Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-05-04
OLD INDIAN FIGHTER.
s..tob of the Life of General
Crook.
ny CAPT. CHARLES KING.

wy ~ ,rsre gravsly concerned and even dis
Is- .15 when the news of his sudden death
''',s1 hem fortnight ago. They had been
IsS s-- s,-,,s-5 10 see him here during the
ooAir9S month. and were wondering whetheT ne
peseI. Hi5lced for their benefit to put on the
eSI 1,s hunting suit he generally wore "hen
on ,niisome marches and campaigns.
on AiS - the bovs who read these columns may
Anu I Ioo- something Of this brave and faith
~ oIiier a man who east OF the missouri was
lll tbiy less known than any OF our generals
t,y-ssf of il held a higher rank IN the nearts VI
gut w. 'srIo 1robablv than all the others COM
t9e He was at first glance less like a BOY 5
III NJ general than any soldler ever Knew
l lsJ yon had ever seen, as used 10 see, zen.
49, s4 IN the days of his magnlncence DeIore INC
sSoI. - Won would have been even more
sls.,sd al the contrast between his appearance
Al H. NJ Inc general whom he have SO re-
Gently los Er,ot went from Ohio Ito West Point
35s close OF the Mexican war, sly, retl-
int awkward country lad; not at all smart or
s-ticnlarlv promising as soldler' IheIS was
pAinI,soct-eyed short-legged- fellow from Perry
so1ntv Ohio, who entered at the same lint,
eos ". ,hssa too bows from the Buckeye state
ssSred TO pull together from the start Ihey
ocr1sd together in barracks, and had no easy
,ir,a ~ getting through the examinations IN.
I'D n takes hard work TO get through west
49, n5i, = svsr at tine foot of the class, and In
tbore DAYS not more than one-thlrd OF the NUM-
baT Who entered together would be iound on
ne class rolls at graduation: Those Two
- slrravs down near the foot: neither OF
~, ever Succeeded in being made even cor
moral in the battalion of cadets, and one OF
i5srs-tbe little fellow-had to fall back an en-
tire year for losing his temper and pitching INTO
Cadft Sergeant Terrill, who reprlmahueu Nun
~ sor,atbing that went wrong in the ranks.
Wears afterward Gen. TerriQ was killed at the
battle Of Perryville, fighting hard side by slae
with another young brigadier-the BOY VINO
pitched into him at West Point ana wnose
name was Philip Sheridan
But the two Buckeye boys got into the same
regiment-the old Fourth infantry. Sherluan
found his former roommate there when ne
Joined year later, and together they began
heir soldier lives far out on the Pacific coast,
fighting the Indians Of Washington and oregon
territories Just about the time they joined
there was q quaint quiet sort of fellow-the
unor captain in the regiment-who was grad
rated al The Point only ten years before Sher-
dan but the Mexican war had made promotlon
very rapid, and this captain was nom ONO TOO;
but he did not seem to like soldering IN peace
times Sam Grant, as they called him, resigned
and went to farming in Missouri, and then
moved to Illinois, and when the great war oroke
out and he wrote a modest letter to the war De
partment, rendering his services, he was SO Mt
lie thought Of that the letter was tossed ASIDE
and never turned up again; but the
writer did three years afterward as zen
era-in-chief Of the immense armies OF the
Union, but nobody then called him sam Grant.
Lieutenant Crook, or Mr.. Crook-for IN the
regular army the title lieutenant is spoken only
by the enlisted men-was from the very hrst a
keen hunter and sportsman. When ne WASH
after Indians he was always in the open air Ior
game. Soon il was remarked that he was a
wonderful shot; then people noticed how untir-
ing be was Fatigue and he never seemed 10
know each other He would wear out indian
guides and cowhide boots in equal proportion.
