The Second William Penn

The Second William Penn

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Title: The Second William Penn A true account of incidents that
happened along the old Santa Fe Trail
Author: William H. Ryus
Release Date: February, 2006 [EBook #9805] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on October 19,

2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE
SECOND WILLIAM PENN ***

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THE SECOND WILLIAM PENN
A true account of incidents that happened along the old Santa Fe Trail
in the Sixties.
BY W.H. RYUS
1913

PREFACE
By Col. Milton Moore
[Illustration: COL. MILTON MOORE.]
You who take the trouble to read these reminiscences of the Santa Fe
Trail may be curious to know how much of them are literally true.
The writer of this preface was intimately acquainted with the author of
this book, and knows that he has not yielded to temptation to draw
upon his imagination for the incidents related herein, but has adhered
strictly to the truth. Truth is, sometimes, "stranger than fiction," and is

an indispensable requisite to accurate history, yet it may sometime
destroy the charm of fiction.
The author of this book had a real and exceptional knowledge of Indian
character and Indian traits, and his genuine tact in trading and treating
with them, and the success which he had in sustaining friendly relations
with them was one of the wonders of the West, and was a circumstance
of much comment by those who had occasion to use the Santa Fe Trail.
It is small wonder, then, that "Little Billy of the Stage Coach" won for
himself the title of the "Second William Penn."
In the early Sixties, the region through which the Old Trail passed was
an unexplored territory where constant struggles for supremacy
between the Wild Red Man and the hardy White man were carried on.
Many and tragical were the hardships endured by those who attempted
to open up this famous highway and establish a line of communication
between the East and the West. The only method of travel was by odd
freight caravans drawn by oxen or the old-fashioned, lumbering
uncomfortable Concord Stage Coaches drawn by five mules.
The stage coach carried besides its passengers the United States mail
and express.
An escort of United States militia often accompanied the stage coach in
order to protect it against attacks of the Indians at that time when the
plains were invested with the Arapahoes, Comanches, Cheyennes,
Kiowas and other tribes, some of whom were on the warpath, bedecked
in war paint and feathers.
The Indians were often in search of something to satisfy their hunger,
rather than the scalps of the white men. The author of this book won
their confidence and friendship by dividing with them his rations, and
showing them that he was willing to compensate them for the privilege
of traveling through their country. He had so many friendly conferences
and made so many treaties with them while on his trips across the
plains that he came to be called the "Second William Penn."

He came into personal contact with the famous chiefs of the Indian
tribes, and won their good will to such an extent that their behavior
toward him and his passengers was always most excellent.
The author has, in these pages, told of many encounters between the
whites and the Indians that were narrated to him by the Indians. He
holds the Indians blameless for many of the attacks attributed to them,
and calls attention to the Chivington Massacre and the Massacre of the
Nine Mile Ridge, related in the following pages.
He begs the readers not to censure too severely the Indian who simply
pleaded for food with which to satisfy his hunger, and sought to protect
his wigwam