A Famine Threatens

The supplies which we depended upon from the store-houses on the Missouri River, or in Kansas, could no longer be brought in, and, strange though it may seem at this day, the time came when we of Denver saw famine staring us in the face, while in all the country about, the savages were dancing their war dances, thirsting for our blood and killing all who fell into their hands.

We were compelled to give up all other ideas save that of defending our lives, and when our governor called for mounted men to volunteer for service in the territory, our city was wellnigh deserted, except for cripples and aged people.

Mr. Middleton went out as a volunteer, and I would have accompanied him but for the fact that he declared one or the other of us must remain at home to look after the family, putting the matter in such a way that I could not refuse to obey him.

I could tell you of that battle of Sand Creek, if battle it can be called, when the savages, as many of our people claimed, were massacred at a time when they stood ready to sue for peace; but such horrible details make unpleasant reading, and unless one would study the matter closely for some particular purpose, it is not well to fill the mind with bloody doings.

Certain it is, there were many in our city who claimed that in the Sand Creek matter, the white people were the butchers and the Indians the victims.

However that may be, we of Colorado paid a fearful price for that day's work.