Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1893-11-24

~nrlOu UekIUuIuk WIFI lu0 UuIlUIOR OJ Gn0 NORTH
.n Pacific railroad and tho establishing Of a
.ogn ut the crossing of the Missouri and endinQ
about 1879. The early history ended with that
rear. The period since 1880 is the neville I'D.
CHAPTER VII.
A TRIP TO FoRT BuFoRD.
@HE spring of 1872 brought
much work to the troops at
Rice in the way of similar ex.
petitions on a small scale.
Company after company was
detailed to act as escort to the
engineers who were running new lines
of survey to the westward. The duty
was exceeding hard and dangerous,
and was undertaken with distaste
by all the officers and much grum-
bling on the part of some. Not one
Of them believed that the projected
railroad would ever he built, or that the
country could ever be settled, for that
was in the days when sit never rained in
Dakota" The climate of this country
has changed wonderfully since then, but
the only thing resembling rain then,
was a cold, misty drizzle that chilled
vegetation. An old Rec woman told me,
that once a long time before, "the water
came out of the sky round like bullets
and made rivers on the grass" but no
one else remembered 1t and the scant
productions of our post garden we're re-
,garded as curiositles and not as edibles.
Add to the absence of rain the hot
winds, the binding dust, the scorching
SUI at noon, the chilling cold at night,
and the scarcity of wood and fuel on the
march and you will have a faint idea of
the discomforts endured by the men on
these expeditions. Add to these the
knowledge that their trail wa invariably
followed by savage foes, who would in
stantly seize and put to death any Of
their number who struggled from the
ranks-and frequently did so in plain
sight of their comrades who were power
less to aid, and you have a faint idea Of
the physical and mental suffering en-
lured by the brave men who made the
first settlement of this country possible.
My husband had his full share of
active duty then for although one o
pany was never sent twice as escort, DIR.
Slaughter being the junior surgeon was
detailed to accompany each company in
turn.
If the fatigue, the danger and the
exposure of the march were hard for the
men to bear, what shall be said of the
feelings of the wives, who remained ut
the fort, and who, fully aware of all the
dangers to which their husbands we're
exposed, we're compelled to wait through
long weary weeks with nc tidlngs from
their loved ones, fearing the worst for
chem, and sinking in despair when the
sound of the tom tom, heralding the
war dance of the bloody Sioux, came
family borne from the misty hills amid
the puuses of the night wind.
No one who has not endured all this,
can rightly understand such feelings.
The price paid for first opening this
country to settlement was q heavy one,
and dearly was it bought by the loss of
life and health of many of our brave
officers.
There were Lieute. AdAir and Crosby,
killed outright, the latter murdered and
mutilated within sight of the fort by the
oowardly "Gaul," since called "Gall,"
and so warmly eulogized in the house of
representatives by Congressman John
son of North Dakota.
Lieut.. Calrues died from disease in
duced by exposure on the Painted
Woods trip. Lieut.. Humbert, I am
sure, in this way contracted the con-
sumption that ended his life. Lieut..
Chance, I believe to have been more
seriously impaired in health from this
cause, than his friends we're aware of
when he left the service. Maj. Sanger
died too, a victim of the same cause, and
it was such arduous duty, as this that
sent Col. Donovan to end his days at
SAINT Elizabeth. Capt. Clarke and
others of that devoted band who still
survive are suffering from impaired
health. But how many of the people
who now live securely on the land once
claimed by savages, have ever heard
even the names of the brave army
officers who we're the first pioneers OF
Dakota.
DR.. Slaughter was then suffering from
a wound received in service-when
regimental surgeon of the 55th Ken.
lucky Mounted Infantry in the civil
war-and my anxiety for him when alb.
sent on such expeditions, was extreme.
In April 1925 supply camp was es-
tablished some three miles below the
present site of Fort Lincoln, on the
river, to serve as the base of supplies
Tor the railroad engineers, who we're con
t!nuing their operations in surveying
lines to secur the most practicable
route for their proposed railroad.
Lieut.. Greene with "K'' Co. of the
18th were sent out there, with Dr.
Slaughter as post surgeon.
Camp Greene, as the new post was
called, was my husbands station for
three months, but his services were
often required elsewhere, and at Fort
Nice, where Post Surgeon Goddard lay
i'll.
On May II, 1872, he received the fol-
lowing order:
HDQTRs. FoRT RICE, d. T.,l
May II, 1872.
Special Orders No. 48.l
4
Wi. Acting Assistant b. +. Slaughter
=. 5. A., is hereby relieved temporarily
from duty with Co. X. 18th Infantry, and
VII report to the commanding officer OF
va. II. 18th Infantry, for duty with his
company accompanying 1t Tomorrow tt
ng Bend, Little Heart River. d. T..
BY order of CAPT. CLARKE.
JAMES HuMBEHT,
no, ist Lieut.. l7th nifty, Post Adjutant.
"N