The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-03-09

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and come back. Mr. Maxwell, how
ever, kept his men within the fort, and
the sayages, seeing all their efforts to
deceive or draw the little garrison out
were in vain, came on with yells and
boldly charged the works. aar.,ffe.
| They dashed at each side of the fort,
firing at the men within, but the be-
sieged kept still and let them ride and
howl as much as they had a mind to.
Toward daylight the Indians drew off,
went into the hills and commenced
throwing up signal-lights, which were
answered from distance. "They are
sending for help, boys" said Maxwell,
sand we will soon have it hot and
heavy, so rest while you cam r
| In about two hours Indians were seen
coming from the south and joining
those on the hills. Very soon they came
down toward the fort, and several adj
vancing called out: How, howl Come
out and give up Maxwell replied he
would do no such thing, and for them
to come on if they wanted to fight.
1t was now light and the Indians made
a steady advance, crawling through the
grass and sheltering themselves behind
every little mound of earth. Look at
that fellow fattening himself on the
EARTH cried Maxwell; "but | can get
him if he was as thin rs a plate of glass"
The firing now became rapid and was
kept up constantly for two hours. The
Indians came very near getting into
the fort, but the scout says Maxwell
and his men stood their ground like
lions" "For three hours" says Calf
ee, ''nothing could be heard but the
roar of the rifles, the yelling of the In
dams and the cries of the women in the
fort"
Presently the Indians drew off and
held a council. Then they divided into
large fires and camped. Several of
them came down to the fort and wanted
to talk, but the white men warned them
to be gone. Maxwell said: "Boys, keep
close; they want to find out how many
men we have in the fort" One fellow
was inclined to be very sociable and
came up quite near, when ball sent
him bowling with pain to the rear.
Mrs. Maxwell cooked and carried the
victuals to the men, who ate with one
hand while they held their guns in po-
sition with the other. May Maxwell
was as brave as she could be, and went
from man to man, giving them water
to drink. ..
During the remainder of the day and
all the following night the situation
remained unchanged. The Indians sat
by their fires, and every now and then
made an Intellectual attempt to talk
with the men in the fort. On the
morning of the second day, which MIR.
Calfee thinks was the 18th of January,
the Indians renewed the attack. The
little band of white men were sur
rounded on every side, and the charge
was most determined, but after half.
an hours fighting the Indians fell back.
They next commenced shooting with
their bows and arrows, firing in the air
so the arrows would drop into the fort.
This is most dangerous game, as an
Indian can throw an arrow so it will
come down point foremost within an
inch of any mark. The men did not
have their backs and heads protected
from above, and one was soon wounded,
but all lay still and did not expose
themselves. Toward noon an Indian,
who had been sitting smoking on the
hill, got up and walked down toward
the fort He continued to approach,
despite bullets, until within sixty yards
of the breastworks, when he fell dead.
The savage was probably medicine
man and thought the whites could not
hit him, or he may have been tired of
living and took that opportunity to
make an end of himself.
Failing to accomplish anything with
their bows and arrows the Indians fell
back and again counciled. They
seemed to think the only way was to
watch the fort and starve out the gar
rison. Creeping up close to the works
not head could be raised or hand
exposed but it brought dozen bullets
from the grass. One Indian was OBJ
served creeping almost within the works
when a shot from Maxwell laid him
out. The men saw another approach,
lying on a pony, and fired, hitting the
pony and leaving the redskin to scram-
BILE off as best he could.
The water was giving out and the
men becoming thirsty. TO meet this
new danger passage was dug under
the breastworks and one of the party
crawled out, and, under cover, went
down and got water. Another man
got some wood, and in the morning the
besieged surprised the savages by build
ing a large fire. Mrs. Maxwell had
tent put up, and when the In
dams saw the improved condition of
the little garrison their rage was very
great. Dashing down to the fort they
fired over hundred shots at the fire,
but Mrs. Maxwell bravely stood her
ground and quietly went on cooking
while the balls were flying all around
her. -.
The Indians circled about the be-
sieged for over two hours, but only
fired occasional shots, which showed
that they were getting short of ammu-
milton. About noon on the third day
they drew off, one calling out: "'Good-
by, we are going now" When asked
who they were the Indians, replied:
"Sioux and Nez Perces." Eight In
dians were seen to fall during the fight,
and it is likely double that numberwere
wounded. sa
On the morning of the fourth day all
looked well, but the garrison did not
venture out, being satisfied that the In.