Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-02-27
IN PURSUIT OF vICTORIO's BAND.
A Cavalry Lieutenant's Narrative of Stern
Il Chase in the Indian War of 1879.

Victoria, or "Old Vic, as he was famil-
iarIy called, was one of the greatest In
dian Chiefs that ever made war on the
whites He deserves to be ranked with
Pontiac, Tecumseh, Billy Bowlegs and Sit
ting Bull He is less famous than they only
because Indian wars are not now of as
great importance as In their day, but IN
all the qualities that make an Indian great
he was their equal. He was distinguished
not only for the savage qualities of blood
thirstiness and cunning, but for a general
ship which his adversaries did not all pos
sess. Like'most Indians, too, he was driven
to the warpath by the white mans cupidity
and perfdy. He went on the warpath
reluctantly, but once at war he swore it
would be to the death He kept his prom
Use, even to the death, for if any Of them
now survive they are prisoners with Ger
onimo in far off Florida.
He went upon the wirpath In 1879. His
first exploit was the capture of all the cav
airy horses belonging to the military post
at Oio Calienti The commanding officer,
anticipating the outbreak, had doubled
the herd guard and armed the men com
posing it with pistols only, so that they
would not sttempt to fight but would run
the herd into the post at the first alarm.
Victoria wanted the horses. He killed
the entire guard of nine or ten men and
obtained a fine mount for himself and
followers. For several days after the In
dams at safe range paraded around the
post on their captured steeds. Victoria
rode the commanding officers horse and
played the part of battalion commander
to perfection, while the real commanding
officer would tear his hair and swear in
impotent rage
Information of the outbreak was soon
sent to all the other posts, and We were
sent out. as the orders said, Ito pursue,
punish, kill or capture Victoria and his
band We had to march about $50 miles,
with wagon transportation, before we
could reach the rendezvous for the COM
mand When all the troops were assem-
bled pack mules were issued to each COM
pany, for it was of course impracticable to
take wagons over an Indian trail. Our
company, of forty-two men and one officer,
was allowed but six mules, equipped with
the old-fashioned saw-buck pack-saddles.
Baggage and thirty days rations for forty
three men are tremendous load for SIX
pack-mules, but transportation has always
been short in our Indian wars.
We had not far to 90 before we found
the trail. Victoria was In earnest and
killed constantly At the placers, or gold
diggings, we found dead bodies; also at
Hilboro and numerous ranches. Every
where the dead had been horribly mutilat-
ed 1t is believed by the Indians that if a
man loses any Of his limbs or other mem
bers while on this earth he will experience
the same want in the happy hunting
grounds. and be deprived of some of the
pleasures he had enjoyed while alive and
whole. Hence they mutilate their victims
beyond description that their vengeance
may extend beyond the grave. Anyone
who has seen the victims of their aTocity
cannot but echo the sentiment that the
only good Indians are the dead ones.
Day after day we followed upon then
trail Day after day we toiled up and
down the steepest mountOins, pulling om
reluctant GOrses behind us, and, do all we
could, could not overtake them nor make
them come to a stand. Their activity Is
unparalleled The mountain is their home
and on the mountain tops, eight or ten
thousand feet above sea. level, where every
step makes a white man S heart beat like q
trip hammer and his lungs nearly burst
with the effort to breathe the Indian runs
along at ease. He can march on foot, In
the toughest country, forty miles day and
dance a war dance half the night and yet
be fresh in the morning.
At last we overlook them, or rather they
overlook us. The trail showed they were
near by. The main body of troops went
into camp and the Indian scouts were
sent out to "locate" the hostiles This
gave Victoria a chance to show his gener-
alship From his outlook he saw The
scouts leave. He slipped away from Them
made an all-night march and found us
Our sentines were posted on the hills
around, and when the savory odors OF
breakfast filled the air they turned their
backs upon the outer world and their faces
upon the smoking complexities We were
all at breakfast when the hostiles skipped
up, killed the sentinels and fired a volley
into camp. A group of officers was eating
breakfast from a piece of canvass laid up
on the ground, and at the first yolley the
waiter, who was pouring coffee. fell dead
among the cups and plates. For a few
minutes there was good deal of confu-
sion. Some of the negro soldiers threw
themselves down on their backs and FREQ
was made up the hill and at about the samt
time the Indian scouts, having heard the
firing, appeared upon Victoria
flank, and he thought it pru
dent to retire Several soldier:
we're killed and by some accident all who
were killed had worn white helmets anC
had in addition, been shot through the
head Charcoal was in great demand that
day and before night there was not {
white helmet in camp.
In a few days we in our turn haC
an opportunity to Jump Victoria. Oul
scouts discovered the hoStiles In camp
We made night march, In order to sur
prise them at daybreak. 1t was hare
work to climb those hills in the darkness
and it was bitter cold as we lay on oul
arms waiting for 1t to become light enough
to shoot. The scouts. who had on abou
one-fourth as much clothing as we, woulC
laugh at us for Shivering and bid us lool
at them, who cared not for cold. We hat
got into good range unperceived and tn
surprise would have been complete. but
young soldier, seeing a good chance t
kill his man. could not refrain from firing
and then they were off like a flock of Quail
We charged through their camp, wher
the fires were burning, and meat wa
broiling ON sharpened sticks. We had jus
time to clutch piece of cookedsmeat, rus
to our horses that were held just IN tn
rear and then charge pell-mell after tn
fugitives The meat we. found cookln!
was mule meat and we knew from tina
that some of the hostiles had been wound
ed in the last skirmish. for a wounde,
Indian Is always fed on mule meat 1t wa
very palatable to US, for the night air ha
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