The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-03-12
VERY DARING ADVENTURE.
Ex-Gov. Hauser's Blood Curdlina
Experience with Indians.
SURROUNDED AND. SHOT.
The Thrilling Death Compact OF
Fifteen ResoEute Men.
Wonderful Courage of Captain Stuart
and His Band of Mining Prospectors
Who Fought Their Way Through
the Indian Country.

s'What would you think of an expe-
rience Of eight weeks fighting and flying
from Indians of great superiority in num-
bers to party of white men who en-
countered them, an incident of which was
She deliberate suicide OF two of the white
men by shooting themselves, after they
had been MORALLY wounded-their object
being to let their comrades escape the ter
rible dangers that environed them instead
OF giving to the wounded men the care
and attention they required for their last
days?''
The speaker had a western air, and
spoke as if he had undergone perils on the
frontier at some stage of his life which
were both marvellous and terrible. He
was Ex-Governor Samuel Z. Hauser of
that state, president of the First National
bank OF Helena, and engaged in nearly
every industry in the country surround
ing Helena, where he resides, that is of
a money making character.
ION April 9, 1863, an expedition
started out from Bannock City, said the
governor, 1.-the purpose of which can be
learned from this copy OF an agreement
that was long since lost, but is preserved
IN a journal kept by Captain James
Stuart, who was the leader of the band of
memo
Having determined to explore q portion of the
country drained by the Yellowstone for the
purpose of discovering gold mines and secur-
ing town sites, and believing this object could
be better accomplished by forming ourselves
into regularly organized company, we hereby
appoint James Stuart captain, agreeing upon
our word of honor TO obey all orders given or
issued by him or any subordinate o11cer ap-
4AI f,x-h Tn 49,
ing TO obey an order or orders from said cap
tain, he shall be forcibly expelled from our
camp It is fur ther understood and agreed that
We all DO our equal portion OF work. the cap
tain being umpire IN all cases, sharing equally
the benefits OF said labor, both as to the dis
covery of gold and securing town sites.
lSigned
JAMES STUART. SAMUEL T. HAUsER,
CYRUS D. WATKINS, HENRY A. BELL.
JOHN V VANDERBILT WILLIAM ROACH,
JAMES n. YORK, A. STERNE BLAKE,
RICHARD MCCAF- GEORGE II. SMITH.
FERTY, henry T. GERRY,
JAMES AAUxHURSR, EPHR1AM BOsTWICK,
DREwYER UNDERw GOD.
The fifteenth man, George Ives, did not sign
the agreement, because he did not overtake the
party until the next day, and il was forgotten.
Our party expected to be Joined by six
other men at Sinking Water river on the
18th, but we could find no trace of them
either on that date or the 18th. On the
18th we followed up fork of Alden
GuIch river. Near the divide we met two
Bannock Indians, advance guard of the
main camp, who were returning from q
winter buffalo hunt on the Yellowstone.
The camp came UP in few minutes, with
Arrokakee, lin English, the Big Rogue, a
name eminently appropriate to his 6K
fee5 of height and go pounds of weight)
as chief.
We got away from the Bannocks in the
morning and travelled daily along what
II. n
April oath from butte the captain espied
the Yellowstone river, distant about three
miles. On the 9th we had penetrated
the Yellowstone country many miles, fol-
lowing the river bed, and Captain Stuart,
going back in to the hills to get buffalo
meat, discovered instead of buffalo, fresh
tracks of twelve horses going up the river.
He sized them up as war party of ma
tiYes, and expected visit from them to
rob us at night. On the 18th, hav-
ing Travelled twenty miles, the party
went into camp about an hour
before sunset and was lying around the
camp resting, when we heard several
guns fired in a clump of cottonwoods
across the river and then saw thirty In
dams fording across. Their big chief told
me to have my men put all our things in
the tents and keep a sharp look out or we
would lose them. The captain entered
upon grand smoke with the big chief
and found a man among them who could
talk the Snake language, and who was
installed as an interpreter. They sat
down and snapped lies, and were
philosophical, while the camp got into a
furore.
For several hours, in fact all the time
that Stuart was smoking and talking with
the chiefs, the young bucks were forcibly
taking possession OF our horses and
blankets, and our men by superior
strength retaking them. In many in
stances the braves were handled without
gloves, by throwing them violently upon
the ground, upon which they would be-
come perfectly frantic with rage, drawing
their guns, bows, arrows, and knives,
pointing to their chief and making signs
that upon a signal from him they inJen-
ded to take our scalps.
'sThey were on the eve of commencing a