Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1879-02-27

and W n1kkeF- lie Osu ufne sweet naa1-
=, was iavorite drink with the Chick
asaws, and for days II was hard 10 find
. sober Indiaa. In the meantime, Major
Buckner wishing 10 show his sPprrcsa-
ton for the efforts OF the officers Of inn
migration TO get the Indians on board
his boats. she gen treat" dance and
smpper at the City Hotel then kept BY
Capt. JeGries. il was . "hig thing"
nearly 81 the elite Of the City OF Ro-
ses were there. The supper tables
were flied with delicscies brought ex-
pressly from New Orleans. The bright
particular star Of the occasion mas Ma
jor Buckner's lovely. daughter. after
wardsthe wife of the lamented Lam
bert Reardon. To others than mer-
chants, the Indians were getting disa-
greeable. "A drunken Indian IS not an
agreeable associate. particularly when
he thinks he can domineer over you
For two or three afternoons they were
fighting and yelling in The streets, fright
ening women and children. Capt. Col
Inns thought il had gone far enough and
sent word 10 Major Willard that their
crossing must be stopped and The M.
truG@s returned TO camp. The Major
took ASerai Of the leading chiefs over.
and as was beginning totslk very good
Chickasaw, was generally pressed
into service on such occasions. We
found several Indians without clothes
running, whooping up aud down The
streets, big Indian fashion. Some had
to be tied and carried on the boats, and
il was dark before all was quiet. Ma
ior Willard had endeavored 10 make a
start for two or three days previous, but
whiskey had control and his efforts
were vain. That night q council Of the
chiefs was called and the situation dis
cussed. Capt. Collins came over to the
council. II was determined that all
crossing of the river should be stopped,
every boat except canal boat which
had bar on board, and was requested
by the teamsters of the command, was
taken TO the Little Rock side and put
in charge of our officer. Notice was
given to those who sold whIskeY near
the camps, that they must stop, or il
would be destroyed. which they refused
TO do. consequently the chiefs were
called in to furnish body OF warriors
to visit the saloon and destroy it. l
was pressed into service to head the
expedition, the chiefs fearing limo white
man was along trouble might ensue,
and prepared myself by dressing in In
dian costume. and having my face
painted in the most approved Chicka-
saw fashion.
We started about 8 o'clock. II was
beautiful moonlight night; we quietly
made our way TO the canal boat and cut
her loose. The river was high, and
away she went down stream. Some
two or three OF the party who were on
her jumped overheard and swan ashore.
We next visited one Of The saloons,
and without any attempt at prevention,
took part of two barrels. all there was
there, knocked in the heads and let the
whisky run out. The next was the
same. On reaching the third and last
one, we were confronted By very res
pectable looking woman, by this time
there was a great crowd following US,
both white and Indians. She wished
to know what We wanted. whisky"
was The reply. She said, "You can't
take ours without you pay for it, or |
viii shoot some of you" During the
parley some Of our party got into the
house. She stepped back and came to-
ward US with large, old-fashioned
horse-pistol. II did look ever so large.
Some one caught her arm and took il
from her. Through an interpreter (for
I was acting Indian) told her we did
not wish to hurt her. and she might as well
remain quiet and let US take the whisky.
Looking at me and holding candle up
to my face, she said, "Your eyes are
blue; you are no Indian, and should be
ashamed of yourself TO take what be-
longs to me-" And truly did feel so,
and wished myself out OF the scrape.
We took one full barrel and two half
barrels. When we had knocked in the
head Of the full one, and was about tip
ping il over, the Indians remarked there
was too much waste of good thing
and proposed IL should be drank by the
crowd. Vessels Of all kinds and sizes
were dipped in, and a big drunk was
the consequence. Next morning, how
ever, all were sober and serene, and
preparations for leaving camp were
commenced. About noon Capt. Col
Inns sen. word that a warrant was is
sued for my arrest, that had better
leave and go to Emsy Wilson's, where
provisions were stored, until matters
could be arranged. It did not take me
long to saddle and mount. and reach
Wilson's: about bed time a man came
with word from Mai. Willard. stating
that the whisky destroyed had been paid
for, and all legal proceeding quashed.
I returned to camp about as fast as
left. Next day The line of march was
taken up and without any occurrence
of interest We reached Norristown, OPP
posite the Dardanele rock, which was
used in olden times BY the Osages as a
watch tower. At that time there was
only two or three houses where OAR
danele now stands. We had only two
small fats to ferry with and il took US
a week to cross the river. The day We
left Dardanele, the dreaded "Sehok-
wah" smallpox broke out. and there
our real trouble commenced.
Jan. 13, 1879. BoGGT.
sThe interpreter On the occasion OF NV acting
Indian, was Richmond, negro Of remarkable
intelligence, Of whose tragic fate in ms room ~
Boggy Depot, ] may some day write about.