He was soon recognized as so keen ludge OF
Indian character that when only first lieuten-
ant be was sent in command OF an expeultlon
against the Pitt river tribe and thrashed them
out their moccasins, though they put an arrow
through him to start with. By the time the war
broke out ere was no man in the Fourth infan-
Try who knew more about the red men on the
Pacific slope than Crook. He did hard service
IN Virginia anu Tennessee during the war, got
wounded again, OF course, and rose to be corps
commander. But it was on the frontier that he
won his great name, and thither he was sent the
moment the war was over, to thrash the SNAKE
lnolans OF Idaho; afterward to tackle the
hannocES and Piutes, then to go down TO ARR
IONA and see what he could do with the Apaches,
VINO had whipped everything sent against them,
and had been too much for three gen
erals, the Quakers and the Peace society,
combined. Crook knocked them endwise in one
campaign, and was made brigadier- general in
tne regular army for doing il. But he did IL Dy
taxing the neld himself and showing his troops
INV 70 night mountain Indians. All the otner
generals had sent out their men, while they
themselves staid at home and criticised. Then
me government ordered him TO fight the Sioux
anu Oheyennes, and the war OF 1876 was the
slea!ssI indian campaign ever fought on the
SOhllnent; but you have heard all about it. The
sioux have never taken the warpath since, ex-
Nept as our tlieS. The NeZ Perces, the South
I'm N Cneyennes, the Utes and the Apaches have
81 nau lhelr savage tussles since that year, and
~ VNeEy case the trouble began in the depart
.lenI o! some other general, His last great cam
!algn was against the Chiricahuas of Arizona,
,,ntougn the wilds Of the Sierra M9dre noun
nus, whittier cavalry could hardly follow them.
tt.'s 1Iloe ne chased into the heart of Old Mex
~ HAa brought back as prisoners. Some OF them
s oSS OuI again three years afterward-only a
"a rla Oauu' 10 be sure, and three times their
, --L,Oet remained loyal to the government and
~ - with Crock TO fight the hostiles, and did
tLlAinable service; and Geronimo the savage
sI,gI, could never have been taken by Crook or
80 10y else without their aid. But,
coyS-t me general had been relieved OF
s sse-.ha in Arizona, these Loyal
s Svui9 were sent away to prison and punished
te@g with the renegades, and prisoners the
80 y iares are yet. Think of it. boys. Ge-
tbS ne naa only some thirty warriors; he and
ir,seeEe sent from the Arizona mountains AND
tSIiPusoned IN Florida, so were the eighty In
Tb Sus " no mad been faithful to the government.
vs ssn tasy We're ali moved together to Mount
man, ,,OL aS barracks in Southern Alabama, where
-! OF them have died IN confinement. This
go netting Gen. Crook could never under
So, VI oe reeouciled to, and his last days were
I'D stSl{lng 10 have justice done to them who
a[st surrender
An Nv ~, you have always thought of him only as
bpt- -sE 1ghter, but there is where you are
tbc fss,tlaliy lnformed-he was the best friend
atje -uulIn mad, and though he would fight like
did Si. wen There was fighting to be done, he
inc "a Utmost 10 make the Indian self-support-
bror-It Interpreting when once he had be9n
ana 80 20 terms. What they learned to love
never ~ ~ N nm was that, great or small, he
ifS.It. osoke a promise. His word was truth
The T, atl a. last all over the continent from
Ni,s-,.tslss n Possessions 10 the gulf. from the
know, -. y 'ne Pacific. no general was so well
CrooF -N1 AonoEed b. the red men as George
him y was was in Arizona that we first served under
But on tooE our lessons in N fountain scouting
Wvoroi, sIsment followed him to Nebraska,
the so,7 -uu wherever we went he was just
the fsIS always the leader, always with us in
Unave-' a" avs II the worn old hunting dress
nirbt -s nm in uniform, boys, until che
M last i-ii.' e0 hlcago two weeks ago to have
IN ststs 'ook ~ et the general loved; and be lay
cold ~ "1, y! ms guard OF honor around him,
kindlv - saent IN death.) Always simple,
oonsii s'le 10 officer OF man, always Just and
vztio1 80, always sharing every peril or pri
t6sS WIN his troops. and farinR no better
ten - ~ lAey. We went without tents eli the
against ~. 3. cur tough campaign and chase
pfairis ~ ,is sioux IN IS, sleeping on the open
poor fa,n; gIst5'ng rain at times. and eating our
Others. -. horses to keep ourselves alive at
Eere inst ~ - lhe general and his staff officers
look AZ IL q OaoiY OF as anybody else, and 70
brgadier t eloWd you could hardly have told the
and co5tss, saefai two years ago, when his friend
active osanAtemporary, Gen. Terry. retired from
were sirarlHgSei and though we ali honored and
us who ba9s.y attached to Gen. Terry. those OF
half tba -, is!oden or trudged behind Crook oves
oaes, had grown 70 regard him as