Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-06-21
Attacking the Cheyennes in the Big
Horn Mountains.
CAPTAIN BOURKE'S STORY.
An ATl.Night Ride Through Rough
Misunderstanding the Indian VIII
Iage ut Dawn-unstances OF the
Bravery Of the Cheycnnes-Fruitle
Attempts 70 Save the Stock.

face one last wrestle for supremacy. Others
there are who do not believe such a situation
possible, but who would, if the occasion offered,
do their utmost to make the red man wish he
had been content to get through life on agency
bacon and its edible accomplishments as dished
up by your Uncle Samuel. or this latter class
is Capt. John G. Bourke of the third United
States cavalry, now on detached service in this
| city. There is probably no officer in the sew
| ice of the United States who knows as much
about Indians as does Capt Bourke. therefore
| 1t was to him STAR reporter went to get some
| thing of interest about the Cheyennes-the In
dians whom alarmlsts declared were on the
| warpath in eastern Montana.
Il have heard of the Cheyennes," said the
captain. II had the honor of a close personal
acquaintance with several of them when Gen.
Mackenzie headed an expedition into the Big
| Horn mountains in November, 1876. The
| Cheyennes never recovered from the surprise
our boys gave them; it was good deal Of a
| shock. You say you would like to hear the
story? 1t isn't news, by any means; in fact,
| I've told my version of it several times. Read
| 1t Tor yourself in my note book"
There was good deal of note book, but
from Its wealth of material the reporter man.
aged to got the following interesting nara
tive:
CAPT. BoURKE's STORY.
After describing the makeup of the expedi-
and men, one-third Of the number being Indian
scouts, the story goes on: For about three
hours we moved rapidly as the frozen
ground permitted The slippery freshman
tied grass offered serious obstacle, but we
did find all We could do to cross the innumer-
able 'cut-bank," dry beds of streams, every one
OF which had to be broken down into suitable
slopes by which the animals could descend and
ascend. The ground was every bit as hard as
flint and took up great deal of valuable time
before II would yield to AK pick, which it
frequently broke. Many of these crevices in
the surface were not more than Is or 20 feet
wide, so that the great labor involved in
their passage had all the appearance of an un-
necessary aggravaton of our discomforts We
were growing and grumbllng not a little at
these troubles when the advance scouts re-
joined at a run, and from head of column to
rear guard spread the magnetic whisper that
the enemy's village had been discovered and
was almost under our noses
From the information brought in by the In
dian scouts Gen. Mackenzie concluded to halt
just where We were until the rising of the
moon and then move slowly and cautiously
forward to attack the enemy at daybreak.
Ihert was no shouting, no cheering, no loud
talking to show excitement; an old soldier
would have known, however. that the news
passing along so quietly and yet SO swiftly
from mouth to mouth was enough to set a
civilians blood on fire. He would have known
lngs OF their saddle girths and BRIDES examn-
ing for the last time the action of breech block
and trigger. or making sure that no cartridge
should be missing when wanted.
We didn't have very long to wait that short
hazy, bleak November day for the setting of
the sun and the coming of our good friend the
moon. The grim bosom of the Big Horn
mountains parted to admit the column into a
deep canyon. whose vertical walls, carved into
turrets and battements by the erosion of time
a n ,lat-N ,.1 IL.
eloquence of human tongue that those who en-
tered 1t must leave all hope behind, Hidden
by these lofty pinnacles, the coquettish moon
played hlde-and-seek, anon bathing the barrels
of carbines and the metal work of brides in an
efulgence of light and again DESERVING us in
darkness SO Opaque that the gentle glitter of
kindly stars seemed to acquire the power of
countless suns.
All night long we CROPPED our way. founder
| ing, slipping, struggling over smooth knobs of
| CLASSY surface, making the slowest kind of pro-
| gress, but still advancing. Not word was
| spoken above whisper. Not q match was
| lighted and the soldiers faithful friend his
! pipe, was not allowed to leave the saddlebags.
The most stringent orders were given that the
column should keep close up and each com.
| pany as fast as it had worked its way across an
unusually difficult ravine. passed word to the
| front of its success and of the whereabouts of
| the company next behind it. So closely was
| our attention occupied by the task of working
| way aCTOsS the precIpllOuS ravlneS which
scanned and gashed the bottom of the CANYON
| adOwn which rippled over its rocky bed the
waters of the stream, called. best we could
| determine. Willow creek" and which on &C.
count OF this same ripping was not frozen into
| solid ice-that our dull ears did not seize upon
| the ominous
THUMPING OF THE CHEYENNE WAR DRUMS,
| faithfully but feebly re-echoed by the tower.
ing walls which hemmed us in. Not SO with
the Indian scouts. Their faces might remain
stolid and impassive, but every movement nj
muscle and sinew betrayed frenzy of sup
pressed excitement. One of them nudged me
| with his elbow and then pointed with his lips
| up the canyon III a way peculiar to savages,
There was no doubt of his meaning; We were
within rifle shot OF our quarry, but he wasn't
| asleep, as we had hoped to find him. but in full
| possession of his senses and dancing a great
| war dance in celebration of some recent VIC
tory. We threw ourselves on the ground and
then heard with startling distinctness the
humping OF the drums, the sleepy information
| of the tired-out medicine men" and warriors
| and the patter of languid feet. The dance was
| almost over, but the dawn had almost come
! There we lay, afraid to breathe. lest a cough
or a sneeze should betray our presence dread
ing the impatient champing OF some tired and
| frozen horses or the echo awakened by the
| falling upon the ground of the carbine of some
| clumsy soldier. ''Sharp Nose" the Arapahoe
chief, with dilated nostrils and flashing ewes.
| moved nervously from point to point ON his
| wiry pony, looking the incarnation of the
spirit of war. All the discomfort and dis
| quietude engendered during that night of cold
| and anxiety came to head at that moment.
Our eyes nervously scanned the battlements
behind which hostile sharpshooters might
within the next few hours be taking position.
1t might be our misfortune to have to fight our
| way back-who could tell?
There came low hist from the front, where
| the Indian scouts had massed, impatiently
awaiting the signal to dash forward. 1t was
| not long in coming. The rearmost company
was reported up" Every man was in place
| every horse was pressing on the bit. ANY.
| thing was preferable to another moment OF
| suspense. The noise of the Cheyenne drums
had ceased and "gallop" was the order.
| THE ATTACK AT DAWN.
| I heard nothing more--all was rush and
clamor and shock, but the rush and clamor and
shock of thoroughly organized, pitiless war. II
was the rush of q mighty river, the roar Of q
giant engine, but each drop of water knew it,
destined channel. each element of the machine
| knew the function 1t had to perform.
! Back from the walls of the canyon, repeated
ifty-fold by the echo, sounded the sharp words
of command, the neighing and plunging of ex.
cited steeds, the clatter and clang of arms, the
ear-piercing shrieks and yells OF savage allies
their biood-curdling war songs and the weird
| Groom OF the sacred fageolets of the Pawnee
medicine men, who, like the Celtic bards of old
rode boldly at the head Of their people. The
Shoshones and Bannocks followed Tom Co.'S
grove and Lieut.. Schuyler; Frank North led
the Pawnees-these two detachments on the
right and left tanks respectively-while down