, 1869-06-20
WILD WESTERN LIFE,
George P. pelden, the White Chief.
His Remarkable Life and Advan-
tures,
IAs Laat Of The Ctovs-Ferts Bui1t Thar
and Aha1doned-Celsael Cazringtaa's
E1ptdlHan-Fsrt Reao-Fpts Pill
Kear1ey-Fort {. F. Sndth-
An Indian lssassstxt!na.
II lzKxK1L |ANR & HHis1N.
N1ttsn for TAS cAiaa9o Itstusx.

II 0zKxxAL JANns & HIislN,
Erztssn for tn cataaoo Ts3t,s4x,
George P, Belden fos lona time .eryed tn nv
command He ID I'LL an ONCE IN tho regular
amy, and low. bene-e, with the Second United
stataa cava1rJ, a Fist Loutenaut II was
during the tina ho Was stationed With me thai l
learncd the history Of this remarkable mAn.
Trnth ha2 always bean tnore wondnrful than fiction,
and no bctte1 evidence Of the fac, can be given
thaa the lie Of Geotxe P. Beiden. Bo.n In Ohio,
ncaz Cincinnati, Al The Ago Of u Dsldcn isft h!s
home and wandered to tho Far West. Al Omaha
he Joined soDe tssrr<re and traders and begun
frontier Lie II rlkex Peak Afrerwuzu,
Joining tbs TAntton 1ndianB, he became q
Chief, and It ~as during The tiKnc ha led these
sAvaees and dwelt in the east wilderness, that
Deldens lite necenda frou The commonplace to
The 1narTelouA His battles, adventures md e.
capcs will compare f2rurab,y with any recorded
In The works Of fiction, and set. beucEe them al
70 be strictly uue.
Sizing ono evening In front OF my little tent,
Ead. "Delden4 fclAte 10 nc SONG pa8aARea Of
your life with the sayages.''
He promptly replied; 1.-THE knife and The r1lc
are more familiar 70 Ce than the language Of po-
nto 5oetety, Jet u the rough words Of m old
frontiefsma1 can enliEen the tulncaa Of the camp,
.
tade him proceed with his story, Aod, aiter
nome1 pause, he began:
"Let nc trst tell yon something ahout thnt
country uow laying towards the rising sun, bot
which WIS, IN the times Of which Bpent, nntroI
by any feet nave those Of the bison and rcd man
Tue traveller now passes nea1ly thousand mics
west tEon Chicago before he enters the lands OF
The CroN1. hWa1 thsre, along the Powder River
Big Horn and on tho F1Atte, bad aomc curious
adsentursa Yoa Niu remember that lately flsss)
the government occupied thts country, and bul]i
strong forts, bUa that the Sioux demanded
1t should oe gfEeu up, 1nd nor
1t has been abandoned. tho foE,a lls1nantlcd, and
the tavages arc again the sole possessorz"
inquired how thh. happened. he replied:
"lr 1855, Tor the purpose Of opening shorter
tonfo from the Valley Of the Platte 70 Montana
rrrsly was made With the Cheyenucs, Crown, AZ.
apahoes and sioux, md Colonel Catnngtan, OF
the United btAts& army, with \ strong force, was
sent 70 estaal{An postA One hundred and kxty-
se7en miles northwest Of Font Laramie, Font Reno
wns located. A camp had been estahlshcd ii
Reno bJ General Conner tn lssa 1t waa on Pow
der River, IN ths midst Of sterile region, the
HEe1 !tsa1 being 10 strongly alkaline q to be
Ataoat unit fot drink bJ man or beast Therr Il,
however. plenty Of cottonwood timber on the
TStT fottoEn, and there also can be found the wild
tulip conTotrulus, sweet Pea, Wild oniun aud l1-
dian potato. In aonnd2noa One white man named
FTehch Pete, Who had Sioux wife and four hnll.
breed children. settled nra. the fort In 1894 buf
be was soon afterwarl murdered By the
Indiana The Ion was On high pl4-
taaux. overlooking the river, and enciosed
BY t,qattons block houses and palisades 1t cost
not lta4 than ona hundred and seScnsy-uye thous.
and aollars.
