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Jacob Hamblin, a narrative of his personal experience, as a frontiersman, missionary to the Indians and explorer, [microform] disclosing interpositions of Providence, severe privations, perilous situations and remarkable escapes. Fifth book of the faith-p - Page 73 |
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Show GEORGE A. SMITH, JR., DIES IN THE SADDLE. 71 A few minutes afterwards, the Navajoe friends said, " The man is dead. If you will leave him, we will take you to Spaneshanks' camp, where you will have friends." Our last ray of hope for getting the body of George A. where we could lay it safely away in the rocks, was now gone. I said to the company, " What shall we do?" The answer was, " What can we do, only lay the body on the ground and leave it?" I replied that such was my mind, for we would only risk our lives by making an effort to bury the dead, in which we would probably be unsuccessful. We wrapped the body in a blanket, and laid it in a hollow place by the side of the trail, and then rode on as fast as our jaded animals could well carry us, until late in the night. We halted on a patch of grass, held our animals by the lariats, and also put out a guard. I sat down and leaned over on my saddle, but could not sleep. The scenes of the past two days were before me in vivid reality. The thought of carrying the wounded man with his life's blood dripping out of him along the trail, with-out his having the privilege of dying in peace, combined with the leaving of his body to be devoured by wolves and vul-tures, seemed almost too much to bear. My imagination pictured another scene. South of us, in the distance, we could see a large fire, around which we pre-sumed the Navajoes were having a war dance over the scalp of our brother. Then the thought of conveying the sad news to his father and mother and affectionate sister, all old and valued acquaint-ances of mine, pierced me like barbed arrows, and caused me the most bitter reflections that I have ever experienced in my life. |
