The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-11-15

dav she was arrested 1 was at Boise City.
The colonel in command at the front tele-
praphed the facts to me there, and then
asked permission to send Sarah to the In
Sarah had confidently declared that her
father. the old chief, her brothers and
Epan would not 60 to war, and that sne
could and would bring them and her people
straight to US.
replied, Let her go and try"
So, Sarah, woman rs she was, and for a
long time more accustomed to clvlllzed
than to savage life, took for compan1ons
two friendly Piutes, our trnsty gnldes, ana
set out with them on horseback for a ride
of over one hundred miles through an un-
inhabitable, desolate lava country, to reach
the famous Indian camp.
In three days she returned, bringing only
Oeetah and one of the Piute guides. AT
first she wept hysterically. sobbing that her
heart was broken. and that everything,
everything, was lost!
Later, refreshed by a supper and a cup OF
coffee, she told her story to the ofhcer III
command:
"You know, colonel, when | left you
three days ago-well, / rode on without
resting at all till I came to the foot of the
mountain. l kept the guides back and
went myself to the steep path. Then l saw
trust. He answered my call and came TO
that I am here and want to speak to him.
/ said. In about half an hour Oeetah
and another girl. messengers from my
father, camp. We bundled up my nicer
went up the steps together like any
other sguaws. Nobody recognized me
except members of my family and a few
friends. A great feast and council was
going on. I sat with the women and
heard much. Egan was mad, yet he didn't
-o The ShoohrnGu HANtarAH IF he
would not lead them they would keep him
prisoner. My fathers and brothers spoke
out for peace. Leigh had already. gone.
He had run off with the Smith family. and
the Indians were furious about that. The
lives of the peace-men were threatened.
kill him. That night nv father, brother
and about seventy of my people slipped
ont and got down the mountain. AS soon
as We were clear of the foothills it was a
race, for the Shoshones had discovered the
escape and gave pursuit as quickly rs
they could look up their ponies and find
the trail. But we beat. Father and my
people are at the creek about ten miles
below here. His ponies could come no
farther"
Such was the substance Of Sarah's tale.
She mourned for Egan and the residue OF
tho Piutes swallowed up by the war party,
as if they we're already dead.
The old chief, with his seventy followers,
men. women and children. came all right to
our troops and kept altogether ont of the
destructive war which followed.
We took Oeetah and Sarah as guides and
interpreters during our marches through
that vast and almost uninhabited territory
i. where the shrewd warriors under Egan led
j US a long chase. For Egan suddenly gave
up opposition and became the war chief.
He would scatter his people like so many
blackbirds through the mountain fast
nesses, the woods and thickets to waylay
US. We heard Of them just after the Stein
Mountain council i'll the country to the
: south of Camp Harney. flying all together
8 to mead off and defeat d portion of our cav.
airy.
n had, one day, to send a message to
Harvey. then about one hundred miles dis
tant. l told Sarah that one of my aides
was going to Harvey and that he needed a
g guide. "Oh," said she, "Oeetah and me
will CO.,
The aide and a corporal, with these two
guides set out. They rested but once OF
the whole 100 mile ride, then only for al
hour. holding their horses by the ~lariats nj
@ tho while to let them nibbls at the bunch
grass.
Having obtained the important news tina
n a battle was already going on beyond Har
It ney, the party turned back the next da,
and met III on the road. as yet forty mile
from that post.
d Oeetah and Sarah always had a SINAI
d wedge-tent TO themselves. They took car
of their own ponies, putting on them tn
" saddles and brides in the morning and un
saddIing and picketing them after the day
n march. Sarah frequently helped at til
II cooking and Oeetah at the table-settinl
Y and the two addei not a little to our DOM
fort and style at headquarters.
p At one time, rs we were in hot pursui'
we came upon a pour, old woman, who ha
lie become too worn to keep pace with he
people. She had hidden herself under a
Q old, decayiug log, crowded her small bod
q into u hollow beneath one end. She kel