People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1895-07-11
A Story of Kansas Bravery.


Forsythe, Of the Uuited States
army, tells the terrible story Of
the battle between Indians and
Kansas scouts on the Arrickaree
fork OF the Republican river in
September, 1868. His story is Of
thrilling interest, but in no
measure does it excel the recital
of three men who are survivors Of
that awful battle, who are now
residents Of Topeka. The partic-
ipants in the Arrickaree fight on
one side were Cheyenne, Brule
and Arapahoe Indians, while ar
rayed against their vastly superb
or numbers were ffty-four white
scouts, everyone Of whom was a
Kansan and selected for his in
trepid bearing and knowledge Of
plainscraft. The three Topeka
survivors Of the battle are George
A. Pinkham, Al Mooney and N.
D. Mckinley, and it is from their
story Of the fight that this brief
sketch is composed, together
with some military details secur-
ed from Major Henry Inman,
who, at the time in question, was
a United States army officer and
quartermaster at Fort Harker,
near the present town of Els
worth.
The terrible massacre on Spill
man creek by the band Of Whirl-
wind and Black Kettle had arouS-
ed General Sheridan to the
knowledge that regular army SOL
diers were not adopts in the craft
of the plains Indians, and he de-
cided to enlist a company of from
tier scouts and send them out to
fight the redskins independent
of the regular troops, who were
in the field. He was then in
command of the department Of
Kansas, with headquarters at
Fort Harker, and at once set
about picking from some 5000
civilian employees at Forts Hank
er and Hays, a band Of fifty
scouts. The test applied to each
was indomitable courage, demon
strated endurance, perfect marks
manship and a knowledge Of
Indian warfare. Fifty-four were
finally selected and superbly
mounted and equipped. Major
George A. Forsythe sought the
command Of this splendid body
of men and it was given him. He
in turn selected Lieutenant F. H.
Beecher, of the Third infantry,
and a nephew of the famous New
York preacher, as second officer,
and in the latter part of August,
1868, the company moved out for
the west, their first stopping place
being Fort Hays. The men car
ried no camp equipage which
could not be packed on mules.
Each was armed with a breech-
loading rifle and two revolvers.
Scouting along the streams in
Trego, Cove, Logan and Wallace
counties, the command arrived in
Fort Wallace some time during
the second week in September.
Hardly had they got comfortably
into camp when the news was
rushed in by courier that the au-
dacious redskins had raided a
government wagon train near
Sheridan station, on the Kansas
Pacific, and not more than twen-
ty miles west of the scouts camp
They were in the saddle and
away at the break of day and be-
fore the following night had
pressed the Indians so hard that
the band broke up into small par
ties and scattered in every direc-
ton, as is the custom of the In
dians when closely pursued. 1t
was the opinion Of the scouts
that the reds would rendezvous
at some point to the far north,
and so by easy stages the COM
mand moved along a route which
took them through what are now
Sherman and Cheyenne counties,
to the Kansas line, and then
across into Nebraska.
On the eighth day, as the
command was moving slowly
along among the sand bluffs
which border the Republican riv-
er, they came upon a fresh trail
which plainly told in its signs SC
readable to the expert scout that
a very large body of warriors
with their women and children,
and the lodges for a big camp
had recently passed that way.
1t was then dusk, and rather than
take chances of losing the trail
in the darkness the command