Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1890-12-27


tioa as follows:
"How many sol lic:s are there in the
f-ri:"
about u hundgol."I answered, Civ
ing him the correct nUlnjcI.
Why didn't they coGc tut and fght
49," 8
They were ho2iaF you would conc
nearer"
You are called Eicht Shadow
Yes"
"Iuu have killed some Of my peuplc"
after they had aousht to kill me-
"IIu! The Indian has II right to de-
wants ev everything. even the dry rivers
and the bare rocks IL au hour 1 Shall
burn you 1T the stake"
hadn't TIE slightest reason TO hope
he wouldn't. The Chryrnncs had an old
scuIr To settle with me personally, and
thcir loss of inca a5 the station that day
must le avenged. | was turned over to
u guard OF three warriors, and they gave
ME something te drink and to eat. / was
hungry and thirsty and made as good
meal as il expected to live fifty years
instead pf "n hour Longer. \ stake was
driven whilr was eating. and before
had finished the v'GrriUri had begun col
lcctin.s brush.
Ii w?S writt"a Of me BY Il correspond
cnt at Fort Wallace that Providence
saved my lifc, Soon after the stake had
been driven Is llv%ajl 10 rain. Although
the Indiaa is half animal he breads the
rain. and the storm soon took I'll the en-
thusiasm out of riy cuptors. At the
sane time ;l;Ios. @aco1t camc in with
some news. and | was soon told by the
bnlf h-ucd that | hal been rcspitc;l.
This scout, Gs aftcrvarl appeared, had
discovered that the fort had neither can
non nor Qualifications. and it was be-
lievcd that the soldiers were dcmoralized
and would surrender if attacked. At
about milni int, when tho rain bcg;.n 10
hold up, all bat five men set ont il. the
direction of the fort. The five wcra left
to guard ilc, They Ill not hesitate 20
tell me tii:t the fort r';;:.3 II DC attacked
and tl&t thav Ncrr !;:r' of victory.
| slcp5 from midnight II daylight.
being sia,;rl oc: ut th> <n,:lcs and hav-
ing II warrior Oh Ca"l ,ilc of lnc. ,Soon
after daylight M guards were aStir,
and wlac;, lrcaaG,: ll:l bcca prepared
my feet werr tied t2srt.cr, nnd was
allcwcl - sit NJ and help Iaysclf. We
were fGllJ twenty miles FROM the fort.
and 10 ncv', w;;i expected Until late in
the affcrI0nn. When they asked me
what | thought Of the chances l an
swered that Roman Nose would I've
beaten of. and we ar:;ued the matter
pro and con without the slightest i'll
feeling.
What happened at tho fort did not
learn for some days afterward. Had
Roman Nose made IL secret approach to
within striking dist?ncc and then
charged i'll he would have won u speedy
victory. The presence of his force was be-
trayed at an early date, and the garrison
threw up Il breastwork from whatever
could be hal, caught up their horses,
and the first charge took all the conceit
ont of the 300. several being killed or
wounded, and the chief himself sustain
ing n severe wound from bullet. One
charge en- massc would have swept every
cavalryman OF the earth, but it was not
made. After an hour of long range
firing the redskins withdrew. excusing
their cowardice by saying that the evil
one had sent men with black faces to
blind their eyes, This referred to Il few
negro soldiers who took Il gallant part in
the defense.
About 4 o'clock III the afternoon n
courier reached us. l knew, as did all
the others, long before he reached u.s.
that he had no good news. He told big
stories of the prowess of the Cheyennes,
but had TO admit they We're driven off
with loss. My guards were directed to
report with me ut Il certain spot on Red
Deer creek, about sixteen miles away, to
which the main party had resorted after
being driven off. When learned that
Roman Nose had been wounded knew
what was III store for me. He would get
some small satisfaction for humiliation
by putting me to the torture. The cou-
rier did not wait to go with us. but rode
off to notify n small party which had
been sent in another direction.
During the entire day | had been pas
sive, and betrayed no anxiety, telling
the guards that had friends Mt the fort
WIZ NoGll pay tuc ClleI IL Dig TtnSOlu
for me. This lulled their vigilance and
they treated me more us guest than u
prisoner. Another friend had been
working in my interest during the day,
but did not discover it until an hour
before the courier arrived. A bottle of
whisky had i'll some manner come into
possession of the guards. The bottle
was kept out of sight, and it was only
when their demeanor betrayed them
that knew what they had been up to.
None of them was drunk, but all were
happy and quite good natured.
1t was after 8 o'clock before we were
ready to set out. The five ponies and
the station horse We're brought up and
bridled and saddled. This work was
done by three of the warriors, while the
other two were gambling for blanket.
| sat about ten feet away from them.
There had been no time since noon when
| cOull NOT have cast off my hnnIS at