The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1874-12-17
RnRnrR PrRIIs-
Laeufenant yyhetmore,s Race for life
An Interview With the SurriyOrs
OF the smoky Hill Massacre-tse


Laenfenant Whetmore's Race for Life
An Interview With the Surrfvors
OF the smoky Hill Massacre-tse
LtttIe German Girls and Futt Par-
steuis.rs Of Their Hescue.
5from the Leavenworfh Commercial, Dec y l
= Early yesterday forenoon we visited
Fort IeaveuEorth. for the purpose OK M
terviewineshe two survivors OF the smoky
Hill massacre and learning from their own
lips the deals and incidents OF one of the 4
mostdiabclcal enthusiastically Dutrages that
| the red depls Of the frontier ever perpe-
trated. Al General Pope's headquarters
we met DIR Powell. The temporary guar
dian Of the little orphans, and while he
went TO prepare them FOR the interview
we lad aamost interesting conversation
with Lieutenant WhetmOre. who about
two weehos'3go was reported captured and
scalped bysthe sava9es. From his own
bps we learned the facts in regard to bis
r5ce Tor iiiein the Texas Panhandle, and
the intense suffering Of himself and COM
panion while
LOST IN THE STORM. .p- -.
Ii appf ans.that on the 18th ult.. Lieu
tenant WhetmOre. accompanied by a ser
want, lei; General Miles's headquarters on
the Washita 10 carry dispatches to Camp
supply. Reaching the Canadian River.
he concluded to leave the train and escort
with which he had been travelling, and
strike for supply, accompanied only by
his servant. This was a very risky under
taking, as the balance of the story will
show. -
/ Scarcel Y. bad Whetmore and Hamilton.
his servant, left the train before they saw
signs of the redskins. But they were
both fun of pluck aud anxious to reach
| their destination; and so, unmindful Of
the dangerthey were in, defantly galloped
on toward the north. Toward night, on
the l7tii, the two reached stream where
| they determined to camp, buto rounding
a point came suddenly on a band of three
/ redskins, who, on seeing the blue coats,
scattered through the-brush hike leaves be-
fore a winter wind. Here was nice posi-
| ton for thetwo men, for they we'll knew
that the Indians they had met were but
straggleEs. OF a still larger party in the i'm
mediate neigh5orhood. And so Improved.
Retracing their steps, they put spurs TO
their horses, only TO ride into the midst OF
party of
NINE MOUNTED sAvAGEs,
who were so completely taken by surprise
at the appearance of the soldier boys that
they merely turned on their horses and
gave one steady, prolonged stare at the
Observation-Disclosures. But Whetmore and
| his companion did not take the introduce
ton so coolly. Quickly wheeling their
| horses they started down the slope and
out on thesleety and frozen prairie with
the speed of the wind.
They were in for it now. One look be-
hind them revealed the savages in full pur-
suit. But they had a good start. The wind
was blowing a gale from the northwest.
and the piercing needles of sleet drove
straight into their faces with binding fury,
but they could neither stop nor change
their course. On went the fugitiyes, and
on came the blood-thhsty pursaers. 1t
\ was a veritable
1Ss-z RACE FOR LIFE
none of your dime-novel fietions, but a
living. breathing, palpitating, exciting
fact. Nine ilell-homds of the frontier after
two blue coats and their scalps.. This was
the exact Situation, and Whetmore and his
companion knew it. They also knew that
their horses would not hold out long
against theaterrible storm. and began to
4 devise ways and means to sell their lives
as dearly as possible. They thought OF
making a stand in the buffalo wallows,
when the remembrance of the terrible fate
OF Chapman and his companions made
them dig in the spurs a little deeper, and
seek a more favorable location. At last il
was evideRtthat they could 90 no further.
and something must be done. The trail
| they were making on the sleety surface
told them there was no escape by flight. so
unslingings carbincs, they dropped
behind a small thieket and prepared to
pass in their checks" as lively as possible.
By this time darkness had set in. and
| the storm of sleet and snow was raging
| With unabated fury. Long and anXiOuSly
those two sbenumbed and benighted men
| knelt on the frozen crust and waited for
| the appearance of the savage foes. but
| they camenOt. Either the redskins had
| been pelteds out of their purpose by the
! terrible storm, or else they had come to
| the conclusion that the market price of
two scalps4WOuld not justify more than
one or two twenIy-mile heats on a stiff and
| slippery prairie. At all events they gave
up the chase. Lieutenant WhetmOre and
Hamilton staid behind the thicketalI night
narrowly escaping freezing TO death, and
expecting every moment that the whOops
of the sayages would be heard and the
crash of a tomakawk put them out of their
misery, and end the terrible. terrible sus-
pcnse. When morning dawned the saw
ages had disappeared, but the beleaguered
men were in another pickle. They were
LOST ON THE PRAIRIE z
lost as seffectually and completely as
though they were in mid-Ocean. The
storm howled as fiercely as it did during
the night. H~By nothing in the heavens
above or theearth beneath could the point IS
of the compass be determined. Weary,
frozen, hungry and discouraged, the wan
derers began to feel that their miraculous
escape of. the night before was only put
ting off OF the inevitable. Finally, seeing
thai they were completely bewildered, they
struck for the nearest stream and followed
it TO the south. 1t emptied into a larger
one; and thus these men kept on until.
after innunerable hardships, they succeed
ed in striking the old trail fifty miles south
of Camp Supply. Forty miles from the
post they mel the cavalry out in search of
them, and were escorted to quarters. hay
ing been nearly
THREE DAYS WITHOUT FOOD,
and with their clothing frozen tight TO
their bodies. 1t was a most thrilling and
exciting adventure, and we regret exceed
ingly that lack of space forbidS mention
ing more. than the most meager details of
this interesting affair. Told as it was, BY
the bronzeds lieutenant. still clad in his
rough wooden shirt, cavalry boots and
pants the strines of which Droclaimed the