Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1866-10-25
DESPERATE FIGHT ON THE
PLAINS.
An Ohio Soldiers Account Of
a Battle with the Indians.
Eight White Men Killed and Five
Wounded.

Josiah II. Feagles, Of Seneca county,
who served three years in the army and is
now seeking his fortune among the golden
hills of Montana, sends us the following
account of his trip across the plains and
an encounter with 10, the poor Indian:
FoRT RENO, POWDER RIVER,
August =, 1856.
Ed. REGIsTER:-We left Atchison, Kan
sas, on the oath of May, for Virginia City.
Montana Territory, the most of US TO seek
our fortunes In that land of gold. Our
wagons numbered twenty, and our men
thirty-the military orders requiring that
many for protection. At Fort Kearney we
organized, and elected captain to take
charge of the outfit, TO say how the teams
should move and corral. We here babe
adieu to civilization and proceeded up the
south side of the Platte as far as Julesburg
--456 miles from Atchison. We here cross
ed the stream by fording, near Fort Sedg-
wick. and travelled northward until we
struck the North Platte Here we passed
Court House Rock, huge pile of granite
resembling some ancient castle. a few
miles farther on we passed Chimney Rock.
large column some two hundred and sixty
feet high above the base and that some
eighty or enc hundred feet above the sur
rounding country. We then travel ed up
the south fork of the North Platte to Fort
Laramie, where we crossed the river on a
bridge Thence we travelled up North
Platte to Bridger's Ferry, when we struck
the Black Hills Twenty eight miles from
there we left the Salt Lake route, and took
the Foreman cutoff Nothing occurred
worthy of note until the 9th of July, with
in sixty miles of Fort Reno, on Chyanne
Creek, when the mOnOtony of camp was
broken by the war whoop of the Red Men.
We were corralled under the brow of Il hill,
when the Indians made charge on the
loose stock and some of the riding stock.
They then attacked our herd of cattle,
grazine short distance from our corral
The savages oi.,humbcred us three to one.
and the fight was obstinate indeed. Their
sharp arrows fell in perfect shower among
us. producing the ugliest sort of wounds.
| thought / had seen hard fighting during
three wears OF service in the Federal army.
but that was only play compared with this
internal warfare. thought there could be
no worse sound than the yell of the rebels
when they were making n successful charge
but that was music compared with the IN
earthly 'whOop' of these red devils.
We succeeded in repelling the savages
with loss to our party OF eight killed and
five wounded-a list OF whom is given be-
low. How many of the enemy we killed |
cannot say, as they carried them off as fast
as they fell. We recovered all our stock
except one steer We reached Fort Reno
in safety four days aftcr-leaving eight
murdered companions to sleep their lonely
sleep beneath the grass of the prairie. far
from friends and far from the land Of gold
toward which they had set their faces.
We are now within three hundred and
fifty miles of Virginia City, and we hear
there are Indians between here and there.
but the different teams have consolidated
and we now number two hundred wagons
and three hundred men. and do not apprc
bend much danger. In the fight The lndi-
ans only scalped one man, but stripped all
of their clothing.
KILLED.
William III. Dearbon. Stanton. Wiscon
sin; ii. X. Campbell, Jefferson Co, \. T.:
Charles Barton. Council Bluffs: Zach. Hus- !
ted. Nuscatine. iowa: VIM. Boutwell,. |
Montreal. Canada; Stephen Carson, How
ard Co. Missouri: John Little Arkansas: |
Nelson Floyd, Leavenworth, Kansas,
WOUNDED.
III. O. darkness. Norwalk. Ohio: Thomas |
smith, Cooper Co, Missouri: Henry Oar |
ret, Leavenworth, Kansas; Charles Wat
sins. Stanton, Wisconsin; Norman Davis,
Wisconsin.