Eighty miles nearly sou1h Of Fort Reno on
Powder 1uyeE, Fort Phi Keasncy WAS bu1ll. II
Tns located ntas Tongue River on Little Ptncy
CTeet- Timber. pure wafer. graAs, Wild gram and
AL ktoEs OF game A1r abundant IN that vicinity
The scenery around the for. MAS grand and beat
tful Two miles distant Ii Iakp SmedS. y l14e
body OF water. delightful fo. boating In the sum.
ncr time and for akatlng IN the wiltcE. To the
northwest Is the rteh valley of Tongue River with
tho Panther Aourra1hs bcJonL Westward sre
the Big Horn Mountains, P1ncy Summit and
ROCKY Ridge. Eastward the black Hill ana paup-
lin buttes IN the distance. Soutnwani r,ouu Peak
rises hundreds OF feet high. Cita. t.sca1uA yne-
ccti cores and deep forests sarround tho Sost,
TIC post was strongly boils bast!oncl Ral paIlsad-
I'd. 1t Cost the government hearty :hrce hundred
md nfty thousand tioilasA.
"SinetF-one miles beyond Fort Tnu
kca5ne5 was Fort C.. F. Smith.
It WAS built tn 1855 BY Breyc, Lieutenant Co4onrl
y. {. Kinney. Captain Eighteenth United States
lnfantzy. and cost the government one hundred
nad nifty thousand dollars. The fort Is located o.
the Big Horn Rtyer. Portable stream In iry
weather. Good water, Krass, Ssh and box elder
timber IL found in abundance nesr the fort. Tue
whole distance nom Omnh8, Scaraskx. to VII.
Etr11 City, AontanA, Is eleven hundred AMI ORE
r,ilet, .1lytsable ~ follows: FroG Omaha 10 Fon
LARAMIE Onion Pacific Railroad,, nve hundred
AMI seventJ-thrce miles: from Fort Laramie IA
Fort Phil keAsney, one hundred knd sixty-sevea
n!lea; from For Phil keArueJ to Fort c. r,
Smith. nine.s-one miles: from Fort c. F. Smith
lc Virginia City, TWO hundred and seventy -four
miles
Having thus given some idea Of the extent and
features Of tho country, will describe The partc-
ulsr geography OF It, the adventures Incident 70
its occupation. aad the cycnts which Subsequently
ed to its abandonment
''fhe country lmmedia,e1. west Of Omaha Is now
sutleaenlt vel! Known TO need no particular
description. Omaha - an eastern city znl belorSp
to the old things Of The past, while It Il with new
thlnxs We have to deaf The beautiful tarn lands
cl Nebraska hare a1yrady been nearly all oecrp.el,
or bought up h5 sreculatasA and Il Is further
Wcat ne must look for Indians and new Aut4.
Two hundred miles mp the Valley OF thu Platte,
west Of oynAha are the remains Of old Fort kear.
rcy. Tie fors = abandoned, and an ea!espra!ng
'ewn Gsowlus up near Il, on thu line Of the ractdc
Itai.fpaH The Hlstte Valley contains eoruc itch,
tiarE loan &h1S but generally II Il hnffrn aad
*anay. scne day ~hca |; ts Irrigated, a. should
nc. All lis sol vet wa.ertd lruu The Platte River
which Cows through 1t, it Will bc ono Of the .uust
beautiful atd fertile yal!eys tn the co1n-
". The nsct Itself Is hrped, shallow
and tull Of sho1.s and cClcksanda, being unpayl.~
abe fer the hxhtess boAtA Two hundred and
seveny.e eight miles from Omsha, west o. the
south hank Of the Pias'e, Is located rc-s Ncraez-
scn, Ner bull! pos., md A. present Ea-tsoneI
by fye companies Of the Second United States
cayalrJ. The country arpuud Mcpherson Is tat,
rtch and productive. Several ranches hare been
established md some fAzns orenei. The grazing
Is excellent, and 14rge sucls Of money could be
made Grow,1g cattle, nuics md horses.
