Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1894-01-13
THE NIOBRARA RIVER.
A DOG CALLS TROOPS TO THE
SCENE OF A MASSACRE.

what the soldiers Discovered
! indians Had Done Their Worst, IIus-
band. Wife and Children sIaaghtered-
The story written in Cory words.
We arrived at the crossing Of the
/ Niobrara river al o'clock in the
afternoon and were then SO far be-
hind the Indian band we were pnr-
suing that il was determined TO give
up the chase and wait there for Cap
4 tain Frayne's detachment to come
in from the West We were making
camp when dog came ont of the
thicket on our right and began howl
/ ing. Everybody saw at n glance
that il was a settlers dog, and every
body realized in an instant what his
actions signiiied, Every man Of the
900 stood looking at the animal,
when he ceased bowling aud came
forward. He was gaunt. fierce
looking beast, and many OF the men
I held their carbines ready 10 shoot
as ne came trotting up and halted at
the feet Of the major. After long
look into the majors face the dog
4 threw up his head and howled again
IA long-drawn Quiyering howl which
| sent chill over every man, and even
made the horses look up from theii.
feed
Captain, detail a sergeant and FIVE
/ men 20 follow the dog said the
maior as lie turned to the com
mander OF 4 troop, II Think there's
pioneers cabin on the far side Of
the thicket II nothing il 10 be
/ found within haf a milo let a man
return and report and will send out
larger force,
As we caught up orr horses the
dog ceased bowling and exhibited
I signs that he undo. stood As we
mounted he trotted away At the head
OF the detail and led us straight for
I the thieket II proved 10 be a fringe
I or curtain hiding lovely little valley.
Z and 40 soon as we passed through IL
VIC saw the cabin OF a pioneer half
mile away. We wheeled into lire,
opened out in skirmishing order and
1 approached the cabin at walk. save
/ the Chicago Times When half the
distance had been passed we saw
wolf sneak out from the cover OF the
cabin, aud run for the brush covered
| hillside. moment later. two great
vnltures, which were perched on the
root and perhaps asleep. took wing
and flew heavily away
There are d sad men ia there"
whispered the sergeant a. we came
70 halt "See there! Ii wa an
| Indian attack and they tried TO burn
the people out Look at the bullet
holes See that tricklc OF blood
under the door"
no dog advanced 10 the door.
shifted at the blood and then threw
up his head and howled dlsmally.
Eve must use this log to break
tho door Ia, continued the sergeant.
1.-The indians brought IL here, but
the fire was too hot SEQ where the
wolves have licked the blood OF the
grass There has been terrible
I fight here. Now then. altogether
and heayc' That's it-one two
three and the door gives wayw
We dropped tho log ana retreatcd
step or two. while the excited dog
sprang into the cabin and whined and
barked, and finally gave utterance 70
a howl 50 full Of lameutati0n that
some Of the men closed their ears 10
the sound. Every man was palefaced
and trembling. The sergeant should
be the FIRST 20 look in, but he
hesitated, ANA IL was only after
great effort that he pulled himself
together and advanced. On the
rough floor, as they had crawled
together to die, were four men.
woman and two children, the latter
about 7 and I years old respectively.
II was log cabin. with boards in
stead Of sash and glass at the
windows, and there were hundreds
OF crevices between the logs through
which bullet might find its way.
How long the fight had lasted we
could not determine, but all there
had been dead for twenty-four hours
at least
You can SEQ how II was, :" said the
sergeant after sending off q man to
the command. Three Of these men
came down tho trail ahead OF the In
dians fleeing for their lives aud
warning other settlers When they
turned in here the red dcvils wore
close after them, and the only thing
to do was TO fight Look at the bull
let holes! See how many wounds
each one has! The Indians fired from
every direction, even down through
the rool. 1t must have been an all
day fight, and the last man or two
was able to handle gun when the
Indians got the alarm and left
There was the husband and father.
In his dying hour he had laid down
his rifle and crept over to his dead
wife and children and flung his arms
over them. What's that on the
lloorp"
We removed the boards from the
two windows TO let in moro light, and
on the white surface of split log
used as floor board we found a
serawl traced in blood. There lay