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Updated: May 20, 2025
After having a social chat with him and rehearsing to some extent the fight which took place the night before between myself and the five Pah-Utes, he proposed to make me chief of his scouts. He said: "Now, Drannan, I will tell you what I wished to see you about. I have five scouts besides you, and I am going to make you chief of all my scouts, and you can handle them to suit yourself."
It was one of the quickest-won battles I was ever engaged in," and turning to me the Capt. said, "Mr. Drannan, you ought to join the army, for you would make a first-class General, and I am sure would always lead your men to victory in Indian warfare any way."
How much shall I tell them?" I answered, "I promised the Chief two butcher knives for the safety of this train's passage through the Comanche country, both going to Santa Fe and coming back." They both stared at me as if they were amazed, and finally the Capt. said, "What are you giving us? Are you joking or in earnest, Mr. Drannan?"
I answered, "Col., if you were a member of a secret organization, would you think it right to give away the secret to outsiders?" At this answer the Capt. laughed and slapped the Col. on the back, and said, "Col., I reckon, you have got your match in Mr. Drannan, for I have never asked him a question that he did not find a way to answer me without giving me the information that I was seeking."
This answer made a general laugh and upset the gravity that was settling on all their faces. Capt McKee then said, "Where have you been all day, Mr. Drannan?" I told him I went to the Indian village which he passed and was invited to eat dinner with the head Chief, and they made such a spread that I like to not got away today.
The Colonel opened the conversation by saying: "Gentlemen, our chief scout, Mr. Drannan, has concluded to leave us and go to San Francisco to spend the winter, and under the circumstances I don't want to see him go alone. Do you men feel like accompanying him and bringing our mail back on your return?" George Jones said: "I can only speak for myself.
At this moment a middle-aged lady who stood near us with the tears running down her cheeks said, "Why don't you let Mr. Bridger and Mr. Drannan have their way? You see what these other men came to by not obeying their orders, and do you want to bring us all to the predicament they are in?" At this Jim said, "I'll be dog goned if they will." This settled the controversy for the time being.
Capt. McKee said, "Where in the world could you get that guarantee, Mr. Drannan?" I replied, "Capt. McKee, I got it from the head Chief of the Comanche tribe, and his word is law with all his warriors." Then the wagon master spoke for the first time since we started on our walk. He said, "In that case there is no need of all these men as an escort, is there?"
You must bear in mind that the train does not need an escort back to Bent's Fort, for there are no Comanches between here and there, and I do not see where there is anything to hinder the train in going back in perfect safety." The Col. then said, "Now Mr. Drannan, what do you expect for your trouble in piloting the train here?" I answered, "Col., I will leave that matter with you and Capt. McKee.
Drannan, I knew you were a good Indian fighter, but I did not know the Coyotes were so afraid of you. Did you hang up some of their scalps so that they could see them and know they would share the same fate as their comrades if they did not keep away?" I told her that the report of our guns told the Coyotes what to expect if they came where the bullets would hit them.
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