The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-09-13
A THRILLING ADVENTURE.
How . Newspaper Man Cheated the
Bioux.-.Retrest OF the Thirty URdeI
Grouard, tho Scout. ,'

How = Newspaper Man Cheated tho
| sioux.-.R etresr Of the Thirty Under
3rouard, tho Scout.
We were looking death full in the face,
saysa correspondent of Chicago paper,
and 80 close that we could feel his cold
breath upon our foreheads, and his ICY
grip upon our hearts. "No surrender, "
was the word passed from man to man.
Each one of US would have blown out
his own brains rather than fall alive into
Indian hands. A disabling wound would
have been the same asdeath. Ihave often
wondered how a man felt when he saw
inevitable, sudden doom before him. l
know it now, for had no idea OF escape,
and could not have suffered more il an
Indian knife or bullet had pierced my
heart. So it was with all Of Us. It is
one thing to face death in the midst OF
excitement. It is quite another thing
to meet him in almost cold blood, with
the prospect of yonr dishonored caroase
being first mutilated and then left to
feed The fox and the vulture. After q
man once sees the skull and crossbones
as our party saw it on the afternoon of
July 7, no subsequent glimpse Of grim
mortality can possibly impress him in
the same manner. Well. the eternal
shadows were fast closing around US; the
bullets were hitting nearer every mo-
ment, and the Indian yell was growing
stronger and fercer, when hand was
laid on my shoulder, and soldier
named Rufu7, my neighbor on the skir-
mish line. said: The rest are retiring,
Lieutenant Sibley tells us to do the
same" I quietly withdrew from the
friendly pine tree which had kept at
least dozen Indian bullets from
making havoc OF my body. "Go to
your saddle bags and take all your ammu-
nition," said Sibley, as passed him.
&C. We are going to abandon the horses.
The Indians are all around us, and we
must take to the rocks on foot. It is
our only chance" I did as directed,
but felt pang at leaving my noble
beast, which was bleeding from wound
in the side. We dared not shoot our
horses, for that would discover our
movement to the enemy. Grouard ad-
vised this proceeding. .........
With CELEBRITY which was only posi-
BILE to men struggling for life, and to
escape a dreadful fate, our party obeyed
their orders, and, in Indian file, retired
through the wood and fallen trees in our
rear, toward the east, firing volley and
some scattering shots before we moved
out, to make the Indians believe we
we're still in position. Our horses were
evidently visible to the savages-a cir
cumstance that facilitated our escape.
We ran for q mile through the forest,
waded Tongue river (the headwaters) up
to our waist, and gained the rocks OF
the mountain range, where no Indian
pony. could follow US, when We heard
i've or six scattering volleys in success
sion. It was the final fire OF the Indians
before they made their charge at our
late "corral to get our scalps. "We
are safe for the present." said Grouard,
with grim smile, I" but let US lose no
time in putting more rocks between us
and the White Antelope" We followed
his advice with feeling of thankfulness
which only men in such trials can ever
know. How astonished the indians
must have been when they ran in upon
the manned horses and did not get
single scalpl Even under such circum-
stances as we were placed in, we had a
little laugh at their expense. But We
had escaped one danger only to encoun-
ter another. Fully forty five miles OF
mountain rock and forest lay between
Us and Crooks camp. We could not
carry single particle Of food, aud had
to throw away everything superauous
in tic way of clothing. With at least
five hundred Indians behind us, and uR-
coult' precipices before us, We found
our l.aes and ono hundred rounds OF
ammunition each, a sufficient load to
carry. Tie brave Grouard, the ablest
OF scouts, conducted our retreat, and we
marched, climbed, and tumbled over
places that at ether times would have
been impossible to us, until midnight.
Then we halted under an immense pile
of rocks on the top of the mountain, and
there witnessed one OF the most terrible
wind storms that can be imagined.
Long before dawn we were again stum-
bling through the rocks and forest, and
at daylight reached the tremendous
canyon cut in the mountains by what is
called the eastern fork Of Tongue river.
Most of our men were too exhausted to
make the descent of the canyon. 80
Grouard led us through an open valley
down by heriver, on theleft bank, for two
miles as hard as we could go, for If dis
covered there by the savages, we could
only halt and die together. Fortune
favored US, and We made tho right bank
of the stream unobserved, being then
about twenty-five miles from Crooks
headquarters. In our front were the
plains of the eastern slope, full Of hostile
Indians, while our only avenue Of es-
cape was to climb over the tremendous
precipice which formed the right side
of the canyon.
But the dauntless Grouard was equal
to the crisis. He scaled that gigantic
wall diagonally, and led us along
mere squirrel path, not more than foot
wide, with an abyss five hundred feet
below, and with q sheer wall OF rock
two hundred feet high above Us. After
an hours herculean toll we gained the
crest and saw the point Of the mountain,
about twenty miles distant, where lay
our camp. This, as may be imagined,
was blissful vision, but We were half
dead with fatigue, and some Of us were
almost famine stricken. Yet the inde-
fatigable Grouard would not stop until
we reached the eastern. foothills, where
We made q dive into the valley to obtain
water, our only refreshment on that
hard, rugged road. Scarcely had we
slaked our thirst, when Grouard led US
up the hills again, and We had barely
reached the timber when, around the
rocks, at the point we had doubled
shortly before. appeared another strong
party of Sioux. This made US desper-
ate. Every man examined his rifle and
looked to bis ammunition. We all felt
that life would be too dearly purchased
by further flight, and. following the e1-
ample of the brave young Sibley and
the two gallant scouts, We took up our
position among the rocks on the knoll
we had reached, determined to sell our
lives as dearly as possible. Finerty,"
said Sibley to me, "we are in hardluck,
but we'll show the red scoundrels how
white men can die. Boys Cunning to
the soldiers), We have good position;
let every shot dispose of an Indian"
At that moment not man among us
felt any inclination to get away. Des-
peration and revenge had usurped the
nlace of the animal instinct to preserve