ten
o'clock
Old Indian-fighters pointed out many a significant sign to sustain the theory that the fight must have lasted full an hour , -- the trampled condition of the turf , -- the quantities of shells lying behind every little hummock or ridge in the surrounding prairie that commanded the position of the defence or afforded shelter from its fire . Down in the very ravine in which the bodies were buried , full four hundred yards from the scene of their desperate stand , the soft , sandy soil was pawed and trodden by waiting war-ponies , whose riders , lying flat on their stomachs along the bank above , had kept their watch upon the besieged , firing whenever head or hand appeared above their carcass fortification . The whole ingenuity of the Indian plan became apparent as the situation was studied . Noting after ten o'clock that morning that the battalion was no longer marching due south , but had turned , heading southwest straight away for the landmark of the valley , -- that distant , black , pine-crested peak , -- the lurking warriors had devised their scheme to lure a scouting detachment away from the support of the column . Far down in the river bottom , ten miles away to the left of the trail , they had built at the springs a `` shack '' from the relics of some miner 's outfit captured thereabouts earlier in the summer , and waiting until the head of the column was approaching the crest of the water-shed to the north , set fire to their pile and then secreted their main body in a deep ravine to await results , while small parties were thrown well forward to pick off venturesome individuals , if only such rode out in reconnoissance . If the white chief `` bit '' and detached a small party , then every effort was to be made to keep the battalion occupied and interested , -- to draw it along , if possible , towards the southwest , -- just a few daring spirits devoting themselves to this duty , while the stronger party , keeping in hiding until they lured it far beyond rescuing distance , gradually encircled the isolated squad and at last pounced upon their prey . It is no new device .