The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1893-06-01
half Mazeppa wise. Ledford was an

| apparently lrdnk, cneerE, Qan1SOm
fellow. of splendid physical proper
tions, and magnificent shot He owl
ed black horse, doclle to him, but /;
tiend incarnate to others. The mar
was a great favorite with army off
GERS, whom he often bantered fol
friendly shooting matches. and wa:
rarely beaten IN contests Of skill il
that line He took more chances and
more often volunteered for dangerous
service than any other scout; was
never derelict, but was killed in 1872
at Wichita Kan, by Lieut.. Hargons,
an officer Of the Fifth infantry. who
was on duty with a'posse aiding a
deputy United States sheriff named
Bridges to arrest him on charge of
horse stealing When arrested by
Lieut.. Hargons Ledford fired first at
the army officer, who dropped as if Kill
led. Lieut.. Hargons was not hit how
ever Leford was madden by liquor and
strobe over the PROSTATE body of the
officer, firing at Jake Bridges as he
advanced and wounding him in the
arm. The scout then make a rush at
a soldier who had accompanied as a
member of the posse when his further
shooting was prevented by a bullet in
the heart Like Hickok, the orr
ginal wild Bill" Ledford respected
the army blue, and the atfray in which
he was killed was the only occasion
that he was ever known to shoot at a
person IN the permanent military es
tablishment.
The winter before his death Led
ford, then in government service, ac-
companied detachment of the Third
infantry, acting as escort for Mai.
Rodney Smith, paymaster United
States army. on pay trip from Fort
Dodge, Kan, in Camp Supply, Ind.
| L.. and return. The route for about
two hundred miles was over broken
and undulating region so covered with
snow as to appear level. Thus a
ravine, snow-tilled, appeared at a dis
tance no different from an elevation.
snow covered. There were no trees
or bushes above the dead level Of the
snow. Buffalo were numerous and
often seen foundering in ravine,
struggling to get away from the sol
diers. The soldiers were intent only
on making their way through the
drifts to their point of destination
and could not afford to lose time in
| shooting buffalo but Ledford would
urge his horse up to and into the herd.
| fire both reyOlvers IN order to further
| frighten the buffalo, and then throw
himself astride the nearest bull buf-
falo and stab him. The steam from
the animals, the snow swirls, the
whoOps Of the scout, the red gouts
from that cleaning knife made a
strange exciting tableau.
Another ex-scOut, known as Curly
Walker, was killed near Dodge by a
resident Of Salina, Kan. in an encoun-
ter resulting from an effort on the
part Of Walker to sell Il lot of cattle
| stolen and run off by him from their
lawful owner. This man Walker was
cOwed once when drunk and disorder
ly at Fort Dodge in way that Lieut.
Col. John II, Brooke is too modest too
tell about. Bob Wright was present
when he was killed. He was pierced
by several bullets from Winchester
rifle whilst dismOunting from his
horse, and died with one hand on his
revolver, yainly struggling to release
1t from the holster in the stitching of
which the hammer was caught. In
the other hand Curly Walker had a
revolver, which, in his death throes.
he used as a knife, repeatedly thrust
ing it into the prairie sod. discharg
ing it and bursting the weapon by the
act.
Another of the scouts was a man Of
education from Philadelphia and the
nephew of union soldier. at one time
the postmaster of ST. Louis His fate
is unknown
Scout o. J. Whiteman was found
dead on the plains, his head resting in
his saddle, used as a pillow, his horse
| and arms gOne-scalped-an arrow
through his heart. He was killed
| while asleep.
If these lines are read by any of the
survivors Of the fight Of Aug. II. Is.
IS and 20, 1868, on the ArTickeree
fork of the Republican river, Kansas.
the place where Lieut.. Beecher was
killed, he or they will remember Nal
colin Graham as one Of the men who
ran the gauntlet of the Indians sur
rounding that island in the river and
made his way unwOunded to Gen.
Bankhead at Fort Wallace. thus Sc
curing relief for the Forsyth party.
Graham was one of the scouts under
John Austin at Fort Dodge and did
good service in that capacity.
Capt. Harry Reade, who. for eigh-
teen years was an officer of the Twen-
ty fifth United States infantry. was
| formerly scout in government ser
vice upon the Western plains He
never wore buckskin suit or affect
ed long hair, however, and in the quiet
retirement of his Massachusetts, home
knows not the perils of the days when
he, with only single companion
scout, carried dispatches through a
region populous with Kiowa Arapahoe
and Cheyenne Indians, who ambush
ed the watering places, fred the river
bottoms, and whose keen-eyed abil;
ties sought by every artifce and skill
full device to intercept, chase down
and kill the government scouts.
] II