Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1890-10-24
NO. 43.
THE RUSH TO DEATH.
vivid Account of u Sirnnge Tragedy
in the Indian Country.


No tragedy in which the white man and
Indian have been joint actors has ever
blended more completely the horrible. the
dramatic and the picturesque than that
which happened in the past week upon the
reservation Of the northern Cheyennes.
| Upon this reservation, which lies south of
the Yellowstone river, Montana, aud along
the banks Of the Rosebud and the Tongue.
are gathered the remnants of the fierce
| band Of warriors who in the seventies, un-
der Roman Nose, Lame Deer and Dull
| Knife, wrote some of the bloodest pages
in the history Of Indian warfare, and gave
some of their stubbornest fights to Miles.
Mckenzie and Crook They have been, in
the main, peaceable since their occupation
Of the country, but there have been signs
Of turbulence and discomfort among them
for the past four years, which have rem
dered necessary annual camps Of regular
1 troops in their vicinity. Last spring the
murder Of a settler by three of their num-
ber threatened IA crisis The murderers
were surrendered, and it did not take place:
but, as a consequence Of the trouble, for
five long months the white tents of our
battalion of the First United States caval
ry have stood as silent peace makers among
the smoky lodges of the Cheyennes along
the Lame Deer. Everything promised
continuance of peace and a speedy with
| drawal of the troops, when, on September
| d, the wanton murder by the Indians of a
| young man named Boyle within three miles
of the cavalry camp put another face on
the situation Boyes body had been found,
after a three days arduous search bv the
troops and friendly Indians, in deep ra-
vine on steep and lonely mountain side,
| long distance away from the scene of the
murder. That night it was discovered by
the Indian police that the murderers we're
two young Cheyennes, who, upon the find
ing of the body, had taken to the hills
Their crime had been particularly afro
cious and devoid of motive, but the deaoue-
ment forms one of the most remarkable
scenes in the history of Indian fanaticism.
The pursuit of the murderers had contin-
ued without success for some days, when
suddenly a message was conveyed from the
fugitives TO the Indian agent, through the
father of one Of them to the effect that
they were tired of hiding, and that they
realized that they had forfeited their lives,
and that they wanted to die in fair fight
They said if the agent would cause the
troops to be assembled they would come for
ward and fight them to the death, and that
if they should not be drawn up to receive
them, they would raid the agency aud
camp and kill every white soul they might
see Idle as such a boastful proposition
might sound in the mouth of Shoshone or
Grow, it had a different ring when uttered
by two young Cheyenne braves. Major
Carroll the commanding officer of camp.
was quickly notified, and in a moment the
sound of Boots and Saddles hurried in
the herds and summoned the camp 70 horse
Being among the first to report. the writer
nrfn m toll hie 4 Il
it around the agency as quickly as possible,
so as to intercept the approach of the lndi-
ans from that direction As we galloped
over the mile of road between the camp
and agency we could not help feeling that
our trip was a FOOLS errand, for the idea of
a prearranged duel between two young In
dians and three troops of cavalry seemed too
grotesque to be entertained On express
ing this fear, however, to Brave Wolf, a
Cheyenne chief who rode beside us, he re
assured us by saying that the young bucks
would certainly appear, and that it would
be fight to a finish when they did.
Hurrying on, we left guard at the
agency, and then, under Brave VOLTS
guidance, turned up the road east of that
point. Along this, the old Indian said, our
braves would appear and here about half
a mile away, we halted, and posted our
u.
The road here runs through a narrow val
ley, closed apparently on all sides by steep
rock crowned hills No better amphithea-
tire could have been offered by nature for
the enactment of the performance in store
for us As we looked about us after dis
posing the men, the scene we beheld was
worth remembering. The whole Cheyenne
tribe had, during the previous several days
excitement, been gathered by the agent
from all parts of the reservation, and
placed in camp about the agency. They
had poured out of their tepees at the ap-
proach of the troop, and they now stood
upon the ridges above the valley in dense
groups of brilliant barbarc color Still
farther beyond, on the taller heights and
across the Lame Deer, were gathered for
safety the squaws and children and the
large pony herds The two young murder
ers had, before our arrival, sent a herald
to their people inviting them to come out
and see how splendidly they could die, and
the quiet deliberation with which the pre-
liminaries Of the coming contest were now
being arranged suggested thoughts of the
ancient arena, strangely out of keeping
with the flow of nineteenth century meth
ods and ideas. Figurativey the audience
was barely seated when the curtain went
up, and the two main actors, for whose com
ing every eye was eagerly watching, step
ped upon the stage.
They were first seen riding from clump
of lumber across the valley, and about 800
yards away. Our glasses told us they were
well armed and mounted. and in full war
rig, one of them wearing a splendid war
bonnet that swept low toward the ground.
Directing their ponies up one of the steep
est parts pf the opposite ridge, they gained
the summit and there, sweeping their
steeds in quick circles against the sky, their
eagle head feathers dancing in the breeze,
they sang the Cheyenne death song. No
plaudits of pit or box were needed to in
spire them. They were Cheyenne braves,
the sons of Cheyenne warriors whose past
heroic deeds they had heard sung by many
a camp fire, and the eyes of hundreds of
their tribe, they knew, were there across
the valley TO note and scorn the fantest
trace of fear Meanwhile the men had
gathered nearer to the hill, and in few
moments the zip Of falling bullets told
that the unequal contest had begun.
Its details are unnecessary. Fifty car
bines opened fire, and the Indians fought
| from the rocks Flanked and driven out
of these, they dashed down the steep hill
side and made for the line of fresh troop
of cavalry that had just been led upon the
southern crest of the valley by Lieutenant
| Pitcher of the First. 1t was on this ridge
that most of the Cheyenne spectators were
| assembled, and the young braves evidently
wanted them to be in at the death. Across
the valley they charged one mounted, the
other, whose pony had been shot, on foot.
! The former, amid hail of balls, rode bold
| ly up the slope in the face of Lieutenant
! Pitchers line, firing rapidly from the hip
] ba nd lu-
ers confronted him, but on he rode, his
eyes glaring in fierce frenzy, until the line
of troopers was pierced, and then, with
three bullets in his brain, and others in his
| body, he found the death he sought.
The dismounted buck meanwhile turned
down the valley, attracted, perhaps, by the
! little knot of whites before the agency.
Bullets rained around him. As was after
ward discovered, his clothing was pierced
in many places, and here he was probably
| first wounded, for, turning suddenly to the
left, with true Indian instinct-the instinct
| of a wounded rabbit or coyote he sought
refuge in a cut in the dry stream bed,
where he fought desperately until killed
| This last was a mere youth who 1t after
ward transpired, had taken no part in the
| killing of Boyle but who was too proud to
claim exemption from the crime his guilty
companion had committed Crawling
through the bush toward him. we suddenly
discovered him dead, and we were almost
startled at the weird beauty of the picture
| he made as he lay in his vivid color of cos
tune and painted face, his red blood dye
ing the yellow of the autumn leaves on
which he fell
The tragedy was over, and the Indian
debt of blood for blood discharged The
Indian mothers, who, We subsequently
learned, when they found their sons must
/ die, had, brayely as any Spartan women,