The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1877-10-18
the deepest pits out Of sight and range
Of the soldiers. Night brought q tenn

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the deepest pits out Of sight and range
of the soldiers. Night brought a tenn
porary truce, with the extreme cold
and snow. General Miles placed two
cannon in position, to play on the In
dian camp at daybreak. The wounded
soldiers suffered badly, and expected
that the Indians would crawl out and
scalp them; but they did moi. On the
contrary, the Indians told the wounded
that they would not kill those who were
injured. One Of them said: me no
kill a man who can't shoot. Plenty
man can shoot" The Indians, how
ever, robbed the wounded, but nothing
more. In one or two instances they
put
BLANKETS OVER WOUNDED SOLDIERS.
The next day, Joseph came into Gen.
Miles tent, and coolly proposed to end
the engagement by giving up the arms
taken from the dead. General Miles
sent Lieutenant Jerome to the Indian
camp to inspect it, where White Bird
kept him in a deep hole out of the reach
of bullets all day until Joseph was re-
turned. Joseph was inclined then to
surrender, but White Bird would not
agree to it, being afraid of being put
in a prison and having handouts put
on him. Snow fell all the second day of
the battle, but nc definite results were
obtained except keeping the Indians in
their holes. General Miles had so care
fully placed his troops that not a man
of his command was killed after the
assault, on the first day; but the saw
ages Notwithstanding all their arts,
continually suffered. On the 9TH, the
day when they surrendered, there re-
manned about $50 men, squaws and
children in the pits. OF these about
100 were warriors. At 2:30 =. M. of
that day
JOSEPH CAME INTO GEN. MILES CANT,
shook his hand, and proposed Il surren-
der, which was instantly granted.
When the scouts left Gen. Miles was
receiving personally the arms and am
munition from each Of the Indians.
Each warrior, as he passed, said:
''How," and rendered his trophies.
One added the words, bad medicine,
better next time
During the charge on the first day,
in which the companies of the Fifth
infantry and Seventh cavalry partici-
pated, the number Of killed and wound
ed was sixty-seven instead of %ifty-ssven.
More than fifty warriors bit the dust
Of the %ravine, where they were confined
in the holes and burrows three days and
nights. They stayed all through the
day and night previous TO the surren-
der with untiring ~pertinacity. Their
scouts had gone to Sitting Bull for as
sistance, but had not succeeded in
returning to the NeZ Perces' camp.
Twice Joseph offered to surrender, and
once his disposition was opposed by his
highest chief. On the 9th Joseph made
a treaty. White Bird and the rest of
the minor chiefs were by this time no.
where. Their followers were as willing
to surrender rs Joseph was, and the
secret of the capitulation must be
sought in q total error on the part Of
the savages, as well as in the
CALAMITY OF GEN. MILES TROOPS.
The Indians did not dream at first
that they were fighting any other than
Towards troops, which they had be-
fore encountered. Joseph had not yet
learned that he %hadfought with Gibbon
at Big Hole. In fact, the Indians had
so insufficient Il knowledge of the action
of the United States government that
they were surprised when they found a
new general in front of them that they
took him for a guerrilla. They did not
identify him with the nation. Over
whelmed, defeated. starving, they mt
length succumbed. Uptothe last hour
Of the fight the Indians never ceased to
believe all the stories told of the savage.
One Nez Perces chief approached a
wounded soldier at midnight and said,
in broken English, "Poor boy. you're
too young to so to l no kill YOU
Then he put n blanket under his head
and left him. General Miles in return
ordered all wounded Indians to be well
cared for.