Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1894-12-15
STORIES OF GENERAL MILES.
In Range of . Hundred RIfes-A Di<ap-
pointing Bear Hunt.

on the part Of those who disspproyed Of
his policy during the strikes of last sum
mer, there Is no doubt that he was very
popular with the society people and among
the business mon of this city, nor that his
departure hence was greatly regretted In
many quarters Perhaps the sinccrest re-
gret Of all was felt by those members Of
his staff left behind, for be Is n fayorite at
all the posts he has ever commanded. Ger
tainly those who were selected to go with
him were genuinely envicCr by their fcl-
lows There Is not an officer or n soldier
probably who has ever had personal knowl-
edge of the general that will not testify TO
his bravery and his cOOlness- Here Is "A
story that has often been told ut Fort
Sheridan rs an instance thereof:
On one occasion during the Nee Perez
war, some years back, Chief Joseph, the
noted savage leader, was captured by Gen
ernl Miles forces This caused great cx-
citement among the redskins. who thought
their captain would surely be killed, but
Bear Coat, rs the general Is known in
the far west, believed he knew a trick
twice rs good rs killing a captured foe.
He sent word to the Nez Pcrccs that no
harm should come to Joseph, but that he
would be held rs n hostage for the future
behavior OF the hand IL there was further
trouble, however. Chief Joseph would have
to die. This scheme promised to work very
well, for although the hOstiles were lOcat-
ed among n lot of rocks, from which they
could not easily be dislodged, they Were
without leader, and they seemed anxious
not to do anything to cause Chief Joseph's
death However, they sent word that
they cOuldn { decide in n minute and asked
time to consider the proposition.
This was granted, hostilities were sus-
unnhpxl hOFh SfFf~S and rwna
believed both by Bear Coat and all his OIL
GERS that the trouble was practically over
The rocks among which the Indians were
intrenched were on somewhat lower
ground than that occupied by the whites
and afforded excellent cover for the say
ages, who. Crouchcd behind the fragments.
could watch every movement Of Miles
men without themselves being seen Mt all
This was not fully understood by all the
officers, and enc of them, Captain jerome,
son of Lawrcncr Jerome of New York
strOllcd down in the neighbOrhoOd Of the
rocks Then, he WIS captured. and word
was sCnt TO Miles that the Indians had n
hostage ns well a. hc, and that rs Chief
Joseph was ~ Captain Jerome would be
treated An exchange might Ia effected,
too, IL Bear C'rar Thought hCst. and then
buth sitl,,~ CrHIld Ilu a. they liked about
continuing h's:iliTiCs
/, was CLEAR all pSund that the Neg
PcrCrs had the whiphand for the time he
ing at least. and General Miles mt once ar
ranged for AN exchange. requg sting one OF
his aids. Captain Nau>, TO escort the In
dian down 10y the rBCks and bring hack
Captain .lrrUmc- Mlus made rCsldy to go
without delay. although several hundDrSl
riiir hIrrClS were to bc seen projecting
from behind the Jagged pieCCs Of rOck, and
together the officer and the chief went
down.
There was no danger whatever to me. -
says Captain Maus in telling tho story.
for could place Joseph between myself
and the threatening rifles Besides IL
would h. no object tO the savagcs TO kill n
minor officer, especially as IL would le
surc to hiring ON n general engagement
But the commander was n tribe anxious
about my safety. He feared ! would go
too far down into the valley and that by
some trick the savagCs would manage TO
capture me after they had got possession Of
their chief 20 the general stepped out in
full sight of the redskins, making n splcn-
did mark for their rifles IL they had oarcd
to U.s. them, and called out:
Don't go too far. Mnusi Make them
come half way
Then. fearing that had not heard az
would not heed his warning. l suppose,
he followed us down almost to the half
way place where the exchange was TO be
effected In order TO SIC that / should run
no risks All this time he was in range
of hundreds of rifles. behind every one Of
which there was n rcSiskin. and IL has al
ways hCcn n wonder TO me that they did
not fir. with their commanding officer
killed IL might well have been inferred
that our soldiers would be dcmOralizcd
and fall an easy prCy 10 the savage l have
always considered that act on the part Of
General Miles one OF the bravest in the
career OF an exceedingly brave man."
Many other stories are told of General
Miles illustrative OF his personal bravery,
which was often displayed during the
time he was in charge Of the Pine Ridge
agency. At this place the Indians felt an
intense personal luminosity toward the
commanding officer, and there were many
predictions that he would be treacherOusly
murdered by some one of them before he
got away from there Notwithstanding
all this he persisrently refused to place
sentincls about his headquarters and IT,
ceiycd unchallenged every sayagc who
came to him until one of his aids CON
cluded IL was time for the general to stop
risking his life, and himself placed scnti-
nels in front of the headquarters The
fear on the part of the aid was that some
cutting off the barrel, under his coat, and
though aware that his own life must surc-
ly bc forfeited shoot the general during
visit made ostensibly on proper business
Not all the stories told about General
Miles pertain to his bravery, however. He
l. n mighty hunter, and every year goes
out looking for big game. In New Mexico
last year or the year before he went out
with quite party, and they had pack Of
hounds. a big silver tip bear was started
and pursued for miles by the general, just
behind the dogs. He was greatly interest
ell in getting a shot Mt II at bear, and IL
seemed very probable that he would sue
iced, hut he was disappointed, after all, for
when Mt last the creature was 50 tined out
that in a few morc minutes the general
must have caught up it ran across the
track of a couple of cowboys, and they
ropcd it. When the general arrived, they
had the bear staked down, had cut its
throat with n penknifc and were getting
ready To skin the carcass The dogs that
had pursued so faithfully were standing
about with dropping ears, rs il thoroughly
Disguised, but they were not one whit
more disguised than was the general In
roping the bear the cowboys had pulled in
opposite directions, and 81 stF.nglcd tho
creature. VI. i. DEXTER
Tracing 1t Back
Teacher-Now, Johnnie, r<Ecmber that
it was Atlas that supported the world,
L 80 ~ lima