St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-06-10
The Western Frontier.
A SKETCH OF LIFE AT THE ARMY ros

than when seen floating over our army
posts and forts on the far western from
tier. Every post and fort in the West
has its tall flag pole, from which at
all times proudly tlutters the glorious
old stars and stripes bidding defiance
to the murderous redskins and welcOm-
ing beneath its protecting folds the
tired and dust stained cmigrant who
has travelled perhaps hundreds ofmiles
across the hot sandy plains, with very
little water, and that little of the poor
est quality, i'll constant fear of the
roaming bands of trcacherOus Savagcs /;
men and animals jaded, worn out and
almost ready to drop down in despair.
How they hail with joy that dear old
flag, seen first rs a tiny speck on the
horizon, and gradually growing larger
and larger, until the children clap their
hands and try to count the stars; the
horses prick up their ears and seem to
know instinctively that Il good rest
and plenty of feed and water are in store
for them.
With what a feeling of relief the
hardy settlers, i'll trOublous times, hur
ry their wives and little ones to the
nearest post, leaving their rude homes,
their crops and Ofttimes their stock to
the mercy of the Indians. 1t has twice
been my experience to he at Il frontier
post at the time of an anticipated In
dian attack, and the scenes. at such IL
time are exciting i'll the extreme.
Every precautionary measure is taken
for the defence of the fort and the
safety of the inmates. AS the surren-
der of the fort means death to all with
the tomahawk and scalping knife, there
is no alternative but to ''hold the fort"
The horses and mules are securely cor
raled, plentiful supply of water is
stored inside the stockadc. All arms
are cleaned and inspected, and Il rapid
inventory of ammunition is taken.
Every man assigned his post and is
grim death or orders from the post
commander.
Adjacent posts and stage stations
are appriscd of the state of affairs by
| telegraph or courier, and ordered to
stop all travel in the direction of the
bclcaguercd fort The distance be
| IL,
reinforcements could not arrive in time
to be of service, and are seldom asked
for.
Inside the fort all is apparent con
fusion, yet everything is really very
systematic, except the weeping and
wailing of some of the women and
children, which is somewhat spasmodic.
And right here is strikingly shown the
difference between the wives of the
old settlers, and those who have but
recently emigratcd from the East.
Those women who have "bcen there
before" will be seen preparing lint and
bandages, rcfilling cartridge belts and
doing Il thousand and one things for
the safety of the garrison, while their
weaker sisters sit by bemOaning their
knOw-wc shall he scalped in-twO-
minutes" expression on their terror
stricken faces.
The post commander sits in his of
flee apparently as calm and unruflled
us a summers morning, for perhaps on
his coolness and courage depend the
lives of them all. He is debating tel
egrams, receiving and despatching cou
ricrs and by proxy attending to all the
minute details of preparation. His
motto is 'prcparc for the worst but
hope for the best" Finally everything
is in readiness. All that man can do is
done for the safety of the little band.
The chaplain then invokes divine aid
in the expected struggle. Then en-
sues terrible suspense for hours and
perhaps days, owing to the impossible
ity of finding out the movements of
the enemy. Some of the soldiers long
for an attack, that they may have an
opportunity of proving their valOr and
have something to talk about to relieve
the mOnOtOny of garrison life. These
are usually raw recruits. Old veterans
ance with "Lo" when he is on the war
path. In the two instances of which
speak no attack was made and no one
was hurt except an Over-zealous picket
who skirmished little too near n
bunch of sage bushes, and was slightly
wounded III the arm. On the morning
of the third day the savages were
missing and on the fourth day were
seen by the scouts to cross the Mexican
lines. The garrison again resumed its
routine and the settlers returned to
their ranches, some of them to find
only little heap of ashes where stood
what had constituted their little home.
But all were thankful that it was Il
bloodless fray. F. HB
The present bull movement has
stopped the mouths of every prOph-
ct of evil among those who write
on financial subjects. Everybody
agrees that everything is going up
and never coming down, and day
by day everything does. Every
reaction is quickly wiped out by flood
of money from new buyers, from Eng
land, where an offer of money was
made two weeks ago at II per cent,
II standing In the hncL nrnmnI rnn1r II