The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-11-13
The Custer Massacre.

There is an old gentleman, "A years of
age, whose home is on the west side, but
who, nevertheless, spends nearly all of
his time in the far west, trapping, hunt
ing, and trading with the Indians He
began his wild life many years ago, and
now has become so attached to it that he
cannot give it up. He is personally ac-
quainted with nearly every tribe of Indi-
ans west of the Mississippi, and is so
beloved by them that when he leaves them
for short trip to see his family, they
express a great deal of regret and beg
him to return. In an interview with
Leader reporter yesterday the old gentle
man stated that his extensive friendship
with the different tribes was due to the
fact of his always treating them squarely
and living strictly up to whatever treaty
he had made with them. ANY man,
said he, "who does as he agrees. and
shows himself to be no coward, will have
no trouble with the Indians 1t is a
curious fact" he continued, "that the
red skins have great deal of respect for
a brave man, and let him be ever so good,
if he is not brave, they will kill him some
time or other, sure like the Sioux aud
Utes best, but if the Sioux knew that l
had occasion to wipe out four of their
number at different times, | guess they
Wouldn's love me so much
''How did it happen?" inquired the re
porter.
II will tell you, resumed the old gen
tleman, and after taking chew of
tobacco about the size of hens egg, he
began: ''It was in the fall of rs when 1
was in camp at Big Stone lake, near the
boundary line of Dakota and Minnesota.
| had everything in fine shape for the
winter and expected good season at
trapping, One evening when I was busy
on four quart pan of beans two Sioux
bucks suddenly made their appearance
and asked for something to eat. gave
them some beans. some bread and slice
of about everything | had, but they kept
asking for more all the time, and I'll be
darned if they didn't eat as much of my
winter stock of provisions as would have
lasted me for week. This made me
kind of mad; but l said nothing, and
when they were so full that they couldn't
crowd any more down they they took
their departure. Very soon after they
had left put on my overcoat took my
gun in hand and started to visit my traps.
Well sir, every one of those traps was
gone. I couldn't find hide nor hair of
them, and thinks l. this is sort O strange
BY and by it came to me that perhaps
those bucks knew something about them;
so / started after them. | had not fol-
lowed the trail very far before | discovered
them down in little hollow, laughing and
chuckling overmy traps,
/ didn't stop to breathe a very long
prayer over them. but raised my piece
and put just twelve buckshot into each
of their carcasses, and then dumped them
into the river. told the magistrate of
the nearest town of what l had done
when / came out of the woods In the
spring, and he said to me; L am glad of
it. wish you had killed the whole
tribe The other time was when couple
of young bucks let drive at me when was
sitting peacefully on stump smoking my
pipe. One of their bullets made my ear
sting, but the other went wide of its
mark. l dropped, though. as soon as
heard the reports, and lay for half an
hour as if dead. Then l crawled along
to clump of sage bushes, where got a
good peep at them, and then perforated
their hides with buckshot. OF course, if
the tribe knew that ] had murdered four
Of their number they would make short
work of me the next time / go among
I4l, ~nd
things happened if / had seen four of their
bucks down in Denver the last time / was
there. said no, of course, for had not
seen them in Denver, and didn't say
any more. Oh, yes, | have seen some
things during my rowing life, but the
toughest sight ever beheld was before
the completion of the Union Pacific. l
was going along behind my ponies, Bill
and Jack which were loaded with furs,
when saw an emigrant wagon Just in
front of me. winding its way slowly over
the prairies. Now, the sight of an emf
grant wagon was not such an unusual
thing for me. but knew there were about
fifty Sioux bucks just few miles away
who would necessarily meet the emigrants
before nightfall. The family consisted
of husband, wife, and fine, buxom
daughter.
1t was not long before the Indians came
ND with us, and to make the matter worse
just before they reached US the father of
the family shot one of the Indian dogs.
told the old man that he had better set
tie with the Indians for the dog, but he