Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-04-20
lCoryright 1881


portation. and uuencumbereI with ''deadwood'
Of any kind, eHt loose from Atlanta and tramped
through the heart of the coafederacy 10 Savan-
hah. meeting hardly any opposition that its
advance guard could not easily brush away.
In proportion t0numbe-s engaged and obstacles
to be surmounted, an indian chief Joseph by
name. simply triple-discounted this brilliant
exploit Of our brave and brilliant general. and.
despite pursuing forces despite incessIn, effort
% head him Of. despite five times his numbers
IN fighting fOeman, despite the fact that he was
burdened with all the women and children of
his tribe, this coOl-headed, yet daring Indian
general,
THIS MODERN MOsTs,
led his people through the wilderness from the
eastern border of Washington territory,
through the prairies OF Idaho up the valley of
the Salmon river. across the Bitter Root monn-
tnins. through Montana to the Yellowstone
park. down Clark's Fork. across the Yellow
stone. then stT1Ightway nOrthwaTi for the
British Possessions, and. not until within day
march 81 the Big AliS7OUrI-uOt until two DAYS
more would have landed him safely across the
line. was he finally hemmcd in and captured:
by which time just about half the cavalry and
oue-fUurth of the infantry of the United States
army were IN the field engaged in the chase.
Shermau's storied march 10 the sea was COM
pletcd in 80 miles with little to hinder. Chief
JOseph's
Rush ACROSS TIE CONTINENT
carried him some $50 miles by the way he had
to 90. aud II was fight or dodge every inch of
the route. Behind him. close Mt his heels. was
ShermaHs wing commander. Howard. with a
strong array Of cavalry and infantry stronger
tar than Jusephs fighting force. Every now
and then they Overhauled and made the Indian
turn and fight-every time with disastrous re
suits. Lieutenant Thelier. twenty-lirst in
fantTy. was killed in consequence at White Bird
creek on the 18th OF june. Lieutenant Rains.
FIRST cavalry. was killed in another tuSSle. July
3, at CraiS's mountain, Idaho. General John
GibbOn packed what men he had Ill wagons and
made a dash from Fort Shaw to head them off
at Big Hole pass as they crossed the Bitter
Root range. lie hardly had $50 effective sol
diers when. like the born fighter that he Is,
he flew AT the throat of his foe at dawn on the
9Th Of August. He had not half that number at
noon when forced to drop his hold and let the
fierce Nez Perez go. Capt. Logan and Eieuts.
Brady and English, 18th infantry, with over
score of soldiers were killed. GibbOn himself
his adiutaut. Woodruff C. A.. other officers
and two score men were wounded. Chief Jo-
seph went on his way and Howard came up
just too late. Sturgis. with the 9TH cavalry,
threw himself across his path at Clark's fork
and Joseph tricked him into a wild-goOse chase
down around Cedar mountain. leaving the way
clear. After long stern chase. with worn out
horses. the It'll cavalry flew at his heels again
just after he had crossed the Yellowstone, but
1t was an unayailing fight.
AT LAST.
on the 30th Of September. three months from
the time of his start, the worn and weary
chieftain was halted at Battle Eagle creek,
among the Bears Paws mountains. Snake
creek is the name of the main stream. Gen.
Miles, with his hard-ighting regiment. the
fifth infantry, mounted on Indian ponies. and
with detachments of the second and seventh
cavalry, had made one Of his quick daShes-
250 miles cross country-and barred the way.
Even when they rode in to the charge Capt.
Owen Hale and Lieut. j. Williams Biddle of
the seventh cavalry, met their soldier deaths
But Joseph could go no farther. He and the
little remnant of his band surrendered. and the
Nez Perez war of II at an end. Over
three months had he withstoOd the power of
the government. Over 700 miles had he
fought his way to freedom. "a it looked to
him. and his exploit stands, 10 my thinking,
without parallel in modern warfare.
JosEPH's GRIEVANCE
IL ever an Indian deserved success twas this
fellow Joseph. He and his people had their
grievances at the old reservation on the western
border of Idaho. Tue Sez Perces we're not a
savage tribe. Many of them spoke English
fairly well. many OF them had embraced the
Roman Catholic religion. MISUNDERSTANDING
arose between them and the settlers in which
the chances are ten to one the settlers were as
much at fault as the abOrigines. The matter
was not iudicioUsly handled by the Indian bu-
reau, and threats Of punishment only put the
Indians on their mettle. When il had PLAYED
its last trump and lost the game the bureau
demanded troops TO inforce its orders
and the soldiers who had long been stationed
among these Nez Perces, and knew and
liked them, were compelled to take the field
against them. We have no choice in such mat
tiers. Had such a man as General Crook been
sent thither at the first appearance of cloud
on the hOrlzOn, a few words from him would
have put stop TO all trouble. but he, whom
they trusted and respected from old associa-
ton, was far away on duty in another depart
meDt. Almost before we knew anything about
the matter, the news flashed in by tele-
graph that Gen Howard with all his available
troops was moving on JOseph's camps. and that
Joseph had sworn that he and his people should
never be taken.
TIE RAILWAY RIOT OF ~.
At the outbreak of the war we. of the fifth
cavalry, were stationed on the Union Pacific
railway, headquarters and six troops (compa-
nies) at Fort d. 4. Russell. lust west OF Chew
enne, the others at Fort Mcpherson, down i'll
the valley. and at Sidney barracks. midway
Early in the season General Crook had sent
i've Of the SIX troops from Fort Russell TO os-
tabiish a camp Of observation way up along the
northeastern foothills Of the Big Horn range
where he fought the Sioux the previous sum
lner, and We had only the band and Captain
Payne's troop (.F'') to ''hold the fort nj Rus
and Sidney. except a mere post guard, were i'll
the field. scouting toward the Sioux reserya-
tons, when the great railway riot of u burst
upon the land. Pittsburg was i'll flames, the
militia OverpOwered. Chicago WIS in the
hands Of the mob and the police exhausted.
TROOPS ORDERED IN
Then came the order for the regulars. and all
the ifth cavalry within reaching distance of
the railway were hurried in. The Mcpherson
battalion rode like mad for the nearest station:
left their horses with the quartermaster and a
small guard. and were Whlrled through 10 lake
Michigan by special train. The ninth infantry
started nrst from Omaha, but the strikers side
tracked them somewhere, and the first COM
Iaand 10 reach Chicago was this ough-iooking
battalion of troopers from the plains: bearded
bronzed. dusty, destitute Of anything like gilt
ter or gold lace. dressed in their rough scout-
ing rig. flannel shirts. buckskin or canvas re-
iuforced breeche-. and old SLOUGH hats but
Chicago gave them a welcome thev have
never forgotten. These fellers amt got no
bouquets in their muskets' was the remark OF
neWsbOy. that made the troopers grin. And
while the regulars in Nebraska were hurried To
Chicago, those along the railway in Wyoming
and Utah were similarly hurried to Omaha
assigned the command at this latter point
Here we guarded the big bridge across the
Missouri. and kept order from July 26 until the
9Th of August when We were sent back to our
stations, the trouble being over. Meantime
Gen. Crook had got in from a scout through
the extreme northwestern section of his de-