Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1874-07-16
Gen. Clusters Black Hills Expedition

The expedition consists Of ten compa-
nies of the Seventh Cavalry, five of
which will be under the immediate com
mand of Gen. Custer, and five under the
command Of Gen Forsythe, Of Gen.
Sheridan's staff; two companies Of in
| fantry, commanded by Maj. l.. II. Sanger;
a battery Of three Calling guns and one
Rodman, commanded by First-Lieut. Jo-
siah Chance; detachment Of United
States Engineers under Col Ludlow, and
sixty Indian scouts, commanded by Lieut..
/ Wallace.
| Gen Custer issued Order No. on Fri
| day, on assuming command OF the expe-
| dfion, and announced the following staff
| appointments, viz. Lieut.. Calhoun, Act
| ing Assistant Adjutant- General; Capt A.
| +. Smith, Quartermaster; Assistant-Sur-
geon, j. w. Williams, Chief Medical
Officer Dr. Williams is assisted by Act
| ing Surgeons Allen, OF Fort
| Rice, and Bergen, OF Iowa Col Fred.
| Grant, ABIDE Camp on Gen. Sheridans
staff, accompanies Gen Custer as an act
ing aid.
Several eminent scientists accompany
the expedition Prof. Winchell and an
assistant will take the testimony of the
rocks" Prof. Grinnell, of Yale College,
| also accompanies, and will look after
| fossils. III. N. Ross and William Nc
| Kay, Of this place, both practical miners
and explorers, are expected to find the
gold.
| Louis Agard, who intermarried with
the Sioux, and who.speaks the language
| Huently, and has been in the country
thirty years, accompanies the expedition
as guide and interpreter. Charles Rey-
Dolds, a widely known scout and hunter,
also goes as guide.
Those who ought to know affirm that
this is the best equipped expedition that
was ever fitted out for service on the
plains. 1t is provisioned for sixty days,
| and is armed with the new Springfield
arm just adopted for the army Gen
| Terry, who was President of the Com
| mission which adopted the arm, declares
| il the most perfect breech-loading gun
yet manufactured. 1t was submitted to
all the known tests, and was adopted
| after IL years investigation. Gen. Terry
| saws that on one occasion five shots,
made at 500 yards, could have been COW
cred by mans hand The caliber is re-
duced from fifty to forty-five, the ball
more elongated, the charge of powder
heavier, giving longer range and greater
accuracy The ammunition used by this
| gun is also used for the new Colts
| breech- loading revolver with which the
] cavalry Is also armed.
| The Calling guns will fire $50 shots
minute, and are good for 300 yards. The
ball used by the Calling gun is a trihe
larger than the old mimic rifle ball; the
metallic cartridge is used. The car
tridges are placed in "a hopper, and as
the crank is turned rod is plunged into
the end of the cartridge, causing the ex-
plosion The guns are n-barrelcd con
| seuuently ut each revolution ten shots
are fired. Should Chance open on the
red devils with one of these guns they
would think the internal regions had
broken loose on them. Then imagine
the effect should the Calling guns, with
their rain of leaden hail, be supplemented
by the unearthly shrek OF three-inch
| Rodman.
No wonder that Gen. Custer Is conf
| dent that the Indians cannot successfully
cross his path. Armed as this expedition
is, Differed as il is, no body of Indians
likely to be brought to bear on it could
seriously embarrass it. They can only
embarrass it by picking off here and
there struggling man. The favorite
game of the savage, the ambuscade, is
too well understood to be feared.
Gen Dandy informs us that when at
Fort Laramie a squaw brought into that
post nugget Of pure gold as large as a
hens egg, which she claims came from
the Black Hills. Other specimens have
been brought in by the Indians from time
to time, and the Indians questioned con-
corning that country invariably tell of
the rich minerals, or are SO evasive as to
create all the greater interest. Run
ming Antelope in conversation with
Gen. Custer lately, said that the great
objection the Indians had to the white
man exploring the Black Hills was that
they would want to take the country
when they learned of its mineral and ag-
ricultural wealth. So il has come to
pass that an impression has obtained
throughout the country that this is a per-
feet Eldorado, and believing that an ex-
ploration should be made which would
give valuable information this ex-
pedition was organized and Is sent
out by the Government. Time
and again expeditions fitted out
by private parties have been checked by
the Government, because, If permitted
to go on their own responsibility, they
might not only trespass on the rights of
the Indians, which this expedition will
not do, but would be liable to be massa-
cred by the willy savage Indeed, several
parties have already been murdered in
years agone, and Of parties seeking to
visit this region not "a man returned.
Yearly the disposition to visit the Black
Hills, on the part of the restless spirits
among our mining population, has been
growing, but now that the Government
has taken the matter in hand they will
bide their time
Pacific messages have been sent to the
Indians; they have been given to under.
stand that this is not measure OF war,
but of peace; that If they will let the ex-
petition alone they will not be molested
their rights will not be interfered with.
And Gen. Custer hopes they will take
heed and let him alone.
Still, the young men have their reser-
vations, and are gathering in the vicinity
of the Black Hills. They are about
5000 strong, and If they attack at all 1t
will be in force.-Camp Clusters Erpedt-
tion June 23) Cor. Bismarck Tribune.