Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-03-22
An INDIANS CAREER.

An INDIANS CAREER.
q 1edskIa with . More Than Unusaally
Evsntf0l Histexy.
olympus Monroe Wilson is the ket-
srogeneous name of An Indian VINO
has been in Nashville for several
weeks. and who has been connected
with some of the most stirring events
In the West during the early days
when settlers carried their lives in
their hands He was born ffty-eight
years ago. near Tahlequah. the capital
OF the Cherokee Nation, the son of q
full-blooded Cherokee woman and a
half-breed. He has since his twelfth
year. when he enlisted in the Texas
Rangers. been scout, soldier. trapper.
miner. farmer. and now in his old age
has turned his face from the Lone Star
State to the far-away home of his
youth in the Indian Territory.
He has been three times married.
he has buried each wife and five chill.
dren, and now seems 10 want to live
only till he can once more see his only
son in the forests where he was born.
He is afflicted with heart disease. aud
realizes that he may die any moment
but his foriitude never deserts him. and
though suffering from terrible
wound in battle received forty years
ago. and from other injuries which
kept him in a hospital four years.
stripped in recent years of the small
property he had acquired. he bears
his misfortunes with the characteristic
Indian sto cism. He is not slovenly
nor dissipated. as the popular mind
pictures the Indian redeemed to par
tial civilization. but fine-loOking.
sober and rem rkably intelligent man.
When young man he went to Cali
fornia rs gold miner
One day heavi'y-laden wagon ran
over his body, and he was confined for
years to a hospital. His life was
despaired Of but the constant atten-
tion of an English ply stefan. who be-
came interested in him. finally re.
stored him to partial health. During
his sickness his kind nurse taught him
to read and write. and for years he has
read a great deal, as his conversation
shows. When a mere lad he fought
the Comanche Indians who depredai-
ell on the Texas border. and served
under Ben McCulloch. who afterward
became a General The Cherokees
were the first Indians with whom the
colonists became acquainted. and
since the founding of jamestown. Va.
have been the most tractable Of In.
dians. SO that it was scarcely to be
wondered at that this young son OF
the tribe. who had white blood in his
veins. should have been found in al
lance against the Comanche maraud.
ers
The first battle with them in which
he took part was in 1874. on the spot
where San Antonio now stands. and
fifteen redskins bit the dust. At one
time he fought under Robert T. Lee.
who was then Colonel Of the Second
United States Dragons. Lee was in
pursuit of band of Comanches who
had committed serious aepredations.
and caught them OH tributary of the
Colorado river. The engagement was
sharp and brief. Lee forcing the In
dams to the hills and killing over
thirty. His force was sixty men. while
the Indians outnumbcred him ten to
one. Wilson said that he remembered
Lee distinctly; that he was even then.
when young man. remarkably SELF
possessed in battle and quick to exc
cdtc plans. fearless and untiring. quail.
tiles which were four dec des later
signally displayed on many battle
field.
Wilson is ripc in Indian lore and has
evidently been a calm student It their
history in recent years. He remarked
in illustration of the rapid disappear
ance of the Indian: "War. pestilenco
and whisky are pursuing their deadly
work with astonishing effect In 1843
there were twenty thousand Co
manches; the last census shows only
two thousand five hundred. In fifty
years do not believe that there will
he an organized Indian tribe in the
country. You can find the redskins
in all of the Territories. but the ten
dency is to collect in the Indian Ter
ritorv, or rs we call it the Four Tribes.
In 1912 that region. then part IT the
Territory of Arkansas, was made the
property of the Choctaw. Cherokee.
Chickasaw and Greek Indians. and so
it has remained. ~ Nashville amer.
icGA