The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-01-27

Fritz will again be noted in THE HER
AID, appended twice or thrice week to the
Fort Douglas Facts. To conclude this let
ter, the last one of my series concerning
our doings in and around the Bad Lands, it
is In order to mention few of the amusing
incidents of our closing hours in camp at
Adaton, in northwestern Nebraska.
A young Teuton who had enlisted in
Uncle Sans army, and whose knowledge
OF the old chestnut of ''sniping'' was lack
ing, was quite recently treated to an initia-
ton in the mysteries of bagging snipe at
night by the aid of a candle The young
man, entirely ignorant of a joke being per-
petrated, stood faithfully for full an hour
expecting the birds to come and when ap-
preached by friends showed his continued
innocence of the matter and was satisfied
when told that northwestern Nebraska was
poor snipe country, but on returning, he
would be taken out to bag few of the
Utah breed. A good laugh among the boys
dld not arouse any suspicion of the joke on
the part of the young recruit, and | was
informed chat he expressed willingness
to go ''sniplng' at any time his friends
would accompany him.
As a mark of friendship and in a jocose
way, quite few of our Adaton battalion,
IN lieu of dangling scalps and ghost shirts,
brought home with them variety of non
de plumes, prominent among them being
such names as Rain-in- the-Face, Crow Dog,
He Dog, Kicking Bear, Two Strike, Little
Bat, Lone ELK, ETC., etc. A name given a
comrade by the soldiery sticks like muci-
lage to paper, and l expect to hear of the
prominent Sioux chiefs in this way for
many moons to come.
nearly forgot making mention of the
church services many of US attended in the
vicinity of the city of Adaton on Sunday
evening, the 18th instant The preacher,
an old time Quaker divine, seemingly I'M
tutored man as regards the knowledge &C
quired from books and current literature
but extremely fervent in his calling, made
some amusing attempts at describing
and explaining his text. His audience
was mixed one, soldiers and settlers, and
all remained seated and extremely orderly
during one OF the most tedious harangues of
the present century. Understand do not
speak contemptuously of this minister, nor
would of any one in that calling when
doing their best, but out of pure unalleyed
Christian sympathy for him / make this
mention, hoping it may meet his eyes
and revolntionize his modus operondi of ex-
planning biblical lore.
BY the way, l omitted in recent letter
to speak of the Mascot of the Seventh
cavalry. 1t is the property of troop D and
was acquired on the bloody field of Wounded
Knee. The little animal, tits wee Indian
pony, unsolicited followed the troop from
that battle ground and is now the pet of the
troop. Perfectly gentle, the boys curry it,
feed and water it, and fondle it with a
love for dumb animals seldom found in
man. The pony goes with them wherever
they go and when the Seventh gets back to
their home at Fort Riley, Kansas-ther
Mascot will be with them as reminder of
one of the bloodiest battles fought by their
regiment save the massacre of four troops
of the Custer command in 1876.
In former communication 1 did not
give Paul Weinert, corporal light battery
E, First artillery Captain Caprons bat
terry, the praise due him. spoke of him
as being recommended for certificate of
merit and a gold medal for bravery at
| Wounded Knee. know the boy well, for
boy he is indeed, and he would be the last
one to speak of his actions on that field of
carnage. He is very reticent and ex-
tremely modest and l may add, the hand
/
uniform. When the fight began and as
soon as he saw clearing to enable
him to fire without injury to the
troops Welnert commenced operating
his death dealing little Hotchkiss gun
Shell after shell, each doing well its work,
he threw among the reds. Pushing his
gun foot by foot toward the Indians, he
suddenly found himself full two hundred
yards in advance OF the other big guns,
himself target for a bevy of Indians who
had congregated in little cavern in the
ravine. One bullet came near him, it
| grazed his finger, but demon of bravery,
a desire to save his soldier comrades from
the Indian bullets, had so seized him that
he feared nothing, and sighting his gun on
that bunch in the ravine he threw shell
there, which silenced all their batteries
forever. Every officer ut Pine Ridge has
seized his hand in gratitude for the noble
boys act, and the application, which will
award him gold medal, was signed by
every officer at the agency, commencing
with General Miles and ending with the
signature Of the latest appointed second
lieutenant. | am glad to know that such
| bravery, such devotion to duty, viii not go
unrewarded, and as Paul Weinert has not
as yet approached the age of ineligibility
| for commission, it would be fitting to ap-
point him to second lieutenancy.
A certain scout at the agency deserves
more than passing notice and it is pleas
ant duty for me to sing his praise. L refer
to Frank Gruoard. He was born on one of
the small islands of Hawaii, in the Pacific,
was captured years ago by the Sioux Indl-
ans, when carrying the mail on the Mussel
Shell river in Montana, and consequently
speaks their tongue with fuency. He is a
regular scout, with headquarters at Fort
Mckinney, Wyoming; but since this cam
paign opened has been on duty in and
around the agency. His every report has
been very specific and authentic. His
knowledge of the Sioux is regarded by
General Miles as the very best, and when
the hostiles came in and camped near The
Mission, Frank Gruoard was the man en-
trusted to invade the hostile camp and re
port their number. This he did at the risk
of his life and his estimate was very cor
rect one. He is very taciturn man, tenn
perate and brave and as much devoted to
his duty as any scout who can be found in
Uncle Sans employ.
Now that the war is over and the sol
diers are being returned to the homes, it is
in order TO express an opiRion on the situa-
ton. In doing so, 1 only voice the senti-