For six days they pursued the band, and for a great part of the time
there was no sign visible to an ordinary eye, and after going for 150
miles they eventually overtook and captured the whole party. But it
was all entirely due to Espinosa's good tracking.
On another occasion some American troops were following up a number of
Indians, who had been raiding and murdering whites, and they had some
other Red Indian scouts to assist them in tracking.
In order to make a successful attack, they marched by night, and the
trackers found the way in the darkness by feeling the tracks of the
enemy with their hands, and they went at a fairly good pace for many
miles, merely touching the track with their fingers; but suddenly they
halted and reported that the track they had been following had been
crossed by a fresh track, and on the commanding officer going up, he
found the Indians still holding the track with their hands, so that
there should be no mistake.
A light was brought, and it was found that the new track was that of a
bear which had walked across the trail of the enemy! So the march
continued without further incident, and the enemy were surprised, and
caught in the early hours of the morning.
Pages:
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332