The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1876-10-01

account of tine operation Of Sitting
Bulls forces the last season. He com
a with TIE date at which he left
the Agency, last spring, with 70 lodges,
for the purpose OF hunting buffalo and
trading with the hostile Indians. He
speaks of having heard reports that
troops were going out 70 punish the hos
tiles, but thought be would have time
TO do his bunting and trading and get
out of the way before a battle occurred.
They were obliged to hunt, as they were
starving at the Agency, and from his
account they were very successful, kill
ing 20 and 80 buffalo some days, and in
one herd they killed all but two He
details the progress and incidents of
each march.
: On the seventh day they arrived at Sit
ting Bulls village, where a feast and
numerous presents of ponies and robes
were given them. Efforts were made
to induce Kill-Eagle and his band to
join in the contemplated movements and
hostilities, but evidently without much
success. Tney were DESTROYS of getting
back again to the protecting arms of
their Agency, but were unable to escape
from the meshes of the willy Sitting
Bull. They found too late, that for
them there was no escape; their horses
were either shot or stolen, and wounds
and insults were showered upon them
from every side. In the meantime the
forces of Crook were approaching, and,
with his people, Kili-Eagle succeeded in
escaping temporarily from the hos
tmilities.
lie claims to have-been distant some
40 or 80 miles from the scene of the
Rose Bud fight, and relates many of
the details and incidents which he was
able subsequently to gather from the
participants. He places the loss Of the
Indians in the Rose Bud fight at four
dead left on the field, and II that were
brought to camp. He placesthe wound
ed at as high as 400, and says that they
had $50 horses killed besides those that
were captured.
He next comes to the fight on the
Little Horn, and describes the Indian
village, which was six miles long and
one wide, and the Indians swarmed there
as thick as maggots on q carcass, so
numerous were they. He then goes on
and speaks of Clusters approach and
fight, with its tragic details, as an un-
willing spectator rather than a partici-
pant. who, during its progress, remain
ed quietly in his lodge in the center of
the Indian village. The fight with Reno
commenced about noon, the Indians all
rushing to oppose his advance, until the
approach of Custer toward the lower
end Of the village was announced, when
the widest confusion prevailed through
out the camp. Lodges were struck and
preparations made for instant flight.
Vast numbers of Indians left Reno's
front and FASTENED to the assistance of
their red brethren engaged with Custer,
who was steadily forced back and sur
rounded until all were swept from the
field by the repeated charges of the In
dams, as if they had been carried into
eternity by the irresistible force of q
hurricane. He described the firing at
this point as simply terrific, and Illus
trated its force by clapping his hands
together with great rapidity and regu-
larity: Then came u lull in the fearful
storm of iron hail and his hands were
still again. The storm beat fast and
furious again as the thought Of some
loved one nerved the arm of each con-
tending trooper. Then the movement
of his hands slackened and gradually
grew more feeble. A few scattering
shakes, like the rain upon u window
pane, and then the movement ceased as
the last of Custer's band of heroes went
down with the setting sun. 1t wa dusk
as the successful combatants returned
to camp Uttered with their dead and
wounded. 1t had not been to them a
bloodless victory. Fourteen had fallen
in front of Reno, 80 went down with
Custer, and IA were dead in camp.
Horses and traverses were laden with
their wounded on every hand, and in
countless numbers. One band alone of
Ogallalas had 27 wounded on traverses,
and 3S thrown across horses. Kill-Eagle
says it seems as if every one was wound
ed, and places the number as high as
600. He is very positive, however, that
no prisoners were taken. There were
no white men in the fight or on the field.
One who had been with them had gone
to Spotted Tail Agency. The bugle-
calls so often spoken Of were sounded
by an Indian.
He speaks of Sitting Bull Jas a heavy,
muscular man with large head and light
hair hanging to his shoulders. He is
not a white or half-breed. He gives the
names of the leading chiefs present in
the fight, and reports a chief, High-Elk,
as being killed in front Of Reno. He
even goes on to speak Of the approach
Of Gen. Gibbons column and the i'm
mediate flight of the Indians, and the
subsequent fight with Lieut.. Sibley
where a chief of the Cheyennes was shot
l--.-r- 49, I-xI II