Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1894-03-03

In yet unmarked grave in Laurel
Hill rests the body OF Major Pauline
Cushman- The title was first bestowed
BIZ the soldiers Of the army Of the
Cumberland, who admired the bravery
Of the handsome girl spy. and who
on battlefield and in hospital had
learned the gentleness OF her touch.
Il was confirmed bT President LIN
coin Let her keep the title, said
he; she has earned IL So a com
mission was made out for Major Pau
line eastman
In war time the major was famous
After the war Lincoln. her friend. was
murdered and Pauline eastman, the
dashing, resolute young woman VINO
had paused az no danger, was forgot
ten At one time, when for weeks
she had lain in the Union lines near
death from fever. Captain Garfield
had helped nurse her back 20 strength
and he j: was who had put her case
before the president. When in time
Garfield became president he might
have done something for her, but the
assassin's bullet reached him
Pauline Cushman was born IN New
Orleans in lss9 Early in the fifties
she married Charles Z Dickinson, and
in 1862 she was 2 penniless widow, her
husband, wearing the blue. being
killed in battle She resumed her
maiden name and went back to the
stage, where she had had some ex-
periencc. She was handsome and
blithe and popular. In the strong
holds of secession she could sing the
songs of the North, and officers
uniformed in gray hocked about her
70 applaud. But when they asked her
TO toast Jefferson Davis ard the
Confederacy" she laughed At them
She was 50 much in conference with
these officers that suspicion fell upon
her. and she was summoned before
the Federal authorities They &C
cused her Of sympathizing with the
South, and then she laughed at them.
She told of the refusal to toast
Jefferson Davis
On the incident her fortune hinged
Y led to her becoming a sly. She
was told TO toast Davis in Louisville
and it was arranged that for the act
of treason she should be ordered to
leave. This was done. and repeated
at Nashville. The actress, prosecuted
and defiant. became the idol Of the
Confederacy. This paved the way for
her to cross the line. Her ostensible
quest was to find her brother She
ascertained the numbers OF the enemy,
their positions. their plans. and was
captured by FORESTS men. Before
she could be tried she fell sick. and
before complete recovery the Federals
had forced Forrest to retreat In the
confusion Pauline escaped and made
her report 1t was complete. Then
she broke down, and during the long
illness that ensued the title ma ior
was given her She went on other
expeditions, She cared for the
wounded and soothed the dying. The
army of the Cumberland learned to
love her
But after all the iDgratitude of the
republic was her reward As years
went by she came West She married
a man named Fryer, and he deserted
her. She secured a pitiful pension
that would barely avert starvation
She toiled at mental labor when her
health would permit. She tried later
TO get into some charitable institution
and failed. At last she was almost
dependent upon charity. So dire was
her poverty that when she died in
san Francisco last year it was
believed that she had sought re-
lief in suicide. Investigation dis
proved this. The major. worn out,
hopeless, her spirit finally crushed by
adversely and privation, had given up
the struggle. When her almost in.
vincible courage failed, death came
quickly. Now people speak in praise
of her who had been neglected.
A beautiful girl she was in the early
COS. a photograph taken in 1873