The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1889-10-23


Sully. both on hot upper Missouri river, ID
u bee line Of 100 miles, but the distance a.
. rider has tn make Il In fully 100. IL In
on record that the first dispatch passing
between those posts WINS carried I'm my
pocket. and that at n time when hostile
Indians almost besieged both forts. II
was ON this ride, and about forty miles
above Sully, that u arrange incident o.
Cured. From Fort Union to Yankton, a
distance of go miles, the Missouri runs
along q chain OF mountains on the east,
while on the west there In scarcely
q hill to he found. While the route
down the east hank is naturally more
difficult, IL is also more sheltered, and
that WINS the route I took ON the occasion
Aindians in the mountains and in the
mountain valleys, there were none of them
on the plains, and snd,d my tourney ,E. Was con.
were made at Fort Lincoln that I would
never he heard OF again.
over more OF the country than any man
living. and I'm all matters pertaining To
.rsnt, ri, , nf Ave. E. wa" Armed ns ~f, VIII nE- q W In f".r
Nhave been the one out of five scouts Sc
coin just at dusk one evening i'm July and
proceeded Ave miles down the river before
crossing sS = over; a ref s.a ds;Ssn II IN. force %rss
tiles back, hut I mi9h count OH finding
',ihem within seven or eight miles,. I
a mule, which had evidently been in
hiding in a thicket near by, came
forward with a low whinny. and appered
ton proved that he belonged to a scout
named Abner Johnson, who had been dis
s0me, $50 miles to the east. ten or twelve
days before. The saddle. blanket, coffee
pot and other articles secured as usual,
ond the bride was intact. i was satisfied
that johnson had been shot from the sad
die. Nothing could have induced the mule
run away from him while alive. The
Nanimal. aa i figured IL. was making Tor
She fort. and was about ording the stream
S S;%' .n 1ae M no s;S S Fl s ? % pas s.e wb alarme e
was friend or enemy. 1 sought to drive
him into the water and on his way, but he
W. sfss- d ssSS'ms S;m to oSs,i%nse. / s,i %e: "G tSe
iron hat out Of his mouth that he might
snatch at tina grass and rode oil, with him
Between the river and the foothills
there was a level varying I'm width from 20
Along the hank of the stream, for miles
and miles, was N line OF trees and bushes.
Tn foothills were covered with scrub
Of the range there was fair travelling and
good cover. AT every mile or two there
were breaks i'm the foothills by which one
could turn i'm from the level. l did not
intend to. travel far that night, the main
object being To get beyond the hostile
M. Up TO the time OK crossing the river
osst-sacks, so that hc could leave no trail.
Ihtu ~" u" "' W
three weeks. and no living Indian could
have traced me-: Once across the stream
n, rsm1 ,r;si. the be-, hr nS,., ,be rnSs,5 ,r,,s; =, q
light night ii IT, and as / rode forward / routed
yards. Thi. satisfied me that no Indians
were near, and ! continued my ride until
midnight. BY this time was a. least 10
miles below the fort, and l went into camp
TO wait for daylight. Going into camp con-
sisted Of unsaddling the two animals, roll
down at the roots of a cottenwooi. / was
asleep i'm five minutes, and when I OPEN
my eyes Il was daylight.
each had his nose In. the air and was
.centing like a dog. was hardly ON my
isss n Sreese ! b s%si,ss up %pe the Valley wa" and
J the camp fire was below me, or in the
direction proposed TO 60. moved into
ward for an observation, and after going
about n quarter Of a mile raw thr, smoke.
I waited five minutes before advancing
nearer, but seeing no movement crept
forward. I saw the holy Of "a white man
lying on the ground under the trees. i
| ing I had come upon n government scout
n or some white hunter, ! rose mp and adj
vanced int" camp. No man ever
. no%ae 1. w"s the Sody OF Abner
Johnson, dead and terribly mutilated, and
20 feet, lay the dead bodies Of nine Indian
WARRIORS. While a glance sufficed To prove
that they were ue0Os u TOOK me some tilne
to satisfy myself rs to the cause. l finally
found a stone bottle, holding about two
quarts, which I to have seer
! in Johnson's possession. 1t had contained
\ Whisky, hut was now empty. The posture
of the bodies was proof that every warrior
had died OF poison. hut ! did not know un.
ill a month later that Johnson had fixed
up the dose before leaving Fort Ransome
ON his return. He seemed to have a pre-.
scntimcnt that he would be captured. and
he bought two quarts of whisky and dosed
il with strychnine, knowing that il would
surely revenge him.
Johnson had evidently been driven out
of his direct course. Az saw by scouting
over the ground, he was well i'm the lead al
his nine ptirsuers. when q chance sllO
!, from a rifle struck him on the right hig
and h him from the saddle. Hi,
mule had gone on and the Indians had
AQone into camp to torture the wounded
IMAM. They had cut of his left car. gashet
his checks, severed three or four toes, ant
inflicted other cruelties when the poison
which they had imbibed i'm the whisky he
gan to work. There must have been 4
high old time among them fo
half an hour, during which i'm
terval the prisoner probably blet
20 death. Johnson's eyes were wide open
and IL the eyes of the dead can refiec
anything his surely reflected exultation
The ponies of the Indians were in "a grass,
dell "a quarter Of a mile away, and eacl