Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1873-05-17
NO MARKsMEN IN THE ARMY.
Inferior Arms I'm the Hands of the
TroOps-How the Warm spring I'm
d1ans Fight.

dians Fight.
Corresponden Sacramento Record.l
LAVA BED, April 24.-It is no dis.
paragement to the soldiers to say, IA
rule, they are not good shots, for
such is the fact. This, / take it, is owing
to two causes: First, they are moi
drilled enough at target shooting; sec
ond, the guns all shoot high and vide
especially after being fred a number OF
rounds. | think / am a pretty good
shot with rifle or six shooter, but
know Modoc would be tolerably safe
before me with an army gun either car.
bine or Springfield musket. | have tried
them, and while you can shoot fast ans
at long distance, they will not do for
target work, and that is just what shoot
ing at Modocs is, and very small tar
get they are, too, generally speaking.
AS have before notified you, the safety
of our men during the fight was owing,
in a great measure, to the fact that the
guns used by the Modocs were those cap.
tured in the fight of the 18th of January,
and almost invariably they overshot
their mark.
THE MAKM SfhlNG lNDlANS
are a fine looking body Of men, many
of them being six feet and even taller.
They are very decent and orderly, much
better behaved than an equal number of
ordinary soldiers, for your soldier off
duty is not always the most quiet and
orderly man in the world. They obey
implicitly their leader, Donald Mckay,
and the sub-chiefs who are with them.
The sub.chiefs names are Miller, Warm
Spring George Pi-Pockpah and Hornas-
heigh. They are fine men, and many Of
them speak, and, l think, some of them
read and write English. Their head
chief is Daumeta, and he is at Umatilla
with few of his people, who number in
all about four hundred. Their reserva-
ton Is about seventy miles south of the
ISslles. on the Des Chutes, in very
goo,s location. Their leader here, Donald
Mckay, is thirty,seven years old, six
feet tail. and weighs now two hundred
and eleven poHnds-his "lazy weight "
beine two hundred and twenty-five.
Heis quiet, reserved man, a perfect
of half-breed, and fully up
to every Indian trick and device. The
Modocs would give as much to get his
scalp as that of General Gillem. He is
one of eleven children by Thomas Nc
KAY, An old Hudson Bay Company
trader, and the
MOST CELEBRATED INDIAN FIGHTER
ever known on the northern part of this
coast. There are several other sons
George, an express rider, in the service
of the government, and DR.. William, an
physician now residing in
Umatiila. Their father came here Don
aid knows not when, but he remembers
him tell of bringing in the first
drove Of sheep and cattle from Califor-
mia ever brought into Oregon, and that
his companions on that trip were Cole
man and Hall. He had at one time a
sawmill and rancho at Champoontz on
the Willamette, a saw and grlst mill at
rancho and seven hundred
head of cattle on Butte creek mot the
one of that name near here) and a rancho
ON Willamette slough-where he died in
the winter of 1880. So much for the
leader; and now / will give you little
sketch of the manner in which they fight
When their line was formed, the eX-
treme right and left end, or flank men,
carried little flag on pole, that their
true position could be determined at all
times. They fight under cover generally,
hunting in twos," one covering the
other. One oreeps ahead, trying to en-
tice a shot by every possible device. II
one misses to take aim at the head one,
the concealed friend blazes away at once
and the foremost one is then ready to
fire at any one who rises to return that
shot. I tef|
JOE or THE sKIRMsH LINE.
As an instance of the tricks to which
they resort to draw the enemy's Ere, or
TO make him expose his person, will
relate an instance which came under my
own observation during the second days
battle. We have, belonging TO the gov
ernment pack train, Warm Spring In
dian, called Joe, who speaks good En-
ulish, and has been il government EN-
ploy for several years. Well, on that
iay the train was idle and Joe must have
a shot; SO two or three of his tribe. Who
were on that side, went in for leetle
fun" as Joe expressed it. They hap
pened to 20 up into the skirmish line
befsre that break occurred which left
CoIonal Miller in such a warm place.