The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1893-06-01
SIMON-PURE SCOUTS.

| individual with long halr, garbed II
buck5kin, who shoots at glass balls
and calls himself a scout" These
circus tricksters boast of the number
ofredskins that they have killed, jug
gle with their revolvers. aud are ready
for 70 cents, to sell you q sensational
account Of the life and adventures and
deeds Of wild Bill'' or ''Buckskin 10, y
or any other patronyInic that they
choose to adopt and think it catchy to
! the eye or ear of imaginative and cred
ulous greenhorns. Tie claims of these
! self-named mOntebanks are not sup
! ported by evidence, says the Chicago
| Times, and ev7n their performances
Of shooting glass balls whilst in mo-
ton are aided by trickery
Properly speaking a scout is per-
son sent out in the front or on the
flank Of military command to oh
serve the force and movements of the
| enemy. He should be keen obser-
Yer and withal fleet Of foot or well
| mounted. There are a number of I'M
marked graves along the Arkansas
river and the tributaries of the Cana
dian and Smoky Hill graves where
| never loving hands have strewn flow
ers, resting places over which no pray
er has ever been said or memorial
slab or stone placed -tenanted by men
who died by violence, died with their
boots on" Many Of these graves are
tenanted by scouts killed by hostile
indians whilst acting as couners, spies,
OF dispatch bearers.
In lS67-6S we were at war with the
Cheyenues and during the winter Gen
Alfred Sully made the campaign an
offensive one by moving with his com
mand into the medicine country of the
| hOstlles, south Of where Dodge City.
Kan, now stands. The entire cam
paign was under the general direction
of Maj-Gen. Philip II. Sheridan. The
war claims Of the latter for promo
ton to be lieutenant general, vice
Sherman, vice Grant. were supple
mented by active Indian service prior
to March 4, 1869, but Phil Sheridan
never remained long in any one place,
and several good soldiers. acting as
dispatch bearers, were sacrificed ow-
ing to their unfamiharity with the
topography of the country in which
they We're operating.
In consequence Of these losses Gen.
Sheridan authorized the employment
by the United States Of twelve citizen
scouts at a compensation of SIOO
month, and one chief Of scouts. who
was paid $50 month. These men
were sworn into the service at Fort
Dodge. In addition to the pay men
toned, eLch scout was furnished with
a good horse, with all the arms. am
munition, etc, he wanted, with rations
same as issued to enlisted men. free
medical attendance, with fuel and
comfortable quarters when within the
limits of'any government post. Each
scout was told that il he chose he could.
In confidence, gave to the post adiu-
tant his true name, and that the Off
Ger would make it his duty, in case
the scout was killed in the dischare
Of his duty, to communicate the fact
to the postotfice address of any per
son or persons whom he might wish to
be notified.
Without exception the thirteen men
were American born. All had Histories.
Every scout had one address or more
to communicate, coupled with some
message to give. None Of these men
were of the Texas ranger or cowboy
type III dress or appearance Only
two wore their hair long. One was
discharged for cowardice. in falsely
reporting the location of large body
Of hOstiles on Coon creek, between
Fort Larned and Fort Dodge. investi-
CATION having proved the presence
only Of long line of high weeds,
which, seen at a distance against the
horizon, We're mistaken for men and
were so reported by the scout too i'm
aginatiye or too timid to make thor
Ough reconnaissance. This mans name
was William Seymour, enlisted under
the name of Apache Bill. He was
afterwards killed in an affray at June
ton City, Kan. Another scout named
Webster was discharged for shooting
his horse in the neck while carelessly
and Unnecessarily dscharging his fire
arms within the limits Of a military
post. Two of the scouts. Fanshaw
and Davis, were killed by the Cheven-
nes while IN the act of watering their
horses at Mulberry creek, one of the
small tributaries OF the Arkansas. on
the south side of the river. Their re
mains We're inferred in the Fort Dodge
cemetery.
On one occasion two scouts. Wheeler
! and Moore. were sent with dispatches
| from Gen. Sheridan. They made the
/ trip to point near Fort Sill, /. T.. in
safety, and faithfully delivered their
papers. i package Of official docu-
ments was given them in return. with
orders to deliver the same to Col. Nc
keever at Fort Hays. The papers
/ never reached their destination. Guild
ed by Indians, a detachment of sol.
diers found on Beaver creek, in the
summer of 1869, human skull. pelvis
and other bones, which had been pick
ed clean OF flesh by the wolves and
| oyotes. The Indians said that the
previous year they had caught sight
of the scouts making their way north
ward through the pan handle portion
of Texas, south Of the Adobe walls. on
the Canadian, and surmised that the
couriers had purposely made a long
detour westward in order to avoid the
region the hostiles invested. The
savages alleged that they intercepted
the TWO men near Beaver creek and
/ first killed their horses Thus dis
mounted and more than hundred
miles from friendly aid Moore and
( Wheeler We're killed after resistance
desperate enough to impress the
Cheyennes with respect fer their BRAY
cry.
Another Of the scouts was MAJ
named Ransome. alias I.edford. h
claimed to have been captured by
rebel forces during the war while en-
gagged as d spy. According to his owl
story Ransone was Bound to the hacl
OF a horse behind the leader of tn,