Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1888-01-13
A coWHoY.a TA.K
"Reminiscences Which Are ysrv In
asrsstns, Though They May Not y.

T.,.s AhouEh They May Not Re
G. Eranklyn Earlscourt i. not a dude
as ms name would indicate. neither i.
ne the nero OF popular seaside idyli.
,ot one OF the 'Ouida's" exaggerated
Engiishmen. G. FRANKLIN is q cow
boy. In addition to being a eowbov
with his name and hair parted in H.
middle, c. Franklyn possesses other
Claims TO the attention Of discriminas,
ing public, because he ACCOMPANIED
the United States Government commits
sion to inspect and report to Conoress
upon the Union Pacific railroad at the
time when the railroad was in conraa
" construction. That was quite a
"niie ago. 1t was in the good old DAYS
when General Frank P. Blair was alive.
Y. FRANK was quite youngster then
a KID, in fact-and his connection with
the commission of which Blair and
General Phil Sheridan were members
was such as might be referred to "a
aumble-very humble. He was cabin
boy on board the Pullman special.
I'm the early hours of the morning.
SAID he to reporter, II used To anchor
the Generafs boots, and the Profasaor,s
io"-cut shoes opposite the berth's OF
their respective owners. and in a gen.
erai way exercised sort of sunervi-
sion over the entire commission. Oh
that was great trip! We went Ali
along the line and held pow-wows with
all the big Indian chiefs. Before we
got back to Washington General Blair
had taught me first-class French man.
ners; General Sheridan showed me
how to shoot and dance an Irish iip.
and Prof. White gave me a course in
reading. and when we got home Prof.
White and General Blair put me in
good school. and owe them nv edu.
cation and present position.
Il recall number of amusing Incl
dents of that trip which I've never
seen in print General Sheridan sig-
ured In most of them as the person
with whom the fun ALWAYS be-
gan On one occasion. after a coun.
ell with number of Ogallalla Sioux,
one OF them was brought into our car BIZ
y
Sheridan. He was strapping big fell
low, about six feet three. and had lost
one arm. He was weighty chieftain,
KNOWN to fame as Tall Bull. l don't
thInK I've ever seen an person quite as
tall as the chief. Sheridan, you know,
Is rather short and dumpy. When of
duty and out with "A congenial crowd
the General is inclined to be very gay
and mischievous. Tall Bull. the grave
and dignified red man, was good sub
ject for his pranks, and as he marched
the chief up the aisle and introduced
him to General Blair and Prot. White
the General winked knowingly at the
crowd
Tall Bull, gentlemen, the noble
red man of the forest said he with a
flourish. The copper-colored son of
buffalo will now perform one of his in
Irritable tricks with watch-charm.'
and Sheridan handed tall Bull charm
from his watch chain. The General
was guying the chief for the edifcation
of the party. acting ali the while like
school boy on half holiday. The In
dian didn't laugh. He was very seri-
Gus. Putting the bauble in his belt ht
turned to General 5Iair. and in low,
solemn tones. pointingko Sheridan. he
said: Ugh! Little man. Heap foolr
sheridan turned red rs peony and
fled from the derisive laugh of the par
ty. After that whenever Sheridan tried
to put on airs General Blair would
bring him round with: Ugh. Little
man. Heap fool.
''On another occasion Prof. White
l believe he hailed from New York
State-became frightened during the
attack on the coach by Indians. and
crawied under a bedstead which had
been put in the car for his comfort.
White was an enormously big man,
weighing nearly $50 pounds. aud he
got wedged in SO tight that after the
scare was over he couldn't extricate
himself. The bedstead, be it understood
was screwed TO the car floor Sheridan
disliked White intensely and seized the
opportunity to vent his spite. Picking
up Winchester rifle the General got
upon the bed and. yelling like Co
manche, he jumped up and down OF
the spring mattress directly over poor
White. Every time he came down
poor White uttered a groan. When
ever Blair or any of the others came
near. Sheridan cooked his Winchester
and threatened to shoot the first man
that intelfered with him. Finally the
matter became serious and General
Blair drew his revolver and told Sheri-
dan he'd blow his head off if he didR' I
get down. and when the bedstead was
unserewed and White WAS released,
his body was covered with ugly black
bruises where the festive Sheridan had
danced hornpipe on him. "
Earlscourt has just come in from thu
West where he has had considerable
experience with the indians.
You may have noticed SAID he,
that the cowboys are given credit fol
being better Indian fighters than the
regular troops. Now, that's not true.
The regulars are better fighters by far
but the cowboy inspires the Indian
with more fear and hence is probably
after all the most effective. The rea-
son is very plain. The cowboy will
scalp every Indian he kills, while the
regular soldier is prohibited from do
ing so by orders from army head
quarters. One of the principal tenet'