The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1883-07-09

trail led from. There were thfeeoI III
: "Pony" Doland, Corporal Howell and my
sell.
We were several miles in advance Of oui
command when we struck the fresh trail
and following this we soon reached a large
piece OF timber on the bank OF the river
Here we approached cautiously. Attel
viewing the surrounding country from q
high bluff, we entered the woods and a.
once were surprised TO see that the trail
came to an end, and that the woods were
full OF tracks. The snow OF the night be
fore had somewhat covered up the tracks
and we knew that no Indians had bHer
there that day. We had scattered through
the timber, when we heard Doland calling
to US:
"Come quick, I've found IN 1ngun."
Instantly we were at his side under {
scrub oak, and sure enough just above Vi
was great bundle OF elk tepees painted al
outside with pictures OF Indian camps, buf
ialo hunting, painted warriors etc, al
nicely rolled up and securely tied from
limb to limb.
"Beys that's buck, and he's not beer
have been hung there day before yestet
day." remarked Howell, after a short looA
at the sleeper" ,
20 no, not long, haint been hung more
than three days at most. What's going tc
be done boys" said Doland, looking frs
| at the tree and then at us.
go away and let him be, l suppose"
ventured to say, although l knew at once
that our curiosity would never allow us &c
leave without seeing the contents OF thai
tepee.
"Boys, It won't do to fool around here
too long" said DoIand, "Tll tell you what
| I'll d." III climb up and cut him down
il you will unrull him."
We agreed to his proposition, and, in q
twinkling he was up the tree and cutting
the thongs which bound the noble red
man 10 his last resting place. y..
This done he gave him push with his
foot and the great bulk came down and
striking one Of the limbs, lodged for an in
slant, then tilted over and striking the
ground with dull thud, stood on end Tor
an instant, then toppled over and lay at full
length before US. IN j
II was strange sight, and one which
caused an involuntary shudder to creep
over ME. g..
"Light into him sarge.," said one OF the
boys. ' :
Light in yourself, my knife is dull
said !, and l began to regret that had
anything to do with the matter. ,,'
But We were in for 1t, and we all COM
menced cutting the thongs and soon had a
large elkskinte 9. peelej of and were down
TO u bran new budalo robe. This too soon
came Off and some old blankets began to
appear. The pile had by this time become
greatly reduced and began to look more
like an Indian. .t.r+.eaas -g.
An offensive smell began to issue from
the blankets, and We handled the old rags
with good bit Of care. stat
Finally, bytuIning 1t over few times we
had the blankets of, and there wasa young
Indian. He was h large well formed young
man and the paint upon his face had evil
IDENTIFY been smeared on after death. For
the good Of science We tried to discover the
cause OF his death, but could discover no
wound nor evidences Of disease, and our,
verdict was that he had probably died Of
broken heart. Ut ..i o.
He was dressed in nicely beaded buck
skin shirt and leggins with a very ornp-
mental pair OF nocassins which Dsland
envied 80 much that is required much pur.
suasion 10 prevent him from appropr!at ny
them for his own uss. Wrapped in u ban.
ket by his side were his earthly effects.
This we explored and found therein a short
barrelled gun, a bow and culver full Of
arrows, hunting pouch which contained
vast store OF small trinkets. 30.
A tomahawk pipe was among these, and
as wanted one OF these instruments Of
death | seized it at once and thrust it into
my belt. Several pieces OF old silver, par.
TALLY converted into earrings, were among
the trophies which, as the boys said, would
not pass current in the happy hunting
grounds, so we pocketed them. 4
We had now thoroughly dissected our
subject and concluded to do him up and
swinghim again where wefound him. But
after wrapping all the goods around him
we found the bundle twice as large as it
was before, and our thongs would not
reach, besides the weather had changed
and cold freezing wind was blowing
down upon US from the northeast and we
concluded TO postpone the funeral until
better weather. So after swearing eternal
secrecy over the corpse oil our de-
parted friend and brother, we mount
ed our ponies and retraced our trail to the
main road where we overlook the coin.
mand but said nothing OF what we had
done. The old Ratchet, buried mile
from the scene, in sand bank, where l
suppose it still lies in its little grave. This
''dastardiy" deed leaked out several months
afterwards, and when the Sioux under
Standing Elk, surrendered at Laramie, THEY
wanted the unnatural wreicaes punished
but they never found out just who did it,
and we never told it until we were mus.
tered out at Leayenworth in the summer
following. or
We returned to Platte Bridge the next
was the last expedition we undertook dur
ing the winter Our time was spent IN
looking after our own comfort and keeping
ourselves in wood and something to eat.
No rations had yet arrived and we saw that
before the winter would break We would
have to depend upon our own resources
for food. The mountains few miles dis.
tant were full OF black and white tailed
deer, elk and persimmon bear and buffalo
were roaming in the Wind River Valley in
large herds, but this was one hundred and
twenty five miles distant. II the weather
would permit we could come out all right,
but II i was extremely cold our chances
were slim. .-.a
To b Continued. 70"
HH .#
A Most Remarkable Case. ~ A
Dylng-yet living. DR.. Miller. OF 129
n am personally acquainted with middle
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