The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1893-08-23

radcs That was what was donc ny
the enlisted men and officers of III"
medical department and Seventh Cav
airy of Fort Riley. kansis. In the
presence of sevtrcl thousand visitors
from all pnrs OF the suniliwer state
the memorial was unveiled and nmid
the solemn booming of the c1nnor
dedicated to its duty of honnring the
memory of those who fell at Wounded
Knee andDrexel Mission, December 80
and 80, 1890,
The story of those battles IA one of
cruelty and disaster. The ghost dance
had ioused the Sioux of the north
west into frcnzied anticipation Of the
coming of the Indian M,s,iah, WHO
was to sweep the whites from the fcc
of the earth. Under the leadership "i
Big Foot, they went upon the war
path armed with the best Of guns and
wearing the canvas ghost shirts
which were to prove impenetrabie t.
the bullets of the white man.
Clusters old gyginylti y? Seventh
Cavalry, under Col. j. ". Forsyth, a..
Indian fighter of two decades exper-
fence was ordered to the icy plans OF
South Dakota to put down the trouble.
Big Foot was willy. At the first meet
ing he surrendered, and Il soldiers
found themselves with $50 women and
children and half as many bucks to
care for. On the morning Of December
30 the order was given to disarm the
bucks. A half dozen guns were TAX
en- and then, at a signal, the Indians
began firing.
There, on the banks of Wounded
Knee Creek, near Pine Ridge Agency,
two officers and twenty four enlisted
men were killed and thirty-two were
wounded. The Indians lost TAG killed
and 80 wounded. At Drcxel Mission
the following morning one officer and
one enlisted man were killed in an
attack on a wagon train. These disas-
ters are the last in the list of Indian
battles, and it is to he hoped that his
tory will never show another to rival
them.
To the memory of these comrades
the surviving members eff the Seventh
Cavalry at once set about erecting II
, monument. The result of n subscrip-
tion paper showed over $4,000 raised
for the purpose among the troops. On
an eminence overlooking the Smoky
Hill, the Republican and Kansas riv-
ers which stretch away across the
plains, visible for miles, the shaft was
| built. 1t is of Vermont and Massa-
chuset.s granite and rests on n native
| tnat 1, lra
with flight of steps on one side. The
top of the shaft is twenty five feet
from the ground, and the whole seffect
is imposing. On one face of the mon.
ument appears this inscription:
To the
| Soldiers
! Who were killed in battle
with
| Sioux Indians
Wounded Knee
| Drexel Mission,
| South Dakota,
| December 20 and 80. 1890
| Erected Ms a tribute of affection bv their
comrades of the Medical Depart
ment and Seventh Cavalry,
| u. s. A., A. ID. 1893
The remaining faces bear the names
of the soldiers who died in the two
engagements. The monument is in the
most prominent part of .he post, q
short distance from the principal
buildings and officers quarters.
The Seventh Cavalry, which had
made its home at Fort Riley for over
thirty years, 10 one of the most noted
in the service. 1t WAS from this divI-
sion that General Custer took his
troops to the battle of the Little Big
Horn, Comanche, the horse ridden by
Custer, and the only survivor Of that
fearful massacre, was cared for At the
post until his death year ago. Gen.