The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1883-06-20
CHAPTER X.
THE MURDER OF MEADOWS HERDERs.

THE MURDER OF M(ADON > HEhDEltS.
Jeff Standifer, with a party of seven,
took again his trail of last year to the
head of and down Wind river. One day
when camped little above where he
had found prospects the year before, and
just as they were eating supper, a band
of Arapahocs dashed into camp and
killed four Of the party outright. One
of the survivors reached the brush and
fought the Indians from it for quite
while. He at last received shot
through the thigh and tainted away. The
Arapahoes must have supposedly him dead,
and 'Standifer and the man with him
having a good position among some
rocks near by, made it so warm for them
that they took the horses and left. When
the wounded man came to it was dark,
and though all was silent he thought
that the Indians might be around and
he dragged himself slowly away from
camp. He luckily had a fish line and
hooks, and some matches in his pockets
and he concluded to try to get to the
Shoshone camp on Little Wind river.
He made rough crutch of willow fork
and throwing away his gun started. He
struggled and suffered, living solely on
fish. for eight days, then just at the
mouth of the canyon on Wind river, he
met a hunting party of Shoshones, and
was taken by. them to the main camp,
where he was kindly treated until he re-
covered. Standifer and comrade stayed
near camp till morning, then taking a
little stock of provisions went across the
mountains to the Big Sandy river, and
down this to cattle ranch, not knowing
till a long time afterward that any but
themselves of the party was alive.
In the fall of 1868 the Meadow Bros,
of Bozeman, drove their work cattle over
to Shields river. The drivers, twelve in
number, herded and attended to them
all winter. Early In March two of the
herders took pack animals and went to
Bozeman for supplies. During the fore
noon of the fourth day after their depar-
ture, Frank Leonard, Horace Newell,
Sam Moore and Jack Mcdowell went out
to look after the stock; sbout an hour
afterward the boys in camp heard rapid
firing and saw such host of Indians
coming that they all ran to the brush.
The Indians took possession Of the cabin
and feasted all day. Just at dark the
boys in the brush heard some one COM
ing along the trail singing, who proved
to be one of the men that had gone to
town, they stopped him and all went to
Bozeman together, reaching there the
next evening. Capt. Cliff, with COM
pany of soldiers and some civilians went
over next day to look after the missing
men. At O'Rear creek they met man
named Crowell, who that morning had
been at the herder's cabin ON Shields
river, and finding it deserted, had started
for Bozeman afoot. Getting tired of
carrying his gun, he had cached it, and
would not take pistol that Jack Mem
denhall offered him. He accepted some
thing to eat and the party went on, leav-
ing him sitting on the ground eating a
lunch. Two of the missing men were
found dead tie next day. The parry,
without finding any traces of the others
came back. The day following this VIM.
Meadow raised party and went out
again to Shields river; the two missing
men were found lying dead on the oppo-
site side of the river from wnere the
others were. The cattle, though badly
scattered, were all right, and the party
after burying the bodies returned to
town. Crowell had not come in and
many wondered what had become of
him.
The next summer a part of the Crow
tribe were camped on Pass creek, just
above ORear, and one day Billy Lee,
while on his road to Bozeman, stopped at
Iron Bulls lodge to get dinner soon
after he arrived one of the chiefs daugh-
tiers came in and told her father that she
4,ad found the bones of a man lying in
the brush; upon inspection twas found
to be Crowell's body; he had been shot
in the forehead and was but about six
hundred Yards distant from where he
had last been seen the spring before.
A short time after the killing of the
herders, stealing party of twelve Black
feet came afoet through Flathead Pass
and stole horse and killed an OK. in
| the lower end of Gallatin Valley. Lieut..
Thompson and thirty soldiers from Fort
Ellis with about thirty civilians from the
lower valley, went after and overlook
them at the foot Of the divide, on the
head of the north fork of Sixteen Mile
creek. As the whites came up an Indi-