Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-09-19
A FRONTIER TRAGEDY.
TerrOrs OF Life on the Border.
Letter from One who was
There to See.

. There to See.
, The following letter is from Mrs
Van Cleve, wife of a gallant genera
, officer in the Federal army durins
the war:
, To the Editors Oftbe Chicago Evening Post.
So many incorrect statements O
the terrible tragedy, enacted a
Helena, Montana, of the 18th o.
August, have appeared in the daily
! papers, that | deem it my duty to
lay before the public the followin g
clear and detailed account, sent by
Mr.. N. P. Langford to my husband.
And do this from desire to in-
form the many friends of my noble
and dearly beloved brother, of the
true facts Of the case, and to let the
public generally know what frontier
settlers have to expect from savages
under the present system. Other
noble lives will be offered up, other
homes will be made desolate, unless
the Indians on our borders are held
in check by military force. 1t may
save money for the Treasury to
withhold protection from our settle
ments; but there is a time COM
ing to each of the men who
manage these affairs when the
whole Treasury of the United
States will seem of trifing impor-
lance compared with the value of
one single human being who has an
immortal soul. If the cruel sacri-
flee of my dear brother shall arouse
the people to sense of their duty
in this regard, he will not have
been offered up in vain.
He had been identified with the
Indians for more than thirty years,
so that, in case of an outbreak, he
would have been seriously in their
way, as his knowledge of them
would have made him very dams
gerous foe. No wonder that this
fearful act of treachery seems to the
settlers to forbode an Indian war.
Who shall be responsible for the
horrors of such an event?
Wendell Phillips, go out and join
hands with those treacherous Black
feet, who are so prompt to do your
bidding, for "this is" barely "a
step in the right direction" That
desolated rancho could be rented
reasonably, no doubt. Establish
your headquarters there and dis
seminate your reformatOry doc
trines.
What if they do take you at your
word and shoot you to the heart
1t is glorious to die for o principle,
and you surely are in earnest. All,
friend Phillips your cosy office in
Boston you deem a more agreeable
place, perhaps, from which to send
your teaching through the land |
and it may be you prefer to teach
principles, and let others furnish
illustrations.
May God, in his infinite mercy,
give you time to repent of the great |
harm you have done, before you are
summoned to appear before the bar
where all wrongs are righted, and
where strict justice will be melted
out to all. c. o. VAN CLEvE.
HELENA, MONTANA, Aug. %, 90.
Gen. H. r. Vancleve: Dear Sir
L yesterday advised you by tele-
graph Of the safety of Miss Nellie |
Clark and the rest of the children.
On Wednesday last, about noon, |
intelligence of the killing of Mr.. |
Clark was received here, producing |
much excitement and concern. The |
most uncertain and conflicting re-
ports were afiOat concerning the |
extent of the raid, and it was gen,
orally believed that Mr.. Clark's
oldest son, Horace, was MORALLY |
wounded, and that some or all of |
the children had been carried off by |
the Indians. Some reported them
all murdered, and that the roads and |
foothills were alive with Indians.
There were SO many different res
ports that we could arrive at notho
ing reliable, as we were unable to |
find the messenger who brought the |
intelligence. But knowing that
facts are usually greatly exaggera-
ted in all such cases, Mr.. A. T.
Simmons and j. T. Riddle volun-
teered to go with me to look after |
the safety of the family. From
Helena to Diamond Springs, twelve
miles, the road is through Prickly |
Pear Valley and then runs over the
adjoining hills for twelve miles to
Mr.. Clark's ranch. l never trav-
eled over a country so admirably
suited to Indian depredations as
these last twelve miles, the foOts
hills and rocky rayines furnishing
every advantage for concealment
on the part of the Indians. Three
hours ride from Helena brought
US to Mr.. Clark's, and with it re-
lief to an anxiety for the safety of
the family, all Of whom we found
at home, and Horace not danger
ously wounded, but everything was
in the direst confusion; the In
dams had carried off everything
they could, and destroyed all else
save some of the furniture and
clothing in Nellie's room. Wearing
apparel and bed clothes were all
taken, and nearly all their provis-
ions and flour, etc, that they could
not carry off, were scattered about
and trampled under foot.
From Nellie / learned the follow.
ing particulars of the murder,
which | give with perhaps some
unimportant errors on my part,
arising from the omission of some
of the details: O.. ----i|
About half-past ten o'clock, on
Tuesday night, six Indians came to
Mr.. Clark's house, and told him that
they had brought back some horses
that their young men had stolen a
short time before from him, and
wanted him to go and help them
drive them into the corral. They
said the horses were up the creek
about half a mile, Horace got his
horse out and started with one
| Indian. con of CGMOuntain Chiefn