The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1854-09-29
BATTLE OF TIE INDIANS
SAErY's PoTsr, Nebraska, August 81, lsj

SAEPT IoiST' Nep!aSKA, August 81, 1854
EdHor Of The Missouri Republican MIR
An affair has happene here between the sol
dicrs and the Indians. which ought to be prom
crly noticed by the United States Govern
mcnt Having been IN eyewitness to III,
battle, lconsider it my duty to furnish n stric,
account of it and its causes. In the first place
on the 18th Of August, train Of Mormon.
passed this place. The Indians, who were
encamped here, waiting for their payment
from Government, had no provisions. and
were of course, anxious for sometime TO cu,
As the NormOns were passing, Il lame COW.
belonging to Il man in the rear Of the Nor.
mon train, became frightened and ran into the
Indian camp. The Mormon left the cow be.
| hind. and 50 one Of the Indians. Il Nlinnccosha
shot it, and with his companions. ale it up,--
| The Mormons then wcrt TO the Fort and re.
ported that the Indians lad killed one OF ,hei,
COWS. On the 10Th, in the afternoon, Lieut.
, Grattan, with II command Of - soldiers, and
Augustc l.ucien, iitci fis.er, arrived here To
J arrest fhc Indian who mad killed the COW.
! acroriingl y sent for the chiefs to 90 with
/ the Lieutenant and make the arrest. They
accompanied him. but the Indian was not vii.
! ling to rive himself up, saying that he would
die first. While the Bear chief Of the Waza.
zcs was standing with three other chiefs, the
Little Thunder the Biz Partizan, and the
Man who is afraid OF his Horses. among the
soldiers, the Lieutenant ordered his men Ia
fire.. They did 50, woUnding the Bear chict
and his brother. But one round WAS fired
when the Indians in turn charged. and sue.
cccdcd in routing the soldiers. and killing aiI
oi them with the exception of one private.
Wh" Is not expected to recover. Lieutenant
'iratian and two Of his men were killed while
standing by their cannon, the Lieut.. receiving
tWcniy-;onr arrows, one of which passed
through lis head. As soon rs the soldiers
saw their commander fall, they took to nirht.
bat were at killed within hall of Il mile of
this. The Dgaiallah camp was about one
mile distant, and Il white man named s;cyfrov
lott, was staying there at the time. Bcin. II
Sioux Interpreter, the chiefs requested him TO
Stay between the camps to prevent the Young
men from charging on the soldiers, but he
could not succeed, and barely escaped with
his life.
AT my house, we were placed in bad
situation. There were with me Mr.. Antoine
Rcynal and Slr. Samuel Smith, with five
others, and all we could do was to stay in the
house and try to keep the Indians out As
Mr. X. was standing in the doorway of the
house. m Indian rushed on him and tried to
XII him. when another Indian, the Quick
Bear. tried to Kill the first Indian for rushing
on Il white man, but some one caught Quick
bears gun and its contents went into the wall
OF the house By this time party had col
!cctcd outside OF the house, who tried TO force
their way in, but some Of my friends, the
Quick Bear and others, stopped them. After
the battle, the chiefs came in nv house and
sad that as the young men had killed all the
soldiers that had come to fight them, they
would now 20 and slaughter the rest Of the
soldiers at the Fort, burn all the houses. and
Kill all the whites .n the rive. but told the
chiefs to stop them from SO doing, assuring
them that since the soldiers had commenced
the quarrel it would he overlooked by Gov
crnmcnt. But they then rushed in the house
and dcmaNdcd Of me to give them everything
that they wanted. To save our lives gave
them everything that hal in my store, 10
the amount ot two thousand dollars.
The next day they went TO the post Of the
American Fur Company. too; all the goods
that were sent to them by Government and
plIiagcd the store. The situation Of the tra-
dcrs and of Fort Laramie is pcrilous in the
extreme. was requested By the commander
OF the Fort to bury the dead soldiers since he
had not men enough to dctach Il party for
that service, and succeeded in doing 50.
As far rs know anything about indians, !
think that our government ought to send five
hundred mounted men, veteran troops, 10
keep the Indians in suhcction, and one COM
pluv of infantry to uulrI the fort The In
dams, IN the recent battle, after killing the
soldiers, broke their cannon to pieces, and I
placing the infantry on prairie to fight with
Indians, il is just the same as putting them
as targets to be shot at There were about
one thousand Indians in the battle.
Yours truly, JAMES BOltDEAu,
Per SAMUEL. SMITH. |