The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1893-08-24
ESCAPED FROM SIOUX.

The "Sibley Scout" is famous among
Indian fighters as being one OF the
narrowest escapes from savages now
on record. The hero Of that hazard
Gus encounter with the dreaded Sioux
passed the winter at this place in COM
pany with the writer says a San Die
go correspondent Of the New York
Tribune. and favored him with a
sketch OF that memorable action of a
handful of troopers away up in the
Big Horn mountains, far from the
main command. 1t was in 1876, at
the time Clusters massacre, when L.
W. Sibley. of Gen. Crooks column,
then young lieutenant, was ordered
ont with twenty-five mounted men to
look about the country and see wnat
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 Gen.
Crook bade him heed the scouts ad
vice should emergency arise, and off
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 near
ed the mountains Grouard, who al
ways travelled ahead of the soldiers,
signaled to halt. Indian signs were
seen. From an eminence command
ing vast area Of rolling country little
specks could be seen here and there.
The glass proved that each speck was
a squad of several Sioux in war COS
tune The specks began to cOncen-
trate. They moved toward the trail
made by the troopers, but without dis
covering it for long time. The In
dlans We're ignorant OF the presence
of soldiers. After holding a powwow
one Of the savage5 rode toward the
tell tale trail. BY chance he discoy-
cred it, and returned to his comrades
waving his blanket and gesticulating.
IL then seemed to the young cavalry
officer as il the Indians sprang from
the earth in all directions to see what
had been discovered. There were
swarms of them. But, happily, they
were miles away. Then began the
race for life. The mountains offered
the only refuge.
Up and up scrambled the horses.
On came the Indians. They were
occasionally along cayons in the rear.
The band had divided and was irving
to head off the soldiers and surround
them. Suddenly, as the soldiers as
cended the side of a gulch and gained
small plateau, party Of redskins
sprang at them, firing their rifles and
yelling
The men scattered like sheep" says
Capt. Sibley, ''and [ confess for a mo
ment my heart was in my mouth My
horse fell down an enbankment, which
added to my discomfort | ordered
the men to fire even if they didn't aim
at the enemy, for rifle made noise
like cannon amid those hills. Final
ly the men got together and we re
treated up a slope to bit of wooded
ground which protected us from the
Indians fire. This was about 9o'clock
in the morning. The Indians began
to gather about rapidly. The situa-
ton was growing more serious every
minute. My men were doing good
work with their rifles It pleased me
to see one man shoot q 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 off for four hours, and they were
four hours of red-hot work, 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
chance was fast lessening, because
fresh Indians were coming.
Il did not like to abandon our horses
but it was that or die SO the retreat
was ordered. | inspected each man
personally to see that his equipment
was all right. but owing to my mex
perience and the excitement Of the
moment l forgot the rations. Only
one man IN the command took his
ratiOuS.
1T was an hour or so before the In
dians discovered that we had fed. BY
that time we were up in the noun
tains in places so steep that one man
had to help the other up. Horses
could not follow us. SO, for the time
being, the Sioux would not strike us
Grouard took mountain trail, which
we followed on foot fifty hours with
out a mouthful to eat. Such fearful
ly vigorous exercise without food
nearly killed us. Toward the end of
this perilous march we all became so
weakened that we marched for ten
minutes, and then would lie down and
rest. Several of the most robust men
became insane, and one or two never
regained their wits. When we reach
ed Crooks camp | slept for twenty
four hours without waking, and dur
ing that time the camp was sharply
attacked by the Indians. Even the
roar of the musketry did not disturb
my sleep IN the least Not single
man was lost on this trip"
Remarking on the pecularities of
plain life. Capt Sibley said that it
seemed wonderful to him what re-
markable instincts half breed scout
possessed. A scout had led him across
trackless waste on dark night when
the snow was falling and the wind
bowling. There was not landmark
to guide the scout. The horses were
continually drifting to windward. as it
We're, IN the effort to get their faces
away from the cutting blast. Yet in
the face of all these difficulties the
scout would lead the troopers after
marching all night, to the exact spot
for which they started, and he never
| failed
A surprising peculiarly of Indians
is their carelessness about posting
sentinels when they go into camp.