, 1890-11-13
A HERO OF THE ALAMO.
The Sole Male Survivor of the Mas
sacre visits Omaha.
fOnaha Bee.

The sole MaIe survivor OF the ""S-
sacre visits Omaha.
fOmaha bee,
The sole male survivor of the
Alamo massacre I'm 1885 ut san An
tonic, Tex, Is in the city in the
person of "Uncle Jimmy" Cannon,
the chief scout. guide and Indian
interpreter of the United states.
Colonel w. James Cannon, as his
official title reads, was l2.year'old
boy at the time of the massacre, and
was rescued from the convent by
the wife ofa Mexican officer. 1t will
be remembered that ut the Alamo
massacre Crockett and Bowie were
murdered by the MeXicans, and the
cry, Remember the Alamo" was
the slogan which inspired the vnlor
of the American troops in their
future battles with the 'grcasers.'
"Uncle jimmy" is most pictur-
esque character, and attracts atten-
ton whenever seen on the streets.
He Is u bright old gentleman OF 10
years, active, loquacious and with u
iltllb 1t5 blChhN ~ ASShs cA' '''|
breast are medals indicating his
presence and yoeman service In the
Mexican war, the rebellion and his
connection with the Alamo mas
sacre, the latter being on IA field
composed of the original flag of the
Lone Star state" Another inter
esting medal is the solid silver one
,.s.l l,i, l.,vN fnr In IL
service in killing Kirby Smith.at
Camp Wilmington, near Manassas
| Gap. The colonel is very proud of
his medals and intensely patriotic.
/ lie IL the survivor of l22 battles,
| from which he emerged with eight
cen body wounds from bullet, arrow
and bayonet, eleven of them above
| the hips.
There Is probably no man in the
/ West who knows more of border
warfare with the Indians, with
whose war methods he Is familiar
and whose many languages he
speaks fluently. IL WAS mainly
through his knowledge of the Apa-
ches. their language and their trails
that Geronimo was captured. Dur
ing that famous battle "Uncle jim
ndu LIS IlRhl Slliu ny
an Apache's bullet, but instead Of
giving up sat on the ground and
worked his Winchester as though
nothing had happened, while his
scouts stood behind him firing over
his head.
AS matter of unrecorded history,
"Uncle Jimmy" says that the de-
feat of the Apaches on that occasion
a Of . 10,
possessed 42-caliber rifles and tried
to use 45-caliber cartridges, which
they had stolen somewhere. After
the fight the scouts discovered that
the large cartridges had choked the
rifles.
"Uncle Jimmy" has remark
able memory, and In talking of his
career spoke of the various battles
and engagements he participated
in. During the Mexican war he
was In the engagements of Palo
Alto, Buena Vista, Cerro Gordo,
Cherubusco. Chepultepec, San Pas
cual, Tebasco and Vera Cruz.
In the latter part of 1896 he was
captured by the Indians at San
Antonio, Tex, and was bought and
sold among them until 1874, when
he escaped from them at Henry's
Fork, Utah.
In lS46 he entered the service of
the United States army In the First
Texas mounted rifles under Colonel
Jack Hayes. He was through
many Indian wars, including those
with the Comanches, Apaches,
Navajo, Mojave, Sioux, Ute, Piute
and Blackteet, doing scout duty.
He was also with Custer's command,
but was on scout duty when the
massacre occurred at Little Big
Horn.
He also was in a number of not
able Indian fights in Nebraska,
which many old settlers will re-
member, and was connected with
the history of Nebraska when the
rifle was the commonest implement
seen in the hands of the sturdy
pioneers. Among them was the
Julesburg, Colo, massacre, in which
1865 soldiers and forty-two citizens
were killed. Many of the people
connected with that tragedy, In
Guiding women and children, are
now citizens of Nebraska. He was
also engaged In the following
Nebraska battles: At Rush creek,
In December, 1854, in which thirty
eight whites were killed and forty
wounded; at Plum creek, where
fourteen men were killed and three
women and two children taken
prisoners.
The two children were taken from
their mothers' arms and after being
placed OH prairie dog holes, shot in
the sight Of the surviving men, who
were behind barricades, in order to
trap them from their hiding places.
When they came forth they were
murdered. Two of the women were
killed, the other became insane and
was found at Crazy Woman fork,
from which 1t WAS nauied. Chiefs
Two Face and Big Grow loaded her
with log chains and took her from
place to place, trying to sell her.
'Uncle Jimmy" was u scout in the
Eleventh cavalry in this engage
ment.
When on the trail many years ago
"Uncle Jimmy" adopted "a boy by
the name of Frank Landron, who
Is now d conductor running between
Peoria, ILL.,, and MarshaIltown,
Iowa. To the daughter OF this
adopted son, Millie May Landron,
"Uncle Jimmy" has given 1900
acres OF Texas land, 1900 acres OF
which are In what Is known as the