The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-07-17
NARROW ESCAPE FROM INDIANS.
An Exciting Chase of the Custer
Campaign.
From the New York Tribune.

San Diego, Cal, June 24.-The "Sibley
Scout" is famous among Indian fighters as
being one of the narrowest escapes from
savages now on record The hero of that
hazardous encounter with the dreaded
Sioux passed the winter at this place in
company with the writer, and favored
him with sketch Of that memorable ac-
tion OF a handful Of troopers away up in
the Big Horn mountains, far from the
main command. 1t was in 1876, at the
time of Clusters massacre, when =. w.
Sibley, of General Crooks column, then n
young lieutenant, was ordered out with
twenty-five mounted men to look about
the country and see what was going on
Frank Grouard a half breed, and one of
the best scouts living, accompanied Sibley.
The young officer was fresh from West
Point and rather inexperienced in frontier
warfare, so cautious General Crook babe
him heed the scouts advice should emer
gency arise, and OF the troopers started,
almost at the very hour when Custer,
hundred miles or so away, was being cut
to pieces by the cutthroats of Sitting
Bull.
The scouting party was ignorant of
this however, and Travelled for two days
without incident. As they neared the
mountains GrOuard, who always Travelled
to halt Indian signs were seen. From
an eminence commanding vast area of
rolling country little specks could be seen
here and there. The glass proved that
each spcck was a squad Of several Sioux
in war costume. The specks began to
concentrate. They moved toward the
trail made by the troopers, but without
discovering it for a long time. The lndi-
ans were ignorant of the presence Of sol
& a n
the savageS rode toward the
tell-tale trail BY chance he
discovered il and returned TO his com
rades waving his blanket and gesticulat-
ing 1t then seemed to the young cavalry
officer as if Indians sprang from the earth
in all directions to see what had been dis
covered. There were swarms of them.
But, happily, they were miles away.
Then began the race for life. The noun
talns offered the only refuge. Up and up
scrambled the horses. On came the In
dams. They were seen occasionally along
canyons in the rear. The band had di-
vided and was trying to head off the sol
diers and surround them. Suddenly,
as the soldiers assembled the side of a
gulch and gained a small plateau, a party
Of redskins sprang at them, firing their
rifles and yelling.
THE men scattered like sheep" SAYS
the moment my heart was in my mouth
My horse fell down an embankment,
whi h added to my discomfort | or
dered the men to fire even if they didn't
aim at the enemy, for a rife made noise
like a cannon amid those hills. Finally
the men got together and we retreated
up the slope to bit of wooded ground
which protected US from the Indians
fire. This was about 8 O'Clock in the
morning. The Indians began to gather
about US rapidly. The situation was
growing more serious every minute My
men were doing good work with their
rifles. II pleased me TO see one man shoot
a noted Sioux chief right through the
heart. That old sinner never twitched a
muscle after the lead hit
him. We never knew how
many we killed, because when
an Indian is shot his comrades keep him
out of sight. Well, we held them of for
four hours, and they were four hours Of
red-hot work, L can tell you. My scout
then told me that the Indians were on
three sides of US. We had one chance left
TO retreat. and this fact was fast lessen
ing, because fresh Indians were coming.
II did not ike to abandon our horses,