They attempted to surprise one of the more considerable of the lonely little forted towns.

It was known as Buchanan's Station, and in it there were several families, including fifteen "gun-men." Two spies went out from it to scour the country and give warning of any Indian advance; but with the Cherokees were two very white half-breeds, whose Indian blood was scarcely noticeable, and these two men met the spies and decoyed them to their death.

The Indians then, soon after midnight on the 30th of September, sought to rush the station by surprise.

The alarm was given by the running of the frightened cattle, and when the sentinel fired at the assailants they were not ten yards from the gate of the blockhouse.

The barred door withstood the shock and the flame-flashes lit up the night as the gun-men fired through the loop-holes.