The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-07-28

on the trail. and soon they fixed on the
main camp. They sneaked march on
them, and the Snakes were easily sur
prised. since they had no pickets out.
Upon this occasion the Indians didn't
massacre the white man. The white man
did the massacring. Lieut.. Small was a
desperate fighter. and his orders to his
men Were brief, but explicit. In the first
place, he contended that IL you could
'out-holer an Indian you had him whip
ped In the second place, he didn't care
TO take any buck prisoners. neither did he
desire that any should escape. 1t was
necessary. therefore, to gain his appro-
baton, to extermlnate everything in
sight, barring squaws and papoOses.
The men with him had all seen service
in the war and weren't squeamish about
obey1ng orders of that kind. At daybreak
screaming like maniacs they charged right
into the Indians. eight-eight of them. The
fight lasted an hour and three-quarters.
one Indian jumped into the creek and
swan away. Eighty-seven scalps told the
story so far as It concerned his compan-
ions. Eighty-seven lay dead on the field
when the slaughter was complete. Regret
at the escape of the lightweight was gen.
eral Eleven horses had been wounded with
poisoned arrows and had to be killed.
Chief Chachachee fought bravely. Four
times he succeeded in rallying his braves
about him. He had been wounded five
times and fell back into a puddle of water.
But his spirit was unconquered. When
Lieut.. Small approached him he snapped
his revolver in his face, but the weapon
failed to do its work. Small Drained him
then and there with the butt end of his pis-
tol. Lieut.. Small two years later commit
ted suicide at the Metropolitan hotel in
San Francisco much to the regret OF his
companions in arms, who admired him for
his GOODNESS and bravery.
Thirteen of the soldiers were wounded
in this engagement One man, named Ask
ms, had steel arrow shot into his collar
bone, splitting It. lie calmly broke 1t of,
so as not to be Inconvenience by the pro-
lection, and blew out the brains of the
savage who had wounded him. Bedinger,
who was a sergeant then was not to be
wounded, but two arrows stuck in the fur
collar of his coat. They were heavy coats,
because the temperature in that region
was sometimes as low as 80 degrees below
zero. Besides the dead bucks, there were
hfty-fve prisoners, thirty-eight sQuaws,
and seventeen papooses.
Another rather trying time was expert
enced by Sergt Bedinger on the 10Th of
February, 1867 A man named Matney had
lost sixty cattle one night. Bedinger was
| detailed with fifteen men to hunt down the
marauders They started a midnight, and
| on the second day struck the Indians in
| Long Valley, Nevada. These We're not
Snake Indians, but they were just as bad,
belonging to the tribe of Bannox Indians.
Dan Hogue guided the soldiers The In
dams ran up the hill and stationed them
selves on big bluff. HoSuc took seven
Of the men and turned to the left. Bed
niger and the rest of the troop turned to
the right TO surround the redskins. The
/ latter ambushed Bedinger and gave him
/ and his men a surprise. The top of the
hill suddenly seemed alive with Indians.
/ When the fight was over, according to
! Dan Hogue's calculation, figuring on six
| teen warriors to a tepee, there must have
been IA of them. There was a voley from
every rock, and at the first fire three of
| Bedinger's men were wounded and one
was killed, young Billy Townsend
whose home had been in Dayton, o. The
soldiers were driven down the valley and
| camped near a spring, the reskins sur
rounding them.
The soldiers heard their demoniac shouts
as they mutilated Townsends body
They took his scalp. beat his shinbones to
pulp, crushed the bones of his arms,
gouged out his eyes. tore out his tongue,
and slashed his body with their knives.
This won't do" said Hogue, the guide.
If we stay here Wen all get that. One
Of us will have to go after reinforce
ments."
Hogue knew the way better than any
one, so 1t devolved upon him to notify
the soldiers a Camp Bidwell. He sneak
ed out at night, and was gone two days
Meanwhile the little band of fighters were
about ready to give up all hope Their
provisions had run out, and death stared
them in the face. Suddenly a cloud of
dust was raised on the alkali bottom a
mile or more away. They feared that more
Indians had come to finish the work, but
directly, in the bright sunlight, Bedinger
recognized the flash of the brass from
carbine sling. Then he knew that the SOL
diers were coming. 1t was Hogue, indeed
returning with Lieut.. Small and fifty men,
There was little lighting for them to do
for the Indians had levanted. The soldiers
captured thirteen ponies, however, two of
which had to be killed because they had
been wounded by poisoned arrows Poor
Townsend was buried at Fort BidwelI
The Snake Indians, Bedinger says are
well named. They are tall, slim, and great
sneaks They would get down on the
ground and tear up a sage bush, holding
it in one hand and crawling along on their
elbows. They keep the sage bush in proper
position and keep moving towards the SEN
try, who can see nothing wrong, for the
bush is still there, apparently, where it
had been. When they have crawled far
enough upon their victim, the Snakes kill
without remorse. When Bedinger was on
sentry duty, it was his wont to stand
the horse and watch the horses ears
rather than the surrounding country. A
horse can smell an Indian at almost any
distance. and it is better to depend upon
him than upon your sentry. Bedinger
found the instinct of horses infallible