AL along Tho rtss.o, fos hundse.!s Of miles, will
hc found deserted ranches and OLD grazing
groGuts These were once inhabited BY nxyoJ
froateIBnen who. finding ctvfAxatton close upon
them pulled up stakes and poshcd on
further West The extensive rutcs OF
the old stage ssattons ATT met with every ten
miles The tines have been superseded by the Pa
cite RAfroa4 and the stages Will be Enowu 10
Uore foterrs IN the great valley. Every znncae
Aad sts11ou has It's history: here the Ea1e VAS a.
tackett. their mans whole family E.ssacscd,
socdes dozen ptop!c Elet, md tust beyond
terrible h4stit WA fought with the 1n4lAaa
NJ
"Riitng down tic valstT below Mcpherson ycc
reach rotnt vner- the rrs4t ca.tcs bena, neAs
Al Old 7&1cAe. Their, and On the us1ic i.lAcd
jest tc1ond, not locg Ego, Vas eoscscd one Of The
blcc.ises. 1sa1uas Of this blooty county,"
'Teu re IL About IT, satt.
Swell" ee replied nu4.aSIy, II VII, though
never th.n1 of II bet nv blood cnsitez In EJ veins
and, to tel, go1 the tru&n. would not llke 10 10
on The Island after talk.'- Frr .sre.A r,nrcasa
" 4 mai IN kttArre fhNoT TaJ3n
~ was sta..oce1 Il That tancte IN lssA At Sas5
time ccncnaotcd , company Of Inttan 4censx,
asd wa3 cong duty for the Government Under
es,lers from Colonel Brown. Ny nea were ur,a-
tas. WtcceeaSoe4 And TWO E0rcaA A nsan named
Grc:1n then owned the Eaacsc, al oc- Business
Wts to grard the stock and raneAe, which w4s q
f.orpicS-place fer Ben. Hcrr!!e1ye staSc coacAes,
had 1Eed hAcd - teach ny &arASc sol3lers soroe
CT The xzJs CT civilization and 70 nsstl lnso kaAlr
minds the principles Of tstsce Aod nu1nAnits. oct
every DOW nd tafn they would oreak Away tro0
E5 control And Indulge z 1hc.1 sas2Se prsc1scss-
nanc3rg ~&r dancess singing xAr sonsa 4od gsu.-
bug WITH 1lEEa-etoncs were thetf PAs<t11rk FL
ing cytsef.eANs with E1arel etoneA they would
wrap tse:r Markets about tae.E bottles aed
t.en sAktcs the e.as in tne!r hanis and rafting
tteE over their heads Hp01l form cdtte, a1d
oa.ce art z.rS for becsk One night whea they
vese performing taet, Groses;ne t4oce around
one Of the tese11sph pole4 pe2- the r11cse, aod
}aSs ~ 1heE we're Completing SleuI war sons.Vc
wrIc Al surprised to hear tae WORDS answered.
haek f.v0 tie o1c.o netcad. In moment We
cts:ned tie sol1ts Szrcested opE. hostile Sioux
VITO Nc k1cx were p.pWLnS about the neAyhDoe~
hocd- TIE 1Ed1aos wens on With taeH 3xncs aad
stEStcS. AID reescauy set Cr peealsr ye.l, vkk>a
WIS repeated cy txe CT ,e:ee so&es rot Ia &C,
on Tie psa.1e. TIE cssns was eieA- and plcass3t
aod could now, b. the nStt u toe la1 sao:3, see
t1fff hH+SRS1,r lHrFNA~AS~r Crt 1g ~ T1tf,.
now sa.d 70 Ee, '1e1se-acs. taey Aee Sioux: ~