A month later, warriors raided the town of Julesburg and set each building on fire. Soon Julesburg blazed, but the Indians didn't torch the nearby telegraph station. The warriors invaded it, instead.
Batteries replenished by nitric acid powered the telegraph. When the Indians spotted jars full of extra nitric acid, they assumed those jars contained alcohol. Of course they chugalugged them.
What potent fire water!
It burned their lips, mouths, and throats! The Indians smashed the jars on the floor. There the acid ate through their moccasins. Dashing outdoors gave them no relief nor did their high-step dancing.
Once the nitric acid wore off, the warriors went home proud of themselves. They never could win back the Cheyenne and Arapaho who died at Sand Creek, but in their month-long battle, they surely killed as many as they had lost.
Coming April 28, 7-9 p.m.
The Apollon, 1801 Vinton St., Omaha
THIEVES, RASCALS & SORE LOSERS:
The Unsettling History of the Dirty
Deals that Helped Settle Nebraska
by Marilyn June Coffey
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