Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1890-12-26

utes. Mile after mile the battalion. moved
on, but no courier appeared. 1t was dawn,
it was daylight, it was sunrise, it was only
three miles to BULBS camp. still no courier.
His nonappparance was ominous. The ar
rest was to have been made at the earliest
dawn; W. should have had some report
long ago. A cold, sleeting rain had set.in
him and wondered if that courier would
never cDme. Suddenly over the brow of
the hill came an Indian wearing a white
scarf, the badge which the police were to
wear that the troops might distinguish
them from the enemy.
His appearance was'a great relief, and
the officers rode forward to the head of the
to hear his report, with perfect
that it would be a story of the
peaceable arrest of Sitting Bull. The story
he told was this:
II AM THE ONLY POLICEMAN ALIVE.
We attempted to take Bull at dawn but
there were too many for US. We killed
Bull but his friends have killed us all.
There are a hundred and twenty of Bulbs
men,
The news was far from reassuring. The
problem was, what should be done? Sit
ting Bull was dead. Next to his capture
alive, that was the object of the expedition.
There were more Indians than soldiers.
The police we're dead-nothing could be
done for them. Could anything be &C.
complished which would warrant the com
handing officer in sending his men against
superior numbers with a good probability,
or at least a marked possibility, of staring
Clusters fate?
The hesitation was monentary. Another
policeman, Iron Star, dashed up and re-
ported a dozen police, still alive, were sur
rounded and fighting desper 'tely, with
scant ammunition. Bullet holes in his
clothing testified to the fire under which
he had made his escape.
Every officer at once declared that those
brave fellows must be relieved. Whatever
the dangers, it would be cowardice to allow
them to be butchered without an effort to
save them.
But Captain Fechet had anticipated the
conclusions of his officers and the order
carbines, form troops abreast in columns
afEfours and advance at a gallop. On
through the drizzling rain the troops
dashed.
SITTING BULLS CAMP
is located in a small open space in a bend
OF Grand river. The flat, except where it has
been cleared away Immediately around
the lodges is covered with u%nderbrush and
scrub timber. From the flat, rough, broken
hills rise to the level of the surrounding
plateau. 1t was five minutes of seven
when the first courier reached the com.
mand, and thirty minutes later the troops
were on the brow of the hill overlooking
the hostile camp, where the battle was
raging between Sitting Bulls followers
and Indian police. The police had posses.
sion of Sitting BULBS stable and stockade
corral, but were besieged and harassed BY
a Continued fire from the enemy, with
whom the brush and timber seemed TEEN
ing. We expected that the hostiles would
have heard of our coming and be ready
for us, but apparently they had not. A
short detour gave Capt. Fechet command
of the two most prominent eminences, anG
Selling these he mounted the Hotchkiss
gun on one and the Calling gun upon the
other. Directly in front was Sitting BULBS
camp, Immediately on the left the Crane
river valley, both controlled by the artiI
1Qru If vYo nhopf a fhnrcovl xyorAc fr>v,
our position on the crest of the hill tt
where the hostiles lay in the woods. NJ
sooner had our troops appeared in sigh
than the enemy turned their attention Il
US, leaving the police for the time unmo
Tested.
It was scarcely two minutes from tn,
time our forces appeared on the hill before
THE ARTILLERY OPENED FIRE,
and the Hotchkiss was dropping she'll
among the Indians in the timber, who re
sponded with irregular firing and savag.
yells. Meantime troop F had been dis
mounted, and led by Lieutenants Slocun
and Stole, were advancing slowly anc
cautiously down the hill directly toward
the camp. keeping up a continual anc
heavy carbine fire. Troop G, under Lieu
tenant Crowder, also dismounted, were {
few hundred yards on the right, advancing
down the valley to a junction with Slocum
and firing steadily.
Brooks was in command of the artillery
Fechet was everywhere directing the
movement. The Indians found the shell
ing too hot for them, and with a wild yell
broke for the hills. Men, women and
children, mounted and on foot, fled in all
directions, hiding themselves wherever
cover could be found, while the troops
pressed forward to Bulbs camp to relieve
the police. No time was lost, and yet il
was two hours from the time the troops
opened fire before Lieutenant Slocum led
his skirmishers into Bulls camp. As he
did so Red Tomahawk, the ranking officer
of the police who survived, drew his police
up in line, and saluting, turned them over
to him. The scene in the camp was a ter.
rible one. Directly in front of Bulbs house
lay
EIGHT DEAL HosTILEs.
all chiefs, all Bulbs personal followers and
probably the eight worst men in the tribe.
Their names are known to all familiar