and many Comanches and dispirited members of other tribes returned to reservations such as Fort Sill. Some, though, fought on, determined to rid the plains of the invaders.
    There were a number of incidents and skirmishes in the Red River War Joshua’s boss kept detailing as Joshua made mental notes. Lucky told about one incident where the John German family took years moving from Georgia, first to Kansas but destined for Colorado, and before arriving they were attacked by Comanches of Grey Beard’s band. John German, his wife, teenaged son, and two daughters were killed. Four more daughters were captured. The older ones were turned over to Stone Calf’s tribe and kept hostage and hidden on the reservation at Fort Sill.
    Addie and Sophia, the two youngest daughters, were ignored by the Comanches and wandered about on the prairie for a while. But they were finally recaptured by the band.
    In the fall, Company D, 5th Infantry, discovered the tribe, which numbered almost two hundred warriors and their families. The soldiers attacked and captured the village along McClellan Creek and repelled numerous counter charges by the Comanches by overwhelming them with their howitzer cannon. The great moment was when they found the two little German daughters—naked, emaciated, but alive in the village. The Comanches were sent on a rapid retreat and the cavalry eventually gave up pursuit.
    After the attack on Adobe Walls, the U.S. government had had enough with the attacks on settlers and decided to launch mutipronged attacks in the Red River, Palo Duro, and other areas, primarily in the Texas Panhandle region, to stop the attacks. The most clever and tactically tough leader of all the Plains tribe fighting was Comanche Chief Quanah Parker, whose mother was white. Therefore, he was very fluent in English and was very intelligent.
    Lucky said, “General Phillip Sheridan spoke at length weeth Pinkerton about this, and Allan told him about you having a white mother and red father.”
    â€œSo,” Joshua said, “Mr. Pinkerton wants me to try to set up a parlay with Quanah Parker and see if I can convince him to stop fighting and try reservation living?”
    â€œExactly!” Lucky replied. “Zey feel that if he stops fighting, the rest will soon follow.”
    The door of the café opened, and a slender, wrinkled, bent-over old cowboy walked in with a short white beard. A rolled cigarette dangled from his mouth and his eyes swept the room. Annabelle rushed across the room, a big smile on her face, and gave him a big hug. He put