We rode about three miles on top of a high ridge, and looking off to the west we saw a large Indian camp.  I knew this by the number of fires they had burning.  I pointed to the fires and said to the boys, “There they are.  We have found the main camp.  But now the difficulty will be to get to them without being discovered by them.”

As the darkness was coming on, I could not see well enough to tell how far the Indian camp was from where we stood, but we struck out towards the fires.  I told the boys to ride carefully and keep close together, and for each man to keep a close watch in every direction.

We rode about two miles, and almost before we were aware of it, we were close to the Indian camp.  I tried my best to count them, but I could not make out the number of Indians there were in the camp.  Their horses were staked all around them, and I could not count them either.

I said, “Now boys, we will go back and report to Capt.  McKee and see what he thinks is best to do.”

It was late when we got back to camp, and they were awaiting our return.  Before turning in for the night, I told the Capt. what we had found, and the position of the Indian camp, and that I thought they were about five miles from us.

He sat in thought a few minutes and, turning to me, said, “What plan have you in your mind about making an attack on that camp, Mr. Drannan?”

I said, “They are so scattered that in my opinion it would be impossible to get them all, and I think the best way to make an attack on them would be at daybreak, and for us all to be mounted on our horses.  You and your men make the attack, and me and my scouts make a dash for their horses and cut them loose and run them off out of the Indians’ reach.  Now Capt., I am satisfied that this fight will be no child’s play, but will be a nasty little fight, but if we can get the Indians on a stampede and keep them from getting to their horses, I think we can run them down and get the most of them.”

The Capt. told the men that they had better not go to sleep that night.

“If we sit around the fire here until three or four o’clock in the morning, you will all get over your scare and feel more like fighting.”

One of the boys laughed and said, “It don’t affect me in that way, Capt.  The more I study about a bad scrape that I expect to get into, the more nervous it makes me.”

Capt.  McKee answered, “Perhaps you will fight better when you are nervous than you would if you were cool.  Anyway, we will take the chances.”

We sat around the fire and told stories and smoked until about one o’clock in the morning, and then we saddled our horses and pulled out for the Indian camp and arrived there in good time to look around and see if we could take any advantage of the Indians in the coming fight.

The Capt. selected the place to make the attack and told his men that he and they would sit on their horses and watch for the first Indian to get up, and as soon as the first Indian attempted to get up, they must make the charge, and every man must do all the shouting he could, “for,” said the Capt. “if we can get the Indians stampeded once, we will have as good a thing as we want.”