The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1877-03-10
MORE ABOUT MILES MULES.
BOHEMIAN, N. T., Feb.

BOHEMIAN, n. T., Feb. %.
If that old mule train of Miles holds
out we may look out for lively news
soon. His soldiers "a march, can
fight, but they must be fed, and it is a
mere question now Of the endurance Of
that willing but wofully lank and hun
CRY herd of mules that constitutes his
sole reliance for transportation. The
condition of the train that runs be-
tween the Powder river cantonment and
Fort Buford, and which is to supply
him with forage and all the other vast
necessities of the extensive canton
ment, is no better than that Of General
Miles transportation. The same SER
vices as pack mules during last sum-
mer's campaign exhausted the animals,
and the solemn truth is that the six
mule teams plying between there and
Glendive creek, which is the relay sta
ton between that post and Fort Blu
ford, are able to pull but little more
than their OWE forage and rations for
the accompanying escort Of two COM
panies for the fifteen days which it re-
quires to make the round trip. So that
when that train arrives opposite there,
on the other side Of that Yellowstone
river, it requires a nice calculation to
determine whether or not this post can
afford to accept its cargo and give it in
return the amount of provisions and
forage necessary to send it back to
Glendive. creek. Now if these trains
and forage supplies do fail him there
will he but n thing to be done-viz',
to cease all military operations and to
shut the command up in their quarters
until late in the spring, when it a be
properly supplied with transportation.
In the meantime this action will be
interpreted by the Indians as a retire
ment from the conflict, and Sitting
Bull and other hostile chiefs who are
now scattered and disheartened will
take new courage from it. 1t will give
them time to hunt and supply them
selves with meat and to recuperate
their worn and jaded ponies; and by the
time Gen. Miles will be ready to take
the field late in the spring, the valleys
of that country will again swarm with
hordes of well equipped, well mounted
and defiant Sioux. So, as matters now
stand, it is a question whether the In
dian wal is about to close or whether
it has just begun in terrible earnest.
If their routed and broken columns can
be pursued and not allowed to cooper
ate and gather new courage from delay
and new additions to their numbers
from the restless bands that are fed at
Fort Peck and other agencies, then
certainly may the country congratulate
itself that the expensive and ardusus
task of their subjugation will soon be
accomplished; but If, on the contrary,
the winter campaign must be aban-
doned, then the return of spring will
witness a general renewal of hos
tilities marked by the efforts of a people
whose struggles are those of despair,
and yet whose encouragement has been
drawn from our W retirement from
the contest. But we may rest assured
that while the transportation and sup
plies do last Miles command will eat
no idle bread, and that nothing but the
sheer impossibility to move will prevent
Gen. Miles from pursuing both Sitting
Bull and Crazy Horse, and when the
closing scenes of their capture shall be
enacted, no matter what troops may be
In tho fold yyhafhar ;nfantrv or oav-
will "be in at the DEATH"
Tho hast 10 Roh Row nool