Wichita eagle., 1888-08-10

called OUT: .rtewE How, Come cut and
! give up"
| mot MUCH" cried Maxwell ave have
| been waiting for you TO come. Why have
you been so longs Come on; we are spelling
| for fight; but mind you, no more gets of
| I want at least ten scalps.n
| The Indians dismounted ard began crawl
ing toward the fort. The grass was high and
| gave them good shelter. '>We must not let
! them get too close said Maxwell, for there
are too many of them Pick out q man each
OF you, commencing on the right. There is
q fellow fattening himself on tie earth. l
think / can get him, though he is about as
! thin as pane of window glass and as long Us
willow He took caAful aim and fired,
and the savage sprang up and then pitched
! forward on his face and lay still.
| "He is down. cried Maxwell, "and now
| for the rest boys"
/ The Indians had opened, and the firing
soon became general For two hours it Went
/ on without intermission. The Indians
worked up nearer and nearer to the fort
despite of all the resistance of the little garrt-
son. For three hours nothing could be heard
but the noise OF the guns, the yelling of the
white men and Indians, and the cries of the
women. Maxwell and his men fought Ike
| lions. Mrs. Maxwell loaded and cooled the
guns, and May went about among the men.
helping her mother and carrying the men
water and food. After five hours hard fight
| ing the Indians drew off, held council. and
then went into camp. They divided into two
parties, one party encamping on each side Of
the fort, so as to prevent the garrison from
escaping during the night. Several of the
T. {1,-
the evening and wanted TO talk, but the white
men called out: go away! Go away Old
Maxwell is getting mad" One bold fellow
rode up quite near, when Maxwell seized a
gun and shot him, sending him back to the
rear bowling with pain.
''Lie close, boys, and shoot every one that
approaches" said Maxwell. Night shut down
on the besieged, and it was still as death
! again The fires Of the Indians could be seen
on the hill, but none of them came near.
Two of the men slept while the others kept
watch, but the night passed without event.
Early in the morning the Indians wanted TO
talk.
"Come. come onr' cried Maxwell, II am
spelling for fight / don't want to talk.
Why don't you fight, you cowardly red ras-
calsa Here goes for your and he fired his
piece at the nearest warrior. The Indians
fell back in haste, no doubt thinking the
very devil was in old Maxwell. But they
rallied and came on and the battle became
general again. The white men were sur
rounded on every side, and it was with the
utmost difficulty they could keep the Indians
cut of the fort. Charge after charge was
made, but the brave garrison stood true.
After an hour and halls fighting the
Indians fell back for rest and O smoke.
/ They next commenced throwing arrows
from their bows, shooting them up III the
air and letting them descend point foremost
into the fort As the men had no protection
for their backs and heads this proved q
most formidable mode of attack One of the
men was soon severely wounded, and May
Maxwell got an arrow through her foot.
About noon an Indian, who had been OBJ
served smoking all forenoon on a hill near
the fort, suddenly rose up and walked down
toward it, He kept on until within sixty
yards Of the breastwor;s when he suddenly
fell dead, pierced by bullet from old Max
wells gun. He was probably a medicine
man who had lied so long and so much to
the Indians that he came to believe his own
lies and thought that the white men could
not hit him with bullet.
As soon as the medicine man fell the In
dams drew off and held a council. They
seemed to think the only way now was to
watch the garrison and starve it out. Creep
ing up close to the works and picketing the
stream they began their patient siege. Not
a head or hand Ill the garrison could be raised
without a bullet being fred at it. The be-
sieged had to lie close; but old Maxwell
raised the devil about midnight by making a
sudden attack and the Indians thinking he
was coming sure enough, ran OFF little.
Next morning Maxwell surprised the savages
by building a large fire, showing them he
had wood and water Mrs. Maxwell had
also had tent put up, and the Indians OBJ
served the condition of the garrison was
much improved, as if they liked it and were
going to stay there and fight it out, if it took
all summer. Dashing down on the fort, they
fired over a hundred shots at the tent, but
Mrs. Maxwell bravely stood her ground and
quietly went on with her cooking. The In
dams circled around the besieged for nearly
an hour, but ii was observed they did not
fire much.
''They are getting out OF ammunition"
said Maxwell. LET us give them bluff"
ard, jumping up all the men poured In a
steady and rapid fire for few minutes. The
reds fell back and counseled again, and then
one of them came down and called out;
"Good-by; we are going now"
DON'T cried Maxwell. "Give Us one
more good fight before you go; do" The In
dian could be heard laughing as he called
back:
High! highl You are heap much too
braver
"Who ore you peoplef' asked Maxwell.
"Sioux and Nez Perces," be replied, ''good
men, but you are too tough Tor us- Good
by"
OF Maxwell.
81 guess So" he said, ''but we VIII take
no chances, and keep close"
The Indians then rode OF. Maxwell and
his little party kept close to the fort, but
never saw an Indian again. They had killed
eight reds in the fight, and only two of their
men were wounded. During the battle Mr..
Maxwell had a close call, ball cutting away
lock Of bis hair. and another one grazing
his jaw. Mrs. Maxwell had ball wound in
her arm; another carried away part OF her
shoe.
The man Maxwell sent out on the first
night of the siege reached Fort Keogh in
safety, and Col Bsl.er with party Of cavalry
was at once sent TO the relief OF the belea-
guered little garrison He reached there the
day after the Indians left aud found MAY
well and his party enjoying themselves. he
brought them back to Miles City, where they
were Toasted by the citizens and made naHch
OF. Ar. Maxwell gave up all idea Of settling
on the Little Missouri and became citizen
Of Miles City. He was tie pioneer in start
ing line Of stages from Miles 70 DeadNood