But to return to my trip.  The Oregon volunteers had been ordered out, with General Ross in command.  The murderers of the 17 settlers along the shores of Tule Lake had been indicted by the Grand jury of Jackson County, Oregon.  The Governor demanded the surrender of the murderers from the United States authorities.  The murderers were not yet captured but we knew it was only a matter of days.  I left Salem on Thursday and went by train to Roseburg that evening.  There I took the stage, and telegraphing ahead for horses at Jacksonville found a magnificent saddle horse awaiting me.  Did you ever travel from Salem to Roseburg by train and then by stage to Jacksonville through the long weary night?

If so you will have some faint idea of my condition.  Arriving at Jacksonville I lost no time in proceeding on my journey.  That night I rode to Coldwells’ place, sometimes called the Soda Springs.  The next morning at 4 o’clock, after only about 4 hours’ rest in 48, I started on my journey.  I knew how to ride a horse, how to save him and how to rest him.  At the head of “Green Springs” I met a Government courier.  He told me that Gen. Ross had left Linkville that morning with his entire command.

Thanking the courier, I then began to ride, and at precisely half past 11 o’clock was shaking hands with Alex Miller at Linkville.  I had ridden one horse 55 miles that morning over a range of mountains.  Mr. Miller asked me, when did you leave Salem?”

“Day before yesterday noon,” I replied.

“If I did not have all kinds of respect for you I would call you a liar” remarked Mr. Miller.  Just them J. B. Neil and Mr. Jackson, District Attorney and Sheriff of Jackson County came up, and showing these gentlemen my papers with the dates, stopped all further discussion of the matter.  But I said, “Alex, I want the best horse in Linkville, for I am going to overtake Gen. Ross tonight.”

“You shall have not only the best horse in Linkville, but the best horse in the State of Oregon.”  A ride of 45 miles that evening accompanied by Mr. Neil and Mr. Jackson, convinced me that Alex.  Miller told me the truth.  We reached the headquarters of Gen. Ross late in the night.  I had ridden that day 95 miles on two horses, and I want here to plead guilty to cruelty to animals.  The horse I rode into Linkville, to use the common expression, “quit,” and the only means I could use to get a “move on,” was to shoot the tips of his ears off with my revolver.  I will say further that this is the only instance in my life when I was cruel to a dumb brute, but I justified myself then and now on the grounds of “Duty.”

Arriving at Headquarters, “for the night,” as the General expressed it, the next morning we took up the trail of a band of Jack’s renegades.  Black Jim, one of the worst of the band of murderers, headed the band.  There were only about twenty men in the outfit, and the only means we had of following them was by a crutch used by an Indian shot by John Fairchilds on the 17th of January.  Late one evening, in fact just at sundown, we lost the trail.  We had tracked the stick to a juniper tree, but there lost it.  Finally one of our boys discovered a hand up in the juniper and leveling his gun, told him to come down.