Rocky Mountain husbandman. [volume] (Diamond City, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1879-05-08

Ii n.
Ihelr silent tents are spread,
ana glory guards, with solemn round,
Inc bivouac of the dead"
Their shivered swords are red with rust,
Their plumed heads are bowed;
Their naughty banner, trailed in dust.
is now their martial shroud;
ANA plenteous funeral tears have washed
The red stains from each brow,
ANA the proud forms, by battle gashed,
Are free from anguish now.n
Inc preparations for moving the wounded
were completed, and in haste to get awav
from the pestlence-laden atmosphere. at ?
CLOCK p. m. we started, carrying the
wounded. Eight men were detailed to each
litter, but the difference in the heioht of tha
bearers and the unevenness of the ground
made of shis duty terribly hard work. AS
darkness came on the cries of pain from the
wounded, as one of the bearers would Stun
oie or step into a hole, We're frequent. By
haI1 past twelve O'Clock we had made ONLY
lour and a half miles-the wounded worried
anu leVerlsh and the bearers completely ex-
hausted. Some other plan for moving these
heipiess ones must be devised. Gen. Glib
Don favored the construction of RATS which.
as there was an abundance of dry cotton
WOOD along the river bank, could easilv
have been carried into effect, and the suffer-
ers thus be foated to the boat with but little
trouble. The timber for the RATS had in
TACT been selected, when the order was
changed. Strong Filters, to be carried by
mules-one in the lead, another i'm the rear.
working as a horse does in the shafts of .
Duggy-were made of good-sized poles.
twenty feet long. The wounded horses 80
plentifully scattered about, were shot. skim
ned, and tAe hides cut into strips. Two
cross pieces six and half feet apart were
lashed to these poles, and between these
was woven a lattice-work of horse hide.
On this was spread a number of robes or
blankets, and thus the wounded We're NOV
ed quite comfortably. Among them was
an Indian. His friends, the Crows, took
care of him. Their style of litter was a
number of springy lodge poles dashed to the
SIDE OF a pony and trailed along the ground.
The potes were Of different lengths, SO that
when one Of them struch an uneven place
on the ground the others acted as a support
to break the shock.
The greater part of the day was cons,.m-
ed in the work of l~itter-making. At $40
p. N. a start was made, and some time after
midnight the Boat was reached Tho l;t+ors
worked nicely, though on che of them the
fastenings gave way, splitting its occupant
out on the ground, fortunately without III
jury.
The moon went downsabout midnight.
just before we reached the boat. leaving Tvs
in darkness and a great deal Of confusion.
cavalry, infantry and filters being at times
all jumbled up together in a mass. The
wounded were helpless, the attendants tired.
and everybody out of sorts and ill-tempered.
One could hear such expressions as.
" Look out there, dn you. Where are
you going 2? keep OF these litters.n
: 0 those pack mules away from here.n
6 Now, see that ID fool Of q cavalry
man. | wish | had my bayonet, blast YOU;
I'd make you keep your distance"
"Thank God!' is the general expression
when we have finished putting the wounded
on the boat.
"Now, what is the next moye? ?" is the
query.
[Tobe continued.
---A-
BE CONTENT: WORK.