Omaha daily bee., 1891-12-07
ON TIE norpER WIN cRooK.
Captain John q. Bourke's Excellent
story of Frontier Life.

issippi," aud Mark Twalu's "Roughiug It.
are the ouly two works devoted TO sketches
Of life on the frontier which have managed
to outlive the epoch in which they were writ.
ton. The former Is enjoyed today for Its
graphic and truthful transformations OF the
border just at the close of the war, and the
latter Is especially entertaining for its exag.
gerations and its grim humor. Captain John
G.. BourRe was a brave soldier in the war OF
the rebellion. Almost Immediately after its
close he was stationed at frontier posts ana
for twenty years he lived among savages
either at peace or at war with them.
He was aide -de-camp to General
Crook for fifteen years, serving with
his admired chief IN two difficult but de
cisivo Apache campaigns and two campaigns
against the Sioux. No one was better fitted
to write a narrative of these wars and
no one has ever presented u more graphite,
interesting or truthful story of hard marches
against subtle foes in strange and savage
regions. The humor 80 characteristic of the
author when among his friends brightens the
pages of his book and to those having u per-
sonal acquaintance with him this is one Of its
chiefest charms. He modestly refrains from
telling of his own hairbreadth escapes aud
conceal5 facts known to his friends because
of their personal character. When speaking
of his late commanding officer and friend,
however, the captain pours out his tributes
OF a1ecllOn anu esteem Win n laVlSu ualu.
He regarded General Crook as one of tho
three or four great military chieftaius of this
era in the history of our country and
the reader must admit after perusing his
pages that the hero deserves u high place in
our military history.
Captain Bourko in his description of gar
rlson and camp life in tho early days in Ari-
iona, to which the ocst part of his book is
devoted, has photographed a phase of from
tier history to which no other writer has
devoted himself. American and Mexican
civilization touched each other in Arizona in
a manner altogether differing from their
contact IN Texas, New Mexico and Califor-
MIA. The cattle rancher, the miner, the ad-
venturer and the nondescript who made Tue
son his home before the railroads brought a
majority of Americans into that
community created a type of American
The bit OF Spanish wool woven into
this border web brightens 1t amazingly, and
under Captain Bourke's marvelouslv accurate
description one can almost see the senoritas,
senoras and their Sonora cavaliers as they
participate in the Spanish Mexican sports of
the day. Garrison life, ordinarily dull and
uneventful, is made attractive by the touch
OF the character brush and by descriptions
of scenes and surroundings thrown into the
pages of a book full of strange and thrilling
experiences. Tucson, as Captain Bourke
pictures the sleepy overland station, is gone
never to return and has left no counterpart.
| The frontier city lives only in his graphic
portraits of place and people.
Naturally the reader expects the author to
devote more attention to bivouac and battle,
to the Indian and the soldier fighting him,
than to the peaceful pursuits of Tucson
high life, the dull routine of garrison duty
and the less thrilling descriptions OF
the strange scenery which makes the Apache
country remarkable and helps to make the
Apache indian terrible. In this expectation
the reader is not in the least disappointed.
| There are bloody but brief encounters on
many pages, and startling situations por-
trayed in every chapter. For five years Cap
tain Bourke was in Arizona. During that
period the Apache outrages were especially
terrible and at its close every Apache who
had teen at war with General Crook was
either dead in the mountains or safely quar-
tered upon his reservation. The subjugation
Of the most savage Indians of North America,
who had battled for300 years with the Span
iards and their descendants, and had never
been conquered, was practically complete.
Nothing but the rankcst Acknowledgement
caused them to violate their agreements aud
again seek the warpath. The fighting was
continuous. vigorous, relentless, fatal.
Tue mountain savages were chased
like wild beasts to their lairs and
destroyed IN Notifications believed by them
to be inaccessible to white soldiers and i'm
pregnable If approached. General Crooks
management of the campaign vas so vigor-
Gus that the enemy found no time to rest and
was safe nowhere. But he was brave, and in
many instances sold his life as dearly as pos
sible. In describing those encounters Cap
tain Bourke Is intensely interesting. He
shows himself TO have been a close OBJ
server as we'll as a lighting soldier
and his descriptions of the marches, tho
bivouacs amid dangers and the warfare by
day and sometimes by night, are as vivid as a
talented writer actually participating can
make them.
The two Sioux campaigns resulting in the
surrender of Crazy Horse and his
band and the settlement of the Sioux
upon their Dakota reservations, cover 200
interesting pages in which the details of Sc
veral bloody encounters are given and the
awful march from tho Yellowstone to the
Belle Fourche at Deadwood is described.
The author Is not so engrossingly interesting
In his pages devoted to the Sioux as in those
assigned to the Apaches for the reason that
he devotes more time to the comparatively |
peaceful avocatiOn of the camp, the situa-
tions are less intensely thrilling and the
fighting not so continuous.
The second Apache campaign Is treated
briefly, but without reservation. He points
out very clearly why the Apaches returned
to the warpath and laws the blame where it
belongs, at the door of thieving white men, !
residents or officials sent out by the govern
Bourke's pen becomes very caustic when he !
discusses the treatment received by the In
dians at the hands OF the government. The
Indian agent and the contractor are handled
without gloves by this we'll posted soldier
who has seen with his own eyes where and
how the Door red man has been robbed, brow !
beaten and driven by shere desperation into
warfare. His suggestions as to the treat
ment OF the savage are humane as we'll as
practical. Having fought him and with
him Captain Bourke knows he is
brave and reliable. Having spent years
among the Indians, visiting them in
their homes and studied carefully into their
habits, customs and languages, he gives it as
his deliberate judgment that remunerative
work, severance of tribal relations, indi-
vidual ownership of property and education
in thu Ennlilh Inn u "a a. thu aptutipn Of
the Indian problem. But above all else he
would have them treated honestly and he ex-
presses the firm belief that in nearly every
case our Indian wars have been brought on
by a breach of faith on the part of our gov
ernment or it's citizens,
Captain Bourke Is well known in Omaha,
having been stationed in this city several
years. His wife was Miss Mollie Horbach,
daughter of our old citizen, John Horbach.
She and her three beautiful little girls re-
side in the city now, the Captain being
stationed at Fort Ringgold, Texas, of which
military department his regiment was a part
Immediately after the close of TIE rebellion.
The book therefore possesses local interest to
Omaha readers, and this is largely heightened
by the frequent mention OF many citizens
and former citizens Of this city. son the
Border With Crook was completed In
Omaha, and its affectionate dedication to
Mr.. Francis Parker, II contemporary writer
and friend is dated Omaha August 10 1901 - |