Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1896-04-02

MAJOR smith gave pUsiIINe UruvIs iut
no one TO fire shot at the Indians until
they committed the overt act 10y com
mencing the attack. One Of tho ridicu-
lous provisions of the 50 called peace
policy" inauGuratCd ut Washington 10y
the humanitarians i'll congress was that
no officer or enlisted man of the regular
army, under any CirCum>tanIa,, WAS to
shoot at All Indian unless IN" savage
himself commenced hOStIntI"S, under
the penalty Of punishment hy court
martial II is safe toprcSumc, however,
that the order was better observed III
the breach than in its performance. for
no one was quite fool enough to permit
all Indian To get the drop on him, not
on the plains or in the mountains ut
least.
All stood ready, however, with rifles
at carry, TO repel tn" fist dcmunStra-
ton of hostile intent They did not have
to wait long. With II blood Curdhng yell
Satanic, at the head of his warriors,
charged furiouSly ON the little camp,
thinking, no doubt, they could ride over
it like a herd of buffalo tumblimg over
a bluff They had very poor COnCcp-
ton, however, Of the mettlC of the few
determined men who stood behind that
Gordon of half dozen wagons; men
who were familiar with all their devil
ish tactics, who had encountered the no
BILE savage more than once OH his own
heath.
Down they came, riding like the tor
nado, making the usually quiet spot re-
sound with their unearthly yells-Such
| yells as only the plains Indians can give
utterance to. Bang, bang went their
| guns. Whiz-z-Z! ShOwercd the arrows
around the camp, one Of which stuck
right through the top of the majors am
bulance, but their efforts were in vain
| They could not make those men waver,
all of whom had passed eventful lives
on the plains and We're perfectly ut home
to such warlikc demonstrations on the
part Of poor Lo. "
Now came the moment for them tC
act. The major gave the word, anC
clearly, as one discharge, rang out on the
evening air the repeating rifles of the
besieged So effective was the result
that the savagcs. as quickly as they cvel
did in their whole lives, threw them
selves on the off side of their ponies anC
scattered mighty lively for the friendly
shelter of the sand dunes. out of tn,
reach of the uncrring balls from tn,
magnificent weapons of the victorious
little party.
1t was give and take, the paymastcr' I
handful of men holding the viCiou!
horde of Satanta s warriors ut bay, after
repeated charges, until the next morn
ing. During the night Major Smith haC
dispatched one of his trusty scouts tC
| Fort Dodge to inform the commander o.
that post of the situation Of affairs a
Cimarron crossing, and requesting aiC
Immediately. A company of the famous
Seventh cavalry-Custer' S regiment
was ordered out at once and by forceC
march, leaving the garrison mt midnight
arrived at the crossing at 1 O clock with
out the Indians having the slightest ide;
of their coming. The latter, full of bril-
liant hopes, were just making ready TO
one of their daybreak charges, that hou
in which they love we'll to commit thei
devilish deeds. But as they were in tn
act Of crawling stealthily toward TIL
watchful little camp some of their run
ners' saw the cavalry approaching, ant
the whole band of savages fed, afraiC
to attack the boys whose flashing saber
had done such effective work anon,
them on more than one occasion. So tn
besieged party were relieved from thei
embarrassing situation.
| There is no doubt that if it had no
been for the oppOrtune arrival of tn
troops the paymaSter and his escort, to
gether with his strong box, woult
have fallen prey to such an over
whelming force of savagcS; their am
munitiOn would have shortly become
exhausted. The Indians would have con
tinued to annoy them, and they would
have been obliged to succumb, perhaps
not one left to IL the story of thei
capture and eventually terrible dealt
by the most refined torture. -Kansa
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