News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-07-22
WHY THE SCOUT WAs-DELAYED.
A Story Told of One of Custer's Bravo
Guides.

A Story Told of One of Custer,s Brave
Guides.
The nerve, hardihood, and daring of
the genuine frontier scout was illustrat.
ed time after time during Gen. Clusters
Indian campaigns by a favorite scout
named Tom Reynolds. He had been in
the Indian country for ten or twelve
years before Custer attached him to his
command, and he bore TWENTY-FIVE scars
of wounds received from red men. He
was known to them as ''The Snake"
and they both hated and respected him.
In one of his raids among The strong
holds to the south Custer sent REYNOLDS
back to Fort Laramie with dispatches.
The scout preferred to go alone, and
the fact that the country was alive with
Indians was taken by him as a matter of
course. He left camp n night soon
after dark, mounted on a swift mule and
having a ride before him of sixty-fve or
seventy miles. That was the last seen
of him for a week, when he rode into
Laramie nj day and made his apollo
gies for being detained on the way.
Reynolds made only about fifteen
miles the first night where he had calcu-
lated on making forty. On several &C.
casions he narrowly missed riding into
bodies of Indians who seemed to be
scouting all over the country, and up to
midnight he had to move very slowly.
Just after that hour his mule was bitten
by a rattlesnake, and the scout turned
into a grove of c~ottonwoods on a little
creek to care for him, He had a small
package of the Indian weed used to ex-
tract the poison, and by daylight the
mule was better. 1t would be impossi-
BILE to 10 for several days. however,
and he settled down to pass the time in
the grove. There were Indian signs all
about him, and the chances were that
he would not be left undisturbed many
days. 1t was a small but dense grove,
and the scout and his mule were well
hidden from any one skirting the tim
Der.
On the fifth day nine Indians were
seen approaching the grove. They
watered their ponies at the edge of it,
and then turned them loose, built a fire,
and made preparations for dinner. Rey-
nolds had made his mule lie down and
then covered her with brush, while he
retreated to the other side of the grove.
The Indians were loafing around for
over an hour before anything occurred
They were then joined by twelve others,
but as the newcomers did not dismount
the scout was in hopes the whole band
would soon leave the locality. They
were evidently about to do so, when
Reynolds mule got up and prayed, a
thing he never was known to do before
or after in the face of danger. 1t was
accounted for in this instance by the
fact that one of the Indians was mount
ed on a horse which had been stolen
from the cavalry, and the mule evident
ly recognized its presence. The Indians
at once raised an alarm, and rushed into
the grove. The mule was speedily dis.
covered and led out, and five minutes
later the scout quietly surrendered and
walked among his captors with smiling
face. He might have held them at bay
for a time, but the odds were too great
to hope for anything turning in his
favor.
Several of the Indians recognized
Reynolds as "The Snake" and there
was great exultation over his capture
An ordinary prisoner would have been
insulted and maltreated in the first tx
element, but no indignity was offered
the scout. He was disarmed, ordered
to noun his mule, and the whole body
moved to the east. After travelling all
the afternoon they reached the north
fork of the Platte and went into camp.
The scout could speak the Sioux dialect as
we'll as a member of the tribe, and dur
ing the journey he kept up a running
conversation with the two sub-chiefs,
leading them to believe that he had had
a personal quarrel with Custer and was
no longer in his service. He claimed
that he was on his way to purchase a
trapper's outfit and return to the noun
tains. While the Indians no doubt kept
a sharp eye on him, no one seemed to
do so. 1t was coming on dark as the
band reached the creek, and Reynolds
was in the midst-ef them as they dis
mounted. He swung himself down and
to be engaged In removing the
at the same time asking one of
the chiefs why they did not cross over
suddenly swung himself into the sad.
die, and like an arrow the mule darted
away. Reynolds had to pass six In
dams and their horses before he was
clear of the camp, but such were his
movements that he wa pistol shot away
before a shout was uttered or a shot
Every Indian then mounted in
pursuit, and the foremost kept up a run
ming fire until they were out of ammuni-
ton.
The mule seemed inclined to make up
for his bad break in the grove, and he
drew ahead so fast that at the end of a
of an hour Reynolds turned
to the right, rode about half a
mile, and then man and mule Rugged
the earth and let the Indians gallop
ahead in the darkness. The scout then
returned to the stream, crossed it, and
took a bee line for Fort Laramie, where
arrived next morning. Two arrows
struck his saddle, and six bullets clip
ped his clothing without drawing blood.
When he handed his dispatches to the
Commandant he humbly exclaimed:
"Ought to hev bin here sooner, but a
snake bit Nancy and a band of reds
gobbled me. Hope the delay won't
make any trouble"