Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1879-03-27
fiG.iSD'.S oIEESSE,
An Incident OF Frontier Life.

=, Frank Gir;.rd. the celebrated scout O
-, the f'l'iins. relates thrilling adventure hi
, mad in The winter Of 1863. whea ne was in
;. charge OF Fort Berthcl;'. The Indian,
r living there had moved from their susmel
'i!lace to their winter quarters, from forty
!. to i''tr mile. away
On the erening Of the 23d of December.
J. about e''o Sioux passed the fort mknow n
, 10 oirard and his employees. seventeen in
= Number. Their Intention was to rob tie
= village. but before cotniag up with it. tlev
discovered 'hat it had been reinforced by
=, 2'o Assiaahoin-s. and they changed their
'nin''s about fighting. They turned round
i, and on their way back resolved to capture
The fort Next morning one OF Girard's
men reported Il large herd OF buffalo ahout
tWo miles away. Hirayd ordered his
horse to ',e s,tnllaf, and began to prepare
for days hunting. In tsis m-antine-
however. one Of tie men had gone up to
the block with pair OF glasses and fonnf
tIaf tie supposed tsliialoes were lntHnns
approaching. the fort. TAX ng their rifles.
Glfafu and about dozen of his u,en start
ID out to Meet them. When a mile AWAY
from tie tort and six or seven hundred |
yards from the Indiana. they were fred |
upon. and for the first time became aware
OF the hostile intention of TIE approaching
Sa"accS. Girard's men had passed the de-
serted zillage, which was composed OF dir,
| tepces.
They noticed that Inrians were going
INTO the tcpees with the intention of cut
ling them Of from the fort. Girard hal
iooed TO the men to run for the fort, and
they started back, seventy or eighty In
diaHs firing on them "a they passed They
ba1 earfiy time 10 get insi ic and close the
s''hs OF tie fort when the w!lola body Of
indians We're IN tie village. which vas
"Eiiin thirty yards Of the stockatl~.
About sesenty-tive tons of hay were set
ire to. IS well as large number of dir,
trpees IN the Immediate vicinity OF th,
foTt. Under cover Of the smoke. a humber !
OF the Sioux CANE up to the block-hsuse
with fire-brands. which they thrust tl,ro' '
Tie portfolios and enueavored to set fire to Il
ii by Sinking TIE sparks on the noor. At g
times the smoke WAS 80 dense that Girard s
ans his men were compelled to fall on Tie q
floor tor Il breath OF air. a
They managed TO keep the savages at e
bay until the friendly Indians. forty miles O
away. attracted by tie column of smoke. D
moved forward * tleairn leana aas1iiiittsnaue, 1iits 134
enemy were Killed during the fight. bu!
siiiaisas snlall force was uninjured. with
the exception of one nlan. who received II
scratch on TIE nose from flying splinter. 5!
Next day the friendly Indians returned to u
'heir winter quarters, aud every one of tie III
employees dr-erted Girarl, being afraid that "
the Sioux would return and be little
more successful in their second ATTEMPT to
;apt;np the fort.
tiirard stayed alone in the fort tor ten n,
lays. Scarcely a day passed without see
ng son.e hostile Indians on the outside. II,
Every night he went to the hlOck-house
lna mounted two dummies. placing Old oil
Rited States maskets alongside of them.
)ne morning. on taking them down. he ..'
oand two arrows sticking in the breast of st
me Of lie dummies
Each morning. after lighting the fires. tis
ut drcsses-soinetinles rugged as a white
nan. and then as IN Indian. using different ba
oioied hiankt IS. Altogether he assumed
wenfy different characters, and probably CT
ilcccedcd in convincing the redskins that pr
here were twenty or thirty men inside the
ift who were prepared TO defend it to the on
cath. Girarl had determined to sell his in,
fe dearly in ease he was attacked. He
ad arranged twenty-five kegs Of gunpow- ne
er in a circle. knocked in the head of one,
ld piled all the merchandise on top of the alb
Owder. 1t Was his intention to wait uu- .
a good number OF Sioux were inside, wi
,d teen send them ms antaneously to he;
ngdom come. There was. however, no
'ed for this extreme measure. Tie
lencly Indians learned that he was alone
the fort. and. on the tenth day, forty OF
EN- came and took up their quarters with 'ie
m. and remained with him until spring. wa
is employees also came back. and the 'e'
oodtliirs'y Sioux gave up the idea of ~
pturing the fort. ~"