Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1881-04-18
KILLED BY THE INDIANS.

which is of much interest of that class
everywhere The following which re-
lates to an Orleans county boy, will be
of interest to many readers:
''Lo the poor Indian, who sees God
in the Clouds what sarcasm in view
of the dreadful massacres that have tax
en- place in our day, beginning with
General Candy and not ending with the
gallant Custer. Those two heroes have
had public honors paid to their memo
ries and monuments erected over their
remains but what has been done to
perpetuate the memories of the unnam-
ed braves of the rank and file who died
around them, and whose bones are laid
in nameless graves Some years before
the war bright, intelligent lad came
to Lancaster, from Charleston, Vt, a
town near Island Pond. He was the
son of poor widow, and for time had
hard road to travel; but blessed with
robust frame, level head and win
ming disposition he was never wanting
friends, and soon found employment in
the store of Frank Smith, one of the
leading grocers in Lancaster, with whom
he remained until the breaking out of
the rebellion.
On the formation of the 18th regi
ment, he was put on the non-commis-
stoned staff by Colonel Kent, and while
in that position attracted the attention
of General Kinks, then camp command
ant in Concord, who. pleased with his
appearance, appointed him on his staff,
where he served until the close of the
war, making friends wherever he went,
many of whom revere his memory to-
day and lament his sad end. Through
the influence of his chief he was ap-
pointed second lieutenant in the 9th
regular infantry, and with his regiment
was sent to the frontier, where he made
bis first acquaintance with the the no.
BILE red men; not of Cooper's or Gov
ernor Longs stock, but rather more like
those depicted in Francis Parkman's
works, savage, cruel, fendish, barbar-
Gus, without single human trait in
their breasts. While stationed at Fort
Reno, Dakota Territory, he wrote the
following letter to Governor, then ad-
jutant-general, Head, and through the
kindness of Governor Matt we are ena-
bled to give it to our readers, who can
form an idea, after its perusal, of the
pleasure of campaigning in the far West.
A short time after this letter was
written he was killed by the Indians in
the same way, and his body mutiliated
in a similar manner as he describes in
giving an account of the death of the
sergeant. The arrows which transfxed
his body were sent home, and are now
in the adjutant-general's Office in Con-
cord. The comrades who knew him
wh en- living, and his many friends, new
er think of his brilliant beginning and
sad end without breathing sigh of re-
gret to the memory of John G. Jenness.
FORT RENO, d. T., Mar. 81, 1867.
Ny Dear General In compliance with
your request, will endeavor to give you
some idea of Life on the Plains" which
assure you is plain life. The popular
idea in the East that our great Western
| plains constitute a rich fertile country, all
ready to be laid out into gardens, approx
| imates the reality about as nearly as Coo
per's poetical ideas Of it's inhabitants-the
noble red men.
The noble rivers are shallow, muddy
creeks strongly impregnated with alkali,
and treacherous quicksand bottoms. In
the spring, however, when the snow
melts and runs down from the mountains
and ravines, they rise rapidly, forming
impossible barriers; but during the sum-
mer many of these creeks are entirely dry,
while the larger ones are little more than
stagnant pools as it seldom rains here
more than one or two days during the
year. The whole face of the country as
| 20, +11o fN ho
one broad level plain; but when one
comes to cross it, it is found to be cut up
with innumerable deep ravines, impossi-
! BILE to cross with a train, or even on
horseback. 1t is these ravines that afford
the Indian such excellent facilities for
creeping upon their unsuspecting victim.
There is very little wood in any part OF
this country; some of the Posts are sup
piled with wood drawn forty miles with
mules. The War Department attempted
to remedy this matter by issuing an order
that no emigrant train should be allowed
to cut wood within six miles of the Post.
A sage bush is called grove, while the
addition of cottonwood stump makes
heavy timber.
/ have travelled through the territories
of Nebraska, Colorado and Dakota, and
have not yet seen an acre Of land that an
Eastern farmer would not call ''wash'
land. 1 know there are many rich valleys
in each of these territories, but they were
not on my route. In many places, if the
land could be properly irrigated, it would
no doubt be made valuable for agricultur-
al purposes; but this in most cases would
be impracticable.
Six hundred miles of this journey have
! marched with mule teams and an escort
of ten men, through snow ranging from
one to six feet in depth, and the thermom-
eter ranging from % to 80 degrees below.